Horror Fuel
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DanXIII

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Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Krypton: The Complete Second Season (2019)

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own. When I heard that a Superman based TV series was being produced that wouldn’t focus on ol’ Kal-El I was a bit perplexed (to be fair, that’s my normal state), but the end result was pretty damn fantastic (and you can read my thoughts on the matter right here). Well as fate and ratings would demand, our pals at SyFy gave us a second season of Krypton, and I’m fixin’ to slap my eyeballs on it post-haste! Season two drops the ol’ city of Kandor well and truly into the soup! Zod still has Big K in his iron grip of insanity, and he’s got a wild hair up his alien ass about conquering the entire universe in order to ensure a rebuilt Krypton’s security… a Krypton rebuilt to his exact specifications mind you!

Continue reading →
Jan 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Girl on the Third Floor (2019)

Don Koch (C.M. Punk) has had a bit of a rough go lately; he’s lost his job, almost been chucked in the slammer… but on the plus side, his wife Liz (Trieste Kelly Dunn) has got a bun in the oven, and he has a rather killer Victorian-era house to renovate. Seems prosaic enough, but the locals have plenty to say about the abode, none of it particularly great… and anyone can see why, as the dwelling leaks all manner of glop from the walls and pipes… a little black sludge here, demon spunk from the shower there, not to mention Don’s pooch hates the place like a mother fucker, which is never a good sign… just the things all homeowners go through. As things get ever more hectic our beleaguered hero soon finds himself balls deep in affairs, dead pets, and oh so much more as apparently his new home used to be a whorehouse that seemingly serviced Silent

Continue reading →
Jan 5, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Bloodhound (2020)

The long and the short of Bloodhound is rather simple: Private dick Abel Walker (Ed Ackerman) is looking for a dame that has pulled a disappearing act, and he’s brought along his cameraman, Jim (David Foy), to document the whole sordid affair. As the plot sickens, our dudes find themselves balls deep in a swirling miasma of twists, turns, and murder. While that plot sounds straightforward, the actual picture is anything but. Writer/director Jason Richard Miller has created a unique animal in our ol’ horror biz; a heady mix of film noir (including the omnipresent narration the genre utilizes), found footage, and faux documentary. These techniques make the audience feel that we are actually a part of Walker’s high stakes investigation, and it all works pretty damn well. Adding to that is Ackerman’s dependable “everyman” performance that really gets us invested in our hero’s plight… one which may be way beyond his scope to contend with. Another element I enjoyed

Continue reading →
Jan 4, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Universal Horror Collection: Volume 3 (1939 – 1941)

Straight up; the last two Universal Horror Collections brought to us courtesy of those wonderful warlocks over at Scream Factory have been nothing if not a whole monstrous mess of fright flick fun (don’t believe me? Head here and here and read my thoughts on the matter for your own sinister self!)! Let’s see if Volume 3 lives up to the legacy of it’s predecessors! First up we travel to the not-so-jolly land of 15th century England with 1939’s Tower of London! Hunchbacked Richard Duke of Gloucester (Basil Rathbone), is sixth in line in succession to the throne, and he is pretty pissed about that let me tell ya. So what does that damned deformed dastard… err, bastard do to remedy that situation? Why he begins secretly eliminating those ahead of him in line with the help of his putrid pal Mord (Boris Karloff), the bloodthirsty town executioner (equally deformed as his boss; in this case with a club-foot). Things

Continue reading →
Jan 2, 2020
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Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Kill Ben Lyk (2018)

All across jolly ol’ London-towne a masked bloke is offing people named Ben Lyk. this causes a ton of static for Ben Lyk (Eugene Simon), a wannabe social media gadfly who is a likable, if not very entertaining to watch, online presence. Soon, our hero finds himself in a safe-house, along with an ass-load of other Ben Lyks (of which there are a surprising number of) as the constabulary have gotten wise to the Lyk related homicides and rounded-up all potential victims. That of course is a right shit idea, and soon our Terminator stand in makes the scene, and our main man Ben is balls deep in trouble as he tries to deduce just why these Ben Lyk eliminations are going down in the first place! Running a scant 77 minutes, Kill Ben Lyk is consistently funny, suspenseful, and at times completely pitch black. It’s also rather timely as one of the Ben Lyk’s is a male-to-female transitioned former

Continue reading →
Dec 31, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: A Rough Draft (2018)

Look, there’s a shit ton of alternate dimensions out there, and our dude Kiril Maksimov (Nikita Volkov) is in charge of customs to those travelling between universes, although truth be told he misses his life on Earth. It wouldn’t do him much good to go back though as the former shit-hot game designer has had all traces of his existence expunged from those that knew him, and if he ever did venture back he’d be in hot water as the powers that be that control his new position have made sure to frame him for murder on as well. Among all the multiverses (that run the gamut from beachfront paradises to grim gulags), there is one where access is denied (due to revolutionaries looking to create a coup); Arkan, a place a few steps ahead of our own, and a potential learning tool to fix Earth’s various fuck-ups. Naturally Maksimov’s shadow bosses want “in” to Arkan, and soon task our

Continue reading →
Dec 30, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Viy (1967)

At the end of a day of extreme assing around, young monk Khoma (Leonid Kuravlyov) gets lost on his way back to the monastery and seeks shelter at the abode of an outrageously old crone. After being lodged in the barn and acting like a prize-winning douche, the crone, in truth a witch, takes our hero for a flight around the Russian countryside and gets severely beaten by the mad monk for her troubles… she also turns hot A.F. A short time later, Khoma is summoned to a Cossack’s home to stand vigil over his daughter as per her dying wish… and just guess who that daughter is? I’ll just tell ya before you lot answer something like “yellow” or “gorilla”… it’s the witch (still in her babe form). So the long and the short of it is, Khoma must watch over the witch’s coffin for three days… which would be hella easy if not for the fact that she

Continue reading →
Dec 23, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The Peanut Butter Solution (1985)

Mike (Mathew Mackay); junior soccer star, son to a attic-dwelling painter, and object of derision to his robe-wearin’ sister… also, friend to winos, as the children oft are. Anyway, speaking of those winos, they get burned to death in a fire, you know because that’s fun for the whole family! Long story long, Mikey goes to the scene of the immolation looking foe survivors and gets the ever-loving shit scared out of him… which causes all of his hair to fall out (no bald cap here, my dude Mackay actually shaved his head for this flick),a nd for him to lose his damn mind. To solve the prob, his sis and pops super glue a wig to his head… which of course gets as much accomplished as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest (and let me just say, when Mike’s mom gets back from her sojurn in Australia she will doubtless be hella fuckin’ pissed)… but thankfully

Continue reading →
Dec 22, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Dead Don’t Die in Dallas (2019)

Great news; scientists have cured and prevented AIDS with a pill… bad news, you get zombie as fuck off that shit! So down Texas way, in the town of Eliasville; Beth Anne (Willam Belli) and Phil (Angel Martinez) two hold outs in the pill popping department have holed up in an abandoned building… too bad they aren’t alone, as homophobic preacher Samuel (Richard D. Curtin) and his family (including his closeted gay son) have taken up residence there as well. Soon our heroes must team-up with those that would destroy them (along with some vigilantes for good measure) if they are to survive the gut-munchin’ madness that threatens everyone; gay, straight, or other’s continued status as “living”. In all honesty, Dead Don’t Die in Dallas surprised the ever-lovin’ shit outta yours cruelly! Let’s start with some of the ol’ ghoulish goodness… namely the F/X work. While definitely more on the comedy horror tip, this flick nevertheless delivers quality practical effects

Continue reading →
Dec 22, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Ultra Seven (1967 – 1968)

Continuing on with their presentation of the original Ultraman television episodes (the first two volumes of which I reviewed here), Mill Creek Entertainment brings us 1967’s Ultra Seven (which coincidentally is the Ultra series I’ve seen the most of thanks to TNT broadcasting dubbed episodes of the series in the mid-’90s). The long and the short of UltraSeven goes as follows: like a hot second from now, Earth finds itself balls deep in alien monsters… monsters that are hell bent on rippin’ our home turf a brand-new asshole. Not one to just sit on their collective asses, the Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Garrison, a gaggle of folks that use the ultimate in technology to mix things up with those space bastards right quick! Now that’s all well and good, but the real ace-in-the-hole of the Garrison is the addition of Dan Moroboshi, a mystery man that isn’t really a “man” at all, but is in truth an alien

Continue reading →
Dec 21, 2019

More from DanXIII

Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Krypton: The Complete Second Season (2019)

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this blog post. The opinions I share are my own. When I heard that a Superman based TV series was being produced that wouldn’t focus on ol’ Kal-El I was a bit perplexed (to be fair, that’s my normal state), but the end result was pretty damn fantastic (and you can read my thoughts on the matter right here). Well as fate and ratings would demand, our pals at SyFy gave us a second season of Krypton, and I’m fixin’ to slap my eyeballs on it post-haste! Season two drops the ol’ city of Kandor well and truly into the soup! Zod still has Big K in his iron grip of insanity, and he’s got a wild hair up his alien ass about conquering the entire universe in order to ensure a rebuilt Krypton’s security… a Krypton rebuilt to his exact specifications mind you!

Continue reading →
Jan 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Girl on the Third Floor (2019)

Don Koch (C.M. Punk) has had a bit of a rough go lately; he’s lost his job, almost been chucked in the slammer… but on the plus side, his wife Liz (Trieste Kelly Dunn) has got a bun in the oven, and he has a rather killer Victorian-era house to renovate. Seems prosaic enough, but the locals have plenty to say about the abode, none of it particularly great… and anyone can see why, as the dwelling leaks all manner of glop from the walls and pipes… a little black sludge here, demon spunk from the shower there, not to mention Don’s pooch hates the place like a mother fucker, which is never a good sign… just the things all homeowners go through. As things get ever more hectic our beleaguered hero soon finds himself balls deep in affairs, dead pets, and oh so much more as apparently his new home used to be a whorehouse that seemingly serviced Silent

Continue reading →
Jan 5, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Bloodhound (2020)

The long and the short of Bloodhound is rather simple: Private dick Abel Walker (Ed Ackerman) is looking for a dame that has pulled a disappearing act, and he’s brought along his cameraman, Jim (David Foy), to document the whole sordid affair. As the plot sickens, our dudes find themselves balls deep in a swirling miasma of twists, turns, and murder. While that plot sounds straightforward, the actual picture is anything but. Writer/director Jason Richard Miller has created a unique animal in our ol’ horror biz; a heady mix of film noir (including the omnipresent narration the genre utilizes), found footage, and faux documentary. These techniques make the audience feel that we are actually a part of Walker’s high stakes investigation, and it all works pretty damn well. Adding to that is Ackerman’s dependable “everyman” performance that really gets us invested in our hero’s plight… one which may be way beyond his scope to contend with. Another element I enjoyed

Continue reading →
Jan 4, 2020
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Universal Horror Collection: Volume 3 (1939 – 1941)

Straight up; the last two Universal Horror Collections brought to us courtesy of those wonderful warlocks over at Scream Factory have been nothing if not a whole monstrous mess of fright flick fun (don’t believe me? Head here and here and read my thoughts on the matter for your own sinister self!)! Let’s see if Volume 3 lives up to the legacy of it’s predecessors! First up we travel to the not-so-jolly land of 15th century England with 1939’s Tower of London! Hunchbacked Richard Duke of Gloucester (Basil Rathbone), is sixth in line in succession to the throne, and he is pretty pissed about that let me tell ya. So what does that damned deformed dastard… err, bastard do to remedy that situation? Why he begins secretly eliminating those ahead of him in line with the help of his putrid pal Mord (Boris Karloff), the bloodthirsty town executioner (equally deformed as his boss; in this case with a club-foot). Things

Continue reading →
Jan 2, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Kill Ben Lyk (2018)

All across jolly ol’ London-towne a masked bloke is offing people named Ben Lyk. this causes a ton of static for Ben Lyk (Eugene Simon), a wannabe social media gadfly who is a likable, if not very entertaining to watch, online presence. Soon, our hero finds himself in a safe-house, along with an ass-load of other Ben Lyks (of which there are a surprising number of) as the constabulary have gotten wise to the Lyk related homicides and rounded-up all potential victims. That of course is a right shit idea, and soon our Terminator stand in makes the scene, and our main man Ben is balls deep in trouble as he tries to deduce just why these Ben Lyk eliminations are going down in the first place! Running a scant 77 minutes, Kill Ben Lyk is consistently funny, suspenseful, and at times completely pitch black. It’s also rather timely as one of the Ben Lyk’s is a male-to-female transitioned former

Continue reading →
Dec 31, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: A Rough Draft (2018)

Look, there’s a shit ton of alternate dimensions out there, and our dude Kiril Maksimov (Nikita Volkov) is in charge of customs to those travelling between universes, although truth be told he misses his life on Earth. It wouldn’t do him much good to go back though as the former shit-hot game designer has had all traces of his existence expunged from those that knew him, and if he ever did venture back he’d be in hot water as the powers that be that control his new position have made sure to frame him for murder on as well. Among all the multiverses (that run the gamut from beachfront paradises to grim gulags), there is one where access is denied (due to revolutionaries looking to create a coup); Arkan, a place a few steps ahead of our own, and a potential learning tool to fix Earth’s various fuck-ups. Naturally Maksimov’s shadow bosses want “in” to Arkan, and soon task our

Continue reading →
Dec 30, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Viy (1967)

At the end of a day of extreme assing around, young monk Khoma (Leonid Kuravlyov) gets lost on his way back to the monastery and seeks shelter at the abode of an outrageously old crone. After being lodged in the barn and acting like a prize-winning douche, the crone, in truth a witch, takes our hero for a flight around the Russian countryside and gets severely beaten by the mad monk for her troubles… she also turns hot A.F. A short time later, Khoma is summoned to a Cossack’s home to stand vigil over his daughter as per her dying wish… and just guess who that daughter is? I’ll just tell ya before you lot answer something like “yellow” or “gorilla”… it’s the witch (still in her babe form). So the long and the short of it is, Khoma must watch over the witch’s coffin for three days… which would be hella easy if not for the fact that she

Continue reading →
Dec 23, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The Peanut Butter Solution (1985)

Mike (Mathew Mackay); junior soccer star, son to a attic-dwelling painter, and object of derision to his robe-wearin’ sister… also, friend to winos, as the children oft are. Anyway, speaking of those winos, they get burned to death in a fire, you know because that’s fun for the whole family! Long story long, Mikey goes to the scene of the immolation looking foe survivors and gets the ever-loving shit scared out of him… which causes all of his hair to fall out (no bald cap here, my dude Mackay actually shaved his head for this flick),a nd for him to lose his damn mind. To solve the prob, his sis and pops super glue a wig to his head… which of course gets as much accomplished as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest (and let me just say, when Mike’s mom gets back from her sojurn in Australia she will doubtless be hella fuckin’ pissed)… but thankfully

Continue reading →
Dec 22, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Dead Don’t Die in Dallas (2019)

Great news; scientists have cured and prevented AIDS with a pill… bad news, you get zombie as fuck off that shit! So down Texas way, in the town of Eliasville; Beth Anne (Willam Belli) and Phil (Angel Martinez) two hold outs in the pill popping department have holed up in an abandoned building… too bad they aren’t alone, as homophobic preacher Samuel (Richard D. Curtin) and his family (including his closeted gay son) have taken up residence there as well. Soon our heroes must team-up with those that would destroy them (along with some vigilantes for good measure) if they are to survive the gut-munchin’ madness that threatens everyone; gay, straight, or other’s continued status as “living”. In all honesty, Dead Don’t Die in Dallas surprised the ever-lovin’ shit outta yours cruelly! Let’s start with some of the ol’ ghoulish goodness… namely the F/X work. While definitely more on the comedy horror tip, this flick nevertheless delivers quality practical effects

Continue reading →
Dec 22, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Ultra Seven (1967 – 1968)

Continuing on with their presentation of the original Ultraman television episodes (the first two volumes of which I reviewed here), Mill Creek Entertainment brings us 1967’s Ultra Seven (which coincidentally is the Ultra series I’ve seen the most of thanks to TNT broadcasting dubbed episodes of the series in the mid-’90s). The long and the short of UltraSeven goes as follows: like a hot second from now, Earth finds itself balls deep in alien monsters… monsters that are hell bent on rippin’ our home turf a brand-new asshole. Not one to just sit on their collective asses, the Terrestrial Defense Force establishes the Ultra Garrison, a gaggle of folks that use the ultimate in technology to mix things up with those space bastards right quick! Now that’s all well and good, but the real ace-in-the-hole of the Garrison is the addition of Dan Moroboshi, a mystery man that isn’t really a “man” at all, but is in truth an alien

Continue reading →
Dec 21, 2019