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Moggy Creatures (2017)

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Moggy Creatures is an upcoming 2017 American practical FX-laden horror film written and directed by Scott Frazelle (co-writer of House of Bad; Creepshow III segment ‘Haunted Dog’).

Michael Moon (Day of the Dead 2 : Contagium) and Sadie Katz (Grindsploitation: The Movie; Blood Feast; Wrong Turn VI) play Michael and Anna, a troubled couple who take in a stray cat hoping to rebuild their marriage, only to have the pregnant animal spawn evil monsters!

The filmmakers are about to embark on a crowd-funding campaign.

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Plot:

Michael and Anna are leftovers of the Hollywood dream; he was once a promising actor, she an aspiring photographer. They cling to their artistic dreams, but their bond has thinned over the years and a devastating loss. Their new fixer-upper, far from the Hollywood Hills, offers some solace when they bring in a stray cat and it has kittens.

Anna loves the new pets, finds a rewarding job, and turns back to Michael, who also finds a new opportunities. But as the kittens grow at a shocking pace, they begin influencing Anna and testing Michael.

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Anna’s behaviour becomes tortured and irrational, the now grown cats more intelligent, and Michael can no longer tell where reality lies – until one final growth spurt reveals what they are, and what he must do…

Official site | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Related: Fear of Felines! Cats in Horror Films – Article by David Flint



Curtain aka The Gateway (2015)

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‘The portal to Hell has been opened.’

Curtain – also known as The Gateway – is a 2015 American horror film directed by Jaron Henrie-McCrea from a screenplay co-written with Carys Edwards. The film stars Danni Smith and Tim Lueke as two activists that investigate a series of disappearing shower curtains in Smith’s apartment.

The Jash Pictures production had its world premiere in London on 31 August 2015 at the Film4 FrightFest.

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Opening plot:

screen-shot-2016-12-20-at-14-02-53Danni has recently left her job as a hospice nurse in order to become an activist for Whale Savers, a conservation group. She also moves into a recently vacated apartment in order to get a new start on life.

However, soon after she gets settled she discovers that her shower curtains have been disappearing. Danni decides to try to record her bathroom overnight in order to discover what is going on, only to find that her shower curtains are disappearing into a strange portal in her shower wall.

She brings this up with one of her fellow activists, Tim, who eagerly suggests that she put her contact information on a curtain. This way, if someone finds the curtain the person can call Danni and they can discover the portal’s destination.

They are contacted by Willy, a drifter that tells them that her curtain appeared in a wooded creek near Poughkeepsie, New York. He volunteers to take them to the area he discovered the curtain, but shortly after arriving he begins huffing paint, bringing out a hostile alter ego named Frankie and attacking the two activists. They manage to escape the area, but as soon as they arrive back to Danni’s apartment they are confronted by the Pale Man…

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Reviews:

Curtain really is a great little treat of a film. It’s an unforgettable rollercoaster journey that has its own unique identity, but also manages to pay homage to ‘80s schlock. Without being too silly, it grounds its story in reality and uses the bizarre world behind the curtain as a metaphor for much more real, social problems.” Jessy Williams, Scream magazine

” …endlessly inventive and ambitious, blending the lo-fi creature effects (and 80s sensibilities) of Basket Case with the high-concept oddity of Being John Malkovich. Charming and weird enough to get away with its rough edges, it can along the way seem a bit meandering, especially in its focus on Tim’s Save the Whales fixation, but in the end every (narrative) hook on this Curtain fits neatly into place.” Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound

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Curtain isn’t a bad film, despite its oddness. Danni and Tim are great protagonists, and the humour works to add levity to the strangeness … despite its best efforts, doesn’t have the same staying power as more traditional (and some non-traditional) horror films, demanding the viewer’s full attention in order to tell its story.” Pat Torfe, Bloody Disgusting

“We’re not in full-on comedy horror territory, but it certainly skews more in that direction than it does elsewhere (although its Hellraiser type cult is particularly creepy). Well, it is a film about disappearing shower curtains, after all. With a title and concept like that, Curtain was always going to be one of the year’s most original horror films. Thankfully, it also turns out to be one of the best.” Joel Harley, Starburst magazine

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There are also lots of introductions for seemingly minor or useless details, which end up coming back into play. As with any film, that’s always a tough thing to pull off … Curtain is clever, well-performed and touts some very cool monster make-up.” Michael Klug, Horrorfreak News

“Some might describe Curtain as quirky or eccentric. You’ll be able to appreciate that this was in fact what they were going for. This certainly wasn’t a lazy attempt at film making by director Jaron Henrie-McCrea, but it was not a successful one. Either avoid entirely or commit to losing 74 minutes of your life just for the super-odd ending alone.” Sadé Green, Flickering Myth

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Cast and characters:

  • Danni Smith as Danni
  • Tim Lueke as Tim
  • Martin Monahan as The Pale Man
  • Rick Zahn as Uncle Gus
  • Chuck McMahon as Bert
  • Preston Lawrence as Preston the Super
  • Gregory Konow as Willy

Filming locations:

New York City, New York, USA
West Milford and Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook | Twitter


Arachnoquake (2012)

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‘The world will quake in fear’

Arachnoquake is a 2012 American made-for-television horror film directed by prolific Griff Furst (I Am Omega; Wolvesbayne; Mask Maker; Lake Placid III; Swamp Shark) from a screenplay by Eric Forsberg (Ghost Shark; Mega Piranha; Snakes on a Train) and Paul A. Birkett (Night Wings; Haunted High; Hellhounds).

The Active Entertainment production premiered on the Syfy cable television channel on 23rd June 2012.

Main cast:

Megan Adelle (Straw Dogs), Gralen Bryant Banks (Beast of the Bering Sea; American Horror House), Paul Boocock, Edward Furlong (The Zombie KingBrainscan), Tiara Ashleigh, Tracey Gold, Bug Hall, Olivia Hardt, Grant James, Ethan Phillips, Lucky Johnson, Earl Maddox.

Plot:

A massive earthquake unleashes hordes of fire-breathing albino spiders and they embark on a murderous rampage through New Orleans. Worse still, some of the spiders are becoming bigger and bigger…

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Reviews:

“While the effects aren’t as terrible as the usual Syfy CGI, the are certainly cheesy enough to laugh at. That’s the point though. This isn’t a movie that was made to be serious. This was made to be fun and it really is a success on that factor. It’s one of those rare B-movies that is just as enjoyable without a group of drunk friends making fun of it.” Dead Derrick’s Horror Movie Reviews

“Unrealistic endings are commonplace in films, but the plan which eventually brings down the spiders is perhaps the most ridiculous in the history of motion pictures … Arachnoquake has its problems, but if you’re searching for the worst film ever you won’t find it here. You might even enjoy it, so it back and prepare for 86 minutes of jumping, fire-breathing mayhem.” Alex Morrison, That Film Guy

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“It’s broad, dumb, obvious, and (almost) entirely predictable. It’s nothing more than yet another Saturday night cable TV time-filler, and it’s quite possibly the silliest movie you’ll see all month — and yet, if you’re a monster movie enthusiast (and I’m guessing you are), you may just find a few stray threads of relative amusement here.” FearNet

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“In the wake of Speed and The Faculty, there are few bus-based action possibilities that have not been explored, and Arachnoquake doesn’t even try. Things perk up briefly during a doomed attempt to defend a supermarket with bug spray, and there’s an entertaining water-based chase, but little else to get excited about.” Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

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IMDb

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Related entries: Arachnoquake | Big Ass Spider! | Curse of the Black Widow | The Giant Spider Invasion | Highgate Cemetery | In the Spider’s Web | Kingdom of the Spiders | Mesa of Lost Women | Nude for SatanThis Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse | The Web of Fear: A Brief History of Spider Horror Cinema


Ghastlies (2016)

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Ghastlies is a 2016 American comedy horror film directed by Brett Kelly (My Fair Zombie; Homicycle; Jurassic Shark) from a screenplay by Chris Bavota (shorts: Never Tear Us Apart; Attack of the Brainsucker; After Ate).

The film stars Kim Valentine (Monster Pool: Chapter Two), Kendra Summerfield (Raiders of the Lost Shark), Jessica Huether, and Julie Racine.

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Four sorority sisters accidentally unleash a trio of ghastly ghouls from an underground bunker during a weekend getaway in the country…

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Main cast:

Kim Valentine, Kendra Summerfield, Jessica Huether, Julie Racine, Eric Deniverville, Joel Elliot, Kyle Martellacci, John Migliore (The Drownsman; Bite; Poltergeist Encounters; et al), Janet Hetherington, Peter Whittaker, Jurgen Vollrath, Kyle Martellacci.

IMDb | Facebook


The Snow Creature (1954)

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‘Half man! Half monster!’

The Snow Creature – promoted as Snow Creature – is a 1954 monster movie produced and directed by W. Lee Wilder (FrightPhantom from Space; Killers from Space), based on a story and screenplay by Myles Wilder.

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It was the first modern era yeti/abominable snowman-themed movie. The use of the Los Angeles storm drain system as the film’s climactic setting can also be seen in the 1954 giant ant film, Them!

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Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Botanist Frank Parrish (Paul Langton – It! The Terror from Beyond SpaceThe Incredible Shrinking ManInvisible Invaders) and photographer Peter Wells (Leslie Denison – The Return of the VampireThe Son of Dr. Jekyll) lead a scientific expedition to the Himalayas.

The team encounter and capture a yeti with the help of Subra (Taru Shimada – War of the Worlds; Revolt of the Zombies), a revenge-seeking sherpa whose wife has been captured by the creature.

The yeti is taken back to the United States, but escapes from a refrigerated unit and runs havoc in the Los Angeles sewers…

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Reviews:

“With a storyline so utterly bereft of imagination, The Snow Creature could be the work of only one man: W. Lee Wilder, Billy’s monumentally untalented brother. The movie is cheap and tacky and stupid, all of which I can forgive. It’s also mind-numbingly boring, and that I can’t.” And You Call Yourself a Scientist!

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” …nothing is made of the original concepts or the LA scenes. Long minutes are wasted with people plodding over one mountain range or another, or sitting and talking about rudiments […] Well, it’s got some nice footage of propellor planes.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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“While you never get a great glimpse of him, the Yeti often just looks like a dude in a winter hat wearing giant oven mitts to make his hands look more beastly. Technically, there might only be four or five different shots of the creature, and one of them is recycled about a dozen times.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!
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“…how such a mundane B-programmer can encapsulate all the tenets of Ciné du Sasquatch and yet do so without making any of the elements entertaining is a curious dichotomy.” David Coleman, The Bigfoot Filmography

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“Beyond the singularly tacky monster suit (it’s nothing but a bunch of cheap furs sewn haphazardly together), the excessive reliance on voice-over to propel the story, and a cast that deservedly spent most of its respective careers playing characters with names like “Farmer,” “Policeman,” and “Japanese Ambassador,” The Snow Creature suffers from the deadliest of all shortcomings. It’s boring.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

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“The Yeti was big and ferocious looking if one overlooked the cheap costume (you could see folds in the fabric as it walked). But it never challenged a male unless cornered, even ones half it’s size. Didn’t mind jumping females though. Killed one and chased another. But all off screen. We heard a couple of screams, but no actual footage.” Not the Baseball Pitcher

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Choice dialogue:

“Suppose you did kill one. How would you know it’s the one you’re after? If there’s one yeti there must be a whole civilisation, or a whole tribe of ’em.”

Cast and characters:

Paul Langton as Frank Parrish
Leslie Denison as Peter Wells
Taru Shimada as Subra
Rollin Moriyana as Leva
Robert Kino as Inspector Karma

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Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

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Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: The Telltale Mind | VHS Collector

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Mexican Werewolf in Texas (2005)

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‘Terror has JUST crossed the border!’

Mexican Werewolf in Texas is a 2005 American horror film written and directed by Scott Maginnis (Myopia). It stars Erika Fay, Gabriel Gutierrez and Martine Hughes.

The title is obviously a reference to the 1981 horror comedy film An American Werewolf in London, although it was originally Chupacabra.

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In a dead-end town in the Texas desert where nothing ever happens – something finally does, a series of gruesome murders. While the townsfolk try to solve the mysteries, four local high school students uncover the truth – the killings are the work of chupacabra, the legendary Mexican Werewolf that sucks the blood of goats, but now has developed a taste for humans.

mwit02Working against the bumbling and misdirected actions of the adults, the four students devise a plan to capture the beast and claim a lucrative bounty that will finally allow them to escape the confines of their backwards hometown.

However, when one of the girl’s father utilises the hysteria to enact his own agenda, the students are faced with a complication for which they are not prepared. They are left to stand against the racism and hatred pervading their town and take on the terror that has just crossed the border…

Reviews:

“Writer/director Scott Maginnis deserves credit for trying to make a more character based monster movie. He attempts to make the characters colorful and the dialogue crisper than the usual spiel for movies of this type, but Mexican Werewolf in Texas can’t help from falling into the usual doldrums that plague this type of movie.” Jon Condit, Dread Central

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“There might have been an interesting societal message in this tale of a beast terrorizing a border town and stirring up resentment between the white Texans and the Mexican immigrants. But there isn’t. Instead, all the white folks […] are idiot, bigoted redneck caricatures. In fact, most of the Mexicans are caricatures, too, but at least they’re not all stupid ones.” The Hitman, Horror Talk

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“As low budget and amateurish as this is, it’s still strangely watchable. There’s just something inherently amusing about watching a guy in a rubber suit attack people. Of course nothing truly interesting happens in this movie but it kept me watching in the hope that the chupacabra would surprise me. He didn’t. You can let this goat sucker go.” Dr. Gore’s Movie Reviews

Choice dialogue:

“What the f*ck is up with these goats?”

“For once something cool happens in this town and the idiots try and kill it.”

Filming locations:

Lancaster, Los Angeles and Rosamond, California, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb


Life (2017)

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‘We were better off alone’

Life is an upcoming 2017 American science fiction horror film directed by Daniel Espinosa from a screenplay by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland and sequel). The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds.

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A crew aboard the International Space Station perform a successful capture of a space probe returning from Mars with a sample inside. The crew is tasked with studying the sample, which may be the first proof of extraterrestrial life.

However, the study eventually backfires as the organism gains intelligence. Trapped aboard the ISS with the rapidly-growing organism, the crew must find out how to kill it before it manages to escape and decimate Earth.

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The film is scheduled to be released on March 24, 2017 by Columbia Pictures.

Cast and characters:

  • Jake Gyllenhaal as Dr. David Jordan
  • Rebecca Ferguson as Miranda Bragg
  • Ryan Reynolds as Roy Adams
  • Hiroyuki Sanada as Sho Kendo
  • Ariyon Bakare as Hugh Derry
  • Olga Dihovichnaya as Katerina Golovkin
  • Alexandre Nguyen

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Wikipedia | IMDb


Sssssss (1973)

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‘Once this motion picture sinks its fangs into you, you’ll never be the same.’ 

Sssssss – aka Sssssnake – is a 1973 American science fiction horror film directed by Bernard L. Kowalski (Attack of the Giant Leeches; Night of the Blood Beast) from a screenplay by Hal Dresner and Daniel C. Striepeke. The unique makeup effects were created by John Chambers and Nick Marcellino.

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The film stars Strother Martin (The Brotherhood of Satan), Dirk Benedict, Heather Menzies (Piranha) and Reb Brown.

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Plot:

David, a college student, is looking for a job. He is hired by Dr. Stoner as a lab assistant for his research and experiments on snakes. David also begins to fall for Stoner’s young daughter, Kristina.

However, the good doctor has secretly brewed up a serum that can transform any man into a King Cobra snake – and he plans to use it on David…

Reviews:

“If you’re one of the many thousands of people who harbor a morbid fear of snakes, you’re likely to find Sssssss getting under your skin in spite of itself. Conversely, if you’re part of the rather smaller club that considers snakes beautiful and fascinating, then there’s a good chance you’ll be too thrilled at the prospect of getting to see so many different species in action…” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

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“With a rather silly premise which includes a totally oblivious victim/leading man, Sssssss still has enough ingredients to please B movie fans. Strother Martin gives another meaty performance as a determined nutcase who talks to his array of pet snakes, sinisterly employing them to get rid of his enemies, including a dumb bullying jock (Reb Brown) and a sleazy rival professor (Richard B. Shull).” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

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” …it’s not a bad movie, it’s a frustrating one. A mad scientist turning folks into snakes and getting revenge on those who wronged him is an awesome idea. The gradual snake-turning effects are pretty decent for the time, and I loved how Benedict started showing snake-like instincts before he physically began changing.” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

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“What sets Sssssss apart from run-of-the mill drive-in fodder is John Chamber’s remarkable makeup.  Chambers of course is best known for his work on Planet of the Apes. In Sssssss, the prosthetic appliances and optical effects never appear shoddy. It makes the whole film work.” Monster Minions

“It’s a terribly insipid movie. The Snakeman scenes are only a few minutes of screen time and hardly the stuff of horror legend. I cannot overstate the inevitable let down you’re setting yourself up for when reviewing movies that affected you as a child. It’s best just to let these things remain what they were to you.” Kindertrauma

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Wikipedia | IMDb



Feral (2016)

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Feral is a 2016 American horror film directed by Mark H. Young (Tooth and Nail; Southern Gothic) from a screenplay co-written with Adam Frazier. It stars Scout Taylor-Compton, Olivia Luccardi and Lew Temple.

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A wild animal attacks six medical students on a weekend hike in the woods. One by one, they become infected with a “feral disease”, turning them into rabid, bloodthirsty creatures, and the vacation becomes a nightmare as they fight to survive each other…

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Background:

Mark H. Young has been making independent film for over ten years. “I write and direct my own stories, and am very genre agnostic. I love drama, horror, action and thrillers equally, as long as the story and characters are rich and compelling. My work is frequently described as ‘art house meets slaughterhouse’, and sometimes the genre lines are blurred. A drama becomes horror, or vise versa. That’s where the film is most interesting to me.”

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Young met producer John Landolfi, who was looking to make an independent horror film. Young had just finished Wicked Blood, starring Sean Bean and Abigail Breslin, and was looking for something unusual. He was intrigued by the idea of taking a trite storyline and trying to breathe new life into it. “I don’t think there’s a more hackneyed concept than kids camping in the woods. But for me, that’s a great challenge, to come up with something fresh and new in a stale milieu.” He started by conceiving a new subgenre of horror: a creature that is neither zombie, werewolf, or vampire, but has some of the traits of them all.

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But beyond the horror trappings, his primary focus was the characters. “If the audience doesn’t care about the characters, their fate is meaningless. My goal was to create real, flesh and blood people that the viewer would relate to and empathize with.” Viewers may also be surprised to find that the protagonists in Feral are female, not male. Many horror films utilize the “Final Girl”, where the the last character left alive must confront the killer. “I love strong female characters, so the notion of several smart girls desperately trying to survive in the woods was very appealing to me.”

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Main cast:

Scout Taylor-Compton (Penance Lane; Ghost House; Halloween II), Olivia Luccardi (It Follows; Bleeding), Lew Temple (Stingy Jack; 31; Zombex), Renee Olstead, Brock Kelly, Landry Allbright, George Finn and Samantha Gangal.

Filming locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

IMDb | Official site


Curse of the Swamp Creature (1966)

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‘ …his victims fought for their lives in a silent, eerie underwater battleground!’

Curse of the Swamp Creature is a 1966 American science fiction horror film produced and directed by Larry Buchanan (The Loch Ness Horror; It’s Alive; Zontar: The Thing from Venus; et al) from a screenplay by actor Tony Houston. It stars John Agar (Hand of Death; The Mole People; et al), Francine York (The Centerfold Girls), Jeff Alexander and Shirley McLine.

screen-shot-2017-02-27-at-12-40-33Although Buchanan was producing low budget 16mm colour remakes of American International Pictures sci-fi movies for television distribution around this time, he claimed this was an original even though it bears striking similarities to Voodoo Woman (1957) and White Zombie (1932).

The film re-uses Ronald Stein’s previous music from both It Conquered the World and Invasion of the Saucer Men.

In his autobiography, It Came from Hunger! Tales of a Cinema Schlockmeister, Buchanan said: “We were plagued by the humidity, cottonmouth snakes, and mechanical troubles throughout the shoot, and John made me promise that next time we worked together, it would be a cakewalk.”

Buy It Came from Hunger! Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

swamp1-e1436165163377Plot:

Deep in the rural swamps of Texas the reclusive and ruthless wife-abusing mad scientist Dr. Simond Trent is conducting experiments in his laboratory on the local impoverished voodoo-worshiping black “natives” in an attempt to discover the secret to reversing evolution, feeding the failures to the alligators he keeps in his covered outdoor swimming pool.

When a party of oil surveyors comes upon his isolated yet strangely suburban-style home he decides to take the final step and turn the duplicitous female leader of the expedition into a grotesque and virtually indestructible amphibious “fish man” so that he can take his revenge upon the world…

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Reviews:

” …another one of those examples that simply defines schlocky cinema as an art form in every way possible — from lousy acting, to shoddy camera set ups, to an array of unintended laughs and a disappointing monster that doesn’t show his face until the final minutes of the film.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

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“The pacing is so slow that the camp is muted. But Swamp Creature probably ranks third in Buchanan’s oeuvre, behind Zontar and Mars Needs Women. The high-pitched voodoo drums are amusing and the bayou boat footage decent.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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” …Swamp Creature is a surprisingly mature melodrama, touching on several significant themes, including the overthrow of totalitarian leadership, the use of cold science as a replacement for failed human relationships, and the emergence of female emancipation and black empowerment as leading social movements of the day.” Rob Craig, The Films of Larry Buchanan 

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” …unbearably undynamic suspense and incoherent subplots build up to the most spectacularly anti-climactic “shock” monster revelation ever filmed – the Swamp Creature is nothing more than a guy in a putty-smeared cheap fright-mask with ping pong ball eyes. Buchanan films all this with grim seriousness, which combined with his murky camera work and Agar’s alcoholic resentment, makes this one of the more interesting of Buchanan’s epics.” Brian Curran, Fear of Darkness magazine

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“Bare-bones sets, amateurish acting (star John Agar looks tired and really has nothing to do except sit around and smoke cigarettes), pacing that’s more sluggish than the bayou current, deadening dialogue, dim lighting, tinny sound dubbed in later […] and muddy photography make this picture the very nadir of voodoo cinema.” Bryan Senn, Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema

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“Perhaps more horrifying in the end than the Swamp Creature itself is the dismal and endless tape-loop of bongo-drums that pounds throughout the screen-shot-2017-02-27-at-12-59-05film. Strangely, we never see the source of all this drumming. What do these drums mean? Are they symbolic of the terminal boredom of the film itself… or a formal device to drive the audience mad, like the abominable Dr. Trent?” Freddie Mertz, Zontar, the Magazine from Venus

” …the monster scarcely does anything once it comes to life successfully. Its role in the story is limited to shambling out of Trent’s basement laboratory, offing the doctor, and then standing around by the side of the swimming pool/alligator pit for a few moments while Pat tries to convince it to commit suicide. All this takes maybe five minutes.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

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“There’s an overall wooden quality to every performance, but once you get past that there are some enjoyable moments. The mad scientist character is entertaining on occasion. He’s a smarmy douchebag to everyone around him despite looking more like a high school biology teacher than an actual threat. He acts like he thinks he’s super cool even to the point of wearing sunglasses at all times. Weird.” Zak Greene, Wicked Horror

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Cast and characters:

  • John Agar as Barry Rogers
  • Francine York as Pat Trent
  • Jeff Alexander as Dr. Simond Trent
  • Shirley McLine as Brenda Simmons (aka “Mrs. Brenda West”)
  • Cal Duggan as Ritchie
  • Charles McLine
  • Bill McGhee
  • Ted Mitchell
  • Roger Ready as Frenchie
  • Bill Thurman as Driscoll West / The Swamp Creature
  • Tony Huston as Tom
  • Gayle Johnson as Mura
  • Michael Tolden
  • Annabelle Weenick as Hotel clerk
  • Patrick Cranshaw
  • J.V. Lee
  • Naomi Bruton

Filming locations:

Caddo Lake and Uncertain, Texas, USA

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Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

page21Trivia:

A Curse of the Swamp Creature mask was one of the last items produced by the famed Don Post Studios before it went out of business in 2012.

Wikipedia | IMDb


Deep Space (1987)

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‘They created a monster over lunch. Now it’s back for dinner…’

Deep Space – stylized as DeepSpace – is a 1987 [released 1988] American science fiction horror film co-produced and directed by Fred Olen Ray from a screenplay co-written by T.L. Lankford. It stars Charles Napier, Ann Turkel and Bo Svenson. Steve Neill (Puppetmaster; The Stuff) provided the special effects makeup.

A U.S. satellite transporting a secretly engineered creature crashes to Earth near Los Angeles.

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Police officers Ian McLemore (Charles Napier) and Carla Sandbourn (Ann Turkel) are assigned to pursue the escaped mutant beast.

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Along the way, they clash with their superior, Capt. Robertson (Bo Svenson), and the scientists behind the project.

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Psychic Lady Elaine Wentworth (Julie Newmar) also lends them a hand before McLemore uses a chainsaw to battle with the beast in a fight to the finish…

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Reviews:

Deep Space is one of the better bad movies I’ve seen. Its flagrant ripping off of Alien is quite amusing, and it has quite a few great one liners. Charles Napier is perfectly cast as the gruff and tough McLemore. The monster itself, what little we see of it, is quite interesting as well.” James Hepler, BadMovies.org

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“The final fight is pretty funny and pretty dumb. Despite some heavy firearms, the creature was ultimately done in with a fire axe, a chainsaw and a jar of Roach-B-Gone from a pest control company. Thankfully, the credits started rolling within a minute of the creature’s death to help numb the pain.” Lohn Leavengood, Movies, Films and Flix

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” …pretty solid Fred Olen Ray fare, schlock horror, sci-fi, and action all mixed into one for a fun time; but the thing takes on another level with Napier as the lead. As great as he is as a supporting character, he’s that much better when it’s his show.” Matt Poirier, Direct to Video Connoisseur

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Main cast:

Charles Napier, Ann Turkel, Bo Svenson, Ron Glass, Julie Newmar, James Booth, Norman Burton, Jesse Dabson, Elisabeth Brooks, Anthony Eisley, Peter Palmer, Fox Harris, Michael Forest, William Fair, Richard Wiley, Mohamed Najjar, Dawn Wildsmith

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Buy: Amazon.co.ukAmazon.com | Amazon.ca

Wikipedia | IMDb


The Raking (2017)

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‘Stay in the light’

The Raking is a 2017 American supernatural horror film starring and directed by Bryan Brewer (The Wake) from a screenplay co-written with Laura Greenman Heine. It stars also Cree Kelly, Allie Rivera, Thatcher Robinson and Marshal Hilton.

A group of college co-eds embark on a weekend-long camping trip as part of a Cultural Anthropology project to research a local urban legend.

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Having settling upon the Joshua Tree legend of the “The Rake,” a terrifying, long-clawed humanoid creature who emerges to feed only on the Equinox, which happens to be tomorrow, Kennedy, Jade, Noah and their TA, Ethan, head deep into the desert to chase the myth and prove the story untrue; what they find, however, chases them and has them fighting for their lives!

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The film is released by Brain Damage Films on DVD via and most VOD platforms on March 7, 2017.

Main cast:

Bryan Brewer, Laura Greenman Heine, Cree Kelly, Allie Rivera, Thatcher Robinson, Marshal Hilton (Blood Angel; Bunnyman Vengeance; Teeth and Blood), Marisa Davila, Alan Maxson, Nick Gomez, Peyton McDavitt, Chandler Rylko,  Brock Brenner, Dane Johnson, Paul Lauden.

IMDb


Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)

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Frankenstein Conquers the World is a 1965 Kaiju film produced by Toho. The film was directed by Ishirō Honda (Varan the Unbelievable; Matango; Godzilla) with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It stars Nick Adams, Kumi Mizuno, Tadao Takashima, with Koji Furuhata as Frankenstein and Haruo Nakajima as Baragon.

This film features a Japanese version of the Frankenstein Monster, who becomes giant-sized to fight the huge subterranean monster, Baragon. In Japan, it was released as フランケンシュタイン対地底怪獣バラゴン “Frankenstein versus Subterranean Monster Baragon”). Toho’s official English title for the film is Frankenstein vs. Baragon.

The film is notable for its memorable brooding score by veteran Akira Ifukube (which would be recycled for further use), touch tones of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the infamous giant Octopus ending (see pics below), which was intended for the US version but never used.

An even more bizarre semi-sequel, The War of the Gargantuas, was produced a year later. In it, pieces of Frankenstein’s cells mutate into two giant humanoid monsters: Sanda (the Brown Gargantua) and Gaira (the Green Gargantua).

Plot:

Nazi Germany, in the final days of World War II: A Kriegsmarine Officer barges into the laboratory of a Dr. Riesendorf with orders to seize the immortal heart of the Frankenstein Monster. The heart is summarily transported to be passed off to their Japanese allies.

In the Indian Ocean, the U-Boat meets up with a Japanese submarine to make the exchange. They are sighted by an Allied Forces scout plane and bombed, but not before the Japanese take it back to Hiroshima for further experimentation. However, just as the experiments are about to begin, Hiroshima is bombed by the Allied Forces, and the heart and the experiments vanish in the atomic fireball.

Fifteen years later, in 1960, a feral boy runs rampant in the streets of Hiroshima, catching and devouring small animals such as dogs and rabbits…

Reviews:

” … the cartoony child-like pulp of the Japanese monster movie has become so established that the film quickly falls into these lines without doing anything the slightest bit remarkable with the idea. The effects are cheap, although the climactic wrestling match between Frankenstein and Baragon, which looks like a reptilian puppy dog, is entertaining.” Moria

“Destruction scenes are few, but the final battle between the monsters is fun. Baragon is an unattractive ankylosaurus-triceratops combination with a glowing central horn. At the coda, a giant octopus appears for no reason. This octopus was (wisely?) cut in the American release.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“Even 35 years later, Frankenstein Conquers the World is among the most demented movies Toho ever made, and it is frankly beyond my powers even to speculate how this happened with an American moneyman (who, let’s face it, could be expected to harbor certain pre-conceived notions of what a Frankenstein movie ought to look like) looking over the shoulders of the Japanese creative team. All I can say is, there was weirder still yet to come.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

Cast and characters:

  • Nick Adams – Dr. James Bowen (Japanese voice actor: Goro Naya)
  • Tadao Takashima – Dr. Ken’ichiro Kawaji
  • Kumi Mizuno – Dr. Sueko Togami
  • Yoshio Tsuchiya – Captain Kawai
  • Yoshifumi Tajima – Murata
  • Takashi Shimura – Hiroshima surgeon
  • Susumu Fujita – Osaka Police Chief
  • Peter Mann – Dr. Riesendorf (Japanese voice actor:Kazuo Kumakura)
  • Keiko Sawai – Tazuko Tooi
  • Haruya Katô – TV Director
  • Yutaka Nakayama – News Cameraman
  • Senkichi Omura – News Cameraman
  • Kozo Nomura – Reporter
  • Tadashi Okabe – Reporter
  • Kenji Sahara – Soldier
  • Yoshio Kosugi – Soldier
  • Koji Furuhata – Frankenstein
  • Sumio Nakao – Younger Frankenstein
  • Haruo Nakajima – Baragon

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Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: 3B Theater Poster ArchiveRobby’s Super 8


Terror Birds (2016)

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‘They’re not extinct’

Terror Birds is a 2016 science fiction horror film directed by Sean Cain (Jurassic City; Silent Night, Zombie Night) from a screenplay by Jake Helgren. It stars Jessica Lee Keller, Lindsey Sporrer and Greg Evigan.

College student Maddy Stern (Jessica Lee Keller) knows something is wrong when her father (Craig Nigh) goes missing during a weekend bird-watching trip in the woods of East Texas.

As she enlists the help of her college pals to trek into the wilderness to find him, rampaging, six-foot-tall prehistoric “terror birds” with man-eating tendencies are the last thing anyone expects to find, much less a wealthy, mad archaeologist (Greg Evigan)…

Reviews:

“Fans of the genre will be thankful that a somewhat unique monster gets a run out, but the novelty does wear thin after a while. One would be better off checking out director Sean Cain’s previous effort, Jurassic City, which was an altogether much more fun film largely due to a more enthusiastic cast and better scripting.” Sean Markey, Geek Ireland

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“Cut-price CGI may be the order of the day here, but props to the design team who have actually created a… ‘unique’ looking creature that looks like the mutant offspring of a turkey and a dodo, albeit with a prehistoric lilt. Such kooky shenanigans are a welcome distraction from cringy dialogue and generic young cast…” David Wain, The Schlock Pit

IMDb


Lizard Man (2012)

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Lizard Man – aka LizardMan – is a 2012 horror film directed by Peter Dang from a screenplay by Francis Abbey and  Steve Goldenberg. It stars Michael Harding, James Lewis and Mike Gaglio.

Haunted by a terrifying incident in his past, billionaire Bill Hansen seeks revenge by enlisting a team of mercenaries and a television personality to capture and exploit a dangerous lizard-like creature…

Reviews:

 

” …a fast paced and fun movie that, despite its very obvious budgetary issues, is actually quite a lot of fun to watch. Production values are decent too, the suit looks cool, the sets are effective and while the CGI blood spatter is fairly terrible, the camerawork is pretty solid too. All in all, a fun and quirky throwback.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

” …not as bad as I expected it to be. It’s one of those light-hearted movies that you zone out to but still be entertained. It’s definitely a treat to viewers who like their monsters bad and their movies worse.” Jennifer Turner, Terror Talk

“Director Peter Dang […] keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a quick pace, handles the premise with admirable seriousness and a refreshing dearth of pretense, and stages the savage attack scenes with flair (however, the use of painfully cruddy and obvious CGI blood does blunt the overall impact of said attack scenes).” Woody Anders, IMDb.com

IMDb



Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell (2014)

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Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell is a 2014 American comedy horror film written and directed by Zack and Spencer Snygg.

The impending British Second Sight Films DVD release title is The Beaster Bunny!

Main cast:

Peter Sullivan, Marisol Custodio, John Fedele, Jon Arthur, Bill Joachim, Darian Caine, AJ Khan, Kerri Taylor, Jackie Stevens, Autumn Bodell, and Violetta Storms.

Part of the financing came from a successful Kickstarter funding campaign.

Plot:

Deep in the woods stalks a giant killer mutant Easter Bunny. Unsatisfied with nibbling on grass, he craves, chews lives on human flesh. Rock climbers, hitchhikers, and nudists alike all end up in his jaws as he devours everyone in his way. One by one, the townsfolk are consumed by the evil rabbit, but he still remains a mystery to most of the inhabitants.

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Knowing that a flesh eating giant rabbit might affect tourism a bit and the upcoming Easter Day corporate sponsored parade, the corrupt mayor quietly covers up the deaths hoping to rake in as much cash as he can for the Easter Day celebrations.

The mayor tells the townsfolk that there is nothing to fear from the horrific decapitations and intestine removals. The deaths are all accidental demises due to hazardous farm tool equipment…

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Reviews:

” …this is a fine choice if you like silly movies with inept special effects, pointless nudity, well crafted wackiness, and a marginal association with a major holiday. And if you don’t like any of those things, what the hell are you doing on this site? Watch it. It’s surprisingly watchable.” Drunk in a Graveyard

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Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell is a blast. It’s Troma-esque fun in all the right ways and certainly delivers the goods. It has a great sense of humor, incisive satire, lots of nudity, inventive kills and copious (albeit CGI) gore.” Really Awful Movies (authors of Death By Umbrella: The 100 Weirdest Horror Movie Weapons)

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“Needless to say, the acting is bad. As in some of the worst I have ever witnessed in a movie bad. The characters are irrationally stupid and completely un-relatable as they walk around like chickens with their heads cut off. Obviously all the big breasted women lose their tops and run around before getting killed with some of the worst effects I have ever seen. Every effect looks so bad, especially the bunny.” Andy Comer, The Movie Waffler

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” …this film is a riotous good time from start to finish, a blatant nod and fantastic addition to the genre of over-the-top camp and grue/splatter movies. The effects are plentiful, grisly and heavily CGI generated a fact that, though usually annoying and overdone, only added to my growing adoration of this feature.” Thy Demons Be Scribblin’

“This absurd and very witty gore fest is everything you want in comedic horror, and then some Jam-packed with terrible special effects, insanely absurd characters, slap-stick(ish) laugh out loud hilarity, and a rabbit puppet from your nightmares that only wants to eat your face off, this movie is absolutely something that needs to be seen to be believed.” Jolie Bergman, Horror Habit

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“The film has little in the way of plot or acting. Much of the film simply consists of total idiots or women who inexplicably take their clothes off that are eaten by a 50 foot rat-like creature. While this sounds pretty dumb, it’s much worse. The ‘killer bunny’ is obviously a marionette and the filmmakers really don’t try very hard to make it look realistic.” Martin Hafer, Influx magazine

“Everything about Beaster Day is bad, but it’s supposed to be and that’s the fun of it. This film most definitely falls into the category of being so intentionally bad that it’s awesome. This film reminds me of something you would see on Syfy except that it’s actually good and could never play on that channel due to all the excessive gore and nudity.” Michael Juvinall, Horror Society

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” …the dialogue was actually witty and a lot of fun, it just seemed to flow well between the entire cast who put on an excellent job of being over cheesy as it worked, they just seemed to mesh well together. Sadly, the film is filled with CGI [..] And did I mention boobs? Yes, this rabbit has taste for hot chicks with copious amounts of cleavage, there are boobs galore…” Chris Savage, Horror-Movies.ca

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Filming locations:

Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

Technical credits:

87 mins | colour | 16×9

IMDb

Related: Monty Python: Horrific Humour – article by David Flint | Night of the Lepus

 

 


Stung (2015)

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‘Get inside. Get away. Just don’t get…’

Stung is a 2015 American-German comedy horror film directed by Benni Diez (Galaxy of Horrors: “Kingz” segment). The cast includes Matt O´Leary (Santa Clarita Diet; FrailtyMom’s Got a Date with a Vampire), Jessica Cook, Peter Stormare and Lance Henriksen (Needlestick; Daylight’s EndAliens; et al).

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An XYZ Films production, Stung was developed by producer Benjamin Munz at Rat Pack Filmproduktion based on an idea by Adam Aresty, who won RatPack’s 2012 horror-writing contest. The film premiered on at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, 2015.

On 26 October 2015 Entertainment One released Stung on DVD in the UK.

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Buy: Amazon.co.uk

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Plot:

A fancy garden party goes terribly wrong after a local species of wasps mutate into giant predators. It’s up to Paul and Julia, two catering staffers at the high-society event, to stop the killer creatures – an effort that kickstarts a budding romance between the two…

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Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“It follows a very predictable path with familiar beats, even ending on a note that you’ll more than likely see coming. It’s an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise fantastic creature feature with awesome special effects and a lightning-quick story. Diez is an exciting new talent in the world of film and I can’t wait to see what he does next, especially with a wonderful debut like Stung leaving behind a particularly bloody mark.” Rhino’s Horror

” …aimed squarely at genre fans, who should enjoy its slick energy on a modest budget. The more original ideas and sensibility that might’ve made it something beyond a decent formulaic time-filler are lacking here — although with the narrative door left wide open for a sequel, such creative risks could be taken next time.” Dennis Harvey, Variety

Stung suffers from some pretty poor CGI to begin with, but thankfully it doesn’t last too long. Once the wasp begin to bite people, leading to giant wasps ripping out of the bodies of the bitten, the practical effects swing into high gear and they all look really awesome. The scene with the first swarm attacking is really well done. Kudos to the makeup team led by Meike Gfrörer.” Chris Coffel, Bloody Disgusting

Stung would have done itself a favor by leaning further in one direction over the other instead of tiptoeing on a tightrope between not tongue-in-cheek enough to be campy fun and not dramatic enough to be taken seriously.  Needing more animation in its action and more charisma in its cast, Stung is only slick enough to be a standard killer bug movie with too slight of a humorous edge.” Culture Crypt

“Some “animal attack” movies are worth seeing solely for the scary bits, but Stung tries pretty hard to provide us with some engaging characters and a few funny moments before it unleashes its swarm of giant, furious wasps. That effort alone is worthy of note, and doubly so when it results in a comedy/horror/romance that actually delivers in all three departments.” Scott Weinberg, Nerdist

Cast and characters:

  • Matt O’Leary as Paul
  • Jessica Cook as Julia
  • Lance Henriksen as Caruthers
  • Clifton Collins Jr. as Sydney
  • Cecilia Pillado as Flora
  • Eve Slatner as Mrs. Perch
  • Daniele Rizzo as Larry
  • Florentine Lahme as Gweneth
  • Kathleen Renish as Mrs. Markham
  • Tony de Maeyer as Doc Withney
  • David Masterson as Mr. Markham
  • Benedikt Bothe as Gardener 1
  • Tommy Kreiselmaier as Gardener 2
  • Benni Diez as Firefighter

Filming locations:

Bernau, Brandenburg, Germany

Wikipedia | IMDb


Lifeform (2017)

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‘Sometimes beauty is the beast’

Lifeform is a 2017 science fiction horror film written, produced and directed by Max Dementor [as Brian Schiavo] (The Shriven). It stars Peter Alexandrou, Virginia Logan and Joe Amato.

Hadrian Beckett, a molecular biologist working to bring his wife, Samantha, back from a brain dead state, creates transgenic super stem cells that are capable of repairing cellular damage.

The cells save Samantha’s life, but Hadrian and Sam discover that she is slowly being transformed into a creature of pure instinct, one that is able to alter the shape of its body at will. Hadrian must find a cure before her sense of identity is completely subsumed by the beast within her…

Main cast:

Peter Alexandrou, Virginia Logan (Robot Revolution; Android Insurrection), Joe Amato, Mark Armstrong, Kate Britton, Adam Cerný, Cosmo, Ken Driesslein, Miranda Kahn, Tatyana Kot, Ree James Merrill, Tom Rowen, Rebecca Kush, Jaclyn Sokol, Raine Thieme, Christina Wood, Chad Ackerman, Nicky Savarese, Joshua Barbour, Cheryl Jacobs.

Filming locations:

Long Island, New York City, New York, USA
New Jersey, USA

IMDb | Thanks to Jeff Gilbert at Drinkin’ & Drive-In


The Great Alligator (1979)

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The Great Alligator – Il fiume del grande caimano [“The River of the Big Caiman”] – is a 1979 Italian action horror film directed by Sergio Martino (Mountain of the Cannibal GodTorso) from a screenplay co-written with Cesare Frugoni and Ernesto Gastaldi. Luigi Montefiori [aka George Eastman] and Maria Chianetta contributed to the storyline.

The film stars Barbara Bach (The Unseen; Isle of the FishmenShort Night of Glass Dolls), Claudio Cassinelli and Mel Ferrer (The Antichrist; Blood and Roses).

The ‘alligator’ was designed by Carlo De Marchis (Monster Dog).

A photographer, Daniel (Claudio Cassinelli), is employed to take publicity shots for Paradise House, a newly-opened tourist complex set deep in the jungle. Unfortunately, a giant caiman, which the local tribespeople revere as ‘The Great God Kruna’, begins to besiege the local area.

After a few of the tribespeople are killed, they blame the tourists and set out to kill them while the survivors try to rally on a boat with the hungry caiman attacking…

Reviews:

Alligator is an above average B film that has a few moments that bring on unintentional laughter and to its credit this film effective keeps the alligator off screen as much as possible not to give away how cheap it looks. Content wise Alligator is a cross between the animal vs. people films of the 1970’s and the action adventure stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.” Michael Den Boer, 10K Bullets

Buy: Amazon.com

” …the picture is depressingly mechanical, with none of the characters or their situations generating any interest at all, and the alligator scenes unimaginatively filmed in the same style as Jaws, with lots of underwater and water-level point-of-view shots. Making matters worse is that both the full-size alligator prop and the outrageously phony miniature used for wide-angle underwater shots are stiff and lifeless.” Stuart Galbraith IV, DVD Talk

“Short on story, but long on travelogue photography, silly dialogue, and an outrageous monster […] The film excels over most other Jaws rip-offs by at least attempting a different approach. Instead of just some pissed-off water creature going man-hungry for no reason, the theme of Third World exploitation and pro-environmental concerns is big thinking for an exploitation film!” Casey Scott, DVD Drive-In

” …the prosthetic alligator is kind of impressive in some screwed up way, and there’s no doubt that Martino could have gone all in with stock footage if he wanted, but instead there’s a big toy croc in the waters. Even if it does look fake in some shots, so does Bruce in Jaws, and this movie is made on a fraction of that budget.” Jason Meredith, CiNEZiLLA

“The film does manage to get in one uniquely Italian theme – in having the developer readily exploiting the natives as well. […] It takes a long time to get to the main action but even then things happen at a snail’s pace. The alligator effects are passably convincing for the brief, almost subliminal shots we are allowed of it.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“After ten minutes of the same damn thing happening over and over, basically a closeup of a screaming face, the immobile puppet lunging, and a pint of red dye in the water to indicate bloody death, you would either be worn down by the hilarity or checking your watch to see how much further this had to go.” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

Choice dialogue:

Peter: “What the hell’s got into these goddamned savages!?”

Cast and characters:

  • Barbara Bach as Alice Brandt [voiced by Susan Spafford]
  • Claudio Cassinelli as Daniel Nessel
  • Mel Ferrer as Joshua
  • Richard Johnson as Prophet Jameson
  • Romano Puppo as Peter
  • Anny Papa as Laura
  • Enzo Fisichella as Maurice, lover of Minou’s Mother
  • Lory Del Santo as Jane
  • Clara Colosimo as Tourist

Filming locations:

Sri Lanka

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Cinema Arcana | ICMDb.comMalastrana VHS


Chupacabra Territory (2016)

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‘Some species are best left undiscovered’

Chupacabra Territory is a 2016 found footage horror film written and directed by Matt McWilliams, making his feature debut.

The film stars Sarah Nicklin (The Haunting of Alice D.The Sins of Dracula, Flesh for the Inferno), Michael Reed (Dark Feed, Exhumed), Megan Hensley (The Crazies), Julianne Tura (Bloody Bloody Bible CampChastity Bites), and Pierre Kennel.

Four friends hike into the Pinewood Forest to find evidence of the Chupacabra, an ancient creature believed to be responsible for the disappearance of four experienced hikers a year earlier.

As they journey deeper into the forest, their innocent search uncovers more than they had ever hoped for, and with it a darkness that threatens to consume their very existence.

One by one they are hunted down, their survival tested, their lives hanging in the balance of fear, friendship, disbelief and horror…

On April 11, 2017, the film is released on Maltauro Entertainment Blu-ray and Invincible Pictures DVD with exclusive interviews with the cast and crew, trailers and more. The film will also be released on various VOD platforms.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the film was released on DVD as Lair of the Beast on 22nd August 2016 by 101 Films.

Reviews:

” …McWilliams deserves some credit for adding more elements into his movie than you would expect (and arguably than he knows what to do with), and his leads at least give us enough personality that you care a bit about what happens to them.”  David Dent, Dark Eyes of London

“Whilst there’s elements here that truly do work and emulate the Blair Witch style terror, the unfortunate, self-centred egos of the characters involved completely undo these moments of brilliance. Because of this, horror fans looking for a serious woodland creature horror will be disappointed…” Horror Cult Films

Filming locations:

Lake Hughes, California, USA

IMDb | Facebook


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