Movie Review: Sheitan (2006,Tartan/Palisades)

By Hal Astell

A suspiciously ethnically diverse group of youths get kicked out of Club Styxx the day before Christmas Eve because Bart is even more of an idiot than the rest of them and starts a fight with a bouncer. Luckily, or so they think, one of them has pulled a young lady called Eve, and so they now have somewhere to go for Christmas: Eve's place in the country. Unfortunately as her name would suggest (there are lots of symbolic names in this film), Eve has enticed them into something beyond anything they expect.

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Eve's place is large but not in the greatest shape, something I'd love to own. However it's also a pretty freaky place, partly because of the proliferation of dolls the belong to her father but mostly because of the people, especially Joseph. Joseph is the goatherder, shepherd or housekeeper or whatever, but he's played by Vincent Cassel so is completely out there with all the sort of psychotic charisma that you'd expect if you've ever seen him in anything at all, not least La Haine. He has plans, twisted ones for sure, but plans nonetheless and he's not someone you'd generally want to mess with.

Movie Review: Absentia (2010)

By James DePaolo 

Absentia is the story of two sisters, Callie and Tricia. We find out 7 years ago Tricia's husband Daniel just one day vanished. She is now pregnant and still posting missing person bulletins. Callie, is a former drug user and an in and out of trouble lost soul. She comes to help Tricia out. Tricia is at the point now after all this time, that they can declare Daniel legally dead. But, Tricia is not so sure if he really is dead. She has been seeing visions of him. While Tricia has moved on with her life to some degree, she still questions what happened that night. Callie goes for a jog one day and goes through a tunnel that changes everything.

Movie Review: V for Vendetta (2006)

Alan Moore is never a happy guy when it comes to his comic books being turned into films. Considering how League of Extraordinary Gentlemen turned out, I don't blame him. The Watchmen was another tough call, but it was far better. I haven't actually read any of the books, but taking them just as movies,  I think Moore should really be happy with V.

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I think that most guys can get into the idea of being a vigilante. That's why characters like Batman and Kick-Ass are appealing. It's also a bit romantic in the classical sense to be anti-establishment like Robin Hood. Just the thought of single-handedly bringing down a corrupt government induces a hard-on that Keith Olbermann would be proud of.

Movie Review: Hatchet II (2010, Dark Sky/ MPI)

Adam Green has been a busy man the past couple years. After unleashing his superb 80's throwback slasher comedy, Hatchet, Green quickly plunged into production for Frozen and the inevitable Hatchet II. Hatchet II has received mediocre reviews at best compared to the critically acclaimed original. There's also been much talk on the internet about the "Support Unrated" campaign, mostly negative as well; some claiming it to be more of a publicity stunt. Hatchet II was apparently given the cold shoulder by theaters because of its graphic violence. Whether it's true is certainly up for debate. As someone who shat his pants at the site of warning labels on B horror films at his local mom and pop, this to me, was inviting.

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Movie Review: Legion (2010)

I'm always fascinated by movies that tackle the end of the world or religious characters, and when I see the two combined, I'm a happy kid. The initial trailers for Legion made it look a little cheesy, so I was okay with waiting until it streamed on Netflix. The biggest draw for me was Paul Bettany. He definitely adds to anything he's in, even the horrible Da Vinci Code. He could fart into a coffee can while yodeling Lady GaGa tunes and be compelling. Here he plays a dissenting angel, Michael, who wants to save humanity from God's wrath. He decides that machine guns are the best way to do this.

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Movie Review: Goth Kill (2009)

It's been a long time since I've seen a sleazy movie that stuck with me. You know the kind of movie I mean? A roll in the muck that also entertains, amuses and leaves you wanting more? As movies get routinely more and more extreme, for me anyway, they have also often gotten more and more routine and forgettable. Every once in a while there is something pretty extreme that wins because the gruesomeness is in service of quality material; films like DAWN OF THE DEAD for instance. Those movies certainly are always welcome, but I am talking about films which fail in so many ways, and yet rise above all that and are memorable anyway by virtue of sheer entertainment value. Movies like BLOOD SUCKING FREAKS, MOTHER'S DAY and THE UNDERTAKER AND HIS PALS. Where have you gone, you beautiful ugly messes you?

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Movie Review: The Lottery (2010)

When Jeff gave me this movie, I knew it would be tough to watch and should have known it would be tough to review. Anything that involves the failures of our government, especially surrounding the well-being of kids, gets me upset. I avoided it for a long time. For some reason, I finally just popped it in. I was right about my reaction. What I didn't anticipate was another subject that makes me boil. It's one that will cause half of you to bail on me by my third paragraph. I'm also expecting a few unkind words. I'm even going to upset some of the CHC crew, but here goes.

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The Lottery focuses on a small group of charter schools in New York City that many parents are dying to get their kids into. According to state laws, if demand outweighs supply, a lottery must be held to decide which children will be able to enroll. While the teachers, parents of current students and even President Obama sing the praises of charter schools, one group opposes them. That group is NYC's teachers union, the United Federation of Teachers.

The Movie Burrito: Volume 9 - GG Allin, Killer Puppets and a Troma classic.

On this Feburary edition of Cinema Head Cheese’s The Movie Burrito, we’re highlighting four very different DVDs, Todd Philips' masterpiece, Hated: GG Allin and The Murder Junkies, Combat Shock: Tromasterpiece Collection and the new release of the Canadian puppet sitcom, Puppets Who Kill: The Best of Seasons Three and Four from MVD Visual.

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In 1985, filmmaker Buddy Giovinazzo set out to create an experience for filmgoers that would not only make us think a little more about how our veterans were effected both physically and mentally by the Vietnam war but at the same time put the viewers through the hell along with the lead character, Frankie Dunlan (Ricky Giovinazzo). This film was called Combat Shock and didn’t just strike a nerve - it severed it .Although it’s comparable to Scorcese’s, Taxi Driver (both with their protagonists struggling ex-vets with mental illness) it’s far less upbeat. Yes, even Taxi Driver was Disney next to the horror of Combat Shock. Troma has included Combat Shock in their Tromasterpiece line with both versions, the original cut under the title, American Nightmares ( 100 minutes ) and the version commonly seen, running 92 minutes.

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Movie Review: Bleading Lady (2011)

Ryan Nicholson's latest blood-drenched thriller was originally announced as STAR VEHICLE. Later the tile BLEEDING LADY was used. The movie will finally be released on March 29 with the oddly-spelled title BLEADING LADY. I was at least a third into the movie before I realized why the odd spelling. The story involves a Scream Queen and her stalker; in other words, a B-movie LEADING LADY. Maybe I am a little slow, but I found the pun awkward and forced; and that I find a perfect metaphor for the finished movie.

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Nicholson is a Canadian make-up effects artist whose work goes back to David Cronenberg's eXistenZ. He's worked on The X-Files, The Outer Limits and many Vancouver-based productions. But almost from the start of his career he has been busy witing and directing his own productions, like NECROPAHGIA, GUTTERBALLS and EVIL FEED. The effects work in his movies is always very good, as would be expected. And he always delivers the goods for the gore hounds. But in my opinion he has a lot to learn about telling a good story, and his latest is no different.

Movie Review: Half Moon (2011)

By James DePaolo

Directed by: Jason Toler
Breaking Glass Pictures

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According to the press release this is the breakout role for Tori Black. Tori Black is an adult porn star who has been in 188 adult films. Now she plays a prostitute, and this is a breakout role how? What about Sasha Grey? The Girlfriend Experience, now that was a breakout role. Traci Lords in Roger Corman's Not of this Earth. That was a breakout role. This is a pathetic joke.

I went to IMDB to read what the plot was suppose to be. This is what I got out of it in terms of a plot. A prostitute is working the streets who runs in to her hooker friend. She then tells Tori Black to please hold my purse while I go pee. So, somehow walking the corners for sex, a cop can't see you pee in a dark alley while your friend is getting arrested. The friends cell-phone rings and it is some client who offers three thousand dollars to hang out with him. So she goes, and the conversation starts around the 18 minute mark or so it seems and it begins to dominate the rest of the film. What is this Dinner with Andre with a hooker?

Swedish Sensationsfilms Coming to Paperback April 1, 2011!

'Swedish Sensationsfilms' Book Reveals
Naked Glory of Pioneering Exploitation Cinema.

Available April 1 in bookstores everywhere, Bazillion Points Books presents SWEDISH SENSATIONSFILMS: A Clandestine History of Sex, Thrillers, and Kicker Cinema (ISBN 978-09796163-6-5 US$19.95), a lavish and fiery 328pp retrospective of over 200 banned and cut films produced during the golden age of Swedish sin. "I was born into a rising whirlwind of madness," says author Daniel Ekeroth. "As the '70s came along, all limits were forgotten. Sweden was flooded with sexually explicit and violent films of every kind, and all morals were gone."

Buy Swedish Sensationsfilms: A Clandestine History of Sex, Thrillers, and Kicker Cinema in Paperback

Movie Review: Dear Mr. Gacy (2010)

Have you ever wanted to see inside of the mind of a serial killer? Well in the case of Jason Moss, an audacious university law student who chose homosexual pedophile-child killer John Wayne Gacy as the topic of his thesis paper, it is possible. It takes a certain type of individual who possesses an extraordinary amount of conviction to do what Moss did, and do it as well as he did.

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Yugoslavian director Svetozar Ristovski’s Dear Mr. Gacy chronicles the events that transpired within the six-month period of Moss’ relationship with Gacy. What starts out as a simple handwritten letter spirals out of control into the abyss of neurosis, manipulation and obsession. What we are seeing here is a glimpse into the deepest, darkest corners of the human psyche. A kid determined to get the story of a notorious killer from an angle that hasn’t yet been covered, a notorious killer living out the last six months of his life in solitary confinement. Each possesses what the other wants… one can only imagine what this particularly twisted game of cat and mouse will lead to.

Movie Review: The Terror Within/Dead Space (1989/1991)

I grew up on the early sci-fi and horror pictures produced by Roger Corman for American International Pictures in the 1950s and 1960s. At their best, they had a sleazy creepiness that really resonated with the young people of their generation. And they have stayed with me my whole life as touchstones to a time long past.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Corman produced another batch of exploitation films under the banners of his companies New World and Concorde Pictures. Many of them were made by people who, like me, grew up on the Corman AIP movies. And like those films, they spoke to another generation of youngsters; becoming touchstones in their lives.

Now Shout Factory is bringing back many of those movies in crisp new transfers. Some of them are being released separately, some in double features bridged by trailers for that total "grindhouse" experience. This is a reason to rejoice!

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Movie Review: Let Me Die Quietly

"Neo-noir." It sounds so scholarly, and, dare I say

it,pretentious. Distributors use the term a lot lately to categorize any dark thriller. Normally they are paced too quickly, with the focus more on action than atmosphere to truly deserve the name "noir." The great films which first earned that label from theFrench critics were all about the atmosphere. A dark mood echoed by the dark characters that peopled them. And you can't build a mood if you are in a hurry. LET ME DIE QUIETLY is the latest to try to vie for the moniker, and, for a change, it does a pretty respectable job of it. If anything, the pace is a little too leisurely, but better that than another poser action movie in disguise.

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Movie Review: Graveyard Of Honor (2002, AnimEigo )

By Dineh Tom

Fans of Japanese cinema remember the name Ichi. They also remember the very distinct way Ichi killed people . Others may remember “Audition.” Just thinking about that one always makes me think of needles. Sharp, razor sharp needles, and maybe making sure my fly is zipped nice and tightly. Personally, I’m always going to remember, “Imprint.” Wholly, that story is just a nightmare. The film is technically brilliant, but the things you see in that will haunt me for years. Wonderful film, but prepare yourself my friends. Now, my journey has brought me to “Graveyard of Honor,” by the one and only Takashi Miike.

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Movie Review: The Poughkeepsie Tapes

By Heather Henshaw

In the small town of Poughkeepsie there was a house that was used to torture, murder and mutilate bodies. It was a known fact that all this happened after the police raided the house to find hundreds of video tapes with images we could never begin to imagine; that however was not all that the police found, they found a living human doll by the name of Cheryl Dempsey (Stacy Chbosky). She was found in a box wearing a mask motionless and blank to her surroundings. The movie goes back and forth between three different stories. You have the story that follows Cheryl’s kidnaping, the video tapes of murders, and of course like any and all mockumentaries you have the doctors, police, and psychologist thoughts on the killer.

Movie Review: Brothers (2010)

When I originally saw trailers for this movie, I was intrigued. On the surface, the story seems simple. A man goes off to war and is presumed to have been killed. His brother falls in love with his wife. He returns and is angry. Shit hits the fan. In essence, this assumption is right, but Brothers is so much more than that.

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Tobey Maguire is decorated Marine Captain Sam Cahill, complete with a great family that includes a wife, Grace, portrayed by Natalie Portman, and two young daughters. He is getting ready to head back to Afghanistan for another tour of duty. The day before, he picks up his troublemaker brother Tommy, portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal, from jail. The two catch up, and the entire family gathers for a goodbye dinner. While stepmom is happy to see everyone together again, dad decides to shame his criminal son with his brother's accomplishments. Of course, that doesn't go well. The next day, Sam heads off and ends up in a helicopter over Afghanistan. Enemy fire comes in, and all are presumed dead. Upon hearing the news, the remaining family adjusts, and brother Tommy takes an active role in the family as any good uncle would. He cleans up his act, and he and Grace become close. I won't reveal the extent of the relationship.

Movie Review: Grim (DVD, Troma)

Uncle Lloyd at Troma brings this low budget Texan revenge film to DVD.














I'm going to be blunt, this movie is bad. Going into this film I thought it was going to be a gritty throw back revenge film. The "family killed, time to take revenge" formula has been done over and over again. But hell, I love 'em. It's a genre I really enjoy watching and seldom tire of it. With Grim, that doesn't apply. Grim has the right ingredients to make it succeed as a revenge film. It's the execution that, no pun intended, killed it for me.

The film opens up with three men holding a family hostage. A young boy, Grim and his Mother & Father. The captors, played by guys with zero acting ability, take the family to a field and execute them right in front of Grim. A man who used to be the town sheriff finds Grim and takes him home. The man and his wife take care of Grim till he's older and Grim sets out to kill the men who slaughtered his family.

For me, the rest of the film was an exercise in boredom. I struggled to finish this film due to that. There are a dozen films in the same vein as Grim, fact is those other films do a hell of a better job.

DVD Specs:

* Anamorphic 1.78:1Widescreen
No problems here, shot digitally and for being low budget looks good.

* Dolby Digital 2.0
Audio is serviceable, does it job just fine.

Bonus Features:

* Commentary with Director Adrian Santiago

* Art of Dismemberment
A behind the scenes slidshow

* Intro by Lloyd Kaufman

* Troma Trailers and more

* Clear Case w/ double sided artwork


I honestly cannot recommend this flick. The back of the DVD cover gives a quote that reads: "The Most Fucked Up Film Of The Year". It couldn't be farther from the truth.

Movie Review: Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives (2010)

Director: Israel Luna
Stars: Erica Andrews, Willam Belli, Kelexis Davenport, Jenna Skyy and Krystal Summers

Buy Ticked-Off Trannies With Knives on DVD

Sometimes there are movies you should never watch because there's just no way they could ever live up to their titles. When I saw that the Arizona Underground Film Festival was screening a film called Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives, I knew it was either going to be a disappointment or the greatest film ever made, but catching up on DVD I realise that it's a combination of both. Obviously this isn't a movie for everyone, but you can hardly accuse it of false advertising. It's an indie film, financed by a lesbian in her eighties, shot by a gay Texan director and, perhaps for the first time anywhere, starring real transgender women in most of the lead roles. It's also a throwback to grindhouse rape revenge movies like I Spit on Your Grave and Savage Streets, but with plenty of comedy and nowhere near as much nastiness. Those who would hate it are the ones who wouldn't dream of watching it to begin with because it's exactly what they think it is.

Movie Review: Spider Forest (2004)

by Hal Astell

It's been almost a month since I saw a Korean movie, which is a sad state of affairs indeed, and Sundance describe this one as Memento meets Jacob's Ladder. How freaky can this be? With that description I wouldn't even care if there there aren't any spiders in this forest, but fortunately there are. They go very well with fourteen day old corpses in horror stories, but this one's not just a horror movie: it's a drama, a mystery and a thriller, all wrapped in the same happy go lucky bundle.

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We begin with a man waking up in the forest and walking back to the cabin nearby. There he finds one male corpse that he thinks looks like himself, stabbed over forty times. In the next room is his girlfriend, not quite dead yet but pretty close. She's only been stabbed three times so is still alive and talking of spiders while looking up at a hatchway. Our man hears something, so grabs a scythe, perhaps the murder weapon itself, and opens the hatch, only to find another man on the other side who he chases into the forest.