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.