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horror

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Short Film Review: Báthory: Virgin Blood (2019)

‘Round this time last year I gave you lot my thoughts on Panther Ridge (which you can read here)…a demented deep dive into the world of BDSM. Well, lo and behold; Writer/Director Ryan Swantek is back with another sinister short, this time featuring a take on legendary real-life vampire Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed! Comprised of a single sequence, Báthory: Virgin Blood shows our vicious vamp (Darryl Sposato) doing what she does best…namely liberating a comely virgin (Kaylee Giza) of her precious life’s blood, and then ensconcing herself in that sweet red sauce in order to maintain her beauty eternally. Lit by sensuous candle light and featuring those glorious ’70’s occultism trappings such as inverted crosses and pentagrams that your’s cruelly just can’t get enough of…along with an aesthetic of beauty being derived from the grotesque; this production easily brings to mind the best qualities of the glory days of the Euro-horror genre…right down to those lesbian vampires! The only

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DanXIII

May 9, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Redcon-1 (2018)

The world, in particular London, is going to hell in a hand-basket due to a blood-borne disease turning folks into raving, zombie-like lunatics…but unlike the myriad of other creatures exactly like these in this overcrowded genre, these fuckers retain some memories and skill sets. Fortunately, the disease has been corralled in a quarantine zone…a zone in which resides Dr. Raynes (Robert Goodale), the asshole responsible for this whole mess, and the one voted most likely to be able to fix it! Enter Captain Marcus Stanton (Oris Erhuero) and his team of shit-kickers who are sent in to retrieve that egghead with the quickness! Will they have the stones to complete their mission and save the world, or will they lose their asses to a gaggle of marauding maniacs? While there is plenty of derivative goings-on in Redcon-1; Director/Co-Writer Chee Keong Cheung still manages to tap a few new veins here and there; most noticeably in having the fury ensconced “zombies”

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DanXIII

May 8, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

DVD Review: Virus of the Dead (2018)

If there’s two things that cats what love the horror biz dig it’s arcane anthologies and zombies…so it stands to reason that many of you boils n’ ghouls would be curious to check out a flick that combines those things right? Well, you’re in luck because the flick I’m slapping my putrid peepers on today, Virus of the Dead, is an anthology that weaves together multiple (and I mean multiple) tiny terror tales together to present various views of a world balls deep in the middle of a zombie holocaust! Running through the film is a constant, that folks will simply not give up their vain phone usage and social media no matter how many frothing gut-munchers are at the door. It’s a good carry through, and sadly realistic…but whateves; it gives us a fly on the wall view of all that shamblin’ dead chaos that unspools for nearly 2 hours over fifteen sinister segments. Speaking of those segments they

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DanXIII

May 5, 2019

News

Movie Review: Dark Sister (2018)

Cassie (Amanda Woodhams) is an artist havin’ a rough go of things. You see, our heroine is plagued with dreams of the murder biz, which she works through with the help of her shrink (Nicola Bartlett) and by creating violent tableaus on her canvas. Of course this being a fright flick and all, those violent visions end up spilling over into Cassie’s wakey-wakey world and those close to her start going tits up, forcing C-dawg to confront her troubled past and use her visions to try and stop the killer before they cause any more horror! Simply put, Writer/Director Sam Barrett (along with Co-Writer Robbie Studsor) has created one of the best giallos to not come from the golden age of the genre…or even Italy (more on that in a tick).! Comprised of a solid murder mystery, fever-dream logic and imagery (appropriate given the emphasis on nightmares in the narrative), absolutely gorgeous lighting (shout out to Cinematographer/Editor Ivan Davidov for

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DanXIII

May 4, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

Movie Review: Don’t Look (2018)

A few years back, a young girl witnesses ghoulish goods out in the woods (in her rural home to be more precise). Flash forward to the present day, and a group of New York City goofs decide to ditch the rat race of Metropolis for a tick and haul ass to the family homestead of their pal Nicole (Lindsay Eshelman) located in East Asshair…wait a minute…could that opening sequence have been foreshadowing? I’m like the G0-Gos with that shit…my lips are sealed boils n’ ghouls! Once there they meet the local yokels, who are weird A.F., but things get even more ass over tea-kettle as soon the ol’ stalk n’ slay bag begins as a killer is walkin’ them there woods and soon the blood starts a-flowin’ and the struggle to survive kicks into high gear! As you can tell from that sinister synopsis up yonder, Don’t Look will not blow up the horror biz with it’s balls shattering originality,

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DanXIII

May 2, 2019

IndieMoviesReviewsThriller

Blu-ray Review: I’ll Take Your Dead (2018)

William (Aidan Devine) is a simple farmer with a cushy side hustle; he makes the dead bodies generated by ye olde crime lord and his ilk vanish all nice and neat like, ya dig? Now ol’ Billiam ain’t fond of the gig, but it pays large, and with the dough he’s saving he plans on starting a better life for himself and his daughter Gloria (Ava Preston). Speaking of G-dawg; she’s convinced she sees the spirits of some of them stiffs haunting their humble abode! Things continue on until one day the corpse of a woman, Jackie (Jess Salgueiro) is dumped off…but she isn’t as dead as previously established. Our heroes nurse her back to health, and keep her captive until they can figure out just what in he hell to do with her…but the decision might not be their’s as those vile villains that left her for dead catch wind of their error and aim to rectify it post

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DanXIII

May 1, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

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

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DanXIII

Apr 28, 2019

DocumentariesIndieMoviesReviews

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

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DanXIII

Apr 27, 2019

IndieMoviesReviews

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

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DanXIII

Apr 20, 2019

MoviesReviews

Movie Review: Hellboy (2019) Watch in 4DX or Heckle at Home

The Hellboy films by Guillermo del Toro sought out to humanize monsters. His character portrayals were softer and relatable. Hellboy by director Neil Marshall and writer Andrew Cosby instead created a genuinely fun, weird adventure. Hellboy’s filled with blood, gore, bad jokes, and killer visuals. The film aspired to blaze its own trail from the beginning. Telling the Hellboy story differently was the goal. I sought out a different experience as well and saw the film in 4DX. 4DX is a motion picture technology which adds environmental effects. Seat motion, wind, rain, scents, and lights accompany a standard audio and visual movie. The technology debuted in 2009 in Seoul, South Korea. The tech hit the U.S. in 2014, and this would be my first experience with it. The movie takes the obligation to share origin stories seriously. It does what it can to make a new place in the minds of the audience. The opening scene sets the stage for

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Fox Emm

Apr 14, 2019

horror

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