XIO's Talk

Wild Zero

The film opens with hundreds of flying saucers headed towards Earth - MARS ATTACKS-style. This is intercut with scenes of a rockabilly/punk-loving little misfit named Ace, who's greasing his hair up and getting ready for the Guitar Wolf event that night.




ROCK 'N' ROLL!! - and we're off to the club where Guitar Wolf is playing a blistering version of their song "Jet Generation".



After their set, Guitar Wolf gets into a confrontation with the drugged-up club owner, blowing his fingers off with a pistol. The club owner later takes off after Guitar Wolf for revenge, driving his hot rod, toting a shotgun and wearing leather shorts that are entirely too tight and entirely too short.



Ace gets involved with and begins to fall for a girl who turns out to be a transvestite. Some zombies show up for some flesh-eating fun. And then the movie really gets crazy. This film is ridiculous and zany; but above all it's Fun (that's right, with a capital "F"). How could you not enjoy watching Guitar Wolf take out multiple zombies by throwing guitar-pick lasers at them in rapid succession (like some kind of punk rock ninja)? There's a decent amount of gore on display, as well.



I've said this before in other reviews, and I'll say it again; it's just not a zombie movie without some good gutmunch scenes, and WILD ZERO has a few of them. There's also plenty of splattery gun shot squibs and zombie head explosions too.



The zombie make-up is straight out of George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD - blue greasepaint; and I like it. Some of the zombies who have close-ups have a bit more extensive make-up: flesh wounds, rotting skin, etc. The soundtrack, mostly by Guitar Wolf, is all high-octane rock 'n' roll and punk, which keeps the energy level up throughout the movie. Fans of horrorpunk and psychobilly bands should get a kick out of this film.



If you ever thought to yourself, "Wow, I'd like to see a movie that combines ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL with DAWN OF THE DEAD by way of Peter Jackson's BAD TASTE, with a Japanese flavor" - then this is the film for you.
I'd also say it's somewhat reminiscent of the punk-fueled cinema of Sogo Ishii, and it would make a great double feature night with Ishii's BURST CITY or ELECTRIC DRAGON 80,000 V.

The Haunting in Connecticut

The film suppose to be based on a true story,perhaps is based on other spooky films.The film will setup those boo moments & scare tactics just to make people jump,by showing ghosts that comes out of the dark & mirrors.Some CGI effects are decent,but to me the film was another average supernatural horror flick taking place in the haunted house.Seen this kind of film before & can't say this one is better than others from past years.

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Mirrors

Twilight

Clean, Shaven

A schizophrenic man, Peter Winter (a great performance by Peter Greene), is released from an institution and goes in search of his young daughter, Nicole. He returns home to find out his mother had put Nicole up for adoption. Another element of the story involves the murder of a young girl, whose body was discovered on the grounds of a hotel where Peter had stayed while making his way home. Detective McNally believes that Peter is responsible for the murder and is trying to track him down before he can reach Nicole.



Writer/director Lodge Kerrigan manages to create a very multi-layered story, full of paranoia, that compels the viewer to keep watching. Peter Greene's performance as a schizophrenic, plagued by hallucinations is ultimately realistic and believable. His hallucinations are not of the psychedelic visual kind, but rather auditory; and the subtle soundtrack as well as the sound design help convey the mood.



His schizophrenia and paranoia lead to acts of self-mutilation. As uncomfortable and jarring as these few scenes are, they never degenerate into gratuitous shock effect, but are a realistic portrayal of his way of releasing his fears and delusions. And every scene he's in is filled with paranoid tension, which forces the viewer to experience things the way Peter does.



This aspect of the film reminds me of Roman Polanski's 1965 classic, REPULSION. Tension is also created by the fact that the viewer is kept in the dark as to whether he murdered the young girl earlier in the film or not. So when he finally finds (and essentially abducts) his daughter, you don't know what the outcome may be.



This independent film is certainly unconventional and far removed from your average polished Hollywood production (thankfully), so don't expect a satisfying ending that answers all your questions. In the end, CLEAN, SHAVEN is an emotionally stirring character study of mental illness on par with the above-mentioned REPULSION and David Cronenberg's SPIDER.

Blindness

Entrails of the Beautiful Woman

This is the sequel (in name only) to the infamous Japanese sex/gore film ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN, by the same director, Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu. Komizu also directed the third and final installment in the series in 1987, most commonly known as RUSTED BODY: GUTS OF A VIRGIN III. His only other directorial effort of note is the zombie film LIVING DEAD IN TOKYO BAY in 1993.



Now onto the story. A group of Yakuza gangsters rape a girl, Yoshimi, who's been searching for her sister. Her sister had ties to the Yakuza, and they tell her she was sold into prostitution in Africa. They then inject Yoshimi with a highly potent form of dope called "Angel Rain", and two more Yakuza thugs rape her.



She manages to escape and finds a hospital where she tells a nurse her story, before making her way to the hospital roof and jumping to her death. The nurse decides to avenge Yoshimi's death and infiltrates the Yakuza clan. She gets caught and, of course, gang-raped like Yoshimi. They inject her with a large dose of "Angel Rain", which kills her (or so they think). Instead it inexplicably turns her into a hulking, skinless beast with a giant mutant boner! Then she exacts her bloody revenge on the Yakuza members.



The ridiculous and thread-bare plotline is just an excuse to string together the various softcore scenes and, eventually, the gore. I say eventually, because it's 50 minutes into movie before the creature makes an appearance. The movie is only 68 minutes long. That's about 20 minutes worth of gory carnage. What a missed opportunity.



The creature reminds me of the skinless people in HELLRAISER, except for the giant phallus, which resembles the "chest-bursting" critter from ALIEN crossed with the writhing fly larvae in the dream sequence of Cronenberg's THE FLY. Sound disgusting? It is.



The last 20 minutes feature some decent gore FX and one memorably disgusting scene involving the creature's "appendage" and a sleazy Yakuza girl. Let's just say there's some disturbing foreplay before leading up to a stomach-bursting "climax" (a la ALIEN mentioned above).



That's pretty much it. If you've read this far, then you already know if this is the type of movie you want to see. It's a fun and mindless diversion for fans of gore, who don't mind softcore sex scenes; or for fans of softcore sex who don't mind gore scenes (whatever floats-your-boat). It could have been a lot better though if the creature had started his/her wrath of gory, mutant-phallus carnage earlier in the movie. Oh well. In the immortal words of Martin the caretaker in Friday the 13th Part VI, "Some folks sure got a strange idea of entertainment!".

Long Weekend

The Unborn

Most of the creepy stuff was shown on the trailer.The film is not scary at all,without good performances & the plot is mediocre.Gary Oldman was probably thinking of the paycheck,but didn't needed to be part of this cast.Is just a terrible horror film. David Goyer should keep writing stuff for superhero films,which seems to work for him,besides directing Blade:Trinity & The Unborn,he should stay away from horror films.

Za ginipiggu 2: Chiniku no hana (Guinea Pig 2: Flowers of Flesh and Blood)

For fans of underground horror, this film needs no introduction. It's one of those (un)holy grail movies for gorehounds that's usually perched near the top of any extreme horror list along with CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, MEN BEHIND THE SUN, and more recently the AUGUST UNDERGROUND films. And like those films, it has a polarizing effect among even diehard horror fans. It usually divides viewers into those who see (and enjoy) the film as pure shock value entertainment with over-the-top gore FX; and those who see it as pure exploitative garbage appealing only to "sickos" of the lowest common denominator. I happen to fall into the former group, and I have no problem defending the merits of extreme cinema (as anyone who's read my reviews already knows). Then again, I've always admired movies and filmmakers that go beyond the pale of good taste, that try to shock and shake the foundations of the viewers sensibilities, even if that means inspiring as much disgust and revulsion in the viewer as possible.



If these types of films offend you, or if you just like horror movies that "play it safe", then you should probably stop right here because this is the kind of film that throws down the gauntlet, so to speak. It delivers a cinematic sucker-punch to the gut and dares you to keep watching.



There is no real plot to speak of in this movie. One night a man chases, chloroforms and abducts a girl off the street in Japan and binds her to a bed in his blood-stained "slaughter room".



He proceeds to drug her, and while donning a Samurai helmet, systematically tortures, dismembers, disembowels and finally decapitates her, all in full gory detail and using a variety of sharp instruments.



In between the butchery he delivers some poetic dialogue likening the spurting blood and grue to the blossoming of flowers (hence the title of the film). So basically, it's a pseudo-snuff film. And for those who don't know, the GUINEA PIG films were a series of shot-on-video mini-movies (about 40 to 60 minutes in length), produced in Japan in the mid to late '80s, directed by various Japanese filmmakers, and aimed squarely at the burgeoning home video market. FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD is the second in the series, following the similarly-themed and equally grotesque DEVIL'S EXPERIMENT; and it was written and directed by famed manga artist Hideshi Hino.



The fourth installment in the series, MERMAID IN A MANHOLE, was also written and directed by Hino, and it also features plenty of the "red stuff". For MERMAID, Hino drops the pseudo-snuff angle and goes for a story that resembles the dark visions of his manga books like Panorama of Hell and The Bug Boy.



The Guinea Pig films were never officially released on video in many countries, including the US; and were distributed via underground VHS bootlegs, which is how I first came across it. And let me tell you, watching FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD on a 5th or 6th generation VHS bootleg is a much more disturbing (and realistic) experience than watching the remastered version on the Unearthed Films DVD. Not to mention that the old VHS bootleg had no credit sequence or dialogue, which added to its mystery and notoriety. I have to give props to Unearthed Films for releasing the GUINEA PIG series in the first place, but also for including a VHS bootleg version of the film as a hidden "easter egg" on the DVD.



There are a few interesting stories surrounding FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD. One is the legend that it's based on an actual snuff case. This story was most likely concocted by someone involved with the film (probably for added shock effect), who claimed that the director received a parcel in the mail containing one 8mm film reel, some still photographs and a letter all detailing the ritualized dismemberment and slaughter of an unidentified girl, which they handed over to the authorities (after viewing it of course). They insinuated that the case had to be kept quiet so as not to cause a public outcry, because the killer was never caught. And FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD was supposedly a recreation of the 8mm snuff film. This is highly unlikely. I don't care how "quiet" the case was kept, some information and details of it would have leaked out if it were real. This legend, of course, just boosts the notoriety of the film and has the same effect that the narration at the beginning of TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE had about it being "...an account of the tragedy that befell a group of five youths...The events of that day were to lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history." And to this day you'll find people who swear up and down that TEXAS CHAINSAW happened exactly as the events portrayed in the film (rather than being very loosely based on Wisconsin's favorite ghoul, Ed Gein). Another story about FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD happens to be true. Noted genre journalist, author, and all around horror guru Chas Balun had acquired a copy of the film, and at the request of a staff member on Chas' Deep Red magazine, he edited together the goriest bits of FLOWER with a slew of gory scenes from other horror films, to be played at the staff members' birthday party.



Within no time, the tape had been bootlegged and distributed all over the West Coast. At some point, Charlie Sheen saw a copy of this tape and believing it to be an actual snuff film, he reported it to the FBI. The GUINEA PIG films had already been under investigation in Japan and were, of course, determined to be fake. Another more horrifying story involves the Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, dubbed "The Otaku Murderer", who killed four girls between the ages of 4 and 7 in 1988/89.



The atrocities he inflicted on the bodies included mutilation, necrophilia and cannibalism. When the authorities searched his home they discovered a collection of nearly 6,000 pornographic and/or violent videos (including the GUINEA PIG films and videotape footage of some of his victims corpses). He supposedly re-enacted some of the scenes from FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD on one of his victims. That brings to a close the sordid legacy behind one of the most notorious gore shockers ever made.

The Call of Cthulhu

Adapted from one of H.P. Lovecraft's most famous and celebrated short stories, The Call of Cthulhu is a story I thought could never really be filmed properly. When I first heard it was being made, I just knew they were going to ruin one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. However, there was some hope for it since it was being produced by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (a collective of dedicated Lovecraft fans).



I was impressed with the promo trailer; and when I finally saw the finished product, it actually exceeded my expectations. This is by far the most faithful Lovecraft adaptation I've ever seen. What makes the film work for me is the concept behind it. Lovecraft wrote The Call of Cthulhu in 1926; and what the filmmakers did was shoot it as a silent black & white film with title cards, as though it was made in 1926.



It was the only way to make the film with the small budget they had, and it comes off beautifully. The make-up, the lighting, the props, the period clothing, the stop-motion Cthulhu FX, the silent-era style of acting, and the symphonic music score all add to the authenticity and atmosphere of the film.



Plus they developed a post-production process called "Mythoscope", which added film grain and other aging artifacts you would find in a silent-era film. The set construction for the sunken city of R'lyeh was impressive (especially considering that the bulk of it was cardboard). It's a mix of surrealism combined with the expressionistic set design of certain silent horror classics.



The swamp scene was also memorable. The fog rolling through the trees as the inspector and his agents trek through the swamp with lanterns to discover the Cthulhu cultists in the middle of an infernal ritual.



I've mentioned the pros of the film, now for some cons. The low budget necessitated shooting it on digital video, and you can tell its video, but the "Mythoscope" process I mentioned earlier helps give it somewhat of a film-look. This is a minor thing, and it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie. Some may feel a bit under-whelmed when Cthulhu appears. Anyone who's read The Call of Cthulhu already has their own idea of what Cthulhu looks like in their imagination. I understand what the filmmakers were going for here - a stop-motion creature that would be authentic to a '20s-era silent film; and I think they succeeded in doing that (even though I imagine Cthulhu being a bit more gargantuan and rotund than he appears here).



This film should certainly appeal to fans of Lovecraft's fiction, who've been yearning for an accurate film adaptation of his stories, as well as to fans of silent horror cinema. If you're not that keen on Lovecraft and not that fond of silent films, then this movie will probably bore you to death. Now I can't wait to see the HPLHS' next project, THE WHISPERER IN DARKNESS, currently in production. It's going to be set in the same time period the story was written; and since that was 1931, this film will be a "talkie".

Death Race

This is one not to miss

The Dead Next Door

A fairly ambitious, ultra-violent and ultra-low budget homage to George Romero's zombie films. It was shot on Super 8mm by J.R. Bookwalter in Akron, Ohio around 1986; and partially funded by an uncredited Sam Raimi. It has the distinction of being the most expensive Super 8mm film ever produced, clocking in at around $125,000.



The movie follows a "Zombie Squad" in search of a serum that will reverse the zombification process. Along the way, they run into a religious cult led by an insane reverend who's trying to control a commune of the living dead.



One member of the "Zombie Squad, Dr. Moulsson, seems to be modeled after the "Dr. Frankenstein" character in George Romero's DAY OF THE DEAD. The names of most of the characters in the film are blatantly obvious to horror fans: Mr. Raimi, Dr. Savini, Commander Carpenter, King, Romero, Reverend Jones (you get the picture).



The low budget shows, but the film still manages to achieve some great splatter moments; zombie gutmunching; head explosions; gunshot squibs (all the proper ingredients for a zombie film).



There are also some inspired and memorable scenes in the film; zombies trying to get to the White House lawn; zombies popping up in front of the Washington Monument; the opening credits with zombies pulling people out of their cars and causing general mayhem; zombies attacking a "save the zombies" protest group; and a zombie-on-a-leash acting as a "bloodhound". Bruce Campbell also has an uncredited, off-camera, role in the film. He did the voice-over dubbing for the Mr. Raimi character played by Pete Ferry. In short, this is a must for all diehard zombie fans.



How do you know if you'll like DEAD NEXT DOOR? Well, if you find Andrea Bianchi's BURIAL GROUND and Bruno Mattei's HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD a rewarding cinematic experience, then you should certainly enjoy this film. If on the other hand you think the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake and the RESIDENT EVIL films are the ultimate in zombie cinema, you'll probably find this movie cheap, boring, and uninspired.

Dying Breed

Dying Breed

Masters of Horror: John McNaughton: Haeckel's Tale

Películas para No Dormir: La Habitación del Niño (Films to Keep You Awake: The Baby's Room)

Frontière(s) (Frontier(s))

Twilight

The Cottage

just crazy and rather funny aswell