REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES (1936)

I hear this is supposed to be a loosely based sequel for seminal zombie film White Zombie, and also directed by Victor Halperin (who directed White Zombie) it does seem to follow on after that first film, at least chronologically, with reports filtering back to the Allied forces in French-Austria that there were in fact zombies in Angkor (in the orient) which starts a military expedition to find and destroy the secret the zombies, after a failed attempt to extract information about the zombies from a priest they had previously captured  from the Orient, fearing the Zombies could be used against the alllied forces

There's a subplot around Claire part of the expedition who falls in love with Cliff (after they've been in the orient a few months or so) but accepts a marriage proposal from Armand to make Cliff jealous..... which works and she ends up marrying Cliff after he finally confesses his love for her, its all a little hammy in that 1930's kind of way, but after that's all out of the way its starts to get a little more interesting and the movie moves along a little faster.

Not to be defeated in love or life Armand persists and unlocks the secret of enslaving the unwitting into zombie-hood to do his bidding and eventually creates an army of zombies (one should remember that the zombies in these early films are not the decaying flesh eating creatures made popular in movies like the Night of the Living Dead etc... rather they are more slaves of will in a state of hypnosis like trance) Armand threatens to turn Cliff into a zombie like he as done to everyone else unless Claire agrees to marry him in exchange for Cliff being left unharmed.

Without giving away the plot I will say the ending left me a  little underwhelmed, but over all its a decent enough watch, and interesting from an historical point of view. I will say that the passing of time  and events in the film can be  a little unclear as well which makes what is an otherwise pretty cool story a little disjointed.

Obviously being shot in 1936 this is a black and white film and the audio has that scratchy feel to  it as well. I know that many people don't like to watch black and white cinema but if you can get past that its a fairly decent watch, I don't think it comes up that well against White Zombie, but its a fairly cool watch as well. Like Most B&W films it does rely on dialogue, and a decent story line and lets face it the special effects and gore were non-existent back then, so it has to stand up as a story on its own as well.

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PIRANHA 3DD (2011)

Lets get one thing out of the way first, this is strictly a B grade schlocky no brainer of a movie, it's not a stinker.... but it ain't no thinker either!  If you can get past that and killer fish, and giant titties are your thing ... then you're in for a treat!

Basically the plot revolves around some guy who re-opens a shut down water park that had previously fallen victim to a piranha attack. Of course the fish come back and start devouring the patrons of the park. Simple enough plot, simple enough that you can drink beer with your friends get sidetracked on a conversation and duck back into the movie like nothing happened at all without missing any key plot details its that simple.

The fish look awesome and the action and gore is really good. As simple as the plot is, its actually quite entertaining and lots of blood and guts and smaller guest appearance roles from Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) reprising his role as a crazy science type dude, and the Hoff (Baywatch) as a Celebrity lifeguard (who can't save anyone for shit) and a host of beautiful women who have no problems whatsoever in showing off their bountiful breasts at every given opportunity the lightweight plot allows for, actually make for a decent watch.

If you're too tired from work, or too hungover to think, or just need some background noise and visuals this is the movie for you. A guilty pleasure for the brain dead horror fan in all of us. I was surprised I liked it as much as I did, but really there's not much point dwelling into it much deeper than this because that's really all their is to this movie.

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BLOOD SUCKING FREAKS (1976)

This is one of the more extreme horror flicks in the genre, there's pretty much something in it to offend anyone, constant full frontal nudity (including beaver shots) all manner of torture and dismemberments ,explicit gore and one very creepy midget...  this film has it all!!! Its firmly rooted in the B Grade category, though it does have a solid enough plot for what it is, it is essentially the first torture porn movie.

Was this film intended to just push the boundaries of censorship or provide something more? Id say its nothing more than a gore fest but it does do that well, though it seems to have mostly negative reviews I actually didn't mind it and found myself watching it fairly intently until the end.

Plot wise it centres around the circus director / S and M master Sardhu who is running an underground live show which features nudity and torture which the audience think is fake, unknowingly they are watching people get tortured and killed right in front of them. Sardhu is seeking artistic recognition for his shows from one critic in particular who thinks the show is purile garbage (and rightly so) so he of course captures him and totures him along with the many females (who of course have no clothes on) he has stored away in his dungeons under the theatre. While most of the females are fairly anonymous he does capture one beautiful ballerina who is missed by both her boyfriend and the private investigator who start poking around the macabre theatre ... needless to say this is where i'll stop divulging the plot and let you guys see how it ends for yourself

Gore wise it would have set new standards for offensive-ness and outright crudeness .... but be thankful it was done on B grade 1976 technology, though someone did point out to me that the gore did look more full on when played on  VHS player so maybe the high def digital version does expose a few flaws in the rather primitave gore effects...  the gore does look a little like red paint if you know what I mean... I shudder to think how grim this film would be if it was remade today

Anyway I think it was a cool watch but definitely not for those who are new to the horror scene or offended by female nudity (or today's sensibilities in regards to sexism) so don't watch it around your Mom!

for more great horror movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com regularly!

THE EVIL DEAD (1981)

One of the all time greatest horror movies, I cannot say enough good things about this movie. Directed by Sam Raimi (who has directed a lot of movies and TV in his time after this... including Spiderman, the Hercules TV show in the 90's and most recently Ash vs the Evil Dead amongst many others) and starring Bruce Campbell as Ash the hero of the film..... This is almost the perfect horror movie and definitely falls within my top 10 horror movies of all time.

The movie plot revolves around the plight of a group of young adults (maybe early to mid 20's) who go on a camping weekend away and stumble across an old tape recorder which contains recordings of ancient incantations recited from the fabled "NECRONOMICON" the book of the dead from Sumerian mythology. Upon playing the reel to reel tape player the incantations stir something sinister in the forest surrounding the cabin in which the group are staying in. The said evil that is stirred causes its victims to become possessed by an ancient evil which seeks to destroy the group and turn them to its dark ways

I've seen this movie many times in the past and it never fails to entertain me, as some who've been paying close attention to this blog might know I'm really into the Necronomicon and anything to do with it will pique my interest. This film whilst taking some liberties in regards to the original text ......... was probably the most apt description of the evil that the book describes and was a landmark in terms of gore and special effects for its time. I've seen some describe the movie as a black comedy,,, in my opinion, its not  a comedy.... BUT there are some filming techniques and gore effects which may make it seem a little 'hammy' but I consider it a serious horror film and a right royal gore-fest at that!

The Camera angles are superb, the filming techniques were amazing for the time and the gore stepped it up a level from all films of the time , especially considering the movie was done on a rather small budget (as Sam Raimi was unknown at the time) and with the exception of the Italian gore flicks of the late 70's/early 80's the movie really stepped up the gore level within the horror genre at the time...  the "Tree Rape" scene set about a huge motion of controversy and from what I understand gained the film an "X" rating (tho i can't confirm this) in some countries.

Really all I can do is recommend that you MUST see this film........