Last Kind Words, 2012 - ★★★½

Last Kind Words, 2012 - ★★★½
REVIEWED

"Why don't you kiss me... its not a sin if I'm drunk"

City dweller Katie (Sarah Steele)

'Last Kind Words' is a pretty damned cool, slow paced supernatural yarn, set in a rural backwater. It follows 17 year old Eli (Spencer Daniels) who discovers that his neighbor Waylon (Brad Dourif) is hiding a shocking family secret, and that his dream girl Amanda (Alexia Fast) isn't all she seems.

Quality little picture, its the first feature from writer/director Kevin Barker that proves so long as you put in some effort, you don't need millions to make a good film. Visually sun drenched, aurally its soaked with delta blues and folk, plus the acting is solid throughout. What more can you ask for (I really enjoyed it) I'd liken it to an indie version of 'Lovely Bones'. I guess it'll be a touch slow for thrill seekers, but if you're in the mood for something a little more restraint, you could do far far worse than this.

[PRFR]
Brad Dourif making a low budget movie worth a shit, the quality delta blues soundtrack and lovely Alexia Fast skinny dipping.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Aftershock, 2013 - ★½

Aftershock, 2013 - ★½
REVIEWED

"Your going to hell..."

Escaped Criminal

Having recently shat upon the world the truly shambolic web series 'Hemlock Grove', Eli Roth steps in front of the camera for the equally shambolic Chilean gore soaked disaster romp 'Aftershock'. A vacationing American and his party get caught up in an earthquake while clubbing in Chili. As well dealing with the initial destruction, the groups got to deal with the aftershock, which include a gang of escaped criminals and the threat of a tsunami.

Such an atrocious 10+ million waste of celluloid, I doubt I'll catch a worse film for its budget for the remainder of this year. I seriously hope writer & director Nicolás López, along with with the rest of the cast+crew blew their budget on quality pharmaceuticals, because it doesn't look like it went into the film. Every character is an asshole, you're only too happy to see die. The first third feels totally wasted, sort of like a goofy 'Hangover' style vacation setup, including a Chilean Zach Galifanakis wannabe only with zero the charm. Then when the laughably bad earthquake hits, the film picks up a little, but the events tensions wasted when you meet the goofy premise of escaped women hungry prisoners. On the bright side the locations are beautiful, as are various members of the fairer sex within the movie.

[PRFR]
Cheering when the dreadful dancer Russel bowed out, highly possible his cameo was some local Chilean celebrity that western viewers wouldn't get the reference. In fact to be fair, in the films credit you never know when one of the key character's is about to get wiped out, which was a tad refreshing. And the final was pretty cool, a little reminiscent of the surfer movie 'Point Break'.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Lucky, 2011 - ★★½

Lucky, 2011 - ★★½
REVIEWED

"Are aphids the ones that bite the heads off their husbands"

Imaginary Friend

Light hearted romcom/thriller. Following a mild mothers boy and lady killing serial killer Ben (played by Tom Hanks jnr Colin Hanks). He's had a lifelong crush on his neighbor Lucy (Ari Graynor), only shes always spurned his advances until that is he wins 37 million dollars on the lottery. But can he keep the girl, the money and his killing hobby.

Very average comedy, theres slight Hitchcockian vibe that never develops enough to make it rise above being mediocre. I did sort of like both Ari Graynor as Lucy and Colin Hanks as Ben, but both their characters needed to have a nastier edge.

[PRFR]
Erm its not got much memorable, in fact I watched it yesterday and can't honestly remember an whole lot 24 hours later. Guess the all girl hot tub party with imaginary people stood out (shame about the bikinis).

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Windows, 1980 - ★★

Windows, 1980 - ★★
REVIEWED

"Open wide... arggghhoooOOOOOO"

Andrea (Elizabeth Ashley)

One hit blunder from legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis. In 1980 for the first and last time he stepped from behind the camera to direct Windows, a dubious low rent Rear Window plagiarizing thriller with lesbians.

Several of my all time favorite movies (ie Night of the Hunter, Electra Glide in Blue & The War Zone) are by single movie directors. Sadly the same can't be said for Windows, no wonder its been pretty much sat untouched gathering dust in Warners vaults all these years. Its the sort of cheesy thriller you'd expect from some straight to betamax company, I only wish MST3K's Joel or Mike would have riffed it.
[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
The only lesbian movie I've ever seen I wanted the woman (slightly aged Elizabeth Ashley) to keep clothed. Ohh and the rapist for hire.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Modus Anomali, 2012 - ★★

Modus Anomali, 2012 - ★★
REVIEWED

"Go back to the beginning"

Scratched into a corpses skin

'Modus Anomali' is an horror movie based in real time. It revolves around a man waking up in a woods suffering amnesia, while roaming around the area he finds little trinkets and notices helping him fill in his blank memories. Turns out he'd been on a family holiday in the area and is now in a race against time to save his two boys.

Pointless, ball-less Indonesian horror/thriller, that lacks its own identity. It feels like a substandard rip-off of several US horror movies. Oddly the thing it reminded me most of was the 360 game Alan Wake, only without the cool twilight zone tv stuff, mixed with that Coldplay video that was made in reverse. Filmmaker Joko Anwar who managed to score a bit of a cult hit in the west with his earlier movie Pintu Terlarang, no doubt got a cash up front distribution deal to make anything he pleased (and thats what he delivered, something to easily please English speaking viewers). Western horror fans don't want this, we want flying heads and demonic snake princesses, like Indonesia used to give us. Ohh and this letterboxd poster is far better than the grubby dvd cover image.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Crawlspace, 2013 - ★★

Crawlspace, 2013 - ★★
REVIEWED

"Enough of the fucking bio-babble."

Romeo (Ditch Davey)

Muddled horror tinged slice of claustrophobic science fiction. Set in a futuristic military bases passage sub system. A special task force is sent in to shut down a wayward military experiment with thought implanting and telepaths.

Dull substandard trite, that plays like a poor mans cross between Mimic and Scanners (theres even an head exploding). Acting is OK, the two central characters played by Amber Clayton and Ditch Davey are good, a couple of the other actors performances don't fair so good. The creature and set design was also pretty good, infact visually it looked kinda similar to an episode of Doctor Who (though nowhere near as entertaining).

Originally taken from Letterboxd

The Caller (2011)

The Caller (2011)
Director: Matthew Parkhill
Writer: Sergio Casci
Country: USA Runtime: ● Soundtrack: Various
Cast: Stephen Moyer, Rachelle Lefevre, Luis Guzmán
Troubled divorcee Mary Kee is tormented by a series of sinister phone calls from a mysterious woman. When the stranger reveals she's calling from the past, Mary tries to break off contact. But the caller doesn't like being ignored, and looks for revenge in a unique and terrifying way.

Review Coming Soon...

Themes Included: ___ ● ___ ● ___
___ ● ___ ● ___ ● ___ ● ___

Cultdb Totals
[Rated _ out of 10 Good]
[Deathcount _]
[Gorequota _/10]
[Boobquota _/10]

Hide (2011)

Hide (2011)
Director: Jamison Brandi
Writer: Jamison Brandi, Jason Brandi
Country: USA Runtime: ● Soundtrack: Various
Cast: James C. Burns, Lisa Younger, Chrissy Anderson
Chesterfield High School basketball practice has ended. One year later the town is still reeling from the massacre of a brutal mischief night murder, but even the statewide curfew won't stop these teens from pulling pranks on Hallow's Eve. Susie Hauser, head cheerleader along with her teenage friends are lured by a psychopath to play a revengeful game of hide and seek on this anniversary night. For a high school senior and her friends, the childhood classic becomes a deadly game of survival. Who will play? Has one of their own turned on them? Who will hide and who will seek?

Review Coming Soon...

Themes Included: ___ ● ___ ● ___
___ ● ___ ● ___ ● ___ ● ___

Cultdb Totals
[Rated _ out of 10 Good]
[Deathcount _]
[Gorequota _/10]
[Boobquota _/10]

Territories (2010)

Territories (2010)
Director: Olivier Abbou
Writer: ?
Country: USA Runtime: ● Soundtrack: Various
Cast: Roc LaFortune, Sean Devine, Nicole Leroux, Cristina Rosato
A group of friends on their way back from a wedding in Canada are detained at a checkpoint at the US border; what starts off as a hassle deteriorates into a nightmare when it becomes apparent that their captors aren’t what theyare pretending to be.

Review Coming Soon...

Themes Included: ___ ● ___ ● ___
___ ● ___ ● ___ ● ___ ● ___

Cultdb Totals
[Rated _ out of 10 Good]
[Deathcount _]
[Gorequota _/10]
[Boobquota _/10]

Terror And Black Lace (1985)

Terror And Black Lace (1985)
aka: Terror y encajes negros
Director: Luis Alcoriza
Writers: Ramón Obón, Luis Alcoriza
Country: Mexico Runtime: 97 min Soundtrack: Various
Cast: Gonzalo Vega, Maribel Guardia, Claudio Obregón, CesarJaime Moreno
A woman is terrorized by a maniac in her own apartment building while wearing only black lingere.

Unfairly marketed as a sexy Mexican version of a giallo/thriller, its more domestic drama that just so happens to have an hair obsessed killer among its characters. Isabella is a bored housewife, tired of the way her husband is treating her, and the fact she feels he's imprisoned her in their apartment. While on a shopping trip against her husbands wishes she strikes up a none sexual relationship with another man. As their friendship grows she needs to decide if she wants to stick in her loveless marrage or leave. Meanwhile a man living in her appartment block is going around assualting women and stealing hair samples. On the night of Isabella's decission her crazy neighbor progresses from just beating up women to killing them, when he slaughters a maid. He then turns his attention on Isabella who needs to fight for her life

Poor attempt at a thriller, offering next to none the 'terror' of its title. For most the duration the film seems purely intent on showing us how attractive its lead actress Maribel Guardia is (even getting topless a few times). Shame then that they couldn't have made her more sexy or promiscuous. Unless your seeking a marital drama I'd avoid Terror And Black Lace at all costs.

Themes Included: Underwear ● Apartment Block ● Hair Fetish Killer

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4 out of 10]
[Deathcount 2]
[Gorequota 2/10]
[Boobquota 2/10]

Baby Shower (2011)

Baby Shower (2011)
Director: Pablo Illanes
Cast: Nicolás Alonso, Claudia Burr, Sofía García
Four ex classmates get together to celebrate the pregnancy of one of them. The venue chosen for the party is a country house located one hour away from the city.

Spanish thriller following five female friends gathering at a country estate, one member being pregnant. They're there to celebrate the forthcoming birth, but what starts like a serene weekend trip, turns nasty between the friends as they start to fall out among themselves and become bitchy. Things only go from bad to worse as one of the women becomes sick, another goes missing then one gets raped.

Flashy gore and a few good twists don't really save Baby Shower. Its far from bad but it just doesn't have enough charisma to stand out from the endless amount of like for like thrillers floating around. I'd skip it unless it surfaces in a DVD bargain bin or on cable.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 6 out of 10 Good]
[Deathcount 8]
[Gorequota 7/10]

Themes Included: Neck Hook ● Rape ● Crazy Newage Nut

Red State (2011)

Red State (2011)
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman
Set in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.

Three adolescents are lured to a trailer home on the promise they can get group sex with an older women. Only it transpires they've been set up by a crazed local preacher of a Christian fundamentalist sect known as the five point church. The sect is composed largely of members from the same extended family. Anyone the preacher deems as being a sexual sinner is killed. The teens only chance of survival, is a set of goverment agents, that have been called in to search the church on the grounds of them stock piling firearms.

Kevin Smith known more for his comedy films than anything of a more serious nature, delivers a real mixed bag of styles with Red State, it's a little bit of drama here, a little of survival horror there, then padded out with chunks of social, religious and political satire. For me it never really worked due to the childish almost tabliod news approach of its script, shares in tone the same over sensationalized approach of Natural Born Killers but did not succeed nearly as well. Another of the problems for me is the films characters are all pretty unlikeable so it was hard really to take a stand, as to which side was actually right or wrong. Does have a couple of good performances by Michael Parks as the nutty constant hymn singing Richard Branson looking preacher and Kaylee Defer as a teen cultist trying to protect the churchs kids. I would not go out of my way to rewatch it, avoid or maybe grab a casual view when it airs on television.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 6 out of 10]
[Deathcount 13]
[Gorequota 5/10]

Themes Included: Zionist Government Agents ● Gun Seige ● Hostages
Crazy Christians ● Religious Sect ● Matricide ● Drugged Beer

ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011)

ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2 (2011)
Director: Robert Hall
Cast: Nick Principe, Thomas Dekker, Owain Yeoman, Brian Austin Green, Danielle Harris
The sequel to Laid to Rest, that brings back ChromeSkull, who barely escaped death in the first movie and is hell-bent on continuing where he left off... and forging a new path of terror and destruction.

Following directly on from the circumstances in the first film, a dubious police investigator finds Chromeskull barely alive needing extensive eye and facial reconstruction. At the killers side is what would have been his final victim, she somehow gets violently killed that same night even though Chromeskull is getting medical treatment. The story jumps forward three months and Chromey is back on his feet having been helped by a clandestine company, who plan on using the masked maniac as their own killing machine, even sorting him out with his own personalized cache of blades and weapons.

Sticking to the same formula that made the first film so successful, showering the viewer with an endless array of gory set pieces. Sadly they've not improved on the originals flaws, this being unsatisfactory character development and nonsensical plot. In fact Laid to Rest 2 adds an even more unbelievable feeling with the now obligatory use of quick edited cctv/phone/video camera footage. I am sure the simply amused Saw/Hostel type of horror buff will be ranking this as one of the horrors of 2011, and I will agree its nice to see really traditional FX of this caliber. I would have just liked to have some depth to the proceedings, actors who do not look uncomfortable on film and a director who can add tension and atmosphere between kills. If the producers could improve those areas, the third outing (which is hinted at after the final credits) would rank as a modern classic and not just successful fluff.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 6½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 12]
[Gorequota 9/10]

Themes Included: Chelsea Smile ● Masked Maniac ● Kidnapping
Stabbings ● Hostage ● Homicide Police

Blood Relations (1988)

Blood Relations (1988)
Director: Graeme Campbell
Cast: Jan Rubes, Lydie Denier, Kevin Hicks, Lynne Adams
A severely dysfunctional family gathers at a snow covered, isolated mansion in the winter. There the family members including the father, an arrogant surgeon who may have murdered his wealthy wife expose each others' secrets, with surprising results.

Newly wed Thomas alongside his wife Marie return back to his families mansion, that is owned by his rich brain surgeon father Andreas. Thomas aim's to murder him for his wealth. Only one hurdle stands between the young couple and the inheritance, Andreas lawyer has stated only one son gets the lot and he cannot share who that will be. So its either prove to Andreas that it should be theirs or kill the other brother Jack. Thomas persuades Maria to sleep with his father in the hope the excitement will be enough to take him out of the picture. Only Andreas is not as frail as he seems and has a truly shocking agenda lined up for his new daughter-in law.

Extremely odd and perverse Canadian movie, the plots muddled throughout but at least it's never predictable, especially the bizarre final. Marie 'Lydie Denier' really smolders onscreen, she has the chic of Audrey Hepburn and mystery of Isabella Rossellini all rolled up in one. Marie not only sleeps with the son his brother and father, she even strips naked and strokes the families dying grandfather. Some of the sexual encounters are forced, due to her being drugged. There is a real incestuous tone throughout the movie that becomes really weird when we reach the films headfuck of a climax. I'll be honest part way into the story I was expecting it to surface at some point that she was the sister, especially due to no women being in the house. Blood Relations isn't that obvious and will pull the carpet from under most viewers feet. I'd never really known of the director Graeme Campbell before, it came as a shock when I found out he'd gone from sleazy shit like this to kids TV stuff, like Degrassi Street and Blake Holsey High. Damn now I've gotta rank it and it's really hard, the ending and sleaze factor would deserve a high score, yet the overall film and messy plot would probably be in the low to mid range. Worth seeking out, if you are after exploitation add 2 to the rank, if you want a well paced thriller take away 2.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 6½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 2]
[Gorequota 4/10]

Themes Included: Inheritance ● Family ● Father to Son

Ring of Darkness (1979)

Ring of Darkness (1979)
aka: Un ombra nell'ombra, Satan's Wife
Director: Pier Carpi as Peter Karp
Cast: Anne Heywood, Lara Wendel, John Phillip Law, Irene Papas
Occult Euro oddity.

The film starts with a group of satanic cultists dancing and stripping while a female voice gives us a bit of a monolgue. "It started that night, when we subbmitted to him we call our lord, and surrenderd our bodies to his will. We were young and dreamed of the power he'd bestow on us, a power that would raise us above the normal run of humanity. Was not long before we relized the price we'd have to pay was a terrible one, that would involve not only us but our children as well" Turns out the speech is from a former cultist who suspects her 13 year old daughter Daria as fallen under the control of the former cults leader whose possibly lucifer himself. He uses her to exact his revenge on members who betrayed him.

No doubt made as a quick cash-in as a response to the horror hits of the time like The Exorcist and The Omen though the director claims otherwise saying it was based on a novel he wrote in the 60's and similarites to those 2 films was due to studio pressure. That said ripoff or not this is fun low budget supernatural nonsense fron Itally. Lara Wendel (Tenebre/Maladolesenza/Perfume of the Lady in Black/Ghosthouse) who plays the devil girl Daria is fantastic in her evil role. The soundtrack is awsome too and was re-hased for the film Pieces. My only real complaint was due to it being harder to find than gold dust (unreleased in a worthwhile version since the early 80's, possibly due in no small part to the brief under age nudity of actress Lara Wendel who was born in '65, Rings Of Darkness was filmed back in '77 making her only around twelve) which meant I had to suffer a 2nd generation vhs transfer to dvd that got released in the US as Satan's Wife. The ending offered the chilling scene of Daria walking towards the vatican, that hinted at a possible sequel which sadly was never made. Theres much speculation about the various runtimes/cuts on the European vhs's as well, with some fans claiming there could be prints exisiting upwards of 100 minutes, when it was submitted to the Italian censors in '79 it was listed as being 91 mins the vhs releases in existance are around 84-87 minutes mark, so whats missing is pure speculation. After finishing directing this in October 1977 Pier Carpi started shooting a film called 'IL Mago e La Svastica/The Wizard and the Swastika' with many of the Ring Of Darkness cast alongside Max Von Sydow but it was never finished or released and he never got to direct again. It's hard to recommend and say I enjoyed this without looking like someone who defends the use of naked youngsters on film, being a father myself is something of course I would never try and defend. But putting that thorny issue aside, it must be noted that the rest of Ring is without a question one of the best supernatural Eurosleaze movies I've seen.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 7 out of 10]
[Deathcount 5]
[Gorequota 2/10]

Themes Included: Black Magic ● Teen Shower ● Devil Worship
Nudity ● Classroom ● Weird Dreams ● Witchcraft ● Nude Catfight

Shadow Of Illusion (1970)

Shadow Of Illusion (1970)
aka: Le Ombre Roventi, Hombre Violento
Director: Mario Caiano
Cast: William Berger, Daniela Giordano, Krista Nell
Euro thriller.

A model Gail Bland is ordered to travel to Egypt for a promotional job with a company named Isis Cosmetics. Soon after arriving she learns the company isn't real and that she's been summoned due to her likeness of a cults goddess named Isis. Thankfully Mrs Bland isn't on her own and she's helped by a man named Caleb, only there's more to her helpfull stranger than it seems.

Occult Italian thriller, that is no wonder to me that its been practically unseen for decades. The premise is good but there's too many pauses in its action and the central plot, not even the added spice of seeing Daniela Giordano and Krista Nell in a lesbian embrace adds enough to warrant viewing. I'm sure drug movie film fans will be slightly interested in the use of doped cigeretes. Which leads me to an interesting bit of trivia I'd found on fantastic thewildeye blog concerning two of the films cast William Berger and his then wife Carolyn Lobravico a short time after filming this during the night of August 4th in 1970 they was both arrested for hashish possession by the Neapolitan police, and sent to a criminal lunatic asylum. In the October, Carolyn had died of acute peritonitis brought on by hepatitis while still incarcerated, the government refused her medical treatment. Claiming they had thought her terrible pain was due to drug withdrawl, Berger was left in prison until March the following year. Really sad case that goes to prove the old adaj that celebrity life isn't all its cracked up to be. Anyhow to some it up Shadow Of Illusion could have been an interesting Wickerman type look at occult cultists, but sadly it never hits the nail on the head. I personally found it boring and would be hard pushed to truthfully recommend it, even to the most die hard European sleaze fan.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 5]
[Gorequota 2/10]

Themes Included: Pagan Cult ● Egypt ● Sacrifice