Full Moon Features.

Isn't nostalgia a wonderful thing. I was remembering a lot of the movies from my childhood, and I really couldn't believe how many of them were movies either produced or directed by Charles Band.

I saw everything from Puppet Master to Arena (a Sci Fi boxing type of movie with some amazing alien special FX) to Robot Jox to Terror Vision (one of my favorites from when I was younger).

Even movies such as Re-animator, Castle Freak, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl a Rama were produced by this man .He has a fair few classic horror movies to his name, and with the advent of the new Puppet Master release (coming out October 9th) hopefully Full Moon will gain some new fans.

I thought I'd take the time to speak about some movies Produced/Directed by Charles Band. Having already covered Ghoulies, I'm not gonna go back there but I will start with a little Vampire movie directed by Ted Nicolaou.

Subspecies.

Now this is how vampire movies should be done. Radu has to be the most evil vampire I have ever seen. The character oozes pure malevolence. The original film follows three students who travel to Romania to study Romanian culture and superstition. Once there , they hear the tale of brothers Radu and Stefan, who are brothers at war. For what reason? I will leave that up to you, dear reader and believe me when I say, the Subspecies movies (there are four of them, and a spin off movie called Vampire Journals) are some of the best vampire movies I have ever seen. The beginning to the second movie alone is enough to entice any horror fan into the dark world of the evil Radu. Did I mention that Angus Scrimm of Phantasm fame is in the first Subspecies playing Radu and Stefan's father??Check out these amazing series of films!!

Demonic Toys.

This has to be one of my favourite Full Moon features of all time. Written by Blade scribe David .S. Goyer, this film really is a thrill a minute and the FX (handled by one John Carl Beuchler) are absolutely amazing. Two cops are sent to a warehouse to arrest arms dealers. A shoot out ensues and the wounded criminals run inside the toy factory. One of them bleeds on the floor, bringing some of the toys surrounding him to life and these toys certainly want to play, but not in a friendly way. This film is rather violent, with fingers being chewed off, shootings and a lot of other carnage.Definitely one to check out if you haven't got around to watching it.

Evil Bong.

This trilogy of movies is amazing. A trio of stoners and their new roommate are given a bong. When the stoners use the bong, the Evil Bong transports the user into the "Bong World" where even stranger things happen. This trilogy of movies is pure comedy and the first even has a lengthy cameo at the end by one Tommy Chong. Another amazing set of movies and one that'll definitely make you smile from ear to ear, whether you are cheering at the gore, the scantily clad women, the weed jokes or the cameos from other Full Moon characters (Ooga Booga from Doll Graveyard, Ivan Burroughs from Decadent Evil, Jack Attack from Demonic Toys, and even The Gingerdead man).
A really cool collection of horror comedies, and three movies that are deserving of a place in any horror fans collection.

Troll.

This film was released by Empire Pictures and was produced by the father of Charles Band, Albert Band, and was directed by John Carl Beuchler. Most memorable for featuring Phil Fondacaro as the titular villain of the piece and having a boy named Harry Potter as the trolls nemesis, this film is the only film I know to feature a singing mushroom and also the only film I know of where Sonny Bono gets turned into a giant plant. Again, this is an amazing movie, but one that has to be experienced so I wont be giving anything away in this short piece. But please do go ahead and check it out.

Trancers.

Another Charles Band directed movie. Trancers tells the story of Jack Deth who is hunting a criminal mastermind who has the power to make ordinary people do his bidding by turning them into Trancers. There is time travel, action and Tim Thomerson in this movie. There are five sequels to date and hopefully more to come as this is another amazing franchise from Full Moon Features.

That is only a small taste of what Full Moon Features have to offer. I urge you to go check out their website at fullmoondirect.com and see what else they have to offer.

Darkest regards......Dani.

Puppet Master X : Axis Rising.

Look at that poster!!!! The puppets are coming back, and I for one am excited as hell!!! This is just a quick post to let all of you who don't know (how could you not) that Puppet Master X: Axis of Evil is coming out very soon (October 9th) and here for all of your viewing pleasure, is the trailer for what looks to be the best Puppet Master movie yet!!!

And be sure to pre order your very own copy of the movie direcly from Full Moon direct by clicking here.

Darkest regards......Dani.

Killjoy goes to Hell.

First of all, I would like to thank Full Moon for sending me a copy of this to review, and secondly if you thought Killjoy's revenge was crazy, this one goes all the way up to eleven!

Killjoy is sent to hell and has his powers removed as his last victim managed to escape his clutches. Poor Killjoy. His attorney wants to be just like him, the prosecution (or D.A) is his ex girlfriend and it doesn't look like Killjoy is ever going to get out of hell again.

This is probably the greatest Full Moon movie I have seen in a long time. I was disappointed with Demonic toys II, and Puppet master: Axis of evil left a bad taste in my mouth (too much dialogue, and not enough puppet action) .

Trent Haaga yet again portrays the evil clown and truly shines playing the mad demon. Batty Boop, Freakshow and Punchy all return and try and help Killjoy out of trouble. It even features a British comedian I used to watch many years ago (and I still remember his theme song strangely enough) called Jim Tavare as the scribe of Satan.

In my not so humble opinion, Killjoy goes to hell is an incredibly enjoyable movie and for something that was shot in only seven days, it makes it all the more better.

I ask all of you to check this out and support Full Moon and all involved with this movie. It really does put a smile on my face knowing people are still making films this crazy.

You can purchase Killjoy goes to hell from Full moon direct by clicking here.

Darkest regards......Dani.

Cabin in the Woods.

What in the hell!!! Cabin in the Woods is an amazing film. Seriously, I haven't been blown away by a movie since, well, since yesterday when I watched The Raid. But in terms of horror movies, Cabin in the Woods definitely gets a huge thumbs up.

Funny thing is though, I bought it from my local Blockbuster. There is a guy in there who says he used to write for Gorezone uk, and he asks if I've seen the movie yet. I said no (I don't attend the cinema much) and he proceeded to tell me how much of a good film it was. He then tells me "It isnt a horror film". I look at him puzzled. "It's a Sci Fi film" he says. I just smile, not wanting to disagree and taking into consideration his mentioning of Joss Whedon producing, so what did I expect (I think he managed to forget about a little TV series called Buffy the vampire slayer).

Having now watched the movie, I have no idea how he came to the conclusion its a Sci Fi movie. Now I do understand everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but seriously, have some basis for what your opinion is. There is no science involved in Cabin in the Woods. No robots, no aliens, no spaceships, not anything that could even be hinted at being Sci Fi.

This movie had it all. Laughs, zombies, werewolves, a giant mutant bat, even a sly homage to Pinhead from Hellraiser. Being a geek only made the experience more enjoyable as I was able to laugh at how things were happening, and all the knowing nods to the trappings of the genre we all love.

And the ending??? HELL YEAH!!! It wraps up the crazy final twenty minutes perfectly. All in all, a classic in the making. Go see it!!!!!

You can purchase Cabin in the woods from Amazon by clicking here.

Darkest regards......Dani.

The Nightmare on Elm Street movies.

 

 













As I have done already with the Friday the 13th movies and the Halloween movies, I'd thought I would give a small review/my opinions on each of the films in the Nightmare on Elm Street series.
I hope you find it interesting. As before, I will include the body count for each movie. Here goes...

A Nightmare on Elm Street.

As I have written a review of this movie in an earlier post, I'll keep this one short. The film isn't bad and both Robert Englund and Heather Lagenkamp keep the film ticking along at a brisk pace. The thing that didn't sit well with me was the ending. In fact, as I mentioned before, it kind of nulled my first experience of Freddy Krueger.

Body count:- 4.

A Nightmare on Elm treet part 2: Freddy's Revenge.

I can't say I enjoyed this one much more than the first, although I did feel Freddy was much more malicious in this movie and the FX impressed me, but I didn't like the fact it seemed to ditch the whole dream thing that made the first film so interesting/different. Also, for this movie Freddy loses his glove as the knives come from his fingers. The shot of Freddy before he walks through the hedge has always stuck in my mind though. He really does look like evil personified. Jessie has moved into the house that was previously occupied by Nancy Thompson, and he is having nightmares. Nightmares where a horribly burned man is asking Jessie to kill for him. As Jessie loses his grip on reality, strange things happen in the house and people begin to die.

Body count:- 13.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 3 : The Dream Warriors.

This was more like it. The dreams had returned, and with it Freddy became more humorous, cracking out some great one liners but still coming across as evil. The kills in this movie have to be seen to be believed as they use the dreams to great effect, something which hadn't been done previously and something which I don't think was ever achieved again. The battles between Freddy and the numerous dream warriors are a pleasure to watch, and I must say this is one of my favorite Elm street movies. We join a group of teenagers in a mental institute, all of whom are dreaming of Freddy. Kristen has ability to bring people into her dreams, and as the other teenagers find their dream powers Freddy may have met his match in the teenagers and Nancy Thompson, who once again returns to battle Freddy Krueger.

Body count:- 7.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 4 : The Dream Master.

Amazingly, this was the first Elm street movie I ever watched so even though it isn't great, this movie always has a special place in my heart. The kills are enjoyable, there is humor and the movie does move along at a nice pace. I especially enjoyed the end battle between Freddy and Alice. There is also a very small cameo by Linnea Quigley. See if you can spot it. In this movie, Freddy is back and ready to take revenge on the people who finished him off in the previous movie while finding new prey. He doesn't count on a girl named Alice, who seems to be growing stronger with each death.

Body count:- 6.

A Nightmare on Elm Street part 5 : The Dream Child.

I have no idea what happened here, but in my opinion this is where the series went downhill. The movie is slow  the kills, save but one of them are unimaginative and it just seems like they ran out of ideas. Alice is pregnant and Freddy uses the sleeping child in a game will mean the death of a lot more teenagers. Can Alice stop him again??

Body count:- 3.

Freddy's Dead : The Final Nightmare.

Dear me. Not even a cameo by Alice Cooper can save this movie. It makes Freddy look like a clown, he has lost his fear factor by this movie (through no fault of Robert Englund) and it seems this movie was played for laughs. The body count is small too and all but one of the deaths are rather boring. Freddy has a child. He has managed to kill all of the Elm street children. Will he put down his glove or does he want to find a new Elm street to carry on his murderous rampage??

Body count:- 3.


Wes Craven's New Nightmare.

This is more like it. With Craven back in the directors chair, he manages to build on the myth of Freddy whilst also making him scary again. Gone are the one liners, gone is the comedy. In its place are jumps and scares galore. A true companion piece to the original Elm Street. Heather Lagenkamp is plagued by prank calls and her son is behaving strangely. Could Freddy be real? Or is it just a fan of the movies stalking Heather? After Part 3, this has to be my next favorite Elm street movie just for the sheer aura of evil Englund gives off as the new incarnation of Freddy.

Body count:- 4.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Remake).

I think I might upset a few people when I say I actually really enjoyed this movie. After reading Robert Englund's biography Hollywood Monster, I was looking forward to seeing who would don the fedora and glove for the remake. Jackie Earl Haley really made my skin crawl in this movie. He truly plays Freddy as a vile human being and while people complain about the way he looks, I thought he looked pretty damn cool. Ok, so it isn't a patch on the first 3 movies or New Nightmare, but in my opinion it beats the shit outta parts 4, 5 and Freddy's dead. Throw away your distaste for remakes, and give it a go. I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

Body count:- 4.

Darkest regards......Dani.

 

The Dentist ( 1996 ) .

A little seen movie, but one that I remember well from my younger years. This film had me cheering along with the insane Dr Feinstone and his obsession with cleanliness and his abhorrent distaste for decay.



Poor old Dr Feinstone. He spies his wife flirting with the pool cleaner, he sees an almost invisible stain on his shirt, his patients grow impatient with him, all making Dr Feinstone lose his grip on his sanity and making for a very entertaining horror movie directed by genre great Brian Yuzna (Bride of reanimator, Society, Return of the living dead part 3).

This movie contains something you don't tend to see much of in other horror  movies and that is mouth trauma. This film has it by the bucket load , from the first instance where Dr Feinstone makes a child's gum bleed, to severing his wife's tongue with a dentists drill, this film is a complete nightmare for anyone with a fear of dentists.

The humor is black, the gore and scares are all in the right place and the acting is amazing. Its not usual in my reviews that I comment on the people that star in these movies, but Corbin Bernsen plays Dr Feinstone amazingly, showing a man already suffering from some kind of mental disorder (his wife reminds him to take what I assume are anti psychotic pills) going into a downward spiral that leads to hallucinations and murder.

I was lucky enough to have a chat with Brian Yuzna a year or so ago, and asked him if he had any thoughts of returning to the dentist franchise as the sequel (titled The dentist 2) was left open for another movie, but he informed me that he no longer had the rights to The Dentist movies so can no longer do anything with the franchise he created (along with Dennis Paoli , Stuart Gordon and Charles Finch).

I advise any ardent horror movie fan, or just a casual movie fan looking for something that little bit different to try and track this amazing movie down and let Dr Feinstone free in their living rooms!!

You can purchase The Dentist from Amazon by clicking here.

Darkest regards......Dani.

Pieces.

Wow. And to think I thought I'd seen it all in a slasher film. This has to be one of the most brutal movies I have ever had the pleasure to watch. This film has it all. Bad acting, terrible dialogue, no character development and of course, gallons of the red stuff!!

The film begins with a small boy doing a puzzle of a naked lady (I had no idea such puzzles existed). In walks his mother, who then proceeds to hit the boy a few times and then instruct him to go fetch a plastic bag so they can dispose of said puzzle.



As the mother busies herself looking for more lewd objects, her little boy walks behind her and proceeds to swing an axe her way and hit her in the head a few times. Outside , a neighbor is trying to gain entry by repeatedly pushing the doorbell but there is no answer, so she phones the police who find the mothers dismembered corpse littering the little boys room, and the little boy hiding in a cupboard.

We then flash forward forty years, where the little boy is all grown up and after witnessing a girl skateboard into a large sheet of glass, he retains his thirst for blood and goes on a killing spree!!

This movie really is ludicrous in every sense of the word, from the anachronisms at the beginning of the movie (a touch tone phone and plastic bag in 1942) to the gory set pieces, this film is a laugh a minute and is definitely one of the best chainsaw killer movies I have ever witnessed.

There are also touches of Giallo about this movie, the killer wearing black gloves and the brutality of the murder scenes really do remind me of the Italian crime movies.

This film really does have to be seen to be believed. If you enjoy horror, can look past silly little things and have a laugh at something whilst also being shocked, then Pieces is definitely the film for you.

You can purchase Pieces from Amazon by clicking here.

Darkest regards......Dani.