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DanXIII

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Horror Fuel

Movie Review: High Moon (2018)

In the 1800’s Colt (Chad Michael Collins) sets about putting a murder on a posse of gun-slinging werewolves that murdered his wife, after which, he is promptly killed by a ninja…this is doubtless based on a true story. Flash forward to the modern day where a small town is being plagued by a rash of exhumed coffins devoid of corpses, which naturally is caused by those pesky aforementioned lycanthropes who have woken up and immediately went on a kill spree that resulted in a whole lot of dead bikers and our werewolves on wheels. Of course since that putrid posse have come barkin’ back from the grave, our rootin’ tootin’ hero follows suit and before long teams up with a comely widow (Chelsea Edmundson), a small-town sheriff with marital woes (Matthew Thompkins) and a crooked Mayor (Sean Patrick Flanery), to try and end the evil reign of those blood-crazed creatures! As you can surmise, High Moon is one over-the-top, comic

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 29, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The 27 Club (2019)

Music man Quinn Scott (Travis Grant) goes and joins the 27 Club (you know, the exclusive collective of rock n’ rollers that have done the whole croakin’ bag on their big two seven)…well, to be honest; it isn’t entirely up to him, as a dagger toothed demon emerges from a magic-ass mirror and drags him to Satan knows where…as is so often the case. That brings us to Jason (Derrick Denicola) who is doing the whole documentary bit on the ol’ 27 Club. As he investigates the demise of the mighty Quinn, he discovers one of those arcane tomes the youngsters are so bananas for these days…which of course he swipes with the quickness. Well, that beastly book can do the whole demon summoning dealio (and said supernatural creatures can grant wealth and fame…with a catch of course), and Quinn’s band-mates will do anything to possess that artifact like it’s some sort of preternatural Klondike bar! Look, The 27 Club

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 28, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Scary Stories (2019)

To be honest, I was too old for Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books, but I was well aware of their existence thanks in no small part to the eye catching, nightmare enduing artwork contained within the tomes (courtesy of Stephen Gammell), but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t into a devious doc detailing the series creation and what it has meant to generations of fright fans n’ horror hounds! First thing you have to realize is that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was the most banned book of the 1990’s…and if that doesn’t give that shit unlimited horror biz street cred, I have no idea what would! Of course, that tumultuous moment is detailed in Cody Meirick’s documentary, but there is so much more ground that is covered! We get the genesis of the series creation (featuring interviews with Schwartz’s widow among other peers and family members) that paint a vivid picture

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 27, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Hail Satan? (2019)

Beginning with a political rally in which The Satanic Temple endorses a candidate for office that supports prayer in schools (because if you allow for Jesus in school it will open the way for Satan as well); Director Penny Lane’s documentary Hail Satan? (and that “?” will come into play in this revoltin’ review in a tick) is off to the races! What follows that is an examination of the origins The Satanic Temple (striking an even balance between the religions theatricality and honest beliefs) as well as their plans for public acceptance, and their absolute insatiable lust to fuck with people that desperately need to be fucked with (i.e. religious groups that seem to adore abusing those different from themselves). Also included is a look at the o.g. Devil lovers; Anton Lavey’s Church of Satan and it’s carnival aesthetic and how it lead to the more political minded Temple (which does still contain the more showy trappings of the

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 20, 2019
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Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Shed (2019)

A group of friends gather in a cabin in the woods on Halloween. While you may think these gaggle of goofs would be fodder for some masked lunatic, they are instead stalked n’ slayed by a skin stealing monster that can steal their identities. David Axe (who penned The Theta Girl, which I reviewed right here) brings us a tale that is both grindhouse and social commentary with Shed. While on the surface this is a creature feature that contains a healthy dollop of what many of us love the most…namely buckets of blood and naked flesh, all wrapped up in with “cabin in the woods/slasher” tropes…this picture has a bit more on it’s mind. The aforementioned monster is female, but isn’t afraid to take on the persona of men and could be a veiled allegory to the experiences of trans people and male or female gender roles being fluid, and that’s a statement I can get behind. As a

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 20, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Ragmork (2019)

When I first heard of Ragmork, I wasn’t sure just what kind of picture it would be…the title conjured images of a fantasy epic in my mind (though that may just be how my fevered imagination fires)…but images released certainly didn’t indicate that would be the case. So just what is Ragmork about? Viktor Graves (Tim Novotny), a fucked up kid, from a fucked up family, who has grown up into a fucked up adult (as is often the way), walks out of his cubicle-hell of a job and rolls back into the town where he grew up in rural Ohio. Now devoid of the dysfunctional family Viktor begins searching for answers in his life, drifting from one encounter to another before being attacked by a feral man named Ragmork (John Bradley Hambrick), whom our hero gets a bit stabby with. That’s when things get really bizarre (which is saying something considering the waking nightmare tone the flick possessed before)

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 18, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Room For Rent (2019)

Widow Joyce (Lin Shaye) was left high and dry with her ass in the air after her husband died and left her with nothing except the house they lived in…a house she gets the bright idea to turn into a bed and breakfast joint. This plan seems solid, but Joyce’s personality and quirks manage to piss off each and every guest of her establishment. Enter Bob (Oliver Rayon) a mysterious drifter (do they ever come in any other flavors?), who Joyce quickly becomes absolutely obsessed with…like the psycho-stalker style of obsessed, which goes about as off the rails as you would imagine, especially when a comely ex-guest Joyce has befriended makes the scene… Directed by Tommy Stovall from a screenplay by Stuart Flack, Room For Rent comes off like one of those thrillers you’d find on Lifetime…but is that a bad thing? Kind of. Devoid of mystery and suspense (we know who’s responsible for all of the menace right from

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 17, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Life After Flash (2017)

Before I begin discussing Life After Flash, I feel it appropriate to share some thoughts on Flash Gordon. If you aren’t interested in such things…or having your’s cruelly uncharacteristically lay his soul bare, just skip down to the next paragraph. Anyway, back in December of 1980, my desire to see Flash Gordon was at an almost unbelievable level…and my parents blew my mind and agreed to drive me, and the prettiest girl in the second grade who agreed to be my date, many towns over (yes, I grew up in the literal middle of nowhere) to see the film…but mother nature had other plans; and a nor’easter (to those not in the know; Upstate New York has about 14 months of winter per year…at least it did back then) kept us in town, and Altman’s Popeye was what it had to be (and for the record, that is a charming film and a ton of fun…but it sure as hell

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 17, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons (2019)

Dungeon & Dragons; you can bet your arcane asses that a young Dan XIII spent many a lonely, female-less…I mean fun-packed afternoon consuming mass quantities of junk and battling all manner of monsters and maniacs with my erstwhile companions, and even though it’s been decades since I tossed the ol’ dice, I still have an infinity for the game and it’s associated imagery. Speaking of that imagery, you can bet demons to donuts that it was breathtaking, and sparked the imagination of player’s world wide (and let’s be honest, a Dungeonmaster’s job is a titch easier with visual aids)…and Eye of the Beholder explores it’s creation and history in impressive detail! Through ninety minutes we journey from the genesis of the game itself, through it’s earliest utilization of pen and ink illustrations, on to TSR’s (the company that published the game for those of you not in the know) creation of a full-time art department. We witness the growth of

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 15, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The Brain (1988)

Dr. Blake (the legendary David Gale) hosts a TV show called “Independent Thinkers”…which is an absurd title as in fact the self-help program is a mind controlling transmission that Blake creates with the help of an alien brain he has holed up in his Psychological Research Institute…and the broadcast is making teens do the ol’ murder/suicide bag like a mother-fucker! Enter teen trouble-maker Jim Majelewski (Tom Breznahan) and his gal-pal Janet (Cyndy Preston) who decide to stand-up to Blake and his star-born menace after Jim has a brief stay at PRI and discovers things aren’t as they appear…but will they have what it takes to end the machinations of that devious doc and his creepy cerebellum? Look, The Brain is a picture about a giant ambulatory, people-eating, demon-faced, alien brain…that should be the only sentence I need to type to make you lot go out and add this to your creepy collection immediately! Of course there is much more this

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 14, 2019

More from DanXIII

Horror Fuel

Movie Review: High Moon (2018)

In the 1800’s Colt (Chad Michael Collins) sets about putting a murder on a posse of gun-slinging werewolves that murdered his wife, after which, he is promptly killed by a ninja…this is doubtless based on a true story. Flash forward to the modern day where a small town is being plagued by a rash of exhumed coffins devoid of corpses, which naturally is caused by those pesky aforementioned lycanthropes who have woken up and immediately went on a kill spree that resulted in a whole lot of dead bikers and our werewolves on wheels. Of course since that putrid posse have come barkin’ back from the grave, our rootin’ tootin’ hero follows suit and before long teams up with a comely widow (Chelsea Edmundson), a small-town sheriff with marital woes (Matthew Thompkins) and a crooked Mayor (Sean Patrick Flanery), to try and end the evil reign of those blood-crazed creatures! As you can surmise, High Moon is one over-the-top, comic

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 29, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The 27 Club (2019)

Music man Quinn Scott (Travis Grant) goes and joins the 27 Club (you know, the exclusive collective of rock n’ rollers that have done the whole croakin’ bag on their big two seven)…well, to be honest; it isn’t entirely up to him, as a dagger toothed demon emerges from a magic-ass mirror and drags him to Satan knows where…as is so often the case. That brings us to Jason (Derrick Denicola) who is doing the whole documentary bit on the ol’ 27 Club. As he investigates the demise of the mighty Quinn, he discovers one of those arcane tomes the youngsters are so bananas for these days…which of course he swipes with the quickness. Well, that beastly book can do the whole demon summoning dealio (and said supernatural creatures can grant wealth and fame…with a catch of course), and Quinn’s band-mates will do anything to possess that artifact like it’s some sort of preternatural Klondike bar! Look, The 27 Club

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 28, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Scary Stories (2019)

To be honest, I was too old for Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of books, but I was well aware of their existence thanks in no small part to the eye catching, nightmare enduing artwork contained within the tomes (courtesy of Stephen Gammell), but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t into a devious doc detailing the series creation and what it has meant to generations of fright fans n’ horror hounds! First thing you have to realize is that Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was the most banned book of the 1990’s…and if that doesn’t give that shit unlimited horror biz street cred, I have no idea what would! Of course, that tumultuous moment is detailed in Cody Meirick’s documentary, but there is so much more ground that is covered! We get the genesis of the series creation (featuring interviews with Schwartz’s widow among other peers and family members) that paint a vivid picture

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 27, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Hail Satan? (2019)

Beginning with a political rally in which The Satanic Temple endorses a candidate for office that supports prayer in schools (because if you allow for Jesus in school it will open the way for Satan as well); Director Penny Lane’s documentary Hail Satan? (and that “?” will come into play in this revoltin’ review in a tick) is off to the races! What follows that is an examination of the origins The Satanic Temple (striking an even balance between the religions theatricality and honest beliefs) as well as their plans for public acceptance, and their absolute insatiable lust to fuck with people that desperately need to be fucked with (i.e. religious groups that seem to adore abusing those different from themselves). Also included is a look at the o.g. Devil lovers; Anton Lavey’s Church of Satan and it’s carnival aesthetic and how it lead to the more political minded Temple (which does still contain the more showy trappings of the

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 20, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Shed (2019)

A group of friends gather in a cabin in the woods on Halloween. While you may think these gaggle of goofs would be fodder for some masked lunatic, they are instead stalked n’ slayed by a skin stealing monster that can steal their identities. David Axe (who penned The Theta Girl, which I reviewed right here) brings us a tale that is both grindhouse and social commentary with Shed. While on the surface this is a creature feature that contains a healthy dollop of what many of us love the most…namely buckets of blood and naked flesh, all wrapped up in with “cabin in the woods/slasher” tropes…this picture has a bit more on it’s mind. The aforementioned monster is female, but isn’t afraid to take on the persona of men and could be a veiled allegory to the experiences of trans people and male or female gender roles being fluid, and that’s a statement I can get behind. As a

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 20, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Ragmork (2019)

When I first heard of Ragmork, I wasn’t sure just what kind of picture it would be…the title conjured images of a fantasy epic in my mind (though that may just be how my fevered imagination fires)…but images released certainly didn’t indicate that would be the case. So just what is Ragmork about? Viktor Graves (Tim Novotny), a fucked up kid, from a fucked up family, who has grown up into a fucked up adult (as is often the way), walks out of his cubicle-hell of a job and rolls back into the town where he grew up in rural Ohio. Now devoid of the dysfunctional family Viktor begins searching for answers in his life, drifting from one encounter to another before being attacked by a feral man named Ragmork (John Bradley Hambrick), whom our hero gets a bit stabby with. That’s when things get really bizarre (which is saying something considering the waking nightmare tone the flick possessed before)

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 18, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Room For Rent (2019)

Widow Joyce (Lin Shaye) was left high and dry with her ass in the air after her husband died and left her with nothing except the house they lived in…a house she gets the bright idea to turn into a bed and breakfast joint. This plan seems solid, but Joyce’s personality and quirks manage to piss off each and every guest of her establishment. Enter Bob (Oliver Rayon) a mysterious drifter (do they ever come in any other flavors?), who Joyce quickly becomes absolutely obsessed with…like the psycho-stalker style of obsessed, which goes about as off the rails as you would imagine, especially when a comely ex-guest Joyce has befriended makes the scene… Directed by Tommy Stovall from a screenplay by Stuart Flack, Room For Rent comes off like one of those thrillers you’d find on Lifetime…but is that a bad thing? Kind of. Devoid of mystery and suspense (we know who’s responsible for all of the menace right from

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 17, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Life After Flash (2017)

Before I begin discussing Life After Flash, I feel it appropriate to share some thoughts on Flash Gordon. If you aren’t interested in such things…or having your’s cruelly uncharacteristically lay his soul bare, just skip down to the next paragraph. Anyway, back in December of 1980, my desire to see Flash Gordon was at an almost unbelievable level…and my parents blew my mind and agreed to drive me, and the prettiest girl in the second grade who agreed to be my date, many towns over (yes, I grew up in the literal middle of nowhere) to see the film…but mother nature had other plans; and a nor’easter (to those not in the know; Upstate New York has about 14 months of winter per year…at least it did back then) kept us in town, and Altman’s Popeye was what it had to be (and for the record, that is a charming film and a ton of fun…but it sure as hell

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 17, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons (2019)

Dungeon & Dragons; you can bet your arcane asses that a young Dan XIII spent many a lonely, female-less…I mean fun-packed afternoon consuming mass quantities of junk and battling all manner of monsters and maniacs with my erstwhile companions, and even though it’s been decades since I tossed the ol’ dice, I still have an infinity for the game and it’s associated imagery. Speaking of that imagery, you can bet demons to donuts that it was breathtaking, and sparked the imagination of player’s world wide (and let’s be honest, a Dungeonmaster’s job is a titch easier with visual aids)…and Eye of the Beholder explores it’s creation and history in impressive detail! Through ninety minutes we journey from the genesis of the game itself, through it’s earliest utilization of pen and ink illustrations, on to TSR’s (the company that published the game for those of you not in the know) creation of a full-time art department. We witness the growth of

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 15, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The Brain (1988)

Dr. Blake (the legendary David Gale) hosts a TV show called “Independent Thinkers”…which is an absurd title as in fact the self-help program is a mind controlling transmission that Blake creates with the help of an alien brain he has holed up in his Psychological Research Institute…and the broadcast is making teens do the ol’ murder/suicide bag like a mother-fucker! Enter teen trouble-maker Jim Majelewski (Tom Breznahan) and his gal-pal Janet (Cyndy Preston) who decide to stand-up to Blake and his star-born menace after Jim has a brief stay at PRI and discovers things aren’t as they appear…but will they have what it takes to end the machinations of that devious doc and his creepy cerebellum? Look, The Brain is a picture about a giant ambulatory, people-eating, demon-faced, alien brain…that should be the only sentence I need to type to make you lot go out and add this to your creepy collection immediately! Of course there is much more this

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 14, 2019
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