Movie Review: Spider Baby (1968, Blu-ray/DVD combo)

  The credits dub this “the maddest story ever told”, a promise that's well on the way to being fulfilled in the opening scene alone, when Virginia traps and kills a hapless deliveryman in her makeshift web. She's one of three siblings who suffer from a genetic disorder that causes them to regress back to childhood, while retaining the physical strength and sexual maturity of adults.

 So many directors got their start working for Roger Corman and Jack Hill was one of them. Deemed by Quentin Tarantino as "The Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmaking".  He has been mostly known for having directed Pam Grier in two revolutionary for their times pictures black exploitation pictures Coffy & Foxy Brown.   He would then go on to work with Pam twice more in the two rather infamous shot in the Philippines women in prison films for Roger Corman. Those flicks were the overrated The Big Doll House and the underrated Big Bird Cage. Hill also had a strong working relationship with the great Sid Haig who thanks to House of 1000 and Devils Rejects has had a major career revival.

Movie Review: Pig / 1334 (1998/2011, Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Review By: Rob Sibley

Sometimes films come out of nowhere and leave an impact and are hard to shake. When I popped in the Blu-ray for Pig & it's spiritual sequel 1338 I had no idea what I was in-store for. What I witnessed and what I felt is hard to say really. I haven't been punched in the gut this hard since “The Bunny Games” when it comes to baring a film down to it's purist and deranged artistic elements. 

 Much like The Bunny Games these two short films are not something you watch and enjoy. This isn't “entertainment” it's something deeply personal message hidden inside of a experimental psychological horror short. It's truly one of the more intense viewing experiences I've ever had. These are two short films that I will not soon forget.

Movie Review: Bullet Collector (2012, DVD)

Review By: Rob Sibley

Sobiratel Pul aka “The Bullet Collector” is hands down the best art house movie I've seen so far in 2013. It's unlike any other art house film I've seen. The film is being compared to François Truffaut's 400 Blows which is understandable since the story itself parallels the 1959 French classic. But besides with dealing with similar issues the two films couldn't be more different. This Russian film is the first feature length film from Aleksandr Vartanov, who's only previous credit was as a co-director on a Russian sitcom.

This is an incredible debut feature film, I never would have guessed that this is Vartanov's first real time behind the camera. I should say right off the bat that this is either a love it or hate it sort of film. As with a lot of Russian films the subject matter is incredibly dark and depressing. But if you look closely enough through all the bleakness, grit and grime there is some hidden beauty to be found in this picture.

Movie Review: Experiment in Terror (1962)

1962 - dir by Blake Edwards
Starring Lee Remick, Stephanie Powers, and Glenn Ford

The opening of this film is incredibly reminiscent of Hitchcock, with its lush black and white photography of a woman, Kelly Sherwood, played by Lee Remick, driving alone on the highway, top down, scarf blowing in the breeze. The score by Henry Mancini that plays over the title sequence felt like the opening music from Twin Peaks, and indeed, Remick lives in a section of San Francisco actually named Twin Peaks.

Buy Experiment in Terror on DVD!

Remick drives into her garage, and the film takes a bit of a turn into a giallo as a heavy-breathing Black Gloved Killer attacks Remick and threatens her, telling her he's killed before and he will again if she crosses him. He tells her he knows all about her and he'll be back in touch when he needs her to help him rob the bank she works at. Then he backs out of the garage, still in shadow, and leaves.