Men Behind the Sun (2003) **
This film about secret experiments the Japanese army performed during WWII packs enough gruesome torture scenes and body mutilations to satisfy gore hounds. Unfortunately there was little else to keep me interested.
Vampire Circus (1972) ***
One of the more unique Hammer Studio offerings. Villagers slays a vampire. He puts a curse on the village. The plague takes over quarantines them from outsiders. Until the day a circus rolls into. But this disturbing bunch of performers have a secret.
Bled (2009) 1/2
Couldn't even get through this snooze fest about a woman who is given an amulet which when she smoke the blood on it, allows her to cross over to another dimension where a vampire lives. Or something like that
Samurai Zombie (2008) **
Pretty much what is sounds like, a zombie samurai attacks a family and some thieves who cars break down in the middle of dark forest. I didn't expect much. And didn't get much either.
Black Swan (2010) ****1/4
This memorizing tale of a ballerina and her fall into madness is simply outstanding. The movie is filled with a great cast, tight direction, and visceral images.
Grapes of Death (1978) ***
This atmospheric flick from director Jean Rollin is packed with all his stables, gore and nudity. Pesticides being used in grape vineyard turns folks into zombie like creatures.
Dorian Gray (2009) ***
A nice movie version of the classic Oscar Wilde story.
Hunger (2009) **1/2
Five seemingly random people are kidnapped and locked away in a hole to see how long they can go without food. People start turning each other and do unspeakable things to survive.
My Soul To Take (2010) *1/2
Seven kids were born prematurely on the same night a serial killer was murdered/disappeared. Sixteen years later, the killer seems to have returned. I expected much better from director Wes Craven.
Body #19 (2007) ***
A Thai horror flick about a guy who has nightmarish visions of a girl being killed. The mystery leads him to a morgue. A little gorier than many Thai films and plot keeps you guessing until the end. At over two hours, parts felt to drag out. It's a minor complaint.
Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1966) **1/2
Kind of a lazy, run of the mill Dracula film from the good folks at Hammer Studios. Watchable, but nothing memorable about it.
Rawhead Rex (1986) *
Such a cool short story, by Clive Barker, and such a horrible flick. Laughable, but not in a good way.
Eaten Alive! (1980) **
If you've seen one cannibal movie made in Italy during the 80's then you've seen them all. Nothing too new territory here, except a fanatical cult be the reason why people stray into the jungle.
Home Movie (2008) ***
Killer kid movies creep me out. This "found footage" tale about a couple of homicidal twins is above average. What makes it all the more creepy is reason behind the children's motives. Seemingly none.
Dead in 3 Days (2006) **1/2
A group of friends and recent high school grads start being killed off by. And guess what? They all harbor a shared secret. Nothing really stands out about this average movie with retread themes from Germany.
Alone (2007) ***
A Thai film about sisters who are conjoined twins. They get separated as young girls and one dies. The other one lives her life until one day she starts seeing the her dead sis. A good slow burn mystery with some general spooks and scares.
The Violent Kind (2010) *1/2
A bunch of rockabilly ghosts (I think) bust up a party being held by bikers in order to take a girl who's been possessed by some sort of demonic monster that will bring on the end of days. Decent characters and acting cant make up for a script that is all over the place and incorporates too many different themes while not explaining nearly enough.
Primal (2009)
A group of students head out to the Australian Outback to look at cave drawings. One of them gets ill and starts changing into a creature, which then attacks the remaining group.
The Kindred (1987) **
This 80's sci-fi/horror hybrid is about a doctor who learns his mother was performing DNA experiments. Naturally there's a mutated creature involved. Rather cheesy flick but the great Rod Steiger is awesome as a demented doctor.
Summer's Moon (2009) **1/2
A girl trying to locate her birth father gets picked up by a nice guy. She goes home with a guy only to find out he's a bit off his rocker and likes to collect girls. And his mother is a little off too. Not
Drive Angry (2011) **1/2
A man escapes from Hell to save his grandaughter from being sacrificed by a Satanic cult. Bloody fun if you want to kill a couple of hours.
BOOKS
American Conspiracies by Jesse Ventura *****
I've always enjoyed good conspiracy theory. What makes this book truly frightening is it covers conspiracies and cover-ups by the American government perpetrated upon the American people. Ventura covers the assassinations of JFK, RFK, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.; how George Bush tampered with votes to twice win the Presidency; Watergate; drugs; and Wall Street. I like how Ventura lays out each subject. He gives the reader mulitple facts and sites the resources to cover all theories on the subject, then gives his opinion. A fascinating read and one that if even part of it is true, the American public has much to fear from the powers that be.
