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DanXIII

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Short Film Review: The Amulet of Fear (2020)

A woman (Ludovica Ferraro) is home alone one moonlit night, and happens across an arcane amulet located within a wicked wicker basket… and once said moonlight falls upon that jazzy jewelry a monster is released mirroring the one featured in the Stephen King book our heroine is reading to pass the time! Writer/director Andrea Ricca truly delivers the ghoulish goods in this creature feature-style sinister short… a short that plays out without a single, solitary word of dialog no less! Because of said lack of dialog, the film’s only actor, the aforementioned Ferraro, has to do all of the heavy lifting with her expressions and body acting alone… and to that end she is a champ; creating a believable and sympathetic heroine we can root for over the films scant five minute and change runtime. As for the creature of the piece, it’s a rather cool looking humanoid terror that is realized with surprisingly good CG for a film of

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DanXIII

Apr 7, 2020

ForeignMoviesReviews

DVD Review: Infection (2019)

Dr. Adam Vargas (Rubén Guevara) and his neighbor Johnny (Leonidas Urbina) thought shit would be peaceful as fuck in their small town… but a fast spreading virus is coming their way pronto from the strife-torn urban jungles of Venezuela (not to date this review, but this is some timely-ass shit as I write these wicked words). Anyway, said virus turns people into flesh hungry pseudo-zombies (think those featured in Lenzi’s 1980 classic Nightmare City or it’s highly derivative, more well-known kissin’ cousin; Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later) and wouldn’t you know it; our heroes find themselves balls deep in Zombietown as they set off across on a fright filled journey to retrieve Vargas’ son from his grandmother’s house! So, as you can imagine, Infection drops us into some very familiar terror territory; we get our (kinda) zombie apocalypse, a small group that tries to survive the hungry hordes… hell, we even get pointed social commentary ala George A. Romero’s walking

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DanXIII

Apr 5, 2020

ForeignIndieMoviesParanormalReviews

Movie Review: The Black Gate (2017)

Sarah (Jeanne Dessart) and David (Nicolas Couchet) are a couple of orphans what lived a hard knock life indeed! Their Uncle Simon (Michel Coste) put the murder biz on their parents, and they spent most of their lives separated at different orphanages. Oh, there’s another thing about ol’ sinister simon; he loves himself the black magic, and he sent Sarah one of those ghoulish grimoires all the rage with witches ages 13 – 45. Long story short, our heroes venture to their Uncle’s arcane abode, run afoul of a cadre of criminals, and all of these folks must contend with the literal hell that’s barfin’ forward out of the demonic doorway he just so happened to leave open! Picture it; Sicily: 1922… Jess Franco sits himself down, watches Phantasm and Evil Dead, smokes the fattest of fat ones, exhales and says: “I could make those films with one arm tied around Lina Romay’s back!” Suddenly a producer from Filmirage… no,

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DanXIII

Apr 5, 2020

DocumentariesIndieMoviesReviews

Blu-ray Review: Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980)

Adolph Caesar (surprisingly not the bi-product of Cobra experiments to resurrect Serpentor, but rather an Oscar nominated actor) discusses an upcoming (and surely complete and utter bullshit) karate championship event set to take place at Madison Square Garden. The prize awarded from said (definitely made-up) contest of legendary legends? Why, the title of Bruce Lee’s successor (a full seven years after his death no less… and as is the way here, not even remotely a real fuckin’ thing), naturally. And we’re off to the races with Fist of Fear, Touch of Death… As you surely guessed, after some high-kickin’ hoo-ha at The Garden, the film then switches to a flashback to earlier in the day as legendary exploitation actor Fred “The Hammer” Williamson (credited here as “Hammer, the Ladies Man”), whom most of you lot would recognize from his role in the Rodriguez/Tarantino fang-bang flick From Dusk ’til Dawn, has just banged some rando broad five times (and she’s primed

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DanXIII

Apr 2, 2020

IndieMoviesReviewsThriller

Movie Review: Deep Web (2020)

Markus (Daniel Leclerc), a recent transplant to a new country, spends a shit-ton of time playing video games… which is a whole hell of a lot safer than what he gets into when he pays a hacker to give him access to the dark web where he observes some strait up real-life horror biz on a freaky forum. Of course the powers that be don’t cotton to Mark throwin’ his putrid peepers on their ghoulish goings-on and so begins a tense game of cat and mouse our hero might not survive! Let’s start with some of the positives ol’ Deep Web has to offer. Writer/director Jessy Dupont presents his terror tale with a lot of panache thanks to some slick cinematography and editing (both courtesy of Dupont himself), and this helps create a stylish world that is perfect for a techno-thriller such as this, and the story is on point as well with some solid twists and turns, and some

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DanXIII

Mar 31, 2020

IndieMoviesParanormalReviews

Movie Review: Rootwood (2018)

Podcasters William (Tyler Gallant) and Jessica (Elissa Dowling) have just been handed the opportunity of a lifetime; to document a cursed forest, all expenses paid courtesy of Laura Benott (the legendary Felissa Rose of my beloved Sleepaway Camp). The duo agree, and along with their gal pal Erin (Sarah French), trek out into those wicked woods where they are besieged by supernatural shenanigans on every side… but our gang of goofs soldier on, though if they’ll make it through this arcane ordeal intact remains to be seen! To be honest, Rootwood doesn’t re-invent the wicked wheel in terms of horror biz cliches (as that sinister synopsis up yonder will doubtless prove), but is that a bad thing? Well, fifty-fifty cats n’ creeps… Director Marcel Walz and screenwriter Mario von Czapiewski certainly deliver a truly creepy experience, with a solid dash of mythology and world building sprinkled on top, and that goes a long way with yours cruelly. There’s also some

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DanXIII

Mar 31, 2020

MoviesReviewsThriller

Short Film Review: Dear Guest (2020)

Maria (The Last Exorcism‘s Ashley Bell) and Jules (Noureen DeWulf) are a couple checking in to a swanky vacation rental, so ol’ J-dawg can get her rest on. It doesn’t take but a fraction of a millipube (it’s a real measurement of time, but only us cool ass movie critics know about it… wait, now I’ve told you about it… ) for things to go from sedate to escape room style fight for survival, as AirBnB type sitches oft do, eh me boils n’ ghouls? Let me tell you cats n’ creeps; Dear Guest is one hell of a sinister short! Writer/director Megan Freels Johnston delivers a fantastic mystery; replete with cryptic clues delivered on lil’ white cards, a house that is impossible to escape, and a fine sense of escalating tension… all delivered as we scratch our horrible heads trying to figure out who is behind it all. Adding to the top tier acting (the cast is comprised entirely

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DanXIII

Mar 31, 2020

IndieMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Scare Me (2020)

A group of college students park their asses in front of a campfire while taking a rest on their way to some music festival fracas and decide to have a scary story competition… but are they in a scary story themselves? This is the basic premise behind the new arcane anthology Scare Me; a creepy collection that offers a nice bit of fright flick variety for vicious viewers that decide to go on it’s revoltin’ ride! Speaking of variety, slap your putrid peepers on some of the frightful fun featured herein! Over the course of the film’s hour and forty-seven minute runtime (admittedly a tad long for yours cruelly who generally feels ninety minutes is the sweet spot for a jaunt into our beloved horror biz) we get; a boobs and blood, Franco-style Euro horror tale, the story of a radio revolutionary and the beast she must contend with, an urban vampire yarn, the tale of a leather ensconced gimp

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DanXIII

Mar 30, 2020

MoviesReviewsThriller

Short Film Review: Can I Kill You (2018)

Rachel (Crisann Smith) is lookin’ forward to a lil’ girl time with her gal pal Tammy (Arlette Yousif), but R-dawgs other pal, Sandy (Tommie Vegas), has some other plans… Arriving on Rachel’s doorstep, bloodied and decidedly a bit “off”, Sandy spins a wild yarn about her eerie evening spent up to her armpits in the murder biz… biz that she willfully committed, and now she wants to turn her ghoulish gaze upon Rachel for further mayhem! Comprised of an all female cast, muted (almost ’70s style) color palette, and some great twists; Can I Kill You is a testament to what you can do in a single location, with limited budget and effects, as long as you are locked and loaded with a strong cast and script. Writer/director Nicholas Grant is not one to shy away from slasher flick tropes, or standing said tropes on their head, and this sinister short is all the better for it. Just when you

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DanXIII

Mar 29, 2020

MoviesReviewsThriller

Blu-ray Review: Universal Horror Collection: Volume 4 (1937 – 1946)

The last three Universal Horror Collections brought to us courtesy of those devious n’ delightful devils over at Scream Factory have been a creepy cornucopia of fright flick fun (Don’t believe me? Head here and here and here to read my thoughts for your own sinister self!)! Let’s see if Volume 4 lives up to it’s predecessors! Starting things off we have 1937’s Night Key: David Mallory (Boris Karloff) is the old-as-balls inventor of a real peach of a new burglar alarm… in fact it’s so great that a real asshole of a businessman ends up taking our nearly blind hero for a ride and steals the profits from the device. Well Dave isn’t going to sit still for that prime cut of being poor bullshit, and before long and he falls in with some gangsters who want to utilize our protagonist’s smarts to help them come into some easy (read: fuckin’ stolen) money! A rather lightweight caper with a

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DanXIII

Mar 28, 2020

DanXIII

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