Peter Herro's Love Letter to Classic Slashers 'WTF!' Available Nationwide on Cable VOD and Digital HD

WTF!

Midnight Releasing Screams WTF! August 1st

Midnight Releasing drops a bloodsoaked F-bomb August 1st on Cable VOD and Digital HD.  The debut feature from director Peter Herro, WTF! follows the survivor of a mass murder on a relaxing trip with six close friends, when her nightmare threatens to begin again.  WTF! will be available on Amazon Instant, iTunes, Xbox, Vimeo, Steam, Vudu and Google Play.

Herro directed from a script he co-wrote with Christopher Centanni and Adam Buchalter.  Kyle Zingler produced alongside executive producers Steve Parker and Jody Wheeler.  Callie Ott (The Horror), Sarah Agor (Hatchet II, VH1's "Scream Queens"), Andrea Hunt (Awaken the Shadowman), Ben Norris, Johnny James Fiore, Nick Reilly and Adam Foster starred as the unfortunate group of friends.

Three years ago, twenty-two year old girl-next-door Rachel (Ott) barely survived a brutal massacre that left her friends in pieces. Time has passed, Rachel has moved on, but unfortunately history has a way of repeating itself.  Her close friends are spending spring break in a secluded house in the woods, and they have cordially invited her to join. Little does she realize that another bloodbath will be showing up as plus one. Once Rachel and her friends arrive at the cabin, the partying, sex, and terror begins. 

The MOD physical release of WTF! (SRP $14.95) is available exclusively from Amazon.com.

SCAVENGER KILLERS (2013)

SCAVENGER KILLERS (2013) 

Label: Midnight Releasing 

Release Date: July 1st, 2014
Duration: 102 minutes
Region Code: 1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Dylan Bank
Cast: Robert Bogue, Rachael Robbins, Eric Roberts, Dustin Diamond, Robert Loggia, Charles Durning

SCAVENGER KILLERS is a low-budget thriller from director Dylan Bank and concerns a judge (Robert Bogue, THE FOLLOWING) and his defense lawyer girlfriend (Rachael Robbins, BIKINI BLOODBATH CHRISTMAS) who routinely let the guilty off the hook in the courtroom so that can kill them in weird and lustful ways later. These two are super-kinky and totally get off on murder and sex while commuting murder. 

Also along for the ride are Dustin Diamond who you may remember as Screech from SAVED BY THE BELL who portrays a clairvoyant who can only use his gift while he fondles the breasts of a large black woman while finger-fucking her mouth... and he has tourettes syndrome. There are also appearances from Eric Roberts (THE DARK NIGHT), Charles Durning (DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW) and Robert Loggia (LOST HIGHWAY) who are seriously slumming it in this D-grade thriller, someone must have some dirt on these three to get them on board with this cheapie.

Every performance is overwrought or amateurish from the entire cast. I definitely feel that Bank was going for campiness by design but the script and humor are just awful from start to finish, I did not find a single legitimate laugh to be found anywhere. The effects are a mix of practical blood and CGI assisted splatter - not awful but not great either. Having just watched CAMP BLOOD FIRST SLAUGHTER and GILA! the special effects bar was set mighty low. 

Poor Robert Loggia - does the guy even realize he was in a movie when he made this - the guy is getting on in years and to see him in this was almost traumatic but I must admit that the scene with his brain being scooped out of his skull was bit of fun. What little there is to enjoy here would be some cheap gore and an endless parade of nude women - at times it felt like the producers held a casting call at the local strip club - so there's that cheap thrill at least.

The DVD from Midnight Releasing looks decent as a digital production -  the cinematography and sound recording are at least competent if not mind-blowing and there are a a few extras by way of behind-the-scene stuff.

A rather poor excuse for a horror film and no amount of tits and ass are gonna save it from that fate. There's possibly some entertainment value as a group viewing just to pick it apart but not if you have to drop any cash to make it happen. A definite SKIP IT.  

Review: INFINITE SANTA 8000 (2013)

INFINITE SANTA 8000 (2013) 

Label: Midnight Releasing
Duration: 95 minutes
Director: Michael Neel
Cast: Duane Bruce, Tara Henry, Michael Neel
Infinite Santa 8000 the movie is a creation of filmmakers Greg Ansin and Michael Neel, the same demented minds who brought us the indie horror anthology Drive-In Horror Show (2011), the project started as a 13 episode web-series on YouTube and it's developed quite a cult following over the years and now we have a feature length film that expands on the original story and amps up the gruesome Santa-themed violence. 

In the reality of Infinite Santa 8000 Earth has been transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland populated by robotic-mutants hybrids Hell bent on destroying Christmas. Our cyborg Santa wanders the wastelands with his robot companion Martha scavenging for scraps to meat and battling the grotesque mutants and violent kill bots in an attempt to carry-on the Christmas spirit. 

At the start of the movie Santa is engaged in an epic death match with a robo-mutant from which he emerges victorious, completely destroying his opponent. Returning to his sanctuary in the wastelands things quickly turn ugly when his arch-enemy, the evil Dr. Shackleton, kidnaps Martha for nefarious purposes. Our cybernetic Santa jumps into his slayer-sled drawn by his loyal robo-reindeer and must face off against the diabolical mad scientist and his hordes of mutant creatures and kill bots to save Martha. 

The carnage comes fast and ridiculous and with tasty holiday puns like "I'll color my eggs with your blood!", it's delightfully corny stuff.  Dr. Shackleton's horde of mutant creatures are pretty fantastic, we have crabmonkeys, batsharks, octo-blobs and a ferocious and fanged 100 ft. tall Easter Bunny that's just chews shit up, it's a brilliant assortment of mutant and cybernetic menaces for Infinite Santa to face-ff against, completely cartoony and awesome. 

The animation is pretty lo-fi but wouldn't be out of place on Adult Swim, it's fun stuff with a blazing heavy metal soundtrack that suits the onscreen carnage exquisitely. The tone of the film reminded me a bit of The Road Warrior (1981) by way of the Robot Santa episodes of Futurama and if that sounds like a sweet slice of demented xmas awesomeness I assure you that it is. 

If you're looking for a demented ultra-violent Christmas movie this year that's a bit off the beaten-path and just might traumatize the kids I say give the Infinite Santa 8000 movie a watch and check out the web-series. The movie is available to stream or download from Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Xbox Video, Vudu and numerous video-on-demand services. Be sure to spread the post-apocalyptic yuletide fear with Infinite Santa this year. 3 Outta 5 

https://www.facebook.com/InfiniteSanta8000

http://www.infinitesanta.com/

DVD Review: Drive-in Horrorshow (2009)

Drive-In Horrorshow (2011)

Label: Midnight Releasing

Release Date: July 5th 2011
Region: Region 1 NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 107 mins
Video: 1.33:1 Widescreen
Audio: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo
Director: Michael Neel
Cast: Luis Negron, Bill Gage, Nancy Sadad, Judith Kalaora
Tagline: Some Films Won't Stay Dead!

Synopsis: In days long ago, people would come to the drive-in to experience highs and lows. To laugh, or cry...... or scream. Those days have passed us by, and all the drive-ins have long since closed their doors. Those great movies have been forgotten. But some films won't stay dead.

Film: I do love a good horror anthology and while the mainstream cinema has turned it's back on the format indie filmmakers like Michael Neel and Anthony G. Summer (3 Slices of Life) are crafting great collections of indie horror vignettes for the masses willing to turn a few stones to find the good stuff. The Drive-In Horrorshow is hosted by a wonderfully campy ghoul known as The Projectionist, an undead horror host in the grand tradition of Alfred Hitchcock and Vincent Price. He along with his loyal assistants Billy Troll, Zombie Frank and The Teenage Axe Victim delve into his private vault of horror every Saturday night and select five horror tales for his Horrorshow. This is pure awesomeness, right up there with the Crypt Keeper, I love this host and the concept is nicely developed throughout the film's connective segments.  

The first short is called "Pig" and it's post-date rape revenge tale. A young man awakens in a bath tub as the it slowly fills with water. He's glued to the tub with adhesive and is unable to move. He's missing some of his upper front teeth and blood trickles down his chin. He's disoriented and panicked, a distraught young woman stares at him as she sits aside the tub, a bloody hammer lies on the floor next to her. It's a pretty simple set-up and it's effective stuff. At one point the young man makes a desperate attempt to escape, he pries his feet from the adhesive, his skin tears away and blood droplets stains the water. That was excruciating to watch, like seeing a mouse on a glue trap hopelessly struggle to escape, tearing itself apart in the process. But you can't feel sorry for the guy though, he's a date rapist, he violated this young woman and she's out for revenge, can you blame her? He's a feisty lil' rapist too, takes a bite outta her hand but you just don't fuck with a red head with a hammer, y'know. Made me think of a phrase from the Beat Happening tune "Red Head Walking", "heed what this wiseman says, stay away from redheads" and most certainly don't rape women lest you get what a pig deserves.

Up next is "The Closet" which is a variation on the classic monster-in-the-closet premise in the tradition of The Twilight Zone. A young boy named Jaime has a terrible home life. His Dad's a rage-a-holic, his Mom's unaffectionate and his sister is the worst kind of pick-ass. The kid just wants to watch his favorite science-fiction TV program but it just ain't gonna happen. After unjustly being sent to his room without dinner he discovers a creature in his closet that convinces him that he would be so much better off without the annoyance of his family. One by one Jaime lures the family members into the closet where they become creature bait. The story is told from Jaime's perspective and it's easy to see how a naive, abused 10 year old kid might be tempted to do such a thing but he quickly comes to realize the error of his impulsive actions. 

In "Fall Apart" Patrick Mazursky is a small town Dr. who makes house calls, so obviously this takes place in an alternate reality where HMO's haven't plundered the medical profession, right? After visiting a patient with Flu symptoms he starts to feel a bit under the weather himself which he chalks up to just an inherent danger when  treating the ill. Soon his flu symptoms turn worse and he begins to develop painful leisons that get progressively worse. What is this mysterious illness and what secret agency is trying to keep it under wraps? If you crave old-school gore this vignette does not disappoint. Skin peeling of in sheathes, exposed musculature, real gross stuff along the lines of Cronenberg's The Fly or the recent splatterfest Cabin Fever 2. Aside from the awesome gore what I loved about this was the running narration from the Dr. told in retrospect and the conspiratorial tone which reminded me of classic Tales from the Darkside episode. This was my favorite of the five tales.

Two young brothers overhear the tale of "The Meat Man", a cannibalistic serial killer stalking their suburban neighborhood. He kills his victims then strips their bodies of the choicest cuts of meat for consumption later. I love suburban horror, particularly films where kids are put in imminent danger and this one was fun. The boys come to discover some items in their own home, blood stained twine and meat packing paper, that would seem to implicate their travelling vacuum salesman father in the murders, at least in their minds. Are the boys in danger or are they just letting their youthful imaginations get the better of them? Fun stuff with a nice twist.

The finals story "The Watcher" is a backwoods survival horror film and features a group of four friends who head to the great outdoors for a weekend of drinkin', tokin', fuckin' and runnin' ....for their lives! True to it's inspiration the film has all the earmarks of a slasher film with very little new to offer, but so what, it's fun. There some witty humor, some sex, annoying characters and a final girl who takes on the predatory cannibal-man with a formulaic finale.


DVD: The pre-release screener I was sent to review is 1.33:1 full frame and shot on consumer grade digital video, it's a micro-budgeted feature and has many of the limitation you might associate with that format. That said the film looks quite good with nice cinematography and great production values.  The only supplemental materials on the pre-release screener was a Trailer (2:06) for the film. No subtitle options are included. While my screener didn't contain the supplemental materials here's what you'll find on the disc.

- Audio Commentary
- Additional Scenes
- Music Videos
- More

Verdict: Thank the Lord that indie filmmakers like Michael Neel keeping the horror-anthology flames burning bright. Major studios have all but shunned the format, shelving the brilliant Trick r' Treat for years before dumping it unceremoniously onto DVD. Drive-In Horrorshow instantly reminded me of classic horror anthologies like Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside and all those wonderful Amicus anthologies like Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror. This is a high recommend from me, very entertaining and obviously done by filmmakers who love the genre. Long live the horror anthology!

3.5 outta 5

http://www.driveinhorrorshow.com/

New horror titles from Midnight Releasing

Midnight Releasing is a Scottsdale, Arizona based independent horror entertainment  distrbutor that I literally stumbled across on these here internets. I was excited to find a DVD label right here in my own back yard. I haven't checked out their films as of yet but here's what's on their slate April thru June. Theres a martial art/wendigo extravaganza, creepy dolls, backwoods zombie horror, a deadly house filled with college co-eds featuring scream Tiffany Shepis and a horror anthology. Check 'em and out and support independent horror cinema.

HORRID (2009)

Release Date: April 5th 2011

LABEL: Midnight Releasing
DURATION: 92 mins
DIRECTOR: James Pronath

CAST: Kevin Kiser Liz Ribarchek Kyle Berg Amber Rae Halama, Chase Stoeger Lindsey Gagliano Josh Mijal and Rex Sikes
TAGLINE: Take a trip to the north woods, but don’t plan on going home.

SYNOPSIS: Come visit the beautiful north woods. Enjoy the changing of the leaves, the vast chain of lakes, bountiful hunting and fishing, and great snowmobile trails. Relax at one of our many resorts or find yourself part of a genetic experiment testing deadly viruses. Three friends travel north for a bachelor party weekend full of babes, booze and unexpected encounters. Oblivious to what is happening around them the three find themselves trapped as a cannibalistic diseases, developed by the military, transforms the townspeople into ravenous zombies.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Deleted Scenes

- Interview with Director
- Outtakes
- Makeup FX of Horrid
- Unreleased Trailers
- Audio Commentary
- Interview with Cast

DEAD ON SITE (2008)

Release Date: April 15th 2011

LABEL: Midnight ReleasingSYNOPSIS: The Sackett family never had a chance. Attacked in their home by an intruder, the couple and their three children were slashed to ribbons, decapitated, eviscerated. One year later, a group of college students moves into the so-called “Whack-it House” on a mission not only to complete a senior project, but discover the identity of the killer and get justice at last.

DURATION: 86 mins
DIRECTOR: Scott Keyon Barker
CAST: Robbie Daymond, Jaime Perkins, Chris Burnham, Tiffany Shepis, Andre Mazire
TAGLINE: Evil Needs An Audience.



Luis, whose father was a police detective, has all the files on the case. Marc is a computer wiz, responsible for setting up and maintaining the surveillance equipment, computer and website that the group will be using. Deke, with his alpha dog personality, is the group’s de facto leader. The guys are joined by Lynne, a sexy B movie actress now completing her media arts degree; Kim-Ly, a petite but scrappy Vietnamese martial artist; and Cody, a Native American student who senses early on that something is not right.


Each night they re-enact one of the Sackett family murders. And each time, something goes wrong. Tempers flare … blood flows … and then the threatening phone calls begin. Soon, the group has more questions than they have answers: Who really killed the Sacketts? And has he come back for more …?

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Behind the Scenes
- Gag Reel
- Trailer
- Audio Commentary

WENDIGO: BOUND BY BLOOD (2010)

Release Date: May 3rd 2011

LABEL: Midnight Releasing

DURATION: 90 mins
DIRECTOR: Leonard Kabasinski Jr.

CAST: Brian Anthony, Cheyenne King, Leon South, Amara Offhaus, KK Ryder

TAGLINE: These woods hold an evil secret…..a myth never to be awakened….linked by human flesh!

SYNOPSIS: For Hundreds of years, Native American culture has believed in the evil cannibalistic spirit know as “the Wendigo”. For those who had taken part in cannibalism, no matter the reason, it was said “the Wendigo” would then take possession of the person’s body and soul. Once the Wendigo would take possession of the human host, the host would develop and insatiable desire to eat human flesh.

In the deep woods of Northern Pennsylvania, A small town sheriff is investigating a bloody crime scene. On the scene, he meets beautiful Angeni Stonechild , a traveling physician doing work in the area. During the investigation, the two stumble upon FBI Agents, two individuals under their witness protection program, dead bodies, and a whole slew of hired hitmen out to ensure the witnesses never make it to trial. With a trail of mutilated bodies piling up, the sheriff and Angeni must not only confront the dangerous assassins but also find away to destroy….the Wendigo!

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Audio Commentary with Director Len Kabasinski, producer DeAnna Visalle, and Actress KK Ryder

SINISTER (2010)

Release Date: May 3rd 2011

LABEL: Midnight Releasing

DURATION:  90 mins
DIRECTOR: Steve Sessions
CAST: Donna Hamblin,  Lucien Eisenach, Donny Versiga
TAGLINE: The House isn’t haunted. It’s you. It’s as if you’ve been cursed . .


SYNOPSIS:  From “highly-underrated writer/director Steve Sessions” (filmthreat.com), comes a new tale of hoodoo and horror.

Starring Donna Hamblin (Mark of the Astro Zombies), SINISTER explores a world where submerged burlap dolls filled with hair and graveyard dirt spells bathtub drownings for unsuspecting enemies . . . . and the murdering dead come back to life at the whim of a madman!

A voodoo conjure man (Lucien Eisenach) has moved into town with a bag of tricks and a short temper. Unwittingly, Emily (Donna Hamblin) crosses his path and provokes his wrath. As the nightmare of his curse progresses, Emily enlists the aid of her brother (Donny Versiga) to find out what’s happening and try to reverse his hex before it’s too late!

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Unreleased Trailers

- Audio Commentary

3 SLICES OF LIFE (2010)

Release Date: June 7th 2011

LABEL: Midnight Releasing
DURATION: 108 mins
DIRECTOR: Anthony G. Sumner

CAST: Deneen Melody, Alan Rowe Kelly, Toya Turner, Kaylee Williams

TAGLINE: At Home, At Work, At Play…Terror is Never Far Away.


SYNOPSIS: 3 SLICES OF LIFE captures the struggle of a young amnesiac as she looks for clues to her identity within the drawings of three sketchbooks. Her world soon devolves into a harrowing nightmare as bloodsucking parasites, zombies, serial killers, demon children, rabid office workers and angry embryos spring to gory life from the pages of her sketchbooks.


WORK LIFE
A lowly clerk at a nano technology firm unleashes a deadly virus at the office headquarters, giving new meaning to the term corporate zombie.

HOME LIFE
As local girls begin to disappear, a young pregnant woman is haunted by visions of evil demonic children hell bent on stealing her unborn fetus.


SEX LIFE
A young brother and sister on the run from a sexually abusive home life, take refuge in a countryside Victorian manor- only to discover the monsters hidden in this house have been looking for a new home.

Convinced that the characters from these books are roaming around the motel, Mira's reality begins to crumble. Are these visions real or is she going insane? Desperate, Mira turns to the motel caretakers (Marv Blauvelt and Helene Alter-Dyche), only to discover the true evil bound in the flesh covered books and the destiny they hold for her.

A throwback to old school anthology horror movies, filmmakers Anthony G. Sumner and Eric Richter have created a chiller with something scary for everyone.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Audio Commentary
- Behind the Scenes
- Early Short JITTERS

Official website – http://www.slicesoflifemovie.com/

Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh46euNxaLM