Movie Review: "Mandingo Sex Addict" (2014; Full Circle Filmworks)

...truth be known, often times, one cannot help but rally around and appreciate a filmmaker who, in having garnished a successful career and respectably celebrated reputation, feels ready to take his or her efforts to that next plateau, moving away from a genre expectedly known for...taking things up a notch, so to speak, as far as grander ideas, financially higher-tiered production values and more readily available resources. To be sure, it's a personal growth process, and it has to be absolutely elating, not to mention a boost to a filmmaker's ego, knowing that in being critically upheld, as far as one's work, that the talent comes looking for the filmmaker, rather than the other way around. Considering that, it's even cooler when, despite the intentful desire to move on to bigger and better things, the filmmaker feels equally compelled to get that very last obligatory fist-pump in there...one last hurrah on that lower-rung genre, if at the very least, for personal satisfaction, closing that particular chapter in one's career, taking care of an itch one just has to scratch, and at the same time, affording the devotees of his work, an appreciative genre finale, before moving on...with promise of greater and more diverse things, soon to come...

...will such a 'genre finale' be a creatively conceived and satisfying crescendo moment, or will the overwhelming desire to get to that next level be so great and alluring, that the proposed 'crescendo moment' seems rushed, forced and cookie-cutter standard...even sub-standard?? Like something which one just has to get out of one's system, before moving on...in other words, as the saying goes, 'just phoning it in'?? (...the latter suggestion of which, for good instance, we definitely saw just recently, when director Tom Six, motivated and drawn toward 'getting it out of his system, once and for all' and moving on to something other than his infamous and notorious 'Human Centipede' franchise, punched out a third and final chapter in the gratuitously grotesque and gory 'saga'...and the resulting finale proved...well extraordinarily 'ordinary', at least by what might have been expected on the Tom Six Standard...but that's another story, altogether)...

Movie Review: Ace Jackson is a Dead Man (2015; Full Circle Filmworks)

......in gangster flicks...for good or for bad, whether one like him or not...there's seems to be an undeniable appeal, in watching the little guy climb, or at least attempt to climb to the top. You don't necessarily root for the lil' bastard, because let's face it: crawling out of the gutter, onto the savage crime-laden  streets, and fighting tooth & nail for even the most minute crumb of respect, admiration and power...not to mention, the greed-driven acquisition of wealth...well, one of such reckless and unswerving determination of such things, might well be at his most dangerous...most despicable...most deadly. And yet, there's no denying that certain measure of appeal there, in the sense that...despite all the bumbling and mishaps...well, the little guy, damned if he doesn't try harder...not necessarily smarter. mind you, but yes, definitely harder...

...OK, so shady folk of this ilk isn't exactly a likable lot, in that respect, to say the least. You know 'em...the 'Junebugs', 'Rentons', 'Beaumonts', 'Pookies' and 'Mikey T's out there, just to name a few. However, one cannot help but appreciatively rally witness to the upstart's blindly unswerving tenacity...his determined attempt to rise above, break the waters, and hold his own...greed and power, being the base-instinctive driving forces...his resigning realization that he has to kowtow to some deeply instilled assholes, in an effort to prove his worth. And charisma, a ton of fly-by-the-seat-of-one's-pants luck, and...yeah, let's say it...balls, the size of cantaloupes...well, that's part of the charm, as well...

Movie Review: Scumbag Hustler (2014; Full Circle Filmworks)

...from a filmmaker's point of view, one might imagine that going into films that spotlight drug addiction (...or any type of addiction, for that matter), and stirring in a measure of comedy, in the midst of the film character's catering to, or dealing with the addiction, is a fairly tricky tightrope to transgress. The balance has to be amiable; indeed, one doesn't want to patronize the viewers, in exploiting the addiction facet, to the point where one is basically saying, in a 'politically incorrect' way (...damn, I hate that term), 'hey, lookie here...join the party; this is the in thing to do!' And yet, with too much comedy inter-spliced...in a slapstick sort of way, ironically enough, the same thing seems to happen. Fortunately, for the most part, the lead dudes behind the camera, as well as the hungry, scribbling writers, have for the most part, genuinely managed to assume that proper balance (...off hand, this viewer cannot recall any film, immediately to mind, that otherwise doesn't do this), making that tightrope seem as easy to trod upon, as if the rope itself is three feet wide, and flat. The window of range is so wide, in fact...well, for the indiscriminate, everyman 'tourists', there's the almost countless cinematic antics of Cheech & Chong, or Jay & Silent Bob. But, for the more eclectic tastes, the devoted naysayers reach for cult oddities, like Terry Gilliam's eccentric road pic "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", Gregg Araki's wacky and cartoonish "Smiley Face", David Cronenberg's macabre-flavored dark-humored & surreal "Naked Lunch", or even the recent toke of deliciousness from director Adam Mason...the wildly, albeit darkly comical "Junkie". And to that respectable lot...can we conceivably add tag-team director Sean Weathers' and Aswad Issa's newest production, "Scumbag Hustler"...a quirky and episodic, inner-city staged look at crazed desperation...and appetite never sated...and yes, addiction wildly out of control...to the point where our hapless protagonist, herein, is quite willing to...well, let's take a peek, shall we??...

Movie Review: Sean Weathers Presents: Vault of Terror (2013, Full Circle Filmworks)

...gotta admit, it's a pretty damn good idea. Getting one's independently produced stuff out there, for all to see, by wrapping around it, classic stuff that's much more familiar to the masses...perhaps even attempting to correlate a connection between the two, in some way, shape or form. But it seems that's exactly what we have here, with the under-the-radar and off-the-charts cult film collection, "Sean Weathers Presents: Vault of Terror". For those unfamiliar (...and as of recently, not so much, as far as this viewer), Sean Weathers is a micro-budget independent film producer & director, who since 1996, has specialized in underground feature films and shorts, with a flavored emphasis on gritty, urban-based exploitation, horror and erotica...while providing a reportedly underlining social commentary, where applicable. Regularly expounded upon, via a weekly podcast, are notable titles in his repertoire, such as "House of the Damned", "They All Must Die" and "The Trade-Off", amongst others; and amidst these broadcasts, he (...along with fellow filmmaking associate, Aswad Issa...both of whom spearhead film production, with their small, maverick company, Full Circle Filmworks) features classic independent and low-budget films of the past...for the most part, public domain properties...and provides insightful commentary & personal thoughts on these films, as well as how such films have inspired his own unique work...

Movie Review: House of the Damned (15th Anniversary Edition, 1996)

Directed by Sean Weathers

Starring~ Valerie Alexander, Blue and Illa

Reviewed By Kenny Barnwell

Plot~The film opens with an old man in a wheelchair telling his son a story about an evil woman who kills those around her in order to stay young. The man doesn’t believe the story and begins to leave. From out of the closet bursts the woman wielding a hammer, and smashes his skull in. A year later, the murdered mans daughter Liz (Valerie Alexander) is having a difficult time adjusting. She doesn’t leave the house much, still grieving. Her mother Emily (Monica Williams) gets her out to enjoy a day, her birthday. To be more exact, her 21st birthday. Unknowing to Liz, her mother invites all her friends over for a birthday party.

Buy House of the Damned on DVD

Movie Review: Lust For Vengeance (2001)

Directed by Sean Weathers

Starring Jeff Roches, Carlito Rivera, Glenn Skeete and Michelle Soto

Reviewed By Kenny Barnwell

Plot~ Lust for Vengeance was inspired by the Italian thrillers of the 60's known as Giallo films, combining murder, soft-core porn and mystery along with trippy visual effects. As the legend goes, these movies inspired the first American slasher films of the 70's and according to director Sean Weathers this is the first and only Giallo movie ever made in the U.S. Weathers locked himself in a room for over a month watching over 100 Italian thrillers for the inspiration for this film.

Buy Lust For Vengeance (10th Anniversary Explicit Version) on DVD