// Category Archive for: Movies

TAD Film Fest Review: The ABCs Of Death 2

By Less Lee Moore

K is for Knell, by Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper

The ABCs of Death was a worthy, if not always satisfying, exercise in horror anthologies (review). In some ways, it’s more ambitious than the V/H/S series; trying to fit in 26 films by 26 directors is a challenge, especially when the only common theme is death. While I quite liked the first installment, I think The ABCs of Death 2 is in many ways a better film.

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Blu-Ray Review: Dolls

By Brad Henderson

Stuart Gordon was one of the first directors I fell in love with. It started when I saw Robot Jox and then continued from there. Gordon’s films have had a huge impact on the horror industry and he still rocks people to this day. He hit it big with Re-Animator and From Beyond at the start of his career and pretty much everything that followed is considered a classic and loved by almost every horror fan. With Re-Animator and From Beyond we have films that blend sci-fi and horror, but both tell ambitious stories. I’ve always thought that Stuart Gordon was diverse because of his multiple styles, as seen in films like Space Truckers, Fortress, and of course, Dolls.

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DVD Review: Delivery: The Beast Within

By Brad Henderson

Yay! Another pregnancy devil movie! In the past couple of years these kinds of films are blowing up but they all do the exact same thing. I was a little apprehensive about checking out Delivery: The Beast Within because I’m kind of bored with the routine.

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DVD Review: Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls

By Brad Henderson

Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls has taught me two things: Bob Chinn is a great porno director and Desireé Cousteau exists and she is gorgeous.

Vinegar Syndrome knocks it out of the park with their vintage hardcore pornography line because they are releasing some truly interesting films. Yes, it is porn (like I always say), but the stories behind them are tremendously captivating.

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Blu-Ray Review: Night Train Murders

By Brad Henderson

Aldo Lado has made some intense films in his day, including Short Night Of Glass Dolls, Who Saw Her Die?, The Humanoid, and Night Train Murders. Lado’s films look incredible: he has a great eye for using just the right amount of light in his shots, always giving a heavy, giallo, neo-noir look to his films.

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Movie Review: Nightcrawler

By Less Lee Moore

Now film fans have another name to add to the list of cinematic creepers: Nightcrawler‘s Lou Bloom. He’s got Travis Bickle’s lack of self-awareness and Barry Champlain’s self-aggrandizing thirst for success, and he oozes ad copy-inspired monologues like Patrick Bateman. But who is Lou Bloom?

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Knoxville Horror Film Fest 2014: Finding Your Tribe

By Jeffery X Martin
Photos by Hannah Martin

There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don’t understand. Internal is the human heart.
—John Carpenter

They stare at us as they leave, that smug crowd of assholes leaving the theater. Art movie snobs, still dabbing away tears caused by The Hundred-Foot Journey, the white guy with the neckbeard talking out of the side of his mouth to his Asian-American girlfriend about how he is so far above the real message of Dear White People that he didn’t actually like the movie, but it’s OK.

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Movie Review: Super Duper Alice Cooper

By Tyler Hodg

Not only is school out, but so is the latest offering from director and massive metal head Sam Dunn (Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, Global Metal). His new film, Super Duper Alice Cooper documents the rise to fame of Vincent Furnier—better known as Alice Cooper—and the fall from grace that saw him hitting absolute rock bottom. Unapologetic and honest, Super Duper Alice Cooper painfully recollects the trials and tribulations of one of the most notorious bad boys in rock’n’roll, as well as the band that helped transform him into the character that everyone came to know.

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DVD Review: Hillbilly Horror Show Vol. 1

By Noreen Sobczyk

Hillbilly Horror Show Vol. 1 was created and curated by award-winning writer and producer Blu de Golyer (House Of Good And Evil) and veteran actor and producer Bo Keister (Remember The Titans). This one-hour collection of horror shorts is strung together by not so funny hillbilly humor from characters Bo (grubby bumpkin leader reliant on bathroom humor), Cephus (mumbling counterfeit of King of the Hill‘s Boomhauer), and sister/cousin Lulu (provider of the daily recommended amount of T&A). It just doesn’t compare with the fun factor of horror hosts like Elvira and Svengoolie. The attempt to change the usual horror format presentation is clever, but the lowbrow humor falls flat, flatter than the roadkill Lulu cooks up for dinner. Perhaps if they amped up the redneck skeezy sleaze factor a bit more it might be a successful execution of concept.

The first short, “Franky & the Ant,” is a throwaway copy of a Tarantino-sque scene and has an ethically questionable duo participating in a mundane conversation as they complete their violence. The rest of the shorts are definitely worth a watch, though. “Doppelganger” gave me a chuckle and had gorgeous stop action photography of a skeleton on an arduous journey, but could have edited a minute from the piece, even though it’s only a short. “Amused” is an interesting concept with fresh camera angles, great foley work, and a bit of gore. I can’t say I was shocked by the ending (though many will be), but it was nice to see a strong female making at least one smart choice in a horror piece.

The best was saved for last in “The Nest” which has a uniquely twisted storyline, is well shot and acted, and is at least as good, if not better, than anything shown on Tales From the Crypt or Tales From the Darkside.

Volumes 2 and 3 will be released in 2015 and will feature gag reels and added footage in addition to the featured horror shorts.

Hillbilly Horror Show Vol. 1 was released by MVD Entertainment Group on October 21.

Knoxville Horror Film Fest: 28 Shorts in 28 Paragraphs

By Jeffery X Martin

Waterborne

The Knoxville Horror Film Fest screened 28 short films this year. Here are mini-reviews of all of them.

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