BARE BONES: DEADSTREAM (2022)

DEADSTREAM (2022)

Found footage horror/comedy finds internet influencer Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) facing his fears on his web show The Wrath of Shawn. To regain his audience, after being banished for six months when one of his stunts causes injury, Shawn decides to face his biggest fear upon his return…ghosts! Locking himself inside an actual haunted house Shawn learns the hard way that this may be one fear he may not live to overcome.

Laugh out loud flick is written and directed by star Joseph Winter along with Vanessa Winter and is deviously entertaining. It is a clever blast of a good time that not only skewers internet stars, live stream web shows, paranormal shows and found footage horror, but wonderfully captures the manic energy and ghoulish laughs of Evil Dead 2 in its overdrive last act. Winter’s hyperactive Shawn is annoying, endearing and hilariously funny all at the same time and he makes a worthy “Ash” for a new generation facing all sorts of scary spooks, being covered in various bodily fluids, and getting the crap beaten out of him. It’s energetic and entertaining and the filmmakers even get some legitimately spooky sequences mixed in with all the fun stuff. The Utah location is very creepy, and the Winters use it well. The spooks are nicely rendered FX, there are some surprisingly gory moments and some bonkers sequences with motor-mouth, coward Shawn fighting for his life against various ghosts and ghouls. The Winters pull off a nice mix of horror and comedy, give it some spooky atmosphere and manic energy, and it all adds up to a really fun Halloween time treat. Deadstream also stars Melanie Stone as Chrissy, a fan that follows Shawn to the haunted location. Flick is currently streaming on Shudder. FUN!

MZNJ: Not only is this one of the funniest and spookiest horror comedies in years, but definitely a strong candidate for being on the horror best of list for 2022.

-MonsterZero NJ

BARE BONES: YUMMY (2019)

YUMMY (2020)

Belgium zombie comedy has Michael (Bart Hollanders) taking his girlfriend Alison (Maaike Neuville) and her mother Sylvia (Annick Christiaens) to an obscure clinic to have plastic surgery. There is some kind of strange experimentation going on there and when Michael releases a patient (Louise Bergez) he finds bound to a stretcher and muzzled, he unleashes one of the side effects of said experiments, a flesh-eating zombie. Soon Michael and company are trapped inside the hospital surrounded by hordes of hungry undead.

Flick is directed by Lars Damoiseaux from his script with Eveline Hagenbeek. There is nothing new here zombie flick-wise, but the film does have a manic energy during it’s action sequences and the expected gore is abundant and well done. There are some funny bits, a flaming penis gag being one of the standouts, and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome at only 88 minutes. There are a few spots where the film stops dead…pun might be intended…for exposition, but otherwise it’s fast paced and can be bloody fun at times. If anything, it never tries to be more than it is. Nothing new, but an amusing zombie comedy if you aren’t burnt out on this overrun sub-genre.

-MonsterZero NJ

TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: FRANKENHOOKER (1990)

FRANKENHOOKER (1990)

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Horror/comedy was released in 1990, but is very 80s. It’s the story of New Jersey resident Jeffrey Franken (James Lorinz), who is a failed med student that now works for the power company. When his self-conscious girlfriend Elizabeth (Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen) is killed in a freak lawnmower accident, Jeffrey plans to put both his medical knowledge and high voltage know-how to use, to bring her back to life. On a quest for body parts, a series of unfortunate events finds Jeffrey decimating the entire stable of NYC pimp Zorro (Joseph Gonzalez) and using the body parts to build Elizabeth the perfect body. Jeffrey’s work, however, is far from perfect, as she is a patchwork of various limbs whose mind retains the memories of all the previous owners of those parts. His twitchy creation soon escapes and returns to NYC to start plying the world’s oldest profession…with hilariously lethal results.

Flick is produced by James (Exterminator, Shakedown) Glickenhaus and directed by Frank Henenlotter (the cult classic Basket Case) from his script with original Fangoria editor Bob Martin. It’s a sleazy grind-house style comedy that may be an acquired taste, but is a lot of fun, if it’s up your 42nd Street alley. There are cheesy gore FX, lots of pretty ladies and boobs and of course, plenty of homages to Frankenstein and other classic horror tales. It’s low budget and that adds to the charm and the NYC locations are delightfully sleazy. The film wouldn’t work as well as it does, though, if it weren’t for a hilarious performances by star Patty Mullen. She is simply a hoot as the twitchy Frankenhooker, who has no idea that her professional skills are now quite dangerous. James Lorinz lays it on a little thick as Jeffrey, but in a flick like this, over-the-top is certainly not out of place. The film’s not perfect. Not every joke is funny, some of the supporting cast’s acting is pretty bad and quite a few of the FX are a little too cheesy for their own good. The whole movie has an amateur vibe to it, despite being Henenlotter’s fourth film. Otherwise, it’s an amusing midnight movie and the type they don’t make anymore in these overly sensitive times.

A cult classic in itself, Frankenhooker can be fun if you like 42nd Street grind-house style flicks, which this is, through and through. It has it’s flaws. Henenlotter’s films always kept a very amateur style to them, which the filmmaker never grew out of, or chose not to. On the plus side, Mullen steals the film with a hilarious, yet sometimes poignant, portrayal as Jeffrey’s girlfriend/creation, who just wants to turn some tricks. A fun midnight movie for those who appreciate sleazy, cheesy amusements. Also stars Louise Lasser as Jeffrey’s mom and 80s-90s porn star Heather Hunter as one of Zorro’s girls, Chartreuse.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) twitchy Frankenhookers.

 

 

 

 

 

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SATANIC PANIC GETS A TRAILER AND POSTER!

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What happens when an adorable pizza delivery girl (Hayley Griffith), delivers to the wrong house?… Satanic Panic of course! Delightfully fun looking horror/comedy is directed by Chelsea Stardust from a script by Grady Hendrix (Mohawk) based on a story by Hendrix and Ted Geoghegan (We Are Still Here, Mohawk). The devilishly fun sounding flick also stars Jerry O’Connell (Piranha 3D), Ruby Modine (Happy Death Day 1 & 2) and Rebecca Romijn (X-Men‘s Mystique) and comes to us from Fangoria Films and Aperture Entertainment! Satanic Panic premieres on 9/6/2019 in limited theatrical and VOD release!

-MonsterZero NJ

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source: internet/youtube