Movie Review: 21st Century Serial Killer (2013)

Holy shit, folks. A Chemical Burn Entertainment film that DIDN’T make me want to vomit, take a cat-o-nine tails to my back before swimming through an Olympic-sized pool filled with lemon juice, or gouge out my own eyes? Did...did the apocalypse happen? Has everyone been raptured and I missed it?

I DON’T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE!!!

21stCentury Serial Killer is about Aaron, a milquetoast every guy who has a big dream -  to be a serial killer. Mostly it’s about being famous, being remembered. He tries to emulate some of the greats - Gacy, Bundy, Son of Sam - but there’s just one problem. He can’t even kill a fly, let alone a human being.

Eventually he meets a girl, settles down, and begins the routine life of a Post Office employee. While he still struggles with his murderous desires, a real serial killer is plaguing his town. With everything he’s studied over the years, Aaron tracks the killer before the cops catch him. Their chance meeting sets Aaron on the path to his dreams.

Movie Review: Killer Joe (2011; Voltage Pictures/Lionsgate)

...it's a bygone truth in considering that the impact...the very vibrancy of the hero of the story is directly proportionate to, reciprocative of...and in most cases...is outright dependent upon the often times greater impact and vibrancy of the villain. Let's face it: we have certain expectations, when it comes to the hero, and without fail...unless that hero takes total leave of his senses...the hero typically performs as expected, with no real surprises; however, without a worthy and polar-opposite comparable adversary, the hero really has nothing to do, right?? The old story of 'there's no good, unless there's bad...and vice-versa. And how about the villain?? A picture of self-interest...relentless...conniving...often times, violent...clearly knowing right from wrong, but not caring...quite literally carefree, in fact. And there's no denying that in each and very one of us, there's a spark of envy, in that respect...though, it's intervening morality, which keeps us 'normal people' in check...

Movie Review: Tusk (2014; Demarest Films/SModcast Pictures)

...once upon a time, if some might fondly recall, there was an absolute 'looney' tale of a certain stuttering pig, ambitiously seeking out the notorious and ever-evasive Do-Do bird...a mad, screwball creature, capable of changing & altering the visual and environmental perspective, far and above that of the 'normally' manipulative, cartoon-flavored perspective, in an effort to evade detection and capture...oh, hell, if at the very least, to gleefully f**k with his hapless, would-be pursuers. Anyways, at a certain point of his arduous search, our intrepid adventurer...uh, for the sake of arguement, let's just call him 'Porky', 'kay??...comes across a rather striking sign of destination, marking the border...itself, marked with a sign that says 'slippery when wet'...between the cartoon's 'natural' reality, and the surreal, mad, hallucinogenic, albeit ironic world, where the elusive Do-Do is reputed to reside (...'snicker'...that 'rubber band' always seems to stick out in my mind, for some reason). "Welcome to Wackyland", the sign reads, where "...it can happen, here!!"...

...cutting to the chase, and thusly, this viewer's point...yes, folks!! Welcome to 'wackyland'...where indeed, it can happen here. Only, in the case of writer/director Kevin Smith's latest departure from his sometimes angst, often poignant, pop-culture savvy, and invariably comical New Jersey-based exploits...namely, a skewed, horror-themed venture, called "Tusk"...'wackyland', and the film's unconventional Canadian setting...well, if one truly considers it, the former and the latter really don't seem all that far removed from each other, in Kevin's eyes...much to the benefit, intrigue and chagrin of those privy to the new film, as you shall soon see...

Movie Review: Heathers (1988, Blu-ray)

There is a small shelf of movies on DVD and Blu-Ray in my home that sit separately from the rest of them. Admittedly, I have been shrinking my collection of films recently and keeping those that I find are essential or that I cannot get easily from a number of streaming sources… but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the small shelf set aside from the rest, as I’ve said, that holds an eclectic mix of odd little films, genre classics and hard to find ghoulishness. I call that shelf the “How to Make a Me” shelf and those are the films I plan on showing my young niece as her interest and age allow. We’ve watched Dark Night of the Scarecrow and Night of the Living Dead already (not to mention Star Wars… the real one) and we’ll watch the rest eventually. Every title on that shelf helped to shape me into the filmmaker/writer/artist/whatever I am today. They were instrumental in shaping my artistic worldview. Adding to the aforementioned titles, the small (but glorious) group includes Xtro, Bloodsucking Freaks, The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism and many more. Thanks to Image Entertainment, add Heathers to that list. The dark comedy of the 1980s, Heathers reaffirmed for me that the things I found funny were weird… but I wasn’t alone. The anti-Hughes movement began, in all reality, with Heathers and anarchists and dark comedic professionals, like myself, haven’t looked back.

Buy Heathers on Blu-ray