After Dark Horrorfest 4: The Final

After Dark Films CEO Courtney Solomon has announced that After Dark has acquired the teen revenge thriller The Final after inking a deal with Agora Entertainment. The film is the sixth title to be included in After Dark’s latest installment of Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For. Joey Stewart makes his directorial debut working from a script written by Jason Kabolati. The film stars Marc Donato (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Jascha Washington, Whitney Hoy, Lindsay Seidel and Justin Arnold. Jason Kabolati of Agora Entertainment produced while Edward Lewis Von Hohn and Bill Randle served as executive producers on the film.

In The Final, the scenic Workley Ranch in Rocky Branch, TX, becomes the setting for retribution and revenge. In the midst of a wild costume party, five previously powerless and picked upon students are giving a “Final Exam” with just one question: “What did you do to deserve this?”

“This haunting and vengeful film is a perfect addition to this year’s line-up. Anyone who has experienced the difficulties of high school will find themselves empathizing with both the nerds and the popular kids alike“, stated After Dark EVP Stephanie Caleb.

Director Joey Stewart went on to say, “The Final is about being picked on, bullied, and tormented, and the retaliation and revenge that it incurs. As the characters feel that life has no meaning, they make a pact for revenge that will teach these kids a valuable life lesson. It’s about what happens when people are pushed to the brink of despair, and the consequences that the responsible parties must face.”

Final Trailer - "Deliverance" from AGORA ENTERTAINMENT on Vimeo.

Monsters Of Old

After taking a break from blogging, I decided it was high time to get back into it. Even though I enjoy running this blog, watching movies that I love (sometimes anyways) and showing the world how bad of a writer I am, I often run into the problem of giving up other things I enjoy doing for the sake of a review. That is what I did all of last month, work and write reviews. I did little else except on the weekends. I'm not complaining, just giving an excuse as to why I took a week off. To kick things off again, I decided to watch The Naked Monster (2005). This happens to be the last film in my 9 Linnea Quigley films! Five down, just four more categories to go!

Do you remember all the old monster movies? The Naked Monster does, and for the purpose of the plot, they actually happened. After many years of going to battle with monsters and space aliens, things are now quiet. That is until a monster shows up in a small town off the coast. Sheriff Lance Boiler (R.G. Wilson), Agent Jeff T. Stewart (John Goodwin), and Dr. Nikki Carlton (Brinke Stevens) team up to try and stop the monster. When they fail, they decide to bring in a retired monster hunter, Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey), to help them.

The Naked Monster reminded me of the '50s and '60s sci-fi/monster films, but I would also have to throw in the movie Airplane as well. It isn't a complete spoof like Airplane, but it comes pretty close. Even though The Naked Monster is set in today's world, it does its best to be that 1950s sci-fi/monster film. The film itself is a little grainy to make it feel older than it is. The monster for the film is a guy in a rubber suit, which is pretty obvious whenever the monster tries to pick something up. The Naked Monster was actually completed in 1988, with some re-shoots done is 2004. I couldn't see anything in the film that would give it an indication that 16 years had passed between shoots though. I can't say that I have watched a lot of the films from the era that The Naked Monster spoofs from, so I think some of the jokes were lost on me. I found it amusing that some people were complaining about how low budget this film ends up being. They love the films that are being spoofed, but feel this low budget movie just doesn't give those old films justice. I thought it was funny people were complaining over a film that is low budget when the films it is spoofing were also low budget.

Not much for effects here. No blood that I remember, but we do get a severed head now and then. The monster doesn't like to eat heads it seems. The monster itself looked silly, but that was all part of the movie. Linnea Quigley has a small part of a deaf woman. She is in a car with a guy, and eventually the monster shows up. It is actually the first time we see it. Linnea's part is small, but of course she has time to show off her breasts again. Is there a film that she doesn't do this in? Fans of the 1950s sci-fi/monster films will see all kinds of people that used to be in those films: Robert Clarke, Kenneth Tobey, John Agar, Robert Shayne, Robert Cornthwaite, Gloria Talbott, Les Tremayne, and Paul Marco. This was a nice mix of B movie stars of the past and the present. Outside of Kenneth Tobey though, the main roles all went to today's stars.

Even though I enjoyed watching The Naked Monster, I didn't find it to be a great film. I think that in part it had to do with the fact that I haven't watched all that many of the films it is spoofing. There were some lines that felt lost on me. I guess the best thing I could would be to watch some more of those films. I hate to do it alone though, so I think I will post for a request for some help on this. If you loved these types of films, the old sci-fi/monster films, I would suggest checking it out. Co-director/writer Ted Newsom obviously has a love for those films. I thought he managed to show that love here. I would liked to have watched films where Linnea Quigley had bigger roles, most of the movies for this challenge were just small parts, but that is just how it goes. Some of her bigger roles in films I had already reviewed. Another category down, just a few more to go.
3 out of 5 Even Brinke Stevens shows some skin

Happy Halloween Part Three

I hope everyone is enjoying their Halloween. I will try and get a picture of my Halloween costume up here sometime if I can. Entil then, enjoy these short Halloween films!

After Dark Horrorfest 4: Zombies Of Mass Destruction

After Dark Films announces that the company has inked a deal with Typecast Pictures to feature ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction in its next incarnation of After Dark Horrorfest®: 8 Films to Die For®. In addition to directing the film, Kevin Hamedani co-wrote the feature with Ramon Isao. Janette Armand, Doug Fahl, and Cooper Hopkins star. John Sinno of Typecast Films produced and Ali Hamedani and John Sinno executive produced. Dana Lambert, VP of Acquisitions at After Dark brokered the deal with Andrew Herwitz of Film Sales Co. who represented the filmmakers in the negotiations.

In ZMD, a conservative island community is under attack! Port Gamble, Washington is being overrun with braineaters, and the people seem powerless to stave them off. A rag tag band of rebels led by Frida (Janette Armand), an Iranian college student suspected of being an Iraqi terrorist, and Tom (Doug Fahl), a gay business man who has returned to town with his partner to come out to his mother, tries to turn the tide and push the invading hoards of undead back.
“We are so pleased to offer up a gory, sharp film with such social relevance,” said After Dark Films Executive Stephanie Caleb. “It brings a new level of variety to this year’s fest and we’re happy to have such a fun film to share with our fans.”

“We’re all delighted that ZMD found a good home with After Dark Films. Their concept of a festival theatrical release is perfect for our times and for bringing ZMD to the attention of appreciative fans all across the country. I wish them all the best with Horrorfest 4.” – John Sinno, Typecast Films.

Andrew Herwitz added, “Many companies pursued this film. We chose After Dark Films because we really believe that their unique marketing concept will guarantee that zombie hungry audiences across the country will be able to see this very unique film.” ZMD joins previously announced titles, The Graves, DREAD, Lake Mungo, and Hidden. After Dark Horrorfest® 4 runs for one week in theatres across the United States from January 29nd – February 4th, making it the largest nationwide film festival.

ZMD is being represented internationally by Forward Motion Entertainment.

I Hope Its A Treat

Much like The Hills Run Red, Trick 'r Treat (2008) is another movie that was getting a lot of online hype about it. Apparently it was screened and then quickly shelved, only to be seen at horror film conventions from time to time. The fan reaction at the conventions was very much in favor of the movie. Thanks to this, and online buzz that it was creating, it was decided to give Trick 'r Treat a DVD release. Since its release, most of the reviews for it have been very good at keeping the hype going. I was going to watch this movie a little closer to Halloween, but I figured I had better grab it while I was there. Never know if they might all be out once Halloween rolled around.

Trick 'r Treat has four stories that run through it, which are all connected to each other in some way. The first story is about a woman (Leslie Bibb) who is less than thrilled about Halloween. She has a husband that is very much into it though, but comes across as rather lazy to me. The second story deals with a high school principal who has a dark secret. The third story deals with a group of kids that invite the slow girl (Samm Todd) to pay tribute to a group of kids that died, and to play a prank. The fourth story deals with a woman (Anna Paquin) who is looking to lose her virginity. The fifth story is about an old guy (Brian Cox) who can be rather mean to trick or treaters, and is visited by the spirit of Halloween because of this. Okay so that makes five in all, but the first story is actually really short.

The first part of Trick 'r Treat is slightly confusing because it is jumping around to different story lines getting people introduced. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though. Most films like this one they tend to tell one story and then move on to the next. It was very different to seem them weaved together. You might also notice that they are also connected. After the first story is told, we are taken back to an earlier time in the night where we are introduced to the rest of the characters. While being introduced to the woman looking to lose her virginity, we see the husband and wife from the first story walk by. The general theme for this movie was the traditions of Halloween. I don't get how the virgin story line fits in with this theme though. It was probably my least favorite of the stories told here. By the way, the virgin thing probably isn't what you are thinking of. My favorite was the kids story. I wish it had been a tad longer, but I was still really into that one. The old man story was also a good one. It made me laugh with the way he used his dog. Even though I was thrown off by the plot jumping around at first, once I figured out things it wasn't so hard to follow.

The effects are small but are good at least. The transformation that the virgin and the women she hangs with was done in a way I have never watched before. Sam, played by Quinn Lord, is the spirit of Halloween and looks great. That is who you see on the poster actually. Only once scene had a lot of effects to it, which happens to be in the story I didn't like, go figure. The acting was pretty good. I thought that Brian Cox was great here. I actually thought his voice was that of a woman's when we first hear it in one of the other stories. My bad. Samm Todd was great as well. I was surprised to find that this has been her first and only film so far. Hope she gets to be in more films. I didn't think her character was slow though, just very shy. Since it was my favorite story, also have to mention Britt McKillip, Isbelle Deluce, Jean-Luc Bilodeau and Michael Dougherty. Great job to all.

The people that don't seem to like Trick 'r Treat complain that it wasn't scary enough. I don't want to say that they missed the point, but this movie wasn't trying very hard to be scary. It was more about what Halloween is about. Like going off with friends to a spooky place to tell scary stories. Going up to the house where it is said the person inside hates kids. Not every story does this type of thing, but most do. Even though I enjoyed watching it, I can't say that I feel in love with it with the first viewing. With the way it is constructed, being connected in small ways, I think this is a film that if you liked it will just get better with each viewing. I'm sure I missed a lot of things with how the stories are connected to each other, and hints about certain plot points. If you are thinking about checking this movie out, I think you should. It is a fun movie.
3 out of 5 Will make sure to leave my pumpkin lit on Halloween

Gifting My Way To 600

It is time for another favorite movie of mine. To be honest here, I didn't think I would be at post number 600 so soon. I didn't think I would see it until next year, which I have something planed for my 5th year as a blogger. I can't tell you what that is yet though. When this month rolled around I made up my mind to get at least 20 posts in on the month. I was getting them in quicker than I thought I would and slowly my plans started to change. I went from trying to get 20 posts to trying to get a post in everyday. I had a small set back (which I did again) when I didn't get two posts published. I had them started, just not published. For my 600th post, I wasn't sure which movie to watch. I was going to watch a different movie, but then last night I changed my mind about it. Even though The Gift (2000) isn't really a horror film, it is one of my all time favorite films.

I first hear about The Gift from a friend of mine. He didn't say much about it, but thought it would be a movie I would like. Shortly after that I was talking to another friend, this time an online friend, and asked if she had heard of this movie. Her response was: "Oh yeah. That is the movie that Katie Holmes gets nude in." This surprised me, but I have noticed that 50% of the time, that is something people will bring up. Maybe more than that. I think it took me a while to get around to watching it, but once I did I was instantly hooked.

The reason why I call it a favorite movie is because I always ask people if they have watched it before. If they haven't I tell them to try to find it. It is rare for me to tell anyone, that isn't even into horror films especially, to find a movie. I let a neighbor watch my DVD and never got it back. They swear they gave it back, and I know they never did. After that I stopped loaning it out to people. I didn't want to have to buy it a third time. If I lose a DVD, it isn't often I will replace it myself. It is often one I didn't care that much about anyway. With The Gift though, it is one I will watch every now and then. I think the main reason for that is because of the acting. As much as I liked the different plots that are found through out the film, it was the acting that sells it the best.

If you have never watched this movie, the plot is pretty simple really. Annie (Cate Blanchett) is a struggling single mother. Her husband passed away in a work accident, so now she is stuck raising her three sons on her own. To bring in a little bit of extra money, she gives readings to people. A gift run through her family, but she can't use it for personal gain. The people she reads for offer what money they can in return. She meets Jessica (Katie Holmes), basically the spoiled rich kid of the town, who disappears one night. After using all other methods, the police and family come to Annie for help. At first she doesn't have a lot to offer, but then she starts to have dreams about what happened to Jessica. Will she be able to figure out these dreams before the killer gets worried?

You may have noticed that I talked about plots earlier. The Gift has its main plot of solving the murder, but there is also a few sub plots that run through it as well. These plots aren't always connected with the main plot, but they do add a lot to the different characters found in the film. The main complaint that I see from people that didn't like this film is that they have watched this type of plot many of times. I agree that there are some plots that I get tired of seeing, but I also feel you shouldn't judge a film by its plot completely. I actually liked some of the sub plots a little better than the main plot. The visuals of the dreams are all sorts of awesome, but it was the human side of the sub plots that got to me more. The abused wife and her abusive husband. A friend of Annie's has a lot of issues with his father that he has problems dealing with. I liked these stories for different reasons, but again it was mostly do to the acting.

Cate Blanchett plays the part of imperfect Annie. I thought her acting was just wonderful in this movie. I liked that she wasn't the perfect person. By this I mean that her oldest son is reaching out to her over the death of his father. Annie doesn't want to talk about it though, since it is very painful for her as well. I could relate to this since I went through both phases when my mom passed away. I didn't want to talk to anyone about it at first and then when I did, I got pushed away at first. Hilary Swank plays the abused wife, with Keanu Reeves playing the husband. I admit I have never been a big fan of Keanu Reeves, but I thought he was great as the bad guy here. It was a very different role for him from what other movies I had watched him in. It was a very nice surprise, as well as showing me a different acting side to him. Katie Holmes was just okay, but she wasn't given much of a role to act with. I have always liked Gary Cole since seeing him in American Gothic. I always enjoy seeing him in a film now days. Even though his role was a bit on the small side as well, I was happy that he was included in the cast. The real stand out to me though was Giovanni Ribisi. Some call him the most under rated actor around, and I can see why if his acting is this good in his other roles. Even though I knew how his story line ended when Annie catches a glimpse of him by the tree, it was still very sad. Even watching it this last time managed to make me cry a little. Yes I cry sometimes! That is just a sign of a great movie to me though. If it can still get to me even though I know what is going to happen, it has to be great.

I didn't pay much attention to who directed The Gift when I first watched it. It really surprised me when I found out this was a Sam Raimi film. On top of that, it was written, in part, by Billy Bob Thornton. As much as I like this movie, and with the outstanding people that went into it, I was really surprised to see that it only averages around a 3.5 rating on Netflix. I guess I figured the cast would be enough to make up for the plot if you weren't really into this type of plot. It was part of the reason I liked this movie so well. Not a horror story, in a way it is I guess, but it has to do enough with the paranormal to keep my interested for that reason. It was just an added plus to me, but could have been left out and still been a good story. If you haven't watched this movie, give it a try. Since you are reading this blog, I don't think you will be very disappointed by it.

So ends 600 posts. Time to get started on another 50 posts so I can roll around to another favorite movie. As I write this, I am two days behind, again, but I have been watching movies. Just been slow in getting the write ups done. With Halloween fast approaching, I've found myself getting more busy. Such is life I suppose. I'm trying hard to catch up though. Thank you to everyone that reads my little blog. I can't express enough how much it means to me. I hope to see you all still here as I head into year five soon.

Red Hills

I decided to double up my reviews today. I will try to do so again tomorrow since I have to get my movies back that I rented. I think they are due on Thursday, but I think I will return them tomorrow just to be on the safe side. My next post though will have to be a favorite movie, since it will be post number 600! This post is a little special to me in its own way. It matches my output for the number of posts I have had in one month for my blog, and it means I won't set a new low for the year now. Back in 2007 I managed 139 posts, this makes 140 for this year. Outside of all that, The Hills Run Red (2009) is a movie I have been hearing about for the last couple of months while it was trying to get a DVD release. It was another one of three films I rented Saturday.

Tyler (Tad Hilgenbrink) is borderline obsessed with finding a film. A movie that was called The Hills Run Red was only watched by a few people before it was pulled from theaters because it was too violent. All prints have seemingly disappeared. The only things that remain are some still pictures and the trailer for the film. Tyler is even making a documentary about his search for this film. Others have tried in the past, but Tyler believes he is the one that will find it. Serina (Janet Montgomery) is more than willing to help her boyfriend, but is quickly getting tired of being Tyler's second interest. When Tyler gets a tip about a stripper being the daughter of the director he has been looking for, he gathers up his girlfriend and his best friend (Alex Wyndham). With Alexa (Sophie Monk) in tow, they try and find the places where The Hills Run Red was filmed at. Little do they know just how real the film is.

The Hills Run Red has a great opening to it. It is one of those opening scenes that will get you hooked into the film right away. In a way I found this to be a weird movie. We get some people making a movie about a movie within a movie. Director Dave Parker was looking to make an old school slasher film. He did manage to nail that part of the film. It does have that 1980's slasher film feel to it. A cool looking killer with a mask, plenty of gory effects and a splash of nudity thrown in as well. This is actually a fairly short movie. It clocks in at an hour and sixteen minutes without the end credits. It fits for this movie though, since it did drag just a little at times as it was. The Hills Run Red was at its best when our group started its search for the filming locations. The mix of flashbacks to the lost film as they found locations was a nice touch. It was around the time of the first major twist that things started to turn the other way for me though. They drop so clues as to what this twist is going to be. I didn't pick up on all of them, but enough to have figured it out. It wasn't really the twist itself, but I guess the direction of the film after this that caused me to start losing interest in it. I still enjoyed the movie, just not as much as before.

Plenty of effects to be found here. This is one of those films I don't want to give away which effects will be found, even though I suspect that most people are like myself. After I read a review, which is usually well before going to watch the actual movie, I have already forgotten what the review said for the most part. Anyway, there are plenty of effects, which some are pretty gory. They might have used some more blood, but I forgive them. The acting was also very good. Even though I think Sophie Monk was mostly used for nudity, she pulls off some good acting. Tad Hilgenbrink does a good job in the lead role, as well as the supporting actors. William Sadler has a small role in this movie, but milks it for everything its got.

The Hills Run Red is a good movie considering that it ended up going straight to DVD. Some people are saying how much they hated this film. Some are even going as far to say it is the worst they have watched so far. Seems like for just about every horror movie, someone has to throw in that comment. I gave up trying to tag a movie with that. Seems like to me when you find a movie you think is the worst, another comes along to prove you wrong. I can't even come close to calling this movie the worst ever. It was on its way to becoming a movie that I can love, until the third act. I will likely end up buying this one sometime so I can watch it again. One to catch if you haven't already.
3 out of 5 Do I have a baby face?

Ugly Babies Remake

When I went to the video story Saturday to get my free rental that they offered up, I was already behind in watching movies. I made the comment to my dad that they were probably only giving me a free rental in hopes that I would pick out something else to rent while I was there. It worked like a charm since I walked out with three movies in hand. One of those movies was It's Alive (2008). I could have waited and got it through Netflix, but I was there spending money so what the hell? I picked this one up not because of my love for the original film, even though I do, but because I still needed a remake for my challenge. This one gives me number eight, so just one more to go for this category!

Lenore (Bijou Phillips) is going through some changes. She is leaving college for a while because she is pregnant. Why she wants to leave behind the best looking dorm room ever is something I have yet to figure out. Anyway, she has decided to move in with her boyfriend, Frank (James Murray), and his brother (Raphaël Coleman). Chris, the brother, is in a wheelchair, but it is just barely touched on as to why that is. Six months into the pregnancy, there is a problem. Lenore is rushed to the hospital where Jack is told that the baby has doubled in size since the last check up and is ready to come out. The doctor doesn't seem all that worried about any of this though. They put Lenore under, and cut her open to get the baby out. After a shot of the baby, we find out that the entire OR staff has been killed. Even though the police have no clues, they agree to let Lenore go home with her new baby. At home Lenore discovers that the baby can do things why before it is supposed to, like roll over, leave its crib, and kill small animals.

On the surface, It's Alive doesn't seem too bad. Once you begin to dig deeper though, you start to discover all kinds of problems. I was surprised that the hospital would allow Lenore to go home so quickly. The film doesn't really give us much of a feel as to how much time has passed though, so maybe she didn't go home as quickly as they lead us to believe. Now at home, Lenore begins to notice that things aren't really right about her baby. It starts slowly at first, but the real kicker was when she found him eating on a bird. Her reaction to this was rather laughable, since she just scalds him like he got into something he wasn't supposed to be in. Frank goes to work all day, so I can understand that he wouldn't catch on as quick. Instead of figuring it out on his own, he remains clueless until towards the end of the movie. Chris suspects at least, but never comes out and says anything. Since we are talking weeks going by, according to the characters themselves, it is hard to believe that Frank didn't catch on quicker than he did.

Speaking of Chris, he might as well not have been in the film. There is the comment that Chris almost died with his parents, so we have to assume there was some sort of accident. There seemed to have been some attempt in setting up a story line for Chris though. We do get a scene of him at school talking to a girl at his school. After that we never see the girl again, and Chris is barely around. Lenore's best friend is also something of a forgotten character. We see her in the opening of the film, and there are a few shots of her trying to call Lenore. She eventually gets another scene with Lenore, but that is about it.

The effects were okay. We get some dead animals that look like dead animals. There are a few scenes where they let the blood fly, literally. While this is good and dandy, it is completely ruined by the CGI effects that they throw in. These scenes are quick, but it still doesn't hide how bad they look. The biggest blunder would be the baby. The baby in the OR looks funny in how bad it is. I don't think it was CGIed, but still looks bad. The baby they take home looks normal enough. Can't see anything wrong with it, and it even has hair. The baby we see killing, that is completely CGI, is smaller and has no hair. We only get one good shot of the baby's face after it is taken home. It isn't a bad effect really, but looks nothing like the baby in poster. The acting wasn't great, but it was very passable. Bijou Phillips impressed me in some scenes, and made me wonder where her acting skills when in other scenes. This could be because of the way the director wanted it played out I suppose. Everyone else I can't say was like real bad, but they felt just there. I hope you can get what I mean from that.

Some people felt that the original film was a silly movie, and well...it was it a way. I'm sure it is considered more of a cult classic instead of a hit for its time. It did manage to spawn two sequels, so it had to do fairly well even back then. I can't see this remake of It's Alive spawning any sequels though. I suppose the ending could leave things open to a sequel, but it was anti climatic. If the film needed a couple of extra minutes, it could have been used at the very end. I'm not upset that It's Alive was given the remake treatment. I loved the original film, but an updated version of it could have been special. The makers of this film do make it their own film. They follow the basic plot of pills (this time it is something like the morning after type pills) causing babies to mutate and become killers. It is nice that the tried to explore how a mother will love her child no matter what, but it would have been better if they had included the whole family in that.
2 out of 5 Body doubles can be so lame