Young Roscoe is lured to an underground dwelling dimension by an ancient demon of peace. The demon takes Roscoe as his pupil and mentors him for years the ways of the powerful dark arts, but when Roscoe unknowingly opens the gates of hell by releasing three powerful and evil demons from their vessels, his master is killed and Roscoe flees back to his quiet earthly town with the evil demons in tail. Now the three pure evil beasts ascend topside and reek havoc amongst the quaint little town using mind control upon their human prey, re-animating the dead back to life, and conjuring the evil out of innocents’ souls. Roscoe has the only supernatural power to stop them, taught and passed down to him by his late demon master, but will he have enough strength to save what’s left of his humanity?
First off, “The Demon’s Rook” is my first favorite release of the 2015! A freshman film from James Sizemore rises to the top and absolutely destroys, or rather obliterates, any horror release I’ve watched and reviewed the past two months. Sizemore eviscerates the 1980’s and early 1990’s horror, tangles and twists all the elements together, releasing a grotesquely creature-feature of awesomeness.
The detail on the practical effects are so finely tuned and done well that in trying to point out the rubbery, obviously fake demon body parts was seriously pointless. Every thing from costumes, to makeup, to exploding heads were rock hard solid in the results, even the sometimes over-zealous gore scenes in other gory films were exact and on point with camera angles, the right amount of blood, and not too hard to swallow when it came down to suspending disbelief.
The fantastic-driven story combines many horror subgenres from, the obvious, demonology, to the living undead. This doesn’t feel like another “run for your life while we’re being chased” type film as there are various facets and layered tangents to the story. Many characters are introduced and are quickly, but properly, disposed of and, for a film like “The Demon’s Rook,” this type of catch and release is suitable because death becomes a character and without death, in a movie with demons and zombies and black magic, you need death to breathe and live and in order to fully embody that death character you need victims and Sizemore, along with co-write Akom Tidwell, breaks the bank with disposable characters.
Tim Reis’s cinematography is beyond brilliant with the use of prominent coloring. The red, green, blue dense fog settings create an atmosphere like none other while the editing, cut also by Tim Reis, is easy on the transitions and easy to follow. Sizemore tackles the special effects department and seizes the moment to be relentless on the use of fake blood. These Georgian filmmakers will need to be watched closely as “The Demon Rook” is underground gold and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see rush of more films into production from this crew. The dialogue is my only small beef with “The Demon’s Rook” as it’s bit bland and a bit expositional, but I’m really reaching to find a flaw here. Most of the ambiance and dialogue becomes a bit jumbled at the beginning with sudden stops in sounds creating goofy transitions. However, this all seems to clear up fairly early.
Technically, the Cindedigm DVD looks amazing in a clarity sense with only a few blurry moments during forest scenes in it’s 16:9 widescreen format. The sound is balanced and consistent throughout even during the scenes or montages tracks from rock bands come into play. No sign of audio stifling nor hijacking. Plus, a good amount of extras come with the release such as deleted scenes, a making of, a gag reel, and bonus short film from Sizemore entitled “Goat Witch” which is just as amazingly disturbing.
Bringing old time practical monster classiness to the modern age is risky business, but director James Sizemore’s and Akom Tidewell’s passion and thirst for hallmark classic demons and zombies resurrects legends back to the indie scene and by adding in his own terroristic tastes, the Black Rider Productions duo also conjures up something new with the vibrant coloring. I would compare Sizemore to the satanic or cult likes of Rob Zombie, to a young George A. Romero with the zombies, and to a special effects genius such as Tom Savini. Don’t consider Sizemore a hack of icons; he’s certainly not, but he displays his own style by slowly sliding that sharp blade into the stomach with perverseness pleasure and that, my friends, is Sizemore’s contribution to chaos.
Tag Archives: dvd
Ancient Evil: “The Other” review!
Niles and Holland Perry are close twin siblings who live on a countryside farm in the early 20th century. Their family has been plagued by past personal tragedy that has mentally paralyzed their mother. When everything starts to feel normal again, death returns to the farmhouse and nobody suspects that the two boys, the twins, because who would imagine that one boy would be good and the other would be pure evil?
“The Other” a 1972 gothic gem from the “To Kill A Mockingbird” director Robert Mulligan brought back to DVD in the UK by Eureka Entertainment. The ageless story of uncomfortable fear toward the yin and yang characters with a good twist that doesn’t happen at the end of the movie but rather lands right in the middle of the climax. The finale saves the best, or the most tragic, for last with a moment that will shock even those born in the 21st century. Even when you know, from your extensive movie knowledge, what to expect you can’t believe the stunning outcome written by Tom Tryon who also penned the novel with the same title.
The twins are played by real life twins Chris and Martin Udvarnoky and this throws us for a loop because you rarely see the twins sharing the same scene. Right there, you know something is up. The Perry boys are characters that are active, like any other nine or ten year old boys, and seemingly innocent enough boys with the usual boys will be boys touch. Their knack for fishing, hide-n-go seek, and swimming try to pull our attention away from one of the boy’s true mischievous nature.
Along side Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, German stage actress Uta Hagen plays the boys’ Russian grandmother who becomes the matriarch when their mother becomes almost catatonic. Another supporting cast member is a young John Ritter in one of his first films and a striking Diana Muldaur who looks almost unrecognizable from her role as Doctor Pulaski from the sci-fi TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Eureka Entertainment’s dual format (DVD & Blu-ray) of “The Other” has beautiful 1080p even off a cheap DVD player as long as you have a decent high definition TV (my personal TV is a Vizio LED M series). The extras only include the theatrical trailer, but I believe the film will speak for itself and you can judge for yourself on the film’s February 23rd release date in the UK.
Evil Does a Body Good! “Milk the Maid” review!
Ruriko’s family is on steep decline: Ruriko’s fooing around with other men, her husband has no job, and their son Koichi may or may not be accepted to Tokyo University. Money is tight, tensions are high, and then it all changes when Ruriko brings home Milk, a self-declared baby angel looking to get back to Heaven. Koichi and his dad believes Milk is annoying and needs to be committed, but when Milk is presented to live with the Tokyo family, nobody can resist her innocent sex appeal and mystical charm.
Oh my goodness. Tia is an absolute beautiful AV model who has only been in the Japanese porn business for 3 years. Her exotic red hair, massive succulent H cup, and slender tight body creates Tia to be the center of gravity in “Milk the Maid.” Her innocent act as a baby angel looking to make her way back to Heaven from God’s approval, but first she much help those around her “reach heaven” first. You can imagine the troubles the male characters, Koichi and his father, go through are quickly extinguished and they see their fateful path to enlightenment. Supporting female cast members Mirei Yokoyama, another tight big breasted Japanese AV wonderment, and Ayum, a lesser known AV model but none-the-less still cute, round out this zany erotic comedy. The film opens with Mirei Yokoyama working it on a man; her absolutely gorgeous body had me convinced that she was the “star” of the film until I saw Tia. The exotic red hair and light skin and the cutesy fantasy-like appeal certainly outshines the rest of the cast.
Though “Milk the Maid” ignites into a pretty common, yet spectacular, Japanese wacky erotic comedy – still quite hilarious at points – the characters do go through a rough patch and work through Milk’s heavenly-body ways in order to rekindle the lost spark back into the family and help them rediscover love. Another point to love this film is the sex scenes. Most pink films I’ve seen conjoin two people who seem to be contending on who can over sex the other. That’s not the case here as the sensual scenes are more, well, normal for lack of a better word. They’re still very sexy without creating an awkward viewing experience.
“Milk the Maid” is another great hit and recent release for the pinkusploitation empire Pink Eiga. Long time pink film director Motosugu Watanabe strikes panty wet gold! Being one of the most revealing pink films that I’ve ever seen, I’m glad Tia had honed onto my radar and is now a object of my dreams. Catch this DVD either at your local video store’s back room or, and a much easier more convenient way, purchase it directly at Pink Eiga.com!
It Takes Real Evil to Cure an Addiction! “Malignant” review!
Allex’s life is meaningless. Losing his wife spun a web of alcoholism that drained his motivation to live. But Allex is about to get a little help from a man in black; a rogue scientist looking to cure Allex’s addiction in the most radical of sense. When Allex wakes up after a black out binder, a stitched up incision is on his chest and a video that shows him on a murderous rampage. Allex doesn’t remember a thing. Being terrorized by a scientists who thirst to cure Allex of his alcoholism and stagnant life is nothing short of bitter sweet.
Lets start off this review with a positive. Brad Dourif will forever stand out among his fellow cast mates. Dourif has accumulated over the years the manners and the techniques to build a sinister villain even if the legendary “Chucky” voicing actor plays a character that lacks major cojones. In “Malignant,” Dourif is the rogue scientist playing havoc on Allex’s life and the subtle approach Dourif brings is exactly how I would have imagined it as his character is brilliantly spiteful and usually where there is brains, there is less braun.
“Malignant” drives a stake right through the heart of alcoholism subject matter. Most people flounder the way the main character Allex does when they’re under the spell of the drink. Director Brian Avenet-Bradley introduces a cruel and diabolical intervention where pro-choice to cure one’s self is non-existent. Now, the fix isn’t exactly quick and nor is it ethical and moral, but when you need to start living your life again, what better way than to slash the throats of the drunks around you?
With a good amount of positives for the film, “Malignant” certainly isn’t anything spectacular to where you desperately need to watch it right away. But I certainly encourage the message behind the film and can back good Dourif performance even if it’s not his best. Another positive is the lobotomy surgical scenes will have some eye lids squint with visual displeasure and I can contest that the effects are realistic and not at all cheesy.
What I can’t escape from is the main character’s poor choices. The screenplay holes are major because the character Allex makes too many poor choices driving my dislike for Allex high and hoping that he gets what he deserves, for being idiotic, in the end. Played by Gary Cairns, Allex’s woes with this loss of his wife, played by the smoking Sienna Farall only in flashbacks, are felt, but I felt like his life with alcohol could have been more depressing. Cairns portraying a depressed drunk certainly needed more boozing and loathing of life.
“Malignant” isn’t benign. This is a good solid DVD release by MVDvisual with great presentation and clarity that makes the surgical scenes that more fearing. Watching it for Brad Dourif alone if you’re a fan of his work or watch one night when the mood for a thriller takes you over. Test the waters as you may find this film evilly enticing.
Evil Wants You to Be a Better Father! “In the House of Flies” review!
Heather and Steve take a trip into the city in June of ’88. Adversely, their romantic holiday turns into a nightmare of claustrophobia, torture, and a fear when a maniac abducts the couple and holds them in small, enclosed basement of a middle of nowhere house in a undisclosed location. Using a broken rotary phone that only receives inbound calls, the abductor plays a horrifying psychological game that will test the bounds of Heather and Steve’s strong relationship.
Director Gabriel Carrer and screenwriter Angus McLellan have proven that their diabolical host lives up to being the epitome of unsympathetic, unreasonable, and sadistic in “In the House of Flies”. The captor leaves no room for wiggle and makes the outlook for our hero and heroine look tragically bleak and sorrowful. The method on how Steve and Heather manage to overcome their host doesn’t jive well with me. Surely a smart and methodical person would not be so careless agains’t two individuals who have to be delirious and weak after weeks of isolation and starvation. Yet, somehow in a matter of a few minutes, the delirious and weak couple hardly break a sweat and barely struggle for victory. I hoped for a better ending, but I shouldn’t take away from the devilish qualities of their capture who lives up to other iconic insane captors such as John Kramer.
The subject matter is obviously dark and realistic. Heather and Steve are put into a position where their love for each other is tested to the brink of it’s limit. Will Steve kill himself to save Heather? Will Steve kill himself to save Heather and their unborn two-month term baby? Will Heather kill Steve to save herself? The couple reach breaking points and question their adoration. The host is firmly behind the wheel of his own sadistic game and wants only one thing and that is the destruction of Steve; his will knowns no limits when dealing with women or unborn children. Though the plot reeks of sinister events, the dialogue and the characters actions don’t reflect the film’s blunt storyline. Heather and Steve are a bit too comfortable in their newly dim basement home and kind of accept being kidnapped or give up far too quickly. Rated as unrated, “In the House of Flies” has a tame dialogue. The rap between Steve and Heather and the host doesn’t convey the aggression one may convey if frightened and angry. Graphic scenes are another tame portion of the film that I feel a movie of this caliber could have heightened, but I admire filmmakers that can provoke without having to visually exploit and that is what “In the House of Flies” does here.
The cast of three is fairly solid. Much can’t go wrong if you have a limit number of actors and actresses and other films have proven this such as Ryan Reyonlds in “Buried” or even the Sandra Bullock lost in space film “Gravity.” Surrounded by unbreakable nothing can be more unsettling than the most vicious and ruthless of villains and can bring out the greatness in most actors and actresses. While I believe Ryan Kotack (Steve) and Lindsay Smith (Heather) do an amazing job as struggling survivors, the characters are a bit overly dramatic very early in the film showing signs of weakness and lethargy too early for effect. Punk rocker legend Henry Rollins is the voice of the caller and I must say I couldn’t even tell it was the punk rock icon. Rollins delivers a monotone sardonic voice that could scare the shit out of anybody.
“In the House of Flies” shows that independent exploitation horror is not yet dead. This film will burn right into your brain leaving you scarred and scared of the cruelty in the world. Though still very Worthy of all the film festival nominations and wins, this thriller was given an 80’s retrofitted treatment that doesn’t quite live up to the video nasty era, but does invoke questions about love in dire situations and who would you save: Your unborn baby? The love of your life? Or yourself? Check out the Parade Deck Films feature distributed on DVD January 20th, 2015 by my pals at MVD!
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It's Bloggin Evil! 