TV Review: American Horror Story: Asylum (Blu-ray, 2012)

Genre based Television shows really seemed to make a push for audiences wanting horror, sci-fi and fantasy in the comfort of their own homes during the late 50's with shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Night Gallery and of course Rod Serling's masterful series The Twilight Zone. Presently some of of the top shows on TV are - at least for this horror fan - are well produced, acted and written genre shows. Along with The Walking Dead, one of the best more recent shows is FX's superb American Horror Story.

Much like The Walking Dead,  American Horror Story stretches newtork censors to the the limit with it's very adult horror that would put even pay networks on their heels. Could we have it any other way?? No way! Now with the third season on the horizon, the second season will be making it's debut on Blu-ray, and while it changes things up a bit by getting away from the story of the Harmon family, something creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk wanted to do from the beginning American Horror Story: Asylum loses none its power to disturb and frighten.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #117 - Jason vs. Kevin

Kevin goes it alone this week, but he brings plenty to the table. After completing the second half of Crystal Lake Memories, he decides to go in depth on the latter films in the Jason Voorhees saga. He talks about Kane Hodder's involvement in the series and why replacing him in later movies is part of tradition, the good and bad of the franchise and why he's decided to finally watch the reboot.

Kevin also explains why you can't watch a movie with a kid who has already seen it and why you should watch the BBC/Netflix series Derek to see a different side of Ricky Gervais.

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TV Review: Femme Fatales: The Complete Second Season (2013, DVD)

Review By: Rob Sibley

It's 2 in the morning, you can't sleep, your getting tired of infomercials for the George Forman Grill, The Shammy, Joel Osteen won't shut his religious yap so what do you do? You need a midnight snack for the brain so you flip to cinemax and what might you find? The incredibly sexy, pulpy second season of Femme Fatales. A guilty pleasure by all means, it's pure junk food for the brain and it's damn entertaining.

Femme Fatales is an anthology TV series, each episode usually features a hot chick in over her head. All this leads to her usually sleeping with 1 or more partners, popping the top whenever she can and she usually ends up with a gun in her hands. This is pulp at it's finest. This is a show that knows what it is, it's purpose is to entertain... not to enlighten. I previously reviewed season 1 of the show and found it to be satisfying but it was a little to bi-polar for my tastes. The season season is more focused and what's nice is they brought in many favorite B-movie actors for cameos. Some of these B-movie gods include Eric Roberts (an A-movie actor in my books), the infinitely handsome Casper Van Dien (Still trying hard to regain his Starship Trooper days of glory) and fuck even the Stuntman himself Steve Railsback shows up. This time though he's not dealing with soul sucking vampires or the tyrant known as Peter O Tool. Oh yeah and Vivica A. Fox shows up to class things up a bit.

Movie Review: Antiviral (2012, Alliance/IFC Films)

...uh, ladies and gentlemen...if you please, let me ask you something. Just how far would you go...in whatever way, shape or form...to embrace your favorite celebrity?? Would you merely follow their media exploits, published in tabloids, or broadcast on the exploitative TMZ?? Would you instead wait hours in line, just for a celebrity's autograph?? (...ahem, with hand raised...been there, done that) Would you pull them aside, upon chance or planned encounter, and snap a quick and spontaneous, albeit annoying (...to them) paparazzi shot?? Would you dare sneak into the celebrity's house, just to sleep in their bed...drink their orange juice, in the 'fridge...use their toilet?? Would you go so far as to spend your life's savings on a complex surgery, which would make your nose look like your favorite celebrity's nose?? Doctors have coined a genuine name for such blatant obsession...call it 'celebrity worship syndrome', or as definition serves, 'an obsessive-addictive disorder in which a person becomes overly involved with the details of a celebrity's personal life'...and admit it or not, just about everyone engages this syndrome, whether it be to the smallest degree (...i.e., 'I really like that person's music; it's a favorite of mine, and I listen to it, whenever I can'), or to a level much more grandiose and disturbing (...i.e., '...uh, like, I've had this plastic surgery, see...to alter my entire body to look like my favorite celebrity, as well as legally having had my name changed to match his/hers, and because of this, I, um...I have had a legal injunction issue against me, forbidding me to come within 100 yards of him/her')...

Movie Review: Ninja III: The Domination (1984, Blu-ray)

There was a time around the mid-1980's when the ninja sub-genre ruled theaters and cable television. My biggest exposure to Cannon Films' ninja output usually came late at night when the parents were asleep and graphic violence won over Skin-amax. The films that made the biggest impact on me as a kid were the awfully dubbed but infinitely awesome Franco Nero classic Enter the Ninja and the gory Sho Kosugi vehicle Revenge of the Ninja. For some reason the recent Scream Factory release of Ninja III: The Domination evaded me much like the mysterious silent assassins. It's out now on a Blu-ray / DVD Combo pack, and oh boy, is it a bit of a departure from the other films mentioned.

Cannon regular Sam Firstenberg (American Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja) directs this tale of demonic possession, aerobics and flying shurikens. A ninja storms a golf course on a desert and proceeds to murder everyone in his way. Bloodying Polo's left and right, the seemingly unstoppable killer is brought down by police in a furious onslaught of flying bullets. The cops finally do him in... but is he really dead? 

Christine (Lucinda Dickey, Breakin', and Cheerleader Camp) is walking near where the ninja took his final stand against the cops and becomes overcome by his spirit. She takes his shiny ninja sword and becomes thoroughly captivated by the blade that she has to takes it back to her aerobics studio to show off to the girls like it’s a new Gucci. It isn’t long before Christine becomes a one woman wrecking crew as she inherits all the abilities of the ninja – including his thirst for vengeance against the law that took him down. 

Movie Review: The Last Tycoon (2012, Well Go USA Entertainment)

...Shanghai, in the 1930's...a most uneasy and tumultuous, though in a way, adventurous time in Chinese history...has often been favored, as a most compelling and lucrative setting in many Asian-produced films, released in the past several decades...and in perusing the archival pages of Shanghai's unstable and violent, albeit opportunist history, during this time, it might well be understandable, as to why this particular era readily made for a most interesting and exotic locale, for film. The area itself was often embroiled in power struggles...both of international intrigue, as well as within it's own social cache; with Shanghai divided between Chinese and European factions, and gambling, prostitution & opium smuggling being the underground order of affairs, violence and corruption took a ruling hand. Corporate and governmental underhandedness became as prevalent as the growing cliques of warring, territorial gangsters, whose embrace of fame, power and riches helped to usher in a great and overpowering measure of lawlessness amongst the social masses, who were grossly divided...with the rich and powerful living it up, as if there was no tomorrow, and the underclass firmly held down in submission. And all of this, right on the cusp of Japan's formidable bid for occupation of Shanghai, and it's surrounding areas...in what would be an unflinching, no-holds-barred assault, which would change the very foundation and history of the area...

Movie Review: Halloween (35th Anniversary Edition, Blu-ray)

When John Carpenter and Debra Hill unleashed the original Halloween on moviegoers in 1978, horror would never be the same. The success of Halloween brought on hordes of rip-offs - even the equally lucrative Friday the 13th series was a cash-in. This amazing feat in independent cinema a testament of the magic created by the team of those talented young filmmakers and actress, Jamie Lee Curtis. I don't know how many times I've seen it but I do know I've seen Halloween on just about every format. The latest Blu-ray release of Halloween has some nice little upgrades on quality on the previous release - but is it worth the upgrade?

Halloween hits the viewer instantly with a fantastic opening P.O.V showing a young Michael Myers lurking around his house, grabbing a knife and slowly going up the stairs where he goes to off his very naked sister. This is a textbook way to open a horror movie in my opinion. It is horror, right? Carpenter is aware of what he wants do - and that's to scare the shit out of you.

Movie Review: Twixt (2013, Blu-ray)

Oh, boy. You know, there's always something suspect about a movie when a list of talented people is attached, yet you never hear of it until the screener shows up on a straight-to DVD/Blu-ray release. Okay, when Val Kilmer is the lead in 2013, you can be suspect, no matter where it shows up. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy in spite of his being the worst Batman that will ever be. (Sorry, Affleck haters, he'll be one of the better choices for the role.) Seeing that Bruce Dern and David Paymer are in the movie is encouraging, though they're hard working actors, and I don't think they turn down much. Not to mention that Dern can be a bit hammy and over the top at times. Elle Fanning is still getting her sea legs behind her sister's fame. The one odd duck on this list is Francis Ford Coppola, who wrote, produced and directed Twixt. He's made some legendary and brilliant films, including The Rainmaker, which I think is one of Matt Damon's best. I'll be honest, I didn't even realize it was his movie until the end credits rolled. This looks like a horror geek's first movie. I'll explain why.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #116 - So Many Monsters

Kevin and Jeff discuss the recent Rapture Horror Expo and all of the interviews that The Gorram Nerd Hour's Jacob O'Neal was able to get. They also talk about sharing Godzilla with the next generation.

They also review the horror docs Room 237 and Crystal Lake Memories as well as the 35th anniversary release of Halloween, the wild and crazy Snuff, the Coppola vampire drama Twixt and the robot vs. monster battle that is Pacific Rim.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

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FEARnet Goes Global With Its ‘Expedition Fear’ Friday Night Block Highlighting Genre Favorites From Around The World, And Featuring Exclusive Content From Fantastic Fest Starting October 18

While FEARnet has always made a point to highlight the best in worldwide genre titles, the Network is putting extra focus on overseas scares with the addition of the “Expedition FEAR” Friday night block—two international films, every week, at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. “Expedition FEAR” entries in October showcase some of the best talent from around the world—topped off by celebrated [REC] creator Jaume Balagueró’s shocker TO LET on October 25—giving genre fans a chance to experience many foreign gems that they may have never seen or heard of before.

Beginning October 18, the films will come packaged with exclusive wraparound content—shot at the 2013 Fantastic Fest and made specifically for FEARnet—highlighting the best of the independent horror cinema scene. The interstitial content features roundtable discussions on topics such as a First-Time Directors panel with Evan Katz (CHEAP THRILLS) and Randy Moore (ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW); a Foreign Genre Films panel with Katrin Gebbe (NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN) and Tamae Garateguy (SHE WOLF); an American Independent Cinema panel with Joe Begos (ALMOST HUMAN) and James Bykrit (COHERENCE); an Indie vs. Mainstream panel with Jesse Cook (SEPTIC MAN) and Ben Wheatley (A FIELD IN ENGLAND); and a Film Critics and Bloggers panel where Sam Zimmerman (FANGORIA), Ryan Turek (DREAD CENTRAL), Brian Collins (BADASS DIGEST), and FEARnet’s own Lawrence Raffel, Sarah Shannon, and Alyse Wax discuss the films they saw at Fantastic Fest, and why the festival is important for both the genre and the audience. As a bonus, the Network will also air an exclusive one-on-one interview with Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League.

Movie Review: Room 237 (2013, Blu-ray)

The Shining  is without a doubt one of the most influential films of our time. It's not only all over pop-culture, to many, including myself it’s a fantastic film. That doesn't mean it’s without its detractors - including the creator of the best-selling novel Stephen King. Director Stanley Kubrick is a fascinating cat and what he was going for with his vision of King's baby seems to have brought questions to some that think there is some deeper meaning into certain scenes and shots.

Rodney Ascher's Room 237 basically gathers up several folks who have some interesting and some completely ludicrous hypothesis of The Shining cut together over many of the most well known scenes, such as when Danny is lost in the labyrinth or when Jack locked in the cooler. One of the participants examines a scene when the characters are in the walk-in pantry and our large container of Calumet Baking Powder showing in Indian had some big significance to Kubrick's "hidden message". This did nothing for me and felt like The Shining expert was really reaching for stuff.

BRINKVISION RELEASES THE UNCUT GERMAN CANNIBAL DINER ON VOD AND LIMITED EDITION DVD ON OCTOBER 15TH!

CANNIBAL DINER

WINNER BEST FOREIGN FEATURE AT HORRORQUEST FILM FESTIVAL

WINNER AUDIENCE AWARD FRIGHT NIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL

BrinkVision releases the uncut version of the German blood and boobs film, Cannibal Diner on Limited Editon DVD and VOD on Oct. 15th! Cannibal Diner stars The film stars Alexandra Lesch, Kristiana Rohder (Miss Universe Germany 2010), Lara Baum, Alexandra Jordan, Violetta Schurawlow, Indira Madison, Dominik Schneider, Jessica Klauss, Mike Zick, Celina Klemenz, and Heiko Rohde. It features music by Demonboy, Alien Vampires, and Sonic Thrill.

Movie Review: The Initiation (1984, New World/Arrow Video)

 ...alright, folks!! Let's see a raise of hands out there, whose partial joy of one's bygone high school years, was spent hanging out with friends, at the local shopping mall. With a hand elatedly raised high, yes, this viewer most assuredly engaged in this adolescent ritual...a demandant after-school prerequisite...a cartel of your best buds, or on some nights, just your best gal...a mass invasion of the food court...checking out the record stores and game shops...emptying a pocketful of quarters, obliterating asteroids, saving monkey-enslaved princesses and chomping on ghost-guarded power pills, at the arcade...and seeing the latest blood-spattered horror flickage at the multiplex. In a time when one's first taste of splattery cinema was the one-two-three punch of the original "Halloween", "Dawn of the Dead" & "Friday the 13th", and the onslaught of horror films to come, was just short of emphasizing a preponderance of holiday-based horrors (...jeez, didn't any holiday miss the ravages of horror filmmakers?? Oh wait...hey, how about that?? Arbor Day wasn't touched...horror filmmakers, take note), the idealist possibility of horrible horrors at a shopping mall weren't fully and wholly considered (...even after the siege of Romero zombies), especially after the more reflectively exuberant fun of hanging out at the mall was joyously upheld, with a certain little comedy ditty, in and the about the area of fictional Ridgemont High. That all changed, in the excellent '80's, when even a wayward and nocturnally covert jaunt at a shopping mall or department store proved to be quite horrific...even deadly, in notables like 1984's "Night of the Comet", 1986's "Chopping Mall", 1988's "Hide and Go Shriek", 1987's "The Outing" (...oh, OK...that was a museum, not a mall), as well as a quaint and underappreciated little whodunit slasher entry from 1984, entitled "The Initiation"...

Movie Review: The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue (2013)

As part of a Halloween challenge put forth on a horror board I follow, I'm trying to watch at least one horror movie a day. And because of that, I began flipping through the Netflix offerings and settled on something I probably wouldn't have if I didn't need to fill a quota. As it turns out, I'm quite pleased with my choice.

The Mole Man of Belmont Avenue is an independent horror comedy brought to us by Mike Bradecich and John LaFlamboy of Big Tree Productions. These writers/directors/actors star as the Mugg brothers, Marion and Jarmon, who have inherited an apartment building from their late mother. Being completely inept in every way, the brothers lose all but 4 of the tenants due to lack of heat, gas, and other necessities required to live comfortably. Granted, Jarmon has pirated electricity from the church next door but somehow that's just not getting it done.

For those left behind, there's a bit of an issue with their pets: they keep disappearing. Jarmon and Marion contemplate the issue the same way they approach every conflict or problem in their lives: they go to the bar. When they return to the building after getting their drink on, the boys witness a strange man-like creature stealing a Yorkshire terrier through the narrow mail slot of one of the apartments.

Well, now, that's not normal.

Movie Review: Prince of Darkness (1987, Blu-ray)

It's been twenty plus years since I begged my mom to purchase Prince of Darkness on pay-per-view so I could watch it on our murky tube TV. Seeing that it has now made its debut on Blu-ray in a special edition from Scream Factory - a company no stranger to bringing John Carpenter's best to the digital format - should please anyone looking to see this very versatile director at his finest.

When some scientists and college students decide to take their teachings and studies to another level after being given information by a priest (The legendary Donald Pleasance, Halloween) about a mysterious green liquid being stored in vat they jump at the chance at finding out its significance. Once they all get set up in the church with various devices that assist in detecting any sort of activity they become trapped by a horde of psychotic homeless people led by rock icon Alice Cooper.

Movie Review: The Amazing Adventures of The Living Corpse (2013, Blu-ray)

The Living Corpse bursts from the ground, and with a cavalcade of other zombies, he attacks a small house. Inside are a woman, her son and her daughter. The Living Corpse dispenses with the woman and the girl, and as the boy is about to fall to other zombies, he calls to The Living Corpse. The boy wants him to remember that he is his dad. LC does, and he saves his son. That's when the military shows up to rescue the boy, Taylor. Taylor is taken to a boys' home, and LC spends the movie trying to find him with the help of a demon lord and his gargoyle sidekick.

Movie Review: Wither (2012, Artsploitation Films)

 ...ya know?? This viewer gets a fairly good kick out of eager and ambitious young filmmakers who, over the years, have attempted to inspirationally emulate the unconventional and amiably engaged quirkings, which have long set the standard...the alluring bar, as far as embraced genre and cult films. It's a filmmaker's exercise, not unlike that of trying to marry specific chemicals together in a science experiment, based solely on the success of what has been seen before, rather than adhering to a concise list of chemicals, and their concise measurements. Tip the scales on one or more of the elements, to the greater or to the lesser, and the whole outcome might well change...sometimes for the better, and unfortunately, at times, for the worse. Such is the case, as far as director Sam Raimi's unflinching and visceral 1981 horror classic, "The Evil Dead", and the resulting 'homages', alternate takes...and let's face it...knock-offs and copycats, over the ensuing years; after all, some very interesting...and well, at the very least, very peculiar things have been done with the old 'awakening an evil, while in a secluded cabin in the woods' scenario. Most can site the obvious...2012's "Cabin in the Woods", 2002's "Cabin Fever", and of course, the recent remake of the Raimi classic. However, who out there, has seen the emulative 2010 horror oddity, "Primal"?? Or how about the clever and surreal, albeit relatively gore-tame 1990 effort, "Demon Wind"?? And who genuinely remembers the insanely crazed, creepy and bizarre 1970 horror entry, "Equinox", which predates 'Evil Dead' by a decade?? Some, quite memorable...some, quite forgettable...and some, rather under-appreciated. And with the recent homage to "The Evil Dead"...a 2012 Swedish import, simply titled "Wither"?? Eh, Monty Hall...I'm afraid we're gonna have to take (...trap) door number two, on that one, please...

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #115 - Caleb Bacon and Greg Sestero

Kevin shares clips from this month's episodes of Just Asking, a monthly interview show from Abnormal Entertainment.

First, he talks to Caleb Bacon. Caleb hosts the podcast Man School and writes for the TBS series Sullivan and Son.

Next, Kevin talks to The Room star Greg Sestero about his new book The Disaster Artist, which follows his path from joining the cast of The Room to touring with the film and Tommy Wiseau.

You can click these links to listen to the full interviews with Caleb and Greg.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com or tweet us @CinHeadCheese.

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Movie Review: Django Prepare A Coffin (Blu-ray, 1968)

Review By: Rob Sibley

For one of the first times I decided to give a film a blind watch without knowing anything about it. I'm a huge Spagetti Western fan and I've seen dozens of films titled Django and besides some gems such as "Django Kill... If you live shoot" most of them are pale imitations of Sergio Corbucci's classic 1966 Django. Everyone from Takashi Miike to Tarantino has tackled a Django picture.

So judging a book from it's cover I noticed this particular film starred Terence Hill of the Trinity films fame and the many flicks he made with Budd Spencer. He's a solid actor but sure has starred in a number of clunkers.

Second it was directed by Ferdinando Baldi who whelmed two films I really enjoyed. The solid Western Texas Goodbye with Franco Nero and the sleazy gem Terror Express. The composer on this picture was Gianfranco Reverberi who scored the fantastic Edqige Fenech flick, A Policewoman on the Porno Squad. Last but not least Arrow Video was releasing the film, on Blu-ray no less so I went into this with high hopes. Was I satisfied with the final results?

Pollygrind Film Festival: Cross Bearer and The Cemetery World Premiere News

The team behind the two Adam Ahlbrandt indie features making waves this fest season (Cross Bearer, a gritty arthouse slasher, and The Cemetery, a possession tale coated in ultra-violence) have announced their joint world premiere at the cutting-edge cult mash up Pollygrind Film Festival (theatre7, 1406 S. 3rd St, Las Vegas, NV 89104). In only its fourth year the fest had already gained accolades for spotlighting rising directors and premiering multiple features each year thus far. Named one of 2012s 25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee by MovieMaker Magazine, Pollygrind dishes out $30,000 in prizes, but also offers selected filmmakers the ultimate brass ring- a relationship with legitimate distributors, who attend the event in order to sign new features.