A Werewolf In The Amazon Collection

One of the most prolific directors out of Brazil has always been Ivan Cardoso. Know for not only making erotic horror films that feature over the top gore and practical effects but a unique blend of comedy as well.  Hes films all contain the most amazing, pulse pounding scores and beautiful lighting that we tend to never use here in the states. 

These films have been the subject of bootlegs over the years here in American with none of them really getting the proper treatment releasing wise. Well for the first time ever Camp Motion Pictures is releasing 4 of his films fully remastered in one fantastic DVD Collection entitled, A Werewolf in the Amazon Collection

You are going to get the following films, which I will get into later,

A Werewolf in the Amazon

The Scarlet Scorpion

The Seven Vampires

The Secret of the Mummy

As I stated these films have been sought after for quite some time and have appeared over the years at lots of horror conventions on bootleg dvds and vhs tapes.  If you are a fan you will want to own this remastered collection because of the stunning transfers, and if you have never seen these films, which I have often said are far superior to the Hammer Films people know and love they this is a great starting point.  Let’s break down these films

A Werewolf in the Amazon starring Spanish Icon Paul Naschy in the story of a group of friends who are on the hunt for a fun and strong hallucinogen.  They head on out to the Amazon to find the ultimate high but end up in a Dr Moreau style camp full of human animal creatures.  It’s a fun film.  Serious in tone but funny in delivery.  A great pulse pounding score and plenty of blood for the gore hounds out there.  As with most of these it does feature plenty of nudity and some sex scenes.  The makeup effects for the monsters is also surprisingly well done.  It’s a great start to the collection.

The Scarlet Scorpion is a really weird film that is fun and can only be described as middle class Brazilian Batman.  They say he’s a millionaire but I find that highly unlikely.  It’s about The masked crime fighter The Angel, who must do battle with his arch nemesis The Scarlett Scorpion who has just kidnapped the city’s most famous fashion designer.  It’s fun on a lot of levels.  In all honesty it reminds me a lot of an old El Santo Film.  Given that I love El Santo I would recommend this for the fun romp that it is.

The Seven Vampires, not to be confused with the Seven Golden Vampires is the story of 2 detectives investigating a series of vampire murders taking place in and around a very sex upscale nightclub.  Yes that does in fact mean nudity galore int his one.  And a great amount of blood.  OH and I forgot it also has a man eating plant.

The Secret of the Mummy is a standard mummy film, in that the hero of the story, Professor Expiodito Vitus is trying to collect 8 pieces of treasure that make a map to the mummy tomb.  Once there it unleashes a very awesome looking mummy to say the least.  Once again A nice amount of blood and gore add to the fantastic tone of the film.

If all of that is not enough you also get The Mark of Terrir which can only be described as a “Found Footage” documentary.  Throw in a poster and some linear notes and you have one hell of a DVD set on your hands.

As I have stated these films, although they sound corny and over the top are not for kids.  Don’t get me wrong they are corny and over the top but they all feature ample amounts of nudity, simulated sex, and very realistic gore shots.

But like I previously stated this is a must own collection.  These films look incredible and you get 4 of the most notorious films of Brazilian cinema remastered for the first time ever her in the states.  If you a fan of campy, weird, over the top, erotic horror then this is a must purchase set.

Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

Phobe: The Xenophobic Experiments

In 1995 Erica Benedikty wrote a script for a Sci fi film titled Phobe: The Xenophobic Experiment.  She saw this as being a $500,000 film.  She in fact was in the midst of negotiations to make it on 16mm film.  Unfortunately her deal fell through at the last minute.  

So she decided to just simply make it herself on a $250.00 yes two hundred and fifty dollars, Canadian!  She was smart.  She got volunteers from the public access station she worked at to be her actors.  Got local businesses to donate a camera.  Even had a company donate a crane for a few of the films crane shots.  Her $250.00 basically paid for some paint, and a few special effects.

When complete she would air the film as a filler on Public Access.  If you needed a 2hr hours block filled they would throw this on.  Over the years it managed to slowly build a rather large cult following.  People were actually emailing the station wanting to know how they could see this.

Fast Forward all the way to 2015 and the film was finally shown on the big screen at Toronto’s Laserblast Film Society’s WTF festival.  To get this ready though they did have to clean it up a bit from the old Beta tape they had lying around.  A few quick computer edits and changes and it was ready for the big screen.

Phoebe tells the tale of well a Phobe which is a military experiment, a lifeform created to be the ultimate soldier on the planet of Mondora.  It crashes on Earth and is found by a High School Cheerleader who takes it to earth.  The Phobe is being hunted by Sgt.  Gegory Dapp who is sent to destroy it.  I must say that basically it for the plot of the film.  But watching it is like looking for a giant Easter egg.  I swear at one part I saw an alien wearing a pair of Bret “Hit-Man” Hart sunglasses.  I recognized the Helmet the alien wore as I had the same kind when I played Lazor Tag.

The film is an absolute blast, but not in the Rocky Horror way where it’s so bad you make fun of it.  No it’s a blast because you can tell the people working on it were having the time of their lives making it.  That fun feeling transfers over to the final product.  Light-saber battles, laser gun shootouts, Roman Candles for alien bomb effects, you name it.  Its like an Alien vs Predator, I Come In Peace hybrid that’s actually more entertaining than most big budget Sci fi films.

How can you see this you ask?  Well that’s easy.  Due to the massive cult following and out pour of support the film has garnered over the years.  InterVision Films, a division of Severin Films is putting it out on DVD and loading it up with special features.

Audio commentary by writer/director Erica Benedikty, moderated by Paul Corupe (Canuxploitation.com) and Peter Kuplowsky (Laser Blast Film Society)
Director Erica Benedikty’s first feature-length movie, BACK IN BLACK
”The Making of PHOBE”, all new featurette by Josh Johnson (Rewind This!)
Q&A with cast and crew following home town screening of the movie in St. Catharines, Ontario
Original FX shots from 1995 broadcast version of PHOBE
Outtakes
Gribble Hell Performs Phobe Theme

I cant stress enough that this is a must see for anyone.  Sure it’s definitely cheap, two hundred and fifty dollar cheap and the majority is filmed outside, but it really is fantastic.  Like I said its better than most films I have seen in the theature lately.  And its also a good reminder to filmmakers that even though it takes time it is possible for you little film to get the credit it deserves.


Overall 4 out of 5 Stars!

Hellbent

I love Punk music.  Always have, always will.  I love punk movies.  Repo Man, Suburbia, Rock N Roll High School, you name it.  Actually I named most.  There is a strong shortage of punk films out there mostly because punk, no matter what anyone says was an underground trend that crashed and burned fast.  Sure there are lots of fake punk bands out there, but I’m talking about good old DIY Punk style. Gritty, Hard, Fast, Sounds like crap, really hardcore punk music.  In that same sense I have respect for DIY movies.  Good old shot on video skimp on the budget cheap style.  Well luckily director Richard Casey, the man behind Horror House on Highway 5 was able to combine both of these elements into one big shot on video punk/horror movie titled Hellbent.

It’s the story of a punk band called The High Lonesome and there lead singer, Lemmy.  TO say this band is struggling to make it big is an understatement.  They basically stink.  Gig after gig the flop.  But Lemmy is confident they can be the greatest band in the history of music.  He’s is the only guy who thinks this, because like I said they stink.  They end up playing a gig at some seedy LA Club and its yet again another failed venture.  However this time they are in luck as the owner just fired his main house band and would like to sign them exclusively.

The owners name is Tanas (you know supposed to be Satan but spelled backwards, and wrong) Anyway he offers a Faust like deal.  Sign my contract, become famous, I get your soul yadda yadda yadd.  He has underlings so they start working on the other members of the band.  While all this is going on we encounter a young woman, who was recently widowed by Tanas.  She’s got a gun and she is sort of out for revenge. 

The weird subplot aside the film does work, and fires on every cylinder.  The atmosphere is dirty and dank just like punk music is supposed to be. I personally dig the red lighting used throughout.  It set the tone of horror club/hell perfectly.  The acting is a bit corny at times but it also fits the tone, as this one doesn’t take itself too seriously.  Parts of it in fact are very tongue and cheek to say the least.

Director Richard Casey who has directed videos for Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult was able to get so really good local bands for the soundtrack.  Trotsky, Icepick, Angst, and The Angry Samoans all contributed to it.  That score alone makes the film worth watching.

For years this only had a really crappy out of print VHS release but Vinegar Syndrome has managed to acquire the rights and release it in both standard and limited edition Blu Ray releases. The limited 2 disc set with alternate cover art is very limited.  Only 2000 copies are being made, and they can only be purchased directly through Vinegar Syndrome or DiabolikDVD.  The features include

 All extras on both formats
• Region free Blu-ray and DVD combo pack
• Scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm original camera negative
• “A Little Chaos” – making of featurette
• Commentary track with director Richard Casey
• Original cover artwork by Cody Brown
• Reversible cover artwork

Like I said there is a definite shortage of punk films, so if you like punk and or horror this is a great addition to your collection.  The style mixes perfectly making this a film I would definitely recommend.

Overall 3 out of 5 Stars.

Count Dracula’s Great Love

Paul Naschy, if you’re a horror fan you should now that name.  He’s an actor and screenwriter form some of the most well-known Spanish Horror films of the 70’s and 80’s.  He is known as the “Lon Chaney of Spanish Cinema by many.  He even had a large run of Werewolf films, in fact he played almost every horror monster out there.  Sometimes he even played Dracula.  In fact in this film, Count Dracula’s Great Love he not only wrote the screenplay, but he also portrays the Count.

Count Dracula’s Great Love is the story of Dracula of course.  In this the alter ego is Dr Wendell Marlow.  You see he has just purchased an old Sanitarium up in the castles.  The film opens with 2 men delivering a large crate.  Can you guess who/what is in there.  They decide to check the place out, as they assume if you buy a big castle you probably have money and jewels lying about.  Unfortunately one gets a nice axe shot to his head and the other gets his throat ripped out.  All you see of the killer is the black cape. 

In a cool opening sequence these kills flash over the opening credits of the picture.

Once the film begins it’s the story of a young woman named Karen, she and 3 other hot girls are riding along in a stage coach when the driver is suddenly killed and the coach wrecked when it loses a wheel.  They decide to all seek shelter in the closest possible place which happens to be the Sanitarium the Dracula has just purchased. 

He of course invites them all in and throughout the course of the film begins biting them to turn them into his slaves.  He plans on bringing his daughter back to life and to do that he needs Karen for the last ritual as she is a virgin.

This film packs a hell of a punch.  I would rate the Spanish Horror field leaps and bounds about the films Hammer put out.  Count Dracula’s Great Love is over 40 years old and still holds up.  In fact it would probably have a hard time getting an R rating by today's standards. 

As it’s a vampire film it focuses on the erotic, and pure sexual tone of the vampire.  Naschy does fine as the count and the film features a good amount of nudity.  The gore scenes are great, lots of blood to satisfy the gore hounds out there.  And the atmosphere is fantastic.  Some of the best visuals I have ever seen in any vampire film.  From low lighting to fog, and even slow motion this really captures the feel and essence of a classic vampire story. 

The dialogue all fits to the time and style of the film.   People out there have finally after all these years begun to realize that Vampires are actually sexual predators.  Most all vampire stories are actually love story’s if you dissect them, and this film really fits that style.

Most of these films from this era are heavily censored but luckily Vinegar Syndrome has picked up the rights and are releasing it fully uncut on Blu-ray.  Like most of these titles it will have the standard release as well as the limited edition.  The extras included are

All extras on both formats
• Region free Blu-ray and DVD combo pack
• Scanned & restored in 2k from 35mm internegative
• Commentary track with director Javier Aguirre and lead actor Paul Naschy, moderated by Angel Gomez Rivero
• New video interview with actress Mirta Miller
• Includes both the English dub and original Spanish language soundtrack
• International theatrical trailer
• Still gallery
• 8 page booklet by Mirek Lipinski
• English and Spanish subtitles
• Reversible cover artwork

I have to say the transfer is amazing and any fan of horror, erotic thrillers, of vampire films should definitely add this one to their collection.


Overall 4 out of 5 Stars.

Horror House On Highway 5

Back in the mid 80’s to early 90’s direct to video movies were all the rage.  I would find myself going to the local Blockbuster Video and heading to there “Hot Single” wall every weekend.  No it was not a place for singles, nor was it porn, it was a wall of films the store only got 1 copy of.  Usually these were of the shot on video horror, or martial arts fair. They almost all had shocking covers and great taglines.  There were a lot of film that came out around this era.  So many in fact it was near impossible to keep up with all the releases. 

Keep in mind this is also before the big internet boom so you didn’t have too much to go on.  You just found a cool cover and rented it.  One of the films to come out around this time was Horror House on Highway 5.  It stands out as not only one of the more memorable titles, but one of the most original pictures of that time.

It’s the story of a group of college students heading out to investigate the creation of the V2 Rocket and the crazy German Scientist behind it, Dr Frederick Bartholomew.  Turns out towards the end of his experiment he went nuts and started killing off the people he worked with. 2 of his old associates are still alive, and Sally Smith, one of the students is going to interview them. One of these associates is Dr Mabuser, who believes maggots are eating away at his brain.  His assistant Gary has 2 things going against him.  He stutters, and he is insane.  Needless to say the interview doesn’t go well and Sally finds herself in this pairs evil clutches.

But wait, there’s more.  The other plot of the film centers around a serial killer in a Richard Nixon mask.  He is out wandering Highway 5. In fact this crazed maniac actually strangles some poor sould on his way to the store in the opening scene.  Basically if you on Highway 5 he’s going to kill you. 

So there you have it crazy killer, crazy scientists, stupid college kids, and even a strange backstory about a satanic Nazi cult.  Throw all this in the blender and add in a ton of shot on video special effects and you have the Horror House on Highway 5. 

Now I must say, there are a lot of really gruesome kills in this film.  The director did go all out on the murder scenes, so there is enough blood in here for the gore hounds.  The plot might be bat shit crazy but nothing that you would not see in a Rob Zombie film.  I think what hindered this release back in 85 was it was too busy to say the least.  It took multiple elements from other films and tried to intertwine them into one film.  Remember this was back in the day of the standard slasher films so most viewers were not ready for something like this.  Now they are.

In today’s age of films this one should, and I believe will stand out among horror re-releases this year.  Luckily its in the hands on Vinegar Syndrome who do a marvelous job at bringing these old cult films to life.  They are releasing it on Blu-ray and also in a Limited edition combo pack limited to 3,000 units available only from Vinegar Syndrome directly or Diabolik DVD  here’s it what you get

All extras on both formats
Region free Blu-ray and DVD combo pack
Scanned and restored in 2k from 16mm archival elements
“Return to Horror House on Highway 5” – making of featurette
Commentary track with director Richard Casey
“Beach Party with Vom” – music video directed by Richard Casey (the impetus for Horror House on Highway 5)
Alternate full frame presentation of Horror House on Highway 5
Reversible cover artwork by Kevin Thomas

Bottom line if you’re a fan of 80’s horror, and anything, shall we say out of the ordinary than Horror House on Highway 5 is for you.

Overall 3 out of 5 Stars.

Subterranea

In 1997 IQ, a British progressive rock band released a double album called Subterranea.  It’s one of those gimmick, no offence, albums where the entire playlist tells a story.  Styx, King Diamond, and others have done this in the past.  However this was slightly different in the fact it is actually good.  It tells a freaky Sci fi tale of “The Captive”  Now we flash forward to 2015 and Director Matthew Miller had made a feature length film adapting this album.

It the story of, like I said “The Captive”  a man who was raised in complete isolation.  He lives in a dungeon like room and has never seem anything.  No people, no lights, nothing. The only person he knows is a white light known as the Provider.  One day he cell opens and he is let out.  Never knowing why.  He merely ventures out into the world and is immediately bombarded with all the lights and sounds of the world.  Which basically gives him a quick sensory overload.  He meets a girl who try to help him discover who he is and where he has been. There’s only one slight problem.  He’s being followed by some type of agents who are tracking his every move.  When he learns of this he decides he must find his Provider, find out who he is and kill him.

I know I am going to get some grief for this because it’s based off an album, but think Oldboy only in more of a Sci Fi version.  Because believe me even though they are different the basic plot does kind of remain the same, at least in my humble opinion.  And no that’s not a knock, Oldboy is a Hell of a film, and So is this.

Let really look at what has happened here.  Matthew Miller was album to take an album, and translate it into film, and not a crappy film like Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park, but a real film.  The acting in this is Amazing.  Former Child actor Bug Hall, who is amazing in this role.  He plays his part of scared and confused, to out for revenge killer to perfection.  The lighting, the score, which yes does have the tracks off IQ’s album works marvelously.  The pacing, camera shots, everything is timed to complete perfection.

Its common knowledge I am not a Sci Fi guy, hell I hate Star Wars for God’s sake.  I've always said I can count the sci fi films I like on my hands with fingers left over.  I still can.  However I will say its one finger less now as I really enjoyed this film.  And I would in fact recommend it to both Sci Fi, and no Sci Fi fans alike.

Overall 3 out of 5 Stars.

Slugs

Bug movies give me the creeps.  Always have.  I hate bugs.  The Nest, Squirm, Ticks, Arachnophobia, all freak me out.  In fact the only film in this “Bug Monster” genre I like is Slugs. 

I don’t know if its because it funny, it has tons and tons of surprisingly good gore fx, or if it’s the fact that a thought of a slug, the slowest creature of all killing people.  What’s also weird is this little gem of a film is actually based on a book.  A book I just so happened to read.

Slugs is the story of a small town where people keep dying.  In fact the film opens with a couple pulled from a boat and dying as the water turns red.  Then the town drunk gets half eaten.  Luckily the town drunk is a slob and when our hero Mike Brady, the town Health Inspector goes to evict him from his house he finds him half eaten with slime all over the place. In fact while this is going on more and more people are dying from Slug related deaths.  

Of course when he expresses his theory of Killer Slugs no one believes him.  Turns out the slugs are a bi product of toxic waste dumping.  It gave them fangs and everything.  They lie in the sewer when Mike has to go to stop them.  Luckily he is joined by the resident water main guy and local slug expert.  One of my favorite kills is the guy who puts on gardening gloves that happen to be full of slugs.  Eww I wear gloves when I work outside, that just makes my fingers twitch typing this.

This film is funny, but it is over the top gross.  There are tons of kills and they are all extremely gores and bloody.  The special effects are really well done for a typical 80’s bug film. Slugs have teeth so they really chew people up.  Is this film scary, no, it’s not going to make you jump or anything.  It will make you squirm though.  Just picture yourself with mutant slugs crawling all over you.  I guarantee you will cringe quite a few times. 

The acting in the film is quite good, and as this is an Arrow release the audio and video transfers are tremendous.  And as its Arrow you get a lot of special features to go with it.

Brand new restoration from original film elements

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

Original Uncompressed PCM Stereo audio

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Audio commentary with Slugs author Shaun Hutson

Audio commentary by writer and filmmaker Chris Alexander

Here’s Slugs In Your Eye – an interview with actor Emilio Linder

They Slime, They Ooze, They Kill: The Effects of Slugs – an interview with special effects artist Carlo De Marchis

Invasion USA – an interview with art director Gonzalo Gonzalo

The Lyons Den – an interview and locations tour with production manager Larry Ann Evans

1988 Goya Awards promo reel

Original Theatrical Trailer

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Wes Benscoter

Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by writer Michael Gingold

Sadly as killer bug films go this is the least talked about, when in fact its actually the best of the bunch.  If you’ve never seen it I would recommend picking it up as I can almost guarantee you will like it.  If you have seen it and are a fan you definitely need it for all the special features and the immaculate transfer.

Overall 3 out of 4 stars!