Slice & Dice Part Three

I thought I would try to get the end of the month sent off right. I did, at long last get my review for The Woman In Black, way after the fact of watching it. If I finish this review today, that will bring my grand total up to six. Hopefully next month will be better as I am feeling a little more into doing reviews. So anyway, I finally got Hostel: Part Three (2011) back from my neighbor. They have only had it for almost two months now and still haven't watched it. They felt bad about having it for so long so gave it back to me. It is funny that they don't have time to watch my one movie, but have all the time in the world to watch the stuff they buy.

The Elite Hunting Club is back once again, and this time in Vegas? Maybe not the smartest move, but they made it work in a way. The Club has evolved since we last seen them. Instead of a pay to kill type deal, which I think they still do in a way, they now have their members place bets on what will happen during the kill. How soon will it be before pleading about their family? Will the person doing the kill use a drill or knife first? I guess in this way everyone gets to enjoy the kill. With all this in mind, enter Scott (Brian Hallisay) and soon to be wife Amy (Kelly Thiebaud). Scott is getting ready to leave with his friend Carter (Kip Pardue) for one last get away with friends before the big day. Carter promises Amy that he will keep and eye on Scott and that he will keep the strippers away because there aren't any on the golf course. Of course once they drive away, Scott learns they are actually going to Vegas to meet up with friends Mike (Skyler Stone) and Justin (John Hensley). They are eventually invited to a party way off the strip by Kendra (Sarah Habel) and Nikki (Zulay Henao), which turns out to be an actual party, until one of their friends go missing. We all know that once your friend goes missing and you try to find them, you go missing too!

Hostel: Part Three was a film that slipped under the radar. I had no idea a third film was being made, late alone out there. When I learned of it, I went ahead and added it to my Netflix queue, and bumped it up. I can't say I was real excited to see it, but being a fan of the first two films, I was curious. It had two strikes against it though. Eli Roth is no longer part of the series. That may be good news for some, but it wasn't for me. Instead of Roth as director, Scott Spiegel steps in. And the other strike was that it was a direct to DVD movie. I gave it a chance though, considering we just don't see many sequels on the big screen anymore. Hostel: Part Three starts off okay even though they don't show what happens to a minor character at the start of the movie. The Hostel films are much like the Saw films in that I'm just curious to see what they will come up with to kill people with now. If you watch these movies for the same reason, they you will be just as disappointed as I was. Some kills aren't even shown, while others happen just off camera. The low budget of this film actually hurts it some since everyone expects a gory film, and they don't really get one.

Not to say there isn't any gore, just not enough. The kills can be kind of lame at times. One person gets the skin from their face cut off, which was kind of gross and the camera angle could make it harder to watch it happen. Bu that shouldn't have killed the person, unless they died from the shock of it. We will never know though since we see the person screaming one minute, and then dead much later on. There is also an arm that gets cut off, but considering that it took a few chops to do it, the cut looked way to clean. The acting wasn't half bad this time around. I didn't really have a problem with the acting but I did have problems with the dialogue at times though.

I guess working out of Vegas helps the Club in some ways. According to one character, Vegas police won't take a missing person case seriously until said person(s) have been gone for a week. That would give the Club plenty of time to cover their tracks of course. Still though, considering they show everyone coming out of one hotel room, you would think someone would notice. It wasn't just the gore that hurt Hostel: Part Three, but also some of the plot points. There was an interesting twist late in the film at least. If the movie had been better, maybe I would have been more impressed by it. See, we get a scanner that is supposed to scan the Club's tattoo, but the tattoo is always pointing away from the scanner when used. The ending is easy to see coming, but it was just stupid they way they went about it.

I didn't outright hate Hostel: Part Three. I just felt that compared to the previous two films, this one dropped the ball. Hopefully if there ends up being another film, they will get back to what the films are known for. I know a lot of people turned their nose up when they found it this one was taking place in Vegas, but only part of it does. They take people from Vegas, which is rather stupid of them anyway, and go somewhere else. Not saying that these people, or others, should reconsider this one, but I just found it to be a silly reason not to give a movie a chance.
2 out of 5 Always find out what tattoo's your friends have

Even Little Girl Dolls Are Evil

I must be crazy. Two reviews in two days and I'm at least getting this one started on the third day. Hopefully I will finish before the day is over, but time will tell. Anyway, since I was invited by Emily herself, and since I consider her one of my blogging friends, I decided to do at least one review that fits in with The Deadly Doll's House Of Horror Nonsense month long event: The Shortening. Emily is reviewing any movie that has anything short in it. People, dolls and even animals. Since Dolly Dearest (1992) was in my Instant Watch queue, and moving up my DVD queue, I thought this would be a good excuse to watch it. If you don't already, be sure to check out what Emily has been up to.

The Wade family is moving to Mexico in order to begin a new life there. Elliot (Sam Bottoms) has bought a doll factory there. I wasn't sure if he designed his own doll to be made there, or if he was taking over a design from the person who passed away and once owned the factory. Either way, he brings along his wife (Denise Crosby), his son (Chris Demetral) and his daughter (Candace Hutson). Jimmy notices some ruins not far from the factory, which we know that someone died in and some sort of energy was released from the ruins. Jessica spots some dolls that have already been made, and Elliot gives her the one that she picks out. While Elliot doesn't see it, Marilyn thinks that Jessica spends way too much time with her doll in the playhouse. Marilyn begins to believe that her daughters doll is alive somehow, but that can't be true...can it?

I can't say that I had ever heard of this movie before, so I was a little surprised to see Denise Crosby in it. Not that she is the most famous actress around, but I do know of her at least. I can't say that I am a big fan of the killer doll genre. I don't go out of my way to watch them, just when I happen across one usually. Even so, I can't say that I hate this genre either. The plot for Dolly Dearest was a little confusing for me. Nothing that made me feel different about the film itself, but I still felt it could have explained things a little more clearly. Like I wasn't sure which dolls were going to be made at this factory. The factor looks like a shack on the outside, and not much better on the inside. It is one of those places that is much bigger on the inside then it looks on the outside. Don't know if that was the case, or movie magic. I wasn't sure who the evil energy was supposed to belong to either. It is sort of explained, but again, I thought the writers could have done a better job with it. Same thing with what was wanted of little Jessica. You would think this would cause me to not like the film, but it wasn't that I was confused so much as it just could have been done better.

There wasn't a lot of effects to be found, at least the gory type. The dolls is where the effects mostly came in. Their evil look actually almost made me laugh though. It wasn't so much that they didn't look scary, I'm sure I would have been running away if they came after me, but for some reason their evil look just didn't look right for me. There are also times when the dolls look too big because a double was used for some shots. There is also a pretty good explosion. The acting wasn't too bad. Beside knowing Denise Crosby, I also remembered Candace Hutson from an episode of Married With Children. It was a treat to see her a little older and still being a good actress. Another little surprise was seeing Rip Torn show up.

Even though I haven't done anything officially for Women In Horror Month, I still feel like I have. All of my reviews from this month, all mighty four of them, have all been from women directors. Dolly Dearest was directed by Maria Lease, whom also co-wrote. I haven't been all that nice to Dolly Dearest but in truth I didn't find it to be all that bad. Sure it could have been a lot better than it was, but I still found it somewhat entertaining at least. It made me smile at times and I liked the cast. As long as a movie can entertain me, it is an okay movie in my book. I think it is worth checking out sometimes, especially if you have Netflix.
3 out of 5 I'm glad I never really played with dolls as a kid

Drilling For Blood Part Three

I actually felt in the mood to finish my review from yesterday, so I thought while I am feeling it, I would get started on the last film in this series. Even though I am positive that I watched Slumber Party Massacre 3 (1990) on VHS, I didn't remember it at all while watching it. Usually I remember parts of a movie once I watch it again. Anyway, I was wanting to get this review done, and at least one more, before the end of the month. I still haven't done a review for Top Horror Movies Club this month, so I will have to work double time there eventually. Plus I need to get back to my interviews I have going. I know where I want to go with them, just a matter of getting my shit together. So much to do, so little time to do it.

In this stand-alone sequel, we meet Jackie (Keely Christian) and her many friends. While playing volleyball on the beach, they talk about their plans for the night. Diane's parents are away looking for a new house to buy, so she has of course invited her friends over for a slumber party. While talking with her friends, they notice a guy dressed in black (Yan Birch) watching them, who eventually seemingly disappears. There is also Ken (Brittain Frye), whom the girls seem to know a little bit at least. Once Jackie gets home, the creepy neighbor is there thinking that the for sale sign in front meant that they were having an open house. After the girls arrive, and start dancing around in their underwear, the guys crash the party. It isn't long before one of the friends is found dead, but who could be the killer this time?

Slumber Party Massacre 3 was directed by yet another woman, Sally Mattison. She admits that this wasn't the genre she would have picked in order to get her start as a director. In fact, she almost admits that she wasn't them, and isn't now a fan of the horror genre. I don't care for people that admit they hate horror while doing a review for a horror movie, so I have a hard time figuring out why someone would direct a horror movie when they aren't a fan of it, even if it is to get a start as a director. I found out the above stuff after I watched the movie, so it doesn't affect how I felt about the movie itself. I think the reason why the second film was a bit out there was so that it didn't become just a rehash of the first film, which is what this third film feels like. Sure the plot is a little different, and there is back story for the killer (small but still there), but I just found Slumber Party Massacre 3 to be on the boring side of things.

I think what hurt this movie for me more than anything was the movie mistakes. I didn't go back and look, but I thought one of the kills was done while the person, who is revealed as the killer later, was in plain view of everyone else in the house. I could be wrong since I didn't go back to make sure, but that is how it seemed to me. Then you have one girl who said she was going to go take a shower. Since she provided one of the few nude scenes, I just assumed it would be another reason for that. I think she was doing the nude scene, but didn't really see her face with the breasts, so I'm not sure. Anyway, she doesn't run the water, but climbs into the tub and starts washing. So I assume her friend keeps the tub full of water at all times. I know it sounds like I am just picking on it some, and maybe I am, but when you add this stuff into the fact that the killer got hit over the head many times, poor guy, and no one did anything to keep him from going after them, it starts to get on ones nerves.

Except for the blood soaked finally, Slumber Party Massacre 3 isn't all that gory. There is a lot of blood at times, but there isn't all that many effects. The for sale sign ends up in someone, which did look rather neat. Too bad they didn't put any blood on the sign when they stuck it back in the ground though. One effect was neat but not really shown in the film. In the short they had to go along with the movie, you can see it better there. This was the effect for the guy that gets it when he opens the door, if you have watched it before. The acting was just okay this time around. I didn't really have an issue with anyone, but no one really stood out to me either. Besides the lead actors, you can also find Hope Marie Carlton, Maria Claire, Maria Ford, David Greenlee, Garon Grigsby, Michael Harris and Devon Jenkin.

I don't know if it was because I watched two slumber party movies before this one that made it feel so boring to me. It did get a little better towards the end of it, but I still wasn't all that impressed. A little bit more nudity this time around, two instead of one. If you didn't like the dark comedy of the second film, have no fear, that is gone for the most part here. I know a lot of films that have many sequels rehash things, but in the case of Slumber Party Massacre 3, it wasn't a good thing for me. If you have already watched the first two films though, you might as well finish out the series and watch this one too. It is slightly below the second movie on IMDb, a .1 difference at this writing, but it still has its fans. I'm just not one of them.
2 out of 5 Love it when friends leave friends behind to die

Drilling For Blood Part Two

Even though I should probably be working on my review I have going over at Top Horror Movies Club, I felt in the mood to get into the next movie in this series review. I haven't watched a movie, except on TV, for a while now, so it just felt like it was time. I'm actually considering ditching the review, which I rarely do, and just watch something else. It has been a while since I watched The Woman In Black, so maybe I should just move on to a different film. Time will tell as they say. This next part is way off topic, but still important. Never own a cat that doesn't cover up its own shit in the litter box! Okay, now that I have that out of the way, I watched Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987) yesterday, so lets see what I thought about this odd sequel.

Years after the events in the first film, Courtney (now played by Crystal Bernard) returns in the spotlight now. While she still remembers what happened, she is trying her best to move on from it. She is in an all girl rock band with some of her friends, and for the most part living a normal life. We do learn that her sister Valerie (now played by Cindy Eilbacher) is locked up in a mental hospital, and that Courtney fears the same for herself. It doesn't help that she has weird dreams of Valerie telling her not to have sex and a guy dancing around with a guitar that has a working drill on one end of it. One of Courtney's friends is having a slumber party at her parents new condo, and has invited the boyfriends as well. This includes Matt (Patrick Lowe), who Courtney hopes will be her boyfriend. After talking her mom (Jennifer Rhodes) into it, since it will be her birthday and Courtney really doesn't want to spend her birthday at the mental hospital visiting her sister, she takes off with her friends. After having some more weird dreams, and even some weird things while she is awake, she starts to think that the driller killer is back. But he is dead...right?

Slumber Party Massacre 2 was written and directed by Deborah Brock. An interesting thing about this sequel was that it was given the green light before a script was ever written. I'm glad that Brock decided to tie in the first film by using the character of Courtney. Even though the films are only five years apart, the gap felt much bigger to me in the film. I actually paused it to see when the film was made because of that. Not sure what it was that made me feel that, but I did. Slumber Party Massacre 2 has a weird vibe around it because of the dreams and once the killer does show up. I thought the dreams were well done since they have a completely different tone from the movie up until that point the killer becomes real. While it stops short of being a full out musical, the killer does do a song and dance type number at least once. I'm not sure if this is what causes it to get such a low average rating on IMDb, 3.3 as of this writing, but I didn't feel it was that bad. It does have a silly vibe to it, but it was intended to be a dark comedy as well as a horror film. What Slumber Party Massacre 2 lacks in seriousness, it makes up for in gore.

There isn't anything real gory to be found, but plenty of people get drilled through. I was a little surprised at how many gore effects there ended up being. I didn't find any of it real gory, but it is a step up from the original film at least. They even have a guy on fire stunt to throw in as well. Again the acting wasn't too bad. This was made before Crystal Bernard hit it big on the TV show Wings, so was interesting to see her in that way. Not that I was ever a fan of that show. She was the only actor I knew in the film though. The one actor I didn't like was Joel Hoffman. It wasn't his acting so much as the character itself. He was funny in some scenes but the way he was allowed to act just comes across as annoying. You can also find Kimberly McArthur, Juliette Cummings, Heidi Kozak, Scott Westmoreland and Atanas Ilitch as the driller killer.

One thing that I was surprised was missing was nudity. Only one actress gets partly nude this time around. Brock explained that while the script called for nudity from most, if not all, of the actresses, she didn't push it. If an actress didn't want to get nude then she was fine with that. That was cool on her part, but a little disappointing all the same. One of the nice things that I liked about Slumber Part Massacre 2 was that it left it open at the end for you to decide what happened. Did the whole movie really happen? Was it all some weird dream from a deranged Courtney? I'm not telling, but I have my ideas. Yes this is a bit of an odd film with the music and weird dreams, but for me that just sets it apart from other films in a good way. If you haven't ever watched this series, or made it into this far, give it a shot. While it might help a little to see the first film, you shouldn't be too confused if you missed it.
3 out of 5 I wish my dreams were this interesting

Drilling For Blood Part One

If you have been wondering where I have been, well...so have I. It has been a busy month for me. Being short handed at work has allowed me to stay at work, which beats the unemployment line. The only problem with it is my boss tends to give me the extra work instead of the others. I'm glad he believes in me but at the same time I feel very over worked. When I get home I'm usually not in the best of moods and sure don't feel like writing. But I wormed my way out of work today by taking a vacation day, so I thought I would at least try to get some writing done today (Friday, which I didn't do). I hope to get at least one movie in that fits into what Emily is doing over at her blog, but for now I wanted to get a small series review in, starting with The Slumber Party Massacre (1982).

Last year around, just after my birthday I think it was, Cattleworks sent me the latest film that he had been working on. When he sent me the The Final Day And Night, he also sent me the DVD set of The Slumber Party Massacre as a birthday present. As soon as I saw it I thought series review. I had watched all three films before, all on VHS. I had bought the tapes on Ebay since I couldn't find them on DVD. A friend of mine ruined them all though when she borrowed them and then spilled soda all over them. Actually, I have never tried to play them again once I knew what happened. I was happy to get them on DVD, and appreciated the gift from my friend. Since it has been almost a year now, I figured it was time to get around to them.

With reports of an escaped killer on the loose, Trish (Michelle Michaels) is still glad to see her parents leave for vacation, leaving her home alone. Trish has invited a few of her basketball friends to come over that night in order to hang out before the school year ends. She wants to invite new girl Valerie (Robin Stille), but her friends don't really want Valerie there, especially Diane (Gina Smika Hunter). As they get ready for their party, unknown to them is the fact that the killer in there in their mist. Maybe if they had listened to the reports instead of changing the channel or turning it off, they would know this stuff!

The Slumber Party Massacre was one of those movies that got caught in the backlash of violence against women in horror films. What often gets overlooked is that while the body count might not as high for the guys, a few do manage to find their way under the drill. Even though you would probably never guess it by watching the film itself, minus the credits, that the film was directed by Amy Holden Jones and written by Rita Mae Brown. I say this because it seemed to be shot with men in mind. With lots of nudity and long panning shots of the girls in the shower, it just feels like something guys would love. To be fair though, Amy Jones admits that because Roger Corman was releasing the film, she felt certain things would be expected of the film itself.

The Slumber Party Massacre is a fun movie. I have never found it to be a great film, but it is fun all the same. I did find it funny that Valerie just happens to live next door or across the street (where ever that was supposed to be) and that the killer just happens to follow the one person having a slumber party. Some people say that the killer, played by Michael Villella, wasn't a very scary guy. Sure he looks like an everyday guy, but I think I would be freaked out by him regardless if he was hanging around outside my house peaking into windows, killer or not. Some funny moments are thrown in, like Valerie getting he little sister to admit to masturbating. It also suffers from very stupid moments, like people running upstairs, instead of out the door.

While I wouldn't call The Slumber Party Massacre a gory film, it does manage to have its moments. Get to see the drill go through people sometimes, and a hand gets cut off at one point. The acting isn't half bad really. There are times when I thought the acting could have been better, but it never bad enough to make me roll my eyes at it or anything. Debra Deliso and Andree Honore round out the slumber party girls. Jennifer Meyers plays the part of Courtney, Valerie's little sister. And we have Joseph Alan Johnson, David Millbern and Jim Boyce as some of the guys that are in the cast. Brinke Stevens remembers this movie well because it has her first speaking role in it.

I like Robin Stille, but I fail to see why more times than not people give her lead role status in this movie. There isn't a true lead role, as it gets shared around in truth, but if I had to give it to anyone, then I would say Michelle Michaels. Just a small complaint here but why can't a movie showing girls playing basketball actually show them knowing how to play? I know girls at this age aren't always the best players in the world, but I can't say I have ever watched a game as bad as movies make them out to be. Anyway, with The Slumber Party Massacre being made while the slasher genre was still young, it is one to watch for fans of this genre. Not the best from it, but it is still a fun watch.
3 out of 5 Yes, most of us do change in front of each other