Movie Review: The Slumber Party Massacre (Blu-ray)

Scream Factory has had their hand in the Blu-ray debuts of many of the classic slashers from the 80's. One such film that they've recently unearthed for a High-Def makeover is from the one and only, King of the B's, Roger Corman. 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 film-goers 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 director of the Slumber Party Massacre is is actually a talented woman by the name of Amy Jones. That's my evidence, so stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Gloria Steinem! Now onto the movie!

Movie Review: The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

by Hal Astell

Director: Joseph Green

Stars: Herb Evers, Virginia Leith and Leslie Daniels

Buy The Brain That Wouldn't Die on Blu-ray from Scream Factory

'Let me die!' a woman's voice repeatedly pleads before the title credits begin, in fact before we see anything. It's a disembodied voice out of nowhere that suggests a female version of Johnny Got His Gun, or at least that begins where that book and film ends. It's all very promising but sadly it's all downhill from there, which possibly explains why this was completed in 1959 under the title The Black Door but wasn't released until 1962 under its current more lurid title. It isn't without merit, as it does contain a number of memorable cult moments, not least one of the most abiding images of all sixties genre cinema, but it still can't live up to the title. It comes from the common mad scientist subgenre of horror/science fiction movies of the time but unlike their progenitor Frankenstein which remains as timeless as ever, this has already been superceded as the unholy transplantation of limbs and organs that it rages against is routinely beneficial today.



It's fascinating to watch these movies and see public opinion, as distilled through scriptwriters trying to please the largest audience possible, change over the decades. This film is only half a century old, but it already seems quaint and dated to those of us who have benefited from or know people who have benefited from the very transplant techniques that are derided by the characters as immoral, unethical and insane. Much of the problem is that the overtly schlocky characteristics of a mad scientist are so much easier to write than his more sophisticated drives, especially if you ignore the idea that science is constantly moving forward; and naturally scriptwriters of schlocky low budget genre movies from the fifties and sixties really couldn't give a transplanted rat's ass for anything sophisticated. They could happily start at 'Burn the witch!' and work backwards from there to generate a salacious heap of scientific gobbledygook.

Movie Review: Ravenous (Blu-ray, Scream Factory)

Reviewed By: Jimmy D.

I hate to admit this but this is the first time I ever seen Ravenous. I remember in the age of the video store that I rented this once or twice, but never got to watch it and had to return it back. Ravenous is a very atmospheric horror film that is centered on an epidemic of flesh-eating and how it empowers people once they taste the flesh. The film takes place during the Mexican-American War, Col. Ives who seems to be on the verge of death makes his way barely to an isolated outpost. Once there he goes into the fort with this story of what brought him to this place.

The story is about some travelers who battle starvation. They ate all the livestock and animals first, and then stuff like belts and shoes. When one of the people dies, they decided to eat him. Thus, they started to eat other people as well. Well the commander sends out a group to investigate this story. Ravenous is bleak, it is cold-blooded and just all out cruel. The blood and gore is only half the fun of the film, the other half is just the tremendous acting by all involved. Directed by the late Antonia Bird and starring one of her regulars Robert Carlyle, this film like her earlier film Priest really shows that she thinks outside of the box and knows how to really capture the desperation of mankind. This film has so many creepy moments and all-out surprises and revelations that I feel this film really thought outside of the horror realm and wanted to create a multi-layered film that was just more than your simple cannibalism horror film.

Movie Review: The Final Terror (Blu-ray / DVD, 1983)

There have been several sub-genres that have spawned from the glorious slasher film craze of the 80’s.  We've seen the school slasher, abandoned house slasher, the religious slasher and other varieties of genre films thrill moviegoers looking for some good ol’ fashion bloodshed in there horror. The “backwoods” slasher was another fun form that brought the unforgiving aspect of being alone in the wild with a maniac killer. For a good stretch of time this seemed like a great way to scare the pants off people. Some of the more popular of that ilk would include James Bryan’s Don’t Go in the Woods…Alone, Rituals, The Forest, Just Before Dawn, Geek, Back Woods and Scream Factory’s Blu-ray release of Andrew Davis’ The Final Terror.

When a group young hikers (including Rachael Ward, John Friedrich  Adrien Zmed and a and a pre-Splash Daryll Hannah) take a bus trip into the wilderness for a good time things become extremely difficult for the kids when one of the group member pisses off their bus driver and guide, Eggar (Joe Pantoliano, Risky Business, The Sopranos). Now it’s up to them to find a way out of an area they know nothing about. After one of the hikers is found dead after getting machete while doing the naughty things get pretty serious. Oddly enough, instead of going separate way like similar horror films this band of pals stay together and choose to seek out the psycho.

Movie Review: Final Exam (Blu-ray, 1981)

The old school slasher film continues to make its home in the ever expanding library of Scream Factory and Shout! Factory. Recently Scream Factory joined together in conjunction with the cult DVD company Code Red DVD for the Blu-ray release of one of the earliest Halloween knock-offs in Jimmy Huston’s Final Exam (1981).

This chaos-on-campus opus surrounds the trials and tribulations of some nerds, jocks, preppies and assorted fraternity characters around the end of the school year when many will do anything it takes to get past that big exam. Be it “pranks” like a Colombine-sque staging of the mass murder of students by machine gun courtesy of masked indviduals riding in a van - These kids will do what it takes to get around this test. To compromise the situation even more a psycho is going around campus and stabbing students with a very large butcher knife. The more obnoxious and naked they are, the bigger the chance they’ll meet their end in nasty fashion.

LAKE PLACID Collector's Edition lands on Blu-ray July 8.

SCREAM FACTORY™ PRESENTS

A Pulse-Pounding Suspense Thriller Written by David E. Kelley and Directed by Steve Miner

LAKE PLACID

Starring Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda and Oliver Platt

COLLECTOR’S EDITION BLU-RAY™

Featuring All-New Interviews with Actor Bill Pullman, Filmmaker Steve Miner and More!

INVADES HOME ENTERTAINMENT SHELVES EVERYWHERE

OWN IT ON JULY 8, 2014 FROM SCREAM FACTORY™

Pre-Order This Highly Anticipated SCREAM FACTORY Home Entertainment Release Today!

You’ll never know what bit you… It has existed prehistoric times and was worshipped by ancient cultures.  It can kill a man with one crushing bite!  This summer, one of the world’s oldest creatures has found a new home.  Written by David E. Kelley (Ally Mcbeal, Boston Legal) and directed by Steve Miner (Halloween H20, Friday The 13th Part 2), LAKE PLACID stars Bill Pullman(Independence Day, The Grudge), Bridget Fonda (Jackie Brown, Point of No Return), Oliver Platt (X-Men: First Class, TV’s Fargo) and Brendan Gleeson (Troy, The Village).  Brimming with heart-racing suspense and thrills, this bloody terrifying tale of man vs. nature and survival also co-stars Betty White (The Golden Girls) as the cantankerous Mrs. Bickerman. On July 8, 2014, SCREAM FACTORY™ will unleash LAKE PLACID COLLECTOR’S EDITION Blu-ray™, featuring insightful bonus content and all-new interviews with director Steve Miner, actor Bill Pullman, production designer John Willett and more. This definitive home entertainment release also contains a collectible cover featuring newly rendered artwork, a reversible cover wrap with original theatrical key art. A must-have for loyal fans, movie collectors and horror enthusiasts to complete their entertainment library, LAKE PLACID COLLECTOR’S EDITION Blu-ray is priced to own at $29.93 SRP.

Ravenous (Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle), a film by Antonia Bird, debuts on Blu-ray June 3 from Scream Factory

SCREAM FACTORY™ PRESENTS

A Film by Antonia Bird

RAVENOUS

Starring Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Davies, Jeffrey Jones, John Spencer, Stephen Spinella, Neal McDonough and David Arquette

UNLEASHES FOR THE FIRST TIME ON BLU-RAY™!

AVAILABLE IN STORES EVERYWHERE ON JUNE 3, 2014

Pre-Order This Highly Anticipated SCREAM FACTORY Home Entertainment Release Today!

“Over-the-top energy, gore and style.” – LA Weekly

Inspired by twisted tales of cannibalistic survival like the real-life Donner Party, cult terror feature RAVENOUS graphically depicts a twist on an old cliché: You are who you eat. Directed by the late Antonia Bird (Priest), this unnerving cult thriller stars Guy Pearce (Iron Man 3, Prometheus), Robert Carlyle (TV’s Once Upon A Time), Jeremy Davies (Lost, Saving Private Ryan), Jeffrey Jones (Deadwood, Sleepy Hollow), John Spencer (The West Wing), Stephen Spinella (MILK, Royal Pains), Neal McDonough (Captain America: The First Avenger, Band of Brothers) and David Arquette (Scream 4). The film has steadily and deservedly grown a large following over the last fifteen years. Beyond its darkly comic take on gruesome subject matter and some fantastic scenery and cinematography, RAVENOUS features a unique, quirky soundtrack by acclaimed composers Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn. The two contributed compositions separately, collectively serving up a musical stew combining 19th century American folk instruments, electronic sounds and orchestral flourishes; a romantic past filtered through an anxious present.

Movie Review: Night of the Demons (1988, Blu-ray / Combo Pack)

During the 1980’s genre films as a whole were represented nicely with the explosive popularity of the slasher film and the inevitable growth of directors like Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street) and John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog).  As we started to creep towards the end of the decade, the pickings were unfortunately slim as far good quality horror. Much of this in part to frequent censorship Nazis like MPAA president Jack Valenti, who was so bent on messing with "'violent" horror films. Oh and, well, the overall output just sucked. Jason Takes Manhattan is wonderful example of the late 80's downward spiral.

Thankfully a couple of gentlemen came to the rescue with some excellent offerings towards the end of the decade – Clive Barker with Hellraiser and Kevin Tenney with Witchboard and Night of the Demons.  Night of the Demons has now made it’s debut on Blu-ray in a DVD / Blu-ray Combo pack with Tenney’s other film via the folks at Scream Factory.

One of the most common used plot devices for some of the most entertaining horror films over the past three decades have been having that "big party" to gather all the teenagers in the film at and dispatch them in all sorts of creative ways. Night of the Demons does just that, but it also adds a neato possession and haunted house element that brings it to another level.  It’s Halloween night and Angela’s having a costume bash at the supposedly haunted funeral parlor called “Hull House”. Mimi Kinkade plays the super sexy succubus, Angela, who is almost immediately possessed by the angry spirits whilst entering the house.

Movie Review: Cat People (Blu-ray, 1982)

All throughout Paul Schrader's career his name has been synonymous with some of the finest gritty dramas to be put on film over the past 40 years. Whatever hat he may be wearing, be it writer, director, or in several cases both, his films have a certain edge that makes him one of the finer talents in Hollywood. One thing he hasn't tackled too much are genre films. Aside from Exorcist: Dominion, he's only made one other horror film - the remake of Jacques Tourneur's original film Cat People from 1942, starring the stunning Nastassia Kinski (To the Devil a Daughter) and Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange, Blue Thunder). Scream Factory has gone back to the 80's again to unleash a newly remastered Blu-ray edition and it may just be the cat's meow.

Irena (Kinski) arrives in town to meet up with her older brother, Paul (McDowell), who unbeknownst to her has a mad crush on the short-haired, pouty-lipped beauty. Who wouldn't?? It is family though, so probably not the best idea. Paul has much deeper, incestuous motives unfortunately. His goal is to get Irena to make love to him so she can become a shape-shifting panther like him and both their mom and dad. It’s essentially her next level of being and he's on a mission to get her there. On an equally creepy note, Mom and dad were actually brother and sister too, so naturally Paul wants to continue to keep it in the family. Of course it's not easy for Paul as Irena has a love interest in a veterinarian named Oliver (John Heard, Home Alone), who has a strong fixation on big cats.

Movie Review: Die Monster Die (Blu-ray, 1965)

When Boris Karloff took on the iconic role of Frankenstein's Monster in James Whale's classic Frankenstein  he became one of genre's elite actors in the 1930's. As his career progressed, Karloff would become a fixture on the proverbial Mount Rushmore of horror (along with people like Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Sr. and Jr.). Amazingly, this break in Whale's film came because Dracula star Bela Lugosi felt the character was a little weak because of the lack of lines. Karloff thankfully seized this opportunity and followed Frankenstein with many memorable performances until his passing in 1969. His work in the 1950's and 1960's with Roger Corman and AIP became the capper to what was really an awesome career. Daniel Haller's Die Monster Die (aka Monster of Terror) was one of Karloff's later performances and even though he was up in years, and in bad health, he still had it. After knocking The Vincent Price Collection out of the park, Scream Factory has tackled more AIP goodness in this release for the Blu-ray format.