When a group of petty criminals is hired by a mysterious party to retrieve a rare piece of found footage from a rundown house in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize that the job isn¹t going to be as easy as they thought. In the living room, a lifeless body holds court before a hub of old television sets, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of VHS tapes. As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last.

Bringing together some of the top filmmakers in the game today, this wickedly conceived horror anthology sends the viewer through a gauntlet of suspense, terror, shock, and downright brutality instantly distinguishing itself from a sea of lackluster found-footage horror flicks. The diverse and deviously creative minds behind V/H/S shatter any preconceived notions about the genre, making it feel inventive and captivating once again.

V/H/S will be available through Magnolia On-Demand starting 8/31; in theaters starting 10/5.

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V/H/S

Let me get this out of the way before I move onto the review, Prom Night was not the best horror film, it is praised because of the mystery of the killer and Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis being involved. Its not a good film, but its not a bad film either. Now saying that this “remake” is just horrendous, I am a fan of Brittany Snow(Nip/Tuck & Law & Order: SVU) and even Jessica Stroup(90210), but I just found myself shaking my head at the acting, the story and even the motive of the killer, who we know who it is, but the director still feels the need to act like its a mystery film.
The film is an example of what happens when a film is named after a completely different film just to grab those viewers. Aside from the killings and the actual prom(which is more prominent in this than it was in the original) this has NOTHING to do in the slightest to the original. So much so I am hesitant on even calling it a remake.

Psycho is the worse remake of all time, not just in the horror genre, but this definitely is close to being #1 as well, its sad to considering its not really a remake. The PG-13 doesn’t help it either(although, I can’t really see the difference between this and an R-Rated film of todays films, we still get blood and violence and in other cases nudity.

–Eric Curto

A guy convinces his very reluctant girlfriend to get an abortion and ends up dragging her to a whorehouse that doubles as an illegal abortion clinic. When the girl refuses to get the abortion, she is drugged and given the abortion regardless. The aborted fetus is then flushed down the toilet and lands in the sewer, but a barrel of toxic waste has been overturned and it leaks into the sewer onto the fetus. The fetus then springs to life, traps all of the occupants of the whorehouse/abortion clinic inside the giant home and proceeds to kill them off one by one….

Oh yeah, this movie is every bit as tasteless and trashy as it sounds. In one scene, the madame (appropriately named Big Mama) finishes an abortion, then hangs her lab coat on the same wire hanger!! The effects are atrocious… Actually everything about this film is atrocious but extremely hilarious! I had a lot of fun watching this movie because just when you think the filmmakers can’t sink any lower, they do!! There is a huge bodycount. Lots of people getting killed off and there’s a psycho ex con trapped in the house who holds them all hostage! So not only do they have to deal with the mutant fetus, but also the ex con as well! Despite the fact that the characters are meant to be despicable, I still liked every one of them. I particularly loved the hooker named Candy who has had 5 abortions so far and explains to the heroine that getting an abortion is “really no big deal.” I also love how calm she is about a mutant fetus slaughtering her friends/clients….

It’s absolutely bottom of the barrel but what can I say?? I enjoyed every minute of it!!

–Nathan Johnson

Once again courtesy of the Slasher Studios Film Club we have another underrated Wes Craven pick. Savagely beated by critics and ignored by audiences, our guest film critic Austin Wolf-Sothern takes a look at the underrated “Deadly Friend.”

Deadly Friend (1986)
A brilliant teen, with an understanding of neuro-science and robotics, has built an adorable robot named BB who rambles nonsense in an adorably demonic voice. But the robot is destroyed by neighbor Anne Ramsey, and shortly after that, the girl he has fallen for (Kristy Swanson, also fucking adorable) dies. Sad and desperate, he does the only practical thing. Brings both of them back at the same time by putting the brain of BB into the body of Swanson. Things don’t work out exactly as planned, though, as his new friend turns out to have some deadly qualities. The plot may have some absurd elements, but if you can embrace it, this is one of the saddest, most touching movies you will ever see. I was genuinely distraught by the end of it.

Basically, it’s a horror movie that manages to combine a plethora of cuteness with heart-breaking tragedy, centered around a robot and a pretty girl, with moments of disturbing cruelty, some gory effects, and one of the best kill scenes of all time (it involves a basketball). In other words, this movie was made for me personally! The film’s been largely dismissed because it jumps genres a bit, and sometimes seems like it was made for kids, but other times is clearly intended as adult horror, leaving people wondering what audience it’s meant for. Well, it’s me. I am the audience. And presumably like-minded others as well. It is unbearably appealing, absolutely perfect in every single way, and I completely, whole-heartedly love it.

Director Steven C. Miller’s upcoming remake of the Charles E. Sellier, Jr. Christmas slasher classic “Silent Night, Deadly Night” looks as if they have cast their victim as Bloody Disgusting reports that scream queen Jaime King is attached to star in the film.

This will be King’s third horror remake in a row after starring in the ultra gory “My Bloody Valentine 3D” and the underrated and still unreleased “Mother’s Day”. Will she be able to survive a killer Santa Claus? Only time will tell…

King joins the previously cast Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween & H2) in Anchor Bay’s remake.

The plot:
“The story follows a local police department’s search for the killer Santa Claus terrorizing a remote Midwestern town on Christmas Eve. McDowell will play Sheriff Cooper, a small-town hero ready for some big-time action.”

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day and what does that mean in the horror world? Of course you know what it means. It means watch the only horror movie in the world dedicated to the holiday of the Irish and drinking green beer. Let’s watch us some “Leprechaun”! Oh the joys of “Leprechaun”. The basic plot? A really nasty leprechaun is robbed of his gold and forced to lie trapped in a crate for ten years thanks to a magical four-leaf clover. When the Leprechaun is awaken from his slumber, he makes a vow to kill everybody who stands in his way of his recovering his gold. Sound promising? I’d say your luck just ran out. In for a bad b-movie with a lot of charm and not a lot of brains? Well…your luck might be a little bit better.

“Leprechaun” is the sort of movie I might expect to see from someone who decided that there simply MUST be a St. Patrick’s Day horror movie. The movie does have one good thing going for it, though, a young Jennifer Aniston who is actually quite charming as our lead and ultimate “Final Girl”. Tory is a spoiled young girl from L.A. forced to spend the summer with her father and friends in an all but condemned house in North Dakota. The very same house the mean, old Leprechaun has been staying! Do you think there will be chaos? Yes. Do you think any of our major characters will die? Nope. Good…glad to see that we are all on the same page here.

Ugh…what movie was I talking about again? Oh yeah, “Leprechaun”. Seriously, is this movie over yet? There is a slight bit of blood and gore, but the leprechaun spends more time trying to be funny (his “jokes” make Freddy Krueger seem like Woody Allen on his best) than providing us with satisfying deaths. Far too many ridiculous sight gags are played, insulting the intelligence of even the youngest of viewers, and the climax (“FUCK YOU LUCKY CHARMS”) is too inane for words. In the world of horror movies, Leprechaun is typical B-rated horror….nothing more and nothing less. If you are in the mood for a dumb horror movie about a dumb leprechaun doing dumb things…well, you don’t do any better than this. And, with five increasingly awful sequels, the filmmakers have shown us that you can do worse…much worse!

Creating an homage poster isn’t always easy. There are a lot of things that must perfectly fall into place in order to create that perfect poster that is both representative of the original movie as well as new and fresh. Today at Slasher Studios we would love to introduce to you Adam Rabalais and his horror poster art. Below are a couple of examples of the incredible graphic artistry that goes into each and every one of this amazing posters. If you like what you see, click on the link below and make sure to order your poster today.

To order:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/adamrabalais?ref=pr_shop_more

When it comes to the films of Dario Argento most will cite either Deep Red or Suspiria as his best film and every so often Tenebre will be listed, but there are quite a few very much in the minority that rate Phenomena from 1985 as his best film and while I can’t agree on this being his best film it is however an excellent film and despite the cult status I also find it a little underrated. Phenomena is Argento’s strangest film as it’s part dark fairy tale, part supernatural and part Giallo and the mixture of these elements should really sink the film, but instead it enhances the movie and makes it one of the if not the most original horror film of the 80s.

At the time of the release of Phenomena Dario Argento was going through his metal phase that sort of replaced the scores in his films. While he still worked with Claudio Simonetti, the soundtrack was also made up of metal music, which Argento would again use in Demons released the same year as Phenomena, which he produced and was directed by Lamberto Bava and in 1987 Argento would direct Opera and produce Demons 2 again directed by Bava and both films would have plenty of metal music. I think the music in Argento’s flicks have played a big part of their success and at first I really disliked the metal music at least in Phenomena and Opera, but I’ve actually warmed up to it a bit and while I prefer the score by Simonetti and metal does make for an interesting mix and with Phenomena it actually adds to the weirdness of the film and works in a strange way even if some of the suspense is lost.

To say the plot for Phenomena is weird is a major under statement; Jennifer Corvino (Connelly) is the daughter of a famous actor and while her father is busy she’s sent to a Swiss boarding school, which is the site for a slew of unsolved murders; Jennifer has a strange connection with insects and with the help of insects, Jennifer sets out to solve the vicious unsolved murders.

The screenplay by Dario Argento & Franco Ferrini is quite interesting and while the script does suffer at times the overall weirdness of the script however keeps it interesting; the characters are pretty much the typical featured in Argento’s movies; they lack depth and don’t really impact the story. Jennifer however is one of Argento’s more interesting characters. While she isn’t the most developed character we’ve ever come across she is interesting and likeable and one of Argento’s more sympathetic characters. Some of the dialogue for the other teen characters comes across as a bit odd, Argento & Ferrini fair a lot better with Jennifer.

Phenomena is well plotted and mostly coherent; Argento & Ferrini take the basic Giallo elements and mix in the supernatural and twisted fairy tale and the final act seems to owe a little bit to Friday the 13th and this might sound like a disaster waiting to happen, but Argento & Ferrini actually make these ideas work mostly well. The script does feature a few of the flaws I personally find with some of Argento’s scripts, but in general the script works due to the totally off beat nature.

As director Dario Argento delivers a mostly well-paced movie, but at 110-mintues Phenomena can run a little overly long, but the strangeness of the movie helps keep things moving a solid pace. The isolated setting helps Argento create an eerie feel and while this isn’t Argento’s most suspenseful flick it still works due to the setting. Like I brought up earlier with the use of metal music can slightly hinder the suspense at times, but the music also keeps in with the total offbeat nature of the movie. Dario Argento may not hit the highs of some of his past movies, but he’s able to hit all the right notes with Phenomena and crafts one of the most original horror movies of the 80s and this movie just further cements Argento’s great legacy in the horror genre.

This is one of Jennifer Connelly’s first films and apparently she’s made some negative comments about the movie, which is a shame. Phenomena may not be an Oscar worthy movie, but it’s still an excellent movie and too bad Connelly doesn’t feel the same as many of the fans of the movie. Donald Pleasence also appears in the film and gives a solid and fun performance.

Phenomena truly is a fascinating movie and while I wouldn’t rate this in my top 5 Argento movies it’s really an entertaining and fun flick that is just off the wall on the weirdness factor. A lot of the plot points can easily sink a movie, but Argento being the great craftsman he is totally makes this work.

-Dave Kaye (Last Road Reviews)

To order from Amazon: Phenomena (Special Edition)