Hey this flick is a must see for fans of the old 1980's Vestron Video style horror releases that you used to find on your local video store shelves. Reminiscent of features like "Don't Go In the Woods", this film is gritty, campy and damned good fun for the viewer seeking escapist horror entertainment. Is it ultra low in budget? Hell yes...and that is what makes it as fun to watch as it is! If this film had have had a budget of 20 million it would have detracted from the "camp factor" and the film would have become just another slasher in the woods thriller. Instead, we are treated to low budget scenes of great "in the woods" gore effects, chicks in jeopardy and dudes being butchered...or turned into brain-dead psychos! Good performances by the indie cast and a super fun throwback to the golden age of "blood and guts VHS" make this one a must see for any fan of the carnage in the woods film genre!
Reviews
4 Reviews
Survival
(I) (2006)
"Survival" is 1980s horror fun for 2008...and that's a good thing!
25 March 2008
Abominable
(2006)
Good flick
12 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Purchased this one after seeing the Sci-fi channel presentation. It is one of the few good films within the "bigfoot" movie genre. The film, first of all, takes itself seriously as a horror film...which is a plus. It never attempts to make laughable the subject matter. Secondly, I loved the fact that the film's lead was confined to a wheelchair throughout the film with the majority of the action occurring from his vantage point. This enhanced the feeling of dread and desperation as he becomes more frantic about the creature's impending attacks as the storyline unfolds. The girls next door served as great creature bait as well, with the wheelchair bound hero attempting to warn them from afar with sign language from his cabin window as they reference him as some kind of pervert! All in all, well worth watching if you are into creature features.
Exorcism: The Possession of Gail Bowers
(2006 Video)
Great low budget take on exorcism theme
12 November 2006
I picked this DVD up at Hollywood Video with some hesitation. I truly enjoy the genre but have seen some much less than good "Exorcist" ripoffs. Not only was I surprised to find this one entertaining...but I enjoyed it a heckuva a lot more than "Emily Rose"! The film makers took a low budget and worked extremely well within those confines, finding innovative ways to create "demonic possession" type F/X resulting in a truly entertainingly frightening little film! This film delivers a series of good old fashioned exploitation shock effects as opposed to lengthy boring dialogue sequences followed by a mediocre "bang" for your four bucks. The Asylm Video company is consistently releasing better and better direct to DVD fare, many of which eclipse the lackluster theatrical releases that these lower budget films are counterparts to. I only wish that I'd seen this one sooner...as it would have made great Halloween party movie entertainment!
Night of the Living Dead
(1968)
Romero's "Night" created a new cinematic dawn.
9 July 2004
I've viewed this film many times over the years and I must say that it IS a horror masterpiece that deserves and has earned it's right to be regarded as such. George A. Romero and John Russo penned a script that was, in 1968, startlingly original and shocking. Then utilizing the efforts of a cast and crew drawn from the Pittsburgh area commercial television industry, translated the script on a shoestring budget into a film experience which created an entirely new and unique genre. Shot in stark black and white due to a limited budget at a time when most films were already being shot in color, the Image Ten Film Group splashed theatre screens with nightmarish imagery that no one at that time was prepared for.
The black and white presentation of the film actually enhances the eerie and dark atmosphere of the storyline and many people over the years speculated that avoiding the use of color stock was by choice instead of necessity. This film created several new standards within the horror genre, the zombie flesh eating theme and it's graphic depiction thereof being the most obvious. Another standard set by "Night" was the redefinition of the horror film heroine with the character of Barbara, wonderfully played by Judith O'Dea. For years female characters within the horror genre were simply Fay Wray type screamers, awaiting the rescue of the male lead. Barbara provided us with the first depiction of the "scream queens" as we know them still today. She was terrified indeed, but she was self reliant and assertive as well. The character of Barbara took charge of her own self-preservation.
The casting of the late Duane Jones in 1968 as the male lead with no references to his ethnicity in the script's dialogue should be applauded. These weren't people divided by color within that farmhouse(as sadly parts of the country really were back in 1968), these were simply ordinary people attempting to achieve survival within an extraordinary situation. The murder of Marilyn Eastman's character by the "zombie daughter" in a scene that attacks the viewer's senses on numerous levels is to this day one of the most unsettling ever depicted on film. All of these elements and more contributed to this film's continued theatrical runs throughout the next decade. These same elements have earned the film it's cult status following and it still packs it's punch on video. Sadly, there are several edited, re-cut, or poor quality versions on the market due to the fact that the film became part of the public domain and anyone with a print could then release it.
Seek out the original uncut version, digitally remastered on DVD and the experience the film provides will be well worth the purchase price if you're a fan of horror. After viewing, think of the films that pre-dated this classic and those that followed. Then realize that all of the graphic chills, scream queen's battlings of antagonists, and so many other elements of horror cinema today are the result of the impact this low budget shocker had on an entire genre.
The black and white presentation of the film actually enhances the eerie and dark atmosphere of the storyline and many people over the years speculated that avoiding the use of color stock was by choice instead of necessity. This film created several new standards within the horror genre, the zombie flesh eating theme and it's graphic depiction thereof being the most obvious. Another standard set by "Night" was the redefinition of the horror film heroine with the character of Barbara, wonderfully played by Judith O'Dea. For years female characters within the horror genre were simply Fay Wray type screamers, awaiting the rescue of the male lead. Barbara provided us with the first depiction of the "scream queens" as we know them still today. She was terrified indeed, but she was self reliant and assertive as well. The character of Barbara took charge of her own self-preservation.
The casting of the late Duane Jones in 1968 as the male lead with no references to his ethnicity in the script's dialogue should be applauded. These weren't people divided by color within that farmhouse(as sadly parts of the country really were back in 1968), these were simply ordinary people attempting to achieve survival within an extraordinary situation. The murder of Marilyn Eastman's character by the "zombie daughter" in a scene that attacks the viewer's senses on numerous levels is to this day one of the most unsettling ever depicted on film. All of these elements and more contributed to this film's continued theatrical runs throughout the next decade. These same elements have earned the film it's cult status following and it still packs it's punch on video. Sadly, there are several edited, re-cut, or poor quality versions on the market due to the fact that the film became part of the public domain and anyone with a print could then release it.
Seek out the original uncut version, digitally remastered on DVD and the experience the film provides will be well worth the purchase price if you're a fan of horror. After viewing, think of the films that pre-dated this classic and those that followed. Then realize that all of the graphic chills, scream queen's battlings of antagonists, and so many other elements of horror cinema today are the result of the impact this low budget shocker had on an entire genre.
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