If you don't have Netflix or Blockbuster you're going to be in a world of hurt as this is one of the biggest Horror In Your House release weeks since last October. Arriving at retailers everywhere this Tuesday, March 18 are more horror titles than you could possibly have time for. Pretty much none of you had a chance to see this year's After Dark Horrorfest, but it won't matter this week as you can now pick up all "eight films to die for." Read on to see what else hits stores.
Horror in your House
March 18, 2008
By: Tex Massacre
Click any link for reviews, pics, trailers and more!
Pick up all 8 After Dark films in one monstrous set!
TEX SAYS: I know you’re already all gonna buy I AM LEGEND…and this years After Dark flicks were uneven at best, but since most of you all skipped the theatricals here, you know you’re gonna get ‘em all now! For my money, this is still a cool festival even in Lionsgate has no clue how to market it!
AMOK TRAIN: Shriek Show/Media Blasters
AMOK TRAIN follows a group of American students to Yugoslavia. They meet up with their professor to bear witness to a sacred pagan ritual. When they realize that they're the ones to be sacrificed, they run for their lives and escape by hopping a train. But there's another problem: this train is possessed and is determined to reunite these kids with their horrifying fates! This train thirsts for blood and soon the students begin dying horrible, gruesome deaths. One girl, however, seems marked for an eternity as Satan's bride. With their method of escape turned against them, they must find a way off this train gone amok!
When three Texas University students travel to a Mexican border town on the eve of their graduation, the last thing they expect is to face their own deaths. Without warning, they fall prey to an ancient blood cult hellbent on finding candidates for human sacrifice. Based on true events, BORDERLAND tells a story which blends the raw fear of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE with the stark reality of IN COLD BLOOD, evoking a world soaked in paranoia, fear and dread.
TEX SAYS: Director Zev Berman’s flick is defiantly the highlight of the After Dark Fest. Check it out if only to see Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) go off the deep end on screen.
Six people are brought together at the funeral of a childhood friend. While settling the estate, they discover a map, which leads them on a search for a long forgotten time capsule, at the request of their dead friend. What they discover reawakens repressed childhood traumas and leads them on a journey through their long abandoned childhood home: a home with a terrible secret and a mysterious dead girl who will lead them to their strange fates.
On an otherwise ordinary night, the young Ian Stone encounters a mysterious creature and is forced into the path of an oncoming train. Rather than facing certain death, Ian finds himself reborn into a new life that feels strangely familiar. After his second death, it becomes apparent that Ian is being hunted by an evil presence, and will be forced to die every day until he can solve the mystery of his own life.
Robert Neville is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable, and man-made. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and maybe the world. For three years, Neville has faithfully sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. But he is not alone. Mutant victims of the plague -- The Infected -- lurk in the shadows... watching Neville's every move... waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind's last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But he knows he is outnumbered... and quickly running out of time.
TEX’S SAYS: Sure it doesn’t follow the book either. Sure Will Smith is a bit too buff to be a scientist. But, the CGI on Manhattan is awesome…too bad I can’t say the same for the Vamps!
Three beautiful sisters learn of a long-lost grandfather, but only make this discovery upon the news of his grisly death. Enticed to visit grandpa's old home after hearing of an inheritance, the sisters head to the back country with some friends. We quickly follow the group of friends through the gates of a redneck infested hell. The psychotic family occupying the inherited property goes on a long-awaited, and much enjoyed killing spree. As the family's twisted motives unravel, the sisters discover a terror worse than death.
Once upon a time, a boy named Ray Pye put crushed beer cans in his boots to make himself taller. But this is no fairy tale: For suburban sociopath Ray and his friends, small-town life is a dead-end road of sex, drugs, liars and losers. And what begins with a sudden act of senseless violence will climax in a mind-blowing frenzy of depravity with the worst still yet to come.
TEX SAYS: Jack Ketchum is a national treasure, if the Nation is HELLTOPIA. Catch THE LOST as a double feature with Ketchum’s THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and never sleep again!
MANIAC LOVE (WHISPERS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE, CAMP UTOPIA, BLOODLETTING, BENT VOLUME THREE; 4-disc): Fat Cat/Tempe
Fat Cat DVD gathers five of the most gruesome, love-shattering stories ever told, together for the first time on four DVDs for one heart-breaking low price with MANIAC LOVE 5-Pack. Former L.A. Raiderette Linda Sobek's tragic murder comes to cinematic life from her own lips in WHISPERS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE (2006). Former RATT frontman Stephen Pearcy shows that murder runs in the family in CAMP UTOPIA (2005). A serial killer's victim tracks him down and blackmails him into teaching her how to kill in BLOODLETTING (1997). And in BENT VOLUME THREE (2002), love reaches a new low with two twisted tales of terror.
he city that never sleeps may shut its eyes for good when a deadly infection turns its residents to savage creatures. There is only hope for a small few, including six recently evicted tenants who must protect their crumbling apartment complex as the city around them is thrown into chaos...
TEX SAYS: Rat Zombies take over Manhattan with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina references galore. Who says they don’t make original movies anymore!
After receiving a mysterious mask, Ellen Morris believes she was attacked by an evil being she calls "Nightmare Man." Her husband, Bill, believes she is crazy. On their way to the mental hospital their car breaks down and Bill goes to get gas, leaving Ellen alone. When Nightmare Man appears, Ellen takes off into the woods, unsure whether she is hallucinating or not. She stumbles upon a cabin filled with friends who unknowingly becoming prey the moment Ellen steps inside.
TEX SAYS: Most of you know I like this flick and most of you don’t know why. Well, most of you still haven’t seen it. OK…seriously. I think director Rolfe Kanefsky’s flick is just a madcap horror film that should be taken with an exceptional number of salt grains. Fun for some, not for others, it helps if you’re a Tiffany Shepis fan! THE SADNESS: York
When an abused child finds that she has special abilities she seeks those that have caused her harm to inflict a torturous murderous wrath of revenge.
7EVENTY5IVE: CodeBlack
The spring semester is coming to a close at a private university in Colorado. A closeknit circle of friends who have dubbed themselves the Crew, tire of studying for finals and engage in a harmless prank calling contest called 75. However in this modern version of an old prank, the calls are crueler and the stakes are higher. The rules are simple: prank call a random person and scare the hell out of them for 75 seconds. If the person laughs or hangs up, you lose. Whoever has the best scare wins. For the Crew and their friends, 75 quickly becomes a popular game on campus. But what starts as celebration, relaxation, and an exclusive round of 75 in a mansion, turns into an intense game of survival when someone accidentally calls the wrong person. Fear and mayhem spill forth with mortal con sequences as the Crew struggles to avoid their ultimate fate.
While excavating the site of a 17th century plague hospital, archaeologist Anna unleashes the malevolent spirit of a plague doctor responsible for a series of gruesome murders 350 years earlier and he’s ready to practice again! Trapped inside the hospital with four trespassing teens and hunted by the murderous spirit, Anna must find a way for the living to escape the building before history repeats itself and one by one they become permanent patients.
TEX SAYS: I haven’t seen this yet, but B-D writer David Harley told me the plot over some BBQ and I still don’t know what the hell this film is about! Give it a view and let me know if you hate it as much as David did.
SOUL SEARCHER: York
Joe Fallow works nights driving a street sweeper, hangs out in a cafe with his one and only friend, and is helplessly in love with waitress Heather. Then one night an ailing Grim Reaper comes to him with an offer...to be trained as his replacement, dispensing supernatural justice in the afterlife. Now someone is breaking down the walls between our world and Hades, and Joe must prevent the ancient moat of Souls from opening or there truly will be Hell on Earth. Can he let go of his mundane life and leave behind the girl he loves to save mankind?
SYNCHRONICITY: SRS Cinema
On one particular morning, John awoke in his bed, covered in blood, unaware of what has happened to him. He tried to speak, but can only regurgitate black thick vomit. In agony he made his way to his feet and into his bathroom, where he discovered lodged in his ear...a Dear John letter... from his brain. This begins John's comedic and tragic journey to find his brain and the reason for its departure. The only problem is John has only 1 friend in the world to help him, Julian who doesn’t believe him and tries to keep John from venturing further, as he fears John has gone mad. John begins to slowly realize that without a brain his reality is coming under control of his collective unconscious and now he must face his inner demons to expose the truth. But, in a reality of distrust, rabbits, bears, little girls, demons, lust, corpse sex, and cat murders, how does one derive meaning from the world around them...and how do you find your brain?
A small group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world take refuge in an empty hospital with plans on rebuilding society. They rescue a young girl who is the victim of a brutal attack, but soon discover that they were followed by a savage band of cannibals known as Rovers. The Rovers begin to kill them one by one, and the trapped survivors must find a way to outwit their stalkers.
On 5/20/06 at 7:04am, three old friends traveled from New York City to Wilmington Delaware for a day long hunting excursion. It was planned as a final reunion before one was to be married. The events that transpired that day were more horrific than any of them could have imagined… Inspired by true events, TRIGGER MAN tells the story of three hunters who became the hunted.
TEX SAYS: Give Ti West some credit here, this dude is churning out flicks on zero bank. Plus he’s just done lensing CABIN FEVER 2 rent TRIGGER MAN with West’s first film THE ROOST for microbudget two-fer and get ready for more flesh eating fun later this year!
A vicious creature that's been trapped for 900 years, gets unearthed during an archeological dig in the middle of a desolate town. As the carnage escalates, the local sheriff and a group of stranded civilians must find a way to destroy the creature that only has one mission - complete annihilation.
As usual, I disagree with most of Tex's opinions. Here are MY reviews:
8 Films To Die For: They were all so-so this year. "Lake Dead" was the most old-skool, "Borderland" was really intense, "Mulberry Street" had the most to say, and "Unearthed" was a decent monster movie. "The Deaths of Ian Stone" was a big joke and probably the worst horror film I've seen in a LONGGGGG time.
I Am Legend: Horrible, pointless CGI piece of crap. Will Smith? Give me a break! I walked out of the theater. Nuff said.
Amok Train: ANYTHING Shriek Show releases should me purchased. They release the craziest, scariest and bloodiest old skool horror flicks totally remastered with tons of features. B-D needs to give more props to these guys. A must.
The Lost: Pretty good, actually. If you read the book, you'll like the film. Not much to argue with. I HAVE seen better book-to-film adaptations, but I'll give this guy credit.
Maniac Love: Total junk. This label (like many others right now) releases cheap post-millenium shot on DV flicks that aren't worth the $6.99 you spend on the 4-movie collection. You're better off spending that $6.99 on an older Brentwood collection like "Blood Bath" or "Tales of Terror" so you can re-watch such classics as "Deep Red", Pieces" and "Kill Baby Kill".
Trigger Man: Ti West is amazing. He blows modern fanboys like Eli Roth out of the water. Ti has true talent and doesn't need big names like Quentin T. to get his movies seen. This is his second feature film, and an amazing one at that. Fans of "The Roost", BUY THIS NOW!
I haven't seen the other couple listed, but I can say that the companies "York" and "SRS" but out total crap and are known for it. Fans of super Z-grade are really the only audience for their stuff. "York" tries, offering films that are slightly more artistic, but "SRS" handles to more generic cheap stuff often containing more sex scenes than even wanted.
There, now you have an honest review from a true hardcore horror fan. Others should post their TRUE opinions on these films as well, since after all, WE have nothing to gain by what we say.
-RHR
Horrorfan82, I'm wondering from your very long comment, were exactly we disagree? I give props to BORDERLAND as the best of the fest. I give props to the After Dark Fest. I give props to MULBERRY STREET, I give big props to Ti West. I said the CGI on Manhattan was cool but I hardly praised I AM LEGEND. Since you're so perceptive about my taste, you might even notice that I'm quoted on the Box Art for BORDERLAND and MULBERRY STREET. I give props to THE LOST too. I hope the dis in your commentary makes you feel cooler than me. You see to have pretty good taste in movies, it's s shame you can't read.
FYI, B-D might give more props to the Shriek Show guys, but their marketing department has never provided a single screener of a film--to my knowledge. Hard to give 'em advanced props if they won't give up the films!
Tex:
I re-read your reviews, and I think I acted based on the fact that the only ones that had your comments were the more major films. Nothing was said about the other 5 "8 films to Die For", just brief back-of-the-dvd descriptions. I saw the comment about "I AM LEGEND" and became upset by the lack of attention the other (and better in my opinion) films. I do appologize for coming off rude.
It's kind of crappy Shriek Show doesn't send you an advance copy, but why not just not cover those films after they have been released? I'm sure the B-D budget can squeeze in a Netflix account or something. Those are the films that matter the most to the older die-hards and yet those awesome releases gain the least amount of attention. They paved the way for all the modern junk that's put on film now. These films are becoming forgotten and lost, and Shriek Show is one of the very few companies spending their money on obtaining these prints and giving them the treatment they deserve. As a matter of fact, I just finished another viewing of their "Day of The Animals" DVD. I watched the vintage edition known as "Something Is Out There", a print only Shriek Show would care enough about to restore for the fans. It's a shame it takes CGI zombies in New York with Will Smith to thrill audiences anymore. (Not to mention this is what, the 5th film remake of this story???)
Comments Page 1 of 1 | You have to be logged in to comment! If you don't have an account register now for free! Your account allows you to post comments and reviews, upload videos and images, access or our forums, write personal blogs, and maintain your profile.
Print Story
Send to a Friend
