Funko Is Bringing Your Shelves Some Scary Collectible Goodies Soon…

Posted on July 1, 2014 by geelw

Once again, Funko is whipping out more reasons to lighten your wallet and fill your shelves. This time, it’s the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, immortalized (or is that “immoral-ized”) as a Wacky Wobbler (and I have the feeling Hitch would love being a bobblehead), available for sale this October. Take a look and while you’re looking, think of someone you’d love to give this to (even if it’s yourself, because one should always think of him or herself first when gift-giving):

If you can’t wait until October (what, you have a date with a paid assassin or something?), In August, you can snap up these six new awesome ReAction figures from some classic (well, 1978 and up) horror flicks you may have seen once or twice. Take a peek between those fingers you’ve not got covering your face, why don’t you:

Now that you’re suitably scared (well, okay, suitably thrilled and whipping out your wallet), you may as well know that keeping these killers in their packaging is probably a very darn good idea. Just a suggestion… for safety’s sake.

MOEBIUS: Horror Fans, The Unkindest Cut of All Is Coming Your Way in August…

Posted on July 1, 2014 by geelw

Ouch. Just reading the description for RAM Releasing’s upcoming horror film MOEBIUS should get a few guys to slam their knees together like a bear trap with a hair trigger mechanism:

When she catches her husband having an affair, a woman attempts to castrate the cheater for his wrongdoing. Unsuccessful, she instead inflicts the unspeakable act on her own son, setting off a series of grotesque yet provocative events ranging from a hurried genital transplant to pain-inflicted orgasms that all merge in a continuous thread of delirious storytelling. With both husband and son damaged and living in grief, the wife returns as the family heads towards destruction even more horrific than before.

Kim Ki-Duk, whose signature style pushes the limits of challenging filmmaking and often blows right through them, won the Golden Lion with PIETA at the Venice Film Festival last year. The prolific director is set to shock audiences again with Moebius, his latest perverse statement on family tensions, sexual boundaries and society’s issues with each.

During August, the film will get a limited run release in North America at the following theaters:

Los Angeles – August 8 – The Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

New York – August 15 – Cinema Village, 22 E. 12th St, New York, NY 10003

Chicago – August 22 – Facets, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL 60614

before making its Video on Demand (VOD) debut on August 29 via all major providers (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Verizon, etc.) and digital VOD at iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu, Xbox, Playstation, Rovi and Samsung Hub.

Yeah, I’ll be reviewing this one in August – I have a screener on the way, but I may need a teddy bear, a blanket, a few bottles of wine and a noise-canceling room to block my screaming. My knees hurt already from slamming together, so I can’t wait to see what the actual film does… O__o

The Green Inferno: Eli Roth Lets The “Save The Planet” Crowd Have Both Barrels…

Posted on June 2, 2014 by geelw

So, what’s up in the jungle, Jim? Not much but lots of death and leftovers! Anyway, here’s the plot of this upcoming horror flick, suitable for no one under the age of slashenteen without a cast iron stomach:

A group of college students take their humanitarian protest from New York to the Amazon jungle only to get kidnapped by the native tribe they came to save. A tribe that still practices the ancient tribal rite of cannibalism, with a healthy appetite for intruders.

(thanks, Movieclips Trailers!)
Well, there goes my plans to visit even the nearest sunny park around here at this point. Guaranteed to cause all sorts of outrage when it’s released (mostly among people who won’t see it under any circumstances, I’d bet), The Green Inferno is a throwback to the gory glory days of exploitation horror films and nope, I’m not planning on seeing this in a theater at all.

If I do decide to commit to this flick and it’s NOT a media screening with relatively normal people in attendance squealing and hiding under the seats, it’ll be in the comfort of my own home where I can shut it off and find something else to do if I’m feeling queasy. I’m gathering the home video and/or cable versions will have more footage and on disc, I’d hope there’s a nice behind the scenes documentary that gets into how this was made. I didn’t make it through Cannibal Holocaust (this film’s inspiration) in one sitting, but I think I can handle this… I think… (cue creepy music that gets me wanting to go watch a Caillou box set instead on a permanent loop)…

Movie Review: APP

Posted on June 2, 2014 by geelw

As the first second screen “horror” film, Bobby Boermans’ APP dares to ask you to not only keep your cell phone ON during its entire running time, it wants you to download an app just for the purposes of getting the most out of the wild ride it sends you on for a very brisk 75 minutes.

However, if the very idea of having a phone buzzing away a few times on your lap as you watch a film outrages you to no end, you can watch the film without a phone and still enjoy it quite thoroughly. It’s certainly worth seeing this one both ways (which I did for the purposes of this review) as the phone-enabled parts are cleverly crafted to not distract from the film at all, giving you enough time to glance down then back up without missing anything important.
Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: HOUSE (1977)

Posted on May 23, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, tubesoda!)

One of the most unusual “mainstream” horror films you’ll ever see, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 film HOUSE is one of those inventively crazy movies that will stick in your head for a long while after those end credits roll.

Paradoxically, it’s tricky to talk about the film in detail and not give a lot away. But on the other hand, you could go in knowing the entire story and what happens to every character in the film before you see it and still have your mind completely blown by the bizarre visual effects and how the tone switches from comic to horror (and back and forth at that) at the drop of a hat.

Or drop of the head, in this case… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): The Horror of Party Beach

Posted on May 17, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, Tommy Retro’s Blast From The Past!)

As it’s almost (but not quite) beach season (unless it’s summer when you’re actually reading this, then BEWARE!) here’s a cautionary tale for you hep cats and hip chicks looking for some fun in the soon to be summer sun: DON’T DO IT! Hell, I mean between the assorted oil and chemical spills and their assorted hasty to long term cleanups that just add MORE nasty chemicals to the waters around everywhere, you’re only bound to run into something monstrous coming out of the water (or heck, just IN the water) that wants to EAT. YOUR. FLESH! (Mua-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!, but somewhat true! Eeeek!).

Anyway, 1964’s Horror on Party Beach kind of predicted this modern age of old-school waste making hasty retreats for beaches everywhere, but the film was SO bad that no one listened because they were busy laughing their bottoms off as this bottom of the fish barrel “Z”-grade spook-tacular stunk up a theater near them… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): Mother’s Day (1980)

Posted on May 11, 2014 by geelw

(thanks, frightism!)

As horror movies from the era go, Mother’s Day hits all of the right notes genre fans should appreciate, which means this oldie’s NOT for the squeamish or anyone who hates a bit of nastiness in their fear flicks. Riffing off on better movies like Deliverance and gore classics such as I Spit On Your Grave and Last House On The Left, co-writer/director Charlie Kaufman (no, not THAT one, this one’s Troma Picture’s Lloyd Kaufman’s brother) cooked up a mean little revenge movie with a few twists and turns. It’s at turns scary, sick, and funny, and as noted, NOT for everyone, so beware if that goofy poster piques your curiosity and you decide to go in cold.

While more of a cult film than actual “classic,” this one’s got some pretty sharp teeth, bites really hard and deep. When three gals set out on their yearly camping trip, they run afoul of a pair of crazed brothers and their even more unhinged mother who’s not even close to a sympathetic character. The old bat has her boys kidnap and put the three girls through hell in some disgusting torture and abuse scenes that are still effective and hard to watch today. One girl dies from her injuries, but the other two survive… only to return loaded for bear in order exact revenge on their former tormentors…

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Random Film of the Week: Happy Birthday To Me

Posted on May 7, 2014 by geelw

](thanks, oldhockstatterplace!)

I actually don’t do much on my birthday other than pore over whatever greetings sent my way (and this year has been good for people sending well wishes), while trying to stay out of trouble (so far, so good). It’ll be a light dinner (wait, pizza is light? It is when it’s your birthday!) and a glass of Chianti later tonight and maybe a movie or two, one of which may or may not be this 1981 slasher flick with the somewhat loyal cult following.

I’m aged enough to have first seen this one back in 1981 when it was initially released and while it’s got some effective, offbeat murders and a few cast members of note, it’s far from the best the genre has to offer. That said, it is fun to put together the plot’s parts and uncover the killer as you go, even though the film seems to want to surprise you with a twisteroo near the finale that may or may not make you want to stab someone…

Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: Psycho II

Posted on May 6, 2014 by geelw

Well, it’s Mother’s Day this week as well as my birthday (tomorrow, so you still have time to get me that gift or else!), so I’m going to have fun with this week’s pick. While seen as sacrilege to some fans of the original movie, for my money Psycho II is a nice surprise that does well at following up on Norman Bates’ life post-release from the institution he ended up in thanks to his deeds in the original.

Screenwriter Tom Holland and director Richard Franklin get some great (albeit limited) mileage out of Anthony Perkins here as he portrays Norman as trying to live the “normal” life, but ends up instead plagued by forced memories from the past intended to drive him back to his old ways. Or perhaps he’s hallucinating all that bad stuff? Whatever the cause, bodies start piling up (well, the actual death count is small compared to other films of the era), the mystery deepens and it’s not until the final reel that things become clear with a double twist corker of an ending that’s still amazing… Continue reading →

Ro, No You Didn’t NBC… But I’ll Try To Keep An Open Mind…

Posted on May 2, 2014 by geelw

So… this is actually happening and let’s just say my skin is crawling (and NOT from fear). Granted, the cast seems solid and veteran TV director Angiezka Holland is an excellent choice (her work on AMC’s The Killing, HBO’s The Wire and other shows shows she’s a master at her craft), but the original film is so (and still) perfect at what it does that even the best intended reworking will fall short by comparison. I may catch this when it runs, but why the hell is it playing on Mother’s Day? Yeah, I get the inherent humor here, but ha-ha, I know some people won’t like the idea of this being a way to end an otherwise fine holiday. Eh, my mom will probably watch it just because she was around to see the Polanski classic and I think she liked it a lot.

(Yeah, it LOOKS creepy… but sadly, by network standards ONLY)

The mini-series format and network not cable airing bugs me as well, but given that network TV has been approaching mild levels of cable-like content for a while now, I’m sure that this will deliver where it counts. That said, I definitely don’t like some saying this isn’t a remake because of the Parisian setting and whatever else has been changed from the book and original film. Zoe Saldana’s got a similarly skinny frame and has a variation on the haircut Mia Farrow had, it’s still the same plot (despite a few changes here and there) and if they show the baby in this one, it’ll destroy the ending of the film because it ruins the mystery completely of what the spawn of the devil would look like. That and you can’t top the dream sequence from Polanski’s classic one bit.

As noted in the title, I’ll try to keep an open mind, but there are a few strikes against this one already for me. Hopefully, the cast and director can save this one enough that even the more ardent fans will want to check it out. I’d imagine though, if it DOES do well, we’ll either see NBC trot it out yearly (eek) or get a sequel fast-tracked for next year (double eek). That idea didn’t do well for the original film at ALL, by the way…