Jacobs Hammer

Jacobs Hammer is a new film from first time director Angie Boltler.  It’s a film small on budget but big on other levels.  It centers around a young mother named Sadie, played wonderfully by Helen Holman, who is convinced her young son is pure evil.  She even talks to a priest in the beginning, in what I must say is a well-crafted scene asking if someone can be born evil to which he replies “There are always Abels out there” referencing Cain and Able of course.

  Turns out Sadie is right to be worried.  He creepy little kid who is a cross between Damien from the Omen film and Wednesday Adams never really speaks, has a weird evil look about him, and always seems to be holding a hammer.  He does this so he can smash people’s heads in.  Get it Jacobs Hammer.  He has a Hammer and he kills people with it.

Anyway what follows is actually a well written and well filmed picture.  I enjoyed the technical aspects, i.e the lighting and the effects.  The film, as I said is by no means big budget but it knows how to effectively use what it has in its favor.  The kill scenes are especially effective.  Sewn lips, hammers to the head, all well done.  The music that plays through has a nice creepy vibe to it, and it even has a nice 11^th hour turn to it.

Another thing I have to say that was refreshing is the ending.  No, Im not going to give it away here, nor am I going to give away the plot twist, but let me say in today’s market of horror films it’s always nice to see a film end a bit differently.

Another thing I must point out is overall tone of the picture.  Its not really a slasher, not really a horror film, not really a psychological film.  What it is, is a very effective combination of the three that wouldn’t have been pulled off without Helen Holman’s performance.  I looked her up on IMDB and see she has been in a few films I have not seen, but you can be sure I will check them out now.  She is able to play the character of Sadie to perfection, and as the film progresses you watch her character morph into something that goes from terrified, to terrifying.  Unlike most modern films where you could care less who lives or dies you actually feel sympathy for her character and become vested in her plight.

Overall I would give this a good recommendation.  Great acting, story, and enough gore for the horror fans make this a winner.  What I am saying is Forget about Jacobs Ladder, this Jacob has a Hammer!

Overall 3 out of 5 Stars!

Disco Exorcist

Wow Disco Exorcist what a title.  What a concept. Disco Duck’s girlfriend get a curse put on her by his ex, she turns into a demon and he has to exorcise her.  Seriously, that’s the plot.  I left nothing out.  Sound like your type of film?  Let’s go into it a bit further.

This film, is obviously set in the 70’s and I have to give it credit, the costumes, music and horrible 70’s dialogue are all spot on accurate.  There is a slow basement made type porn music that plays throughout the back giving it a grind-house type feel.  To add to that feel the screen is gimmicked up with the trademark cigarette burns and scratch marks that grind house style directors like to use.  This one, and I assume its due to budget restraints, which works in the favor, is probably the most 

authentic I have seen in a modern film.

Also I can’t stress enough how the tone and effects work so well due to the smaller budget.  The thing about this is its almost a real grind house film.  I say real simply because we are in the 2000’s  It has the perfect look and feel that ones from the 70’s that others try to emulate.

The film is loaded, and I mean loaded with nudity.  I can’t stress how loaded with nudity this is.  The opening 10min have more in it than I have seen in years.  There are orgy's, drug party’s, and yes Possession.  When our “Hero” gets down at the club with his new girl, his ex-grabs her hair and puts the mojo on her.

 

What follows is a nice amount of blood and gore, all delivered with a nice cheesy style.  It culminates with the exorcism which is also a very over the top 70s style scene.

Is this film for everyone?  Certainly not.  It’s a grind house style movie.  If you like movies with cheesy dialog, gore, and blood, and yes, all that nudity then check it out.  If you dig 70’s movies, particularly the ones this pays homage to check it out. 

Overall 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Serial Kaller

Babealiciouos, that's a great name. Something you would hear from a cheesy 80s teen show, or a 70s porn. Babealiciouos is also the setting for the new slasher film Serial Kaller. Yes, Kaller, you get it Killer plus Caller equals Kaller.

Any way this one centers around the girls of the Babealiciouos channel, which is basically a fancy name for a TV Phone Sex Channel. The studio is where the hot girls of Babealiciouos work and where we have on this night a killer on the loose.

It has a cool opening of a girl walking down the old greenish dimly lit hall by herself, and well, you know the rest. Then it actually cuts to the past where we meet a kid who's mom is a plastic surgery junkie who has just died from her last procedure.

Once those scenes are wrapped up we go back to the present where the girls are secured in the building and everything is locked down. Locked down with a killer among them that is. A Serial Killer, I mean a Serial Kaller, because it's a call in, yea I know.

Anyway what folows is your typical stalking and slashing that horror fans have grown to love. Some pretty good FX shots, and a couple cgi kills thrown in to bloody it up. Add in a few nude shots to complete and you have a pretty decent little Indy film here.

It's nothing new or adventurous by any means but Serial Kaller has a good cast and a pretty clever setting for a slasher. That said I would recommend picking it up.


3 out of 5 stars

Hole

Hole, not to be confused with Holes because it has less Holes an it's better.

Its the story of Ed Kunkle a weirdo who is weird because his mom abused him. Like in a really messed up way. She would make him watch her and her husband have sex. Oh yea she beat him to. She also had blond hair. I mention this because now that he's grown up he kills blond women. Yea most abused kids in movies grow up bad. Ed has a shed he keeps the bodies, or body parts in some cases in.

He comes in contact with a blond woman who lost her kid, and a detective who keeps dreaming about Ed killing him.

That's the plot, I can't get into it more as it has a weird ending to say the least.

The acting is quite good, as is the overal feel of the film. It has a bit of an art house style about it.
Good acting, blood, and Gore make this a safe purchase.



3 out of 5 stars 

http://www.wildeyereleasing.com/

Queen Crab

Do you like old stop motion films? Do you like Monster Movies? Do you like low budget stop motion monster movies? If so this is for you.

Queen Crab is about a giant crab that's terrorizing a town. By giant crab think like the giant octopus King Kong fought in King Kong 's Godzilla. Yea big Crab

I can't discuss plot twists, or character development because, well there is none. I in shock they stretched this out as far as they did.

With that said I dig it quite a bit. Keep in mind what I asked in the beginning though. If you dig the old giant monster films of the past before cgi then this is right up your alley as it's a fantastic throwback. If you don't like these films this isn't going to be for you



2.5 out of 5 stars

http://www.wildeyereleasing.com/

The Horror Network

You know what I love, horror films.  Know what else I love, anthologies.  Know what I like combined almost as peanut butter and chocolate horror and anthologies.  So it was a no brainer I was going to dig The Horror Network.

The horror network is a grand scope as far as anthologies go as it is telling us 5 very different stories, from 4 different directors.  Each one is very different from the other.  Now I don/t mind that.  Some of the antholigies out there use multiple directors but the film everything the same.  This truly feels like your watching 5 very different films.  S without any spoilers, here is what you get.

3:00AM:  Paranormal haunted house style film.  Lady in the house alone has weird things happening tv turns on and off by itself, you get the picture.

Edward:  My favorite of the 5.  Very simple, guy talking to his shrink, telling him hes off his med and having BAD thoughts.

The Quiet: Probably the creepiest of the bunch.  Little deaf girl walking home keeps seeing the same van driving past her over and over.  Coincidence, or sicko?  Very slick in the film aspect as well.  Freaked my wife out a bit

Merry Little Christmas:  Nasty little one about a guy who is visiting his cousin and aunt.  Turns out, via flashback they are one nasty messed up family.

The Deviant One:  Using bible passages we watch a guy kills his neighbor and then have sex with her body.  Sure there is a bit more to it than that but I said no spoilers, and that's basically the plot in a nutshell.

Overall a great time to be had.  All of these are pretty creepy little films void of any humor.  Wild Eye Releasing has put this one out and you can buy it now, really you can.  Stop reading and go buy it.

Overall 3 out of 5 Stars

Bunni

In the mood for a simple, effective, gory, straight to the point horror film?  If so Bunni is for you.  Directed by Daniel Benedict Bunny tells the tale of 2 couples on Halloween who, while looking for a good time break into an abandoned sex shop.  Ok that alone should be enough to get you to watch this.  I mean who breaks into an abandoned sex shop? I also admire our main characters Halloween costume of a TNMT shirt.

Anyway once there our two couples encounter probably the hottest killer I have ever seen, Bunni.  They call her that, while actually they don’t, that just the tile, because she wears this little lingerie number with a Bunni mask.  Why does she do this?  Who cares?

We know a little about her from a quick before and during the credits opening where she tells her husband she knows hes cheating on him.  He then snaps and beats the crap out of her.  That’s basically the back story.

Once she finds the kids we have non stop blood and gore for a good 20min.  Nipple cutting, stabbing, hammer beatings, you name it.  The camera work is a bit shaky for my taste towards the end, but due to the heavy amount of gore it can be overlooked.

The acting is not bad at all for a small Indy film, and the special effect are top notch.  Bunni is a hard film. Plenty of blood and torture and nudity.  Plus a very short run time of just a tad over an hour, which is perfect for these types of films.  Straight and to the point, with a bit of a twist thrown in for fun.

Bunni won best picture at the Imaginarium Film Festival and is well worth picking up.  Wild Eye releasing has done another great job on the presentation.  The DVD comes with commentary, interviews, music videos, and radio spots. 

So if you looking for a nice violent to the point slasher I highly recommend picking this one up

Overall 3 out of 5 stars