Ninjas vs. Vampires

Thanks to the suggestion from Kolien, I took a little time and watched 2010's Ninjas Vs. Vampires. Make no mistake it is not a horror movie. It is an action comedy, with horror elements.  It is also low budget and intentionally campy.

Basically, this is a movie where a young man suddenly discovers that vampires do indeed exist, and not only that, there is a group of "Ninjas" led by a witch that battle against them. the young man, Cole joins this group to (of course) save his love interest, and undergoes training from Aaron and Kyle (the guys in this Ninja group).  The group then has a battle against a fragmented army of vampires, the most powerful of which is intent on ruling the world.  Now this movie is intentionally silly, and has horrible CGI, and borderline acting, but the film makers use it to their advantage.  While I wasn't completely won over by this show, I did finish it without falling asleep or exiting early from boredom.  A couple of times I even laughed out loud, but I  can't wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. 

I'm going to go ahead and give this  movie a 4.75 out of 10. You might ad a point or two if you fire up a bowl prior to watching!  That's all I can say for now!  Thanks for the suggestion, Kolien!  Keep 'em coming folks!

Hats off to Bob Wilkins

Before I get too much further into this blog, I have to take a little time to honor the late Bob Wilkins.  Bob was the host of Creature Features on KTVU Oakland in the '70s and '80s.  That was the first place I saw the original Night of the Living Dead, and tons of other movies. Some great and some not so great.  The cool thing was Mr. Wilkins had a great sense of humor, and made even the dumb movies entertaining.

Bob also had an afternoon show that we always watched after school, where he became Captain Cosmic with his robot 2T2. On this show, he featured Japanese Sci-Fi series like Ultraman, and Space Giants, where giant robots like Goldar battled other giant robots and aliens.  Great stuff!

Sometime around 1979, Bob plugged the movie Slithis (a B movie that was kind of a Creature from the Black Lagoon knock off).  On his recommendation, we went to the drive in and were floored about how crappy it was! LOL  I even wrote him a letter to complain.  A week or so later, I received and envelope from KTVU, with a hand signed "form-letter" from Bob himself!  The funny thing is he added a post-script that read: "Glad you liked Slithis. Ha!"  He also included an autographed photo of himself!  I loved that guy!

So anyway, Here's to you Bob Wilkins!  I hope you are up there somewhere smoking a cigar and making more Creature Features!

More 30 Days of Night

As you may know, two 30 Days of Night mini-series are available on Hulu.  They each consist of 6 mini episodes and are titled 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails and 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust . Not too shabby for what they are: Short episodes that you can jump in and out of or just let the autoplay run throught the whole thing.  I just wish there was an option to watch the whole thing in it's entirety without the intro and next episode preview interrupting the show. 
I understand the dvd is available in the UK, but not here unfortunately.  Maybe at some point they'll release them here.  Anyway, kind of a cool little vampire snack to tide you over!

Worried about a Zombie Apocalypse?

I ran into this awesome article online, where a guy literally builds a shotgun to be the ultimate zombie apocalypse survival gun!  Check it out:
http://artofmanliness.com/2011/07/11/how-to-make-a-survival-shotgun/

I really got a kick out of this article. Hopefully you can at least get a few laughs from it, or build your own?

Also, thank you all who have commented and to all who have taken the time to stop by the site.  I am going to try to stay daily with something or another, so please comment and keep it rolling!

Grace (2009) My Episode 3 pick

Most likely, you have heard my recommendation on the Horror Jungle by the time you read this, and know I have given this movie a 7/10.  I really liked this movie, although it definitely doesn't follow the conventional rules of the vampire sub-genre.  It is what I would call an eerie movie, not terrifying at all.
It stars Jordan Ladd (Cabin Fever, Death Proof) as Madeline.  Madeline and her husband finally succeed in conception, but a tragic car accident takes her husband's life and the fetus is dead as well.  She decides to carry the baby to term anyway, and after birth the baby miraculously comes to life.  As she begins to nurse the baby, she soon discovers the child needs blood to live.  Madeline is isolated by the lack of family,  her mistrust of conventional medicine, and interrupted communication with her Midwife (played by Samantha Ferris).  So she is left to do the best she can for her little bundle of joy.  She is forced to confront her own lifestyle choices, and conventional wisdom to keep Grace alive.  She also has to deal with alot of flies...

Based on ratings I've seen around, this picture is polarizing.  If you are looking for a conventional vampire movie with alot of intense scares, chances are you won't like it.  It has alot of interesting themes involving Madeline's pregnancy and early "child" care, there  are some pretty cool subplots, most things are explained throughout the course of the movie, and I liked the ending of it (except it does leave it open to a sequel...not sure about that).

Negatives:   My biggest negative was that the movie comes across as preachy on several topics, which depending on a person's viewpoints, may hinder ones enjoyment of it.  Also, I feel with a budget of $5 Million, Grace could of had a little more...bite (sorry!)

Price-wise, it isn't too bad. The cheapest I found the Blu Ray was $13.69 on Amazon (where I bought it), and the DVD was only $9.99 on Best Buy's website.  The Blu Ray has alot of cool extras, as well.  If any of you see it or have already seen it, please weigh in, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Horror Jungle available on Stitcher app

Just a quick note that you can now download the Stitcher app for your smartphone, and stream the Horror Jungle Podcast along with many other programs.  More information will be announced by BillChete on episode 3 coming Tuesday!
You can be ready by going to Stitcher.com and look for the Horror Jungle under Entertainment then Horror.  I have downloaded it, and it works great!

Let's talk Vampires

I look forward to hearing what appeals to you listeners about vampires.  What makes a good vampire movie?  As for myself, it all started with the original Dracula from 1931.  I probably saw it on Creature Features on KTVU Oakland back in the early to mid '70s, and liked it immediately.  Later, one summer day, my mom and her best friend dropped myself and the rest of the kids off at the theatre, which was playing a double feature matinee featuring the Count Yorga Movies.  Both of these movies, while they now show their age, scared the crap out of me, and also gave me the image of vampires as truly terrifying monsters.

Over the years I've enjoyed the performances of Christopher Lee, and others as they contribute to the genre.  In recent years, the movies have played up the more romantic facet of the vampire, which has mostly left me cold.  I have to admit, I watched Twilight, but I just couldn't connect with it, and didn't finish watching it.  I just don't regard vampires in some fairy tale way.  Not that I don't veer from the beaten path and enjoy some other takes on the genre, as you'll hear on the next Horror Jungle podcast.  I won't give it away, but I'm probably going to take my lumps for my pick!  I look forward to the discussion.  Please comment and share your take on the genre!

So I watched The Collector

It took long enough to watch this flick, and I was not disappointed!  It is 2009's The Collector. Directed by Marcus Dunstan of Saw movie fame.  This movie doesn't let up.  A tour de force from start to finish.  I am not a big fan of long credits at the start, but they had an initial scene that set the movie up very nicely, and the end credits entertained until the very end!

A brief synopsis: A handy man is working on some projects along with other workers at the home of a jewel broker, his wife owes money to a loan shark and needs money yesterday. To get the money for his wife, the handyman Arkin (Josh Stewart) decides to steal from the broker's house as the family is leaving on a  vacation.  He breaks in and discovers that a crazed killer has filled the house with traps and is torturing the family inside.  Terror ensues!

Now this movie is definitely not for the feint of heart. It is extremely brutal, and relentless.  It also has alot of holes in the plot and implausible situations, but it is so well made, the effects and gore so great and the pacing so perfect I didn't even care. Just suspend disbelief and you'll be in for a terror ride that is pretty rare.  If you are the type of viewer who needs all the ends sown up, it's probably not for you, but I can't recommend it higher.  I give it 9/10 and a big GRAB IT!

Dracula (1931)

The other night I watched the 1931 classic, Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi. It has been many years since I have watched it and thought now would be a good time to take it in. I am happy to report it is every bit deserving of the label of "Classic".

Of course, much of the credit goes to Mr. Lugosi, who was truly chilling as the famous Count. I'm sure audiences that watched his performance in 1931 must have been terrified with his portrayal. Dwight Frye, who played Renfield was convincing transforming the character from the confident business man in the beginning, to the deranged lunatic he becomes.

There is a small amount of comic relief in the form of Martin (Charles Gerrard), one of the workers in the sanitarium where he is asked on a few occasions to rein in Renfield. I remember liking those little moments as a kid, but now watching it in 2011, I felt it was unnecessary.

A few things I had forgotten. You never actually see Dracula bite anyone, and you also don't see the stake driven through his heart, you hear him die offscreen. Yet even without these things, Lugosi's performance provides plenty of creepiness as evidenced by the video clip at the bottom of this post, or the photo at the bottom of this page.

If you haven't seen it yet, or if like myself, it's just been a while, I highly recommend picking it up, or streaming it on Netflix. I give it a Netflix rating of 4 stars out of 5.
BB

The Horror Jungle Podcast

Well, the second Horror Jungle Podcast is going to be out in two more days, and I have really enjoyed participating.  Thanks much to BillChete for the opportunity!  Doc, HellHunter, BloodyLizzy, KC Canton, Midnight Corey and Joe Mummy have all been great to podcast with.  Just a great bunch of people.

Thank you to all who wrote in to my email (bossbutcher@rocketmail). Please keep the feedback coming so I can give you the segment you want. I am working on putting together a real-time movie viewing over Twitter, where I will announce a time and a DVD to watch together if anyone is interested.  I'll announce as soon as I have it all worked out.

Meanwhile, enjoy the Horror Jungle episode 2!  Some really great picks on there!  Thanks for listening!

The Nameless (1999)

A Spanish thriller from 1999,  the Nameless is a slow-moving, moody piece, but the payoff is indeed worth it, in the sense that I haven't quite seen a concept like it (and I'm not sure I'm glad I did!).
Basically, the story is one of a mother who has lost her young daughter, seemingly to an underground ritualistic homicide. She receives a call, years later from a caller claiming to be her daughter. She finds one of the detectives assigned to her daughter's case,and sets out trying to find her daughter. The results are more twisted than she ever could have thought. The performance of her ex-husband (Tristan Ulloa) toward the end is absolutely bone chilling!

Good movie, well acted and DISTURBING. I give it a 6 out of ten. More if not soooo drawn out.

BB