NEW NETFLIX TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE FLICK GETS A POSTER AND TRAILER!
Netflix and Legendary Pictures are bringing us a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre flick and now we have a poster and trailer! “Requel” is directed by David Blue Garcia from a script by Chris Thomas Devlin based on a story by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues. It stars Alice Krige, Elsie Fisher, Nell Hudson, new narration from John Larroquette and Mark Burnham as Leatherface! Do we need another Chainsaw Massacre flick? We’ll find out on 2/18/22!
MonsterZero NJ’s Saturday Night Double Feature is back again and featuring a pair of flicks from director to watch Joe Begos. His latest flick VFW throws some serious love at John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13, and his 2019 flick Bliss is a new twist on the vampire tale!…
BLISS (2019)
Dezzy (Dora Madison) is a down on her luck artist and drug abuser who is having trouble finishing a piece that could turn her life around. She vents her frustration in a night of debauchery, involving alcohol, a new drug from her dealer and a threesome with friend Courtney (Tru Collins) and Courtney’s boyfriend Ronnie (Rhys Wakefield). Not only does this get her working on her painting again, but gives her an insatiable appetite for blood.
Joe Begos writes and directs this sometimes-hallucinogenic tale of artistic block, depravity and vampirism. Begos’ first two features Almost Human and The Mind’s Eye were homage heavy flicks, though very entertaining. Here he shows he can do something outside of his influences and do it well, even on a very small budget, which seems to suit Begos. While not a traditional vampire tale, as Dezzy has no fangs and doesn’t turn into any creatures of the night, it has some gory demises once Dezzy’s thirst drives her to kill. Whatever she is, can be killed by a wooden stake, as Courtney demonstrates by finishing off one of Dezzy’s victims, and apparently sunlight can be lethal, too. Vampires or not, this is a tale of excess and Begos sometimes put’s his audience inside Dezzy’s head trips and it gives us a sense of the state of mind the troubled artist is in. It’s a trip and a disturbing one for all the right reasons. The gore is very plentiful and well-orchestrated and the film itself has a raw feel to it that works very well, as it revels in the seedier side of Los Angeles nightlife. A contemporary vampire tale substituting ancient curses and cloves of garlic for sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.
While there are quite a few supporting players, it’s very much a one woman show, and lead Dora Madison (Exists) rises to the occasion. She dives into the role with a passionate yet very real performance. One doesn’t feel like they are watching a movie character, but a real person whose artistic nature has her living a life of excesses and extreme stimulation, and this is before she is transformed into a creature of the night. Her role requires a lot of nudity, drug use and hedonistic behavior, not to mention outbursts of rage, anger and violence when she realizes something is very wrong with her and her bloodlust takes hold. The actress performs it all very well. The supporting cast, such as Collins as Courtney and Jeremy Gardner as Dezzy’s “friend” Clive all create interesting people who seem to dwell more within the underground lifestyle of L.A. A good cast of interesting characters.
Overall, Begos is once again proving he is a filmmaker to watch. His homages to The Thing (Almost Human) and Scanners (The Mind’s Eye) were solid flicks that paid respectful tribute to their inspirations. Here Begos shows he can operate outside his influences and presents a tale of a young woman’s downward spiral into madness, depravity and murder all in the name of artistic expression. It’s trippy, gory and dirty and sleazy in all the right places. Looking forward to Begos’ upcoming VFW about a group of war veterans under siege at a VFW hall.
-MonsterZero NJ
Rated 3 and 1/2 (out of 4) fangs, even if Dezzy doesn’t have any.
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Bliss director Joe Begos’ latest flick takes place in a very near future where a highly addictive drug called “hype” has turned it’s users into violent addicts and city streets into war zones. Inside one of those war zones lives Viet Nam war veteran Fred (Stephen Lang) who runs a VFW hall where his friends and fellow soldiers Walter (William Sadler), Abe (Fred Williamson), Thomas (George Wendt), Lou (Martin Kove) and Doug (David Patrick Kelly) hang out. One night a young woman called Lizard (Sierra McCormick) steals some hype from drug dealer Boz (Travis Hammer), to get revenge on Boz for killing her sister (Linnea Wilson). On the run from Boz and his gang, Lizard runs into the VFW hall for cover. Still men of honor, Fred and the other veterans vow to protect Lizard as Boz, his thugs and an army of frantic hype addicts lay siege to the VFW hall.
Flick is basically John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 on crack as directed by Begos from a script by Matthew McArdle and Max Brallier. That is in no way a bad thing, as this is a bloody blast of an action flick as the war veterans take on an army of zoned-out drug addicts and a psychotic gang of thugs. We are treated to spurting blood, flying limbs and exploding heads, as the war vets use guns, axes and a host of homemade booby traps and weapons to keep the vicious gang at bay. It’s fast paced, though not enough that we don’t get to know this endearing bunch of men who never stopped being soldiers at heart. That is what makes this click all the better, is that despite all the fast and furious action, Begos lets the script’s messages about respecting and honoring those who have served, shine through. One of the very few issues with the flick is that the army of crazed drug addicts seems to come and go at the needs of the script, instead of consistently laying siege to the VFW hall. They disappear conveniently when the film needs a quiet moment for our characters to regroup. Other than that, Begos accomplishes a lot on a small budget, delivers the blood and action and has assembled a great cast of veteran actors to play his aged warriors…
…and how can you not like this cast! Stephan Lang makes his Fred a world weary yet still honorable and strong man, one who still has nobility and honor. Sadler makes for a very likable Walter, a good-natured man who remembers the days of war as a time of loyalty and friends made. Williamson still kicks ass as the tough yet somewhat mellowing Abe and Martin Kove is solid as the businessman of the group, car salesman Lou. Lou is the only one wanting to “deal” with Boz and his gang to save his own skin. Wendt and Kelly are also likable as grizzled vets Thomas and Doug, who still have their senses of humor about them. As our bad guys, Travis Hammer is a bit weak as Boz. He’s more sleazy than scary or intimidating, but he isn’t a hinderance to the blood-soaked fun. Making up for it is Bliss’ Dora Madison as gang member Gutter. She’s ruthless, vicious and deadly and probably should have been the main villain…just sayin’. Any girl that takes on Fred “The Hammer” Williamson is not to be taken lightly. Rounding out is Tom Williamson (All Cheerleaders Die ) as a young vet named Shawn who wanders into the hall just home from the Middle East, Sierra McCormick (Some Kind of Hate), who is solid as the tough Lizard and Begos regular Graham Skipper as Boz’s brother, Roadie. A good cast.
Overall, this was a blood-soaked blast of a good time that manages to not only be bloody entertaining, but heartfelt about how we should view our war veterans. It’s got a lot of bloody action, but doesn’t move too fast that we don’t endear to these grizzled vets. It has some well rendered and plentiful gore, a great John Carpenter-esque score by Steve Moore and some effective cinematography by Mike Testin. All in all, it might be the most fun you’ll have at a bloodbath in quite some time. Flick is available on Amazon Prime and definitely worth the rental!
Ordered this awesome Godzilla vs Biollante tee shirt from the equally awesome folks at Cavity Colors! It arrived earlier this week! One of the more original and stranger of the Heisei Godzilla flicks and features his only plant opponent in the entire series…so far! A personal favorite and a really cool shirt!
Grace (Scout Taylor-Compton) is a young woman who has decided to find the parents she never knew. When her search leads to a small rural town in South Carolina, she and her boyfriend Jack (Nolan Gerard Funk) decide to journey there to meet a man who claims to have found her family. Once they arrive at the isolated plantation, they find the house empty and themselves soon under siege by a cloaked, mask wearing cult. What do they want, and will Grace and Jack ever get out alive?
Flick is directed by Rich Ragsdale from a script by Robert Sheppe and Mark Young. While the plot is nothing new, Ragsdale does impress with a very striking visual style, especially on a modest budget. There are a few visuals that don’t quite work, but otherwise, he provides some very spooky shots and knows how to create atmosphere with his camera. There are some creepy sequences as well and a few moments of strong violence that have impact. Compton is a horror flick veteran and makes a strong heroine as Grace, a woman whose family history may have caught up with her in a bad way. Co-star Funk seems to get the worst of some stilted dialogue and it does hurt his character. There are also appearances by veteran actors Jeff Fahey and Deborah Kara Unger in small roles. If anything holds this atmospheric flick back a bit is that the last act seems drawn out and gets a bit pretentious before settling down to a more traditional horror ending, and sometimes, at just over 90 minutes in length, the film drags in spots. Otherwise, The Long Night is not a bad effort from Rich Ragsdale. Flick opens on VOD and select theaters on 2/4/22.
Latest sequel finds Woodsboro once again the target of someone wearing the Ghostface mask. This time it’s Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), who is allowed to live only to lure estranged sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) back to Woodsboro. Why is Ghostface so interested in Sam? Could a dark secret trailing back to the original Woodsboro murders have something to do with it? Sam and her friends have an edge though, as Dewey (David Arquette), Gail (Courteney Cox) and Sydney (Neve Campbell) have vowed to stop Ghostface once and for all!
Self-labeled “requel” is directed by the team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. It’s more “meh” than meta as this fifth installment is showing that the Scream formula is running out of gas and this one in particular adds little new to revitalize the franchise. Even Sydney herself claims this Ghostface is the most derivative yet and she’s ironically not wrong. Our three veteran characters all seem visibly tired of this schtick, though the new cast members do try hard, especially Barrera and Ortega. The attempts to give fan service to the original film works only about half the time, though there are some impactful deaths of series characters. There are also some solid kills, a few suspenseful sequences, and some clever dialogue, but even Ghostface lacks a strong threat and the whole film simply felt like it was going through the motions. Even the film’s reveal lacked a strong impact and the reasons for this happening a fifth time seemed very convoluted. Worst of all, It’s actually a bit dull in spots. Something a slasher should never be.
The veterans are fine, but you get the feeling they are also going through the motions and are not really invested in having to do this yet again. Campbell, Cox and Arquette just don’t breathe the life into the characters that they did in the past installments and are actually overshadowed by some of the newcomers. Speaking of which, Melissa Barrera makes for a very strong lead as Sam, the focus of the newest Ghostface’s attention. She’s strong-willed and makes a solid final girl. Also solid is Jenna Ortega (The Babysitter: Killer Queen), who has been a familiar face in horror lately, and she does good work as Sam’s younger sister Tara. Ortega is sympathetic, but also shows some toughness in her encounters with Ghostface. Dylan Minnette (GooseBumps) is likable as the son of now Sheriff Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) and Jack Quaid does a fine job as Sam’s boyfriend Richie. Rounding out the attractive young cast are Mikey Madison as Amber, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding (Booksmart) as siblings Mindy and Chad and Sonia Ammar as Chad’s girlfriend Liv. A likable cast who deserved a stronger script and better movie.
Overall, this new Scream neither refreshes the franchise for a new generation nor gives it a strong finish— though if it ended here—which it probably won’t—it would be a fitting enough, though weak, send-off. It has some good kills, a few clever touches, and a solid young cast, but otherwise only seems to illustrate that this franchise is running out of gas. The veteran actors seem tired of it all and the script could have done more than put this installment through familiar paces. Entertaining to a degree, but also too slow and routine in spots to let it slide on some of it faults.
Indie horror flick finds two young couples, Naomi (Najah Bradley) and James (Patrick R. Walker) along with Sarah (Gillie Jones) and Daniel (A.J. Jones) camping in a remote forest despite ominous warnings from a park ranger (Mark Pettit). There they encounter their own personal melodrama and a bloodthirsty creature from Amazonian folklore called La Patasola (Luciana Faulhaber).
Flick is directed by star A.J. Jones from a script by he and Shaun Mathis. As per its opening conversation, the film tries way too hard to be “woke” and it feels forced and not like natural conversations between friends. Daniel is also too ignorant in his views to be believable as someone the others would even want to hang out with. Naomi is South American in origin and thus provides the background exposition for our seductive creature and the film tries to set the mood with the ominous warnings of the park ranger as well. Cliché yes, but done right, the time-honored clichés still can work. Again, here it seems forced, as is Naomi relating the folklore of La Patasola as a campfire tale and it just so happens the creature is actually here in Florida, USA. What are the odds! The Amazonian folklore is interesting, but the character melodrama is not. The film is boring, not scary, so it’s faults only become more obvious, since there is nothing to distract us away. The acting is stale as is the dialogue. Only Luciana Faulhaber gives her role a little life, imbuing La Patasola with a bit of spooky sex appeal in her far too brief appearance as the human form of the creature. Disappointedly amateur and forgettable despite being based on actual untapped folklore.
Flick finds a dangerous prisoner transfer crashing in the middle of nowhere stranding EMT Melina (Marika Sila) in the middle of the woods with her surviving crew members, two police officers and a pair of psychotic killers. Their homicidal passengers are the least of her worries, though, as there is something else in the woods stalking them that is far more dangerous.
Written and directed by Christopher Donaldson, this horror starts out spooky and effective, until we get our reveal. Once that happens it becomes a long, drawn-out villain pontification showcase that stops any momentum the film had, dead in its tracks. What started out being something headed in a bloody fun direction, nosedives into a tedious talk fest by a boring, boastful villain (Mackenzie Gray). It was much more interesting when the threat was left in mystery and shadows. The plot also gets far too convoluted for its own good once the nefarious plot is tediously revealed. The action finally does resume, with about ten minutes left in the movie, but by then it’s too little and far too late. There is some abundant and well-orchestrated gore, but the film way overuses the 80s neon lighting style that has become popular again with a new generation of filmmakers weaned on the films of that era. At least Marika Sila made a solid heroine, who was sadly in need of a better movie. A disappointing example of a film that starts out headed in a good direction and takes a wrong turn into boring and forgettable.
Three friends, Michael (Ted Evans), Sarah (Madeleine Humphries) and Danny (Colton Eschief Mastro) get together for a post quarantine reunion at a remote cabin in the woods. As with any cabin in the woods scenario, there is something not right going on in those woods and this vacation may turn into a nightmare.
Flick is written and directed by Nick Gregorio and is an economical 62 minutes long. The movie works the contemporary pandemic themes of isolation and fear, as it deals with the subject of infection, when a strange substance in the woods starts to contaminate those that come in contact with it. Obviously, one of the trio becomes infected and begins to act strangely. The film isn’t big on action, but Gregorio does give the proceedings some tension, a spooky scene or two and an atmosphere of dread, while his small cast does fine in their roles. Technically it is shot well and doesn’t rely on too many FX, choosing to work within the means of its small budget. There are a few weak CGI shots, but otherwise the film remains light on FX reliance. There is also a bit of a science fiction twist in the last act that pays fun homage to a classic sci-fi tale, that won’t be spoiled here. Not a bad effort from Nick Gregorio and shows some potential from the filmmaker.
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