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Thriller

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Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Cruising (1980)

A serial killer has marked gay men frequenting New York’s meat packing district; home to the S/M and leather scene, and he’s been dismembering them like a beastly butcher! Thankfully police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is placed deep undercover onto the streets to try and draw the killer out. Soon our hero becomes almost completely isolated from his previous life as his new fabricated existence consumes him. Will Steve be able to catch the killer and remain who he is? Comprised of a stellar cast (besides the aforementioned Pacino; Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, James Remar, Ed O’ Neill and the Maniac himself Joe Spinell round out the roster), a brutal mystery to solve, a deep-dive into a subculture not often examined, and the unbeatable grit and grime of late ’70s/early ’80s Manhattan; Cruising is a rock-solid horror film dressed in thriller clothing. Among all of that goodness, there is of course the ol’ elephant in the room that should

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 24, 2019
Horror Fuel

A Life-Saving Transplant Leads To Terror In ‘What Death Leaves Behind’

Acclaimed film What Death Leaves Behind, described as a“Hitchcockian Journey,” is receiving a theatrical release across North America this September and October via Artist Rights Distribution. Directed by Scott A. Hamilton, and scripted by Hamilton, Chad Morton, Nico Giampietro, and Rachel K. Ofori, What Death Leaves Behind centers on a man who, after a kidney transplant, experiences reoccurring nightmares he believes to be visions of his donor’s violent murder, sending him on a dark path of vengeance, leading to an unbearable truth. Christopher Mann, Vincent Young, Erin O’Brien, Johnny Alonso, Alexandra Tydings, Shaira Barton, Amanda Diaz, Kelly Dowdle, and Khalil McMillan star in a Scott A.Hamilton film. What Death Leaves Behind, from Artist Rights Distribution and Smash Entertainment, opens in theaters nationwide this fall. Following the premiere in Los Angeles on September 11th, the multi-award winner will open in other markets including Ohio, San Diego, New York, Tennessee, Florida, DC, and Philadelphia. You can find participating theaters and screening dates

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 24, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Nefarious (2019)

Darren (Buck Braithwaite), Lou (Nadia Lamin), Jo (Abbey Gillett) and Mas (Omari Lake-Pottinger) are scratchin’ and survivin’ in an environment of poverty. Trying to get over, they become indebted to ye olde local crime lord; a totally reasonable and not at all violence prone individual…just fuckin’ with you; this dude makes them worried about their continued existence 24/7. Meanwhile, richie-rich sumbitch Marcus (Toby Wynn-Davies) and his disabled bro Clive (Gregory A. Smith) get even richer when they win the lottery. Hearing this bit o’ news, our troubled heroes decide to get their steal on to improve their shitty lives…this of course doesn’t go as planned. Violence ensues! Now of course home invasion thrillers are nothing new, and at it’s core Nefarious isn’t either…it has all the tropes of the genre, but I don’t think re-inventing the wicked wheel was the goal here. Co-Writer (along with Matthew Davies)/Director Richard Rowntree instead decides to concentrate on a slick visual style (aided and

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 24, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Debunkers, Inc. (2019)

The Debunkers; amateur detectives, video game enthusiasts, eternal virgins… okay, I made that last bit up, but it can be inferred with a large probability of being true… wait, where was I? Oh yeah, The Debunkers; Link (Josh Pinkowski), Snake (Izzy Pollak) and Dr. Mario (Blake Kevin Dwyer)… along with new recruit, Canadian foreign exchange student Shiek (Nicole DuBois) are the premier mystery debunking business in their town, a town that doesn’t exactly seem like it would be a hotbed of mysteries which makes their profit margin rather low I’d wager. Of course that all changes when two desperate girls, Heather and Joyce by name, come a-knocking with a real puzzler… figuring out who put the murder biz on their gal pal Nina. With a murderer around, The Debunkers will surely die… the end… okay, maybe they will prevail and become true heroes… but my money is on their demise. Look, I’ll lay it on the line here, Debunkers Inc.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 16, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Empathy, Inc (2018)

Poor Joel (Zack Robidas) has lost his job, but all is not food stamps, pot noodles, and The Price is Right for our hero as an old friend invites him to invest in a new company Empathy, Inc. What exactly does this operation provide to it’s customers? Why the ability for it’s rich-ass customers to experience life as someone that has nothing by inhabiting their body through VR technology and therefore appreciate what they have in life more. Absolutely nothing will go awry here. Now honestly, unemployed Joel could just wait a bit and experience this for real minus all the technology and doo-dads, but I digress… So, what does Empathy, Inc have going for it? First of all; director Yedidya Gorsetman and screenwriter Mark Leidner have delivered a hell of a tight sci-fi thriller with a nice undercurrent of mystery that keeps your putrid peepers locked on the screen throughout, and the truth behind the VR experiment pays off

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 16, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

Paterson, New Jersey, 1961: Catherine Spages (Linda Miller) is mother to two children; the hell-raisin’, mask wearin’, black sheep Alice (Paula E. Sheppard) and the favored child, the pampered Karen (a young Brooke Shields) who both attend St. Michael’s Parish Girls’ School. Naturally Alice spends her days fucking with the innocent Karen (usually adorned in a mask and a yellow raincoat) six ways to Sunday. On the day of her first communion, Karen is strangled, dumped in a bench, and lit on fire by someone decked out in the coat and mask favored by Alice…but is she the culprit? It sure appears so, especially after her mega-bitch aunt, Anne (Jane Lowry), is attacked by our familiar foe…though Alice attests that it is her dead sister causing the mayhem! As the body count rises, will Alice be revealed to be not guilty or will the truth be even more sinister? Filled with a surreal vibe, plenty of religious iconography, a sense

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 21, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: She’s Just a Shadow (2019)

In just under seven minutes, She’s Just a Shadow presents us with a murderous police officer tying up a naked woman to train tracks and beating off to completion before a train smashes her to shit and back, images of a surreal orgy, a naked woman having a fine sushi dinner eaten off of her naked body, and a pool hall brawl that features roughly 4,567 gallons of blood splashed around. Does all that set your exploitation Spidey-sense tingling? Then buckle up mother fucker, ‘cuz this flick is gonna take you for one hell of a fucked up ride! Long story short, that fap-happy cop mentioned above is a serial killer, and that train track stunt is his bag baby. We also get introduced to a madam and her cadre of Harajuku-overload hookers, and a collection of gangster types, and before long their stories intersect in hyper-sexual and ultra-violent ways… Now with this particular flick, the style is of equal

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 15, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Chain of Death (2019)

Mike (John Patrick Amedori) heads home, his wife Rebecca (Kim Johnston Ulrich) in tow, at the behest of his mother Emma (Adrienne Barbeau). The reason? Mike’s Dad Michael (Ray Wise) is dying from some dread disease and she needs the ‘ol helpin’ hand. Long story short, Mike ends up requiring the services of an assisted suicide facility, which would be difficult in and of itself for emotional reasons alone…but this particular business is a titch different, as instead of the usual monetary fees, the person asking for their services must in turn murder someone else. How far will Mike go, and will he be able to keep his own hide intact before all is said and done? Let’s kick out the jams with the positives of Chain of Death. Working from a screenplay by Andres Rosende, Director David Martín Porras (who also co-created the film’s story) presents a pretty suspenseful, at times gloriously unbelievable, narrative that while it stumbles here

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 15, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The Leopard Man (1943)

Kiki Walker (Jean Brooks) is losing her audience at the New Mexico club in which she performs to a Latin dancer named Clo-Clo (Margo), so her manager, Jerry (Dennis O’Keefe), gets the shit-hot idea to add a leopard into her act…and seriously, what could go wrong shoving a large, angry cat into a noisy room of half-drunk folks? Naturally, the answer to that is everything, as Kiki’s rival spooks the beast which exits stage left and goes on a maul-spree around the countryside…but there may be more to the killings than appears on the surface. Filled with a nice sense of mounting tension, creepy atmospherics (no surprise with the legendary Val Lewton serving as producer of the film), and even a dash of mystery, The Leopard Man is a damn solid low-budget shocker. O’Keefe makes for a fine square-jawed hero, the supporting players are charismatic and their characters have surprising depth (especially Margo’s Clo-Clo who has aspirations of wealth and

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 6, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Lords of Chaos (2018)

Ol’ Øystein “Euronymous “Aarseth (Rory Culkin) lives a rather bland existence in late ’80’s Norway doing the typical teen biz; drinking, smoking, starting Mayhem…a legendary Satanic Black Metal band…the usual. The days are filled with fun, gifts of crucified mice from fanatical fans, and endless practice sessions. Enter: new vocalist Pelle ‘Dead’ Ohlin (Jack Kilmer)…a real ray of sunshine that brings with him a heavy cloud of darkness and depression…and a real move forward for the band musically and visually. Of course tragedy soon follows and things begin to really go off the rails once the eager-to-please Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes (Emory Cohen) makes the scene along with some radical ideas (read: fucked-up) that soon have him and Euronymous at odds and things falling desperately out of control (to put it mildly). First things first; does Lords of Chaos fuck with the facts surrounding Mayhem? Sure it does…but this is a movie version of reality, not a documentary…and what a movie

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jun 1, 2019

More from Thriller

Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Cruising (1980)

A serial killer has marked gay men frequenting New York’s meat packing district; home to the S/M and leather scene, and he’s been dismembering them like a beastly butcher! Thankfully police officer Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is placed deep undercover onto the streets to try and draw the killer out. Soon our hero becomes almost completely isolated from his previous life as his new fabricated existence consumes him. Will Steve be able to catch the killer and remain who he is? Comprised of a stellar cast (besides the aforementioned Pacino; Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, James Remar, Ed O’ Neill and the Maniac himself Joe Spinell round out the roster), a brutal mystery to solve, a deep-dive into a subculture not often examined, and the unbeatable grit and grime of late ’70s/early ’80s Manhattan; Cruising is a rock-solid horror film dressed in thriller clothing. Among all of that goodness, there is of course the ol’ elephant in the room that should

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 24, 2019
Horror Fuel

A Life-Saving Transplant Leads To Terror In ‘What Death Leaves Behind’

Acclaimed film What Death Leaves Behind, described as a“Hitchcockian Journey,” is receiving a theatrical release across North America this September and October via Artist Rights Distribution. Directed by Scott A. Hamilton, and scripted by Hamilton, Chad Morton, Nico Giampietro, and Rachel K. Ofori, What Death Leaves Behind centers on a man who, after a kidney transplant, experiences reoccurring nightmares he believes to be visions of his donor’s violent murder, sending him on a dark path of vengeance, leading to an unbearable truth. Christopher Mann, Vincent Young, Erin O’Brien, Johnny Alonso, Alexandra Tydings, Shaira Barton, Amanda Diaz, Kelly Dowdle, and Khalil McMillan star in a Scott A.Hamilton film. What Death Leaves Behind, from Artist Rights Distribution and Smash Entertainment, opens in theaters nationwide this fall. Following the premiere in Los Angeles on September 11th, the multi-award winner will open in other markets including Ohio, San Diego, New York, Tennessee, Florida, DC, and Philadelphia. You can find participating theaters and screening dates

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 24, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Nefarious (2019)

Darren (Buck Braithwaite), Lou (Nadia Lamin), Jo (Abbey Gillett) and Mas (Omari Lake-Pottinger) are scratchin’ and survivin’ in an environment of poverty. Trying to get over, they become indebted to ye olde local crime lord; a totally reasonable and not at all violence prone individual…just fuckin’ with you; this dude makes them worried about their continued existence 24/7. Meanwhile, richie-rich sumbitch Marcus (Toby Wynn-Davies) and his disabled bro Clive (Gregory A. Smith) get even richer when they win the lottery. Hearing this bit o’ news, our troubled heroes decide to get their steal on to improve their shitty lives…this of course doesn’t go as planned. Violence ensues! Now of course home invasion thrillers are nothing new, and at it’s core Nefarious isn’t either…it has all the tropes of the genre, but I don’t think re-inventing the wicked wheel was the goal here. Co-Writer (along with Matthew Davies)/Director Richard Rowntree instead decides to concentrate on a slick visual style (aided and

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 24, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Debunkers, Inc. (2019)

The Debunkers; amateur detectives, video game enthusiasts, eternal virgins… okay, I made that last bit up, but it can be inferred with a large probability of being true… wait, where was I? Oh yeah, The Debunkers; Link (Josh Pinkowski), Snake (Izzy Pollak) and Dr. Mario (Blake Kevin Dwyer)… along with new recruit, Canadian foreign exchange student Shiek (Nicole DuBois) are the premier mystery debunking business in their town, a town that doesn’t exactly seem like it would be a hotbed of mysteries which makes their profit margin rather low I’d wager. Of course that all changes when two desperate girls, Heather and Joyce by name, come a-knocking with a real puzzler… figuring out who put the murder biz on their gal pal Nina. With a murderer around, The Debunkers will surely die… the end… okay, maybe they will prevail and become true heroes… but my money is on their demise. Look, I’ll lay it on the line here, Debunkers Inc.

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 16, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Empathy, Inc (2018)

Poor Joel (Zack Robidas) has lost his job, but all is not food stamps, pot noodles, and The Price is Right for our hero as an old friend invites him to invest in a new company Empathy, Inc. What exactly does this operation provide to it’s customers? Why the ability for it’s rich-ass customers to experience life as someone that has nothing by inhabiting their body through VR technology and therefore appreciate what they have in life more. Absolutely nothing will go awry here. Now honestly, unemployed Joel could just wait a bit and experience this for real minus all the technology and doo-dads, but I digress… So, what does Empathy, Inc have going for it? First of all; director Yedidya Gorsetman and screenwriter Mark Leidner have delivered a hell of a tight sci-fi thriller with a nice undercurrent of mystery that keeps your putrid peepers locked on the screen throughout, and the truth behind the VR experiment pays off

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Aug 16, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

Paterson, New Jersey, 1961: Catherine Spages (Linda Miller) is mother to two children; the hell-raisin’, mask wearin’, black sheep Alice (Paula E. Sheppard) and the favored child, the pampered Karen (a young Brooke Shields) who both attend St. Michael’s Parish Girls’ School. Naturally Alice spends her days fucking with the innocent Karen (usually adorned in a mask and a yellow raincoat) six ways to Sunday. On the day of her first communion, Karen is strangled, dumped in a bench, and lit on fire by someone decked out in the coat and mask favored by Alice…but is she the culprit? It sure appears so, especially after her mega-bitch aunt, Anne (Jane Lowry), is attacked by our familiar foe…though Alice attests that it is her dead sister causing the mayhem! As the body count rises, will Alice be revealed to be not guilty or will the truth be even more sinister? Filled with a surreal vibe, plenty of religious iconography, a sense

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 21, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: She’s Just a Shadow (2019)

In just under seven minutes, She’s Just a Shadow presents us with a murderous police officer tying up a naked woman to train tracks and beating off to completion before a train smashes her to shit and back, images of a surreal orgy, a naked woman having a fine sushi dinner eaten off of her naked body, and a pool hall brawl that features roughly 4,567 gallons of blood splashed around. Does all that set your exploitation Spidey-sense tingling? Then buckle up mother fucker, ‘cuz this flick is gonna take you for one hell of a fucked up ride! Long story short, that fap-happy cop mentioned above is a serial killer, and that train track stunt is his bag baby. We also get introduced to a madam and her cadre of Harajuku-overload hookers, and a collection of gangster types, and before long their stories intersect in hyper-sexual and ultra-violent ways… Now with this particular flick, the style is of equal

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 15, 2019
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Chain of Death (2019)

Mike (John Patrick Amedori) heads home, his wife Rebecca (Kim Johnston Ulrich) in tow, at the behest of his mother Emma (Adrienne Barbeau). The reason? Mike’s Dad Michael (Ray Wise) is dying from some dread disease and she needs the ‘ol helpin’ hand. Long story short, Mike ends up requiring the services of an assisted suicide facility, which would be difficult in and of itself for emotional reasons alone…but this particular business is a titch different, as instead of the usual monetary fees, the person asking for their services must in turn murder someone else. How far will Mike go, and will he be able to keep his own hide intact before all is said and done? Let’s kick out the jams with the positives of Chain of Death. Working from a screenplay by Andres Rosende, Director David Martín Porras (who also co-created the film’s story) presents a pretty suspenseful, at times gloriously unbelievable, narrative that while it stumbles here

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 15, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: The Leopard Man (1943)

Kiki Walker (Jean Brooks) is losing her audience at the New Mexico club in which she performs to a Latin dancer named Clo-Clo (Margo), so her manager, Jerry (Dennis O’Keefe), gets the shit-hot idea to add a leopard into her act…and seriously, what could go wrong shoving a large, angry cat into a noisy room of half-drunk folks? Naturally, the answer to that is everything, as Kiki’s rival spooks the beast which exits stage left and goes on a maul-spree around the countryside…but there may be more to the killings than appears on the surface. Filled with a nice sense of mounting tension, creepy atmospherics (no surprise with the legendary Val Lewton serving as producer of the film), and even a dash of mystery, The Leopard Man is a damn solid low-budget shocker. O’Keefe makes for a fine square-jawed hero, the supporting players are charismatic and their characters have surprising depth (especially Margo’s Clo-Clo who has aspirations of wealth and

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 6, 2019
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Lords of Chaos (2018)

Ol’ Øystein “Euronymous “Aarseth (Rory Culkin) lives a rather bland existence in late ’80’s Norway doing the typical teen biz; drinking, smoking, starting Mayhem…a legendary Satanic Black Metal band…the usual. The days are filled with fun, gifts of crucified mice from fanatical fans, and endless practice sessions. Enter: new vocalist Pelle ‘Dead’ Ohlin (Jack Kilmer)…a real ray of sunshine that brings with him a heavy cloud of darkness and depression…and a real move forward for the band musically and visually. Of course tragedy soon follows and things begin to really go off the rails once the eager-to-please Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes (Emory Cohen) makes the scene along with some radical ideas (read: fucked-up) that soon have him and Euronymous at odds and things falling desperately out of control (to put it mildly). First things first; does Lords of Chaos fuck with the facts surrounding Mayhem? Sure it does…but this is a movie version of reality, not a documentary…and what a movie

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jun 1, 2019
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