2017 October Horror Challenge Day 4

Day 4 was the busiest day of the month so far but unfortunately it was more bad than good. At least it started out strong with HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP which was my first re-watch of the month. I spent most of the day watching these movies with a buddy and asked for a good creature feature and having never seen this one I had to introduce it to him. He loved it. And for good reason. This Roger Corman production is trashy and gory, violent and sleazy. There's blatant racism against Native Americans, sea monsters killing and raping women, blood and guts being spilled and plenty more good natured fun. The carnival scene is classic and your life will be better having seen this movie.

Mike Flanagan's new movie GERALD'S GAME, adapting the Stephen King novel was next. This Netflix production was really solid stuff. Carla Gugino is fantastic and every bit as good as she needed to be for the film to be a success. This is a tight psychological and survival horror that suffers from a final ten minutes that feel tacked on for no good reason than to extend the runtime. I have not read the novel so I can't comment on whether it works better in that format but I didn't care for it at all in the movie. Mike Flanagan has been a hot name in horror over the last few years and to be honest I never understood why. I think the majority of his directorial work is passable at best and some I just plain didn't care for. GERALD'S GAME is my favorite thing he's done so far even with the ending scene that I don't care for.

This is where the train came off the rails and our day went downhill fast. Often times I get curious about a movie even when it looks like absolute shit and I remain curious about it, at least mildly, until I see it. That's the case with LIGHTS OUT, a feature film based on the director's short film of the same name from a couple years prior. This movie involves a ghost that is haunting a woman and her family that can't enter the light but in the darkness and shadows is quite dangerous. This movie was awful. The backstory to the ghost is shit and doesn't even make sense when you really think about it. It only exists when the woman let's it exist in her mind which would suggest it's merely a psychological thing with the mother but the ghost physically manifests itself and harms people so it obviously isn't just a product of the woman's mind. Except it is? And throughout the entire movie as soon as it enters the light it simply vanishes but at a key moment during the climax the kids shine a light on it and it begins to burn the ghost? Fuck off with your lazy continuity for the sake of convenience. LIGHTS OUT sucks eggs.

Changing things up a bit to hopefully lighten the mood and bring some fun back to the day we picked out another new Netflix production - LITTLE EVIL. This comedic take on The Omen features some spoofing on other classics such as The Shining and Ghostbusters among others and stars Adam Scott who is a pretty funny guy. Scott stars as a newly wed stepfather to a creepy young boy who looks just like Damien from The Omen and has all sorts of deadly and tragic events follow him. Eventually it becomes evident that his son is the antichrist and something must be done to stop him. Unfortunately I didn't find most of LITTLE EVIL to be funny. Most of the jokes fell flat and then some totally bombed when they were repeated later. The characters try their best to be funny but the writing just was not funny the majority of the time. The movie wasn't awful and I'd even say to give it a look if you're interested or intrigued by it because it might work for you. It's not awful and it was a step up from Lights Out but there's nothing funny about an unfunny comedy.

I'd happy watch Little Evil again if it meant I could wipe the memory of THE GALLOWS from my mind. Hell even Lights Out was better than THE GALLOWS. Fuck this movie filled with cookie cutter stereotypical douchebag high school characters. Fuck all of the awful generic found footage bullshit within. Fuck the stupid backstory about a boy that accidentally died from hanging in a school play in 1993 and taking his revenge from the grave on the son of the boy who called in sick to the play 1993 which put him in position to play that part. The twist sucks. The second twist sucks. The ending sucks. I won't even say I dislike the characters. I hated these characters. I wanted to cheer their deaths and demise so bad but it was all so weak and uninspired. If you can't tell that i hated this movie let me tell you again - FUCK. THIS. MOVIE.

Cult Epics To Release Death Laid An Egg On Blu-ray/DVD This November

DEATH LAID AN EGG Blu-ray/DVD Combo Releasing November 28, 2017

Arguably the most insanely idiosyncratic giallo ever directed, DEATH LAID AN EGG (1968) is a true wayward masterpiece of kaleidoscopic Italian counterculture cinema.  Directed by largely unsung iconoclastic auteur Giulio Questi (DJANGO KILL!, ARCANA) and starring legendary leading man Jean-Louis Trintignant (THE CONFORMIST) as a married man that may or may not be a serial killer, Gina Lollobrigida (John Huston's BEAT THE DEVIL) as his delectable yet overly domineering careerist wife, and Swedish blonde bombshell Ewa Aulin (CANDY) as his murderous double-crossing mistress, the film is the virtual giallo equivalent to Godard’s WEEKEND in terms of its crass car crash fetishism, savage anti-bourgeois sentiments, and overall anarchic spirit.  Set largely in a hi-tech automated poultry factory that breeds mutant boneless chickens.

DEATH LAID AN EGG is a socio-politically sophisticated avant-garde giallo that is more pertinent today than when it was first released in terms of its quite modern depiction of the battle of the sexes and the perils of technology. The original Italian “superbly edited” giallo version is presented by Cult Epics in High-definition and with new bonus features.

Italy . 1968 . Approx. 86 Mins. . Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 . Italian language with optional English subtitles . Color

DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround

Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

SPECIAL FEATURES

. HD presentation

. Original Theatrical Trailer

. Lobby Cards photo gallery

. Isolated Score by Bruna Maderna

Death Laid an Egg was part of our Indiegogo campaign. You can Pre-order the 3 disc limited edition still here, 70 copies left with Cult Epics HC book.

https://igg.me/at/cultepicsbook

Comet TV October Lineup - Robocop, Underground Horror And More!

AIRING ON COMET in October

YOU DON’T NEED A SUBSCRIPTION TO WATCH THESE GREAT MOVIES…

THEY’RE AIRING FOR FREE ON COMET!

ROBOCOP TRILOGY

Robocop (1987)

Robocop 2 (1990)

Robocop 3 (1993)

Friday, October 6

Starting at 8P/7C

Sunday, October 8

Starting at 2P/1C

Saturday, October 21

Starting at 10P/9C

Thursday, October 26

Starting at 4P/3C

NEW ON COMET IN OCTOBER

Andromeda

Classic Space Opera is coming to COMET! Based on materials from sci-fi legend Gene Roddenberry, Andromeda stars all action hero Kevin Sorbo as the Captain of the Andromeda Ascendant, a highly advanced ship whose crew is charged with restoring power and stability to the Systems Commonwealth. But, to succeed the Andromeda crew must battle one of sci-fi’s weirdest looking bad guys….the sinister Magog!

Weekdays at 2P/1C and 10P/9C

Stargate: Atlantis

If you thought gate-hopping action was fun in the Milky Way, just wait until you see what it’s like in the Pegasus Galaxy. Stargate: Atlantis sees a team of international scientists unlocking the secrets of a legendary ancient city, discovering a whole new stargate network in a whole new galaxy, and bringing them face to face with the Wraith, a powerful enemy who are best summed up with the term 'Evil Space Vampires'!

Weekdays at 3P/2C and 11P/10C

Underground Horror 

October, demons, blood guts and gore, that’s what the month will bring to viewers. Join COMET TV for a horror retrospective of some of the most ingenious films, sure to scare the most die-hard fans of the genre. From classics to contemporary, COMET TV has them all.

Airing daily throughout October, check schedule at CometTV.com/underground-horror

October Friday Night Movies

Friday Primetime Movie 8P/7C

Saturday Encore Presentation 8P/7C

Robocop (1987)

Friday, October 6 at 8P/7C

Real Genius (1985)

Friday, October 13 at 8P/7C

Lord of Illusions (1995)

Friday, October 20 at 8P/7C

The Silence of The Lambs (1991)

Friday, October 27 at 8P/7C

2017 October Horror Challenge Day 3

Today started with SAVAGE WEEKEND a movie I've gone back and forth thinking I've seen before. Well I hadn't. I don't know what I was thinking of but it wasn't this movie. SAVAGE WEEKEND is a sleazy backwoods slasher with some dull characters aside from William Sanderson who plays Otis and is fantastic in the role of an irritable, dumb as dog shit handyman. The movie has a few exciting moments but is a bit dull in the moments between them. The reveal of the killer isn't as clever as the movie thinks it is. It's okay but for a movie so sleazy it's hard to believe it wasn't more exciting.

The movie of the day was easily KILLING SPREE from Tim Ritter who is one of the kings of shot on video horror and he doesn't disappoint here. A hardworking man is getting crapped on at work, bills are piling up and now he finds out his wife is sleeping around with everybody that shows up at the house. He decides to get his payback and kill off every person she has written about in her diary in extremely gruesome fashion. The movie is good enough at this point for cheesy shot on video splatter fun but it became something really special when pure madness breaks out and the bodies return looking for their revenge. Campy as fuck, gory as shit, and hilarious at times as well. Loved it.

DEVIL TIMES FIVE wrapped up the day - an effectively creepy killer kids film. A group of kids and a nun survive a car wreck in the snowy mountains and trek to a secluded house inhabited by a wealthy businessman and his crew of associates on a vacation when the bodies start piling up the adults start to wonder about these strange children. This movie is fun because you can cheer for the children as just about every adult in this movie is an asshole aside from Ralph the caretaker. The child actors are solid and each has their own personality that works in a group setting and no two kills are the same. I wouldn't call it a classic but it's a worthwhile entry into the killer kid genre.

2017 October Horror Challenge Day 2

A few years ago Scott Schirmer created waves in the horror community with his super gory and fucked up horror film Found which I had mixed feelings about. It was definitely violent and gory and didn't care who it offended. The biggest let down for me was the acting which was pretty rough in spots. Today I watched his most recent release PLANK FACE which again goes for the throat with a violent backwoods horror film about a feral family that captures a man and leaves his girlfriend for dead and torture him and try to force him to join their clan. And that's the problem I have with the movie. The movie looks great, the performances are good and the special effects are good but I'll be damned if that man didn't go from modern 21st century man being held captive and tortured to totally giving in and devolving to this feral wild beast of a man. It happens so fast that it really ruined all of the things I liked about it.

From a disappointment to a pleasant surprise in FREAKS OF NATURE. This is a lighthearted, coming of age, horror comedy full of vampires, zombies, humans and aliens. Oh, and splatter. Lots of splatter. And riblets. And Dennis Leary, Patton Oswalt, Joan Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens being sexy. All of those actors are in supporting roles and are fantastic. Our leading trilogy Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis, and Josh Fadem have great chemistry. This movie is genuinely funny, charming and a great time dealing with high school life, shitty chemical food and aliens. Those asshole aliens. Learn to co-exist with your neighbors, even if they're zombies or vampires. Being a vampire isn't so bad. Imagine a The Breakfast Club getting tossed in to The Monster Squad universe and you'll get an idea of what's going on.

The day ended with THE BUTCHER POSSESSIONS, originally titled Beckoning The Butcher which is a much better title even if it makes little difference since we never see "The Butcher" or find out anything about it. The movie centers around an amateur ghost hunter vlogger who has just found a ritual online called Beckoning The Butcher that he's anxious to try so he rounds up his friends and they head out to a secluded house in the desert and try it. Of course it works and his friends end up possessed and disappear. Cut in about 20 minutes of interview footage with family members and people associated with the case and there's only about 50 minutes of actual movie and it's all pointless. These Paranormal Activity style minimalist have-nothing, do-nothing horror movies are so fucking boring and pointless and I wish they'd end. This movie isn't even that awful from a more technical point of view but this style of horror movie is bottom of the barrel crap and always will be. I wish filmmakers would invest their money in making something other than this found footage junk.

CULT OF CHUCKY - Blu-ray Review

USA/2017
Directed By: Don Mancini
Written By: Don Mancini
Starring: Brad Dourif, Fiona Dourif, Michael Therriault
Color/90 Minutes/Not Rated
Region A
Release Date: October 3, 2017
Blu-ray/DVD

The Film
Following the events of Curse Of Chucky Nica has been blamed with the deaths of everyone and has spent the last several years committed to a psychiatric ward. Now she has been put in a lesser security facility to continue her improvement but quickly things take a turn for the worse when the doctor introduces a Good Guy doll to the group therapy sessions as a tool and Tiffany Valentine shows up with a Good Guy of her own informing Nica her niece has passed away and left it to her. Toss in a dash of Andy Barclay and a third Good Guy doll and all hell breaks loose inside the hospital.

Four years ago Curse Of Chucky brought the Child's Play franchise back to its horror roots and was a pretty solid movie. CULT OF CHUCKY continues the revival of the series breathing some fresh ideas into the franchise while remaining a familiar Chucky movie that old fans will love. CULT brings in the some of the most violent and definitely the goriest death scenes we've seen out of the entire series while retaining the dark sense of humor that lets Brad Dourif's perfect voice work shine with Chucky's quippy asshole personality. Director Don Mancini makes great use of having multiple Chucky's running around and their interactions with each other are hilarious and exactly what you'd hope for. That is my favorite part of the film.

The cast, lead by Fiona Dourif who has returned as Nica, is great. She plays a great heroine stuck in an impossible situation fighting against multiple enemies including an abusive asshole doctor (Michael Therriault). Jennifer Tilly shows up for a handful of scenes and is effortlessly sexy and funny while maintaining her diabolical menace. The hospital setting is eerily sterile and somewhat claustrophobic as well. The blindingly white walls that surround the characters, including a snow covered exterior setting make for a beautiful background when the blood starts to fly and those white walls are a strong juxtaposition against the dark and heavily decorated office of the head doctor. CULT OF CHUCKY has a great design.

There's some things in CULT OF CHUCKY that don't make a ton of sense, mostly involving the multiple Chucky angle but it's easy enough to look passed that and simply enjoy the movie. It's violent and funny and funny and violent and sets up a couple different angles that the franchise can move forward with that would be a lot of fun to see play out. After Seed Of Chucky the Child's Play franchise was on life support but back to back films that bring the film back to its roots have it on the upswing and it's good to have Chucky back because I am a fan of this franchise and seeing it set up for continued success this deep in to its run is something I wouldn't have expected a decade ago.

The Audio & Video
As you'd expect, the Blu-ray release of CULT OF CHUCKY looks and sounds fantastic. Universal has given the film a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that has incredibly strong detail from the fabrics and plastics of the Good Guy dolls to skin tones and hairs that you can count the strands. The color palette features bright, sterile whites which allows the blood reds to pop even more. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix sounds phenomenal. The mix between dialogue and music is perfect and robust. Everything sounds crisp and perfectly clear with no background noise or distortions.

The Extras
-Audio Commentary with writer/direction Don Mancini and head puppeteer/producer Tony Gardner
-Deleted Scenes with optional commentary from Don Mancini
-"Inside The Inanity of CULT OF CHUCKY" - Behind the scenes featurette
-"The Dollhouse" - Cast and crew featurette
-"Good Guy Gone Bad: The Incarnations Of Chucky" - Featurette on the puppeteer work of Chucky

The Bottom Line
CULT OF CHUCKY is every bit as good as Curse and after these two films I'm back on board with the series after the trash that was Seed. It's scary and violent and perfectly funny in all the right spots. Flawed sure but a lot of fun and good enough to have me craving more of the Chuckster.

CULT OF CHUCKY is available HERE

2017 October Horror Challenge - Day 1

Hello dear readers! Another October is upon us and I hope you're all enjoying the fantastic fall weather (if you're lucky enough to have it) and that your 31 days of horror has started out with a winner! As you know October means the quest for at least 100 movies for better or worse. Somehow I've survived 8 years and move on to year 9 despite nearly throwing in the towel on the whole thing a couple years back. The fire is back (for now) and we're off to a strong start for day 1.

CULT OF CHUCKY is a direct sequel to 2013's Curse Of Chucky and takes a bit of a different turn from the rest of the franchise. We spend our time in a mental institute as Nica, the lone survivor from Curse, is going through treatment to deal with her experiences a few years prior where she's been blamed for murdering her family. Instead of one Chucky we get a handful of killer dolls running around as Charles Lee Ray has found a way to transfer his soul into multiple dolls at once. It doesn't make a damn bit of sense but it makes for some great interactions between the Good Guy dolls that were genuinely funny. This is one of the more violent and frankly fucked up movies in the series. Many of the deaths are gory (no yardstick beatings here), Chucky pokes fun at suicide, and there's decapitated possessed doll head torture. Not everything in the film works as it takes a bit to really get going, Tiffany Valentine's return to the series is a bit hamfisted and the movement on Chucky isn't great. Brad Dourif can still nail that voice though. There's a post credit scene that will have big fans of the franchise cheering and the whole thing leaves off on a note that could make for another follow up that's a bit different or leave things as they are for good.

I don't have a ton to say about INVISIBLE GHOST. It's a fine 40s horror film starring Bela Lugosi as Dr. Kessler who's home is being plagued by a series of mysterious murders that leads to an innocent being put to death. The man's brother arrives at the Kessler home to solve the mystery that may have something do with Kessler's wife who was left with brain damage after a car accident. This one isn't very interesting but has really great performances especially from Clarence Muse as the butler. It's decent but nothing particularly special.

After a day of absolutely terrible football I returned to the challenge with the 2013 documentary THE TRAIL OF DRACULA which takes a look at the origins of the character and his literary and cinematic presence and history. It features commentary from various experts and film critics, most notably to me Kim Newman, along with archival footage from Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee and others. It offers good information and spends a good bit of time on each point the film makes until we get to the modern post-Hammer era which is quickly glazed over at the end. Big Dracula fans may not find a ton of new information but it is well put together and it is definitely worth a watch.

Day 1 closes with the 1989 anthology film AFTER MIDNIGHT which starts out with a college professor showing his class the power of fear on their first day. After making the class asshole piss himself in fright his teaching methods come in to question so he invites the class to his home to continue with his anti-textbook methods and this is where the different stories start with three different students telling stories to bring out the fear in their classmates. These involve a surprise party going wrong and ending violently, a group of girls getting stranded in the wrong part of town and dealing with a derelict and his attack dogs, and a phone operator being stalked. I don't think any of these stories are amazing but I did enjoy each of them despite the one with the dogs running long and the phone operator segment being extremely predictable they all work in spite of their flaws. The wrap around segment works well to tie it all together in an original and meaningful way without being a throwaway segment meant simply as a way to get the other films introduced. It also gives us the film's most memorable scene even if it jumps the shark with a stop motion skeleton scene that enters total schlock territory. The finale in the professor's basement is also one that I don't think I'll be forgetting anytime soon.