Cannibal Holocaust

Cannibal Holocaust Directed by Ruggero Deodato
Many things have been written about this movie, and they're probably true.After watching this again recently, I decided to add my own two cents.As Chas. Balun said "this movie goes all the way , the film makers hold no punches back ,this is in your face brutality."
The movie begins with four young film makers and their guide heading into the Green Inferno to make a documentary on a tribe of tree people. They never return.
A second crew led by Professor Monroe is given the task of finding the fate of the missing film crew
The film cannisters of the missing film crew are found and taken back to a New York television studio, basically the rest of the movie is the footage of the film taken by the film crew and a group of TV executives watching the said footage. Deciding to air it on Television or not.
What we see is the fate of the four members, hunted down ,maimed, mutilated , raped and eventually eaten by cannibals.In between these pleasantries we see animals butchered in all it's gory details. The animal killings are real.
We are then treated to such nasties as a native woman being raped by a phallic looking rock, just when the woman looks like she is going to pass out the rapist bashes her over the head with his love stone.
Another woman is taught a lesson of her promiscuous ways and has her baby aborted by an angry mob of the village women using nothing more than their bare hands. She is than placed into a canoe and sent down the river. Probably to face the wrath of the cannibals. There is also the human shish-kabob, a bamboo pole thrust into a woman's privates and exits her mouth. A very convincing special effect.
There are many other violent scenarios to take in before the end credits roll.
My Thoughts: The acting is definately not Oscar caliber material,but most of the actors do a decent job.I have to wonder to my self, how the film makers were able to direct the natives to do what they wanted . These natives are definitely the real deal here.
This movie, would never be allowed to be made in this day and age. With all the animal cruelty on display here , every animal lover, vegetarian, PETA member would make the journey to the Amazon to shut down it's prodution. With that said I think every horror movie junkie should seek this out as it is in my humble opinion the best of the Italian made , cannibal sub genre films.

My Rating: 5 Go Go Girls out of 5

Jennifer's Body, Directed by Karyn Kusama, Starring Megan Fox/ Amanda Seyfried/ Johnny Simmons

When we are first introduced to Anita ( Needy) Jennifer's nickname for her best friend, she is in a state prison ( Minnesota to be precise). She is known as the kicker, occasionally she'll kick orderlies, nurses and guards in the face if provoked. After one such incident she is placed into solitary confinement, she then proceeds to explain how she came to be there.

Anita and Jennifer are best friends forever as their necklaces will attest. Anita is pretty, but shy. she hides behind her glasses and dosn't mind standing outside of Jennifer's lime light. Jennifer is pretty, and she knows it, she will flaunt her body for anyone. This girl is basically trailer park trash, minus the trailer park. She is a man eater and has many wrapped around her little finger.

In the small community of Devil's Kettle, where everyone knows everyone, a rock band from the big city is making a rare appearance.Jennifer has the hots for the lead singer and asks Anita to join her. The small drinking establishment erupts into flames causing many deaths. with Jennifer out of the blazing building with the help of Anita's quick thinking, Jennifer is then forced into the musicians van, leaving Anita behind dumbfounded.

The band believing Jennifer is a virgin, is planning to sacrifice her to Satan in return for fame, stardom and riches. Complications arise when Jennifer, the sacrfical lamb is not quite as pure as the band had hoped. And Jennifer being the man eater that she is , literally becomes one.

My thoughts: Its a pleasant way to spend 107 minutes, but must say I was a little disappointed when the unrated version didn't bother to show a couple of Ms. Fox's assets.

Being written and directed by two women ,I was not surprised to see such strong female characters. But the males, I thought were dumbed down so much I was looking for them to enter a cave carrying clubs.

My Rating: 2.5 Go Go Girls out of 5

Bandh Darwaza

Directed by Tulsi and Shyam Ramsay/ Starring Hashmat Khan,Manjeet Kular,Ajay agarwal

A young couple is having trouble producing a child. When offers of gifts and prayers to the gods prove unfruitful the wife is tricked by the mistress of the house to visit Black Mountain , where conception is guaranteed. Once impregnated by the monster of Black Mountain she is made to promise to return the baby to Black Mountain if it is a girl. But she may keep the child if it is a boy to carry on the family name.
It would be a rather short movie if it was a boy, so alas a girl is born. the mother breaks her agreement and refuses to allow her daughter to be turned over to the monster as his slave. The mother is poisened by the mistress, but before expiring she reveals to her husband that their daughter has been stolen, and taken to Black mountain.
The father storms the mountain, kills the monster and rescues his baby girl Kaamya, The end?
Not quite ,all of this takes place before the credits.This movie clocks in at two hours and twenty five minutes. There are many scenes of comic relief, teenage romance, martial arts and being a Bollywood movie, this horror picture even breaks into scenes of singing and dancing. When you understand that these East Indian movies need to appeal to as many people as possible, it makes sense , considering the barely existing budgets these movies have.And with such a low budget it looks like these directors used every frame of film that became exposed. Continuity was thrown out the window on this one folks, and I have my doubts if an editor was even hired.
All the horror movie cliches were here , heavy fogs rolling into the exterior shots of the decrepit buildings adding a gothic look to the setting. The monster had a Dracula type look to him, right down to the cape and fangs, even though the vampire word was never mentioned.Though not very sexy looking the sexual attraction between him and the young women were still quite strong. Also I swear I could hear the infamous chik chik chik kill kill kill from " Friday the 13th.
Eighteen years later and the monster now ressurrected, Kaamya is a young woman and we share her teenage melodramatics , especially when she challenges another cheeky teen for the affections of the village hunk, Kumar. After many trips back and forth , to and from Black mountain, good eventually prevails over evil. The End.

My Thoughts: There sure is a lot going on here, maybe enough for two or three other films. I'm not quite sure what to think of the singing and dancing in a horror film. I know I had enjoyed the little musical interludes from the films Dead and Breakfast and Poultrygeist. But still not totally sold on the idea. any way I have two more Bollywood Horror films to see, I'll let you know more after I watch them.

My Rating: 2 Go Go Girls out of 5

Mystics in Bali

Directed by H. Tjut Djalil/Starring Ilona Agathe Bastian.Yos Santo

American Kathy is visiting Indonesia to study Leak magic, one of the strongest of the black arts. Having already studied Voodoo in Africa she is preparing to write a book on black magic.
After becoming smitten with a local boy Mahendra the two try to find a practicer of leak magic. Only after Kathy allows a mysterious picture to be drawn on her inner thigh ( by a giant tongue, no less) does the Leak agree to take her on as a student. As time passes Kathy is cursed with the evil Leak's bidding and soon finds she's not her self any longer. For one thing her head with her entire intestinal tract following will separate from her body and fly searching for victims. In one memorable scene a pregnant woman is lying in bed , when Kathy's head flies through an open window, positions itself between her legs and sucks the baby from the expectant mother's body.( This is a myth from this part of the world,The Aswang, a vampire like creature that eats unborn babies.) Kathy has also been transformed into a pig creature, ( you have to see it to believe it.)and a snake,but is now prone to vomiting up white mice.
With the help of Mahendra's uncle who also dabbles in a little magic himself, it's a cosmic battle of cheesey computer generated laser effects to over throw the evil Leak.
" Mystics in Bali" is a low budget, cheesey slice of cinema but a fun kind which dosn't seem to mind if we know that the flying head is rather fake looking and is just tied to an end of a string.
The two lead actors do what is expected of them in a movie of this kind . The characters are likable and we do feel for them , But I found myself questioning their motives occasionally.
The actress who plays Kathy (Bastian) wasn't even an actress, she was a German tourist who stood out from the Indonesian people and was asked if she would be interested in doing a movie. She was delighted, and the free extension of her vacation didn't hurt either.
The Director H. Tjut Djalil does an excellent job despite the limited budget at hand, having worked in television for many years he has learned to manage the little resources given to him quite nicly as this movie proves. He has also directed Lady Terminator and Dangerous Seductress, two other Indonesian genre films.

My Thoughts: This is some crazy ass shit, I loved it. The acting, special effects were so-so but the total presentation of the movie is one that will have you saying "what the fuck' many times over.

My Rating: 4.5 Go Go girls out of 5

Nosferatu

Directed by F.W. Murnau

Released in 1922 but was tied up in legal action by Bram Stoker's widow(what a bitch).She wanted all copies destroyed on the grounds of copy right infringement against Stoker's novel "Dracula". Which it basically is but with
the names and settings changed. Luckily for us the F.W. Murnau masterpiece has survived. Nosferatu is a German expressionist film heavy on light and shadow which sets a sombre mood and atmosphere

Nosferatu is a silent picture with a few captions to read, but is still very easy to follow the story line. The DVD I have ,the music soundtrack is from the band Type O' Negative, and suits the movie quite well IMHO even though they are considered Industrial music.The acting would be called wooden by today's standards, but this is 1922, film is still relatively new. Besides many actors of this era are coming straight from the stage to the front of a camera. Apparently the main actor Max Schreck as Count Orlock needed only the pointy ears and the fangs for his make up. He must have had a face only his mother could love.With this make up ,Orlock looked more like a rat,a dead one for that matter but still could charm the ladies,believe it or not.
For the era this film was produced in , the special effects are pretty amazing, most noteworthy and one of my favorites is when the Count rises out of his coffin, his back and legs stiff as a board, almost like his feet are nailed to the bottom of the casket.Stop motion photography and double exposures are also used to great effect.
This Count was like a walking disease, plagues would take over the towns and villages he passed through. Rats, thousands of rats would invade these same towns, I wonder to myself how these rats were kept under control by the film makers.
My Thoughts:I'm just thankful copies of this film has survived and we are fortunate to experience it today. For a fictional account of the making of Nosferatu, I recommend checking out the movie The Shadow of the Vampire starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe.
My Rating: 4.5 Go Go Girls out of 5

Jack the Ripper Directed by Jesse Franco

( The DVD cover sucks)

This version of Jack the Ripper by Jesse Franco falls somewhere between his mediocre efforts and his worst efforts in my opinion. His worst being" Oasis of the Zombies" and the mediocre being "Virgin among the living Dead" which I believe is the best title ever for a horror film. " She killed in Ecstacy' and " Vampyre Lesbos" both starring the beautiful Soledad Miranda as his masterpieces.

But Franco films are a must see, for anyone who is curious to watch An Euro horror or sexploitation film of the 1970's.

During the 1880's in jolly old London, England, somebody is murdering the local ladies of the evening. We know it's Dr. Orloff( Klaus Kinski ) a character , in name only from Franco's first film " The Awful Dr. Orloff".He lives Alone and practices medicine from a boarding house, whose Land Lady has taken a fancey to him. The killings have been going on for some time, but the first one we see is one which is witnessed by a blind man whom is later brought in with other witnesses to aid a sketch artist in providing a face for the infamous killer.

With very little flowing of the the red sticky stuff, very little T and A it isn't your typical Franco film, and had me yawning with boredom by the halfway point. Mind you Franco films can be a little slow going but there is usually something that will make me sit up and say WTF. Even the effect of a severed hand found by a local fisherman and taken to the police was poorly executed. ( A ceramic hand from a store window manniquin) .Making this look cheap and amateurish.

Franco's wife Lina Romay plays a prostitute who dies quite a violent death at the hands of the Ripper.
My Thoughts: The version of the DVD I have,has very little of the gore and nudity that I have read about.This just won't do. This is one of the few Franco films to have a theatrical release in America.This may play better on the big screen, but from what I seen, I doubt it.
My Rating: 1.5 Go Go Girls out of 5