Curtains (1983)

Released by: Vestron Video
Release date: Unknown
Rating:
Running time: 90 mins
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Format: VHS, NTSC
MSRP: Out of print.


Curtains is one of the few Canadian 80's slashers to have graced the silver screen. Other such films in the Canadian slasher canon include Black Christmas and Rituals, among others. I recently snagged a copy of Curtains off ebay, as Curtains has yet to see the light of day on DVD. It's been a good 10 years since DVDs first hit the market, and there are still a ton of forgotten and hard-to-find titles that we'd all yet love to see on DVD officially. And I know a lot of horror fans have been waiting paitently for Curtains. I'd heard a lot about the movie off of various forums and decided to give it a spin, since I'm both a fan of horror and a Canadian, so I had to see what all the good word was about.

Curtains is story of six girls who are auditioning for the part of Audra, the title role in famed director Jonathan Stryker's next picture. One of the women was originally guaranteed the role after she spent a stint in a mental institution to get into character but Mr. Stryker just left her there and decided to invite six more women to try out for the part. Jonathan invites the ladies to his home in the country for a couple days, creating a group audition over the span of the days to find out who will be perfect for the role. It's not going to be easy, since the ladies will be duking it out with each other, and also try to escape a mysterious killer in a mask who is knocking off the competition one at a time. Who will survive the audition? Who's the killer in the mask? And whom will the curtain finally fall upon?

Well, after finally watching Curtains, I can say I was disappointed. The movie wasn't as good as I had heard and I found it to be slow at times and the twist ending I could see a mile away. The acting wasn't spectacular and there's not a whole lot of slasher violence to make it a true slasher. If you're curious, check it out. If you want to add it to your collection to complete you slashers section, go ahead. But personally, I'd say avoid this one. Watch Black Christmas again instead.

MOVIE: 2 out of 5.

Hatchet (2006)

Released by: Starz Home Entertainment
Release date: 12/18/2007
Rating:
Running time: 84 mins
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Region: Region 1, NTSC
MSRP: $19.99


Hailed as "the next icon of horror" by Harry Knowles from aintitcoolnews.com, Hatchet is self-described as a throwback to the 80's American slasher movies. So what does Harry exactly mean by 'icon of horror'? Well, with Friday the 13th you have Jason Vorhees. With The Burning you have Cropsy. And with Madman you have Madman Marz. What do all these movies have in common? Well, they all take place somewhere in the woods, such as at camp, and they all involve some disfigured brute terrorizing everyone who comes to their side of the woods. And that's exactly what Hatchet has and recreates; an out-for-blood disfigured brute terrorizing folks in his neck of the woods! Hatchet's "icon of horror" is Victor Crowley (played by Jason-himself, Kane Hodder), whom was struck in the face with a hatchet by his father who was trying to rescue him from the burning cabin. Rumored to have died, so begins the legend of Victor Crowley. With Hatchet replace the woods with the swaps of Louisiana and you got yourself an old school American slasher flick, complete with blood, boobs, blood, scares, and even more blood!

Some odd years later, a group of pals/buddies/friends (whatever you want to call them) hit up Mardi Gras in New Orleans to party, get drunk, see some tities, and more importantly to get female-troubles off the mind of Ben (Joel David Moore). Ben is not wanting to party anymore so he convinces his pal Marcus (Deon Richmond) to go on a haunted swamp tour. Joining them on the tour are a old traveling couple, a man with a camera and two ladies who are making a Girls Gone Wild-esque video called Bayou Beavers, and Marybeth (Tamara Feldman) whom has got a grudge against something. So they venture off into the swamp waters and get pontoon-wrecked after running into a rock under the water. So they all must jump ship and wander through the swamps back to civilization. But before that adventure begins, Marybeth tells the truth of why she is out there, and the truth of Victor Crowley. And just so conveniently they have made it to land-ho just where Victor Crowley's humble abode resides. Hatchet from here on out is you're typical 80's camp slasher, with inventive kills, great gags, scares, and the most important ingredient that Hatchet delivers in spades is the blood and gore!

MOVIE: 3.5 out of 5.
Hatchet doesn't wimp out and gives us exactly what we want! You get to see an old lady get he head opened up like a Pez dispenser. You get to see a woman's jaw sanded off with a gas-powered belt sander and then she's impaled on a shovel slowly! You get limbs torn off, heads are rolling, tities are being let loose, and to top it off Hatchet starts out as a comedy. Now a lot of people have complained about this factor, as the first 20+ minutes of the movie is set up as a comedy. But I think it works for the film as it tricks the audience into getting to know these characters and liking them, and then when you finally see Victor Crowley you've forgotten it was a horror movie and then you shit your pants cause you just jumped five feet out of you chair. This DVD contains the unrated version which has some additional gore and blood that was omitted from the film in it's theatrical release. Hatchet is a pretty good homage to the bygone 80's slasher film, and I hope it opens up a newer audience to revisit the original camp-slasher classics.

VIDEO: 4 out of 5.
Hatchet is presented in it's original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The video presentation is anamorphic enhanced and looks very good. A lot of the movie takes place at night, but it's never too dark that you can't see anything and everything that is supposed to be seen is visible. Overall, a crisp, clean picture.

AUDIO: 4 out of 5.
You get two choices for audio on this DVD. Dolby Surround 5.1 and Dolby Surround 2.0. Both tracks come out sounding loud and clear. No issues with the audio that I could hear.

EXTRAS: 4 out of 5.
There's quite a bit of extras on this disc. A great and informative commentary track from the cast and crew. Quite a few featurettes on the making of Hatchet and how the movie started. It's great to see that this idea was birthed when the director was only 8-years old and he finally brought it to the screen. One of the most surprising, and interesting features is A Twisted Tale which tells the story of how Twisted Sister's front man Dee Snider had an indirect effect on the making of Hatchet. Also, if you have a Future Shop or Best Buy store located near you, there's an in-store deal where Hatchet comes with a bonus disc containing the theatrical cut of the movie!

- Commentary with Writer/Director Adam Green, Cinematographer Will Barratt, and Actors Tamara Feldman, Joel David Moore, and Deon Richmond
- The Making of Hatchet (Featurette)
- Meeting Victor Crowely (Featurette)
- Guts & Gore (Featurette)
- Anatomy of a Kill (Featurette)
- A Twisted Tale (Featurette)
- Gag Reel
- Trailer

OVERALL: 3.5 out of 5.
Hatchet is a fun flick. It's by no means the greatest horror movie, but it's an enjoyable throwback to the movies I have fond memories of watching on VHS ages ago. And I can't wait for Victor Crowley to return! Bring on the blood! So grab a bowl of popcorn, a couple of drinks, and enjoy the revisited 80's slasher mayhem!

Evil Ed (1996)

Released by: Unapix
Release date: 09/24/1996
Rating:
Running time: 93 mins
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Format: VHS, NTSC
MSRP: Out of print.


It's a no brainer, Evil Ed offers gore and gags, but not a whole lot of coherent story, so you can just switch your brain off while watching the movie. Evil Ed is a low budget Swedish horror film from, well, Sweden of course and is the story of Edward. Ed's an editor who gets transferred to work at European Pictures' Horror and Gore department where he has been assigned the position of editing the Loose Limbs series of films. Forced to watch hours upon hours of exploitive horror footage, Ed starts seeing visions of killings and weird creatures occupying the refrigerator. Soon enough his wife gets worried and she takes her daughter to visit him at work. Bad idea.

At this point, Ed has gone bonkers and he kills his family. Cops show up and Ed is sent to an insane asylum. He escapes, kidnaps a girl, and her boyfriend comes to the rescue. That's pretty much the entire movie.

So now I bet you think I just ruined it. Well, maybe, but it's still worth tracking down a copy because of the gore and the ending. Evil Ed has the best splatterific shotgun-to-the-hand-and-then-the-arm-and-then-the-chest-and-finally-the-top-of the head-exploding kill scene. Yes, it's long winded, but it has to be seen to be believed! Evil Ed is not a great movie, or really even a good movie for that matter, but it's worth at least one viewing, and just watching the last scene alone on loop is worth the price of admission.

MOVIE: 2.5 out of 5.

Basket Case (1981)

Released by: Something Weird Video
Release date: 07/17/2001
Rating:
Running time: 91 mins
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Region: Region 1, NTSC
MSRP: $9.99


Since this is the first movie review up on the Bad Monster Films blog, I decided to make it a fitting one. So why not review a movie involving a bad monster! So what's in the basket you ask? Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case is a charming story of brotherly love... well, I guess not in your traditional sense. It's more of a sick and twisted, sleazy, gory, exploitation cult story of brotherly love. Release back in 1981 on the seedy 42nd Street theater screens, this grindhouse classic is the story of Duane Bradley (Kevin van Hentenryck) and his brother Belial. They aren't your typical brothers since 20-year old Duane carries around his twin brother Belial in a wicker basket. You see, Belial is a monstrous living growth that used to be attached to Duane's right side. These Siamese twins were separated against their will at the hands of a couple of doctors who were called in secretly to do the dirty deed. Big mistake.

So now some years later Duane makes a trip with his wicker basket at hand from upstate New York to the Big Apple. He pulls out a roll of 20's and stays at the by-the-hour flea bag Hotel Broslin located in Manhattan. Here Duane and his basket will stay until they've carried out their plans for revenge on the doctors involved with splitting the two apart with a razor-sharp scalpel.

Along the way of exacting sweet vengeance, Duane falls for the receptionist at the office of one of the mad doctors. So Duane leaves Belial all alone in the seedy hotel while he goes on a date with Sharon (Terri Susan Smith). Since they are Siamese twins and all, Belial can feel what Duane feels and he does not like the fact that Duane has found a love interest and is betraying him to spend time with her. So Belial ransacks the room causing quite the commotion and eventually murders one of the tenants. Now the cops are on Duane's case.

Will the cops catch on to Duane's secret? Will Duane and Belial exact their revenge on the mad doctors using claws, scalpels, and a buzz-saw-on-a-wagon contraption? WIll Sharon find out what's in the basket before it's too late? Will the Bradley's check out on time? Find out in Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case!

MOVIE: 5 out of 5.
Basket Case is a sleazy cult horror classic! One of my all time favorite movies, and a definite guilty pleasure. I remember renting the VHS from 49 Cent Video when I was a wee lad and smiling with insane glee from the first frame to the last minute. An inventive and demented script featuring some great gags and some brutal stop-motion animation make this a must-see. Plus, Kevin van Hentenryck's gravity-defying curly 'fro would make David Hasselhoff jealous! That thing must be seen to be believed! All that hair has gotta weigh at least 10 pounds! There's plenty of gore and inventive deaths that will keep all the gore-hounds at bay. And heck, the acting isn't even that atrocious! And how can you go wrong when there is a scene involving a latex-puppet of a deformed Siamese twin growth raping his brother's new girlfriend?! You just can't. If you're a little bit sick and twisted and you are looking for something else to rent than what's on the shelves, track down a copy of Basket Case and pop it in!

VIDEO: 4 out of 5.
There's some grain here and there, but with the remasterd picture from an original negative this is the best Basket Case has probably ever looked. Basket Case is released in it's original aspect ration of 1.33:1.

AUDIO: 4 out of 5.
The mono audio track sounds clear as can be. I could not find any issues with the audio track what-so-ever.

EXTRAS: 4 out of 5.
This is the 20th Anniversery Edition DVD of Basket Case so there better be some extras! And there sure is!

- Commentary with Director Frank Henenlotter, Producer Edgar Ievins, and Actress Beverly Bonner
- Theatrical Trailer, 2 TV Spots, and 2 Radio Spots
- Outtakes and Behind-The-Scenes Footage
- Video Short: In Search of the Hotel Broslin
- Art Gallery and Behind-The-Scenes Photos
- 2 Radio Interviews with Actress Terri Susan Smith
- Clips from "Beverly Bonner's Laugh Track" Cable TV Show

OVERALL: 5 out of 5.
That's right, a solid 5 out of 5. What can I say, I love this movie. Great flick, great DVD, lots of extras, and it's dirt cheap! What are you waiting for, add it to your collection NOW! Check out the trailer below.

Welcome to the Bad Monster Films blog!

Welcome boys and ghouls,

It's the beginning of 2008, and the beginning of the Bad Monster Films blog! If you've come looking for film news, horror/cult/exploitation movie reviews, horror soundtrack reviews, as well as other devilishly delicious goodies, well you've come to the right morgue... err... place.

Bad Monster Films will also be striving to include new short films, as well as an upcoming feature that we're hoping to start production on in the summer of 2008. So we'll keep you up to date on the happenings of that.

So in the meantime, enjoy the upcoming reviews. I will try to post at least one a week.

In the words of the wise George A. Romero, "Stay scared!"

Tyler
bad monster films