Trick R Treat (2007)

Well Halloween has finally drawn to a close and with it I though it would only be right to cover the most halloweeny halloween film to ever hall-o-ween. Trick r Treat is to Halloween what “A Christmas Carol” is to Christmas, it just feels like it belongs as part of the season. it may not be the greatest movie ever made but theres something fundamentally enjoyable about it and with a thick streak of black comedy that isnt totally in your face running right through the middle of it I thought it was the perfect finale to my Halloween themed month!

I’ll let the review do the talking on this one because I pretty much say everything I need to say about this in the video below. What I will say as an aside is that some of you (Not many, but some!) will have managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of this years TYTD Horrorthon broadcast live on the same day that this episode went out. you will also note that there were multiple technical and visual flaws throughout the 2 and a half(ish) hour broadcast. theres a lasagne’s worth of reasons why this ended up being the way it is (And good grief the way my life is right now I cant wait till im on an even keal and I can actually tell you whats happening right now)

but the long and short of it is that 2 or 3 personal reasons kept me busy right up till the 11th hour meaning that I hadnt had chance to do a dry run of the final edit, and then to complicate matters further about 2 hours before we were set to go live my computer died. It’s working perfectly fine now…but the one time I needed it, it was just like…”DONE!” So what went out was a test edit literally live streamed out of the editing software on my scriptwriting laptop. as a result 2 and a half hours in my laptop overheated and died as well…and wouldnt come back for about an hour…at which point it was rapidly approaching 2am and I needed to be up at 10am to travel over 120 miles to a small cottage for a 4 day vacation…so I gave up. I will still post a highlights reel of it some day…but I’ve already gone on too much here…enjoy Trick r Treat…it’s a good’un

(That Bluray artwork is SO much better than the original DVD artwork…the DVD artwork for this release screams “Poundland” so hard it’s not even funny…it greatly undersells the film…thank god someone saw sense and gave it an upgrade)

Dont Look Under the bed (1999)

This was one of those reviews that I feel was kind of Skewed by hype. Y’see had I gone into this movie without the 300+ youtube critics who’ve already spoken about this film claiming it’s the “Scariest Disney horror movie ever EVER!” then I’d have probably come out the other side of it maybe a bit more positive about the whole thing.

Equally however, had those 300+ critics not posted their thoughts on this I would have never have heard of this film and it almost certainly wouldnt have ended up being an episode of this show.

The reality is, this is just a bit middle of the road. theres some really nice ideas here but they’re seldom acted on and in many cases feel more like missed opportunities rather than carefully honed hits.

It does somewhat surprise me that this film hasnt seen anything in the way of an official release and seemingly it hasnt been rebroadcast in quite a while (Though it has at least had 1 HD screening that I could find) I think kids would probably really get into it in all honesty…it just wasnt really for me…

 

(Sadly this one doesnt have a “proper” poster or artwork so this advert for it will have to do…It kind of serves it’s purpose but I think they could have maybe been a bit more…creative.)

The WNUF Halloween Special (2013)

I count myself exceedingly lucky that I have been able to see a film like “The WNUF Halloween Special” these kinds of films typically fall through the cracks of cinema history and I cannot stress enough how hard it is to find films like these, especially when you live in the UK.

The WNUF halloween special is no exception. as it stood up until recently the only way to get your hands on a copy of this film if you were UK based and wernt lucky enough to swipe up a copy of this when they were first selling them on DVD and VHS was to spend a frankly extortionate amount importing a very pricy NTSC only VHS or Region 1 DVD from the states, then forking out again for a player to play said expensive Tape/Disc and due to the cultish nature of this movie if you didnt pick a copy up during the initial US sales drive, there was literally no other way to get your hands on this film.

Well…there was illegal torrenting. Which unfortunately was the route I had to take in order to see this simply due to the complications listed above. While it probably wont bring much comfort to the Director/Producer. Chris. I would be honoured to help dub and distribute this tape across european terratories. PAL users have been neglected of a film like this for too long and if I can help from my little dubbing station here in the UK then please get in touch. I’d love to try and help you out in spreading this frankly amazing piece of cinema.

There is no European release of this film. and with a Sequel coming up on the horizon hopefully in a couple of years. I really hope that this one gets the worldwide release it really quite frankly deserves.

 

(This bloody poster…jesus its gorgeously done. Serious Kudos to whoever designed it. They’re a Master of the craft clearly)

Snoop Doggs Hood of Horror (2006)

I really wasnt kidding when I said in this review that I literally “By chance” stumbled on a copy of this movie. Amazon has a somewhat manic “Search” function and more often than not the results you want are often not the results you find.

I found this movie in particular when I went to go and pick up a copy of “Fade to black” and it appeared in my “Recommended because you bought” section. until then I had never seen, heard or smelt of it but I knew based on that cover and the price alone that I had to pick it up. I know Snoop himself has Directed, Produced and acted in movies in the past but to see something so utterly ludicrous really is quite fantastic.

I honestly think Snoop must enjoy doing stuff like this because the stories I’ve heard of him over the years (From paying to have a section of his house refitted to look like “The Rovers Return” from Coronation street, to his infamous “Pass the blunt” movie nights) has me convinced this guy likes his shite films as much as you or me.

Its surprisingly well made trash cinema and I honestly think this one may have something of a resurgence in years to come. particularly for it’s campy dark comedy undertones. for the price it’s currently going for I definitely recommend you go and look this one up!

(All the artwork for this one is so distressing…I really feel if they’d got the marketing downa  little bit better that they may have had a serious hit on their hands…)

Witches Night out (1978)

Well! it’s halloween again! and that means that once again I get to dip into the archive of all things spooky and pull out a few choice selections to highlight and hopefully help you guys in making your halloween go with a bang!

Last year the theme was Zombies (In particular Romero’s “Of the dead” series) and this year when put to a poll you lovely lot voted that you wanted to see a “Halloween highlights” run…I think going forward I may end up doing a themed year, then a non themed year and so on…it’s nice to work to a theme but equally this has been an absolute hoot and it’s unearthed a load of extra goodies that im now saving till next time!

Kicking things off this season we have “Witches night out!”  a special I’d only heard of last year funnily enough around about the same time I uploaded my first halloween special! since then it’s sat on my shelf gathering dust but I made it my duty to watch and talk about it this year, and it’s not without good reason! it’s short sweet and very very wonderful!

Halloween is one of my favourite times of years…it’s basically christmas but without the stress that comes with christmas. it has all the joys of nostalgia for childhood and tooth decay that comes with eating offensive amounts of boiled sugar. Pure bliss!

I do hope you enjoy my season this year! theres some great little movies coming up and im sure you’ll find one that’ll make your halloween!

(Seriously the theme tune to this special is absolutely out of this world!)

Finishing the Complete Fourth Series (2018)

Series 4 was a sturdy season if ever there was one. While I have quite fond memories of the opening half, the latter half to me did seem to drag a little. Though this was almost entirely my own fault.y’see when I was structuring this season I made 2 seemingly small mistakes which completely through my season off kilter. first and foremost. I overproduced. there was a “Red Triangle” episode that was supposed to be part of this season. But due to my collaboration with Raymond it ended up being pushed off the schedule and into Season 5 (You’ll see it in November)…but that threw me out by nearly a week due to the time it took to make the episode.

The other issue that I encountered was that I had assumed that “Armed Response” was some kind of cop drama…it wasnt. it’s a martial arts movie. and I didnt realise it was a martial arts movie till I was sat watching it and it had been locked into the schedules. meaning that an entire months worth of videos was almost entirely made up of martial arts/action movies! which kind of began to grate on me a little bit (Im having similar problems with season 5 at the minute as I’ve discovered I have a few too many kids films in the mix for my taste personally)

Ignoring that though Season 4 has some gems in there in my opinion. “Tales from the Quadead zone” was a brilliantly fun little film to sit through, I was able to continue my reviews of the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, I covered “Braindead“! a Peter Jackson Classic! and I had my mind fully rotted away by “Bikini Model Academy” and it was an out and out pleasure to be able to work with my “Comedy dining experience” partner in crime Ben in producing my first year anniversair special on Public Information Films (PIF’s to you and me)

This was also the season that would see the launch of “The ______Comedy dining experience” and im hoping there’ll be more of these in future! so do keep your eyes peeled!

All in all, I liked working on this season…half of it was done while I was in a very mellow place and half of it was done under some very heavy stress…whether that shows or not I cant really say…this is also the last season where I really get a say on whats being reviewed until 2019 at least…what with Halloween and Christmas on the Horizon…so savour it! it’ll be a while till we’re back on the freewheeling days of pick what you want!

 

(It’s a shorter run than normal, but I like to think that just means the quality is more concentrated)

The B-Movie Hall of Fame: Part 1 (2018)

 

I’ve always been reluctant to do “Multi film” reviews…I suppose it’s because I like the detail that longer form reviews offer and that it lets me add a bit more of a personal touch to the movie im talking about to go in depth and talk at length about my own personal feelings about the film i’ve selected.

However, when I was contacted by Joel to take part in the B-movie hall of fame over on the movieforums.com (A message board I can highly recommend) I kind of felt compelled to do this. in part because I thought it would be fun to try and write without notes for a change (Every review I do is heavily noted…I currently have 7 books worth!) and also because it meant that editing these could be a bit more creative and fun.

It was nice being able to check out movies I’d not seen before and especially films that i’d have probably have skipped had they not been on this list…hell 2 of my new favourite movies ever I’ve found while doing this challenge alone!

So far Im really enjoying it in all honesty and I cant wait to get round to watching the remaining 6 sooner rather than later (Though I’ll be honest; time is most definitely working against me these days…there’ll be more info in an upcoming Blog I have planned…if I ever find the time)

With October bringing in Halloween it’ll be a little while before Part 2 of this makes it’s appearence though theres some absolute classics on the list yet to watch so do keep an eye out in November when it should go live!

(Seriously go watch “The Child” and “Jack Frost” if you’ve never seen them before…Great stuff!)

Dead World (2017)

So! Heres a review you lot probably wernt expecting. In fact it was rapidly approaching 6 months ago that I first sat down with the director of this film Kenneth Hansebraten to request whether I would be allowed to talk about this project. Luckily for me the gentleman that Kenneth is he more than Obliged and that is how this review ended up here and now.

I originally uploaded this one in April 2018 at Kenneths request. However after a day or so he politely asked me to make this review “Unlisted” until such a time that this short was released officially (So as not to spoil too much of it) as it stands this film has now seen a release and sold out (In a record 39 minutes!) a testimony to it’s success I can assure you.

As a rule I’ll only review films I find if they genuinely peak my interest. and I have to say Dead world does just that. it’s a brilliant little movie and I highly recommend if this ever gets a second run release that you go and hunt it out! it’s a tremendous piece of cinema and I really look forward to Kenneths follow up to this! Im sure he’ll knock it out of the park!

(I LOVE this poster by the way!)

Braindead (Dead Alive) (1992)

Im ashamed that I left watching “Braindead” till as late in my life as I have. It’s not really considered a mainstream horror in the same way that the “Nightmare on elm streets”, “Friday the 13ths” and “Halloweens” of the world are…in a sea of slashers where the closest thing to compare it to would be “The Evil Dead 2” Braindead stands out by a country mile as a truely shocking and twisted slice of Dark horror comedy.

It had always been on the outskirts of my film viewing horizons. I’d seen clips from it over the years but for one reason or another i’d just never got round to watching it…I was still trying to get the “Classics” under my belt…missing by a country mile the classic I could have been watching all along with this beauty!

I decided when I finally did down this movie that I had a choice…I could either watch it in pristine bluray quality (Bootleg but definitely enjoyable) or I could watch it for the first time in mangled VHS-vision…I chose the latter and I really dont regret my choices. The general nastiness of this film is enhanced tremendously by the nasty, grainey and semi chewed up fuzz that VHS provides…I actually own the Rental copy of this movie…It came from a video shop in Rhyl (It still has all the stickers from the shop on it and everything!) and watching it back through the murk you really get a feeling for the history that this tapes been through in order to arrive in my collection. I really do treasure it…Until peter jacksons 4K remasters of these movies come out it’s the closest I’ve got to watching this film in it’s intended condition…Though equally if they were to do what they did with the “Nekromantik” Bluray and include a polished up Super clean cut…alongside a trashed “Grindhouse” cut I’d be terrifically grateful…

I’d love to see Jackson return to these kinds of films…controversial, shocking, and brilliantly wicked fun…I know he probably never will but I can dream!

 

(Also this is one of those films that has never quite been able to get it’s promotional marketing quite right…this is the best representation of the film I could find (The rental cover) and it says absolutely bugger all about the film itself…It just looks really cool…)

Gandahar (Light years) (1988)

I first watched Gandahar about 3 months ago and im still about as lost for words about it as I am to this day. Seriously. Where do I even begin to process what I saw in this epic Pure unadulterated slice of sci-fi…and this is pure sci-fi. theres no mistaking that. it’s pumping through this movies veins.

It’s such a wonderful piece of art from a time when Hand drawn animation was just beginning to wind itself down and the “Adult cartoon” genre was fizzling out into hybernation for the better part of 15-20 years when it would inevitably be revitalised by the likes of Adult Swim, Fox and MTV.

My review of this movie will speak more for it than anything I could ever type here. I feel that even typing this basic mop up post above this review is in some way cheapening the effect of this movie. it’s a tremendously powerful picture. So much so that this is the longest single review I’ve done for my channel to date (Clocking in at a whopping 33 minutes and 38 seconds) and the worst part is. I feel I could have said more…as it stands…well, I let me do the talking…

 

(In 1000 years my youtube channel will be deleted and 1000 years ago it will be restored…)