This'll be a short and sweet entry; I should have seen the inevitability of this, I can't write these fast enough, so I'm skipping forward into February from my Letterboxd diary.
Read, or don't!

Films watched between Monday 13/02/2023 and Sunday 19/02/2023.

Monday 13/02/2023
My Bloody Valentine (1981)

Director: George Mihalka

I make sure to watch this movie every single year and have yet to grow tired of its charms. A top-tier slasher; one of the most memorable from the '80s boom and forever anchored to the Western status quo in the same way that Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the multitude of Christmas-themed horror films are. For the uninitiated, a killer begins offing the residents of the mining town, Valentine Bluffs, in the run-up to recently reinstated Valentine's Dance. The location/setting is great, the characters are likeable, the killer looks formidable, the kills are memorable, the gore is grisly. If you haven't seen it, fix it next Valentine's Day.



Wednesday 15/02/2023
X (2022)

Director: Ti West

Ti West has generated a bit of a marmite response within the horror community, personally I've always favoured his oeuvre; particularly House of the Devil (2009), Cabin Fever 2 (2009) and The Inkeepers (2011), so I've always been surprised to hear from, or read about fellow horror fans saying they loathed House of the Devil. It's a stylish, slow-burner that exudes shades of occult horror classics like Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Devil Rides Out (1968), and The Omen (1976). Similarly, with X, Ti West revisits the '70s aesthetic, predominantly channeling The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), with echoes of Silent Scream (1979), Death Trap (1976), and Psycho (1960), but also paying a well-just homage to the era of porno chic; the plot concerns a group of pornographic filmmakers who set out to make a "good" dirty movie, and referencing the somewhat obscure Zebedy Colt roughie, The Farmer's Daughters (1976) and namedropping Debbie Does Dallas (1978). West's X is a love ode to '70s horror cinema; a competent slasher that effectively doubles as a warts and all exposé on ageing and its effects on the human condition.



Friday 17/02/2023
Init!ation (2020)

Director: John Berardo

A meandering, moderately interesting slasher that falls a little short of the mark due to hollow characters and inexcusable moments of predictability. Strangely, kept being reminded of Cry Wolf (2005); I don't think there are very many similarities, granted I haven't seen that film for a very long time and I remember very little about it other than the autumnal backdrop. Initiation is a sorority themed slasher flick that primarily deals with date rape. It doesn't help that there's so many other movies based in or around a college campus, or in a sorority house, even some good ones, so from the outset Initiation has a lot to live up to and sadly it doesn't quite make the grade. I'll never give up on these newer slasher flicks though, I always like to give them a fair shot with the hope of finding a gem!



Friday 17/02/2023
Mutant Hunt (1987)

Director: Tim Kincaid

Seeing the MGM logo on the spine of this blew my mind and I'm going to have to look into the how and why MGM acquired this. Especially as it's helmed by a porno director, though credited for most of those as Joe Gage, Kincaid had a short run of sci-fi/horror movies in the mid-80s with Breeders (1985), this, and Robot Holocaust (1987).
Now, I accept there are some neat moments in this, but for the most part this was an exercise in tedious garbage. I'm sure I'll come back around to it again sometime, but crikey this is a hard-sell so it's getting branded with "avoid." Check out Breeders instead, you'll have a much better time and even the 1997 remake isn't so bad.



Friday 17/02/2023
Godmonster of Indian Flats (1973)

Director: Fredric Hobbs

Wow. This is something special, by all accounts it should have been complete garbage, I shouldn't have enjoyed this as much as I did, but I fell hard for the Godmonster. The pacing is a little uneven, but once it gets rolling it's a fun ride. I was routinely laughing my ass off whenever I caught a better look at the titular "Godmonster". Grab the latest AGFA release, well worthy of your time. What a trip!



Sunday 19/02/2023
Prisoner of Paradise (1980)

Director: Bob Chinn, Gail Palmer

Big John Holmes, the Platinum Princess - Seka, and an appearance from the alluring Mai Lin. It's no secret that I'm a fan of the independent and collective efforts from Bob Chinn & Gail Palmer, Prisoner of Paradise is nothing short of a real good time. Holmes plays a shipwrecked sailor during WWII, finding himself castaway on a tropical island, who stumbles upon a Nazi encampment where two American nurses are held captive. I guess you could categorise this as "nazisploitation", it's resplendent in bad German accents and domineering nazi women. There's a bevy of scenes with John Holmes gathering and eating coconuts, hell there's even some explosions thrown in for good measure! Recommended smut viewing.



Sunday 19/02/2023
Too Naughty to Say No (1985)

Director: Humphry Knipe

It's a pity I wasn't too impressed with this one, thought it was a tad weak considering the talent involved; Ginger Lynn, Lisa De Leeuw, Jamie Gillis & Eric Edwards.
The plot is super thin and basically goes the route of being a succession of loosely connected sex vignettes with a meagre wraparound story. The flick is about two best friends at a Catholic girls school, one is shy and sexually repressed, the other is a wild at heart party chick who wants to give her best friend a carnal education through a series of sexual escapades. Ginger Lynn & Jamie Gillis' scene is the crowning achievement, but the rest of the film fails to really go anywhere.

Another mixed bag, filled with a couple classics, two modern greats, and a couple worthy of neglect.
Read on, or don't!

Films watched between Monday 23/01/2023 and Sunday 29/01/2023.

Monday 23/01/2023
Pieces (1982)

Director: Juan Piquer Simón

"You don't have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre!"
It's always good to revisit this legendary slice of splatter cinema from producer Dick Randall & director Juan Piquer Simón. Is it a slasher masquerading as a giallo, or is it a giallo disguised as a slasher? Who cares?! The movie is a blast from beginning to end, boasting a bevy of gory kills and moments and dialogue that are unintentionally hilarious. Pieces is a fan favourite for a reason and an absolute classic from the grindhouse era. A title I've covered elsewhere on the blog!



Wednesday 25/01/2023
The Found Footage Phenomenon (2021)

Director: Phillip Escott, Sarah Appleton

Watched this with Emm via Shudder. A decently made little documentary about the seemingly divisive "found footage" subgenre. For the most part it is quite informative, it dials it right back, giving Ruggero Deodato and Cannibal Holocaust (1980) a good ol' deserving nod. But, the biggest detractor throughout is the sodding background music, it's far too loud and becomes detrimental to what limited insight the talking-heads offer. It's worthy of checking out, like any genre documentary, for clips of movies you might not have seen or heard of and may want to check out.



Thursday 26/01/2023
Frankenhooker (1990)

Director: Frank Henenlotter

Watched this with Emm and I was admittedly very eager to see her reaction to it. A late entry from Mr. Frank Henenlotter, where you can get a little glimpse of a still dirty NYC. James Lorinz nails it as Jeffrey Franken, a medical school dropout who loses his wife in an accident involving a lawnmower, yeah really, he keeps her head and builds her a new body from various hookers he explodes using a "super-crack" he's developed in a seedy downtown hotel room, yeah really!
Penthouse Pet Patty Mullen, set the mould for goth and alternative chicks with the Frankenhooker-look; smokin' hot! It's a wild movie filled with exploding hookers, flying limbs, and a giant brain with cyclopean eye. I've written about this too elsewhere on the blog. Got a lotta love for Henenlotter over here!



Friday 27/01/2023
The House That Jack Built (2018)

Director: Lars von Trier

Holy moly, I think I respect this movie a little more every time I see it. I was a little late getting to this, I caught it on disc, but I instantaneously fell in love with it. Matt Dillion virtually carries the entire piece, through his onscreen performance and intermittent narrating voiceover. Breathing life into the despicable failed architect turned obsessive-compulsive serial killer Jack, or Mr. Sophistication, as he may prefer to be known. The plot freewheels throughout different periods of Jack's life; childhood, his first kill, all the way through to his traversing and brief exploration of the afterlife, and to the eventual damning of his eternal soul. Repulsive, beautiful, funny, enigmatic, and full of philosophy. It may be my favourite Lars von Trier flick.



Saturday 28/01/2023
Cloverfield (2008)

Director: Matt Reeves

Caught this in the cinema during its theatrical run and I can still remember being blown away by the visuals and specifically the sound at the time, it came together to be a real experience. Still a fun one to revisit, even if the "sequels" are a tad irksome, but we're not here to talk about them are we? A found footage movie where a giant monster appears and begins attacking NYC, the plot is a little opaque when it comes to the origins of the creature and unless you were around at the time, or care to do a little research, most of the backstory was given away through various viral marketing campaigns on the internet. There is a blink and you'll miss it moment at the end when the narrative very suddenly flicks back to an old piece of video footage, in the background you can see an object drop into the ocean and it is believed to be the creature first arriving, or rather crash-landing on Earth. Really cool movie, I just can't help but wish they'd taken a different direction with the "sequels".



Saturday 28/01/2023
The Silence (2019)

Director: John R. Leonetti

Netflix's The Silence is a little like A Quiet Place-lite, the similarities between the two films are numerous and troubling, though I understand The Silence was based on a book by Tim Lebbon published in 2015, I couldn't help but be reminded of A Quiet Place at almost every turn.
I struggled to get much out of this, Kiernan Shipka and Stanley Tucci hold it together as best as they can, but the plot quickly devolves into everything you've seen and experienced before. The initial deadly menace of the monsters soon fades into the background and sits there as a useful plot device to drive-forward the rest of the events, as the survivors come up against a group of tongueless religious cultists. Is man the real monster? Urgh, how many more times do we have to see this play out. Romero did it (to greater effect) with his Dead films, The Walking Dead did it to death, Bird Box (2018) and Bird Box: Barcelona have continued to do it. Maybe I'm just becoming jaded to this type of movie, or maybe writers are just rehashing everything that's been done better before...Tough to recommend, I bet the book is way better.



Sunday 22/01/2023
The Final Wish (2018)

Director: Timothy Woodward Jr.

I don't know what this was supposed to be, or how much money they threw at Lin Shaye or Tony Todd to appear in it, but this is something I cannot recommend. Written and produced by Jeffrey Reddick (Final Destination (2000)). The perfect movie for anyone who loves to shout "WHY?", "WHAT?!", and "C'MON!!" at the screen every 10 minutes, it really is the pits. Avoid, watch paint dry, the ongoings of an ant colony, anything else.

Really mixed bag this week; it got off to a shitty start so I had to chase some feel good vibes with Ferris Bueller and followed-up with Matthew Bright's Freeway. It was also fun to revisit the Collector/Collection movies after not seeing them for many years and seeing how they hold up.
Read on, or don't!

Films watched between Monday 16/01/2023 and Sunday 22/01/2023.

Monday 16/01/2023
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Director: John Hughes

I remember in my late teens and early twenties I would randomly call in sick and have a day off here and there. I'd refer to them as my "Ferris Bueller's Days Off". To say certain parts of FBDO deeply resonated with me is an understatement and the quote "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." is still something that hits me and affects how I live my life. Now more than ever with the advent of smartphones, social media; how everything is 24/7, go, go, go! It is good to look up, look elsewhere, to find beauty in every fleeting moment; step back from the routine, the everyday and dedicate time to yourself, your desires, wants, and needs. To milk the last drop from every moment of your life. Broderick is a class act as the carefree Ferris, constantly breaking the fourth wall to address and inform the audience. The supporting cast give extremely memorable performances and really strong personality to their respective characters. It also did the post-credit thing way before Marvel could even dream of it. A timeless classic.



Thursday 19/01/2023
Freeway (1996)

Director: Matthew Bright

Watched this with Emm and I wasn't really sure what she would make of it; I wasn't really sure what I might make of it! Verdict? WOW. I was bowled over by this. Reese Witherspoon is an absolute treasure as the runaway, troubled teen Vanessa Lutz. Kiefer Sutherland gives an intense performance as the serial killer, Bob Wolverton, and holy shit does his character undergo something of a serious transformation! I feel like this movie was made in the wrong era, it's truly exploitation film at heart and it certainly doesn't belong in the '90s, no siree Bob! The plot is a "dark" take on the fairytale "Little Red Riding Hood", I say "dark" because there's a lot of humour in Freeway that underscores the bleak aspects of the narrative. A '90s gem. Peep this!



Friday 20/01/2023
Dixie Ray: Hollywood Star (1983)

Director: Anthony Spinelli

What?! An adult movie featuring Cameron Mitchell? You better believe it! Granted he's in a non-sex role and only crops up every so often, but nonetheless the cojones it takes to dupe Mr. Mitchell into appearing in a hardcore sex flick is most admirable. Anthony Spinelli's ode to the gangster and noir films of yesteryear sports an all star cast including: John Leslie as a Bogart-inspired private eye, Nick Popodopolis; the luscious Lisa De Leeuw as the titular Dixie Ray, supported by Veronica Hart, Kelly Nichols and Samantha Fox. There's also a soft edit of this released under the title It's Called 'Murder', Baby. But alas, I did not watch that version. Super enjoyable movie, Leslie hilariously hams up the private eye role, only downside is the uneven pacing and that some plot points aren't quite as clear as they should be.



Friday 20/01/2023
The Collector (2009)

Director: Marcus Dunstan

I remember being not too impressed when I first caught this on DVD and grew to like it more and more over subsequent rewatches. It suffers from the usual 2000s ultra-saturated colours and post Saw style editing; hell it's even tied to the Saw franchise by Patrick Melton (writer of IV, V, VI, and Saw 3D), but The Collector actually has a lot going for it. Josh Stewart carries most of the movie with his uncanny performance as the would-be burglar, Arkin O'Brien. Who comes up against a sadistic serial killer who's also broken into the same house and set-up a multitude of intricate traps and who sports a neat looking mask. Anybody else think the mask looks like Dr. Philip K. Decker's from Nightbreed (1990)?
Definitely worth checking out if you've been umming and aahing over it.



Friday 20/01/2023
The Collection (2012)

Director: Marcus Dunstan

Talk about wasted opportunities and a sequel that drops the ball. Such a shame, The Collection is basically everything you've seen and experienced in the first movie, but dialled-up to 11 and it's done in such a way that it's detrimental to the overall quality of the movie. The film picks up pretty much where the first one ended and sees Josh Stewart returning as the troubled thief Arkin. Straight off the bat, I loved seeing Lee Tergesen in this, I'm a huge fan of Oz, so whenever I see his face in anything I immediately shout "BEECHER!" But, I can't help but feel he's wasted in this and his character is so hammed up it borders on the ludicrous. The saving grace is the final scene where Arkin has tracked down the Collector and confronts him in his home, it admittedly leaves you wanting more and I hope there's a third film to tie it all up and end the saga on a high note.



Sunday 22/01/2023
We Need To Do Something (2021)

Director: Sean King O'Grady

Watched via Shudder with Emm. We Need To Do Something is a film that takes the "less is more" approach too literally and for me, I could have done with just a little more, a mere smidge would have been enough! A family gets trapped inside their bathroom during what outwardly appears to be a storm, but could be some other catastrophic, or otherworldly event, as there seems to be a presence outside the door that is definitely not human; voiced by none other than Ozzy Osbourne. A very cool concept and I honestly really liked what they were trying to do here, the cast pull off what's necessary to make it a success, but it just comes off a little too stagey and uneventful to earn an elevated rating from me.



Sunday 22/01/2023
The Furies (2019)

Director: Tony D'Aquino

Another one I checked this out on Shudder with Emm. A girl is kidnapped and awakens to find herself part of a vicious game where women are hunted down by masked men, evidently for a paying audience. The masks worn by said men are truly hideous and will be sure to affect those who suffer with "trypophobia". The unveiling of a snuff angle later in the narrative is a good twist. Overall, The Furies is a surprisingly ambitious low-budget affair that sadly doesn't have enough going for it. It has a unique desaturated look, some good gore scenes and a few moments that are admittedly interesting; the snuff angle and the tech aspects to it - the "contestants" have a camera implant behind their eye. I think if they had spent a little more time on character building it would have had more punch, but unfortunately the interesting elements fall quickly by the wayside and the movie veers towards the well-trodden realm of predictability.

All over the place and a little bit of everything this week, going from unnecessary sequels, gory remakes, creature features, to stone cold classics and more. Read or don't!

Films watched between Monday 09/01/2023 and Sunday 15/01/2023.

Monday 09/01/2023
Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge (2022)

Director: Alexandra Barreto, Anthony Cousins, Aaron B. Koontz, Jed Shepherd, Rachele Wiggins

It's rare that I come across a movie that I actively start to hate during its runtime and rare still that I become hateful towards movies anyway, but fuck me this was a right mess. I'm sorry, I got a lot of love for anthology movies; horror or otherwise, but this gets worse with each segment and the wraparound was teetering on complete nonsense. Add it to the "wholly unnecessary sequels" list and swiftly move on. The first Scare Package (2019) was watchable, not outstanding; it had one or two interesting segments and wasn't entirely unlikeable. It was middling, bordering on tedious, but watchable. Maybe I really missed what they were aiming for with Rad Chad's Revenge, I thought it was straight up unintelligible garbage, like getting a temporary lobotomy that lasts for an 1hr and 38mins. Avoid.



Tuesday 10/01/2023
Suspiria (1977)

Director: Dario Argento

Revisited this one with Emm; I love watching this kinda flick with someone who's new to it all, I never know whether they'll fall in love with it or sit there wondering "what the fuck is going on?" and "just why is it all so colourful?" Unfortunately Emm's opinion, as valid as any, fell in the latter camp; too slowly paced for her liking. Admittedly, it doesn't have a strong narrative, it's an interesting story, but you only get glimpses of a greater picture. It makes up for it by  completely oozing with atmosphere, style, and a hair-raising Goblin soundtrack. Essential viewing for any self-proclaimed horror fan.



Wednesday 11/01/2023
Eye of the Tiger (1986)

Director: Richard C. Sarafian

Checked this one out on Amazon Prime and it had such a dreadful transfer that I almost gave up on it, needless to say I persevered through and what I saw, I quite liked. I'm guessing it was taken from a shitty DVD source. It's a fairly good little '80s action film, starring everyone's favourite unhinged hero Gary Busey; supported by Yaphet Kotto and William Smith as the film's antagonist, Blade. Worth checking out while it's available on a streaming service, I wouldn't be too surprised to see this crop up at some point via Vinegar Syndrome as one of their a VSA titles.



Thursday 12/01/2023
The Warriors (1979)

Director: Walter Hill

At last! I got around to checking out the Imprint blu-ray which contains the highly coveted Theatrical Cut, be gone those blasted comic book inserts! I must admit I was a little worried about revisiting this as I'd not seen it for many years, I was concerned that I would find faults which I may have overlooked as a teenager. Mercifully that didn't happen and I can safely proclaim that love it as an adult just as much as I did as a teen. From the opening sequence to the beach showdown, The Warriors never lets up. Full of memorable characters, gangs, and action sequences there's rarely a dull moment. Watched with Emm who also dug it, "he's from Sex and the City!"
"Can you count suckas?" Five stars and zero bullshit.



Friday 13/01/2023
Smithereens (1982)

Director: Susan Seidelman

New York City? Richard Hell? Punk rock? Yes please! I truly wanted to adore this, unfortunately it is a little uneven and rough around the edges, which sounds punk as fuck, but when it comes to narrative and editing it's a little disappointing. An extremely low-budget drama about a self-centred chick who moves from New Jersey to the Big Apple to ingratiate herself into the NY punk scene with hopes to move-on to Los Angeles. It offers an interesting exposé on relationships and how people can parasitically use others for their own self-gain. Worth it if you're a punk and adore '80s NYC.



Friday 13/01/2023
Death Race 2000 (1975)

Director: Paul Bartel

Another film I've seen a few times over the years, only I feel like I don't talk about it as much as I should. It's a movie which I thoroughly take for granted and watching it this time around really reaffirmed and cemented my love for it. It's kind of like a demented and dystopian take on Wacky Races; laced with social commentary and featuring a fleet of insane-looking vehicles, each fitted with distinctive weaponry. Produced by Roger Corman for New World Pictures, Death Race 2000 stars David Carradine as the enigmatic and fan favourite racer, Frankenstein, and a very early role for one Sylvester Stallone. Essential '70s exploitation.



Friday 13/01/2023
Deep Freeze (2002)

Director: John Carl Buechler

Not to be confused with the pain relief gel of the same name, also known as Ice Crawlers, this is a super low-budget movie with its creative tendrils firmly rooted in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). The plot is about a group of folk on an Antarctic base being terrorised by a recently unearthed and thawed giant trilobite.
Personal anecdote about this flick; I rented this as a teen with my dad from Blockbuster and we decided at the time that it was the worst film we had ever seen. It set the bar and become a unit for measure with our own ratings, from then on whenever discussing a film one of us hadn't seen we will say "it's not Deep Freeze bad". Watching it all these years later it's safe to say the movie is still hot garbage, but an enjoyable garbage and pairs wonderfully with pizza and beer, and hell, I've since seen Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge.



Friday 13/01/2023
Shakma (1990)

Director: Hugh Parks

I'd wanted to check this out for a very many years after seeing it mentioned over at Jayson Kennedy's Basement of Ghoulish Decadence. Think I watched this via YouTube of all places and it looked like total shit. The movie on the whole is a good effort, a baboon is given experimental drugs and runs amok in after-hours in a laboratory, while the young scientists and their professor play a live-action role-playing game. There's virtually no suspense, the performances aren't the best, but once that baboon starts going ape-shit (pun intended), I don't know, I just really got a kick out of watching him chase and menace a bunch of teenage science-nerds. Will be searching a disc copy for sure.



Saturday 14/01/2023
Monster Island (2004)

Director: Jack Perez

I watched this via Amazon Prime in the early afternoon before going out for a bottomless bunch with the work lot. We got absolutely stinking drunk, drinking through til the wee early hours of Sunday. Monster Island was surprisingly good, a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Going into this thing I was prepared to roll my eyes and cringe aloud. Starring Carmen Electra, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (!!) and Adam West, the movie apes every '50s b-movie trope, but what I enjoyed so much about this was how it reminded me of Food of the Gods (1976) and Empire of the Ants (1977), schlocky giant insect movies of the '70s more so than those of the '50s. Good time to be had with this one, so check it out while it's still available on there.



Sunday 15/01/2023
Shock Waves (1977)

Director: Ken Wiederhorn

I woke up on Sunday morning rattling from a raging hangover, I remember going for a shower and desperately fighting the urge to puke, a battle I somehow managed to conquer. I decided the best thing for me was to put on Ken Wiederhorn's Shock Waves to balm my brain. A movie I've seen a handful of times prior, but couldn't remember all that much about. What I found is that Shock Waves might be the perfect hangover movie, it's so languid and oneiric that when viewed through an alcohol induced migraine-delirium, through squinted eyes and moments of narcolepsy that it becomes extremely difficult to discern between dream and reality, leading to a most unusual experience. Aquatic nazi zombies, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine, need I say more?



Sunday 08/01/2023
Evil Dead (2013)

Director: Fede Álvarez

Caught this at the cinema during its theatrical run and can distinctly remember laughing out loud when Mia (Jane Levy) bisects the Abomination's head with a chainsaw during the finale, much to my then-girlfriend's chagrin, and I'm still not tired of seeing it. I really enjoy this movie and I struggle to agree with any hate I see for it. It's an update of a stone cold horror classic, it doesn't have to better than it, it doesn't even have to rival it, and it certainly doesn't detract from the original; it's moody, it's bloody, it's Evil Dead, what more do you really want out of it? I prefer this to Army of Darkness (1992) any day of the week, sorry nerds.