Empire of the Dead is a forthcoming American television series adaptation of George A. Romero’s fifteen-issue graphic novel of the same name – which mixes zombies and vampires in post-apocalyptic New York city – published by Marvel Comics. The series is being developed by Demarest, the production company that backed Kevin Smith’s Tusk,

The TV series will be scripted by Romero and longtime partner Peter Grunwald, both of whom are executive producers with Demarest’s Sam Englebardt and William D. Johnson.

Source: Variety

‘Where they love New York to death.’

Necropolis – aka Necropolis: City of the Dead – is a 1986 supernatural American horror film written and directed by Bruce Hickey. It stars LeeAnne Baker (Breeders; Mutant Hunt; Psychos in Love), Michael Conte, Jacquie Fitz, George Anthony-Rayza, Andrew Bausili, Vicki Bell, Norris Culf, Anthony Giola, Nadine Hartstein, Jett Julian, Adriane Lee, Gy Milano, Jacqueline Pearson, William K. Reed, Paul Ruben. Special effects were provided by Ed French.

Plot teaser:

Eva, a “Satanic Witch” from New Amsterdam in 1686, comes to modern New York City to revive her cult members by sucking the life force from her victims. She has three sets of breasts that ooze ectoplasm, a substance her zombie followers to suckle on.

Reviews:

“The director, Bruce Hickey, filmed this while taking a break from directing gay porn (probably why this movie is so awesome). This is for lovers of punk, sleaze, kitsch, cheese, cults, all the good stuff. The dialogue is hilarious, especially that of the sassy gay coroner who said “honey” at the end of every sentence….or the hookers battling with our punkette villain.” Creep Cinema

” … capturing the nervous energy of New York City after dark, Necropolis is what cinema should be: A steaming wad of diaphanous nectar dripping from the nipples of a soul-sucking witch from the Lower East Side.” House of Self Indulgence 

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“Sleazy, kinky R-rated supernatural flick, so nihilistic there’s nary an entertaining moment in its 77 minutes.” John Stanley, Creature Features

” … no matter how awful the dialogue, direction, acting and production values … I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen for fear of missing some big-haired diabolical hoofin’. But it was not to be, and so Necropolis soon proves to be not quite as much fun as you’d hoped it to be…” Empire of the ‘B’s

Buy Empire of the ‘B’s from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Choice dialogue:

Eva: ‘This cunt doesn’t turn you on, every time you see another girl you wanna fuck her.”

Billy William: “Ok, so say I buy this theory, where is all this ectostuff goin’?”

Filming locations:

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

New York City, New York, USA

IMDb

Shrunken Heads is a 1994 American film directed by Richard Elfman (Forbidden Zone; Modern Vampires) from a screenplay by Matthew Bright. It is Full Moon Entertainment’s first theatrical feature, and the last film in which Julius Harris (Live and Let Die; King Kong (1976), Darkman; Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence) appeared.

Director Richard Elfman’s brother, Danny Elfman, provided the main theme music for the film, while the rest of the score was created by Richard Band. Richard’s son, Bodhi Elfman, appeared in the film as Booger Martin.

Plot teaser:

After a New York street gang kills three youths, a friendly voodoo priest reanimates them so that they can seek vengeance…

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” … the script wisely capitalizes on the humor of floating bodiless heroes. Of course, the movie still includes such Full Moon staples as kiddie-level violence and time-padding flashbacks, but Elfman’s fun-loving touches manage to get this new series up and running with twisted enthusiasm.” J.R. Taylor, Entertainment Weekly

“Being one of my favorite B movies of all time, I highly recommended Shrunken Heads to everyone because there really is a little something for everybody in this film. There’s action, comedy, drama, magic, love, lots of cool/cheesy special effects, and even a portrayal of the step-by-step process of making shrunken heads.” Swamp Flix

“Shrunken Heads is one of the most unique revenge tales you are ever likely to see. It definitely takes a while to get rolling, but when it hits its stride, it goes for the throat and never looks back. If you have any interest in horror comedies and voodoo practitioners you owe it to yourself to check out this decidedly campy piece of fun cinema!” Silver Emulsion

Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Peter Dendle said that the characters “lovingly exaggerate every preposterous line with relish, yielding some outrageous dialogue in an otherwise treadmill production.”

Buy from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast:

• Julius Harris as Aristide Sumatra, a voodoo priest
• Meg Foster as Big Moe, a tough lesbian mob boss
• Aeryk Egan as Tommy Larson
• Rebecca Herbst as Sally
• Bo Sharon as Bill Turner
• Bodhi Elfman as Booger Martin
• A.J. Damato as Vinnie Benedetti
• Darris Love as Freddie Thompson
• Troy Fromin as Podowski
• Leigh-Allyn Baker as Mitzi
• Paul Linke as Mr. Larson
• Billye Ree Wallace as Mrs. Wilson
• R.J. Frost as The Vipers
• Randy Vahan as the plumber
• Don Dolan as the arresting cop

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Death is the only escape’

Condemned is a 2015 American horror film written and directed Eli Morgan Gesner, his directorial debut.

The film is released in select theaters and on VOD on November 13 via RLJ Entertainment.

Dylan Penn, daughter of Sean Penn and Robin Wright, stars in her film debut. The cast also includes Ronen Rubinstein (Some Kind of Hate), Lydia Hearst (Cabin Fever: Patient Zero), Jon Abrahams (Scary Movie), Johnny Messner (Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid), Jordan Gelber and Nick Damici (Stake Land).

Plot:

Fed up with her parents’ bickering, poor-little-rich-girl Maya (Dylan Penn) moves in with her boyfriend who is squatting in an old, condemned building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. With neighbours that are meth heads, junkies and degenerates, this depraved hell hole is even more toxic than it appears.

After a virus born from their combined noxious waste and garbage infects the building’s residents, one by one, they succumb to a terrifying pathogen that turns them into bloodthirsty, rampaging killers and transforms their building into a savage slaughterhouse…

Trailer:

IMDb

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Dead Rising: Watchtower is a 2015 action horror zombie film directed by Zach Lipovsky (Tasmanian Devils; Leprechaun: Origins), from a screenplay by co-producer Tim Carter (Mortal Kombat: Legacy). The film is based on the video game of the same name. Legendary Pictures produced as its first digital film and it was released on Crackle on March 27, 2015.

Cast:

Jesse Metcalfe (Insanitarium; The Tortured), Dennis Haysbert, Virginia Madsen (Candyman; The Haunting; A Haunting in Connecticut), Meghan Ory (Vampire High), Keegan Connor Tracy (Final Destination 2; Embrace of the Vampire; Bates Motel) and Rob Riggle (Dragula; Hotel Transylvania and sequel).

Plot:

Set between the events of Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 3, the story follows online reporter Chase Carter and camerawoman Jordan as they cover the stories of the people inside of the walled-in quarantined area in Oregon, as the government (running an organization called FEZA — Federal Emergency Zombie Authority) attempts to contain a viral outbreak that turns people into ravenous zombies.

An anti-viral drug called Zombrex, that keeps the virus at bay, is being administered to those infected. When it becomes clear that the drug is no longer effective and a zombie outbreak purges the town and infects its inhabitants, Chase, Jordan, grieving mother Maggie , and survivor Crystal battle their way out of the city before it gets firebombed. But Crystal has a dark secret, and the army has a hidden agenda…

Reviews:

“Dead Rising: Watchtower is precisely the type of comedic action/horror concoction that it plainly wants to be, but there’s something about the film’s aggressively episodic structure — and 118-minute running time — that makes it feel more like a series of short films that were cut together than a full-bore three-act story.” Scott Weinberg, Nerdist

“Fans may justifiably complain that it’s impossible to invest in one-dimensional characters and cliché government cover-ups, but no one can say it’s not as good as the games. Disposable characters and convoluted conspiracies are as common to the Dead Rising universe as machete shotguns and ludicrous Mad Max-style gangs. For better or worse, Watchtower is exactly the movie the Dead Rising series deserves.” Adam DiLeo, IGN

… surprisingly very good take on the hit video games of the same name. It’s above average zombie cinema with teeth and it’s worth a shot if you’re in the mood for good apocalyptic entertainment.” Felix Vasquez, Cinema Crazed

“Compounding the uneventful nature of the movie is the simple fact that it’s not very good horror. There’s blood – mostly in obvious CG splashes and the occasional mouthful burped out in actor’s faces – but no real gore. There’s a slightly juicy bisection, and a pretty good decapitation, but that’s it. For a movie with so much inventive hardware being wielded, too little of it ever gets put to use for a memorable kill.” Dan Whitehead, Eurogamer.net

Choice dialogue:

Case Carter [Jesse Metcalfe]: “I’m putting myself to sleep, this story’s been done.”

Protester: “God hates zombies!”

Filming locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Cast and characters:

• Jesse Metcalfe as Chase Carter
• Meghan Ory as Crystal O’Rourke
• Virginia Madsen as Maggie
• Keegan Connor Tracy as Jordan
• Aleks Paunovic as Logan
• Dennis Haysbert as General Lyons
• Gary Jones as Norton
• Carrie Genzel as Susan Collier
• Rob Riggle as Frank West
• Reese Alexander as Shearson
• Harley Morenstein as Pyro
• Julia Benson as Amy
• Peter Benson as Bruce
• C. Ernst Harth as Bonzo Zombie
• Jen and Sylvia Soska as Zombies (cameo; uncredited)

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook

Guardians of the Night -original title: Nochnye strazhi aka Ночные стражи– is a 2016 Russian supernatural action horror film directed by Emilis Velyvis from a screenplay by Oleg Malovichko. 

Plot:

Moscow: Pasha, a young delivery courier, discovers that there are supernatural creatures such as vampires and werewolves living undetected in the metropolis and is recruited by the organisation tasked with keeping these beings under control…

IMDb | Source: Twitch

‘Prepare for a molten hobo holocaust’

Street Trash is a 1987 American body horror exploitation film directed by J. Michael Muro (credited as Jim Muro), based on his short student film of the same name.

Roy Frumkes (Diary of the Dead) wrote the screenplay. In an NBR profile he later said: “I wrote it to democratically offend every group on the planet, and as a result the youth market embraced it as a renegade work, and it played midnight shows.”

Plot:

The owner of a liquor store in east New York in the Brooklyn-Queens border region finds a case of cheap wine (“Tenafly Viper”) in his basement. It is more than 60 years old and has gone bad, but he decides to sell it to the local hobos anyway.

Unfortunately, anyone who drinks the Viper melts away in a hideous fashion. At the same time, two homeless brothers find different ways to cope with homelessness while they make their residence in a local junkyard while one employee, a female cashier and clerk, frequently tends to both of them.

Meanwhile, an overzealous cop (Bill Chepil) is trying to get to the bottom of all the deaths, all the while trying to end the tyranny of a deranged Vietnam veteran named Bronson (Vic Noto), who has made his self-proclaimed “kingdom” at the junkyard with a group of homeless vets under his command as his personal henchmen…

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“The best way to describe Street Trash is like a good Troma film, with excellent acting and spot on cinematography and a good script. Hard to imagine, I know… For a surprisingly clever and quality film that has the plusses of low budget Indie horror without the visual and performance hardships, Street Trash is a winner.” Don Sumner, HorrorFreak.news

“The blood, guts and other bodily fluids are all excessive and plentiful … The visual style of these scenes are a world away from the grim downbeat gruesomeness of modern films such as Saw, and is more in line with the colorful, ridiculous, and very funny gore of Bad Taste or even Monty Python…” Simon Powell, Classic-Horror.com

“The movie is super gory. And, honestly, the gore effects are actually pretty good considering the rest of the production is bare f**king bones.  The absurd, gory, dark humor is there throughout as are the surreal, dirty, grungy characters that populate the world.” Awesome

“Street Trash is a mean-spirited little film that tries very hard to be funny but its humour is sometimes more sick than inspired … Street Trash is actually shot fairly well – even efficiently – and many of the special effects, including the final-reel decapitation, remain quite impressive.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1980s

Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“The film is vile and frenzied, but it’s also shockingly well made, crafted by a production team taking the challenge of a splatter film seriously, generating an outstandingly designed and photographed effort that’s beguiling in its screen toxicity.” Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com

“Originally a short, this expanded version remains intriguing but feels like an effects showreel padded out, however skilfully, with an anything goes selection of subplots.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Street Trash is widely acknowledged as the best of the “melt” movie subgenere; others include Slime City and The Incredible Melting Man. Also, it might be the only film to feature, and open with, a bum chase scene.” Man is the Warmest Place to Hide

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Release:

The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by Lightning Pictures in June 1987. They also released the film on VHS the same year.

In 2005, Synapse Films marketed an all-new, digitally remastered version of the film. Included with the DVD were sticker-type “labels” of the Viper wine featured in the movie. 

In 2006, a second Synapse Films release was issued, featuring the documentary Meltdown Memoirs by writer Roy Frumkes. The feature includes interviews with most of the surviving cast and crew with the exception of Jane Arakawa. It also contains the original 16mm short version of Street Trash.

In 2010, Arrow Video released a 2-DVD set in the UK featuring the documentary Meltdown Memoirs along with a previously unavailable featurette with Jane Arakawa and the booklet 42nd Street Trash: The Making of the Melt.

Buy Viper Tenafly bottle opener

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Monkey Man of New Delhi is a monster that was reported roaming Delhi, India, in mid-2001.

In May 2001, reports began to circulate in the Indian capital New Delhi of a strange monkey-like creature that was appearing at night and attacking people. Eyewitness accounts were often inconsistent, but tended to describe the creature as about four feet (120 cm) tall, covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, metal claws, glowing red eyes and three buttons on its chest; others, however, described the Monkey Man as having a more vulpine snout, and being up to eight feet tall, and muscular; it would leap from building to building like a parkour enthusiast.

Still others described it as a bandaged figure or as a helmeted thing. Theories on the nature of the Monkey Man ranged from an Avatar of the Hindu god Hanuman, to an Indian version of Bigfoot.

Many people reported being scratched, and two (by some reports, three) people even died when they leapt from the tops of buildings or fell down stairwells in a panic caused by what they thought was the attacker. At one point, exasperated police even issued artist’s impression drawings (see above) in an attempt to catch the creature.

Further sightings were reported in Kanpur in February 2002 and New Delhi in July 2002, the latter describing a monkey-like machine that sparkled red and blue lights

The entire incident has been described as an example of mass hysteria.

Wikipedia | Thanks to Blumhouse.com for inspiring this post

‘We came together, we leave together.’

Central Park is a 2017 American horror slasher film written and directed by actor Justin Reinsilber, making his directorial debut. The Feast and Bourbon Films production stars Grace Van Patten, Marina Squerciati and Ruby Modine.

Six best friends, high school students, prepare for a night of fun. School is boring, family life unbearable, and Harold and his friends have turned Central Park into their ‘spot’. Unbeknownst to them, a revenge-seeking executioner prepares to kill them off one by one to pay for the sins of the father…

The film is currently in post-production.

Main cast:

Grace Van Patten, Marina Squerciati, Ruby Modine (Half to Death), Sarah Mezzanotte, Michael Lombardi, David Valcin, Nicole Balsam, Justin Reinsilber, Jordyn DiNatale, Shumerria Harris, Deema Aitken, Aaron Roman Weiner, Guillermo Arribas, Charles Borland, Justiin A. Davis.

Filming locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

IMDb | Official website

The End? – aka In un giorno la fine [“In One Day the End”] – is a 2017 Italian horror film written and directed by Daniele Misischia. Produced by the Manetti Bros, directors of Paura 3D (2012), it stars Euridice Axén, Claudio Camilli and Benedetta Cimatti.

Claudio Verona is a young and cynical businessman; one day he gets locked in his work elevator before an important meeting with a client. This annoying obstacle soon turns into a nightmare, as a deadly virus outside has begun to infect and transform people into flesh-eating zombies.

Claudio has to get out of the claustrophobic lift space, although it seems that the elevator may well be the safest place in the city…

The End? will have its world premiere in London at the Horror Channel FrightFest on 27 August 2017.

Main cast:

Alessandro Roja, Euridice Axen, Claudio Camilli, Benedetta Cimatti, Bianca Friscelli.

IMDb | Thanks: Upcoming Horror Movies

‘This lady of the night has taken her last walk!’

Jack the Ripper is a 1959 British horror thriller film produced, photographed and directed by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman (producers of The Flesh and the Fiends; The Trollenberg Terror; Blood of the Vampire) from a screenplay by Jimmy Sangster (The Mummy; Dracula; The Curse of Frankenstein), based on a storyline by Peter Hammond and Colin Craig.

The Mid-Century Film production is loosely based on Leonard Matters’ theory that Jack the Ripper was an avenging doctor. It stars Lee Patterson, Eddie Byrne, Betty McDowall and Ewen Solon.

As in Matters’ book, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper, the killer murders prostitutes to avenge the death of his son. However, Matters used the ploy of the son dying from venereal disease, while the film has him committing suicide on learning his lover is a prostitute.

The British ‘X’ certificate release was cut by the BBFC when finally passed on 20/03/1959. As was the practice at the time, it had initially been submitted during scripting in December 1957, for BBFC advice as to what would be permitted. Berman and Baker shot more explicit scenes featuring nudity for the Continental version. Although shot in black and white, the film has brief red colour shots of blood during the Ripper’s demise in a lift shaft.

The original version has an orchestral score by Stanley Black (War-Gods of the Deep) but the US release features a jazzier soundtrack by Jimmy McHugh and Pete Rugolo, arranged and conducted by the latter.

In London, 1888, Jack the Ripper is on his killing spree. Scotland Yard Inspector O’Neill (Byrne) welcomes a visit from his old friend, New York City detective Sam Lowry (Patterson), who agrees to assist with the investigation.

Sam becomes attracted to modern woman Anne Ford (McDowall) but her guardian, Dr. Tranter (Le Mesurier), doesn’t approve. The police slowly close in on the killer as the public becomes more alarmed…

Reviews:

” …while it’s certainly not the definitive version of this ghastly tale, it’s isn’t a bad little movie, either.” Dave Becker, 2,500 Movies Challenge

” …Sangster weaves enough local colour into the story to present what feels to be a reasonable depiction of 1880s London, with one glaring exception. The producer insisted on having an American leading man so the screenplay introduces a NYPD detective on leave in foggy London and assisting the local bobbies ‘with this Ripper business’.” John Hamilton, X-Cert: The British Independent Horror Film 1951 – 1970

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

” …those looking for a reenactment of the Ripper events had best turn elsewhere. As a fictionalized version of true events, it is entertaining enough, though.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“The film showcases many other standby motifs, including a stodgy police investigation (which takes centre stage here, unfortunately), gurning elderly extras lined up at a soup kitchen, fulsome Can-Can dancers waggling their extravagantly frilled posteriors in the camera’s eye, and a very British form of misogynist sexual disgust taken to the psychopathic extremes.” Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“This Jack The Ripper portrays the increasing panic over the murders, while the identity of the murderer plays out as a whodunnit, with a wealth of suspects. The scarred, hunchback hospital porter limping around wielding a scalpel didn’t fool me though. Presumably Blood of the Vampire, from the previous year, had set a trend for ugly, lunatic hunchbacks.” Black Hole

“Although it takes a few liberties with the history and states a few theories that were never proven as fact, Jack the Ripper is one fun ride through the bloody streets of the past.” James Jay Edwards, Film Fracture

” …the script is aided by Stanley Black’s eerie score and Baker and Berman’s simple but effective trick of tilting the camera by an angle of 30° to herald the onset of each assault. These encounters are crafted to make the most of the opportunities for shuddersome effect.” Denis Meikle, Jack the Ripper: The Murders and the Movies

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“In the stentorian tones typical of the new Victorian melodrama, the coroner declaims that the London police are “incompetent, inadequate and inept.” He may have aimed his verdict at the law enforcers, but visitors to neighborhood theatres this week are likely to give his words a broader interpretation. That coroner would have made a good film critic.” Eugene Archer, The New York Times, February 18, 1960

Cast and characters:

• Lee Patterson … Sam Lowry – The Spaniard’s Curse
• Eddie Byrne … Inspector O’Neill – The Mummy (1959)
• Betty McDowall … Anne Ford – The Omen (1976)
• Ewen Solon … Sir David Rogers – Doctor Who; Journey to the Unknown; The Curse of the Werewolf; The Stranglers of Bombay; The Hound of the Baskervilles
• John Le Mesurier … Dr. Tranter – Eye of the Devil; The Hound of the Baskervilles; Mother Riley Meets the Vampire; Dark Interval; Escape from Broadmoor
• George Rose … Clarke
• Philip Leaver … Music Hall Manager
• Barbara Burke … Kitty Knowles
• Anne Sharp … Helen
• Denis Shaw … Simes – The Mummy (1959)
• Jack Allen … Assistant Commissioner Hodges
• Jane Taylor … Hazel
• Dorinda Stevens … Margaret
• Hal Osmond … Snakey the pickpocket
• George Street … Station Sergeant
• Olwen Brookes … Lady Almoner
• Charles Lamb … Stage Door Keeper
• Jennifer White … Beth
• Cameron Hall … Hospital Porter Hodges / Dr. Tranter’s Door Keeper
• Alan Robinson … Coroner
• Anthony Sagar … Drunk at Murder Scene
• John Mott … Singer
• Lucy Griffiths … Salvation Army Woman
• Ballet Montparnasse … Themselves

Filming locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Release:

American film distributor Joseph E. Levine bought the US rights for £50,000. He bragged he spent $1 million on promoting the movie and earned $2 million in profit on it. However, according to Variety, Jack the Ripper earned rentals of $1.1 million in North America on initial release.

Also known as:

• Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (Austria)
• Jack, o Estripador (Brazil)
• Lääkärin salaisuus (Finland)
• Jack l’éventreur (France)
• Jack lo squartatore (Italy)
• El destripador de Londres (Mexico)
• De vrouwendoder (Netherlands)
• Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (West Germany)

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Black Hole

Family Blood is a 2018 American horror vampire film directed by Sonny Mallhi (Anguish) from a screenplay co-written with Nick Savvides (Black Cab; Ward 3). The Divide/Conquer production stars Vinessa Shaw, James Ransone, and Colin Ford.

Ellie (Vinessa Shaw), a recovering drug addict, has just moved to a new city with her two teenage children. She has struggled to stay sober in the past and is determined to make it work this time, finding a stable job and regularly attending her meetings.

Unfortunately, new friends, a new job, and the chance of a new life can’t keep Ellie from slipping once again. Her life changes when she meets Christopher (James Ransone) – a different kind of addict – which forces her daughter and son to accept a new version of Ellie…

Family Blood will be released via Netflix on March 31, 2018.

Main cast and characters:

• Vinessa Shaw … Ellie – Clinical; The Hills Have Eyes (2006); Hocus Pocus
• James Ransone … Christopher – Sinister and Sinister II; Fun Size Horror: Volume Two; Prom Night (2008)
• Colin Ford … Kyle – Supernatural TV series
• Ajiona Alexus … Meegan
• Ciaran Brown … Eddie

IMDb

‘In the city of dreams, a nightmare stalks’

The Los Angeles Ripper is a 2011 American horror thriller film directed by Craig J. McIntyre from a screenplay co-written with Celeste Marie Martinez and Randy Tobin. The film stars Martinez and Tobin, alongside Devanny Pinn and Ava Rose.

Kristy White moves to Los Angeles to stay with her dysfunctional aunt Peggy and her cousin Angel White to pursue her singing career and become a star. Meanwhile, a brutal serial killer is on the loose in the City of Angels…

Reviews:

“LA Maniac, is not an entirely serious movie, as you will find yourself outright laughing at times, mostly at some of the unexpected moments that really just take this film to the next level […] Also notable is actor Randy Tobin’s role as Grahm in this film, he nailed that role so well, and believably that you truly felt he must be one of the most off-putting and creepy scum bags you could ever meet.” Addicted to Horror Movies

“McIntyre very cleverly sneaks in an “Art-House” film in what on the surface looks like a trashy blood and guts B Movie. Starting out as a cartoonish take on the slasher genre, reminiscent of such cult film’s as Things, The Los Angeles Ripper takes you on a detour into a nightmarish fable that is perhaps told from the perspective of The Big Bad Wolf.” Awesome B Movies

” …a shabbily put together film with poor acting, writing, music, and camera work. This film is not scary and makes no sense. It hovers around the fringes of past genre pictures but does nothing to cement itself alongside them or to even differentiate itself.” Spencer Perry, ComingSoon.net

“The randomness of some scenes, the bad music (some actual songs, mixed in with some terrible choirs), the annoying maniac character, the shitty look of the film, and even smaller facts like how a normal camera made sounds of a polaroid camera and produced a polaroid picture. Kudos to the director for making this movie, but hot damn I didn’t like it.” Film Bizarro

“L.A. Ripper is an excellent micro-budget grindhouse-style serial killer flick. There’s some pretty decent gore effects including a hatchet in the head, a bloody scalping (with the top of the head being opened up), and more.” Horror Society

“While the body count isn’t necessarily the highest, when Grahm does reveal his sinister intentions to his victims, the intimacy of the filmmaking makes for a quite unnerving experience.  The camera is always no more than a foot away from the victim, often in a cramped room or a van […] The style is reminiscent of the ultra gory 70s exploitation flicks, with a little dab of some zombie feasting as well.” Hunter Johnson, LA Horror

“Dull and unimaginative even for a no-budget slasher. It’s depressing that a bunch of people with the energy to make a full(ish)-length feature film couldn’t think of anything to do other than the same warmed-over misogynistic prostitute-killing trash that a million other slasher movies have done before.” Dr Ralph, Letterboxd

“While the movie’s tone is almost surreal at times, the plot is kinda creepy in a very real world way, in that it’s showing what could happen if by pure chance you caught the attention the wrong random person. The villain is simultaneously uncomfortable to watch, and borderline hilarious at times…” Not This Time, Nayland Smith

” …it displays the capability and ingenuity to stand out from the hordes of mediocrity and establish itself as a title to seek out. The director Craig McIntyre shows the ability to create a series of perverse and threatening scenarios, and by enveloping that with a solid cast, pumping soundtrack and sickening violence – the result is pleasing indeed.” Dave Wain, The Schlock Pit

Page 2: Image gallery, credits, teaser, trailer and whole movie free online

A Nightmare on Elm Street action figures “deluxe accessory pack” by NECA features a Freddy Worm, a Freddy TV, and two Elm Street signs, all to scale to fit with the company’s line of seven-inch Freddy Krueger action figures.

The Freddy Worm stands over twelve inches tall and includes an articulated head and a display base that looks like broken floor boards.

The Freddy TV has articulated arms and antennae, plus it can be mounted.

The Elm Street signs – one regular version and one “nightmare” version – are over ten inches tall.

The Purge is a 2018 American action horror television series co-produced by Blumhouse and Universal Cable.

The Purge is a twelve-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. Set in an altered America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. As the clock winds down, each character is forced to reckon with their past as they discover how far they will go to survive the night….

Cast and characters:

• Gabriel Chavarria as Miguel, a US Marine who returns home on Purge Night after receiving a cryptic message from his sister, Penelope – War for the Planet of the Apes
• Jessica Garza as Penelope, Miguel’s sister
• Amanda Warren
• Colin Woodell – Unfriended: Dark Web
• Lili Simmons
• Hannah Emily Anderson – Jigsaw; What Keeps You Alive
• Lee Tergesen
• William Baldwin
• Fiona Dourif – Cult of Chucky

The Purge series is set to premiere on September 4, 2018 on USA Network and Syfy.

Wikipedia | Image credits: Nightmare on Film Street

‘Some things are meant to stay secret’

Derelict is a 2017 Australian horror feature film directed by Cristian Broadhurst and James Broadhurst from a screenplay by Cristian Broadhurst. The movie stars Craig Van Waardenburg, Justin Burford, James Broadhurst, Amy Celisano, Taran Dunn, Tristan Balz, and Christopher Sansoni.

The soundtrack score was composed by the Polite Society.

Three friends find themselves fighting for their lives when their urban exploration goes horribly wrong. Trapped in a dark maze of subterranean corridors and menaced by a sinister masked figure, their friendship, loyalty and sanity is put to the ultimate test…

Derelict is being distributed worldwide by ITN Distribution.

Filming locations:

Perth, Western Australia

‘He has your keys’

The Super is a 2017 American horror thriller feature film directed by Stephan Rick (The Dark Side of the Moon) from a screenplay by John J. McLaughlin (Hitchcock; Black Swan). The movie stars Patrick John Flueger, Val Kilmer and Louisa Krause.

Several tenants have mysteriously vanished at a luxury New York City apartment building, Phil Lodge (Patrick John Flueger), the building’s new superintendent and a former NYPD officer, immediately suspects Walter (Val Kilmer), the strange maintenance man. With his daughters’ lives on the line, Phil must decipher the cryptic riddles in which Walter speaks to solve the disappearances before it’s too late….

Saban Films is releasing The Super on October 19, 2018.

Cast and characters:

• Patrick John Flueger … Phil Lodge – The Tell-Tale Heart; Mother’s Day
• Val Kilmer … Walter – The Snowman; Twitx; The Traveler; The Thaw; The Island of Dr. Moreau; The Murders in the Rue Morgue TV movie
• Louisa Krause … Beverly – The Abandoned; Ava’s Possessions;
• Mattea Conforti … Rose
• Taylor Richardson … Violet
• Paul Ben-Victor … Mr. Johnson
• Yul Vazquez … Julio
• Andrea Lynn Green … Sylvi
• Travaris Spears … Vondell
• Melissa Bolona … Dixie
• Colby Minifie … Kit
• Kim Director … Teacher
• Waltrudis Buck … Mrs. Grey
• Okieriete Onaodowan … Cal
• Amanda Warren … Christina

Filming locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York

New and future releases

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Thriller is a 2018 American horror film produced and directed by Dallas Jackson, making his feature debut, from a screenplay co-written with Ken Rance.

The Divide/Conquer production stars Mykelti Williamson, RZA, Jason Woods, Jessica Allain, Luke Tennie, Tequan Richmond, Paige Hurd, Chelsea Rendon, Mitchell Edwards, Pepi Sonuga, Maestro Harrell and Michael Ocampo.

Compton, California: An introverted young man named Chauncey Page (Jason Woods) is sent to juvenile hall after he accidentally kills a young woman who is part of a group of tormentors that play a cruel prank on him.

Years later, he is released and is back for revenge — and blood — as Chauncey serves up some murderous karma as the group, now in high school, gets ready for Homecoming. Dressed in a hoodie, he picks them off one by one…

Thriller, which is being distributed by Blumhouse, has its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on September 23, 2018.

Trivia:

The film’s working title was Vengeance.

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‘Every babysitter’s nightmare becomes real…’

When a Stranger Calls is a 1979 psychological horror feature film directed by Fred Walton (The Stepford Husbands; I Saw What You Did [1988]; April Fool’s Day) from a screenplay written with co-producer Steve Feke. The movie stars Carol Kane, Charles Durning, Colleen Dewhurst and Tony Beckley.

A massive success at the US box office, taking $21,411,158, the movie was followed by the 1993 made-for-television sequel When a Stranger Calls Back – also directed by Walton – and a remake in 2006.

High school student Jill Johnson is traumatised over an evening of babysitting by a caller who repeatedly asks, “Have you checked the children lately?” After notifying the police, Jill is told that the calls are coming from inside the house…

When a Stranger Calls is essentially an expanded remake of Fred Walton’s $12,000 short film The Sitter, which comprised the first 20 minutes of this film. Walton was inspired to turn the short into a feature-length film after the massive success of John Carpenter’s Halloween. The film derives its story from the classic urban legend of “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”.

Tony Beckley, who plays Curt Duncan, was terminally ill throughout production. Because of this, he did not at all fit the description of the killer, but Fred Walton declined to replace him. Beckley passed away soon after he finished filming his scenes. The 1993 sequel, When a Stranger Calls Back, was dedicated to his memory.

On December 3, 2018, Second Sight is issuing the film in the UK on Blu-ray as a Special Edition.

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com

• Brand new scan and restoration
• The sequel When a Stranger Calls Back in HD
• New interview with director Fred Walton
• New interview with actor Rutanya Alda
• New interview with composer Dana Kaproff
• Reversible sleeve with new artwork by Obviously Creative and original poster artwork
• English subtitles for the hearing impaired for both films
• Original Soundtrack CD
• 40 page perfect bound booklet with new essay by Kevin Lyons
• Reversible poster with new and original artwork
• Rigid slipcase packaging

Reviews:

“I admire Walton for not having relied solely on cheap scare tactics to carry the day, and for having the courage to attempt something on the order of a character-oriented thriller, even though he does allow the story to give way to some contrivances along the way.” Jack Sommersby, Monsters at Play

“While it is occasionally effective, When a Stranger Calls is also a somewhat listless film. Fred Walton strains for atmosphere and tension but the story hangs in a vacuum – the characters are virtual enigmas about which we are told almost nothing, and the exchanges of dialogue are banal. It is only Dana Kaproff’s excellent score that gives the film any atmosphere, creating a great deal of menace and tension in all the right places.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Filmmaker Fred Walton does an absolutely superb job ratcheting up the tension during When a Stranger Calls‘ almost flawlessly executed first act, and it’s clear, too, that Kane’s utterly affable performance plays a key role in the movie’s early success. It’s equally obvious, however, that the film’s hold on the viewer dwindles considerably once that opening stretch concludes…” David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

“Long before Drew Barrymore inadvertently answered her cell, poor Jill found herself in an increasingly demoralizing pickle. In truth, Walton’s film belonged more to the thriller genre than slasher and could not possibly expect to maintain the high levels of apprehension it delivered so effectively in its prologue. What an icebreaker though!” Rivers of Grue

“After the initial opening sequence when the film shifts to the escaped lunatic seven years later, the overall tone of the film also changes drastically from a tense and unbearable horror film to a slow, seedy dramatic thriller almost akin to the depressing character study of Taxi Driver. Quite unexpected, this change doesn’t really work for the film as a whole and these two sections feel like separate films with different agendas.” Tyler Baptist, Sound on Sight

“Quirky actress Carol Kane is very good as the young babysitter at the beginning of the film and as the older near-victim during the last half hour. A terrific opening and ending – and a watchable middle involving the search for the killer – make When a Stranger Calls a must see.” The Terror Trap

“In the ’79 film, the mid-section is pitifully dull. There’s a brief catch-up on the case when the cops learn Duncan has skipped the asylum and then largely nothing happens for about an hour. What differentiates When a Stranger Calls from the other slasher films of the era is that we get to know Curt Duncan a little.” Vegan Voorhees

“While flawed and overlong, When a Stranger Calls ’79 is still a solid enough movie for genre fans that like their slasher flicks more on the respectable side.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

Cast and characters:

• Carol Kane … Jill Johnson –Vampirina TV series; Ava’s Possessions; Office Killer; Addams Family Values; Transylvania 6-5000; Pandemonium; The Mafu Cage
• Rutanya Alda … Mrs. Mandrakis – Late Phases; The Dark Half; The Stuff; Amityville II: The Possession; Christmas Evil; The Fury; Rosemary’s Baby (voice only)
• Carmen Argenziano … Dr. Mandrakis
• Kirsten Larkin … Nancy
• Bill Boyett … Sgt. Sacker
• Charles Durning … John Clifford – Dark Night of the Scarecrow
• Ron O’Neal … Lt. Charlie Garber
• Heetu Heetu … Houseboy
• Rachel Roberts … Dr. Monk
• Tony Beckley … Curt Duncan – Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom; Assault
• Colleen Dewhurst … Tracy
• Michael Champion … Bill
• Joe Reale … Bartender
• Ed Wright … Retired Man
• Louise Wright … Retired Woman

Buy with Happy Birthday to Me on Blu-ray from Amazon.com

Related:

Black Christmas (1974)

When a Stranger Calls (2006)

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‘Where the werewolves roam’

Among the Shadows is a 2018 American supernatural horror feature film featuring werewolves directed by Tiago Mesquita (co-producer of The Monkey’s Paw) from a screenplay by Mark Morgan. The movie stars Lindsay Lohan, Charlotte Beckett, Gianni Capaldi and Dominik Madani.

Plot:

Kristy Wolfe (Charlotte Beckett) is a Brussels private eye descended from werewolves who must go to work when her uncle Harry Goldtsone is murdered in a politically-motivated attack. Patricia Sherman (Lindsay Lohan), the wife of European Federation President Richard Sherman, hires Wolfe to investigate Goldstone’s killing, as he was her husband’s campaign manager.

Wolfe finds bodies falling all over city and must use her innate instincts to unravel the case and stay alive long enough unmask the conspiracy…

Cast and characters:

• Lindsay Lohan … Patricia Sherman – Scary Movie 5; Side Effects
• Charlotte Beckett … Kristy Wolfe – Penny Dreadful TV series
• Gianni Capaldi … Lieutenant McGregor
• Dominik Madani … Colin Haroosen
• Reynald Bialès … Frederik
• Barry Jay Minoff … Matthew
• Kristoffel Verdonck … Richard Sherman
• John Flanders … Uncle Harry
• Peter Organ … Lycan
• Daniel Hugh Kelly … Bittencourt
• Jean-Michel Vovk … Max Eddelman
• Olivier Englebert … Bastien
• Bond Mgebrishvili … Mason
• Gaelle Gillis … Nina
• Sulaiman Rochemont … Louis

Filming locations:

Brussels and AED Studios, Lint, Flanders, Belgium

Working title:

The Shadow Within

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