Ladies! Listen up! If you need a last minute Halloween costume idea, than watch this Nerdist presented video where a very sexy and blonde Freddy Krueger battles a boobtastic brunette Jason Voorhees in a slasher showdown winner takes the nerdy, sleep deprived shop clerk. Adrianne Curry and Abby Dark-Star star as Freddy and Jason.
You’re welcome.
What truly makes an ultimate killer and when I say “ultimate” I mean a killer with great power and will stop at nothing to get a prey? Jason Voorhees is an ultimate killer as he’s able to resurrect over and over and over again in order to slaughter mischievous camp goers. Michael Myers is an ultimate killer as he’s able to pick a victim up by the victim’s head and gouge his eyes while crushing his skull at the same time. Both Voorhees and Myers contain a certain kind of ruthful, limitless evil that makes Ted Bundy and Ed Gacy seem like cut and cuddly kittens. These ultimate killers are the very definition of the moniker. We can now add one more name to that list: Thorn.
Jess and three other survivors look to save their town and see revenge after a night of hell four years ago, February 29th – leap year. Every leap year, Thorn, a vicious, supernatural, and unstoppable killer, roams the town of Avondale to reek chaos and death until he locates his sacrifice. Four years later, Jess and her friends are able to capture Thorn and when their decision to kill Thorn backfires, another night of hell ensues and this time nothing will stop Thorn from taking what Thorn seeks.
The character that is Thorn is a mixture of Jason Voorhees and the DC Universe and Batman villain Bane in a sense that while Thorn has an immense amount of strength and rejuvenation, Thorn is dependent. Bane relies on Venom to induce superhuman strength. The same goes for Thorn but with his mask giving Thorn also superhuman strength and while Voorhees has his machete, Thorn has two machetes for double the decapitations but he wasn’t limited to just his machetes as crushed multiple skulls with his bare hand and tore a woman half also with his bare hands – best scene ever. This will be Richard Daniel Thomas Holloran (whew) second time playing the Thorn character and he has the slow stalking walk down and the menacing posture that resembles the posture of the iconic horror legend Kane Hodder!
Director-writer MJ Dixon captures the essence of an ultimate killer combining brutal deaths and a silent hatred while giving Thorn his own murderous theme soundtrack that is a necessity amongst all ultimate killers. Dixon’s editing techniques are top-notch and can rival many of today’s A-list directors; he has talented eye for editing and from “Legacy of Thorn” and “Slasher House” (a semi-sequel to “Legacy of Thorn” – read my review here), I’d trust the director with my low-budget screenplay and precious backing money. I’m certainly thought fond of the linear progression of current time and the reverse chronological order of four years ago when the group of friends were attacked. This editing choice resulted in more dramatic character developed. I actually give a shit about these people who are being hunted. The writing could use a bit of work especially in the first act as the pace slowly builds. There was also a scene where the hero characters – Jess (Jade Wallis), Eric (Paris Rivers), Alice (Jane Haslehurst), and Clark (Craig Canning) – kept debating why they should or should not kill Thorn. Another little annoyance was the blue tint. Much like in Slasher House with the yellowish green tint, Dixon’s heavy hand on blue tint made the film nearly too dark; however, the Duke blue tint did bring an ominous feel. The special effects involved with Thorn’s kills were subtle and the use of slight of hand came off a bit obvious, but overall the deaths were well executed, if I may use that pun.
Thorn will never die like the ultimate killer he is and will need more stories in the future. His Legacy will live on and I hope to see him again in another rampage involving another group of shaken and distressed teens. There definitely needs to be more background on the character as we don’t know much about Thorn but the facts that returns to Avondale on every leap year and the majority of the town has conspired to keep Thorn pleased with their assistance. Lets establish more of that and make it more coherent in Legacy of Thorn: Chapter 3! “Legacy of Thorn” is now available for DVD pre-order in the UK and the US from MyCho Entertainment Group and Red:Fuse Releasing and looking to hit retail shelves on Tuesday October 27th – just in time for Halloween.
A small town pack of football jocks and cheerleaders with a dark secret spend Halloween night at a rundown farmhouse to party until dawn, but a sadistic killer in the school mascot uniform hunts them down one by one. Now their only chance of survival is to rely on each other, but will their dark secret get the better of them?
“Varsity Blood” tries to home in on the slasher saturated 80’s decade and, more or less, hits the mark right on the head with quick quip dialogue, teen angst, nudity, and blood. The killer garnishes a costume, even if the costume is the school mascot of a goofy tribal warrior, but the warrior outfit is simple, dark, and, like aforementioned, tribal which already gives it a ominous feel. Like most iconic slasher movie killers, they all have to brand a signature weapon – Jason had his machete, Myers had his knife, Leatherface had his chainsaw. The Warrier had his axe. Not too many killers carry an axe as a signature weapon and the axe is not overused as the Warrior does implement various methods of death.
What about the teen group of various mannered jocks, cheerleaders, and other high school patrons of “Varsity Blood?” Like I said before, there is plenty of teen angst – jock wants sex badly, girl is major slut, fat girl tries to prove herself, lots of crying – so there lies enough teenage drama to make white and black pimples to form on your face. Some characters, like the main female lead Hannah (Lexi Giovagnoli) and good-girl Heather (Elyse Bigler), receive good character background, some of the cast are just fillers for the killer to dice up and their deaths become less important and severely fall short of a sympathetic death.
The whole reason why the killer kills is a bit of a joke too. I’m not going to go into more detail, but lets just say that there is an agreement and the one’s side terms are a bit too lame for my liking. The other side has an legitimate excuse for making these teen hooligans into mince meat. I do mean ‘hooligans’ too as the teens don’t learn from their historical depravities that resulted into a terrible accident that they’ll never forget. The past always catches up with them and the warrior makes sure of that.
Didn’t I mention nudity earlier? You would think nudity would run rampant in a film about cheerleaders getting hacked to bits. Unfortunately, we’re teased to no end as Natalie Peyton and Elle LaMont give nothing but a tease show with covered nudity and bra and panties. However, not all is a total loss. Taylor Moessinger does do a strip show dance and goes topless and you can read my short review of her scenes here.
The death scenes were relatively tame for a slasher that is suppose to homage the greats, but these deaths weren’t necessarily terrible either. There is great use of practical effects that are pulled off with excellent angle work with the camera and use of camera placement. I’ll give that to Jake Helgren, you might remember from my review of “Bloody Homecoming”, another high school slasher with the same vein.
Give “Varsity Blood” a try and see how it fits. Room for growth and improvement with the director Helgren, a promising career for sexy leading lady Lexi Giovagnoli, and a great topless scene from the spirited, free loving, always naked model Taylor Moessinger. “Varsity Blood” is now available to own on DVD and VOD from Image Entertainment.
The latest trend for independent horror filmmakers is to pay homage to the 80’s slasher. Bloody Homecoming is no different as one other review site said the film is “an unusually effective homage to the golden age of American slasher movies.” Is the Freshman of Brian C. Weed a worthy throwback of the “golden age of American slasher?” The elements are there and I can say that Weed gave it one hell of a try making a masked killer into a relentless murderer of teens that harks back to classic icons like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.
Football star Billy Corbin dies in a fiery deathtrap during his school’s homecoming. Three years later, the teens who were labeled responsible, but never held accountable, prepare for the school’s first homecoming since the tragic death of Billy Corbin. While in jubilation of their school spirit, a killer dressed in a firman’s gear hunts them down one by one during the homecoming dance; a killer hell fire bent on revenge for Billy.
And while director Weed makes a heartfelt attempt at a throwback horror movie, the characters are too shallow and need more work to make them more human. Robotic dialogue creates a kind of hatred that only a masked killer could exterminate. Thank goodness for the “fireman” killer. However, a handful of hopeful characters keep the film’s watchability right on the line between entertaining and dull. Bloody Homecoming does bring a unique way, a rare method, when deciding to who gets the axe. Every character is fair game to bite the dust and no one can argue with that as the usual suspects are token black guys, couples who’ve just had sex, and the comic relief – to be fair, all these characters were in this stereotyped high school teen horror film.
Other slasher films such as My Bloody Valentine or Scream come to mind when thinking about the “fireman” killer. I’m guessing the writer, Jake Helgren, gave the killer inspiration for using the fireman gear after the burning death of Billy Corbin. The outfit is a bit out of place, but the connection between the catalyst and killer can determined. The killer uses a sharpened spirit stick which doesn’t make a intimidating weapon, but effective none the less. Lets just say the spirit stick takes the spirit right out of the kids. The killer character’s depth could have been more extensive and more meaningful. The paper thin motivation from the killer does little for the character and the killer would just be labeled as another run of the mill killer.
Bloody Homecoming won’t knock your socks off, but the death scenes are graphic, bloody, and well timed in the scene. Brian C. Weed’s first attempt at horror is just the tip of the ice berg and we could see some great things from Weed if another opportunity presents itself. The editing is professional and well done so I see things could only get better from here and Bloody Homecoming’s UK DVD release is slated for March 10 from Image Entertainment.
Tonight I thought I would discuss two very different kind of horror films. Trying to dissect and compare horror films to each other can be enlightening to others; to help them explore new territories in horror. Also, this idea gives me to chat to be a blabber mouth about obscure, retro movies that most of the younger generations don’t know about. Hell, I’m almost 30 and I probably still need more horror movie schooling.
First I want to talk about Ted Post’s 1973 exploitation film The Baby. A social worker seeks out and becomes hired by the Wadsworth family to oversee the mentally ill child of the family who goes by the name of just Baby. Besides the retardation, Baby is an average boy who plays with toys, sucks on a bottle and cries when his diaper is wet with the exception that Baby is a 20-year-old man. The social worker plans for Baby seem genuine – to try to progress Baby’s ability to walk and talk like everybody else. However, the Wadworth family holds a dark secret that if anybody gets to close to that person ends up disappearing, but little does the Wadworth family know, that the social worker has alternate means for Baby than what she cares to divulge.
The Baby is a unique exploitation for me. I’ve never seen anything like it before. The fact that the mentally ill, a man, and the mind of a child are being exploited beyond rational means. When you (in this case when I) think of the exploitation genre, I imagine women being used for their body or just a person being exploited for violence. In The Baby, the man and the mentally ill is being abused for his body and the man and the mentally ill is being exploited for violence. During the duration, there is no grasp on who might be the hero and who might be the villain. The roles are a virtually reversed between the Wadworths family and the social worker and even at the end of the movie, you still don’t know how to process the information and end up second guessing the hero and the villain. The Baby will imprint in your mind and sear into your brain making The Baby a well executed film just by script alone. Director Ted Post and The Baby David Mooney do a remarkable job even if the 70s film does come off outdated and corny. Gerald Fried’s score is also pretty amazing and that is worth listening to as well.
Second comes The Prowler. A maniacal killer runs rampant on Avalon Bay, NJ dressed in WW II fatigues carrying a
pitchfork, bayonet and a handheld shotgun. The killer reminisces about Rosemary, the love of his lift who gives him a Dear John letter for his time in military service. His longing forces him to kill.
Tom Savini has mentioned that his work on 1981 The Prowler was his best work ever. I don’t know if I could agree with Mr. Savini or not on that as his effects for The Burning are superb, but anything Savini touches is gold so The Prowler is a shining example of his gruesome work. The problem or problems rather with The Prowler is the entire storyline as it was far too choppy and incoherent. I pieced the story all together sans the movie and I get that the audience sometimes has to make their own interpretation, but come on! I feel as if The Prowler character just didn’t have enough back story like Jason Voorhees who had a tragedy as a child seeing his mother beheading and seeks revenge on the free-spirited, sex crazed teenage campers and consolers.
Two very different movies. Two different styles. All with in the realm of thrills and chills. Exploitation and slasher genres have gained knowledge from these two prime examples, yet we still build and build upon each genre. We don’t see them too much in theaters anymore which is a shame since both genres really put you in the center of the worlds most delicate issues of the world. People kill people. People exploit people. These issues will never go away but they will never been renowned as popular because the subjects frighten us way too much.
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