A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST (1984)

Well ..... we've reached a milestone with this blog...... 100 movie reviews!!! And what better way to celebrate than by throwing on one of the most iconic horror films ever... A Nightmare on Elm st!!! A Nightmare on Elm St was also one of the most successful horror movie franchises (second only to Friday the 13th series) and is what largely kept New Line Cinema in business in the early days of the production company

I first watched this first installment of the series when I was a young teenager and main protagonist "Freddy Krueger" certainly made a lasting impression on me and countless other teenagers at the time as perhaps the most recognisable villain and horror icon.... at least of the slasher genre and broadly across all genres of horror films. I've seen it a couple of times since and now again with great pleasure I was able to put it in for another spin, this time on DVD!

Most of you reading this will no doubt have watched this film already so its probably a bit redundant going into a detailed description of the plot but just quickly it revolves around a group of teenagers who are sharing the same nightmare experience with a horribly burnt, creepy old guy with an old red and green jumper and razor blades attached to his fingers who is trying to kill them. This is written off as a just a dream until one of the teenagers, Tina is brutally killed in her sleep and the other teenagers realise that the creepy guy they're dreaming of, Freddy is gong to pick them off one by one in their dreams which will kill them in reality. It's now up to Nancy to figure out how to stop Freddy before they are all killed.

The movie is very well shot and directed by Wes Craven (who previously did the hills have eyes and Last House on the Left) and in my opinion set a new standard for horror movie effects at the time, he uses the fact that in dreamscapes he can be much more creative with the gore and story line and in my opinion really expanded the slasher flick as a genre into the supernatural, coupled with great production it proved to be a big hit. It was also responsible for launching the career of Johnny Depp who made his debut in this film.

Overall this is one of my favourate films both as a child and I enjoyed it immensely on today's revisit... it's one of those films that anyone who calls themselves a horror fan needs to see... best thing about it is you can get the whole series of original films in DVD/BR pack fairly cheap which should keep you going for a while

For more great horror movies and reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com

100th Movie Review!!!!

Just been looking back on this blog and the 2 and a bit years I've spent writing for it...
It's been rather therapeutic and both a great excuse to revisit some of the classic horror movies I loved as a teenager and find out about a whole heap of new ones as well as hopefully share the love of horror flicks around a little....

The next review I post will be our 100th review, which to me is an awesome milestone watching the site grow from nothing to something a little better than nothing but with a heap of content! YEAH!!!!

Here's to the next 100 films we review up on here!!!

Also now that the site has some steady traffic (close to 1000) visitors a month i'll be posting a bit more often and writing articles about horror movies as well as just the reviews so keep yer eyes peeled for that as well!

HUMAN CENTIPEDE 3 (2015)

I was wondering to myself for a while now, how this third installment of the series would get even sicker than the first two milestones of cinematic depravity that preceded it... wonder no more.

Human Centipede 3 sees the return of Dieter Laser and Laurence Harvey the protagonists from HC 1 and 2 as warden and accountant of an american prison. Without giving away too much on here, director Tom Six delivers some servings of sick black humor, sadism and a lot of "in-house jokes" building from the first 2 films. Dieter Laser plays the part of the sick and twisted prison warden all too well.. disturbingly well it must be said. His dialogue is mostly yelled throughout the film and keeps the viewer on edge and rattled throughout the film, I should say I found this aspect of the film rather annoying... While Laurence Harvey plays a subserviant accountant who comes up with the idea for the worlds first Human Prison Centipede, his character different, but still disturbingly similar to that which played in part 2.

Is it as sick as parts 1 or 2? Hard to say, in respect to pure gore, I'd have to say "no" but in terms of sadistic perversity i would say its right up there, i guess it depends on what offends.

Some Horror sequels leave the viewer with the sense they're watching the same flick over and over again but these three flicks, although linked have distinctive feels and shooting styles and identities, which keeps them fresh and interersting (In grim contrast to the subject matter...). Its also good to see the creative team can poke fun at themselves throughout the film too.

Over all its pretty cool. Im still deciding where I'd place it in regards to the first two installments but I'm happy they just didn't rehash the same film over again like many movie franchises seem to do.

If you liked the first two films, this is definitely worth seeing, if not.... stay away... stay well away. There is no need to traumatise yourself again.

For more great reviews make sure you check back here regularly at http://www.gorenography.com
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PHANTASM (1979)

Well... this is certainly a strange bit of cinema ... not to say its bad, in fact I quite enjoyed it....  It centres on a family that have lost both their parents and then later on a the oldest of three brothers is murdered in strange circumstances.

Michael, the youngest of the brothers watches his older brothers funeral from afar and notices something strange going on,,, namely the creepy undertaker lifting the casket by himself and hauling it off in his hearse. On further investigation into the undertakers mausoleum things start to get even creepier and he gets his older brother and friend involved in looking further into what's going on. and Michael, and uncover a strange plot involving the use of the deceased bodies. Without spoiling the film for the reader the movie takes a turn to the decidedly supernatural

The film really descends into the realms of strangeness and I have to say the plot is at times disjointed and hard to follow. It is rather well shot in that way that really brings out the colours and vivid detail in the cinematography. One thing I  will say is that the music in this film sets the mood there's one creepy piece that gets played over and over that I think brings it all together (I was trying to figure out where I'd head this and I'm sure it was used by Swedish death metal band Entombed....)

It's one of those films that needs more than one viewing so i will no doubt watch it again later and repvamp this review accordingly but yeah iId give it a thumbs up and recommend that pretty much anyone into horror would like this film.

For more great horror movie reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com on a regular basis!

HOUSE OF THE DEAD

Hmmm........ don't know what to say about this one.... I was a fan of the video game back in the 90's/2000's and logic would suggest that the plot would have all been laid out nice and neatly for this to become a solid B grade gore flick ... The potential for lots of gore, zombies, guns and well a creepy old house.

Not so it seems. Not only did to fail to hit the B Grade mark, in my books this is a solid contender for one of the worst films of all time. Medicore plot and crappy acting from the start turned me off this one. when the action finally did happen a lot of the zombie shots looked really rubber and fake. Lets just say the graphics in the game that preceeded it by 10 years looked better.

The movie itself.... well the frequent boob shots couldn't even keep me awake to see the end of this flick.

*It would appear that I'm not the only one that felt this movie was a stinker, so epic it could clog your toilet... It turns out the director has gone back and edited the movie again and taken the piss out of himself and well... even though the funny version is still sub par as a movie, it is far superior to this one..."

Anyway if you want to check out the funny version feel free to look it up here

or otherwise keep checking back for more great horror films at http://www.gorenography.com

Fail.

THE TOXIC AVENGER 2 (1989)

Too tired to think this weekend... After a heavy week at work I was looking for something that did not require too much in the way of thinking......... and this was just the ticket...

This one picks  up after the first movie and the Toxic (Toxie) Anvenger's home town of Tromaville is peaceful and uneventful after the toxic avenger has cleaned up all the crime and corruption ... painfully quiet ... so much so that Toxie gets a job in a nursing home for the blind to pass the time. A new group of criminals called "Apocalypse Inc" decide to blow up the nursing home (to kill toxie) but of course the Toxic Avenger is much harder to kill, and systematically and rather violently (and hilariously) takes care of the criminals sending them fleeing back to their base, and regrouping to come up with a plan to destroy the toxic avenger under the guise of sending him to find out about his father, which of course leads him to japan on a journey of self discovery. ... no not really, its all stupid shit, but its hammy as all hell, and will result in a few retarded chuckles from the viewer.

Once again this is like the first one, ultra tasteless B grade crap...... but watchable in the exact same way as the original. I'm not going to say this instalment is any better than the first, really its more of the same, if you liked the first one you'll know what you're in for... 90 minutes of slapstick gore, with less intellect than the average saturday morning cartoon.  But if you're coming back for part 2, you would already know what you're in for. You have no one to blame but yourself.

Over all I have to say I did enjoy this, and I would go so far to say its one of the better Troma Films (they really do pump out some crap) Anyway its been loaded up on you tube for your enjoyment or self torture which ever way you look at it

Also be sure to check out our review of The Toxic Avenger

Be sure to check out more ace horror movie reviews on http://www.gorenography.com

BRAIN DEAD / DEAD ALIVE (1992)

This I would have to say is my all time fave zombie movie. It combines over the top zombie horror with some genuinely funny moments that that make you almost wet yourself laughing. I remember seeing this around the time it got released on VHS, and even today it still holds up well and gets a once a year or so run on my viewing cycle.

This of course is an early piece from director Peter Jackson who went on to direct the Lord of the Rings Trilogy,,,, but this is an entirely different piece, no big budget or major studio special effects here, this is B grade horror, gutter level humor and DIY budget to the core. It's cheaply made (well... not so cheaply in the horror world coming in at $3 million to produce but cheap compared to hollywood standards) but very captivating and enjoyable the whole way through. And there in lies its charm.

The plot focuses in on some explorers that find a rare Sumatran Monkey Rat, a horrible creature whose bite will turn people into zombies and from then on,  the gore and hilarity ensues. There's even a romantic subplot in this one revolving around main protagonist Lionel, his lady love interest Paquita and his overbearing mother. Brilliant one liners follow one after another combining with the 'innocent B grade' feel of this movie to make it a classic of the gore genre.

While the gore is pretty over the top I think the hilarity of the movie makes it pretty easy to take (barring a couple of squeamish moments) and might even appeal to your non gore-fiend friends (admit it, you have a couple of them)  if even as just a reference to what Peter Jackson was doing before Lord of the Rings.

I managed to find a link to you tube with the entire movie streaming  so check it out and if you manage to see a hard copy of the film ... buy it!

The full movie link (from youtube) is featured below so make sure you check it out before it gets taken down!

Be sure to check out more great horror movie reviews at http://www.gorenography.com

EAT (2014)

Well.... This is certainly a different take on the horror genre, sitting somewhere between a drama and horror flick (with some moments of extreme gore) this is a very interesting watch indeed.

The film itself focus in on a young lady Novella who is trying to make it in the world of acting, she's just hit her 30's, hasn't had a role in years and has run out of money and at the point  of eviction.....  basically life is slipping out of the grip of miss Novella at a rapid rate, stress takes its hold and she develops a nervous habit of chewing and then eating herself... As I mentioned above the movie is more like a drama, but obviously dealing with the subject matter the film has plenty of moments of what I'd call reasonably extreme gore, this isn't for the faint hearted or the new comer to horror genre. The horror effects are very well done and the movie is shot in very high resolution so it has a particularly hard impact on the viewer as well.

Its safe to assume this film was done on a budget but its still a riveting watch, not loosing my attention for the whole of the film, and the way the story develops its quite a believable story, making the viewer really feel for Novella, even though many of her own life choices have led her to this point in her life. I wouldn't call this film a classic of the horror genre but it is a fresh and fairly unique take on the genre and definitely something worth horror fans checking out at least once.....

Be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com regularly for more reviews and horror related stuff!

SUPER DUPER ALICE COOPER (2014)

This little doco is quite unique in the way it focus' in on the childhood of Vincent Furnier the child who would grow up to take on the personality of Alice Cooper. There are some nice (and creepy) little insights into his child hood and how the personality of Alice came about (I won't spoil it here) and more importantly how Vincents' personality got taken over by self destructive entity that was Alice Cooper, and even more importantly how Vincent was finally able to peacefully co-exist with the personality he created.

There is of course the usual commentary on how the band came about, as well as the obilgatory tales of rock and roll excess, but the story telling in this DVD is almost magic, in both a personal way and in the way it has been edited together combining old footage and photos. The photo's and video have been combined to make it visually appealing for a generation used to much more complex CGI and big explosions, which I guess takes inspiration from Alices' love of art as well as music. Combined these factors create a captivating viewing experience quite unlike any rock doco I've ever seen before.

I am of course a fan of Alice Cooper but I'd like to think this doco would translate well beyond the fans of the band and would be interesting to anyone with an interest in the 60's or rock and roll in general and how it mutated in to heavy metal.