Monday Movie Review - BIG MAN JAPAN

Call me a glutton for punishment.  I tried another Japanese "horror" movie that is supposed to be strictly for laughs, except this time there's no zombies. 

The movie is told interview style and very tongue-in-cheek.  The subject is named Masaru, and he is the last in a long line of "heroes" who are of average size until the city is attacked by hideous monsters.  At that point he jolts himself with a billion volts of electricity, and becomes a 40 ft. tall man who tries to beat the crap out of the monsters.  Of course, the big guy and monsters are all CGI, but overall the effects are very good. 

What bothered me were the monsters.  Some are flat-out disturbing, in my honest opinion.  But I was taking it all with a large grain of salt until the ending.  That's when the whole movie turned ass-over-end for me.

My recommendation:

Horror 4 Sale!

Each magazine is just $3, and that includes postage!
You can find out more about each issue here.
My website has a secured certificate, and I accept PayPal.

Alien vs Pooh - An Ultimate W-T-F'ery

This is definitely not a children's bedtime story!
http://godxiliary.com/alienvspooh/Medium/

Monday Movie Review - POULTRYGEIST

I don't know why I watch Troma films.  Maybe it's because they're so off the wall stupid, they're funny.  Most of the time, that is.  This movie isn't not one of their best.  But it IS controversial in what all is involved.  The bathroom humor is definitely there.  Lots of bathroom humor.  All over the walls, the floor, the ceiling.  Buckets of it.  That also goes for the blood.  Lots and lots of blood.

This movie is sort of an off-key musical.  It's a farce.  It's a parody.  It's unbelievably moronic. 

Briefly, a poor sap, whose girl left him and became a lesbian, finds a job at a fast food fried chicken place.  Except the food becomes infected, which in turn infects those who eat it, turning them into chicken zombies.  Yeah, you read that right.  Human chicken zombies.  No, I can't explain further.

Of course, this is the perfect film for teen and frat boys to gather around and watch.  Lots of nudity and sick jokes.  Otherwise, my recommendation is to

1000 Ways to Die

If you haven't seen this television show broadcast on SPIKE (Wednesdays at 10 pm est), you need to, if for no other reason than to get a good laugh at some of the absolutely awful ways some people have met their demise.  Every brief segment is "based" on an actual event, but to me the best parts are the very punny titles.

You can get more info here.

New Info from After Dark Films

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NEW BLOOD FOR AFTER DARK FILMS AS COMPANY ANNOUNCES ORIGINALS FESTIVAL

After Dark Films Together with Lionsgate & Syfy Produces A New Generation Of Horror With Eight ORIGINALS Set To Release Third Quarter 2010

Los Angeles, CA (March 11, 2010) — Building on the success and brand awareness of the After Dark Horrorfest 8 Films To Die For ® brand, After Dark Films, in cooperation with Lionsgate and NBC Universal’s Syfy, has created a new series, After Dark Originals (ADO).

Tapping into the vast and innovative talent of directors and filmmakers from Horrorfest’s acquisitions over the past 4 years, After Dark has taken the horror festival concept to a higher level. After Dark Originals showcases eight new cutting edge horror films spanning the genre. The mission is to create high quality horror films that provide After Dark full control from script concept through final editing. The first installment of ADO includes Husk, Fertile Ground, Scream Of The Banshee, Prowl, The Task, Re-Kill, Seconds Apart and 51. Notable directors and writers include Brett Simmons, whose short film Husk took Sundance by storm several years ago, Steven C. Miller of Automaton Transfusion fame, and previous After Dark writer/director Adam Gierasch (Autopsy). All ADO films were shot in the US and Bulgaria.

"The writers and directors in our After Dark Originals line are outstanding. We are excited to showcase their work and to give a home to all this fresh young talent that we will continue to develop over time", says After Dark Films owner and CEO, Courtney Solomon.

Currently seven of the eight films have been filmed and are in post-production. The eighth to slated to start production this month. All eight Originals will be released in Third Quarter 2010 with a new and innovative marketing and release strategy. Additionally, the second set of Originals has already been green lit and will start production in July 2010.
**
About After Dark Films:

After Dark Films, an Independent motion picture studio, was formed in 2006 by director/filmmaker Courtney Solomon and Hong Kong based real estate magnate Allan Zeman. After Dark Films’ first motion picture film release was An American Haunting (2006) starring Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland. Co-founder and CEO Courtney Solomon wrote, produced, and directed this film under the newly formed After Dark Films banner.

After the release of An American Haunting, partners Solomon and Zeman formed a multi-year marketing and distribution deal for Horrorfest "8 Films To Die For®" between After Dark Films and Lionsgate Entertainment, with After Dark handling theatrical marketing & releases and Lionsgate handling the distribution of all ancillary forms of media (Home Video, Pay TV, Pay Per View). After Dark Films just released Horrorfest 4 in theaters on January 29, 2010.

Building on the success of Horrorfest, After Dark will release the first 8 films of originally produced horror films in September 2010 under the moniker After Dark Originals.

Publicity Contacts:

LOS ANGELES:

After Dark Films/Autonomous Films/Pi Pictures: Sara Finder
sfinder@afterdarkfilms.com
Ph: 310-270-4260
http://www.afterdarkoriginals.com/

(Note:  Gail's Gory Details Blog is an official representative of After Dark Films.  Stay tuned for breaking news as it is received.)

Monday Movie Review - TOKYO ZOMBIE

It seems every country that produces horror has to do a zombie parody at some time.  The UK did a great job with SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and in my opinion I think the "winner" in the US is ZOMBIELAND. 

TOKYO ZOMBIE is Japan's entry.  Although I must give them kudos for some very funny scenes, overall the whole thing just fell flat.

Two auto repair workers, Fujio and Mitsuo, spend most of their time learning how to wrestle rather than work.  When their boss objects, they kill him, then try to bury the body in Black Mt. Fuji, a literal mountain of garbage and nuclear waste products located in the middle of the city.  Apparently many people have been using this trash heap to bury other bodies, and the toxic by-products have resurrected the dead into zombies.  The film shows our questionable heroes fighting off these creatures and trying to survive, until ... Well, even for a movie I ended up not liking much, I won't give out spoilers. 

Basically, I think if the acting had been less over-the-top I might have enjoyed it more.  But if you're the sort who likes really overly-dramatic comedy, you might enjoy it. 

My recommendation? 

Creepy Cute Crocheted

Thanks to Cynical Woman over on Twitter, she put me onto these adorable zombie and vampire crocheted cuties.  I want one!

EVIL DEAD in 60 Seconds IN CLAYMATION!

Thanks to Shoot for the Head

Monday Movie Review - FARM HOUSE

From IMDB:  Farmhouse is a psychological thriller set in the modern day mid-west. We follow a young couple as they leave their everyday lives behind and head out to a new beginning; starting over from scratch. After becoming stranded in an isolated Wine Vineyard in the middle of nowhere, the young couple is forced to face the secrets they're running from, all the while trying to escape the malicious intent of the Vineyard mysterious inhabitants.  
In short, it's pretty much one of those "couple gets stranded in the middle of nowhere at a farm house where the owners decide to torture them for the sheer enjoyment of it because, dadgum, there's really not much else to do around here!"

But I decided to stick with it simply because it had Kelly Hu and Steven Weber in the lead secondary roles, and it was because of their acting that the film didn't totally suck for me...

Until the ending, and the REAL nature of the farm house hit me like a megaton bomb.  Oh, WOW!

My recommendation? 

 

Death Masks

I'd known about death masks for some time. I'd just forgotten about them until I read an article recently about them.

Death masks are real castings of a person's face (and sometimes hands or other body parts) soon after their death - for obvious reasons.  In most cases the masks are of famous people, like the one of Benjamin Franklin that you see first in my line-up on the left.  But death masks have also been made of the notorious, like the one of Jesse James, Old West outlaw, bank robber, and gun slinger (see second photo).

If you're anxious to learn more, a good place to start would be at Undying Faces.  (Be warned, there is a photo of two men making an actual death mask from a corpse.)

From Life Magazine. 

You can see Beethoven's life mask here.

Wanted: A Yahoo Email Loop for Horror Authors and Their Works

Does anyone know of a Yahoo loop where authors of horror can promo their books and stories to readers?

Monday Movie Review - PONTYPOOL

Stephen MacHattie creates a memorable performance as a washed-out DJ who has lost every on-air job he's had because of his highly-opinionated monologues.  In fact, I had to go back and check this movie out again after I found out who played the character of the grizzled alcoholic, who was now regulated to providing school closures in some backwater town in Canada.

Yes, there are zombies in this movie, but the gut punch doesn't come from the bloodletting.  In fact, the gore value is pretty tame.  It's the psychological impact that'll stick with you long after.

One thing I'm always looking for is discovering how movemakers explain the cause of the zombie plague.  I have to give kudos for this one.  It's not only unique, it isn't given to you via a long scientific explanation.  It.  Just.  Is.

The movie's setting is kept within the confines of the little, out-of-the-way radio station.  It's told in Real Time, where we watch the action slowly advance from "out there" to where the survivors are located and waiting for the inevitable to reach them. 

This is a superb little film.  Well told, well acted, and well worth the wait I had to go through for it to finally show up for me to rent.  Oh, and when you do, look for the little "extra" after the credits.

My recommendation?