Category: Horror

“The Killer Shrews” (1959) / Z-View

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The Killer Shrews (1959)

Director: Ray Kellogg

Screenplay by:  Jay Simms

Starring: James Best, Ingrid Goude and Ken Curtis

Tagline: Ravaging beasts feed on human flesh!

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Thorne Sherman (Best) and his partner dock their boat loaded with supplies at a remote island research base.  Despite an approaching hurricane, Dr. Marlowe Craigis wants Sherman to leave the island immediately and to take his grown daughter, Ann (Goude) as well.  Sherman  says that they need to hunker down and he’ll take her after the storm passes.

Sherman soon learns that Dr. Marlowe’s experiments have created a breed of killer shrews that must eat twice their body weight daily in order to survive.  The shrews’ food supply has dwindled and now the shrews have their eyes on the humans!  With teeth strong enough to eat through walls it is just a question of time until they get into the house… and then…

The Killer Shrews is a low-budget horror film that makes the most of the small cast.  Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the special effects.  It’s very obvious that the shrews are sometimes puppets and other times dogs wearing wigs.  There is a romance subplot that is low budget as well.  A pre-Gunsmoke, Festus (Curtis)  co-stars and produced.

The Killer Shrews is watchable in the Saturday night movie presented by a Horror Host kind of way.  In fact I remember first seeing The Killer Shrews on an episode of Sammy Terry’s Nightmare Theater back in the 60s.  I was in third or fourth grade. I loved the movie and couldn’t wait to tell the old lady crossing guard all about it on Monday.  I recently re-watched The Killer Shrews (this time hosted by Svengoolie).  It brought back great memories and I’m sure I’d have liked it better if I was still in elementary school.

The Killer Shrews earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Project Legion” Starring Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The poster and trailer for Project Legion check all the boxes that get me to want to watch.  I even like that the star is Donald Cowboy Cerrone, one of the toughest UFC fighters in the world!  Fingers crossed for a great “drive-in” movie!

Against all odds, a former marine tries to escape his apartment after waking up to a city in chaos surrounded by creatures who prey on humans in the action/thriller PROJECT LEGION starring UFC superstar Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

“Blood Vessel” (2019) / Z-View

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Blood Vessel (2019)

Director: Justin Dix

Screenplay by: Justin Dix, Jordan Prosser

Starring: Nathan Phillips, Alyssa Sutherland, Robert Taylor, Christopher Kirby, Alex Cooke, Mark Diaco, John Lloyd Fillingham, Troy Larkin and Vivienne Perry

Tagline:  None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

1945.  World War II.  A life raft with five survivors of a hospital ship torpedoed by a Nazi U-boat has been adrift in the ocean for days.  With supplies and hope for rescue running low, the survivors spot a ship.  Although it is a German vessel, with nothing to lose, they board it.  The German sailors are all dead, their bodies horribly mutilated.  They find a young girl and two chained boxes…

I love the Blood Vessel poster (above) and the film exceeded my expectations.  I’m a fan of movies where a diverse group of people are thrown together and forced into life or death situations.  Blood Vessel checks all the boxes.  Early in the movie we’re shown that you cannot be sure who will live or die.  I loved that the vampire didn’t look human.  It was also a cool idea to use the time period when Germany was sure to lose the war and were Nazi officials were exploring occult options as a last resort.  Blood Vessel is a movie that I’m going to enjoy re-watching and would make a great double feature with Overlord!

Blood Vessel earns 4 of 5 stars.

Sputnik (2020): “The Only Survivor Did Not Come Back Alone” / Z-View

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Sputnik (2020)

Director: Egor Abramenko

Screenplay by:  Oleg Malovichko, Andrey Zolotarev

Starring: Oksana Akinshina, Fedor Bondarchuk and Pyotr Fyodorov

Tagline:  The only survivor did not come back alone.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Tatyana Klimova (Akinshina), a  psychiatrist with a high success rate and unusual methods, is brought to a remote military facility.  Colonel Semiradov (Bondarchuk) has recruited Tatyana to work with Konstantin (Fyodorov),  the lone surviving cosmonaut of a recent space mission.

Initially Tatyana is told that Konstantin is in isolation and under military guard due to quarantine protocols.  She soon learns the real reason.  An alien life form is alive in Konstantin.  The creature feeds off nutrients in Konstantin’s food and in turn keeps him alive.  Colonel Semiradov is looking for a way to weaponize or kill the creature – no matter if the process kills Konstantin.  Tatyana wants to save Konstantin, even if it kills the creature.

Sputnik is a Russian film helmed by first time director, Egor Abramenko.  It could have easily turned into an Alien rip-off, but instead we’re given a film that is more psychological in nature.  The creature is unlike most outer-space monsters and is as creepy as it is scary.  There’s a nice twist at the end (but again, not like you’d expect in most horror films).  I enjoyed Sputnik.  It was different than I thought it’d be, but in a good way.

Sputnik earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The Plague” (2014) / Z-View

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The Plague (2014)

Director: Nick Kozakis, Kosta Ouzas

Screenplay by:  Kosta Ouzas

Starring: Don Bridges, Tegan Crowley, Scott Marcus and Steven Jianai

Tagline:  Pray you don’t survive.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

After a zombie outbreak, a small group of survivors have taken refuge in a barn.  Arguments about what do next tear the group apart and lead to murder.  Everyone but Evie (Crowley) is ready to move on.  Evie wants to wait for her boyfriend, John (Marcus) to return.  He finally does, but only Evie waited.

Neither Evie are John are well-suited for survival in this new world.  When Charlie (Jianai) arrives at the barn, they gain renewed hope.  Charlie is an outdoorsman, a marksman and just wants their companionship.  Charlies says in return he will feed and protect them.  What could go wrong with that?

John and Evie should know that sometimes the humans are the most dangerous part of a zombie apocalypse.

The Plague has an interesting idea, but falls short in the execution.  It’s not a bad film, especially for a low budget production.

The Plague earns 2 of 5 stars.

“It Stains the Sands Red” (2016) / Z-View

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It Stains the Sands Red (2016)

Director: Colin Minihan

Screenplay by:  Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz

Starring: Brittany Allen, Juan Riedinger and Merwin Mondesir

Tagline:  It NEVER rests. It NEVER sleeps. It NEVER stops.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

A zombie apocalypse has just started.  Molly (Allen) and her boyfriend, Nick (Mondesir) have left Vegas and are driving to a remote desert airfield where friends are meeting to fly to a safe location.  When their car becomes disabled and a zombie kills her boyfriend, Molly has no choice but to attempt to walk across the desert to the airfield still miles away… with the zombie in slow pursuit!

It Stains the Sands Red takes an interesting premise and through dumb / illogical choices of Molly (and the screenwriters), the film becomes less scary and more irritating.  The idea of a zombie chasing you through an area where there are few places to hide, little in the way of weapons and a climate that will wear you down, while the zombie never tires, never sleeps and has no need for food or water is a good one.

Still it would be hard to sustain a feature film where a zombie follows a person for 90 minutes.  To their credit, Minihan and Ortiz add things/people to the mix.  Where the film goes south (for me) is when Molly begins to talk to the zombie and it responds.  C’mon folks!  Zombies are mindless eating machines.  They don’t think, they don’t listen and they don’t respond to commands.

It Stains the Sands Red earns 2 of 5 stars.

“The Land Unknown” (1957) / Z-View

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The Land Unknown (1957)

Director: Virgil W. Vogel

Screenplay by:  László Görög based on a story by Charles Palmer, William N. Robson

Starring: Jock Mahoney, Shirley Patterson, William Reynolds, Phil Harvey and Henry Brandon 

Tagline:  Lost and Terrorized in Prehistoric Time.

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Commander Alan Roberts (Mahoney), Lt. Jack Carmen (Reynolds), mechanic Steve Miller (Harvey) and reporter Margaret Hathaway (Patterson) take a helicopter to explore an area of warm water in  Antarctica!  When they run into an unexpected storm, low fuel causes them to sit down.  The helicopter is damaged in the landing.  When the fog clears they realize that they are out of radio contact and in a world unchanged since prehistoric times!  Man-eating plants, dinosaurs and something that they never expected to find put their lives in danger.  Will they get the helicopter fixed in time to save them?

The Land Unknown was originally conceived as a big-budget extravaganza.  Prior to filming the budget was drastically cut.  Although filmed in Cinemascope, color was too expensive and all scenes were shot on a back lot.  Children and those old enough to fondly remember low-budget horror films will find enough fun in The Land Unknown.  Viewers not in those categories will see Barney and puppets attacking a toy helicopter.  So be advised your mileage may vary.  For me…

The Land Unknown earns 2 of 5 stars.

TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express / Z-View

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TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express

Created and written by David Stephan and Marysol Levant
Additional writing and dialogue by Brian Phillipson
Art by Alex Cormack
Colors by Ashley Cormack and Alex Cormack
Letters and book design by Alex Murillo

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Train 8 is a high speed train traveling from Seattle to Chicago a few days before Thanksgiving.  It is barreling along when a passenger infected with a virus dies and reanimates as a zombie.  Soon things are out of control as passengers fight an ever-increasing number of the undead.  Surviving the zombies may not be enough, since the government plans to destroy everyone and everything on the train!

Train 8 was originally written as a film script.  It probably would have made a cool movie.  It’s not bad as a graphic novel.  Although the writing is a bit redundant/clunky in places, the story moves.  Some scenes are colored a bit too dark, but that’s expected when the lights go out.  ; )    Props for the ending which is foreshadowed but is still a surprise and sets up a potential sequel.

Overall, I enjoyed TRAIN 8.  If you’re a zombie fan, you should give it a look.

TRAIN 8 – The Zombie Express earns 3 of 5 stars.

Prey (2022) / Z-View

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Prey (2022)

Director:  Dan Trachtenberg

Screenplay by:  Patrick Aison, Dan Trachtenberg based on characters created by Jim Thomas, John Thomas

Starring:  Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers and Dane DiLiegro

Tagline:  None

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

The year is 1719.  When a Comanche warrior is attacked by a mountain lion, Taabe (Beaver) leads a group of braves to attempt rescue. Naru (Midthunder), Taabe’s sister is allowed to join the men since she has been trained in healing herbs.  They find the wounded warrior along with tracks of a unknown beast.  The prints are  big as a bear’s but different.

When the others return to their village, Naru stays behind to track the beast.  She soon discovers that something new is in the forest.  It is a Predator!  Naru sees it kill a bear.  The Predator is a hunter and humans are now the prey!

Prey is an excellent and worthy addition to the Predator franchise.  The screenplay by Patrick Aison and Dan Trachtenberg avoids being preachy while at the same time is respectful of the Comanche culture with a female lead.

Dan Trachtenberg’s last film was 10 Cloverfield Lane, a sequel different from the original, yet fit perfectly into the franchise.  Trachtenberg has captured lighting in a bottle, by again creating a sequel different from the original, yet a perfect franchise fit.  I can see Prey serving as a springboard for future Predator movies set in different time periods.  Imagine a Predator/samurai film, or a Predator/gladiator movie, or… well, you get the idea.  I hope we don’t have to wait as long for Trachtenberg’s next feature.

Amber Midthunder excels in her role as Naru.  She is able to effectively portray the range of emotions required as well as the athletic exploits of an action star.  I look forward to seeing what Midthunder does next.

Prey is exciting and lives up to it’s potential.  There were quite a few folks writing the film off even before the first scene was shot.  I love that Prey turned out to be surprisingly good.  Some even think it better than the original with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  While I’m not in that camp, I did really like Prey and figure I may like it even more on subsequent viewings.  For now…

Prey earns 4 of 5 stars.

Day Shift (2022) Starring Jamie Foxx / Z-View

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Day Shift (2022)

Director:  J.J. Perry

Screenplay by:  Tyler Tice, Shay Hatten from a story by Tyler Tice

Starring: 
Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Steve Howey, Scott Adkins, Oliver Masucci, Snoop Dogg  and Zion Broadnax

Tagline:  Some Jobs Really Go for the Throat

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Bud Jablonski (Foxx) is separated from his wife who plans to move to Florida with their little girl due to mounting bills.  Bud convinces his wife to give him until the end of the week to raise the needed several thousand dollars.  She agrees.

Although his wife thinks he’s a pool cleaner, Bud is actually a vampire killer.  The trouble is, Bud was kicked out of the vampire-killing union due to multiple rules violations.  In order to get a chance at raising the kind of money he needs, Bud gets Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg), a legendary vampire killer, to vouch for him and is reinstated in the union.  In order to make sure that Bud follows the rules, he’s paired with a nervous union desk clerk (Franco) with no field experience.  Now all Bud has to do is kill enough vampires to raise the needed cash — little does Bud know that a vampire queen has him and his family in her sights.

If you’ve read this far, you might enjoy Day Shift.  It has it’s moments, but is so far from reality that there’s little tension.  We never really fear for the deaths of any of the stars, and when we’re surprised that one does die, the post credits scene reveals what we thought happened, didn’t.  The lack of tension would be okay if the comedy really hit home, but again, there are moments but not enough to make it a laugh fest.  My favorite scenes involved the Nazarian brothers (Howey and Adkins) who are vampire hunters extraordinaire.  Day Shift isn’t terrible, but I was expecting better.

Day Shift earns 2 of 5 stars.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S “CABINET OF CURIOSITIES” – The Trailer is Here!

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GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S “CABINET OF CURIOSITIES” – The Trailer is Here!

Guillermo Del Toro – The master of horror – gives a First Look at some of the twisted nightmares and violent delights from his new anthology series.

Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is a collection of sinister stories, told by some of today’s most revered horror creators – including the directors of The Babadook, Splice, Mandy, and many more.