1408 (Widescreen Edition)

Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom

Starring: John Cusack & Samuel L. Jackson

Ah, the fabled haunted house movie, centuries old and yet still as effective as ever at scaring the living piss out of its audience.

It just so happens that they’re my Achilles heel, I’m a fairly jaded mofo but a total sucker for a good scary movie.

And if their’s one person who knows how to freak you out it’s Stephan King, but let’s face it, the success rate of Stephan King adaptations is oh-so-very far from optimistic. The laundry list of bad adaptations is as long as Pai Mai’s beard, Thinner, The Langoliers or the mother of all bad King adaptations, The Mangler come to mind.

But once in a blue moon one comes along that isn’t half bad and some even go so far as to be good, think The Shining, Carrie, Christine and now 1408.

After his daughters death, writer/paranormal investigator Mike Enslin (John Cusack) became obsessed with the afterlife, after years of failed searching he no longer believes (yeah I’m quoting parts of the trailer, so what), a postcard from The Dolphin Hotel comes to his mail with the words “Don’t enter 1408” so of course he books a night at The Dolphin and requests Room 1408.

The Hotel Manager, Jerold Olen, (Samuel L. Jackson) informs Mike of the rooms infamous past and the fifty-six deaths that occurred in the room, but after repeated request and attempts to scare Mike from his plans Mike presses onwards and takes his first step into 1408.

Bad shit starts happening, at first things are moved, but then Mike begins to hear things, then see things and before long the room enters full fledged fuck with your mind mode and goes buck wild in an attempt to drive Mike over the edge and into a world of insanity.

1408 is one of those rare movies that affects you in places that few others can get to, it’s not that it’s scary, because in all honesty there isn’t much more in the way of scary then a few very effective jump scares, the way 1408 affects you is in its endless sense of dread that it instills in you.

It has a claustrophobic quality to it in the same vein of Alien and The Descent, that grows on you. When I left the theater after watching 1408 I had this nervous feeling of unease that stuck with me long after I hopped in my car and drove home.

Its effect is achieved simply by being simplistic, it’s one room in which takes place what is essentially a one man movie, which brings me to John Cusack who plays the part of Mike Enslin to a tee, spiraling into insanity quite nicely, though he does borderline on over the top but for the most part he stays solid.

As mentioned earlier, Stephan King adaptations have a high mortality rate if you know what I mean, one possible explanation is that the filmmakers don’t keep the stories essence in mind when doing their adaptation, this is not the case with 1408, it looks, feels and almost smells of King, it’s all there, the manic obsession to detail, the rich and potent mythical world and the all to familiar spiral into a personal hell that has become a staple of many Stephan King stories makes this undeniably king.

SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The biggest slice of negativity that I can dish out is the ending, it’s not that it’s a bad ending, it’s just not a very good one either. Though kind of creepy in its own way it felt somewhat anti-climactic and unfulfilling.

It would have been better if it was more of an ambiguous ending where Mike realizes he’s still stuck in the room and nothing he does will help him, it’d be a downer ending but hey, it worked for Se7en.

END THE SPOILING

1408 is a fresh, tightly packed and nicely paced movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat without the use of excessive violence or gore, proving, in an age where gran-guinol rules over all, that it can still be done, and done well.

4 out of 5

-Danny Price
SUPPORT ICONS-BUY IT AT AMAZON.COM!

Posted by dannyp at 01:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Blood Shed

Alan Rowe Kelley has written and directed (and stars in) my favorite horror-comedy since Troma's “Terror Firmer”. Working with a troupe of local horror filmmakers, Kelly has made this the kind of campy, rude, punk rock horror film that we haven't seen since heyday of the New York based splatter films of the late 80's. From the opening shots of Alan Rowe Kelly skipping down the side of a road wearing a plaid babydoll dress, toting along a dead squirrel nailed to a board I knew this would be one I could sink my teeth into.

The film concerns the Bullions, a family of retarded, cannibalistic, in-bred nutjobs living in the backwoods of New Jersey (I know I've seen this family at Six Flags). Alan plays the adorably demented Beefteena Bullion, a “Baby Jane” type character (and also very reminiscent of Fanny from “American Gothic”). Along with her kin Butternut (Joshua Nelson), Sno Cakes (Susan Adriensen), Hubcap (Mike Lane) and Papa Elvis (Terry West), the Bullion family commits various crimes against humanity. These include tearing 12 year old boys apart in a game of tug-o-war, holding a journalist (played by Michael Gingold, managing editor of Fangoria Magazine) hostage in a rabbit cage. Take the gross-out, tongue-in-cheek vibe of an early John Waters film mashed up with “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” and you've pretty much nailed the mood of “The Blood Shed”.

However, what separates “The Blood Shed” from the half-past a dozen other movies that have tried the over-the-top horror comedy routine is the real talent behind, and in front of, the camera.

Alan Rowe Kelly never lets this movie fall flat for a moment, and keeps it briskly paced and well-timed for comedy from start to finish. A film like this can and will often exhaust it's audience once the novelty of the humor and the camp wears off, but because the writing is clever, the direction efficient, and the acting excellent it never wears you down.

Well, you know the interesting thing about this movie, and this isn't to knock the people working really hard making independent horror, is that it just moves so well. A lot of these movies we get to see are so boring.

A DVD arrives and half the time I look at the cover and don't even want to watch it, and when I do I have to look at the whole thing in fast-forward. I'm just loved how Alan Rowe Kelley managed to take the tired crazy family premise and actually have fun with it. And he's hilarious in it.

I've seen a few of Josh Nelson's other films, he's a great actor, I've seen him do all different kind of roles over the past few years. I'd never seen Susie act before, but she's got a great energy to her as well, Terry is great, and Mike Lane is just so bizarre in it. I liked how they all went for something different. It adds dimension to the film. There's plenty of scenery chewing, “camp-it-up” moments available for the actors in this film, but they also know how to hold back just enough to make their performances funny, demented but never annoying.

Hillbillies, terrible things happening to children, innocent frogs, journalists, cops, and fashion photographers? Well directed? Well shot? Hell yes, it is. And it's a solidly twisted, gory, retarded good time. I can't wait to see what's next from Alan Rowe Kelly.

The DVD also includes a trailer, actors bios, and great commentary track featuring Kelly, director of photography Bart Mastronardi, actors Catherine O'Sullivan and Jerry Murdoch.

The Blood Shed-BUY IT AMAZON.COM!

Posted by Mike C at 01:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

 

This was actually one of the more well thought out Independent movies I have seen in some time. The concept behind the film was well laid out. The acting wasn’t bad nad they managed to find some nice scenery in which to film. It is a shame that the box art for the DVD isn’t a little better laid out, as the lackluster cover will divert some viewers who aren’t familiar with the film.

            The film is set around a college campus and a group of students that are filming their own slasher film. The director of the film has a website and on that site he keeps posting information about the yet starlets, aka students, he is using in the shoot. The problem is, that every time he posts a girl on the site, she ends up dead. That is until the killer comes up against Martha King. She is a student who wanted nothing to do with the film, but ends up challenging the killer over the Internet and in the press thinking that this will make him back off.

            Like a seasoned writer, Kevin Campbell fills his story with twist and turns. There is plenty of misdirection and indications of who the killer is, but in the end he does a masterful job of disguising the culprit. The effects leave a little to be desired; even for a low budget film and the shot selection needs a little work as well. Considering this is only his second film, I think it is quite the achievement.

Posted by Myk at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

HATCHET: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT DVD

If you’ve frequented this or any number of other horror related websites, it’s safe to assume that you’ve heard quite a bit about Adam Green’s directorial debut, HATCHET. For the full details on the movie itself, you can check out our original FIRST LOOK review HERE, but to briefly summarize – HATCHET is about a small group of people that take an ill-fated boat tour into the swamps of Louisiana, only to get stranded and stuck in the remote portion of the woods that also double as the haunting grounds for Victor Crowley, a horribly deformed legend that literally tears anyone apart that crosses his path! Boasting a cast of fun and humorous characters, as well as some imaginative and over-the-top gory kill sequences, HATCHET offers up straight-forward “old school horror”. Now, by “old school”, Green himself points out that his goal was to simply re-capture the fun spirit of the “slasher” films we all collectively grew up on. Think of HATCHET as a FRIDAY THE 13th sequel if the characters were all relatable, hilarious and fleshed out. Add the type of kill sequences that were often cut out of films of that sort, and you’ve got HATCHET. Let’s take a nice, extensive look at what the DVD for HATCHET has to offer!

The Unrated/Uncut version of the film: For the few of you that caught this in its theatrical release, rejoice! Every single one of the kill sequences are fully restored here to their complete, bloody glory. Surprisingly, the R cut wasn’t drastically that cut down, but you will notice an extra couple of seconds on each kill that add just a tad more punch, and an nice extra spurt of blood. The most noticeable is the kill in the cemetery, which on top of pulling the arms off of one character, now ends with the same character getting his head smashed against a mausoleum. Ouch! Again, the movie isn’t anything new or groundbreaking for the horror genre, but it never attempts to be. It’s just been so darned long since we’ve HAD a movie like this in theaters. And every time I caught it in theaters, it played fantastically with a full on, rowdy audience. My recommendation is to pick up this DVD, invite over a dozen friends, break out some beers and enjoy. Your thirst for humor, nudity, a monster and gore will be quenched in full.



The Making of HATCHET: Adam Green and his crew have this amazing ability to immediately make you feel like you’re a part of the HATCHET family. Seriously, as soon as you start watching the making-of featurette that leads off the disc’s extras, you can’t help but feel as if Green is one of your old childhood buddies finally getting the chance to make the horror movie he’s been talking about for so long. This featurette covers the whole journey right from the beginning. From the crew’s move to their first ever production office, to Green talking on the phone with Robert Englund for the first time, to the actual production, all aspects on the making of the film are covered and it feels like you’re watching a friend’s personal home videos. He defied a lot of odds just to get the film made, and then once on set, you can sense (and witness) the overall excitement & enthusiasm of everyone involved. (It’s contagious! Even to us, the viewer at home.) You can’t help but smile when Green gets giddy and starts cheering after every take as if he’s at a rock concert. You’ll definitely have a new-found appreciation for the movie the next time you screen it after meeting all the wonderful, genuine people involved in its creation.



Meeting Victor Crowley: We’d heard from several of our interviews with the cast that Kane Hodder (HATCHET’s Victor Crowley) really, really gets into character. So much so that he refused to let anyone see him in the make-up until the cameras were rolling to help capture all of the actor’s initial reactions. Well, we get to see all those stories for ourselves in this featurette via candid on-set footage. And sure enough, Hodder is bundled up like little Flick from A CHRISTMAS STORY as he coordinates stunts. Then he hides out and a mere few moments before Green shouts out “action”, we can hear Hodder yelling, growling and grunting in the background to get into character while the cast nervously pace back & forth awaiting the inevitable appearance of their on-screen killer. At one point, Kane even makes Joleigh Fioreavanti cry from fear of him! And later on, we get to witness Kane pulling practical jokes on everyone in the cast. (There’s one in particular pulled on Mercedes McNab, with a little help from Joel Moore, which is hilarious!) I’m sure it must’ve sucked to be an actor at the mercy of Hodder and Green’s humor, but watching this in retrospect must be as much a blast for the cast as it is for us!



Guts & Gore: Here’s a nice featurette discussing in great details all the kill sequences of the film and how they were executed and pulled off. It starts out with everyone recounting their personal favorite “kills” and even covers the on-going on-set debate weather a gas powered belt-sander could actually be feasible. This is the featurette where John Carl Buechler gets giddy with the gags he was able to let loose for and gives some much-deserved credit to the film's FX crew.



Anatomy Of A Kill: The Anatomy Of A Kill featurette focuses on the creation and execution of one of the films most memorable sequences, the jaw-rip kill. Green starts out by demonstrating how the scene would be shot using a Brittany Spears doll and a KISS action figure (Gene Simmons subbing as Victor Crowley for the purposes of this reenactment). It follows through to Will Barratt in the production offices explaining how they’re going to pull off the shot practically. And then ends with us seeing them film the shot, and put it all together. It’s a swift look at how an idea comes together and becomes a reality.



A Twisted Tale: Ah, the infamous Dee Snider story! If you’ve ever been to one of Adam’s convention appearances or checked out his interviews, he often shares this heart warming story about the friendship he’s developed with his childhood hero Dee Snider over the course of becoming a filmmaker. Here, it’s told in his own words, but with the added bonus of getting Dee’s perspective on the whole relationship. It’s actually quite surprising, because in the same way that Snider was a huge influence and inspiration to Green, it seems that Green also did the same for Snider in these past few years. They now hope to work together in the future. People should get a kick out of this featurette.



Gag Reel: Ah, the first gag reel that literally features gags! Sure, there’s the usual flubs and mess-up’s we’re used to from the typical gag reels, but this also offers Joel Moore attempting to make himself puke numerous times for the sake of his “art”! Check out our interview with Joel where he explains the “vomit story”. (Or just enjoy it in all its glory for yourself here on the DVD!)



Audio Commentary: Commentaries are always hit or miss. Depending on who’s involved and what they feel like opening up about. My favorite commentary of all time is the one on the EVIL DEAD 2 DVD, mainly because Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell are joking up a storm, sharing fun tid-bits and making sure to point out every terrible mistake they left in the movie. This is almost on-par with that wonderful commentary track! It starts out with Green and HATCHET’s cinematographer Will Barratt laughing, because in typical HATCHET fashion, the transformer to the building where the commentary was being recorded blew and they lost all power. They explain that thanks to Barratt’s “MacGyver skills”, they’re getting power threw a series of extension chords that Will’s rigged to his car battery. It’s a pretty hilarious way to open a commentary, but also keeps in the spirit that these two will do anything to keep the show going! And after about 15 minutes, they do luck out and get power restored. Shortly after, the pair are joined by stars Joel Moore, Deon Richmond and Tamara Feldman. While the group genuinely seems proud of the film and are having fun recounting various stories about the production, Green can’t help but point out every flub, mistake and cheat that’s on screen, which makes for an honest, candid and educational commentary track.

Added Bonus? Trailers for both HATCHET and Adam Green/Joel Moore’s follow-up film SPIRAL. Judging from the trailer to SPIRAL, it definitely looks more in the vein of a Hitchcockian style thriller. Having two completely different types of horror movies on his resume in the span of the year prove that Green is definitely a filmmaker for us to keep our eyes on.



All in all, look… I love this movie. I love all the features on this disc. And by God, I even enjoyed the commentary. This one is definitely worth buying and deserves to be added to your ever-growing horror DVD library! –Robg.

 

Posted by RobG at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hostel - Part II (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Unrated

Directed by: Eli Roth

Staring: Lauran German, Bijou Phillips, Heather Matarazzo, Vera Jordaniva, Roger Bart & Richard Bergi

Say what you want about Eli Roth but the man sure as hell knows how to get people talking. He was the new hot shit director with his first feature Cabin Fever, his second step up to the plate was with Hostel, which stirred up a shit load of controversy after its release and now with his sequel to Hostel, Hostel: Part II, he garnered enough infamy for even the UK parliament to try and ban his ass!

Hostel: Part II focuses this time on both a group of four women (German, Philips, Matarazzo and Jordaniva), who have been lured to the infamous hostel with the promise of a spa getaway, as well as a pair of jaded businessmen (Bart and Bergi) who have paid to kill said babes.

The DVD boasts itself to be an ‘Uncut Version with extra footage not seen in cinemas’ but I didn’t have the luck to actually see it in cinemas so I guess that doesn’t make me the best person to judge that statement. That being said, wow is there a lot of blood in this, not only is there liberal amounts of the red stuff but the actual kills themselves are insanely grotesque. Eli’s skills as a director have advances by leaps and bounds since the first Hostel, but that’s for the films review, and this is all about the DVD.

So let’s get into the nitty gritty of this biatch.

Just as the movie itself is packed full of the good stuff, so is the DVD, Eli knows how to please his fans. Just like the first Hostel’s DVD release, Hostel: Part II’s comes with not one or two commentaries but a grand total of three audio commentaries.

The first is with director Eli Roth, executive producer Quentin Tarantino and associate producer/resident brother, Gabriel Roth, the thing I love most about this one is that it’s a bunch of geeks sitting around talking about a movie they made (well, kinda, I think Quentin takes a bit more credit then is due), Quentin is, as usual, full of film references and is funny as hell to listen to.

The second commentary is all Eli’s, Eli, just like Quentin, seems to be one of those directors I could listen to talk about movies all day, he doesn’t double dip with the endless production info he spouts.

In the third and final commentary, Eli is joined by the cast members Lauran German, Vera Jordanova and Richard Bergi. Bergi be funny, that’s all you need to know.

‘Hostel: Part II: The Next Level’ is making-of documentary from Eli’s brother, Gabriel Roth, just like the first Hostel’s making-of, ‘The Next Level’ goes through the films entire production, it’s a thorough, candid and highly entertaining documentary, a rarity on DVD’s nowadays.

‘Hostel: Part II: A Legacy of Torture’ is an interesting and in-depth documentary on the history of torture and torture devices, like the discovery channel only not boring or full of animal porn.

Also included on the disc are two short featurettes, one called ‘The Art of KNB Effects’ which, as you’d expect, covers the superb work of Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger, everything from cuts and gashes to how to make an edible cock!

‘Production Design’ is a walkthrough and detailed look at the sets, locations and models used in the film.

“The Treatment’ is a 25 minute audio interview with Eli, honestly, after the commentaries and the documentaries, the stuff talked about here feels stale and a bit ‘been there, done that’.

Finishing the disc off is a blooper reel which isn’t half bad and a foursome of rather unexpected trailers, Walking Tall: Lone Justice, Pumpkinhead 4: Blood Feud (…okay), Vacancy and, get this, Spider-man™ 3, yes that’s right Spider-man trademark 3.

MOVIE: 3.5 out of 5

DVD: 4.5 out of 5

-Danny Price

BUY IT ON AMAZON.COM

Posted by dannyp at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editors Note: Reviews from Danny Price will be referring to the Region 4 DVD and the DVD in your region may not have all the special features available in this review. Like 'em? Get a Region-Free DVD player. Worth it!

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE aka Day of the Woman

Special Edition (R4)

Directed by: Meir Zarchi

One of exploitation cinemas greatest achievements, I Spit on your Grave is a disturbing and unrelenting tale of rape, brutality and bloody revenge.

I Spit on your Grave is the story of Jenifer Hill an aspiring writer working on her first novel.

She soon comes to the attention of four sick motherfuckers repeatedly gang raping her, beating her into a bloody pulp and leave her to die, but she doesn’t die, she strikes back, and one by one she gets her revenge.

Despite the endless controversy that surrounds this movie it’s not a bad movie, god knows its damned effective, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so dirty after watching a movie. The rape is gritty and realistic to the point of almost being rape porn or the rape equivalent of snuff.

Exploitation cinema has been getting a shit load of attention in recent years, previously uber-rare movies have found their way to the mainstream thanks to the magic of DVD, Cannibal Holocaust, Thriller: A Cruel Picture, fuck even the Guinea Pig movies have been re-released on DVD.

Until recently I Spit on your Grave was banned in Australia for over 17 years, the lifting of its ban could only mean one thing…a special edition release baby.

Completely uncut? Hmmm…I dunno about that, sure the movie shows some of the most graphic rapes that I’ve ever seen but I’ve seen copies labeled 105 minutes long, and this one only has a 97 minute run time so I’m not sure the advertising bastards behind this one have their cappuccinos made just right.

This ‘Special Edition’ features a magnificent transfer of the film, it’s so clean it’s hard to imagine what it used to look like.

On top of a clean and crisp transfer we get the original Dolby soundtrack and also a new 5.1 channel soundtrack, which kind of seems pointless for a movie that doesn’t have a score and doesn’t have need for surround sound but hey, I’m not complaining.

First up we get two audio commentaries, the first is with the man responsible for this sick piece of sadistic joy, Meir Zarchi, who manages to keep what could have been a dry 97 minutes, interesting, he’s informative and sometimes very amusing despite being hard to understand sometimes (damn you foreign filmmakers).

The second commentary is manned by none other then Joe Bob Briggs, who defends the movie like it’s his own child, not only does he put up a good fight but he’s funny as fuck to listen to.

Next is a slew of advertisement material; three theatrical trailers, three TV spots and three radio spots, some of which are from when the movie was titled Day of the Woman. A poster art and VHS covers gallery is also included, it shows off some of the cool looking cover art from back in the video nasty days and some rare foreign art.

Also included are a number of extremely interesting articles and reviews from back when it was originally released, they’re split into two ‘US & UK Reviews and Articles’ and ‘Australian & NZ Reviews and Articles’, most of the stuff is about the controversy which surround it.

Rounding the disc off is a set of filmographies for the actors (most of whom didn’t work again), there’s also a photo gallery which is made up of mostly production stills but there are one or two behind the scenes pictures, nothing to get too excited about and lastly is an interesting something from Meir Zarchi calls ‘Who is this kid?’ which is about a picture of Meir with an ANZAC soldier (that Australian-New Zealand Army Corps) when he was 4.

And I quote: “…these folk from Downunder were the friendliest and most warm-hearted people that ever walked the face of the earth.”

*Sniff* I think my Aussie pride meter just rose a bit higher.

MOVIE: 4 out of 5

DVD: 3.5 out of 5

-Danny Price

BUY IT ON AMAZON.COM!

Posted by dannyp at 03:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Night of the Living Dorks

Not as much a horror film as it is a hilarious comedy featuring teenage zombies, Night of the Living Dorks is about three German high school students Philip (Tino Mewes), Konrad (Thomas Schmieder), and Weener (Manuel Cortez) as being three of the biggest losers at Friedrich Nietzsche High. Going along with most cliche' high school comedies, Night of The Living Dorks plot involves Philip, the main character as being madly in love with Uschi, the most beautiful and popular girl in the whole school played by Nadine Germann.
As a desperate attempt to win Uschis affection, Philip goes about recruiting his gothic classmates to perform a voodoo love spell attended by Philip and his friends. When the ceremony goes completely awry the consequences result in the three friends changing into the living dead. Now, with the taste for flesh and the raging hormones of teenage boys, the three won't be forgetting those that have bullied them these past few years and at the same time use their new invincibility to impress the ladies.

You do have the ability to cut out the subtitles and watch this film in English, however the overdubbing is tacky and is on a par with the Original Iron chef. This film is best experienced in it's original language, German. Just turn on the English subtitles. I'd compare this movie to American Pie because of it's likeness in humor but, for me, I give it more credit for having zombies as the lead characters. The title discouraged me at first but it turned out to be a completely entertaining film that made it a "must buy" on my movie list.

Special Features
The deleted and extended scenes aren't much to be watched as the editing for the film was done well and anything left out wouldn't have changed the movie at all. The alternate ending,however, is something worth checking out as its entirely different from the final cut. The funny reel isn't all that funny but this movie can be forgiven for it's lack of special features as the film is about young love, smoking pot and eating your enemies...and it doesn't get much better than that!

BUY IT ON AMAZON.COM

-Elizabeth Puttkammer

Posted by beth at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fido

This comedy takes on a completely original approach to a funny zombie flick! The story is set in a 1950's town called Willard, where the people who live there have perfect etiquette and live normally as best they can in the wake of the recent "Zombie War". With the technologies provided by Zomcon, a national security company, they have found a way to tame the flesh eaters by using remote control collars. The zombies are forced to work as butlers, servants and other low intelligence jobs such as delivering milk and newspapers. Everyone in the small town of Willard owns at least one zombie and in some cases many. Timmy Robinson (K'Sun Ray) and his mother (Carrie Ann Moss/Matrix's Trinity) and father (Dylan Baker) have just purchased their first zombie,FIDO played by Billy Connolly. At first Mr. Robinson isn't too comfortable with the newly hired help but it doesn't take long for him to realize that now, with a new "person" in the house to help his wife with the dishes and practice baseball with his son, Mr. Robinson can now spend more time with the fellas at the golfing range. But poor Timmy doesn't have any friends in his school or in his neighborhood and with his father ever absent from his world, FIDO becomes Timmys new best friend. Mrs.Robinson, Timmys mother, also begins to develop feelings for FIDO. One afternoon FIDOs collar malfunctions and he once again becomes a flesh hungry monster. Now,thanks to FIDO, there are zombies loose in the town of Willard. In order to keep FIDO from being taken away, Timmy and his mother must try to keep what FIDOs done a secret from Mr. Robinson and the head of Zomcon, Mr. Bottoms, who just so happens to be their new next door neighbor!

I loved this movie because it was like the Umbrella corporation meets Pleasantville. This is a film you can actually bring with you to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner for the entire family to watch! OK, I may be stretching that a bit as some members of your family my not be OK with the viewing of detached, bloody limbs and kids with guns, but for the most part this film is family friendly. The script is amazing, it has awesome one liners and ironic humor. You feel like you're watching an actual show from the 50's but made with todays advances of film and sound. FIDO won the peoples choice/audience award in the London Canadian Film Festival along with 10 other awards including best visual effects!
Move over Lassie! FIDO has everything you had but with zombies to boost!

Special Features
I was disappointed in the special features on this DVD. I tried out the DVD-Rom which allows you "zombify" yourself using an uploaded picture but it wasn't too impressive. The Blooper reel didn't show anything spectacularly funny but some of the selected scenes with commentary were insightful. "FIDOs storybook" is kinda cool and is pretty much just a crash course animation of the movie, you can find it under "Fido Family Portraits".

BUY IT ON AMAZON.COM

-Elizabeth Puttkammer

Posted by beth at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nightmare City

As an English teacher, I consider Umberto Lenzi's bio on the DVD for Nightmare City one of the greatest pieces of fiction I've ever read. Whoever wrote this was intent on convincing the masses that Lenzi was not only a genius and a visionary, but a pioneer: after all, he single handedly blazed the path for Italian action movies, sword and sandals flicks, murder mysteries and all sorts of innovations in the horror genre. I'd advise you to read this bio and then watch Nightmare City; then you can see for yourself that whoever wrote this bio is the Shakespeare of his craft. But alas, I can't. Because there is no way I could ever suggest you watch Nightmare City, one of the biggest messes I've ever seen put to celluloid.

The conceit is simple: a nuclear leak in Italy turns the locals into raving lunatics who must have blood. Once they depart from a mystery plane, they began to rampage across Italy, leaving a path of carnage behind them. On paper, this sounds like it could have some appeal. On screen, the true nightmare is just how appallingly bad this movie is.

Lenzi's first mistake is the look of the zombies. I've seen a wide array of appearances for the living dead, but none have come close to being this dumb. The easiest way for me to describe them is that each appears to have on its head a hornet's nest made of dung. If I were a victim in Nightmare City, I would fear their scent more than their rioting. As for the riots, therein lies another problem: every attack is exactly the same. There's no creativity, no distinguishing one from the next. They run very fast, carry sharp weapons, shred up the living, and then drink their blood. Perhaps just as offensive as the zombies is the reaction of the victims: every single victim, to a man, stands dead still for about 10 seconds and waits for the zombie horde to attack. Whatever happened to adrenaline being the fight or flight indicator? And I'd like to take a poll on just how many people in an Italian metropolis have scythes, because roughly one of every three zombies carries one.

Plot, you ask? Ummmm, not so much. Our protagonists, a reporter, spends half the movie trying to reunite with his wife, a nurse. They spend the second half on a road trip, during which they discuss tin pan philosophy on man's constant quest for destruction, both of others and self. At one point, they actually stop to relax and have coffee at a deserted gas station. Instead of gassing up the car and going, the need to have a cup of java and further discuss the future of mankind overcomes them. Who does this, when there are marauding zombies in the area? The other characters in focus are military commanders, who aim to stop the rampage at any cost. I'll go on record now saying that I'm sick of this hackneyed angle in horror films. The old "blame the military for their incompetence/outright lack of care for the people they protect" should have died in the 1950s, because it wasn't even good then.

The gem on this disc is the 13 minute interview with Lenzi. I'm convinced the director read this disc's bio and believed every word of it. There's no other reason I can fathom for his outlandish, ego-driven statements about the film and his own vision as a director. Case in point: Lenzi compares the contamination theme in Nightmare City to the effect of AIDS in Jonathan Demme's film Philadelphia. Now I'm not a big the first movie to net Tom Hanks an Oscar, but let's face it: Philadelphia is an acclaimed, award-winning movie that chronicles a lethal disease, and does so in a very serious tone; Lenzi's movie has irradiated psychopathic zombies whose heads look like hives composed of human waste. Later, when addressing how Nightmare City could happen, he uses the anthrax scare that followed 9/11 as an example. Comparing a cheaply made zombie flick to an organized attack on America is not only delusional, but beyond tasteless. Then again, Nightmare City is beyond tasteless itself, so I definitely should have expected no better from Lenzi. On the more humorous side, Lenzi comes down rather unkindly on others involved with the project. He blames a female producer, a poor script and the dreafully stiff performance of lead actor Hugo Stiglitz for the movie's faults. I don't disagree with him on any of these points, but as the director, he's ultimately responsible for the final product, and the result is absolute dreck.

Nightmare City leaves its audience with the notion that this could happen. I assert that bad movies do happen, and this is one unfortunately happened to me. Lenzi contaminated my brain with some of the worst looking zombies in all of horror. And for this I will never forgive him. Avoid this film, or this could happen to you.

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-Phil Fasso

Posted by fasso at 01:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)