Movie Review: Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives (2010)

Director: Israel Luna
Stars: Erica Andrews, Willam Belli, Kelexis Davenport, Jenna Skyy and Krystal Summers

Buy Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives on DVD

Sometimes there are movies you should never watch because there's just no way they could ever live up to their titles. When I saw that the Arizona Underground Film Festival was screening a film called Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives, I knew it was either going to be a disappointment or the greatest film ever made, but catching up on DVD I realise that it's a combination of both. Obviously this isn't a movie for everyone, but you can hardly accuse it of false advertising. It's an indie film, financed by a lesbian in her eighties, shot by a gay Texan director and, perhaps for the first time anywhere, starring real transgender women in most of the lead roles. It's also a throwback to grindhouse rape revenge movies like I Spit on Your Grave and Savage Streets, but with plenty of comedy and nowhere near as much nastiness. Those who would hate it are the ones who wouldn't dream of watching it to begin with because it's exactly what they think it is.

Movie Review: Spider Forest (2004)

by Hal Astell

It's been almost a month since I saw a Korean movie, which is a sad state of affairs indeed, and Sundance describe this one as Memento meets Jacob's Ladder. How freaky can this be? With that description I wouldn't even care if there there aren't any spiders in this forest, but fortunately there are. They go very well with fourteen day old corpses in horror stories, but this one's not just a horror movie: it's a drama, a mystery and a thriller, all wrapped in the same happy go lucky bundle.

Buy Spider Forest on DVD

We begin with a man waking up in the forest and walking back to the cabin nearby. There he finds one male corpse that he thinks looks like himself, stabbed over forty times. In the next room is his girlfriend, not quite dead yet but pretty close. She's only been stabbed three times so is still alive and talking of spiders while looking up at a hatchway. Our man hears something, so grabs a scythe, perhaps the murder weapon itself, and opens the hatch, only to find another man on the other side who he chases into the forest.

Movie Review: Paula-Paula (2010)

I have been joking with my girl friend that one day on this site I will write a three letter review of some movie: "WTF?" End of blog. If I were to carry through on that threat, Jesus "Jess" Franco's PAULA-PAULA would certainly be my target.

Buy Paula-Paula on DVD

I can enjoy cinematic sleaze from time to time as much as the next guy. An occasional roll in the cinematic mud can be a lot of fun. And I can't say I haven't enjoyed watching some of Franco's films in the past on just that level. But this one is so thin, it asks way too much of us.

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood (1973)

Director: Toshiya Fujita
Star: Meiko Kaji

Buy Lady Snowblood on DVD

Back in the eighties in England, I learned about genre film as much by reading about it as by actually watching it, given that the self appointed arbiters of public morals cut or banned movies by the bucketload. I remember reading with longing about a number of Japanese films from the early seventies, generally sourced from manga and featuring stylised violence and great gouts of blood, precisely the sort of thing that the censors had kittens about. Most notable were those written by Kazuo Koike and eventually, through an underground source, I found the six films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, along with the American Shogun Assassin, compiled from the first two, which had a history of trouble with the censors, though it technically never made the video nasty list. I never found Lady Snowblood back then but I'm overjoyed that AnimEigo have made it available in a crisp letterbox print with solid subtitles and useful liner notes.

Cinematic Hell: Criminally Insane (1975)

Director: Nick Philips
Stars: Priscilla Alden and Michael Flood

Buy Criminally Insane on DVD

Perhaps it was inevitable that Nick Millard would find a career in exploitation film. His father, S S 'Steamship' Millard, was a genre pioneer, one of the legendary Forty Thieves of the exploitation roadshow circuit with larger than life characters like Louis Sonney, Leonard 'Pug' Arenson and Howard 'Pappy' Goldin. Best remembered is Dwain Esper, who directed Maniac and Marihuana and toured Freaks and Reefer Madness, but they all operated the same way. The Forty Thieves would breeze into town on a wave of publicity, like carnival barkers or revivalist preachers; lease a theatre to exhibit their latest atrocities; hawk pamphlets that made more money than tickets; then quickly breeze on out again before the authorities paid too much attention. Millard built films like 1927's Is Your Daughter Safe? from existing footage, its warning against prostitution conjured up from medical footage about venereal disease and stock footage of white slavery.

Interview: PJ Woodside

by James DePaolo

1.What kind of childhood does a PJ Woodside have?


I had asthma and got my ass kicked a lot. I spent a lot of time at the beach, too. There are lots of home movies of me in a bathing suit. Stop it. I was little.


Find PJ Woodside on Amazon.com


2.What is your first film memory, that made you a fan of movies?


Mary Poppins. My favorite scene is the one where they float to the ceiling from laughter. Though it’s not a movie, I am also a huge fan of Gumby and Pokey. It was freakish to watch the characters turn to clay balls and then get remade into something else. It was like being on acid to a four-year-old. I might be telling my age here. The first scary stuff I watched was Dark Shadows. I LOVED that show. No mirror reflection? How did they do their hair?

Movie Review: Eyes in the Dark (2010)

Director: Bjorn Anderson
Stars: Wayne Bastrup, Melissa Goad, John Symonds, Maureen Francisco, Telisa Steen, Melinda Ausserer, Jason Robinson and Paul Eenhoorn

We may be coming up on a whole new era in Forteana. The X Files told us that the truth is out there, the Internet gave us opportunity to start looking and now Wikileaks has the potential to actually hand us the details. While we may never quite get treated to a leaked document that identifies the precise crate in the precise warehouse that the Ark of the Covenant is currently languishing in, I'm intrigued to see what the next decade or so brings us in uncovered cover ups, demystified mysteries and explained conspiracies. It might even bring us a real life equivalent of this, the second feature from Bjorn Anderson, whose imagination shows in his choice of subject matter for his debut: a mediaeval war movie from 2009 called Warrior's End, hardly the usual starting point for a new filmmaker. He fills the same roles here, as writer, producer and director, but this is a more traditional horror movie, albeit following relatively new traditions.

Movie Review : Repo Chick (2009)

Just last week I posted a review of THE AMAZING BULK, a movie shot entirely in front of a green screen with computer generated backgrounds. In that review I more than implied that I found this an annoying trend, designed solely to make a make a big budget-type story with miniscule funds. The results, however (most of the time), are less than engaging, since the unrealistic imagery fails to transport us to a place we can relate to. I'm happy to say that Alex Cox's REPO CHICK has proven that need not always be the case. His decision to make his latest film with this technology may or may not have been at least partially because of budgetary considerations. But whatever the case, he uses the technique effectively and with a purpose. Like any good work of art, the form here illuminates and supports the content.

Buy Repo Chick on DVD or Blu-ray

Movie Review: The Passions of Carol (1975)

Review by Jeff

It’s been over a month since Christmas ended and I still can’t help but wonder why there haven't been more Christmas themed porn films produced over the years. I know, It’s a sacred holiday to folks of the Christian faith, and the thought of Santa in an orgy with Mrs. Claus and the elves is beyond morbid, but still. Over the summer I learned from a pal that an adult film from legendary "Golden Age" director, Shaun Costello, called The Passions of Carol (based on A Christmas Carol), was discovered by a persistent archivist. As a fan of both porn and Christmas, I was overjoyed. The Passions of Carol had been released previously (by Video-X-Pix)to DVD from an inferior quality master, so the actual movie has been around, but film elements were unfortunatley thought to be lost – until now. Video-X-Pix recently added Shaun Costello’s, The Passions of Carol to their critically acclaimed line of Platinum Elite DVDs (Blonde Ambition, Maraschino Cherry and Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle all have recieved the Platinum treatment). Now, with the participation of Costello (Forced Entry, Waterpower, More than Sisters), Video-X-Pix delivers a brand-new remastered release of this tinsel covered porn oddity.

Cinematic Hell: Life Returns (1935)

Director: Eugen Frenke
Star: Dr Robert E Cornish

Buy Life Returns on DVD

Horror in the early thirties belonged to Universal. Already established in the silent era with Lon Chaney vehicles The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera, amongst others, they hit the sound age running. In 1931 they released both Dracula and Frankenstein, making icons out of Béla Lugosi and Boris Karloff in the process, then followed up with The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Invisible Man and more. By 1935, they were the undisputed genre kings and to celebrate they released what may be the best and the worst pictures in their entire horror run, films that shared a theme and an actress but otherwise couldn't be more different. The best was James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein, the worst Eugen Frenke's Life Returns, a partnership with the newly formed independent Scienart Pictures to spin a hokey yarn around the true story of a real Dr Frankenstein, Dr Robert E Cornish, who killed dogs and brought them back to life.

Cinematic Hell: Devil Monster (1946)

Director: S Edwin Graham
Stars: Barry Norton and Blanche Mehaffy

Buy Devil Monster on DVD

Nowadays we have it lucky: there are so many avenues we can follow to see classic movies that we're spoiled for choice. Back in 1946, most people only had the option of going to their local theatre to see whatever happened to be showing and the only choice they had was between the different movie houses in their town. Many would have seen Devil Monster, often on a double bill with The White Gorilla, and wondered why it seemed familiar, only to shrug it off. After all, every popular success launched a hundred cheap imitators and many classic era films were remakes to begin with, even famous ones like The Maltese Falcon. Those who paid attention though may have realised that Devil Monster didn't just seem familiar, it was really something they had seen before. You see, not one single moment within this entire film is original. Everything was patched together from stock footage and older movies that the 'filmmakers' had bought the rights to.

Driller: A Sexual Thriller coming soon from Devil's Den/ MVD Visual

Zombies! Werewolves! Psychos! Pop stars! A depraved dungeon full of werewolves, zombies, mutants and hunchbacks converge for creepy copulations and outrageous orgies in this seldom-seen slice of 35mm vintage XXX sex and slime from 1984. Unsuspecting female fans of music megastar 'Mr. J', including adult legend Tajia Rae, are subjected to the sick and sinful advances of horribly hung hunchbacks, sex-starved psychos and the flesh-hungry undead when he leaves the stage from his latest tour and decides to give his groupies the grope of a lifetime! You will not believe the secret sexual weapon that this shape-shifting superstar unleashes to turn his fans' screams into creams, but it lives up to the title of the film... and did we mention it's a musical?

Bonus Materials
•Brand new transfer from original 35mm elements, Interview with producer 'Mr. Creepo' himself, Timothy Greene Beckely, Audio interview with Esmeralda: Driller's spooky squirter, Image gallery


Driller: A Sexual Thriller arrives on DVD, January 25th!

Movie Review: I Spit on your Grave (1978, 2010)

By James DePaolo

Review-I want to be perfectly honest, this is tough. Camile Keaton or Sarah Butler, original vs remake. Originally titled Day of the Woman, this is the story of a young woman who while on a vacation relaxing is brutally raped and left for dead by a group of guys. Well, she is out for revenge and one by one she will show them. The blu-ray transfer of the original 1978 edition is amazing. The sound and picture are probably the best transfer this film has had. I had the original DVD they released in Suncoast about 11 years ago. The original is pretty brutal for its time, the rape scene is almost unwatchable in its cruelty . Camile really sells the role, and does a great job.

Buy I Spit on Your Grave (1978) on Blu-ray!

Buy I Spit on Your Grave (2010) on Blu-ray!

Movie Review: The Killing Of Jacob Marr (2010)

It’s been close to a year since we started doing film reviews on the Cinema Head Cheese website. As you can see from the content , indie features are very much a part of what we like to focus on. I myself have discovered the work of some very talented independent filmmakers because of this. The ones that come to mind most prominently that I’ve enjoyed covering are Ryan Nicholson( Hanger, Gutterballs, Bleading Lady) Chris Power (Long Pigs) and Chad Ferrin (Easter Bunny Kill! Kill!, Someone’s Knocking at My Door). I’m sure there are some solid filmmakers that I’ve excluded, but these guys stand out from the pack. Right now, I might have to add another filmmaker to the list, Brad Rego.

The Killing of Jacob Marr is written, produced and directed by Rego, it’s also his first feature. The opening of the film begins beautifully with young Jacob Marr (Joshua Bednarsky), a borderline autistic teen, is shown fiddling around with his Atari 2600. That is until his father (Gerard Savoy) interrupts his game playing by ordering him to go chop some wood. Jacob chops some wood alright, he also plants the axe in very graphic fashion (similar to the opening in Pieces) in papa’s skull. Why did lil’ Jake do this? Could it be the mysterious rock that he picked up whilst chopping logs.

Twenty years after the incident, a group of friends from work decide to make a trip to the log cabin where Jacob and his family lived. There is a new owner, a friend of Ted (Morgan White)who seems to leave things nice and homey for the twenty-somethings. The only problem is , is that theirs someone trying to spoil their vacation. Is Jacob still alive?

The acting in The Killing Of Jacob Marr is above average for a genre film. Instead of using friends, family members and investors (like so many shitty independents do) , Rego got together some folks that could actually deliver lines like humans do normally. The charachters aren’t just in the film to be killed off as tension and suspense is as much apart of the film as the explicit gore . This is very much a slasher film, but with some supernatural dropped in, to mix it up a bit. The body count isn’t high, but when people do die they get really messed up, as heads are ripped off in grisly fashion, bodies are disemboweled, sharp objects saw apart flesh and so on.

The title, The Killing Of Jacob Marr sounds a little more like a crime-thriller. When I put the movie in the DVD player, I was totally expecting Judd Hirsch to pop on screen to tell a young mother that their toddler was snatched at Chucky Cheese. I didn’t expect an 80s slasher throwback with solid acting and lovely production value. The writing is also excellent, and because of this the tension builds quite nicely as our unlucky group are stuck in the log cabin. I do think it should have been a little shorter to make it a bit more tight. A few snips here and there, really nothing too drastic.

Watching an indie film that succeeds is really a cool thing. The Killing of Jacob Marr, is without a doubt a fine debut by Rego that hopefully opens the path to other projects. Over the past few years there have been several films that have been branded as perfect 80’s slasher throw-backs – like Adam Green’s, Hatchet for instance. The Killing of Jacob Marr truly has its heart set in that wonderfully productive decade known as the 80’s, when slashers were unapologetic and gritty. Highly Reccomeneded

Please be sure to check out the website for The Killing Of Jacob Marr here: http://www.thekillingofjacobmarr.com/

Cinematic Hell: Double Agent 73 (1974)

Director: Doris Wishman
Star: Chesty Morgan

Buy Double Agent 73 on DVD

Chesty Morgan was a freak of nature, like so many of the actors who populate Cinematic Hell, a very popular one who made a lot of money out of a particular physical quirk that Mother Nature chose to gift her with: a 73FF bust. This makes her look rather unlike anyone you've ever seen, because anything of similar stature is probably the result of implant surgery and porn stars with giant balloons in their chests don't look remotely like Chesty Morgan. When constrained by an ambitious bra her assets provide a truly daunting cleavage, but when freed from captivity the laws of gravity ensure that they reach almost to her waist. Given that they're the entire point of this movie (as well as a companion piece called Deadly Weapons), we get to see a lot of them, in every meaning of the word. The excuse here is that she's a spy with a camera implanted into her left breast so she effectively has to get topless to partake in the plot.

Man Without a Saddle

By Ron Ford

I haven't made a film for over five years now. Divorce and the poor economy have pretty much rocked my world and put me off my game. But now it is time to get back in the saddle, so to speak.

This project began when Mitch Tiner, who was the make-up and effects supervisor on my last four films (THE ROAD, TWIST OF THE VAMPIRE, TIKI and THE SNAKE-MAN), suggested we combine our two favorite genres and make a werewolf western. I remembered Kipling's story, Mark of the Beast, which I had previously adapted as a gangster comedy in my horror anthology DEAD TIME TALES. I always felt I had short changed the story that time around, eschewing its poignant themes in favor of cheap gags. The truth is, it's a powerful story with a lot to say about racism, faith and disillusionment. The original was set in Colonial India in the late 19th century, and I felt it would work very well transferred to the old west; using Native American "Indians" in place of the actual Indians in Kipling's story. The resulting script is, to my mind, the best thing I have ever written.

Movie Review: The Amazing Bulk (2011)

THE AMAZING BULK is one of the more recent films from the David Sterling production machine. This one was directed by Lewis Schoenbrun, who made a name for himself editing tons of B movies. Obviously, it is rip-off (or "mock-buster" if you will) of the THE INCREDIBLE HULK, though it comes far too late to cash in on either the Eric Bana fiasco blockbuster, or the slightly more appealing one with Edward Norton. It's timing, like most everything about this movie, is odd.

In order to tell a "blockbuster" type action story like this one on a miniscule budget, the film makers opted to do the entire movie green screen with digitally created backgrounds. The results are very uneven. Some of the backgrounds are nearly photo realistic, and others are very cartoonish. I suppose the attempt here is to give it the look of a comic book. But it comes off more as a video game designed by several different teams. The quality, again, is at best uneven.

Movie Review: Slumber Party Massacre Collection

Throughout Roger Corman’s career (most notably in the 70s and 80s), the legendary cult film producer and director has taken a lot of unwarranted abuse by critics and filmgoers for producing too many films that portray women as just objects, that are best seen either naked or getting killed. To me that’s a bunch of crap. Few producers have empowered the female gender like Roger Corman has. Sure they get naked, and yes plenty have perished at the hands of Carnosuars and Driller Killers, but some talented ladies have actually been employed to do more, like direct, write and produce. The three directors of the Slumber Party Massacre trilogy are all women and gladly participate in the new Shout! Factory release of the popular trilogy. That's my evidence, so stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Gloria Steinem!

Buy The Slumber Party Massacre Collection on DVD!

Movie Review: Let Me Die A Woman (1977)

As a gentleman, one of the most splendid body parts that I myself have attached to my doughy body, is my wang. Yes, I’m being honest here. He’s my pal. Whenever I’m unhappy, the wang is unhappy. Whenever the wang is tired , I’m tired..and so on. The last thing I would ever contemplate doing would be the severing of the glorious gristle. The thought of seperation from one of my best pals in the world, right next to my Labrador is something I surely couldn’t fathom. But I don’t have gender dysphoria either which sadly plagues Leslie's existence, the star of Doris Wishman’s film, Let Me Die A Woman. Doris Wishman (Deadly Weapons, Nude On The Moon, Double Agent 74)has given numerous offerings to the exploitation genre, but none like this. Thankfully, Synapse Films sees the brilliance of Let Me Die A Woman by giving the royal treatment in the form of a new special edition of the Wishman oddity.

Buy Let Me Die a Woman on DVD!

Movie Review: Bay of Blood (aka Twitch of the Death Nerve)

Stop me if you've heard this one: Some teens head to the woods to party, take a dip in the lake, have wild sex, and are subsequently hunted down and killed by a machete-welding maniac. Sound familiar? Well, it should - it's only the plot of every "Dead kids in the woods" movie since Madman and Friday the 13th.

It's also one of the bloody set pieces in Mario Bava's classic Italian giallo/horror film "Bay of Blood", AKA "Twitch of the Death Nerve". Almost a full decade before the the 80s slasher films exploded with tits and gore, Bava was inventing the tropes that would bring the horror genre the most attention it had received - both wanted and unwanted - since the Universal Horror Monsters took center stage.

Buy Bay of Blood on DVD!

Movie Review: 1985-1986 (2011)

Evan Jacobs has been making his own brand of very personal films since the late nineties. Movies like WALKING BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS, THE TOLL COLLECTOR and SCHUSTERMAN LEVINE: A BOXING FABLE are all very unique and distinct glimpses into the mind of this talented and eclectic artist who seems bent on never selling out or repeating himself. His latest, 1985-1986, which has the distinction of being his first animated film, is no different.

Buy 1985-1986 on DVD!

Jacobs wrote, directed, edited and animated this

feature, using Wacom Tablet and Toon Boom Studios.

It is a very detailed chronicle of the two years he spent in Victor Middle School in Southern California. It is a fairly uncompromising and honest look back at his own formative years. And that honesty is the films greatest strength, and its largest failing.

The movie opens with Erol Jacobs (for some reason, Evan changes his first name for this only-slightly fictionalized autobiographical account, but not his last) leaving home for his first day at middle school. The voice over narration tells us that this story is true to the best of the author's recollection. Jacobs then goes on to admit that he may have altered some of these events so that they reflect more favorably on him than the reality, but never intentionally so. That is a disarmingly honest way to begin a movie. It is honest to itself, as all good art should be.

Interview: HG Lewis, the Godfather of Gore!

Heather Henshaw got a chance to sit down with the Godfather of Gore, HG Lewis, and talked about his new film The Uh Oh Show and earlier films.

1) Before the release of Blood Feast, did you anticipate any outcry because of the content?

Oh, yes. Early reactions in my cutting room warned me of an outcry … if any theatre might be brave enough to show the film and any moviegoers stupid enough to pay to see it.

2) Of the three films known as the "Blood Trilogy" (Blood Feast, Color Me Blood Red, 2000 Maniacs) what is your favorite and why?

Not just of the Trilogy but of all the movies I’ve made, “Two Thousand Maniacs” is my personal favorite. Maybe that’s because it’s my voice on the sing-song title music, which I also wrote … but more probably, it’s because we proved it’s possible to produce a playable and watchable horror movie without star names and expensive effects.

Alien 2 On Earth coming from MVD Visual/ Midnight Legacy!

A group of cave explorers are confronted in an underground cavern by a mysterious living rock. Little do they know that it bears home to deadly, flesh-eating creatures, intent on wiping out the entire human population. Can they survive and ultimately prevent earth's total annihilation? The film stars Belinda Mayne, Mark Bodin, Roberto Barrese, Benny Aldrich, Michele Soavi and Judy Perrin. Arrives March 23rd!

Blu-ray FEATURES:

- Brand new 1.85:1 high definition transfer from the original 35mm negative featuring significant additional footage not seen anywhere in the world.
- Ultra high bitrate AVC encode @36 MBS, on a BD-50, faithfully representing our 2k scan and preserving the integrity and look of film.
- English DTS MA 2.0, fully restored from the original audio masters, and respectful of the original sound design.
- Special features include the only surviving trailer from the mega rare Dutch VHS , and effects outtakes transferred directly from the negative B-roll in full HD.
- Limited Collector's Edition designed as a true collector's item.

Movie Review: Let Me In (2010)

By
James DePaolo

Directed by: Matt Reeves
115 minutes - Overture Films/Anchor Bay

Plot: This is the American Remake of Let The Right One In. The story of 12 year old Owen, who is bullied at school, at home his family is going through a painful divorce. One night on the playground outside his house he meets Abby. Abby just moved into the neighborhood. She is a vampire in the disguise of a 12 year old little girl.

Buy Let Me In on Blu-ray and Let Me In DVD!

Movie Review: The Last Horror Film (Tromasterpiece Collection, 1982)

I was pondering a bit following my recent viewing of David Winters, The Last Horror Film, starring the enigmatic, Joe Spinell(Maniac, The Godfather, Vigilante). What a truly fascinating guy Joe Spinell is. Spinell is the consummate character actor ; often seen in parts street-wise toughs, gangsters or here in The Last Horror Film, a psycho . Like his character Frank Zito in William Lustig’s classic he is yet another ,sad, loner, with a heart-warming affection towards his mother; this time mom’s alive . Troma has unleashed an uncut special edition in their Tromasterpeice line for Winter’s slasher, The Last Horror Film ( AKA Fanatic), that keeps the memory of everybody’s favorite creepy guy(Sorry Michael J. Pollard) Joe Spinell, alive.

Buy The Last Horror Film on DVD

Movie Review: Roger Corman's Sci-Fi Classics

Shout! Factory (DVD/Blu-ray gods) continues their spectacular Roger Corman's Cult Classics line with a Sci-Fi Classics triple feature. Included is Attack of the Crab Monsters, War of the Satellites and the original Not of this Earth. Check out my review of this stellar release!

Buy Roger Corman's Sci-Fi Classics on DVD

The Films:

Not of this Earth
A space vampire aka Paul Johnson, (Paul Birch) from the planet Davanna, hunts down men & woman, killing them with his death emitting white eyes and pumping the blood out of their bodies. Johnson realizes he can't do this forever, so he goes to get a blood transfusion from a local doctor. Dr. Rochelle (William Roerick) refuses to perform the transfusion without a blood test from Johnson, leading him to control the Doctor's mine telepathically. The Doctor, under Johnson's control, assigns nurse Nadine Story (Beverly Garland) to care for the alien, issuing him blood several times a day. Nadine, unsuspecting of Johnson's plan, obliges solely for the $200 a week she will be payed for her work. We discover why Johnson needs blood so badly. His planet Davanna is suffering from some kind of blood plague and his species sent him to Earth to collect as much as possible. I really enjoyed watching this. The acting, effects, setting and overall atmosphere make this a classic for me. Paul Birch has an intimidating presence and Beverly Garland (r.i.p) is quite a beauty, even in 'ol black and white. Plus the awesome Dick Miller makes a memorable cameo! It's Corman at his low budget best and it all works wonderfully.

Bleading Lady Coming Soon from Breaking Glass!

Breaking Glass Pictures will release cult horror director Ryan Nicholson’s latest film “Bleading Lady” on DVD March 29. The gory slasher film, which tells of an obsessive, murderous chauffeur who’s assigned to drive his favorite actress on her latest film shoot, will be released under Breaking Glass’ Vicious Circle Films label. Vicious Circle Films released Nicholsons previous fan favorite “Hanger” earlier this year.

Buy Bleading Lady on DVD

Don is a chauffeur and a movie buff who takes his job seriously — very seriously. When his latest assignment takes him to the set of a low-budget horror film, he’s overjoyed to learn he’ll be driving Riversa Red – his favorite B-movie “Scream Queen.” While escorting his beloved idol, Don assumes the role of bodyguard and turns fiercely protective, especially after learning that Riversa has a stalker. Hell-bent on protecting his queen and fueled by paranoid fantasies, Don’s usual temper tantrums go to fatal extremes. Soon he proves to be not only Riversa’s biggest fan, but her worst nightmare as well.

“Bleading Lady” confirms Nicholson as the “king of cinematic sleaze” (Cinesploitation) and serves up plenty of blood-splattering gore, nudity, and dark humor. As HorrorNews.net puts it: “Bleading Lady delivers the goods!”

Special features for the DVD will include:· “Behind the Wheel: The Making of ‘Bleading Lady’”
· “Left Coast TV Presents: On the Set of ‘Bleading Lady’”
· Eight deleted scenes
· An alternate opening
· Audio commentary with director Ryan Nicholson and star Dan Ellis.

In addition, Breaking Glass Pictures is featuring a sale at our official store in celebration of a successful first year. Enter "FANS1" when checking out to receive $5 off our already discounted prices.

Movie Review: Redneck Zombies (Tromasterpiece Collection, 1988)

Directed by Pericles Lewnes

Buy Redneck Zombies on DVD

Whether it’s present cinema or back in the late 80’s when the no-budget splatter romp, Redneck Zombies was produced by pals, Pericles Lewnes (also Director) and Ed Bishop, you can’t deny the complexity of getting your film released being a low-budget filmmaker. It isn’t a mystery, Redneck Zombies is a classic of sorts and quite groundbreaking at the same time being a shot-on-video movie to amass a surprisingly vast audience. Before locking up with Troma for a video distribution deal over twenty years ago, Bishop and Lewnes had plenty of doors slammed in their faces. Production companys basically thought that a feature length film on video wouldn't fly. Only pornos were really shot-on-video, not a horror film. Redneck Zombies and it's crew persevered though. What do Lewnes and Bishop have to show for it? How about a new 20th anniversary special edition for the new Tromasterpeice collection of their magnum opus, Redneck Zombies? That’s right, Redneck Zombies!

Redneck Zombies' plot is very simple and akin to the Troma offerings in the late 80’s with it’s toxic waste infused plot. A group of country-folk becomes flesh-eating, gut-chomping undead monsters when some toxic waste gets mixed in with their beloved moonshine. The acting is abysmal but it really doesn’t matter as much of it appears intentional anyway. These are essentially cartoon characters that have come to life. That said, a few of the characters completely stand-out amongst the movies biggest draw – the non-stop gore. I personally loved the performance of one plus -sized redneck, Ferd Mertz (Henry Dicker, AKA Becky Santini). Dicker is gigantic in size but shows in equally strong ability to “eat up” every second of scream time. Amazingly, Dicker has shed more than half his weight since production, which you’ll notice in the bonus features.

Lewnes, Bishop and Troma have put forth some sensational extra features:
-A brand new director approved color-corrected transfer of the film
-The Original Never-Before-Released Soundtrack on bonus CD.
-New Interviews with Director Pericles Lewnes and cast
-New Feature-length Audio Commentary by Pericles Lewnes and producer Edward Bishop
-Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Original Promotional Videos

The interviews, by themselves are going to keep you busy as there are 13 total. Not all are gems but the recollections of creators Bill Decker, Pericles Lewnes and Edward Bishop are quite enjoyable. As mentioned earlier, Henry Dicker, is a hoot. A very funny guy whether he’s chomping on innards sporting a 500 plus frame or just hamming it here in this interview. The audio commentary for Redneck Zombies is easily one of the better Troma commentaries. Bishop and Lewnes are upfront about the trials and tribulations of getting their mutant baby out there and how Lloyd Kaufman took great interest in the feature – which he then subsequently distributed.

I watch a lot of shot-on-video films…a lot. It’s all people do these days. Numerous filmmakers mention Redneck Zombies as being a micro-budget influence whether they like the film or not. One thing that Redneck Zombies has that’s hard to duplicate by any schmo with a camera and a class at the local community college, is heart. Yes it’s goofy, often disgusting, but this little film has heart that most multi-million dollar Hollywood productions and pretentious indie shite lack. This is an outstanding disc all-around so go grab mug of that toxic moonshine and get to toasting one the best low-budget splatter films to come out of the 1980’s!

Movie Review: Bloody Slashers Collection

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment releases four "Bloody Slashers" to DVD...look at the cover art, yeah...you know what you're in for. Read on Cheeser!

Buy The Midnight Horror Collection: Bloody Slashers on DVD

I have an extremely high tolerance for shit horror films and Cinema in general. These however, thinned my patience immensely. To be completely honest, the only film in this collection horror fans gives a damn about is Curtains. Some give this Canadian slasher good praise for trying to be more than mindless killing. Only available from Vestron Video on VHS, this is it's first digital release. It's a real shame the way it is presented. 4 films + 1 disc = lackluster. Cramming all of these onto a flipper disc is an AV disaster. Curtains is presented full frame and looks no better than a beat up VHS. Night time scenes are murky, details are non existent and print damage is everywhere. The three other flicks suffer quality wise also. It was expected though, this is a budget affair after all.

Movie wise, all of these films are pretty dreadful, including Curtains. Not even the great John Vernon could save this. I blame it the aforementioned DVD quality and prolonged run times, 100+ minute low budget horror made this reviewer waive the white flag.

As mentioned, these are budget releases. You get what you pay for but I wouldn't recommend it.