Category Archives: Demonology

Elizabeth Bathory Evokes the Birth of EVIL! “Blood Bitch Baby” reviewed! (Blood Sick Productions / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Blood Bitch Baby” Now Available!

What if Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian noblewoman and serial killer who bathed in virgin women blood to obtain youth, didn’t die in a prison cell?  What if Bathory was alive and well, living agelessly as one of the demon Asmodeus’s handmaiden to do his bidding, such as selecting a chosen woman to birth the Antichrist?  The countess does just that by posting a job position of caregiver with Jenny, a unemployed woman with an abusive, greedy boyfriend, responding to the ad.  Selected as the chosen one, Jenny is marked with Asmodeus’s symbol that grants her the power of strength and a craving for human flesh and blood.  After devouring her boyfriend, she meets Iris, a homeless lesbian who witnesses the expedited birth of the antichrist soon after meeting her.  Can Iris and a professor of parapsychology stop the second coming of Satan or will the world be condemned to the Hell on Earth. 

The professional relationship between long time schlocky, low-budget horror director Donald Farmer (“Cannibal Hookers”) and the independent, modern day scream queen Jessa Flux (“Murdercise”) has gone beyond the limitations of a working relationship and into more along the lines of friendship and respect as the two have collaborated on a total of six completed productions from 2023 to date with “Amityville Aliens,” “Darbie’s Scream House,” “Debbie Does Demons,” “Bigfoot Exorcist” and “Shark Exorcist 2:  Unholy Waters.”  The sixth film is the one we’re going to look at today, “Blood Bitch Baby,” aka “Wicked Witch,” provides Flux the opportunity to play a notorious historical figure, the Blood Countess herself, Elizabeth Bathory.  The 2024 released film is also written by Donald Farmer and, if you’re familiar with the cult director’s work, there’s very little money invested into what’s considered a horror spirited feature that takes some liberties with the story.  “Blood Bitch Baby” is produced by the “Coven of the Black Cube” director Brewce Longo under his Blood Sick Productions company.

Jessa Flux might headline the movie but that doesn’t make “Blood Bitch Baby” a solo effort as the energetic cast is entirely occupied by Donald Farmer alternative and willing regulars.  Angel Nichole Bradford takes the protagonist lead as the abused and job-seeking Jenny who falls into Bathory’s classifieds trap, ensnared and bewitched to be the biological mother of the Antichrist.  Bradford co-stars in “Crackcoon” and “Darbie’s Scream House” alongside Flux and the petite, auburn-haired actress, in contrasts the voluptuous, curly-blond Flux and who also has a hand in special effects and makeup on these multi-hat productions, has a knack for acting that isn’t monotonic, flat, forced, or with limited range as often some of these cult B-movie actors can produce in attempt to be melodramatic.  When there’s usually Flux and Bradford in the same film together, Mel Helfrin isn’t too far behind as the third into this triple threat of titillating terror.  Helfrin, a vet of horror schlock, also starred in “Darbie’s Scream House” as well as “Night of the Dead Sorority Babes” with Jessa Flux.  The trio really do live up and liven up every scene with enthusiasm for budget horror, hamming it to death for the sake of blood, guts, and sex within its thin plotline structure that often veers off course.  More Farmer regulars in Claude D. Mills (“Debbie Does Demons”) and Joe Casterline (“Shark Exorcist 2:  Unholy Waters”) find themselves in the mix as bite victims of demonic forces.  There’s overperforming, bad performing, and some decent enough thespian to keep progression from staling but there’s definitely a comfortability and jelling within the troupe that sets expectations on a low-level production and a horrendously hackneyed and expositional script.  Jessie Youngs, Ronnie George (“Deadly Dealings”), Fallon Vendette, Marilyn Paige, and Kimberly Cole Zemke (“Debbie Does Demons”) costar. 

“Blood Bitch Baby” is an alliteration title that makes about as much as the film’s original alliteration title of “Wicked Witch” when considering the story has Jessa Flux in a prologue setup surrounding Elizabeth Bathory’s life post-virginal blood bathing.  Bathory’s deal with demonic forces gives the 16th-century woman what she’s always wanted, youth and beauty, but the agreement is never spoken of again in what’s an integral piece of important backstory to volley the immaculate conception (unless you consider Jenny’s nightmare of a demon raping her the act) of the antichrist.  That’s the theme for the entirety of the film as the story veers and swerves off-course away from a film setup to be about Bathory when really it’s about Jenny as a vessel for antichrist and those around succumbing to the infernal forces that dragon-headed hand puppets in this cost-efficient production.  The film is so strapped for cash that flesh wounds that should result in gaping hole actually grow a slab a raw and discolored meat overtop.  When Jenny eats her boyfriend’s eye, there should be an empty eye socket but what’s there is tumor growth.  The same can be said about Bathory being slashed or bitten in the face by the demon baby as instead of perforating scratches down her face, she too grows a bulbous mass.  Other randomized are added to try and add depth but are terribly too threadbare to fully attach itself with any kind of impression or influence, such as Keller, a Professor of Parapsychology who just randomly shows up at the right place, right time, and Iris, the dope-smoking lesbian who happenstance into a relationship with the recently unattached yet devilishly tranced and impregnated Jenny.  Iris isn’t essential to the story which makes her essentially just a body for sex appeal and for the kill counter.

Blood Sick Productions gives Elizabeth Bathory a lifelong change at more malevolence and death in “Blood Bitch Baby” now available on Blu-ray home video.  The AVC encoded, 1080p resolution, BD25 is riddled with colorful gel tints that play havoc in the details, reducing skin and fabric textures with smooth splotches of image posterization.  When using natural lighting or unfiltered key lighting, the details better render through to illuminate the little details, such as skin imperfections and granulated texturing on all surfaces.  Hue changes run rampant with cinematographer Curtis Everitt can’t pin down a singular style, relying heavily on a multi-color use of tinted lighting to feign supernatural surrealism but when edited, the colors change and there are times when there is no coloring at all in certain frames.   The English LPCM 2.0 Stereo is adequate for the release with clear dialogue until the amplified volume static, that’s not filtered out, comes into play, losing some fidelity out of the dual channel.  The audio is overall flat but that’s expected with the mostly closeup and extreme closeup shots that innately don’t have depth.  Range is limited as well with mostly a talking head narrative and ADS demonic creature sounds.  Mike Treblicock and Tim Ritter’s soundtrack pours into the channels nicely, overtaking when needed, such as the dream sequence, and balanced where needed to be defined.  There are no English subtitles available.  Bonus features include a Donald Farmer video introduction with Kasper Meltedhair standing adjacent to him as agreeable arm candy, behind-the-scenes photo gallery, and Blood Sick Productions trailers for other distributed and produced films.  There’re also bloopers in the after credits.  The standard Amaray Blu-ray comes with killer gory artwork by graphic artist Rick Melton.  There is no image on the reverse side of the sleeve, and the disc is pressed with Jessa Flux’s colorfully tinted Bathory face.  Not rated and region free, the Blood Sick “Blood Bitch Baby” has a runtime of 68 minutes. 

Last Rites: Donald Farmer has always been a king of underground, independent schlock horror but over the years, Farmer’s work has tapered from passion projects to more undistinguishable indies with hammy performances and shoddy effects that has “Blood Bitch Baby” cribbed.

“Blood Bitch Baby” Now Available!

“The EVIL Dead of Hawaii!” “Day of the Wicked” reviewed! (Wild Eye Releasing / DVD)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Day of the Wicked” Now on DVD!

Down on his luck John Jones finds work at a special construction job, restoring an old Japanese school house in the outskirts of Hawaii.  Excited to work with his longtime friend Chelsea, he arrives days ahead to stay in the old schoolhouse after going through an ugly divorce and losing his car to maintenance issues.  Jones stumbles upon the book of the dead, the Necronomicon, and it consumes his soul to do the bidding of an evil Kane, the former school master who took the soul of 35 school children and looks to return to the corporeal realm to do more soul taking.  When the rest of the workers arrive days later, Jones’s already peculiar behavior is magnified by call of the Necronomicon’s influence, and he is constantly bullied by the other workers to a breaking point of Jones using the book to summon demons from out the netherworld and possess them.  All hell breaks loose on the school grounds and with bodies succumbing to evil possession, those left will have to stop Jones and Kane before it’s too late. 

Borrowing concepts and ideas to integrate, pretty deliberately, into their own film, Blake and Brent Cousins, under their merged directorial title of the Cousin Brothers, director the demonic action-horror  “Day of the Wicked” where a group of unfortunate souls find themselves isolated in the middle of the woods during the opening of a gateway to hell.  In fact, the 2024 U.S. feature is a squeal or remake of their 1991 SOV debut film “Slaughter Day” that roughly follows the same plotline with construction workers in Hawaii.  The two films are  written by the brothers who have since specialized over the years helming extraterrestrial documentaries, such as “Who Saw Men in Black” and “Nexus to Disclosure:  The Truth is Classified,” as well as navigating their own individual talents with Blake Cousins’ editor role on “Rising Dead”” and Brent Cousins taking on the cinematography role with mostly in the documentary field.  Like its predecessor, The Cousins Brothers remake was too filmed on the Big Island of Hawaii.

“Day of the Wicked” is mostly filled with island locals who’ve only worked with the Cousin Brothers or haven’t seen the front end of a lens before.  The story surrounds centralized sympathetic villain John Jones, played by Gabe Hernandez who last worked with the brothers on “Rising Dead” over 25 years ago, who must teeter the line on being the oddball punching bag for blue collar construction workers and the driving force that unleashes unholiness in dimension-splitting troves.  Like the rest of the cast, Hernandez has forced articulation that’s more exclamatory than natural as he splices the efforts between good guy and bad guy.  Jones serves the rousing Kane (Jean Louis Goff), a 3rd world knockoff of Julian Beck’s “Poltergeist II” character of the same name.  Named the same and dressed very similar with long black church clothes and wide brim hat, Kane seldomly evokes the same sinister strength witnessed by a very feeble Julian Beck at the time of filming “Poltergeist II,” resulting in one of the most unforgettable and haunting characters haling from the 80s.  “Day of the Wicked’s” Kane doesn’t have the lingering appeal and is barely skimmed at the surface, heavily relying on Gabe Hernandez to be the vessel of evil.  The vessel of good is another story as there’s no real hero or protagonist for the role other than Gabe’s childhood friend Chelsea, a fruit stand shift worker who doesn’t express her qualifications working at a construction site other than her electrician friend Gabe.  Actress Chelsea J. Schaffer, in her namesake role, has slightly better acting intuition compared to some of her cast mates but her primary objective in the movie is to defend John Jones against the bullies with her secondary objective to flee the quickly succumbing demonic supernaturality structure.  The cast fills out with construction workers doing more horseplay and gossip than actual work with Cameron Cousins, Bryan Gazaui, Trent Carrier, Orlando Smith and rounding out with the local Sheriff in Doc Skinner with Guy Pohlman and Apolla Asteria as Hollywood-based researchers of the Necronomicon. 

“Slaughter Day” draws from “The Evil Dead” series with unmistakable measure but it’s three decades later sequel and/or remake, “Day of the Wicked,” adds a plumpier version of “Poltergeist II’s” Reverend Henry Kane to the mix, down to the full black pastor suit, wide brim hat, and white hair, to be the in tandem driving evil force with the shoddily constructed, Temu version of The Book of the Dead, the Necronomicon, that supplies the unstable and unloved Joe Jones his sinister powers of conjuring and psychokinetic manipulation.  From there, the Cousin Brothers’ endearing effort to re-envision their 1991 film, an endearing effort in itself, aims to reach a different, more contemporary, audience generation that make retroactively work toward their debut production.  Another difference, and perhaps even a downgrade to an extent, is “Day of the Wicked” shies away from most practical effects for more visual effects that does no harm to structures, puts no actors in compromising makeup, sprays Coke can’s worth of blood, and looks about as authentic as a backwards Nike logo.  Yet, with all the cringy acting and dialogue, the rehashed storyline, and little-to-no practical effects whatsoever, I’m not totally turned off by the VFX that involves large hands, monstrous heads, and opening fissures to be composited into the frame along with the actors and there’s an entertaining blend of the two images that so ridiculously bad, it’s good. 

Wild Eye Releasing picks up “Day of the Wicked” for DVD release that’s been written onto a MPEG2 encoded, 720p standard resolution, DVD5 and presented in a widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio.  “Day of the Wicked’s” digital image is clean, no surprise, but the what’s more amazing is the detail comes over nicely, especially on facial features and the dilapidated schoolhouse structure.  In appraising facial features, the contours are greatly defined, sweat has isolating gleaming that doesn’t spread, and all the hair, pore, and distinct facial molecules are evident as well as their foreign bodies, such as piercings.  The visual effects are the only exception to mastering details overall as they’ve been manipulated into the frame and can provide a blurry integration when in composite action. The uncompressed LPCM Stereo 2.0 is ample but not as refined with a subtle crackling breakage in the higher dialogue and action.  Dialogue renders good with clarity but struggles within the hierarchy as the soundtrack can be absorbent.  Not a ton of opportunity for depth as much of the narrative is held inside the old schoolhouse, which does manage flexing some echo here and there, and the range is plentiful between the composited effects busting out of the ground, walls, and ceilings with a few roaring exclamations from the demonic creatures.  The only downside is there no punchy impact to these effects, limited by the dual channel output.  There are no option subtitles.  Essentially, the Wild Eye Releasing is feature-only except for a trailer for others in the Wild Eye Releasing catalogue.  “Day of the Wicked” is not rated, has a runtime of 97 minutes, and has region free playback.

Last Rites: A remake of a film that was already pulling heavy influence from a cult classic. It’s enough to make your head spin like a Kandarian demon. “Day of the Wicked” doesn’t break the mold or redefine the narrative and is pretty careless with it but horror is supposed to be fun, inspiring, and outrageous and the Cousin Brothers check all three boxes.

“Day of the Wicked” Now on DVD!

A Daniel Falick Double Feature of EVIL is a Must Not Miss! (Chemical Burn Entertainment / 2-Disc DVD Mondo Collector’s Set)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

Don’t Skip Your Double Dose of Daniel Falick in “Exorcist Vs Vampires!”

Unorthodox exorcist and hobby writer Richard Vanuk lives a depressing and humble life full of endless booze and filthy altruism. Driven by the need for alcohol and an underline desire to help possessed strangers for a small fee, Vanuk barely maintains his own sustainability. With each challenging case of demonic inhabitance, the poor full time exorcist, and part time writer, expels demons from their misfortunate hosts into his own wretched soul, draining his self-respecting humanity out of him one demon-expulsion job at a time. The deeper Vanuk spirals downward into nihilism and the deeper he goes into severe debt, the choice to withdrawal from the toll of exorcising demons becomes no longer an option, but a fruitlessly fateful venture to just surviving in a world that’s scarce of good people.

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My second undertaking into a Daniel Falicki horror film has the “Awaken The Devil” director batting a solid hundred percent on the ever honest critique block, going a strong two-for-two with his latest film, 2016’s “Accidental Exorcist,” that’s drenched with a despair atmosphere that swallows the intentionally pathetic character who is granted only a glimmer of unattainable hope for a good life. The writer-director has a keen eye for developing horror in various comedic, dramatic, and absurdly berserk formatted segments, delicately defining details to capture memorable moments. Falicki also stars as his own character, Richard Vanuk, and Falicki charms the audience by creating a likable anti-protagonist whose cavalier about demonic possessions and begrudged by a “corporate” employer who pays very little for the precision of demon banishment; this same company performs a stigmata on him after every exhausting job, discarding his limp, unconscious body in a different snow covered park afterwards.

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Falicki drowns Vanuk in vices and addictions. Aside from the obvious alcohol and constant inebriation, Vanuk needs the pain of performing exorcisms as much as he loathes the process and the people who employs him. The character can’t reform, can’t function properly in normality, as witnessed when his successful brother offers Richard a once-in-a-lifetime position at his mundane company of pigmentation for sports equipment. When the exorcism well runs dry, Vanuk goes into full blown, borderline psychotic detox as he’s cut off from his, one and only, natural born skill and the ceasing of his per diem position sends him into frantically gulping down bottles of cold medicine to get a soothing fix. Falicki punishes the audience beloved, unconventional exorcist by having Vanuk fall to the bottom by not being unlucky or plotted against, but by simply self destruction and having God turn his back on his loyal servant when the promise, or a test, of a favorable outlook reveals itself.

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The casting couldn’t be much more perfect with a cast of talented b-movie stars such as Jason Roth (“Awaken The Devil”), Chris Kotcher, and Jeffrey Goodrich to quickly name a few. Falicki owns Richard Vanuk, embodying the character so brilliantly that I would have a hard time relinquishing Richard Vanuk from Daniel Falicki’s face. Falicki pulls out all the stops by putting every once of degradation the director can muster into the downtrodden exorcist with a performance that sells his hapless nature and spew-filled gigs. Every client Vanuk attends to is portrayed honestly and earnestly from Sherryl Despress’s role of a desperate mother turned possessed super sewer to Patrick Hendren’s blind and levitating demonic being who goes on to have a heart-to-heart with Vanuk after an exorcism recovery.

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“Accidental Exorcist” is unapologetic and shameless; a real nasty bitch to love unconditionally. The fun soars above the summit and the ingrained heart bursts beyond the restrictive seams of the reel. The film is nothing I’ve ever scene before; yet, still manages to homage legendary films that “Accidental Exorcist” built it’s bones upon. Similarities to, of course, the iconic William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” are apparent throughout with the almost beautifully grim and isolated atmospheric exterior scenes of foreboding destiny. Falicki’s film contains special effects so convincing by leaps and bounds when compared to other modern independent horror, portraying Vanuk so well within the confines of his dank and dejected existence that it’s as if he’s sharing his grime and his loneliness with us that’ll result with a quick shower when the credits roll.

Fleeing from brilliant explosions cascading down from the sky upon the city, Catherine ducks into a seemingly innocuous vacant building to escape the bombardment.  As the ceiling crumbles down, she’s trapped inside a room amongst the rubble and metallic debris, but she’s not alone.  With her are corpses of military soldiers struck down by the falling cement and rebar.  Also with her, a metallic sarcophagus lies in the center amongst the corpses and the wreckage.  Inside, a creature emerges, one that’s ancient as it is predatory, and comes face-to-face with a disordered Catherine still shaken by the apocalyptic conditions she just escaped, but the creature shows signs of dying by coughing up blood and unable to move with ease.  However, the creature’s thirst for blood is still strong as it debates the philosophy of existence and species history in order to gain favor for the last of his kind as Catherine champions for the human right to live, breath, and love from the soul. 

Before writing, directing, and starring as the drunkard exorcists who can absorb other people’s demons, Michigan born filmmaker Dan Falicki was “The Last Vampyre on Earth” in 2013.  Also known as “Aeon:  The Last Vampyre on Earth,” the feature-length film is one Falicki did not write, penned by Warren Croyle (“From Jennifer”) and Ryan Lieske (“Awaken the Devil”), and was shot in Falicki’s home state of Michigan, Grand Rapids to me more exact.  “The Last Vampyre on Earth” aims to examine themes surrounding the right to exist, a Darwinist approach to predator and prey, truth and lies, good vs evil, otherworldly watchers, and the human soul in what’s not your traditional gothic and enchanting vampire thriller.  Instead, Falicki’s vampire tale is futuristic and conversional with impacting moments of bloody spew, declining decay, and projectile violence.  Falicki’s iron-man approach to filmmaking, taking on multiple hats in most of his productions, is cultivated through his independent production company Rotomation Pictures, partnering up with another Michigan based studio Sector 5 Films, under the sister label of Chemical Burn Entertainment.  Falicki produced the film with Warren Coyle, Anthony E. Griffin (“Devils in the Darkness”), and Frank Stabile.

Like “Accidental Exorcist,” Falicki’s if-you-want-to-do-it-right, you-do-it-yourself approach to filmmaking has certainly served him well in both features, though I’m sure a better reason for Falicki to take on principal roles is to keep costs low.  However, the roles involved, especially in “The Last Vampyre on Earth,” are extremely physical and taxing.  Playing Aeon, or The Last as credited on IMDB.com, Falicki is constantly feigning vomiting fake blood and other bodily fluid, hacking up a lung in constant coughing fits, moving in spasm and in spurts, and all doing it while under multiple grades of degrading derma layers progressing through the story.  There’s no holding Falicki back being everything ounce a vampire on death’s door while still clawing to get that little ounce of blood before all hell breaks loose from above.  Aeon’s counterpart is human, a woman named Catherine, who has a background in philosophy and when you put a woman with a philosophy degree in with a creature with long history, questionings and experiences formulated from views and fact begin to intertwine as long as Aeon has no strength in his body.  April Basile as Catherine holds her own enough against Falicki’s physical performance but does fail to compare as an equal, often reserved in performance to convince audiences Catherine is strong from the moment she steps into that building for cover.  Definitely stale with her character’s arc, Basile shifts gears without ever touching the shifter, keeping in the same gear as from which she started and that can be a bit grinding on the sympathetic system that allows us to feel for the protagonist and antagonist.  The cast rounds out with peripheral, non-dialogued bodies of death and delusion with Chris Eddy, Sara Jean Anderson and Joseph McIntosh going fully need for the cause and Ryan Lieske and Jason Roth as dead soldiers. 

“The Last Vampyre on Earth” knows its limitations as an independent film.  With a supposed investment of around one million dollars, the feature puts majority favor on the special practical effects and the maybe even it’s actors to solidify at least a visual story that’s hefty on the dialogue, literally and figuratively.  Popcorn moviegoers will struggle to see past the verbose debating and write off the film within the first 20 minutes that shows no promise of action or bloody horror but if you’re in the minority that can see past the diatribes and debates, Falicki and team are master of contrasts, gels, shadows, editing, and performance art as Falicki has an eye for engrossing visuals, much the same with “Accidental Exorcist” and “Awaken the Devil” that have been implied with a comic book like noir to both films and “The Last Vampyre on Earth” very much hints toward that succeeding aesthetic.  I do wish the Croyle and Lieske dialogue between Aeon and Catherine was a little less redundant and had a little more animated bite as the topics become circular and the characters never really moved from their stationary mark.  This results in scenes to stagnate as eyelids start to close and the issues at hand fade into nothing more than a yawn but there was always the cliffhanger of ambiguous bombardment of Earth outside and, interestingly enough, Aeon’s species is never mentioned, only flirted around as if saying vampire was too taboo in another subtle theme of metaphorical prejudice against those that are different but well equipped to survive, imprisoned to study for the best parts to be integrated into the captor’s race. 

The Daniel Falicki double feature “Accidental Exorcist” and “The Last Vampyre on Earth” arrive on a 2-disc, Chemical Burn distributed, DVD set, both are MPEG2 encoded DVD5s with 720p standard resolution.  This reissue set doesn’t up the picture quality game of the original releases that are often eclectic because of the cinematography and technical style by Falicki and cinematographer Scott Baisden (“Accidental Exorcist”) and Anthony E. Griffin (“The Last Vampyre on Earth”) who roughly have the same layout with odd angles, tint work, and key lighting with much of their differences lying in contrast saturation between overexposure and dark shadows.  Distinct details are not greatly evident, but the overall detail is middle of the road with texture smoothed over by the format and an unnatural palette workup.  “Accidental Exorcist” is presented in a 2.40:1 that offers tighter closeups and a broader stretch of his apartment during drama mid-shots while “The Last Vampyre on Earth” includes a 1.78:1 presentation.  Both features are noted to have a LPCM 5.1 surround sound mix, uncompressed and in the English language.  “Accident Exorcist” has the better of the two tracks with a clear dialogue and action sound design with some overlapping between the dialogue and the soundtrack that tries to muck up the dialogue.  We see this muck up more with “The Last Vampyre on Earth” as Falicki’s growling and gurgling, cough-riddled rants, raves, and diatribes are victims of being unintelligible at times during more low-tone dramatic soundtrack pieces in what’s mostly a low mechanical hum piece in between the crumbling building and character skirmish scenes.  Action Foley and soundbites are crisp without sound distant and isolated, integrated nicely into progressive mise-en-scenes.  There are no subtitle options for either disc.  What’s also lacking are special features that has this set pegged as a film-only release.  The re-issue DVD is a welcome mondo-inspired collector’s set with uncredited detailed illustrated artwork that meshes vampires and the possessed in a hellish collage.  The sleeve art is single-sided.  My only gripe with the set is the titles are not listed anywhere on the front or back so potential buyers will find themselves in a blind bag purchase.  The DVD Amaray holds no other tangible product inside.  The unrated features have a total runtime of 200 minutes and have region free capabilities. 

Last Rites: Don’t lose sight of deep independent films. Often times indie productions can be a challenge to sit through but Daniel Falicki’s “Accidental Exorcist” and “The Last Vampyre on Earth” are the exception, better than most, with interesting stories, complex characters, a crisis of existence, and a show of surreal aesthetic and vehemence to sweeten the pot for these two films under the obscuring larger production veil.

Don’t Skip Your Double Dose of Daniel Falick in “Exorcist Vs Vampires!”

Sometimes Sacrificing for Satan for Favors Does More EVIL Than Good! “Sex Ritual” reviewed! (International Media Network / DVD)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

The sudden death of her mother has left Ceren in the hands of a pettish and immoral stepfather.  Smacked around and even possibly raped while unconscious, Ceren becomes reserved while being on defense whenever her stepfather is around.  She ultimately joins a satanist group at the behest of friend Tuna who has ulterior motives of human sacrifice for the 13th of the sacred year where a rare celestial alignment allows Lucifer to grant powers to his disciples in return.  Ceren’s reluctant to be the Satanists’ much needed fourth person for the ritual, involving drinking each other’s blood and eating a helpless kitten, has nearly pushed her to the limit but when a young woman, a promised sinner, is kidnapped, tortured, and murdered on a pentagram and all in the name of Lucifer, Ceren is pushed into immense guilt.  When each of their supernatural powers come to light, Ceren has the ability to resurrect her deceased mother who takes care of Ceren’s immediate problems, such as her abusive stepfather, as well as be a guide to help the falsely accused sinner, the sacrificed young woman, to take revenge on her satanic murderers.

Never in all my horror movie watching existence have I ever seen, or come across, a Turkish horror movie.  Well, there’s a first for everything and Özlem Yesilyurt is the first director to have his horror film from Turkey, entitled “Sex Ritual,” to cross my desk.   Granted, “Sex Ritual” is an eye-catching and provocative title with lots of loaded promises but the conspicuous title is a Westernized conjuring to lure viewers, like me guilty as charged, into an intriguing concept based off title alone.  The real title is “Seytanin Elçiler,” roughly translated as “The Messengers of Satan” a far, far cry from the more outshining “Sex Ritual” title.  The 2023 satanist horror that allures reclusive and repressed individuals into doing horrible things is a scripted story written by Askin Kartal (“Lilith Cinleri,” aka “Lilith’s Demons” and “Zina” aka “Other”).  Mert Ozan Düz (“Zina”) produces the film under his company, Mert Production Media.

The story is casted entirely with Turkish actresses and actors with Yalçin Cemre at the center of the conflict.  Life browbeaten with her mother passing away and she now dwells under the ignoble thumb of an abusive stepfather, Ceren has little-to-no options in life until the opportunity to escape with a new set of friends, friends of the Satanic kind.  Ceren agrees to join at the constant behest of friend Tuna (Atilla Karahan) who has ulterior motives other than to be a good friend to the downtrodden Ceren in a pure case of netherworld summoning exploitation.  Not sure what Ceren was expecting, or perhaps there is some conjecture lost in translation, but when the satanists, which round out with Caner Gölgüoglu and Yagmur Yenice, begin to cut themselves, drink a bowl of their own blood, kill and eat cats, and the event murder with glee satisfaction, a hesitant Certain eventually goes with all of it without much of a stern opposition that makes her just as accountable for all the ritualized death at the groups’ hands.  Yet, the story makes her out to be the duped heroine and the savior of the sacrificed’s spirit, played by Renas Işıklı in life and death as the unfortunate young woman Selin who has her nipples cut off (not shown but implied with edits) during the sacrificial ritual.  Ceren uses her demonic powers for anti-hero good by taking revenge on those who’ve done inherent wrong to others, such as against her stepfather Kazim Arslantas along with Selin, by resurrecting dead mama (Esra Vural) to take exact the revenge. 

Özlem Yesilyurt’s feature can be construed as a very limited budgeted film with only a handful of simple, repeated locations (a scare abode, a vacant warehouse, outside bench), skirted-by special effects, and less-than-effectual emotional and dynamic dialogue between characters to progress a natural story.  Ceren’s stepfather talks a big improper game with threats and innuendos toward Ceren’s youthful beauty, but his actions are rather mild and any physical abuse, other than a handful of open handed slaps, have been crudely implied, barely registering a sexual encounter.  Strobe lights and some clinging-for-dear-life scab prosthetics make up more than most of the special effects efforts coupled by ham-fisted, overexaggerated performances that are more into theatrical play melodramatics rather than embodying a sense of practical realism.  The satanic enthusiasm between Tuna, Berk, and Asli finds refreshing footing with a disturbing appetite to do all the unspeakable rituals just to be granted unnatural powers, ones that prove to be fruitless against Ceren’s revivification of the dead which begs the question of who exactly did the satanist sacrifice for?  You would think if it was actually for Satan himself, he would not have gifted the fourth wishy-washy acolyte Ceren with a formidable ability over his true followers, unless Satan’s a real son of a bitch and likes to see the world burn no matter who bends a knee to him.  The “Sex Ritual” title is pushed to the seams, stretched to sell copies on a provocative promise that isn’t fulfilled as there’s no sex – voluntary, influenced, or forced copulation – to bring about infernal Hell on Earth, or at least in an inner circle of the desperate to be devilish. 

“Sex Ritual” is a conjured up Turkish horror now available in North America on DVD.  The MPEG2 encoded DVD5 comes courtesy of International Media Network, aiming to bring worldwide horror to western audiences.  Presented in a widescreen 1.78:1 aspect ratio, IMN isn’t the pinnacle of transfer quality but the digital picture has a fair amount of inherent success that has already done the preinstalled work but “Sex Ritual” is a release that’s essentially from farm to table with an ungraded picture within the framework of a 720p resolution, possibly upscaled through your player and television setup.  To its advantage, the feature doesn’t have the scenic, action, or special effects range to test the format and that makes the picture look better, cleaner, and with greater emphasis on detail than typical effects boosted horror with a snappier pace to build the intensity and the terror.  “Sex Ritual’s” often slowed down, lingers on scenes, because of the budget limitations and this results in never challenging the compression.  The audio is an uncompressed PCM Stereo 2.0 mixed in the Turkish language with English subtitles that synch and pace just fine with no sign of misspelling or broken sentence structures.  The little devilry ambiance instilled is held at bay, reserved to be only accessorial to the maniacal laughing and victimizing screams, and the dialogue supplied has prominence and strength between a mostly conversating narrative contrived of pressure, abuse, and bullying with little substance in Ceren’s beset angst and a proper farewell to dear old dead mother.  The generic stock soundtrack from Ekrem Düzgünoglu (“Lilith’s Demons”) lacks vitality to be impactful and sounds as it pulled and edited directly from a generated percussion and synthesizer you find free online.  For encoded special features, there is only a chapter selection on the static menu.  The physical DVD comes in a standard Amaray case with a simple, yet bold and captivating sleeve art with a similar relevance to Ceren and the pagan act with “Sex Ritual” hovering over top, a good marketable look for the IMN release.  The 82-minute DVD comes unrated, though not listed, with region free playback. 

Last Rites: Between the poor taste westernized title and the stale progression of the narrative, “Sex Ritual” has no path forward in summoning its darkest qualities for power and glory in this Turkish-made, low-budget, forgettable thriller.

Sex Ritual Trailer (2026) on Vimeo

EVIL Sleeps with Women to Anticipate the Antichrist’s Arrival! “Violent New Breed” reviewed! (Visual Vengeance / Blu-ray)

Posted by Steven Lewis on

“Violent New Breed” is a violent Visual Vengeance video available now!

The city of New York is under siege by a new drug as the narcotic Rapture sticks in the arms of his addicts, leaving them mindless and helpless to the effects.  At the head of the snake, a demon race known as Breeders are responsible for trafficking Rapture across the city.  Jack and Steve are part of a covert government operation well versed with the Breeder’s stimulation scheme of the junkie community. Going undercover at a Breeder establishment front, Jack concealed effort is blown and he falls to the Breeder’s vile ways, leading partner Steve, along with Jack’s teenage daughter Amy, down in the underbelly of the Breeder lair where cyborg servants are constructed and human women are led to breed more demonic spawn, one in particular in plan to be the birth of the antichrist.  In a hellish, NYC basement, amongst viscera and body part leftovers, Steve and Amy must complete the mission and stop the antichrist from reigning hell down on Earth. 

Independent horror filmmaker Todd Sheets has become a master of the microbudget horror scene since the mid-1980’s.  His evolution began with humble shorts, such as “Blood of the Undead” and “Dead Things,” with the latter being re-imagined by Sheets a decade later, and those early years really sowed the seeds of his behind-the-camera love for extreme and outrageous gore and horror as he creates low-budget horror through the years a rapid, breakneck pace, releasing titles such as the lycanthropic “Moonchild,” the anthological horror “Hi-8 (Horror Independent 8) that brings eight of the best indie filmmakers together to tell their tales of terror, and “Clownado.”  Yes, “Clownado” is, you guessed it, a tornado swirling with murderous clowns in it’s vortex.  My personal favorite has always been “Dreaming Purple Neon” for its off-coloring performances and survival-esque storyline with demons and drugs.  “Violent New Breed” is in the middle of his career having been released in 1997 with Sheets gaining traction on multiple filming locations, employing more principal and supporting cast members as well as an abundance of extras, and upping the violent tone and degenerate microcosms that transport viewers to seedier and deadlier worlds.   “Violent New Breed” is written and directed by Sheets under his early production label, Trustinus Productions, securing him a producer credit too.

Sheets has never been the type of filmmaker to follow conventional guidelines when it comes to his characters, often switching them around or executing a red herring to flesh out the real protagonist or anti-hero.  “Violent New Breed” plays into the former with a switcheroo of the principal protagonist, initially beginning with Jack going undercover and infiltrating the Breed’s strip club bar used as a front for their demonic dealings and ending with partner Steve taking the antichrist to the finish line.  The audience will get pretty far and involved with Jack’s life as he struggles with his divorce and custody of daughter Amy (Rebecca Rose).  Mark Glover, who has worked with Sheets on “Bloodthirsty Cannibal Demons” and “Zombie Bloodbath 2,” lands the subconscious weight of personal strife as he inevitably becomes the lone cop sheep in a den of demonic wolves that leave Amy fatherless.  That’s when Nick Stodden (“Clownado”) steps into the fold as Steve.  Steve’s not terribly present in the fist half of the film but is thrust into the Breed labyrinth by duty and by promise to his partner to keep Amy safe.  Strodden plays an average hero with Steve’s bravery in plenty of supply, but the character lacks the hand-to-hand combat skills or weaponry for a government agent trained to deal with supernatural killers.   Embracing entirely Asmodeus, the slick-rick head honcho of the demon hierarchy, is “Moonchild’s” Dave Miller who rather dons the nice suit, cocky attitude, and twisted demon leader suitably despite some reckless decision-making faux-pas moments that ultimately cost the character everything he’s worked toward.  The characters a mostly filled in with little human survivors of the foreboding infernal uprising, such as with Tamara (Jenni Geigel, “The Shivers”) and Trixie (Becky Stodden, “The Shivers”) who find themselves caught in the middle, and with Rod Will (“The Shivers”), Joel Hedge, Jody Rovick (“Prehistoric Bimbos in Armageddon City”), and Andrea Ureno as numerous demons, even one that has a carcinization lower body while still resembling a humanoid at the top-half with protruding mandibles, an absurd radical efforted pulled off successfully by Sheets and his limited budget. 

Sheets’ vision has always been larger than his funds, but the ambitious indie horror filmmaker can’t be contained or constrained by the size of his wallet and the size of his heart for the genre that inspires his creativity.  “Violent New Breed” epitomizes that Todd Sheets ingenuity and the image of a horrifying tomorrow with a large cast, lots of blood, and a striving story set on the streets of New York City while not actually taking one step in the Big Apple.  Yes, “Violent New Breed” is completely filmed in the Midwest, more specifically in Sheets’ hometown and state of Kansas City, Missouri, but the urban jungle is sold through the editing with interjected NYC cityscapes. However, none of the action really happens on the streets but in enclosed bars, basements, and backalleys that could sell to be anywhere, USA. Like many other Todd Sheets productions, there’s not a ton of backstory to chief characters, such as with Jack and Steve’s covert company of infiltrating and obliterating Breeder operations in what is considered an off-the-books undertaking, not recognized officially, yet the pre-apocalypse of the Breeders’ mission isn’t worth the money or resources to warrant the assignment more than two men. Breeders also outweigh hundred-fold, have abilities to invisible-phase, and have an army of Cyborgs all with the influencing poison on the streets to control most of the human population. Sheets sets up a David vs. Goliath narrative without much fight in the heroes and heroines with the Breeders’ shortcomings breed essentially from them tripping over their own shoelaces by not taking advantage when advantage appears opportune. The heroes’ dumbluck constantly and consistently happen through the film and becomes tiresome to watch weak torchbearers fumble to save all of humanity against domineering supernatural terror from Hell!

‘Violent New Breed” gets a violent-illustrated new release from Visual Vengeance. The new Blu-ray glorifies Sheets’ SOV artistic style through an AVC encoded, 1080p high-resolution, BD50. The precursing title card warning of the film’s technical imperfections through commercial or economical equipment, a wonted service by the Wild Eye Releasing’s SOV label, are not egregiously touched up but rather accentuate a cleaner, meaner version for show, presented in its original pillarbox full screen 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The world-wide debut Blu-ray contains the director approved transfer of the SD master tape elements. The faded details incline toward a warmer tone that almost seems ablaze with a glowing heat lamp just out of frame and this also, along with the 720p video, suppresses finer textures with notes of aliasing around character actions. Sheets’ color gels and hazy lighting work to an extent but there’s little pop to the graded coloring. The English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo offers more bite than expected out form it’s two-channel output but has some difficulty deciphering distinct layers inside the scene. Dialogue echoes and varies in volume sporadically through the picture with it also melding into the diegetic environment in a less-than-refined sound. However, dialogue does push through to an extent and is discernible with a rock soundtrack scoring through more effectively like a hot knife through butter. There are English subtitles available for selection. Packed with 12 hours of bonus content, Todd Sheet fans will receive a comprehensive look on not only a “Violent New Breed” but as the filmmaker as a whole. Those with older format copies of the film with be familiar with one of three commentary tracks on the Visual Vengeance release that includes director Todd Sheets and actors Nick Stodden, Antwoine Steele, and Becky Stodden. There’s a Tony Strauss of Weng’s Chop magazine commentary and a Visual Vengeance produced 2023 remastered commentary with Sheets and Rob Hauschild, founder of Wild Eye Releasing. Other bonus content contains an interview with actor Jerry Angell and director Todd Sheets, Sheets discussing working with the late “Dolemite” actor Rudy Ray Moore who plays the last-standing city cleric, a behind-the-scenes documentary, a 2023 Q&A session at the Nitehawk Cinema / Visual Vengeance screening, a blooper reel, a behind-the-scenes image gallery, the original Kansas City local news spot, an uncut version of the strip club entrance sequence, Todd Sheets’ 2014 short zombie-western “Fistful of the Undead” from the 2016 anthology “Grindsploitation 2: The Lost Reels,” and the original and Visual Vengeance trailers. Also included are two alternate versions of the film: the DVD version and The Movie Channel’s R-rated cut. Three movies from the prince of one! Now that you’ve gone through 12-hours of encoded content, next stop is the hefty physical content beginning with graphic artist Heavy J’s Ghana-inspired artwork on the pink carboard O-slipcover that unveils inside a more traditional-approach to Visual Vengeance’s orange, yellow, and black, character-compiled primary art for the standard, clear Blu-ray Amary. The reverse side has the original poster art of a blue-tinted negative image of an axe-wielding Breeder cultist. The insert section has a single-sided folded mini poster of the Ghana art, a trifold essay from Tony Strauss with a bio on Todd Sheets, his filmography, and on “Violent New Breed” that also includes behind-the-scene and movie stills, a single fold, cardboard birth announcement for the coming of the antichrist, and a retro sicker sheet. The 114-minute feature is not rated and is region free encoded.

Last Rites: Todd Sheets enlarges an evil urban with an insidious poison coursing through the city, taking women when they please, and bring forth the antichrist and there’s only a handful of ill-equipped humans to stand in their way. “Violent New Breed’s” Visual Vengeance release, packed with extra content and a spiffy physical presence, is a victory for Todd Sheets and all independent filmmakers like him.

“Violent New Breed” is a violent Visual Vengeance video available now!