Gator Lake, A Weird One with Gators...or are they Crocs?

Okay, we need to clear some things up. The title of the movie! "Gator Lake"? "Crocodile Revenge"? "Lake Jesup: Bonecrusher's Revenge"? Best I can tell, we should go with "Gator Lake: Bonecrusher's Revenge." Next...based on true events? Yep...and we'll go with that. Bonecrusher? A big crocodile...or alligator.  Crocodile or alligator? Take my word for it...same difference!  When you meet one face to face you won't go all marine biologist and try to classify it. Horror story? No, love story.  Sadly, there is a case to be made for this. Let us look at 2025's "Gator Lake," directed by Michael Houston King.

Bonecrusher escapes from Gator World and chews up 11 people in Lake Jesup, or Swamp Lake. Bonecrusher? Gator World's star attraction that Gator World's owner, Angus Sullivan (Jeff Benninghofen) raised by feeding it human remains. Now Bonecrusher has a taste for human flesh and we all know, once one taste's human flesh, we cannot go back to beef. Enter Bubba (Derek Russo). He just got out of the joint after 22 years. He's a croc hunter and knows Bonecrusher well.  Bubba is hired by the mayor (King) to kill Bonecrusher.  Bonecrusher is still eating peeps. Bubba then goes on the  most low energy gator hunt, or croc hunt, anyone can imagine. He watched Bonecrusher eat more peeps all while ticking off some broad named Lainy (Sarah Voigt).  Lainy? Never mind.  There is no way humanly possible to explain Lainy to you in a way you'd understand, but she provides this film with dozens of awkward scenes. I will say that Lainy just seems like the kind of gal you would always be apologizing to if you dated her. Now, enough said.

Lainy makes us look away from the screen and at our feet.  Let's forget about her. Bubba has a score to settle.  He blames Sullivan for all the carnage, the death of his wife, and now suspects his dear departed wife's remains may have been fed to Bonecrusher. Bubba grunts a lot.  Bubba yells at Sullivan a lot.  Bubba does something to Lainy that we kind of assume is romancing her. Bonecrusher eats more people. Oh, to slow the plot down, Bubba has a daughter (Katie Gibbons) he has not seen in 22 years, and a grandson he has never seen. Yep, they are in this...and they make us cheer for Bonecrusher. Eventually, Bubba does come up with a great plan to find and kill Bonecrusher and you won't believe what he will use for bait.

Will Bubba be able to romance Lainy and suck some face with her?  Will Bonecrusher eat Lainy, and Bubba's daughter and grandson?  Will Bubba ever go high-energy? Oh!  I should point out that this film is the magnum opus of  Savannah Grace Elmer.  Miss Elmer (pictured in the bikini top above) is a beautiful actress who can recite the alphabet backwards.  Really.  This is a good one in an MST3K type of way.  For some gator, or croc fun, see "Gator Lake," or whatever this film is called.   

Scream of the Wolf, Made for TV Horror

Nothing says 1970s ABC made-for-TV better than Jo Ann Pflug. In her defense, she is good looking. Sure, she's no Cheryl Ladd or Tanya Roberts...but she still is a catch. Match her up with the aging Peter Graves, and we have carnal sparks fly all over the place. Okay, I'm overstating it. We have a wooden dating relationship in which, if we're lucky, we'll see them kiss. Or, maybe not. Wolf?  Werewolf?  Sure, there is that too. But 1974's "Scream of the Wolf" isn't a horror movie, it's a love story.  No! That's silly! It's a werewolf story. Don't you hate when filmmakers say that about their horror movies.  Directed by Dan Curtis, our feature today is also a nice mystery.

A beast murders some schmuck (Tom Dever) in the woods. The poor guy is all chewed up and ripped apart. Weird tracks are found near the body. Sheriff Vernon Bell (Philip Carey) calls in former hunter, and current novelist, John (Graves) to help out. He's perplexed. Both the sheriff and John ask Byron (Clint Walker) to help out. Byron is a current big-game hunter and John's former best friend. Byron? He's busy. Doing what? Busy. Over the next few nights, more people are ripped to shreds by the monster. John really tries to get Byron on board...but he's busy. Byron tells John to look on the bright side, "Only in mortal danger are we alive." I know what you're thinking. Is Byron the werewolf? Guess what! John left hunting when him and Byron tracked a wolf in Canada. The wolf got a jump on Byron and tore him up pretty bad before John killed it. Right...Byron was bitten...so he's the werewolf!  Everyone thinks so, but not John.

In fairness, John doesn't come across as that bright. He starts dating Sandy (Pflug) and the two are quite dull.  Pre-marital sex? Not even a kiss. At one point she makes him coffee...just like Lana Turner did for John Garfield in "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Sandy hates Byron.  Afterall, she thinks he is a werewolf. Women can be so judgmental. John still isn't convinced even after drinking Sandy's coffee. Soon, it is apparent that Byron is playing John...but why? More killings...more vagueness as to what Byron is busy doing.

Is Byron a werewolf, or is that too easy?  Will John and Sandy at least suck some face or is Peter Graves too old to remember what to do in that situation?  Is there some sort of weird relationship between Byron and John stemming back from the wolf attack many years ago? This is a mystery, and we are most intrigued by Clint Walker's character, who looks like he could give Sandy a better roll in the hay than John could...if our minds were to go there. See "Scream of the Wolf" for some neat Made-For-TV horror...or whatever you want to call it.    

Beverly Hills Massacre, Texas Chainsaw Massacre Meets Uber

Now there is a connection Tobe Hooper never foresaw. Still, we have a brutal horror film about a nubile babe ride share driver. Sure, it may begin slow, but the last half of this movie is twisted, gory, brutal, and depraved. This is the type of horror where people might yell, "This is some sick f***ing s**t!" Nevertheless, this Jason Toler film has ambition and nerve.  Our feature today is 2025's "Beverly Hills Massacre."

The beginning of this film is right out of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." You'll see. After that nostalgic opening we see the sultry Kelly (Elizabeth Bird) having passionate pre-marital sex with her hunk BF Tommy (Zach Kuntz). We know what happens to those who engage in this behavior in these slasher films. Kelly is an aspiring actress, and we like her.  She is really banking on getting a role in an ice cream commercial. Kelly has not made it yet so she drives a ride share, picking up fares and depositing them. We get to meet her riders, some very interesting peeps in Beverly Hills. Then, through some deception, Kelly picks up Karen (Malia Arrayah). The tall weird woman who  wears a mask and dresses in a tight, short, revealing outfit lies to Kelly and tips her big. Kelly lets her guard down and drives her to a Beverly Hills mansion where she helps Karen bring her bags in.

Uh oh...Karen and her butler (Roy Allen) drug Kelly and lock her in a room with the previous victim, who has her mouth sewn shut. Yep, Karen has plans for Kelly and we get a hint of it when Karen removes her mask and reveals a disfigured face. Kelly will be tortured, bludgeoned with a crowbar, and prepped for... well, you'll see. Oh, there are other guests who have also been locked up and driven to madness.  Kelly is different, she is beautiful and Karen has dibs on her...well, you'll see. What follows is gore, and lurid torture.  Kelly has fight and will not succumb, if she has anything to say about it.

What does Karen want from Kelly?  Will Kelly's hunk BF look for her and come to try to save her? Will the ending of this film be right out of the 1974 Tobe Hooper classic? This is a loud one with disturbing images and plot points.  For a hidden gem, endure the first 35 minutes, and treat yourself to a gory and prurient story of the filthy rich and what they do to us poor schmucks.  See "Beverly Hills Massacre" and think about who needs to be paying more taxes in our country.

The Cosmic Man, Does He Mean Peace...or Conquest

Today we have another1950s B sci-fi classic with that old, tried and true, classic theme. You know the theme...do we annihilate the alien visitor, or do we try to communicate with it and make friends? Inevitably, we annihilate it...but in all fairness, that was probably the right choice. I mean, did Kurt Russell try to make friends with The Thing? No!  He took a flamethrower to it. Like you would have done differently! Okay, lets look at 1959's "The Cosmic Man," directed by Herbert S. Greene.

A UFO is tracked by radar and crashes into the mountains of a California town. The military sends war-hawk Colonel Matthews (Paul Langton), USAF. They also send the guy who invented the A-Bomb, Dr. Karl Sorenson (Bruce Bennett), a scientist who feels guilty about annihilating tens of thousands of Japanese. Matthews is suspicious the thing means bad news for Earth. Sorenson doesn't jump to conclusions and is intrigued by the fact that an inter-galactic visitor is inside the impenetrable orb that hovers a few feet off the ground. Along comes the beautiful blonde widow Kathy (Angela Greene). She drives up to the site in her convertible. She has an open mind and we figure she also has an open mind about which hunk to marry. Yeah, the two hunks represent both sides of a classic debate but both are bores.

What, or who is ever inside the orb comes out. The Cosmic Man (John Carradine) is invisible and goes to science labs to see what Earthlings are up to.  He decides the Earthlings are pre-occupied with war and annihilation and tries to warn them against this pursuit. Oh, The Cosmic Man, now visible, gets a room at Kathy's lodge, perhaps desiring to mate with beautiful blonde Earthlings. Can we blame him? Afterall, don't we all have urges after traveling billions of light years through space? The plot goes back and forth whether The Cosmic Man means peace, or interplanetary war. Kathy goes back and forth whether to marry the boring scientist or the hawk Colonel.  The military brings in fresh weapons. Dr. Sorenson brings in more probing scientific tools. The Cosmic Man gets ready to recite his demands on the confused Earthlings.  Kathy begins thinking of her biological clock.

Who will Kathy decide on, and is the inter-galactic visitor in the running?  Is Sorenson or the Colonel right and will friends be made, or enemies annihilated?  Just what is The Cosmic Man's intention on Earth, and would he be open to an inter-species relationship with an Earth blonde? This is a fun one, no doubt preaching against xenophobia.  Still, the possibility of outsiders desiring to murder you is a plot point kept open by the movie makers.  See "The Cosmic Man" and enjoy some neat 1950's B Movie treasures.  

Drakul, Vamps and Politicians Gone Wild

I'm trying to remember...it seems to me "Drakul" was a YouTube series almost a decade ago. Of late, it is on Tubi as a 70-minute movie...so I put it on. Why? When I first started this blog, one of the first films I did was "Mongolian Death Worm." It was the perfect film for my blog. Big slimy monsters and babes. Victoria Pratt was in it and so was Auradrone lead singer, Jon Mack. Both ladies appeared several times subsequently on my blog. Well, guess what...Jon Mcck is one of the stars of "Drakul" and she plays a vamp. A bloodsucker. So today we are going to look at 2017's "Drakul," directed by Michael Merino.

Senator Christian Drake (Lee Ordeman) is running for president. He'll win because he has made a pact with a vampire demon king. This union has mixed results and Drake's lovely wife (Tracy Teague) proves unreliable so she is offed. No matter, his vampire handler, Jezabeth (Mack) provides him with a whore (Joy Glass). This makes mourning difficult. A lot of forces are now mechanized to either stop Drake from becoming leader of the free world, or to ensure he does. The order of Drakul is very competent and most of their opponents are slaughtered...no matter how pretty they are. Dr. Stuart (Joe Estevez) seems to lead the most competent branch of opponents, but he seems almost as evil as the vampire cabal.

Jezabeth, a very elegant vamp, is quite persuasive and is able to control Drake into behaving and taking orders...though her allure probably has a lot to do with that. You know U.S. Senators...what a lot? Oh, being held prisoner is Drake's illegitimate son, some schmuck named David (Gabriel Voss). For now, he's just the buffet for two sultry vamps, but is being kept alive for some reason, not yet known. By the way, one of Jezabeth's henchwomen is Alexa (Elyse Dufour), and she is a dish! It should be noted that this is a serial and another one of these movies must be out there, I'll look.

Will the conspiracy theorists claim the vampire cabal is a metaphor for AIPAC?  Will Jezabeth and Alexa engage in a catfight over some demon king? Are vampire controlled U.S. Senators preferable to the ones we have now, who are not controlled by vampires...at least in the literal sense? Vampire and conspiracy enthusiasts will love "Drakul," and if there is another one, I will try to find it.

Tasmanian Devils, Danica McKellar Has a Flamethrower

She is mean.  She is armed. Armed with a flamethrower and attitude.  She snarls.  She grunts. Then, she pulls the trigger and her flamethrower fires! Soon, the ferocious monster is engulfed in flames. Threat neutralized. Milla Jovovich? Nope. Kate Beckinsale? Nope. The little girl from "The Wonder Years." Winnie, all grown up! She's aged well. You know who else is in this one... Apolo Ohno! Who is he? I don't remember but he used to be someone. He is a rotting corpse in this film, so let's not worry about him anymore. Our feature today is 2013's "Tasmanian Devils," directed by Zach Lipovsky.

Five base jumpers execute a 3000 foot plunge. Uh oh, Apolo Ohno goes 3100 feet and gets impaled by a stalagmite in an underground cavern. His blood reanimates six monsters, toothy Tasmanian Devils. The five other ones are then busted by three Tasmanian Park rangers, which include Alex (McKellar). Uh oh, the monster climb out of the cave and hunt down our humans. Two of the park rangers are eaten immediately. Now Alex must lead the other base jumpers through the Tasmanian wilderness and to safety. This won't be easy as the things attack and shred the humans one by one. Walsh (Terry Chen) builds a flamethrower and Alex chars one of the monsters. War breaks out. The monsters increase their attacks. Alex and base jumper Jayne (Kenneth Mitchell), a guy, get sweet on one another. It's so cute.

The creatures are on the offensive and the humans are trying to run back to the helicopter the base jumpers arrived on. This won't work and ends in an explosion and blood. Now they seek a weather tower. One by one the creatures pick off the humans. One by one, the humans pick off the creatures.  We don't much care for most of the characters, but when Alex uses a flamethrower on one of the critters, we are in love. Like most flamethrowers, sadly, it stops working. Now Alex and the surviving base jumpers must lick their wounds and come up with a better plan. They do, sadly it isn't that much better than their first two.

Will Alex and Jayne live to romance one another?  Is Apolo Ohno as a rotting corpse a metaphor for what happens to people when their 15 minutes of fame ceases? Danica McKellar as a Tasmanian Park Ranger? Seriously? Just go with it. I think I saw this one in 2013 on the Syfy Channel. Believe it or not it has some terrific scenes and however miscast Ms. McKellar is, we do love seeing her as a flamethrower wielding ranger.  See "Tasmanian Devil" and be prepared to be surprised at how much you enjoy this film.  

Queen of Lost Island, Julie Strain and a Big Sword

A big sword, and big...er, a big...smile! Yep, true exploitation from straight to video from the 90s. Some claim Julie Strain ad-libbed her swordplay, which takes up half the runtime in this film. Others insist she was invited to Japan and spent 12 months training and learning from real Samurai warriors. Lucky warriors! The wardrobe department had it easy, as Miss Strain appears as a naked and possessed babe seeking to possess the spirits of sultry swimsuit models and then have orgies with them. No, not a Kate Hudson film, and not a remake of "To Kill a Mockingbird," but 1994's "Queen of Lost Island" (aka "The Devil's Pet," or "Elixir: Queen of Lost Island"), directed by Donald G. Jackson.

Julie (Strain) goes to a South Pacific island to scout it for settings for a fashion/swimsuit shoot. With her is the pervert agent/promoter Damian (Steve Carr). The duo find a small bottle with an ancient elixir and both seem possessed to take a sip. Now Damian is the great evil god Pan, seeking to corrupt nubile babes with sex, and Julie is...well, a naked warrior with a big sword. Now all they need are models to corrupt. Damian summons fashion photographer Kenny (Nicholas Celozzi), and several beautiful, big smiled models. They arrive and Julie swings a mighty sword. Pheromones are rampant and the urge for sex is spread by Pan/Damian. One by one the models are hunted down by Julie or Damian, stripped, forced to drink the potion, then become ravenous sex machines. One of the models, Bobbi (Tina-Desiree Berg) is Kenny's favorite bikini-babe, and she is urged to take her top off. This was an easy endeavor by Kenny.  Then she seduces the photographer.

The other models are easy prey.  Before and after trying to flee in horror, they are caught and forced to drink. Now Pan has a small army of nude models to hunt down Kenny and Bobbi.  We have to stop here and admire how loyal the plot of this film is to the book. Orgies commence.  Lesbian orgies commence.  Julie Strain feels herself up while bathing in a stream...a lot!  Bobbi, even without being possessed, gives Kenny all the deviance he can handle.  Now Bobbi and Kenny realize the danger they are in as the hordes of naked models head their way.

How did you miss this one in 1994?  Is Julie's big sword a metaphor for...for...oh, never mind!  Was this Julie Strain vehicle an attempt by her to be cast as the lead in "The Last Samurai" ( a role eventually given to Tom Cruise)? This is...well...a gratuitous Julie Strain film. Nudity and nudity rule, with some help from deviant pre-marital sex. For an arousing guilty pleasure, see "Queen of Lost Island."