The third installment of the Urban Legend series follows the story of Samantha (Kate Mara, House Of Cards). After being kidnapped with two of her friends, she begins to believe that the mysterious killings in her town are connected to her kidnapping. After investigating a case of a missing town girl from the 1960’s, Sam realizes that the truth may be closer to home than she thought.

This film did not come very highly recommended to me as many fans of the series do not like this threequel compared to the previous two films (Urban Legend 1998, Urban Legends: Final Cut 2000). The film was pretty poorly acted for the most part but considering it was a direct to DVD release, this is not surprising.

I was reminded while watching this of Halloween III as a “stand alone film” that had nothing to do with the other installments of the Michael Myers’ franchise. Sadly, I didn’t find this film to be very comparable. Although I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought, it was still disappointing as an Urban Legend film.

The one redeeming quality of this film were the kills. Although only achieving a 15 certificate in the UK, it was still enough to allow the film to show pretty imaginative kills. This alone suggests that the film is worth a watch at least once if you are a horror/slasher fan.

I was overall disappointed in the finished film. However, if you are looking for a film that passes the time and has decent kills, you could do much worse than this one.

–Ross Wilcock

I am excited to return to another Slasher Studios feature film! My first experience was taking a ‘test run’ up to the set location so I could easily find it the first morning of filming. My traveling companion for this test run was ‘Don’t Go to the Reunion’ cast mate, Kaleb Shorey. As we ventured into the northwoods of Wisconsin, the GPS directions took us farther and farther down one lane, dead end snow covered roads with hills, twists and turns, and seemingly, no cabin in the woods. This was already turning into a scary adventure and the movie has not even begun! Finally, we came across two fellows carrying snow shovels. I called out ‘are you making a movie?’ and lo and behold, this was our Director, Austin Bosley and DP, Jordan Hiller. They were coming to the rescue of some of the multiple cast and crew who would find themselves stuck in the winter wonderland. Another mile down the trail I had my first look at the film set. A rustic vacation home on a secluded lake. This was going to be where the magic happens. No one for miles around….just frozen Wisconsin tundra. And no phone or internet service.

Filming the movie was everything and more than I expected. The cast was amazing. Full of up and coming young actors from across the country with incredible talent. I also was reunited with people I worked on in DGTTR, like Zach, Kevin and Johnathan. The crew for this movie was outstanding. I met so many cool people! Viewers are in for a special treat! The lighting, sound recording, film work and attention to detail by the script supervisor will make this slasher one to remember! The crew had to endure the longest hours in below zero temps to bring you the best of holiday slashers, but it will be so worth it! Austin and Kevin definitely had a vision of how this story should be told, complete with blood and gore and action packed with excitement.

The cast, even though many were from warmer climates, did an incredible job of tolerating the weather. I do have to say the fireplace was running 24/7 to dry out mittens and boots and keep us warm. Due to the treacherous roads leading to the cabin, once we were there, we were there to stay, except for one night when we were done early and packed 18 people in 3 cars to have dinner at Nutzy’s, the local bar and grill. Other nights we were treated to home cooking courtesy of Scott, our AD. Nights were spent watching classic horror DVDs. A great thing to experience surrounded by people who know so much about film and are schooled in slasher movies.

This film also gave me a chance to work on some of the pre-production work with Zach and Andrew. I enjoyed helping out and providing the details and design to some of the scenes. It was also a chance to contribute my skills as a FX makeup artist, another horror passion of mine. My favorite and last memory from the set was the magical feeling of spending nearly two weeks in a house decorated for Christmas. While real life Christmas decorations are packed away, we had the chance to enjoy staying in a house decorated from top to bottom for Christmas.

Thank you to everyone for sharing this experience with me!

–Marla Van Lanen

Today I watched Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004) for the first time. I have seen both Ginger Snaps (2000) and Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed (2004) before and both were definitely outstanding in their own ways. Great and refreshing entries in the horror genre. With a prequel that was shot back-to-back with the first sequel it was interesting to see what approach the makers of the Ginger Snaps franchise were taking.

Well I have watched the prequel and I must say that it kind of disappointed me. Sure, the movie looks good. Its well shot, the cinematography is outstanding, the locations look great and the performances by Katharine Isabelle and Emily Perkins were as strong as usual. The werewolves looked scary and were overall an improvement over the previous installments. Also this is quite possibly the bloodiest entry in the Ginger Snaps franchise. The soundtrack is good, but not as moody and effective as in the first two movies. The story looked interesting on paper and I held my breath with the entire ‘prequel’ idea and it completely backfired and flawed in my opinion. This ‘prequel’ works FAR better as a standalone film with the original cast members or even as a remake of the original with a different time setting, this is in NO way connected to the first two Ginger Snaps movies, or as part of the ‘Trilogy’.

It does not make sense and it rather felt like the original film in a different jacket and with less than stellar returns. This was very dumb and lazy on the part of the writers. I also thought this movie had a slow start and suffered from a lack of genuine scares. Its great that the biting humor of the first two movies was still present here, especially for the time setting. The chemistry between the sisters were strong as ever, and while I didn’t hate this movie the ‘prequel’ card it played was unnecessary and confusing to the viewer. I still recommend it, especially if you were a fan of the first two movies and/or the cast. Just watch it as a standalone film to avoid confusion.

–Ferdi Akkulak

I have finally watched Black Christmas (1974) for the first time. I had seen the 2006 ‘remake’ a few years ago and thought it was fun but very cheesy. It definitely didn’t take itself seriously which made it ‘so bad its good’ in my opinion. I still like that movie for the actresses and the beautiful and bright Christmas setting. I was always curious to see how the much praised 1974 original would turn out to be like. I probably own the DVD of the original for almost two years. Well I’ve finally watched it and I gotta say it is one of the, if not THE scariest horror movie I’ve ever seen.

The amount of tension through out the entire movie was crazy, I was definitely creeped out and disturbed at some parts. Such an atmospheric, startling and original horror classic. The acting performances were all around top notch with a tour-de-force performance by the beautiful and lovely Olivia Hussey who was the heart and soul of this movie. I also really liked Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin and Lynne Griffin in this classic. The characters were everything I was expecting AND more! So resourceful, fun and fantastic in their own ways, the character developments were superb. This movie feels like the perfect combination of drama, comedy, slasher, thriller and mystery. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and hooked from start to finish. The directing by Bob Clark was splendid and the cinematography was really outrageous. The soundtrack is very effective and does its job perfectly. The movie manages to have a lot of frightening scenes, together with emotional scenes and hilarious moments. That’s a pretty rare feat for a horror movie to pull off.

Not gonna make any comparisons to the 2006 remake because the original is far superior and the stories and setting can’t be compared with each other. The remake is fun but it works more as an homage to the 80’s slashers than as a direct remake to the original Black Christmas. This movie sent chills down my spine, even though there are some slow parts its interesting to solve this big mystery and to see the multiple ‘suspects’. Also props to the witty but well written script! The ending is perfect and leaves the audience thinking for themselves what will happen next. I highly recommend anyone to watch the original ‘Black Christmas’, I am definitely re-watching this movie every year around Christmas time! Happy holidays!

–Ferdi Akkulak

Last Friday I finally saw 7500 for the very first time. I literally waited almost three years to see this movie. I was so pumped after I saw the trailer way back in early 2012, the anticipation was killing me. It sucks that CBS Films put this one on the shelf for two whole years. At some point I thought this movie would never come out. The studio really dropped the ball with this movie. Well I finally saw it and let’s just say that I now get why it got shelved for so long.

The concept might’ve looked interesting on paper and had potential but the execution is rather disappointing. There were so many possibilities with the story and the outcome felt very far fetched. I also thought that the CGI looked pretty bad but that is to blame on the small production budget. I also loathed the ending, it felt rushed and completely made me forget everything I had seen before. The running time is a shameful 76 minutes and I honestly thought it should’ve been longer.

There were, of course, some positive things to note. Although 7500 didn’t meet my high expectations, I still thought it was an entertaining horror flick. The suspense is really well crafted and characters are well written and developed. The standout performances definitely belonged to Scout Taylor-Compton, Jamie Chung, Leslie Bibb, Ryan Kwanten, Amy Smart and Christian Serratos. The directing was solid and the great shots in the airplane made the experience of watching more intense. This movie also has a great score.

I’m glad I’ve finally seen this movie but it was a tad disappointing and wasn’t really worth the 3 year wait. However, I highly recommend it to hardcore horror fans for the star studded cast and director alone.

–Ferdi Akkulak

Looking for a fun new horror movie to watch in time for Halloween? Deatherman is now available on DVD and fans of SOV horror are sure to have a blast with this one. I know I did when I caught it last weekend as part of the FANtom Fest Horror Film Festival.

Synopsis:
In a small populated town, located in Cyphers County there’s a quaint crew of newscasters at Action 13 News. Dalton Law (John Kasper), the beloved local weatherman, never missed a day of work or misguided his town’s people to imperfect forecasts. Dalton’s days are predictable, down to his morning coffee and daily bathroom run-ins with anchorman Dan Anders (Mike Gavern). However, Dalton predicts an acid rain storm in the evening but does not predict his unfortunate demise by Holley Cooper (Dominique Capone), the psychopathic new intern on her way to becoming a lead weatherman, or should we say “weatherwoman”.

The next morning Dalton awakens… dirty, bloody and confused. His once unquestionable priority to go to work has been erased. Now Dalton is here for revenge and must kill anyone that gets in his way!

Order your DVD from Amazon today: Deatherman: Cloudy with a chance of BLOOD!

Patrick is an Australian horror remake of the 1970s cult classic starring You’re Next star Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3, Bait). The film follows the story of a young nurse Cathy who comes to work in a hospital full of comatose patients. When she is introduced to a patient named Patrick her life changes forever. She slowly begins to realize that Patrick has some very special abilities. His obsession with Cathy grows his powers also grow causing Cathy to fear for her life.

Patrick made its UK Debut at Glasgow Fright Fest in November 2013 with a direct to DVD release in August 2014. I went into this film hoping it would be a really intense and creepy thriller and because of the spectacular performance of Vinson in her previous horror hit You’re Next which was outstanding. However, sadly, this film fell flat on its face with very minor and clichéd jump scares.

The film was definitely one to wait for a Netflix release or a TV viewing. It had its moments where I thought that it could improve but, then again, it fell flat. The only positive I can give to this film was that the story was strong enough that I wanted to see where it ended plus the fact that the film runs just over 90 minutes long was also in its favor.

–Ross Wilcock

We’ve always been supportive of low budget indie fare here at Slasher Studios and we have another brand new slasher feature to share with you. From the creators of Slasher House, Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown is the latest release from Mycho Entertainment. The film sounds like a hell of a lot of fun and Slasher Studios had a great time with Slasher House so we are excited to see what they do with this brand new slasher venture. They can’t make the movie though without your help so make sure to become a backer today and support indie horror!

Synopsis:
1990 Oklahoma : Carlton Layton arrived home to find his wife in the arms of another man, he went out to his van and donned the clown suit that he used as a children’s entertainer and proceeded to slaughter his wife and her lover. All of this was witnessed by his 5 year old daughter and Carlton escaped into the night leaving his little girl behind.

5 Years Later: Halloween Night and Carley, a young college student, is hired to take care of a little girl as her parents head out to a Halloween party, but someone one is waiting, someone wants the girl, someone who we know as ‘The Cleaver”.

To become a backer:
Cleaver: Rise of the Killer Clown

To order Slasher House:
Slasher House (DVD)

I have seen Waxwork (1988) for the first time (“W” of #AtoZHorror in August/September) and while I didn’t know anything about this movie till this year, I decided to blind buy it at a store for €6. I heard some good things, so I thought I would love it too. I also loved the trailer and the female lead: Deborah Foreman (April Fool’s Day). Did this movie surprise me on any levels? Yes and no… I really like how this movie starts, it was like your typical 80’s slasher. The characters were likeable and I liked the settings. However, things started to get problematic for me once the time swapping begun. These scenes took on forever and basically drained the entire 80s feel for me.

It did get REALLY over the top and it isn’t low on blood either. I just wish it got more creepier and atmospheric, instead we get these abnormal and sometimes bizarre time swaps to god knows which century and events. It may sounds fun on paper but it wasn’t really appealing to see on screen. The actors really tried their best and the characters were fun too with the standouts being Deborah Foreman and Zach Galligan were really good in their roles. Great performances! I dug the soundtrack of Waxwork and overall the whole setting in the wax museum. I didn’t completely hate this movie, there are a lot of things that worked in this movie. The script was pretty clever, the dialogue sometimes got cheesy and lame but that worked for the fun factor of the film. This is not exactly a movie I’d take seriously but it did spark my interest. I just wish they did more with the intriguing concept, and scored more on the creepy factor. I also thought this movie was a love letter to zombie/vampire/werewolf movies and Hammer movies too.

Overall I recommend you to see Waxwork even if its just for once, its definitely a fun and cheesy 80s slasher/comedy with lots of jokes, blood and great characters. For the horror die hard fans its a must for the collection because I know some have an instant love for it, for regular film fans I’d say rent, check it on Netflix or watch it online. Its not everyone’s cup of tea.

–Ferdi Akkulak

I have seen Vanishing on 7th Street (2010) for the first time (“V” of #AtoZHorror in August/September) and to be fair, I didn’t know all that much about this movie besides that it got released a couple years ago on a very small scale. I didn’t watch a trailer for it, I went in as fresh as I possibly could. Did I enjoy it? Yes and no, and I have some explanation. The movie starts out pretty interesting and suspenseful. It seemed like it had potential going for it, after a while however, I noticed things started falling apart after the story was set. The concept really looks good on paper but it wasn’t executed as good as it should’ve. Not all the characters were that likable but the actors were trying. The acting performance of Hayden Christensen was decent in my opinion, a likable actor however. Thandie Newton was REALLY good in this movie, but I could’ve expected that after her impressive slate of movies. I also thought that John Leguizamo was good in it.

This movie kind of reminded me of The Darkest Hour but that movie was released later than Vanishing on 7th Street. There is a certain amount of creepiness found in this movie but it doesn’t really seem to wanna go beyond that. The directing was solid and while the script isn’t that strong in general, the concept is still original. It is just the execution that was disappointing and I am still not sure what to think of the open ending. Its a decent post-apocalyptic thriller with a great concept, a good cast and cool effects. It still had lots of flaws, to me it just barely scores above average. I’d say check out Vanishing on 7th Street if its on your Netflix queue but I wouldn’t suggest to buy it on DVD/Blu-ray. You could do WAY worse but you can also do a lot better. Not sure if I will check this one out again anytime soon, its more of a one time watch.

–Ferdi Akkulak