CARNIVAL MAGIC (1983)

So, this is what you would call an impulse buy. Severin Films was selling it for three bucks. Three bucks, how can you go wrong with three bucks? Plus, Al Adamson directed it? Sure, what could go wrong?

So, Carnival Magic tells the story of a small carnival that is failing. The biggest draw would be the tiger tamer, Kirk (Joe Cirillo). An alcoholic, abusive jerk. Stoney (Mark Weston) and his daughter Ellen (Jennifer Houlton) try to keep things going, but they need a miracle.

The miracle comes in the form of their magician Markov (Don Stewart) who happens to have a friend named Alex who happens to be a talking chimpanzee. With the addition of Alex to his act soon the carnival is thriving, much to the dismay of Kirk.

To add insult to injury, Markov saves Kirk from a mauling by a tiger because he was drunk.

Now Kirk, along with an evil doctor, who wants to study Alex hatch a plot to get rid of Alex once and for all.

Carnival Magic is one of those unique films that defies description. The driving force behind the entire film is producer Elvin Feltner who produced one other feature Teenage Strangler (1964). Listening to the commentary by Feltner on the DVD he explains how he directed a few of the scenes, lent the production his girlfriend for a silly chase scene where the monkey is driving a car, and wrote the original story as well. 

When you watch it you need to realize that he spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars to make Carnival Magic. That sounds like a lot, but he used 35mm, actually paid his actors and released it when there were not a lot of kiddie flicks being made. And that's what this is; a G rated kiddie flick. 

The disc by Severin is just full of extras. There's an additional Al Adamson kid flick called LOST, with Jack Elam and Sandra Dee. A ton of outtakes for Carnival Magic, the aforementioned commentary. A TV Spot and Movie trailer and something where people I have never heard of talk about the film. Probably gonna skip that. The commentary with Feltner is required listening. There are rushes for an unproduced film called The Happy Hobo.

A lot of the quotes and reviews of the film seem a little mean spirited and I just don't see it. I had a great time watching this movie. It's like a time capsule for a more innocent time. The scenes of the carnival at night in the warm summer air filled me with a wonderful sense of nostalgia.

Carnival Magic is a great film.  

CarousHELL The 2nd

 

Time is funny. If you told me it had been five years since I attended a viewing of the original CarousHELL at Cinema Wasteland I would say it felt much shorter. The first film gives us the blood soaked rampage of a unicorn from a carousel named Duke. It is such a gory, funny, sleazy film.

When director Steve Rudzinski told us he was going to make a sequel, well how could you say no to something like that?

After a successful Kickstarter, we are finally graced with the finished product.

At a brief 70 minute run time we are given the actual 'why' behind Duke and his need to just kill everyone.

Duke discovers that he has a son from his wild and crazy sex from the first film. Where Duke is a relatively motionless carousel unicorn, his son, Robbie, is realized with a well done puppet that reminded me a little of Falkor The Luck Dragon from Neverending Story.

We also discover that Duke is the result of Nazi experimentation and those responsible haver discovered a form of immortality using human blood.

Led by the despicable Ilsa (Of course, she had to be named Ilsa) they are now ready to capture Robbie to see what secrets he holds and use him as bait to recapture Duke after all these decades.

Where the first film is a literal rampage, this sequel brings the tenderness of discovering your roots and a child you never knew you had. Duke is absolutely invested in his son and will do anything to stay with him. But, Duke knows he's a monster and never tries to hide that fact from anyone.

Except for his son.

There are some great kills in this movie. I like the nod to Friday the 13th Part 5. 

The bumbling Nazis are hilarious, especially one who is constantly using different disguises, but looks exactly the same and gives way too much back story anytime he comes into contact with Duke.

The bumpers after the credits add fuel to the fires of future films and this is how you do a sequel. Make it something new and different.

Just when you think you've figured out how this should go, it takes a sharp left, invites you along for the ride and you're glad you did.

If you were foolish and didn't manage to back the Kickstarter, you can still order the film at Rudzinski's web site at;

https://silverspotlightfilms.storenvy.com/

And if you haven't seen the first one, order that one as well. You kind of need to see that first. I mean you can watch just the sequel, but the first one is not only awesome, but kind of necessary here, folks. 

The Butcher #20: Hollywood Assassin

 

Before we get started; this is the only book I have read in this series. I'm more of a Nick Carter guy, but who am I to judge?

So this fella Bucher, they call him The Butcher. He used to be a top man for the syndicate but then decided he wanted out.

No one gets out of the syndicate so now he has a quarter of a million dollar price tag on his head. He also now works freelance for a secret government group called White Hat. And some government officials young daughter has been seduced by the bright lights of Hollywood.

Only problem is that one of the biggest studios has been taken over by the syndicate where they shoot high end porn.

So, Bucher needs to find her and not get killed by his former employers in the process.

Seems pretty easy, right?

This is a pretty violent and graphic book. We get a lot of gruesome descriptions of what happens when Bucher shoots someone. Gun noises also factor in quite a bit.

It was a fast enjoyable read, but there really is nothing here to make me search for other books in the series.

Slasher Season 3: Solstice

 

 

Okay, so Season 3 is over. Apparently I will have to wait for season 4 to be completed over on Shudder before Netflix gets it. I'm fine with that. Netflix encourages binging. 

This time around we have a killer named The Druid who killed party boy Kit Jennings a year ago. This happened in the courtyard of the apartment building that is the focus of the season. It reminded me very much of the Kitty Genovese murder that Alan Moore popularized in his comic Watchmen. Hell, they even called him Kit so you knew that was what they were going for.

A year later people from the apartment building that just sat in their apartments and watched Kit get stabbed to death are getting murdered. A mobster gets his head cut off in broad daylight. A biology teacher gets dissected in her classroom. A snotty barista gets turned into a French press.

Lots of innovative killings in this season.

They make sure to throw in a few red herrings like any good slasher flick.

I have to say that the interior of the apartment building is the most hideous thing in the show. Just a trash fire of bad decorating.

With all that I got the killer right by episode two. Sure, there was a little twist I really did not see coming, but I was still right.

But, here's the thing. The Druid is on a path of vengeance, but for a different reason that becomes clearer as the season progresses. When you do that, if you stray from that path it just makes no sense.

This season did that with at least three victims who there was no reason to kill. 

Baraka Rahmani as Saadi is the best thing in the show. Saadi survived the horrors of Afghanistan as a child to come to America where it's supposed to be better. Unless, you are living in a building with a lunatic, serial killer.

Of the three seasons so far this one is probably the goriest and bloodiest. The Druid has a pretty cool look for a slasher. Better than season One's Executioner because he just looked like a Sleestak in a robe to me. Season Two's killer is nameless with more of a Pamela Voorhees vibe. The best thing Season Two had going for it was a winter slasher flick just doesn't get done. 

So, if I was to rate best to worst of the seasons, Three is the best because it just gets right into the gory, slasher vibe right away. Two would be next for the Winter thing and they managed to trick me with the killer. Pretty impressive trick. One just tries too hard and felt the most padded out of the bunch.

I would like to see them try a real time Slasher season. Three did take place in a 24 hour time frame, but with a multitude of flashbacks, it's not really real time. 

Season 4 is already on episode 5 and that means it will be on Netflix soon enough.

It is described as; 

Slasher: Flesh & Blood  follows a wealthy but dysfunctional family gathering for a reunion on a secluded island. Their old wounds and competitive rivalries flare up when the family realizes a masked killer is on the island, intent on cruelly picking them off one by one. 

That doesn't really sound like a slasher movie to me, but we shall see how it goes.

Slasher Season 2

 

If Season One took a large amount of cues from Halloween, this one is definitely a I Know What You Did Last Summer kind of beast. It begins and camp when a judgement against Talvinder, a decidedly creepy girl who does her best to get in with the cool kids and then it all comes back to bite her in the ass hard enough that her corpse gets shoved in a hole. 

Five years later this group of five is forced to face what they did when the campground where they buried what they did is going to be the spot for a new resort and Talvinder is resting where the tennis courts will go in.

In the dead of winter they return to the camp that has become a community of peaceniks who aren't real crazy about the new visitors.

Then the body count begins.

Summer camp always means Friday the 13th to me and there are nods to that, but this is one of those series where everyone is severely damaged. No secrets are sacred and the more people hide the worse it's going to get. There are some cool kills by snowmobile, auger drill, chainsaw and much, much more. It gets pretty gruesome early on and doesn't slow down. 

The character Glenn is played by Ty Ollson who I remember as the vampire from Supernatural. There's a cute in joke there as well.

So, this could have also used some trimming, but I get that they are just filling time to get their 8 episodes. I understand how TV works. I also give them a pat on the back because while I knew who the killer was by the second episode I couldn't have been more wrong, yet right at the same time. It was a pretty good twist.

Time for Season 3.

I'll be back with that report. 

Deathknight by Andrew J. Offutt (1990)

 

So, I decided to pick up this as my next read. I hadn't read any sword and sorcery in a while. To be fair, this doesn't really have a lot of sorcery going on, but there is a decent amount of sword.

Falc Risskor is a member of OMO which stands for Order Most Old. They exist to prevent mankind from advancing technologically because, well this planet has done this already that and it almost destroyed everyone and everything.

Now the OMOs are much like our own Templar Knights. Everything is very ritualistic. Even the act of getting dressed must follow a certain pattern. This is the life of the OMO.

Now, there are people killing OMOs and Falc needs to find out why.

Just the way the descriptions of everyday items and particular attention to clothing is reminiscent of Michael Moorcock. The alien world that has turned it's back on technology is interesting to read about and a fair bit of world building has gone into the book.

It would have been interesting to see where it went from there, but this was just a one shot.

I'll be back with my next read once I've finished it.

Time to pick out a new book.

SLASHER Season One

 

So, a little backstory to get this moving. One of the lovely Martha's favorite shows is Merlin. Basically the time that Merlin and Arthur spent together as young men. In that we get probably my favorite character, Morgana played by Katie McGrath. So, a little internet research and I found SLASHER. Well, I love a good slasher flick and this was a series with three seasons. 

Each season is a different story arc, but I will have to see if they do have some interconnectedness lurking about.

But for now, Season 1. 

Sarah Bennett and her husband Dylan go back to her hometown of Waterbury. Just like any small town, dark and full of nasty secrets and Waterbury is no different. It seems that Sarah's parents were murdered by The Executioner, Tom Wilson. And Sarah was cut from her mother's womb. On Halloween just to make it cool.

Now she has returned to the same house because her grandmother never thought to sell it. Okay, I'll buy that.

And The Executioner has returned and is killing people using the ever popular theme of The Seven Deadly Sins. Always a crowd pleaser. Favorite kill would ne the naked woman hooked up to a paralytic IV covered in honey in the middle of a huge wheat field. Just for you city folk, those fields are just chock full of rats.

I did like the amount of practical effects used throughout the eight episodes. Sure, you can see some CGI once in a while, but mostly practical stuff and there is gore aplenty for you gore hounds out there.

All, in all this is incredibly clever. It has more red herrings than three Italian Giallo films, but I still figured out the killer around episode four. 

Here is the one thing that bothered me;

See, one of the victims has their head chopped off and put in a deep fryer in the local Burger Shack. During lunch rush one of the townspeople is eating his nuggets and comes across a breaded, deep fried ear. 

So, when the cops come they pull out the head and it just looks like a severed head. 

Here's the problem with that. I can assume that The Executioner cut off and breaded the ear. I'm fine with that. The Executioner is very fond of people finding their handiwork. But the head just looked like a head covered in greasy goo.

First, whoever wrote this doesn't understand how a deep fryer works. If we assume that The Executioner jammed it down between the heating elements so it wouldn't float, that's okay. But, when that baby got fired up for the day the stench would have been unbearable. That and the skin and hair just looked greasy. Hot oil would have made short work of all that skin and hair.

Honestly, that is really my only complaint. It was cool watching them just heap on some many weird things going on in a small town. If Twin Peaks proved anything, it's that small towns are where the real weirdness is going on.

I'll be back after I finish Season Two.

Dinosaur Woman (2017)

 

So, here we are again at the altar of the one and only David Rock Nelson. 

I was geared up and ready to watch it in half hour increments.

And then it was over in three days.

Why? Well, there is a lot less of Detective Rock eating and much less of showing off his monster stuff. There was a lot of Dinosaur Woman attacks and you know that Jan wasn't in the suit all that much, but that's cool.

We did get a little driving tour of Des Plaines with narration by David so, that was interesting. I thought it was odd that the Dinosaur Woman laid so many eggs, but we never got one of them to hatch. Svengoolie is at a signing so he's in the movie and he is just the sweetest man. We also get Forry Ackerman being attacked by Dinosaur Woman and he put his all into it. There are a lot of people attacked at Monster Bash, which is normal for David's movies. 

The basic plot has The Mad Doctor (David) playing with Dinosaur DNA and adding a little cherry soda and whiskey (David pronounces it Viskey, for comedic effect)to the mix for Jan to drink down and become...The Dinosaur Woman. Jan did a great job during the transformation sequence and she does add a little something to David's films.

This one had footage from a lot of different time spans. The lab stuff is all 1996 with a much younger David as the mad doctor, of course. His brother shows up in a couple of scenes, one where he can't stop laughing which made it even better.

So, of the three David Rock Nelson movies I now have under my belt, this one is the most cohesive of the three. We still get the organic process of David working through scenes, sometimes with multiple takes and lots of hot java. 

I'm pretty sure I will need to start collecting these movies. I was a little sad when Dinosaur Woman was over, but never fear! According to the mandatory trailers for a few of his films, Dinosaur Woman will return and I can not wait.

And The Undead Sing by Carter Brown (1974)

 

I went into this book with zero expectations and in 126 pages found myself infatuated with private detective, Mavis Seidlitz. When a record mogul comes to Rio Investigations with a proposition, Mavis tells him he's out of his mind, until Johnny Rio, head of the agency offers her a full partnership in the agency if she can just impersonate superstar Sophie Ventura. 

And it should be easy as no one has ever seen Sophie before. 

But they need to act fast as it's been announced that Sophie will be on a European tour with the hot new group, Mango Pickle and The Undead. Johnny puts Mavis up in a sleazy motel and the story leaks that Sophie Ventura is there.

And then the book takes off running. Kidnapping, threatened at knifepoint, tattooed and kidnapped again. Mavis doesn't even have time to catch her breath as one minute she's dodging the mob who wants Sophie to sign with them no matter what the cost the next she escapes from the clutches of a high priced madame of a local brothel and starts a riot amongst the clientele. All while dodging the gruesome man known only as The Zombie.

This was such a fun read. I found out that Mavis is in 12 more books and this was her last appearance. I will be hunting those down as time permits. 

If you're looking for a quick read that never slows down until the last page then this is a great way to spend the day.   

The Fishman (2015)

 So, there I was rewatching my copy of David 'Rock' Nelson's Devil Ant when I decided to get some newer stuff from the infamous director. I ordered The Fishman and Dinosaur Woman.

See, I know what to expect from David 'Rock' Nelson.

To be blunt; insanity on a peculiar level.

So, this mad scientist decides to use fish DNA to make himself into a Fishman. 

That takes an hour before that happens and by then we have been introduced to Dave's underground lair (basement) full of so much horror memorabilia it boggles the mind. He also watches old monster movies on VHS. This is a true connoisseur.   

The Fishman attacks are bloodless for the most part and none of them seem to be fatal.

But, that's not important.

See, you watch a David 'Rock' Nelson movie for the manic energy that he brings to, well, everything.

I look at it as organic film making. He takes what he has and makes 2 hour features out of them. It can be a little repetitive, but I think that's part of the process. We watch the movie work itself out and it is fascinating to watch.

Only David 'Rock' Nelson would get bit by a big dog in real life and use it in the movie. The bite looked pretty bad too, but he recovered from it.

It becomes less about the plot of the movie and more of how David 'Rock' lives his life. 

We see one of his victims is his mother and she admonishes him for bothering her while she's reading the paper. She calls him David even though he is in his Fishman costume. It is hilarious to watch.

I did find it sweet that he has his father help him defeat the Fishman at the end. The man is in his 90s, but he gets suited up to look like a plainclothes cop and grabs his cap pistol and helps his son out in his movie. Just the sweetest thing.

So, if you're willing to put the time in and watch what might be one of the more original forms of film making you might find little things that entertain and amaze you at the same time. 

Now, remember that I ordered two films from David 'Rock' Nelson?

Look at what was stuffed into this envelope;

So many autographs!!! Personalized to me! He even dated and time stamped them (sort of) There was that little novelty fortune telling fish in Fishman. The envelope is decorated! I feel a scrapbook coming on. 

I will review Dinosaur Woman here after In watch it. I gotta say that I'm feeling a scrapbook coming on. Also, I have never seen Devil Ant 2 or 3 so I may need some more movies in the near future. Maybe I'll send him a copy of one of my movies.

Laughter Came Screaming by Henry Kane

 

So, with my new warehouse position I do not have as much time to watch movies. I will still watch movies and you will see reviews here when that happens. But, for now, I take books with me to work. I get two half hour breaks so I get a lot of reading done.

This is the first book I finished and I've only been at the new job four days.

And this was a weird one to start. We have James Barr who has money and a beautiful wife and a foster daughter, full grown that he has the hots for.

Pretty basic.

But, see this book is divided into three separate books. The middle is a huge flash back for James with another flashback shoe horned in for the man his daughter is madly in love with. The middle section goes over one of the most detailed robbery plans I have ever read. 

But, see here's the problem;

James is freaking nuts. He has no idea that he is a true psychopath.

And did I mention that his wife is a strongwoman from the circus?

Yeah, that figure sin later.

I did really like the rapid fire dialogue that takes place throughout the book. I saw the inevitable end coming and when it does it is quick and painful.

All, in all this was a great book.

Van-Pires (1998)

 

So, there I am when what you see up there appeared at 2nd Chance in Kalamazoo. It's a store that sells second hand movies, TV Shows, video games and systems and music. It's a really big store and I love to go through their 99 cent racks.

Then I saw this.

I flipped the case over and was astonished.

It said;

Van-Pires centers on a group of human teenagers who protect and defend the world from evil anthropomorphic junkyard vans and vehicles known as the "Van-Pires" by transforming into robotic anthropomorphic cars, calling themselves the "Motor-Vaters"

Oh you know I had to watch this.

And it is a combination of computer animation straight from the late 90s and live action when the Motor Vators are letting their mechanical forms sleep during the day.

Did I mention that the head bad guy is named Tracula? 

Oh yeah, this is just a fine example of what may be one of the weirdest television programs I have ever seen.

The acting is dreadful, the writing is worse and it had a 13 episode run.

Did I mention John Entwistle of The Who wrote the soundtrack for this? Yeah, he wrote a ton of songs for this. Apparently he really liked the show.

My DVD only had three of the episodes, but luckily YouTube has them all so I won't have to search for them.

Added weirdness would be the kids mentor Van He'll Sing (Not a typo) who says he plays himself. No one can seem to find out who this guy was.

Did I mention that Tracula is voiced by Jonathan Davis? Frontman for KORN? Yeah, this is so freaking weird.

Go watch it. Each episode is only 23 minutes long and there are only thirteen of them. Most of you have binged longer for less.

 

You Cannot Kill David Arquette (2020)

 Many moons ago when all of my children were small and we lived in a shitty trailer in a sketchy trailer park, we had a magical VCR. The reason I say that is it would play the tape, rewind the tape and then start playing it again.

At The Waltz household we had a few tapes that we just let run for days, weeks at a time. Because of that there are movies that my whole family can quote word for word.

One of those is Ready To Rumble. I consider it one of the better wrestling movies in existence. David Arquette and Scott Caan are perfect together and it's my favorite Oliver Platt role. 

This leads us to a new documentary concerning David Arquette. In 2000 in conjunction with the film he won the WCW title belt and wrestling fans loathe him to this day for it.

Before we dig into the movie I want to voice my opinion that the only person who should fell responsible for this is Eric Bischoff. It was his idea and he presented it to a 26 year old wrestling fan who has a manic personality to begin with.

David Arquette loves wrestling. He shouldn't feel bad at all about some shitty promoter trying to make a buck. And since Arquette gave every penny he made from WCW to the families of Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, who both passed away, Hart from an in ring accident and Pillman from an undiagnosed heart condition. He also gave a portion to Darren Drozdov who after a ring accident became a quadriplegic. Arquette is blameless in the guilt he feels for doing something he never wanted to do.

Now, twenty years later he is ready to try and make a comeback as an actual wrestler. It is interesting watch. He thinks he can slide in again with nothing more than his name and the 12 days he held the title belt and he is in for a rude awakening. 

He gets beat down in a backyard match, but he is determined to continue. He is also smart enough to realize he needs training. From the streets Mexico learning the ways of the Lucha to a professional wrestling training camp in Virginia. He sheds 50 pounds in the process and becomes a passable wrestler.

Then his deathmatch with Nick Gage ends in a nicked artery and there is a moment of sheer panic in David's eyes when he thinks he's going to lose the match. Gage sees it and lets him out of a hold. Arquette leaves the ring, panics and then goes back so Gage can pin him to end the match and go to the hospital.

This is a warts and all documentary. It shows Arquette at his most vulnerable and doesn't apologize for anything. It's nice to see his sisters, his wife and children. Even Courtney Cox makes an appearance. Ric Flair's cameo at the beginning is very funny.

The slow acceptance by wrestlers as the movie progresses is very nice to see. I think they saw someone who was trying to make amends for something he felt was wrong. 

It gives us a facet to the world of professional wrestling that you rarely see anywhere.

Ready To Rumble is my favorite David Arquette movie.

You Cannot Kill David Arquette is second.

SHARKS OF THE CORN (2021)

 

We're going to start with how much I love shark movies. If it has a shark in it, I'm going to watch it. Good or bad. I put shark movies into two categories; realistic ones like Jaws where it really is just a shark, and the silly ones. Donald Farmer's Shark Exorcist comes to mind right off the top of my head.

Finally, someone has embraced the insanity of the shark film and, of course it would have to be Tim Ritter.

I can still remember when Truth or Dare; A Critical Madness came to the video store. I even liked the first sequel and was able to tolerate the third one. Killing Spree is an excellent example of a fever dream made cellouid and Creep, well I do love Creep.

Now we have Sharks of the Corn. It makes an automatic trigger for the classic Children of the Corn and that's a good thing.

The basic idea is that Teddy Bo Lucas (Steven Guynn) is a mass murderer. But, his reasons are that he is helping to bring an ancient shark goddess back into existence when the Blood Moon is in conjunction with Stonehenge.

I know right?!?

So, when Sheriff Scheider (Shannon Stockin) happens upon Teddy with a car full of body parts, she drags him in for the murder of her sister.

Meanwhile, CIA Agent Benchley (Casey Miracle) is working undercover to find out what is going on with a shark cult.

Oh, and the cornfields are full of sharks that just swim through the corn without a care in the world and shred anyone who comes into the field.

I traditionally avoid horror movies' with a run time of over 90 minutes, but I always give Tim Ritter a chance and I'm so happy I did. This thing just keeps moving along at an insane rate. Ritter knows enough about exploitation to give us gore, blood and boobs. Those are always a welcome thing in a movie.

What really makes it work is the fact that a ludicrous concept is presented to us and never made fun of. Just dead serious acting with then subject matter makes it work.

And then there's the other reason this is such a great movie.

Steven Guynn as Teddy, the shark killer. He is amazing to watch onscreen. You can feel the manic intensity come off the screen. He is a joy to watch.

So, if you think you've seen it all and not watched this movie, you haven't.

Right now you can watch it on PLEX for free. I recommend you watch it sooner than later.

Thank me later.

CHANNEL 99: We've Got It! (2021)

 

So, this is what greets you with the newest release from Skullface Astronaut. Seems unassuming enough until you realize that you are now going to be fully immersed in the insanity that is the one and only Joe Sherlock.

Basically he has taken the whole 90s late night cable that many of us remember fondly and given it his own unique perspective.

It also made me feel like when I watched  SCTV and thought to myself; 'This could use more boobs.'

Wish granted.

At first I thought I would just run down the list of what shorts and ads are on the disc, but I feel like that is more something the viewer should experience firsthand.

Does that mean I'm not going to talk about any of the films?

What do you think?

And before you think it's just another anthology film I would like to direct your attention to a classic The Groove Tube (1974). It took TV at the time and turned it on it's ear. Channel 99 does the same. 

This experience is filled with aliens, werewolves, zombies, dirty apes, ghosts and much much more.

Did I mention the mayonnaise?  Yeah, it's even got that.

When you're dealing with a film that is seriously a bunch of vignettes it's important to grab the attention of the viewer right away. It establishes a sense of curiosity and makes them want to stick around and see what else you can come up with.

The opener; Twisted Twisted Fates does just that. Using an older film as a springboard, Joe manages to pull off something that I personally felt was genius. 

From there the weirdness continues as we get a look at a bizarre, sometimes sleazy underbelly of what appears to be a normal community. It just goes to show you that nothing is as it seems. The trailers for imaginary films that are interspersed throughout makes you want to see more. Always a good sign. I really do need a feature film of Link Masters: The Movie. 

And, as many anthologies fail to do, you need to also keep interest up throughout the film. So many of them bog in the middle.

Not Channel 99.

In fact when we got to the end with Pickman's Model I was shocked at how fast it sped by.

And when you wrap things up with an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft it's important to keep the idea of the story and make sure you bring your own sensibilities to the material.

Joe Sherlock does both.

It's all true Channel (( does have it.

And you should get it for yourself.

Right here;

http://www.skullfaceastronaut.com/drsquid/order.html 

People To Kill (2018)

 The film starts with a shocking murder. Mom (Cassandra Engber) is reading something on the computer nd it causes her to go into hysterics. She runs to the bathroom where it appears that she is chased by someone and then her throat is slit. Her husband (Geoff Burkman) comes home where his son's Vince (Vincent Holiday) and Shawn (Adam Scott Clevenger) have found the body.

Then we leap ahead five years to Vince and Shawn still at home with Dad. Shawn runs a local nerd mecca that caters to Star Trek fans. Vince is worried about coming out to Dad and Dad seems to be losing things. The third son, Mike (Mike Canestaro) is a priest at a church in a rougher part of town.

One of Shawn's bright spots of his day is bumping into Savannah (Erin R. Ryan) a local prostitute with a vicious pimp called White Ben (Noah Shane). One day after Sahwn saves her from being attacked by White Ben they become closer.

Then, in an act of violence everything changes. The tone of the film becomes one of darkness and revenge.  Shawn starts peeling away the layers of the situation and old family secrets are dragged out into the light. Shawn finally makes a decision for the first time in a long time and realizes the only solution in his eyes is to make them all pay, regardless of his feelings.

I bought People To Kill because I do watch everything that Erin R. Ryan is in. In the role of Savannah she is fascinating to watch. She manages to flow from sweet to manipulative and aggressive without missing a beat. You can watch the transformation in her face as it happens and it is breathtaking.

I loved the scene in the strip club with Marylee Osborne and Geoff Burkman. Just a hilarious scene between two actors with a wonderful rapport between them.

Director Clevenger, makes a movie where it starts violent, falls into a daily routine with a dysfunctional family and then transforms into a revenge film where you really never saw one coming.

Not a bad trick for a first film.

Usually, if you give me a movie to watch that is over ninety minutes, I can get bored easily. Sure, there are exceptions to any rule and I am happy to say that People To Kill is one of them. It did not feel like a two hour plus production and it is a great movie that deserves more exposure to the world.

You can pick up your copy at

https://my-site-109064.square.site/?fbclid=IwAR2fo8AY1qmCUESbYXyN8gkPW1hFcRyPxHRgka6CCHiKPPuWKacssldtFdE