FLESH FOR THE INFERNO (2015) (DVD Review)

FLESH FOR THE INFERNO (2015) 

Label:Scoprio Film Releasing 
Release Date: March 8th 2016 
Region Code: 0 NTSC
Duration: 78 Minutes
Rating: Unrated 
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) 
Director: Richard Griffin
Cast:  Anna Rizzo, Jamie Dufault, Michael Thurber, Sarah Nicklin, Monica Saviolakis, Sean Leser, Kevin Michael Strauss, Samantha Acampora

Director Richard Griffin always brings a ton of fun to his low budget horror movies, blending wit and camp with gruesome and bloody frights. From sci-fi and Lovecraftian horror on through to a straight-up slashers the man has toured through many of the beloved sub genres of terror with aplomb, and few have failed to make me giddy with delight. His latest movie available on home video to the masses is the supernatural nunspoitation entry Flesh for the Inferno (2015).

The movie opens in 1999 when a group of nuns confront a naughty priest about his penchant for molesting the young boys at the Catholic school. In response to the accusations Father Renault (The Sins of Dracula) pulls out a gun and shoots one of the nuns in the head and forcing the remaining three into basement below, where he bricks them up inside a wall, adding a touch of Edgar Allen Poe's Black Cat, or maybe Luci Fulci's The Psychic (1977) to the movie. While bricking them up behind the wall the nuns renounce a God who would allow such awfulness, they make a pact with the Devil, swearing their souls to the dark Lord. 

Sixteen years later the Catholic school has been abandoned and a neighborhood youth group arrive on scene under the direction of Mr. Maupin (Michael Thurber, The Sins of Dracula). The group have volunteered to do some clean-up work at the school before re-construction begins on the dilapidated building. They are greeted by the "caretaker", a sloppy young man named Halsey (Sean Lesser, Future Justice), who warns them that they should leave. The group are a fun and dynamic bunch, an array of teen stereotypes ripe for the picking-off, we have the Churchy Meredith (Jamue Lyn Bagely, Frankenstein's Hungry Dead), the straight-A student Gwen (Laura Minadeo), the honry douche Chester (Andrew Morais), young couple Becka and Patton (Ryan Nunes), the guy who is not gay Ian (Kevin Michael Strauss), redhead Kat (Anna Rizzo, Future Justice)  and the new guy Noah (Jamie Dufault, Murder University), who is the visiting nephew of Mr. Maupin. 

The group arrives and begin cleaning-up around the old school with varying degrees of commitment, some are there to do good in the neighborhood while others are clearly there to get laid. Of course the goody-goody Meredith begins judging the other teens right from the start, but she doesn't have too much time for judgement, for when two horny teens accidentally unleash the trio demonic nuns they all find themselves on the run for their lives. 

From here on in the teens are picked off  one by one in a myriad of gruesome ways. The first victim is peeping through a hole in the basement wall when she has her eye plucked out from her skull, another has his tongue ripped out, and a third bashes her face into a bloody pulp. The nuns themselves are fun, they interact with the teens and play around with them a bit before they kill them, poor horny Chester is seduced by all three before he is forced to leap to his death. The gore is cheap, plentiful and fun, not all of it worked for me, but it was still plenty fun. The garish green, red and blue lighting of the film gives the movie the look of Lamberto Bava's Demons (1985), as does the way that the nuns stalk the kids throughout the sprawling school. 

Like most of Richard Griffin's best movies this one features some great teen characters who throw off witty and fun dialogue, both of the straight and campy variety, blended to perfection with just the right amount of wit and snappy line delivery. t makes me think that part of his process must be rehearsal time, honing each line to perfection before committing it to film. I love that the annoying Meredith is set-up as a character that is a bit too easy to hate, but she does not necessarily hold that distinction for the duration of the movie. Early on I was hoping she would die off quick and painfully, but Griffin gives her some heroic moments and a very slight character arc, which is played for laughs, of course. 

Other characters of note are a local hooker with a heart of gold named Claudette (Sarah Nicklin, Nun of That) and two donut loving local cops, played by Rich Tretheway and Andrew Andrade from Future Justice. I would be remiss not to mention Aaron Andrade (the upcoming Seven Dorms of Death) ion a scene stealing performance as the big cheese of evil, The Devil, played with a menacingly smooth charm that is truly befitting of the unholy one. 

Special Features: 
- Commentary Track with director, writer, producer and assistant director.
- Commentary Track with Cast .
- Trailer (1 Min) 

Flesh for the Inferno (2015) is a hugely entertaining horror movie that manages to be funny, eerie and gruesome in equal measure. Griffin always does a lot with a little, the production is helped by a good script from writer Michael Varrati (The Sins of Dracula) and strong performances from a cast Griffin has worked with for the past few years. If you love indie horror comedies and are not familiar with director Richard Griffin do yourself a favor and marathon a handful of his movies, this guy is a low budget wonder of fun horror movies, you won't regret it. 3/5

THE SINS OF DRACULA (2014)

THE SINS OF DRACULA  (2014) 

Label: MVD VIsual 
Region Code: 0 NTSC 
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 81 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 
Director: Richard Griffin
Cast: Michael Thurber, Jamie Dufault, Sarah Nicklin, Samantha Acampora, Steven O'Broin, Carmine Capobianco, Elyssa Baldassarri, Johnny Sederquist, Derek Laurendea

There are precious few micro-budget film makers out there right now churning out cheapie movies as consistently entertaining as Mr. Richard Griffin, the man has dipped his venerable big toe into softcore exorcism with Disco Exorcist (2011), nunsploitation with Nun of That (2009), vintage sci-fi with Atomic Brain Invasion (2010), Lovecraftian horror Beyond the Dunwich Horror (2008), and campus slashers with Murder University (2012). His body of work is infused with a sharp wit and a charming type of campiness that are immensely watchable, now he returns to vampyrism with The Sins of Dracula (2014), a subject he explored with Pretty Dead Things (2006).

Billy (Jamie Dufault) is a faithful Catholic joins a local theatre group after being cajoled by his girlfriend Samantha (Sarah Nicklin). Billy is a wide-eyed and naive Catholic boy, a good guy but just a a little narrow-minded after a lifetime of dogma and nightly prayer group meetings. The theatre director is Lou Perdition (Steven O'Broin) rus the theater troupe along with his busty partner Kimberly (Elyssa Baldassarri), and the group is made up of a  half dozen weirdos, we have druggie Bandilli (Derek Laurendeau), gamer queen Traci (Samantha Acampora), scenester NuWave (Jesse Dufault) and theater fag Lance (Aaron Peaslee), and given the sexual orientation of Lance we see how uncomfortable Billy is based on his religious beliefs, but he adjusts after a bit of an awkward introduction. Missing from the group is Scott (Johnny Sederquist) who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances a few days earlier. We soon discover that Lou is actually the leader of a Satanic cult bent on resurrecting Count Dracula (Michael Thurber) from beyond the grave, and the small theatre troupe he has amassed are merely food for the undead bloodsucker. There you have it, that's the whole movie in a nutshell, a very simple set-up and a fun cast of characters.

The cast is uniformly good throughout, with the standout going to gamer Samantha Acampora and Jamie Dufault as the naive Catholic, his wide-eyed performance is fantastic and drives the film home. His struggle to reconcile his religious upbringing against this cast of new found friends and his newly throbbing libido make for fun viewing, there's plenty of witty condemnation of the Church but it's playful and not at all malicious. 

In the role of Lou we have Steven O'Broin who has a fun stage affected flair of drama about him, I can absolutely see him as the director of a small town theatre group, every one of his line readings if fun stuff. In the role of the mostly silent bloodsucker we have Michael Thurber recalling a slightly camper (and balder) version of Christopher Lee in Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966).

There's a sweet love story between Billy and Samantha in here among the scenes of vampires being anally staked and beheaded, played for campy laughs the films is quite a bit of fun, not one of my favorite films from Richard Griffin and the Scorpion Film releasing crew but certainly an entertaining romp with homages to the old Hammer vampire movie, '80s classic Fright Night (1985) and Salem's Lot (1979) among others with Griffin's own campy twist.  

The disc from MVD Visual looks good, a solid anamorphic picture that looks micro-budget but definitely on the higher end of the spectrum with some keen cinematography with good use of colored lighting techniques adding loads of atmosphere to the proceedings. The English Dolby Digital 2.0  is crisp and clean, dialogue, score and effects are balanced and the retro '80s synth score from Timothy Fife is awesome. 

Extras on the disc include two audio commentaries plus the bonus short films 'They Stole the Pope's Blood!' and 'Los Pantalones Contra Dracula', both are cool slices of retro grindhouse entertainment. 

Special Features
- Commentary Track with Director Richard Griffin and Writer Michael Varrati
- Commentary Track with Stars Sarah Nicklin and Jamie Dufault
- Bonus Short Film 'They Stole the Pope's Blood!' (4 Mins) 
- Exclusive Easter Egg Short Film 'Los Pantalones Contra Dracula' (2 Mins) 

DVD Review: THE DISCO EXORCIST (2011)

THE DISCO EXORCIST (2012) 

Label: Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Visual 
Region: Region 0 NTSC
Duration: 80 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Director: Richard Griffin
Cast: Michael Reed, Sarah Nicklin, Ruth Sullivan

Synopsis: Rex Romanski is a 1970s disco swinger who loves and leaves the wrong woman - the wicked black magic priestess Rita Maria. And now it's up to Rex to undo the scorned Rita's rampage of revenge, murder and destruction before she claims more lives, and possesses the soul of the woman he loves. A sexy, irreverent horror comedy - Get Down... and Get Dead!

The Film: In the wake of post-modern grindhouse homages like the truly excellent Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) and the Astron-6's Tromatic  Father's Day (2011) I would expect that any day now I would tire of the the retro aesthetic but after taking in The Disco Exorcist from the makers of the nunsploitation throwback Nun of That (2009) I am pleased to say that retro-grindhouse movement still has a lot to offer fans of sexed-up exploitation.

Our main character is Rex Romanski (Michael Reed, Atomic Brain Invasion) the reigning Lord of Disco at the local dioscoteche where his sexual prowess is legendary - the man can bed any disco diva he pleases and does so under the influence of a mountain of nose-candy and weed. It's on the dance floor  where Rex  meets the sexy ginger-haired Rita Marie (Ruth Sullivan, Nun of That) and the two burn up the dance floor and the set Rex's on fire in a heated passion. The two are quite an item until Rex unceremoniously dumps Rita on the dance floor for porn-star Amoreena Jones (Sarah Nicklin, Beyond the Dunwich Horror) . Not only is Rita psychotically jealous but as it happens is also a practitioner of the black arts and she places a curse upon the adult-film starlet causing her to become possessed by a dick-shredding demon and much cocaine-sniffing and raunchy sexploitation hilarity ensues.

If you love tits and crude sexual humor you are in for a treat because this film  is just oozing with a ton of both, there's more nudity in this sexploitation-comedy than in any film I have seen in quite a long time, it nears porno levels of flesh at times, and I gotta say I loved every minute of  it. The scripts is smart and clever and ripe with  quotable one-liners like just after a raunchy sex-session Amoreena utters this post-coital nugget to Rex, "You should probably take it out of me. I’ve got to pee." - it's sorta like Troma but actually funny from start to finish and every bit as offensive. The acting is spot-on for what the film is - it's deadpan and cheesy and the real standout is  actor Michael Reed as Rex Romanski the guy is a real charmer and one can see why his character is such a lady-magnet, He's a regular of the Scorpio Film Releasing titles and I definitely you check 'em all out.

The make-up effects are pretty fantastic too, much better than what I would have expected from a micro-budget film - definite props to the make-up and special effects artists on the film, very well done with some great moments of gore and lots of blood. Likewise the digitally enhanced damaged-print effects are superb. Originally the film was intended to be shot on super 8mm for aesthetic effects but when that proved beyond the budget the decision was made to go digital and he effect is probably the best I've seen complete with audio snap, crackle and pops - really authentic stuff that just pulls you right into the sleazy 70's vibe which is enhanced in no small part by the amazing score from Owen Thompson and Timothy Fife which is just spot-on superb with moments that recalled Tenebre-era Goblin. 

The filmmakers have really captured the essence of sleazy 70's exploitation with massive amounts of cheesy-awesomeness loaded with 70's disco fashion, lava lamps, orgies, hairy bush and huge knockers  and what seems like a post-dubbed dialogue that gave me the sense of watching a 70's Italian schlocker.

For a low-rent cheese-fest the film is really well-shot and lit, it's a pretty slick looking production with a nice homage to Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976) thrown in when the shit starts hitting the fan   - there's some definite skill behind this exploitation throwback and director Richard Griffin is one to watch having already seen his film Beyond the Dunwich Horror (2008) I am pretty excited to seek out his take on the nunsploitation genre Nun of That (2009).  Also, you can look forward to a sequel called The Brother of The Disco Exorcist which is in pre-production as we speak. 

Special Features:
- Director's Commentary
- Deleted Scene (0:42) 16x9
- Original Teaser Trailer (1:01) 16x9
- Red Band Trailer (2:24) 16x9
- Green Band Trailer (2:24) 16x9 
- Wild Eye "Hijacked" Trailer (1:09) 16x9 

Verdict: The name says it all - The Disco Exorcist - it's every bit as cheesy as the title would imply and it's freaking awesome. If you love retro-70's exploitation, tits and sleaze this deserves a space on your shelf. Definitely a film with re-watch value and one I can't wait to unleash upon a couch full of unsuspecting drunken friends - one Hell of a fun watch. 
3.5 Outta 5