Category Archives: Evil Reviews

Reviews are important to read because what if you want to pick up an off-the-wall film and have no idea what to expect? Well, I just might have it in the review vault….

Holy Evil Cow! Dead Meat review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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An Ireland countryside becomes the victim of a mutated strain of Mad Cow disease that is infectious and sends the victims into a blood thirsty, violence fit of rage. A small band of survivors race across the land looking for a safe haven, but with nearly everyone infected, a safe place is hard to find.
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You just don’t see too many Irish horror movies and you probably will see not another one ever again. Dead Meat has to be the worst and the best Irish zombie film of the last three decades, but I’m not totally knocking Dead Meat because there are positives about the Conor McMahon written and directed film that can’t go ignored. First, practical effects, like the ones used in Peter Jackson Dead Alive, are always the best way to go because a shovel through someone’s chest or a vacuum sucking out an eye ball just doesn’t seem that convincing to me. If I want to want animated television, I’ll watch cartoons on Saturday morning. Real effects stem from the talents of the special effects crew consisting of Roy Gleasure, Brendan Fahy, and Jonathan Graham. Graham has had his hands in other major, more recent films such as Pacific Rim, Resident Evil: Retribution, and the remake of RoboCop as a mold maker.

The Fangoria Gorezone, one of the very few ever endorsed by Fangoria back in the day, film however doesn’t have a great story in which the survivors just wonder through the countryside looking for a supposedly safe castle to take shelter. The group whittles down through each passing “zombie” horde and bash and thrash through the madness. Dead Meat might not have suffered too much if one could comprehend thick Irish accents. The accents were so thick I couldn’t make out sentences. This should serious flaw the film for other viewers, but following the story was a challenge and very taxing on the ears and mind.
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In all, there lies good and there lies mediocracy with Dead Meat. The obvious stand out points of the film are that the film is an Irish horror film and uses practical and great effects. The downside is the lack of story and a good solid core to give our characters, even our hero and heroine, some depth. Frankly, the characters could have all bit the dust without a tear shed on my part. Dead Meat is not a new film and has been out for over a decade, but certainly worth a gander and wouldn’t hurt to be Irish to get some kind of understanding out of it all.

Found Footage of Mockumentary Evil! Black Water Vampire review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Prior to my viewing of Black Water Vampire, the conclusion that I’ve succumb to will tell that I’m one reviewer who thinks found footage horror has been well used and abused through the valleys of independent film to the hills of the Hollywood mainstream market. Though the technique has been ridden hard through the past decade, the touch of realism can still be felt. Black Water Vampire doesn’t stray too far from it’s found footage ancestors as far as horror elements in these types of movies go, but what Black Water Vampire may be weak on, their strength lies with in the producing of bone-chilling and fear-inducing effects that turn your perspective on vampire films to a whole different direction.

Over numerous decades, four women went missing on December 21st and found several days later, dead and drained of blood, near the Black Water Creek. An aspiring journalist enlists three of her friends to create a documentary on the killings and to prove to the world that suspected killer and death row inmate Raymond Banks has been unjustly locked up for the four murders. Their investigation leads them into more than what they expected – a more dangerous and darker path has been set at the stake of their lives.
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Freshman director Evan Tramel sets up Black Water Vampire nicely as a true documentary, interviewing friends and families of the victims, asking retired case workers about the investigation of the past victims, having a one-on-one chat with inmate Raymond Banks, and even trekking to the snowing hills of Black Water to capture the essence of Banks’ isolated cabin. This set up takes about a good portion of the film and though typically this might be the dullest part of the movie, the beginning is a good set up for these characters: Danielle – a passionate journalist looking for the truth, Andrea – a producer who feels compelled about the unfair persecution of Raymond Banks, Anthony – a camera man looking to get paid, and Robin – a friend helping out a friend. Funny enough is that all the characters’ names are actually the names of the actors too: Danielle Lozeau, Andrea Adams, Anthony Russell, and Robin Allen.

When all hell goes loose and things get berserk, the investigators discover a true vampire, bat-like humanoid, hunting them down for more than just to feed. The cat and mouse game between predator and prey had me going, but when the bat creature feels the need to reproduce is where I get a little weary about the story. An atomically frightening atmosphere being isolated in a snow-filled forest, but when you start introducing a horny vampire and a conspiracy notions, a viewer will tend to forget what they’re watching and start to wonder what the hell and why the hell their watching. This feeling succumbs at the movie’s end and though I found solace in an original ending, I couldn’t help to think the pain other viewers, especially red blooded horror fans, would think about this ending.

The acting was par for the course and the actors did a good enough to job to pass for scared shitless, but I found the vampire to be the real star. Brandon DeSpain‘s performance as the creature of the night could scare the pants off Van Helsing himself. DeSpain’s vampire was relentless, none compassionate, visceral, and animalistic. I had a hard to time trying to piece together the relation between the specific date of December 21st and the vampire’s killings. Why the first day of solstice? The acting becomes a little drowned out by other plot mysteries such as a homeless woman wondering the woods and doesn’t speak to the investigators. Her presence and the “oh geez” ending are never explained and there were no breadcrumbs given to help explain.
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Image Entertainment brings this unique take of vampire horror to UK DVD on March 24. Check it out and come to a conclusion yourself, but be forewarned that you’ve never experienced a vampire film like this one. Don’t let the Image Entertainment cover fool you with a big breasted woman being covered in blood as there lies nothing similar to that at all in the film.

Grade A Evil! Murder University review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Enthralled from last week’s viewing of Richard Griffin’s The Disco Exorcist (see review here) that I checked into the player another Griffin film entitled Murder University from 2012. A fairly generic titled college slasher with semi-comedic values that tries to blend in with similar genre slashers such as Urban Legend, House on Sorority Row, Black Christmas, or Sorority House Massacre. Comedy elements separate Murder University from the rest as well as Murder University doesn’t set itself in the present time of which the setting takes place. I’ll dissect Griffin’s film the best I can because my response post viewing teeters back and forth of a thumbs up for pratical effects and homage or thumbs down for storyline and dialogue.

Greensboro University has a notorious reputation for being constructed by a founder who ritualized satanic values and murdered people for years in the late 19th century. In the late 20th century, the New England university is once again plague by the cult-like killers who call themselves the Greesnboro Devils. A survivor of a recent attack and a shunned detective try to hunt down the motives behinds the killings and the secrets of a legacy of killers.
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The upside of Murder University stems from the use of practical special effects. Decapitations became an obvious motif for this film (though there was no reason to explain this and I can only guess that beheadings were a big way to die in the 80s) with a grand total of six axe-chopped decapitations. The detail in the severed heads had high marks as well as other death scenes in the movie. Another throwback from the 80’s is the music and Murder University’s soundtrack certainly have that synth, brit-rock feel in some scenes, but in other scenes, 90’s grunge ruled the screen a long with hairstyles and clothes of a more recent decade.

The downside holds more weight coming from the story and the dialogue. The story comes a part at the seems with lead character Josh Greene as his backstory is intertwined with the murders and to get more of that backstory from his past would have been better than the exposition given nature of who Josh really is destined to be and what Josh is destined to be comes off pointless by default. Was this the divine will of Satan? Were these killers psychotic? What were the motivations? That is the real questions. The dialogue also scores low marks for being off key, choppy, awkward, and explicatively gratuitous. Not everybody is Quentin Taratino and can pull of mouthy vulgarity with ease and the script with Murder University just seems too forced for comfort.
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Jamie Dufault has a solid performance as our hero Josh Greene coming from a nobody in college and transforming to becoming the ultimate domineer in the end, but Nat Silva gives an even more solid performance as the killer (when the killer has dialogue) and Samantha Acampora (Josh’s girlfriend Meg) is certainly the eye candy that we wish would show a little more skin than just her bare ass.

Murder University‘s retro entertainment keeps afloat just under chin level and won’t bore you to death. Richard Griffin is two for two in my little black book of directors and I’ll keep an eye out for more of his material in the future. MVD and Wild Eye Releasing release this Not Rated, widescreen disc with deleted scenes and two commentary tracks. This should be a fairly affordable, tongue-and-cheek horror movie if you’re looking for a cheap, yet entertaining, thrills.

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A Snapshot of Evil. S.L.R. review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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S.L.R., or Single Lens Reflex, involves a man obsessed with online young girl voyeur porn, but when he discovers photos of his underage daughter being photographed and uploaded online by a shameless and anonymous user named ANORAK, the emotionally compromised man must engage the user while battling his own obsession.

Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham does a phenomenal job as the father searching for his daughter’s mysterious predator. Cunnigham’s struggle between being a voyeur porn enthusiast and a father is delivered systematically once the photos of the daughter, played by Amy Wren, become more frequent. The very plausibility of this happening is more than likely than we want to imagine. I’m sure we see ourselves or our close family as Saints who could do no wrong, but look at Saint Peter and his betrayal against Jesus.
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The short film, written and directed by Stephen Fingleton, also embarks on the question of accessibility of material and how fast the fire can spread online. The beginning of the short shows how an instant snapshot of a woman’s panty from an upskirt angle can be uploaded in two seconds without obstacle. In seconds, the photograph would hit a thousand views because, frankly, people are perverted. In seconds, that very photograph, of a young naive girl, would be the face of voyeur porn and what if that girl was your daughter and she was underage? That’s another question that pops to mind as you don’t really know what the age might be of these girls. Of course, the website hosting photos might describe the girl as a “barely 18 teen hottie.” We easily digest this as we believe anything on the internet as true.

Well delivered as well as the material is disturbing to think about. Fingleton captures a father’s fears, a perverts lust, and little girl’s innocence. The short film is open ended for the viewer to create their own ending; I for one wanted the ending to be more disturbing because porn addiction, like any other addiction, can be a cycle and the father’s vice won’t be suffocated that ease even if his daughter’s pictures were only a temporary obstacle. Check the Best Irish short film below according to Foyle Film Festival.

Get Down With Evil! The Disco Exorcist review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Rex Romanski loves the ladies. His swinging disco fever charm dons no rival and the ladies, acknowledging his love’em and leave’em attitude, want his mojo even after he ditches them. But when Rex wines and dines and screws the wrong woman Rita Marie, his nightmare is only beginning. Rita is a black magic priestess with devilish revenge on the mind and Rex’s new play toy, mega porn star Amoreena Jones, becomes the host of an implanted demon to reek havoc among Rex and his groovy friends.

Director Richard Griffin did a decent job with this sleazy decadence of a screen play making the most of the nudity, the blood, the sex, and the utmost offensive nature that is The Disco Exorcist. I’m not too familiar with Griffin, but the native New Englander has been balls deep in horror and exploitation since the early 2000’s and his decade efforts really show the core of his passion. The Disco Exorcist won’t win Academy Awards, but have rock the shit out of horror film festivals including Rock and Shock 2011 and Killer Film Festival 2011 and rightfully so. This homage to the 1970’s includes super fueled drug and sex scenes that are, but probably not, the overboard culture of the 1970’s.

Rex Romanski isn’t a stereotypical hero. In fact, Rex is a bit of a wimp with a big love stick and he just happens to be in the right place at the right time when his ass needs saving. While the The Disco Exorcist wants to portray Rex the all mighty and strong hero, he doesn’t really do anything. Actor Michael Reed who portrays Rex makes you forget how pathetic Rex really can be by using his on camera charm. The guy is likable – what else can I say? Griffin and Reed have worked together previously in Griffin’s older work Nun of That and The Beyond the Dunwich Horror and I imagine their chemistry is similar to that of Stuart Gordon and Jeffrey Combs.
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Ruth Sulterland is another of Griffin’s entourage and her role as the black magic priestess doesn’t spark as much likability as maybe Reed’s Rex does for the sheer fact that there resembles not nearly enough evil in Ruth to conjure any real threat to our hero and heroine. Rita is more in the background playing with her voodoo dolls and placing spells upon the grave to awake all scorn women from their tombs. Rita would have been more convincing if she was more hands on with Amoreena or Rex, but instead Rita resembles more like one of Rex’s whores and is easily forgettable.
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The gore of The Disco Exorcist doesn’t really pick up until almost 45 minutes into the film when the porn shoot goes array with possessed, bare chested roller girls hacking away at the on-set production crew. The first 45 minutes were more about Rex mojo’ing the beaver from various ladies and snorting coke like his life depended on it. The retro fitting of The Disco Exorcist really helps set the stage for the homage to the exploitive films of that represented decade. What doesn’t hurt the film either is the mayhem after that initial cherry popping gore scene which follows up with castration, decapitation, and combustion!
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Tons of fun, tons of drugs, ton of gore, tons of nudity – what is not to like about Richard’s Griffin’s sleazy and funny tale of Rex Romanski? Wild Eye Releasing and MVDvisual bring this film to DVD home entertainment and both companies are super pro-independent and company you can trust to give you a good time. The Disco Exorcist is a prime example of a good time.