The Inn, Slasher remake of Two Classics

One may wonder if today's film is a trailer trash remake of the 1932 Greta Garbo film "Grand Hotel," or the 1967 Arthur Hailey written film "Hotel." Sure the characters in this film have bigger...er smiles!  They bleed a lot more.  They lose their spines and internal organs faster. Still, the drama and personal angst of these characters is identical.  Sure, Greta Garbo wanted "to be alone." But in our film today, babes with bigger...er smiles...desired to be left whole. Same thing, at least metaphorically.  Also, I have been to Dunedin, Florida dozens of times and I must say no other film has ever captured the essence of this weird and twisted place. So let us look at this 2025 movie, filmed in Dunedin, and not starring Greta Garbo (though she probably would have jumped at the chance to be in it given the chance), "The Inn," directed by Kevin Beganovic and Sloan Losch.

A word of warning, unlike "Grand Hotel," this film begins with a massacre numbering 31. The gore is the highlight of this film as babes will be strangled and hung by their own intestines, have their implants cut off, and much more. Our killer, Sandman (Brandon Yates), will pull spring breakers skin off, rip them in half lengthwise and widthwise, rip faces off, pull spines out, and much more. The gore f/x are terrific. Okay, Sandman is a serial killer who goes from motel to motel murdering spring breakers...I know, a noble goal.  That aforementioned massacre? Not the last one in this film. By the time a character survives more than 30 seconds once being introduced, we emerge with big...er, big smiled Dani (Aimee Rolfsen). She is a policewoman getting ready to be divorced.  

After the first 55 gory killings, you'll see them all, she teams up with two stoner employees of the motel, Brian (Connor Holden) and Sam (Dan Winkowski). They both want to boink her, but she is way out of their league. She looks very boinkable...but will The Sandman think so? There will be a twist that makes this a relevant question, you'll see. Oh yes, the two cops, Sheriff Daniels (Eric Daniel) and Detective Cain (Jeshua Vargas) will be driven mad by this fiend as he goes from motel to motel massacring every spring break guest! Okay, that's enough, you get the picture.

Will Dani and her two drooling buddies escape the wrath of The Sandman? What is the motivation for the Sandman?  Is this film a thinly veiled metaphor of what the Biden Administration did to to our country? This may be the goriest film you will see all year, and if you have ever been to Dunedin, Florida, you will love "The Inn." See "The Inn" and find out if the sultry Aimee Rolfsen will suffer the same fate Greta Garbo did in "Grand Hotel."   

Shark Terror, Babe in Underwear vs. Shark!

Prussian Army officer Karl von Clausewitz on November 15, 1831 (the day before his death) is quoted as saying, "The ultimate war will someday be fought by nubile-babes in their underwear."  The esteemed strategist then downed another mead, left the public house, and shortly after midnight was killed by a horse drawn carriage riding dancing girls back to their boarding house. Okay, today we have that battle Mr. Clausewitz was speaking of. The nubile in her underwear is Carly Medina, who possesses great big... er, a great big smile. To date, this served as Ms. Medina's magnum opus. A reincarnation of one of those dancing girls in the coach back in 1831? You decide. Our feature today is 2025's "Shark Terror," directed by Christopher Nolan...wait! No, directed by Mario N. Bonassin. I always get those two confused.

Never a good idea...babes on a naval vessel. But, guess who the captain is! Yep, Michael Pare! The babes? Molly (Sarah Lieving) and her daughter, the big...the nubile with the big smile Kendall (Medina). Why are they on the USS Campbell? Clausewitz had similar questions in 1831. Three thugs bag Molly and Kendall's room for jewels, get caught by Kendall, then grab her, and all go overboard.  One gets eaten by a shark immediately. Now Kendall and Brian (Javier Duran) get attacked by sharks and the shark gets Kendall's dress. Now Kendall is kept afloat by her big...er, big smile. After being wounded by a Great White, the duo make it to a sandbar that will disappear in a few hours. Brian? Never mind.

An ex-marine (her term, not mine) Molly insists on going after her daughter in a dinghy. Molly is quite the babe but will get some good looking navy SEAL types eaten. She ends up in her dinghy with one of the thugs, Oscar (Jose Maria Fernandez).  Now Kendall and Brian are very hurt and bleeding and losing blood.  The sharks have made it onto land and attack...don't ask. The two wounded idiots, of which one has great big...or a big smile, are zoning out with their blood loss and now the sandbar has disappeared under the waves.  Molly? Yeah...you'll see.

Will Molly be able to save her daughter before the shark or blood loss gets her?  Will Brian take advantage of Kendall's blood loss and reach over and...actually, I withdraw this question.  Is this situation what Clausewitz had in mind when he penned On War which was published shortly after his accident with the dancing girls? Riveting and arousing.  After all who doesn't like big...er, big smiles? See "Shark Terror" and enjoy a big smile and the magnum opus of Carly Medina. 

Evil Judgment, Giallo Slasher Made in Canada

Italians made this one.  They star in it. However, instead of Rome, this slasher film is set in Montreal. There  will be beautiful women in underwear who will be horribly murdered.  There's a killer with a razor. There's a boyfriend who just may be the killer.  Then there is a potential final girl who will give us a nice shower scene, some good lingerie scenes, some heart felt pelvic thrusts, and gyrations.  Today we will look at 1984's "Evil Judgment," directed by Claudio Castravelli.

Janet (Pamela Collyer) is a sultry dance student.  As the film begins she is doing gyrations, pelvic thrusts, leg spreads, all while clad in a tight leotard. She needs dinero fast and her boyfriend Dino (Jack Langedijk) is a two-bit hood for the mob. At the same time Judge Ronald Robertson (Walter Massey) murders his doctor, then a sultry nurse by cutting her throat with a scalpel, then escaping from the mental asylum. Okay, Janet needs money to stay in dancing school and her bestie, April (Nanette Workman), is a whore. April tells her that she can earn a weeks wages in just a couple of hours. April and Janet get all dolled up and head over to the judge's mansion...yes that judge...Ronald...for a kinky threesome. As the three get underway, a killer slits April's throat and then the judge's throat.

Janet? She is grabbed by the killer and wakes up in the street in a seedy part of town. The detective, Armstrong (Roland Nincheri), thinks Janet is a junkie whore who tried to commit suicide. April and the judge? Bodies not found yet. The next day, April's corpse is found in her own apartment, but Janet knows what she saw. Now the killer is stalking Janet and almost kills her a few times. Dino, the two-bit hood, believes Janet and has pre-marital sex with her as he does detective work to find out what is going on. Dino and Janet return to the mansion to find clues that the murders happened there. Also headed there are Armstrong and the cops. More killings with the razor and some very interesting clues develop. No more, for fear of spoilers.

Does Janet have what it takes to survive this guy who might be Judge Ronald?  Does Janet have what it takes to survive the two-bit hood she's having pre-marital sex with?  What was Judge Ronald doing in a mental asylum, anyway?  This is an erotic one with some gory killings as babes keep having their throats slashed.  For the misogyny we are accustomed to in our Giallo, and a good slasher flick from the 1980s, see "Evil Judgment."

The Secret of the Loch, Found, The Loch Ness Monster

Ah, the Loch Ness Monster...or Nessie, if you prefer. This has mystified us all forever, practically.  The most famous cryptid ever.  In Scotland, it is not a myth, but a reality. Half the population has not only seen it but also had their goats eaten by it. So famous, that today's movie was partly written by Arthur Conan Doyle. In what is a study of the ethos of Scotland, our film today serves as a fitting companion piece to "Braveheart." Let us look at a creepy film set in the fog in Scotland, 1934's "The Secret of the Loch," directed by Milton Rosmer. By the way, this was one of the first films to use underwater filming and submarines.

A lot happens in this film. The renown scientist, Professor Heggie (Seymour Hicks) is jeered, mocked, and lampooned by his colleagues when he tries to get funding for an expedition to find the Loch Ness Monster. He just knows it dwells in a cave deep below the loch's surface. He is laughed out of the university. Enter sensationalist reporter, Jimmy Anderson (Frederick Peisley). He wants the story, but Heggie has no patience for the media...good for him! Jimmy follows Heggie back to his mansion by the mysterious loch. There, Jimmy interviews other residents in the pub about their sightings. None of these so-called witnesses are sober. Without access to Heggie, Jimmy writes lies about him and now all of his mates know the distinguished scientist is a big Anna May Wong fan. This infuriates Heggie who orders his brute assistant (Gibson Gowland) to shoot Jimmy if she shows up at the mansion.

Jimmy, who has been ordered, by his editor, to get the story, sneaks into the mansion and finds himself in the boudoir of the guy's sultry granddaughter, Angela (Nancy O'Neil). She kind of likes Jimmy but is also protective of her grandfather. Jimmy follows Heggie to the Loch where the old guy is sending divers down into the inky depths to find the monster.  These expeditions to the depths of the Loch Ness find the hidden cave and also horror.  Now that he has fallen in love with Angela, Jimmy is determined to prove Heggie right, and then marry Angela.  To do this, he will have to don a diving suit, plunge down to the loch's bottom, find the cave, and then deal with whatever dwells in it. 

Does the monster indeed live in Loch Ness?  Will Jimmy succeed in doing what others have lost their lives trying to do?  Will Angela and Jimmy ever get the old, grouchy Professor Heggie to bless their engagement? Was William Wallace also an Anna May Wong fan? This is a good one, and where Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" bored and preached, this one thrilled and engaged.  For the best film ever about the identity of the Scottish people, see "The Secret of the Loch."    

Amityville Chupacabra, A Goat Sucker and the Paranormal

Why are you snickering? This is a hard hitting voyage into horror and into the realm of mad scientists! In what is a faithful adaptation of the Gustave Flaubert novel, our feature today is the poignant and metaphorical "Amityville Chupacabra," directed by Will Collazo, Jr. We have all been waiting for this goat sucker to make it to Amityville knowing once it did, possibilities would be endless. Let us look at this 2025 film.

Mad scientists have captured a Chupacabra and hauled it to the Amityville house? Why? You need to ask? See, the paranormal energy in the house can infuse with the cryptid and thereby curing diseases. Obviously! Trevor (Jeff Webb) is the lead mad scientist and soon the creature will bust out of its cage and annihilate mad scientist Courtney (Lilith Stults). The thing is free and mad scientist Brody (Cody Tudor) believes weird mad scientist Morgan (Julie Anne Prescott) is responsible for sabotaging these experiments. See where this is going? What do you mean...no!? Never fear, as the experiments to cure death are not going well, and the Chupacabra is loose, Claire (Misty Wagner) shows up from the Incident Control Unit. What does the Incident Control Unit do? Well, they control incidents! DUH!  Also arriving is MS 13 cast-off, Merrick (Michael Ochotorena) who is a former Green Beret, or something, to hunt the Chupacabra.

Okay, paranormal stuff begins to happen hinting at other dimensions. Hey, it's the Amityville house!  Young buck mad scientist Frederick (Blaize Tudor) sort of comes across as the only mad in this film that has a head on his shoulders...for now. He'll try to find the beast, the missing mad scientists, and determine if any sabotage is going on.  Claire and Trevor team up to control the incident.  Morgan tries to remember what happened during periods she blacked out.  The Chupacabra continues stalking.  No spoilers her, though you can probably guess how this all will culminate.

Would 19th century French novelist, Gustave Flaubert, be pleased with this adaptation of his novel?  Will the mads find a cure for death in their experiments on the Chupacabra?  Does the NIH or even the CDC have a better plan for curing death other than that silly vaccine?  This is one you must see in order to be able to mingle at the Paris Fashion Week.  See "Amityville Chupacabra" and then understand what all the hype is all about.

Nightshade, Hey, Dina Meyer Is In It!

An experienced horror fan will not be blown away at the shocking and disturbing twists that occur in this one.  Even the taboo plot lines will not shock.  Still, this is an enjoyable film, largely because Dina Meyer is in it and so is the son of the Incredible Hulk.  Yep Lou Ferrigno, Jr. plays a homicide detective assigned to some gory murders.  Our feature today is 2022's "Nightshade," directed by Landon Williams.

We begin with the backstory, and it is a troubling one.  In demonic or ritualistic fashion a husband (Jason Patric) murders his wife and dumps her body in a grave beside a pentagram as their little daughter watches in horror. This will all be explained later. Fast forward 20 or so years, Ben (Ferrigno, Jr.) is on some homicide cases that have a few things in common. The victims were all bad criminals. They have more in common, too, but you'll have to see the movie to find out what. Troubled by insomnia and bad dreams, Ben goes to see a shrink specializing in hypnotherapy, Dr. Amy Collins (Meyer). She's a babe and we are suspicious of her immediately.  She hypnotizes Ben and asks details about his cases. Ben goes home to a loving and very pretty wife, Lucy (Kenzie Dalton). She is grieving over a miscarriage a year earlier. Ben is supportive but Lucy is worried about him.

In addition to bad dreams, Ben has begun sleepwalking.  First waking up on his front lawn.  Then he ends up waking up at murder scenes in which the killings had just occurred. Ben keeps going to his therapy sessions and Dr. Amy gets him to open up under hypnosis.  More killings occur and the mutilated bodies point to a very deranged serial killer.  Uh oh...Ben has found a few more connections between the victims and now suspects the killer is...Dr. Amy Collins!

Is the sultry hypnotherapist the killer?  Just what did that ritualistic killing 20 years ago have to do with Ben's investigation?  Will Dr. Collins and Lucy engage in a catfight over Ben?  The cast is a fine looking one, and for an experienced horror film aficionado, this will be the lure of this film. For a horror film novice, be prepared for shocking twists and lurid plot lines. See "Nightshade" for the thrills and Dina Meyer. 

While She Was Out, Kim Basinger Becomes The Toolbox Killer

He's a pure psycho!  He's a dirty and vicious rapist! Now he wants to rape Kim Basinger as he strangles the life out of her. Yep, Lukas Haas reprises his role from the Harrison Ford thriller, "Witness." This time, instead of terrorizing Kelly McGillis...he is out to rape and murder Kim Basinger. Fear not...Kim Basinger will go psycho, too.  Even worse for Lukas Haas...she has a toolbox at her disposal. Today we look at 2008's "While She Was Out," directed by Susan Montford.

Never has Kim Basinger been in so much peril, except during her marriage to Alec Baldwin. At least Baldwin did not shoot her...as Lukas Haas will try to do in this film. We'll skip the backstory as that would serve as a spoiler to the very vicious ending that will leave you and your date in a heavy discussion. Della (Basinger) is a sultry housewife who goes to the mall on Christmas Eve for last second shopping. On her way out, she's accosted by Chuckie (Haas), a pure psycho and his thug cohorts, Huey (Jamie Starr), Vingh (Leonard Wu), and Thomas (Luis Chavez). A mall rent-a-cop comes by and Chuckie pulls out a gun and blows him away.  Horrified, Della leaps into her car and speeds away, pursued by the quartet of deviants.  They have already told her they will rape and murder her. 

Now Della loses control, speeds through barriers, and crashes in a construction zone. With her car ruined, the blonde babe grabs a toolbox from the back, and runs into the site where new homes are under construction.  Chuckie arrives with his mates and chase Della. Chuckie has a gun and all four are aroused and ready for rape. A babe and a toolbox...oh, think of the possibilities! Della does and uses the tools smartly and painfully.  She is tormented and eventually chased into the thick woods.  The war has begun and Della is fighting back.  A screwdriver here, a ratchet set there, and soon the would-be rapists are yelling for their mommies.  Chuckie is determined, and even with a broken collarbone, he is determined to rape and kill.  Okay...the ending.  You may or may not like it.  I loved it.  See and discuss, as they say.

Which tool will Della save for Chuckie?  What of the other thugs?  Will Della make it home for Christmas?  This last question is an eerily pertinent one, you'll see.  Ms. Basinger looks sultry even as she goes all-psycho.  Mr. Haas looks just as cute as he did in "Witness." Okay, maybe not. For a fine thriller, that acts just like a slasher film, see "While She Was Out."   

Shark Warning, A Great White Shark and Fish Sandwiches

Don't wince!  We have a shark movie from our buddies at The Asylum. Regardless of plot, there are some important aspects of this film that deserve discussion. First, Angela Cole is cast as the bikini babe in peril. Her in a bikini is perfection and you will be very pleased. Point two...fish sandwiches! See, Lisa, played by Ms. Cole, makes the greatest fish sandwiches in the world.  Folks from all over the world arrive in Arizona to take a bite out of her fish sandwiches.  If you get anywhere near this character, she will push one of her fish sandwiches on you.  Sadly, these fish sandwiches are absolutely awful. Go to McD's and have their Filet-o-Fish instead. However, if your real goal is to see a sultry blonde in a bikini, go get one of the aforementioned sandwiches. Our feature today is 2024's "Shark Warning," directed by Jimmy Gadd.

Fish sandwiches? Pertinent to the plot.  Well, yes, I have to give it that.  The first half of this film is dominated by Lisa pushing these sandwiches. Sadly, no one wants to tell the bikini babe they aren't any good. Still, her bikini scenes are top notch. Our bikini babe is third billed, the top two are David Chokachi as Uncle Ron, and Andrew J. Katers as the useless and grouchy hunk Alan. We desire both these dolts to be eaten. Frankly, Lisa could do a lot better than Alan. Omitting the backstory, Alan and Uncle Ron team up to try to murder a Great White shark in Lake Haversu.  When the bikini babe Sienna (Lauren Pike) is attacked, these two idiots go onto the lake, but not before meeting with a heavy arms dealer, the bikini-clad Lisa. The price? Lisa insists on going, too.  See, Sienna is her sister.

What does one wear on a shark hunt? A red string bikini, and Lisa does it well. Also hunting the shark, not including the schmucks who have already tried and failed, is Mayor Wendy Stuart (Rebecca Ritz).  She is a Nancy Pelosi look-a-like, hence we cheer for her to get eaten. Wait!  A Great White on lake Havasu in the middle of Arizona? Just go with it, this is after all The Asylum. The shark is a big one and both Alan and Ron have a history with it that dates back 20 years. Lisa? Yep, she'll fall in the lake, get all wet, and be in much peril.

That's enough of the plot.  Back to those fish sandwiches...if you see this movie, get ready to be deluged with a lot of dialogue centering on those fish sandwiches. True, this film has a great shark, too. For a bikini babe that should have made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of those rancid fish sandwiches, see "Shark Warning."

 

Blood Barn, The Evil Dead Reimagined?

Wait! Really? Sam Raimi's classic 1981 "The Evil Dead"? Right.  I know, you are saying "Don't tell me there is a scene where a monster tree rapes someone with its roots." Well, let's just say, watch this film. Obviously influenced by that aforementioned movie, also the works of Lucio Fulci...and John Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness." Mash them all together and we have the 2025 Gabriel Bernini film, "Blood Barn." Even the car they drive is a throwback to the Raimi classic. Yes...there are amorous tree roots in this one, too.

Okay, the pretty Josie (Lena Redford) and her six friends are going to spend the weekend at her grandmother's farm. The kids graduated and will all disperse to college soon. Her bestie is the blonde skank Rachel (Chloe Cherry) who hopes to be nailed by hunk Eric (Samuel Lanier) this weekend. Amanda (Bambina) is a weird babe, kind of Goth, but not quite. She is comfortable in deviance. Simon (Simon Paris) will eventually fall in love with Josie. There are more but they have "die horribly" written on their foreheads. Oh, something happened long ago and ghosts abound, or demons, and want to claim Josie. When a weird chest is opened in the neighboring barn, evil is set free. Possession occurs and a slimy tentacled creature arises. Also arising are tree roots that burrow underground, grab you by the ankles, drag you into the woods, and...well, you'll see.

This film serves as a demon possession film, a creature feature, and a slasher film all in one. The creature loves burrowing into one's skin and...well, you'll see. Amanda, the weird one, will be possessed first as she is raped by the tentacled thing in the bathtub. Happens. One by one the high school grads fall in horrible ways. Simon and Josie get close and what they will then experience will be bloody, evil, and quite disgusting.  The pretty Rachel will man-up, grab a hoe when Josie grabs a rake, and together they set out to war against the tree roots. Simon will have his own problems as tree rape seems to be in his future.  Where does this all lead? You'll see.

Will Josie emerge, just as Ash did in "The Evil Dead"? Wait, Ash didn't really make it out of that movie. Will Simon find true love with Josie, or with the tree?  Will the blonde skank Rachel survive this film even though she had pre-marital sex with Eric earlier? Eric didn't.  This is a fun one and if you are a fan of Lucio Fulci and "The Evil Dead," see "Blood Barn."  

Young Blondes, Stalked and Murdered, Heartbreak and Blood

Oh, to be a young aspiring actress in LA! Exciting? probably not. Scary? Probably. You lose your connection to who you really are and search for someone you are expected to be. What results is vulnerability and helplessness...then maybe you go psychotic...and then die.  Okay, our film today has an ominous tone and a promise for a vicious ending.  It is also the magnum opus of a fine young actress, Samantha Carroll, who knocks home a role similar to Catherine Deneuve's role in "Repulsion." Let us look at 2024's "Young Blondes, Stalked and Murdered," directed by Nick Funess.

Stacy (Carroll) is an aspiring actress who moved to LA from Minneapolis...and it ain't happening for her. She's pretty...but in LA you need to be beautiful. She's awkward and just a bit too desperate. Her friend the beautiful and not desperate Josie (Elle Chapman), takes pity on her and sends a role her way. This will go as awkward as anything else in Stacy's life. Josie has friends, and maybe a boyfriend.  Josie has roles and a social life.  Stacy has only her fears, vulnerability, and desperation. Oh, as a backdrop, young blonde actresses are being felled by a serial killer. Oddly, Stacy sees this as some sort of recognition.  Recognition is something that Stacy's life lacks.

As the film progresses, Stacy falls more and more into a psychosis that will ruin her if she doesn't get it checked.  Her actions get more and more anti-social.  She loves horror films, especially "The Driller Killer."  I know...our kind of babe. She's obsessed with great blonde actresses of yesteryear. Josie inches ahead in her career, and Stacy inches backwards.  Backwards from...nothing, that is. We fear for Stacy as we think we know her fate.  But, is her lack of success actually saving her form something?  Anyway, there is a killer on the loose and as the film draws to its ending...he gets closer.

Is Stacy going to survive the serial killer and/or herself?  Will Stacy act out in her jealousy of Josie?  Is there any way humanly possible that Stacy will land a part?  We like Stacy...she's really pretty and she likes horror films.  Our heart breaks for her as we surmise what her acting future holds. We are horrified as she appears on a collision course with a vicious killer. This is a hard one to watch, but if you liked "Repulsion," "Young Blondes, Stalked and Murdered" would be a terrific companion piece to it.

Strait-Jacket, Joan Crawford in a William Castle Fright-Fest

Back in 1964, our film today shocked movie audiences. Axe murders, decapitations, and the demise of the Six-Million Dollar Man.  A 2026 audience will pick up on the shocking twists right away.  Still, this is a horrific movie, and because it is done by William Castle, it is also so much fun.  With a booming musical tract, a free-swinging axe, and screaming women, "Strait-Jacket" is our feature today.

20 years ago, Lucy (Joan Crawford) comes home early, drunk. Her much younger husband (Lee Majors) is screwing a skank (Patricia Crest) in the marital bed. Lucy grabs an axe and chops the two of them up into little pieces. Witnesses? Only one, Lucy's three-year old daughter.  Now, 20 years later, Carol (Diane Baker) the daughter is a beautiful woman, and almost engaged to the wealthy hunk Michael (John Anthony Hayes). Lucy, cured, has been released from the insane asylum and is coming home. Did I say cured? Well, maybe not quite all the way cured. Lucy's brother Bill (Leif Erickson) and his wife Emily (Rochelle Hudson) have raised Carol. All are happy to see Lucy. who still gives off a vibe of insanity. Carol desperately wants her mom back. She brings her to the beauty parlor, buys her new clothes, and tries to introduce her to Michael. Some of this goes well...well, actually, none of it goes well. Lucy still has the look of an axe murderer.

Then heads roll...literally.  Lucy appears to be getting increasingly unhinged. Her doctor (Mitchell Cox) stops by to pay Lucy a visit and promptly loses his head. The menacing field hand (George Kennedy) knows what is going on and he loses his head. Carol finds the bodies but desperately wants her mom after her 20 year absence.  The beautiful young lady hides the bodies.  Carol is determined to keep her mom out of the asylum. The axe murders are not done...and Lucy seems to be getting more and more unhinged.

Should Carol have gone to the police and turned in her mom? Wait!  This is a William Castle film...is it possible Lucy is not the killer?  Just how psycho does one have to be to be able to cut the Six-Million Dollar Man into tiny pieces? This is a loud one with vicious scenes and horrific imagery.  The last scene with the final reveal will be one that sticks in your consciousness for a long time. For one of the finest axe-murderer movies ever made, see "Strait-Jacket."

Mind Ripper, It Eats Brains

How have I missed this one all these years? Not expecting much, I was blown away. From Executive Producer Wes Craven, we have a good one for you that dates back to the 90s. Sweaty babes in peril! A fiend that eats brains! Lance Henriksen! A gratuitous shower scene! Tentacle gore! Genetic mad scientists! A virus out of control! No, not "Mystic Pizza," but something more human and sensitive.  Our feature today is 1995's "Mind Ripper," directed by Joe Gayton.

An almost dead man is found in the desert by mad scientists. They haul the hunk (Dan Blom) into a nuclear bunker converted to a genetic laboratory. Jim (Henriksen) and his team of mad scientists has created a virus that cures death. They inject the new subject with it. Jim gets mad when the army converts their experiments to creating genetically created super soldiers. Jim just wanted to cure...death. Great!  Those annoying old relatives who smell like rubbing alcohol? Why not have them around forever? Back to the plot. Jim quits as his conscience does not want to create super soldiers. The five remaining scientists stay in the bunker and one day, will be running for their lives as the test subject, called Thor, wakes and begins eating the brains of the scientists. We like and cheer for Joanne (Claire Stansfield), cause she is a babe and gives us a gratuitous shower scene. Alex (John Diehl) is the one who gave Thor extra virus causing him to get up, grow a tentacle, and eat brains.

Okay, one by one, Thor eats the heads of the brainiacs. Meanwhile, the team can't call out or leave.  They are trapped underground as the thing hunts them by moving through ventilation ducts. Jim, don't ask why, brings his family to the bunker to check on things...and to check on Joanne, who is quite the babe. Jim's daughter Wendy (Natasha Gregson Wagner) is a perky beauty and her fiancé Mark (Adam Solomon) is also there for the ride. Also with Jim is his loser and cranky son, Scott (Giovanni Ribisi). They get in, but won't be able to get out as Thor goes through geneticists like crap through a goose. Now Jim and family are being hunted by Thor, and eventually they hook up with Joanne who is all sweaty and determined to survive. Uh oh...indications that Thor, just like us, has a crush on Wendy.

Will Wendy figure out that Joanne is the reason her parents got divorced and engage in a catfight with her?  Will Thor act on his crush and stick his tentacle in Wendy's...well, I withdraw this question...only because it is in bad taste.  Will Jim, as the only mad scientist with morals, be able to get his family and the sultry Joanne out of the underground laboratory?  This is a good one that did not get a whole lot of attention back in the 90s. For a fun movie set in an underground laboratory, see "Mind Ripper." 

Ted Bunny, Dee Wallace Headlines Slasher Epic

Okay, epic is a bit of a strong word. Still, the kill count will be astronomical. It is hard to believe Ted Bundy was in his heyday a half century ago...then finally executed in January of 1989 in north Florida. Before his death, he was interviewed and told all...or did he?  Most likely he merely manipulated the interviewers. Unlike the Amityville murders, Ted Bundy did not become a horror franchise.  Well, maybe that will start today.  Our first 2026 release, this one starring Dee Wallace, is "Ted Bunny," directed by Michael Fredianelli.

In 1975 Ted Bundy was raping and murdering sorority girls. Sad. We all know the story. Hence Catherine (Dee Wallace, but the 1975 Catherine is played by Rosanna Wyant). She was supposed to be a victim and after Ted (Bryan Palacios) raped her in front of a bunny rabbit, she escaped. Pregnant with Ted Bundy's baby, she botched an abortion and now the offspring, Theodore (Trent Avvenire) lives in her basement...a secret from the rest of the world. Enter a documentary film crew headed by Sasha (Diana Roman) and her crew.  She wants the story of Catherine's ordeal 50 years ago.  Her crew...they'll die horribly in a few moments. Sasha believes Catherine though she comes across as a crazy old loon. During a break, the sound guy and camera guy sneak into the basement and find a girl captive and then are cut up by Theodore.  Theodore wears a bunny mask.  Now only Sasha remains of the crew and she escapes. 

Catherine cleans up the mess and when the cops come by, no sign of any carnage. Now Sasha is considered the loon by the cops except for Dante (Brad Satterwhite), a hunk deputy. Together he and Sasha try to find Theodore, who is now on the loose. Theodore finds campers, murders them in graphic fashion, and then another dozen or so, and murders them in gory fashion. Dante and Sasha need help and call Sasha's stupid friends...you can guess their fate. Catherine? Well, you'll see...but it won't be easy to watch. Dante wants to murder Theodore...but Sasha kind of feels sorry for him.  See where this is going? Theodore murders everyone he comes across, and Sasha and Dante follow the carnage and close in.

Will Dante and Sasha find and kill the homicidal bunny-man?  Does Catherine have any more surprises now that Theodore is free from his basement captivity? Will Sasha's pity for Theodore manifest in an ungodly ending?  The strength of this slasher film is Dee Wallace, who is an amazing actress.  Like many slasher films, we find ourselves rooting for the killer rabbit guy.  For a vicious slasher film that will remind you of the horror that befell college girls back in the 1970s, see "Ted Bunny."

The Flame Barrier, Babe in the Jungle with Brutes, Savages, and a Monster

The babe we speak of is Miss New Jersey 1949...Kathleen Crowley. She's a doll.  In this one she will sweat a lot, be in peril from snakes, lizards, more snakes, and insects. She sweats well, and as you will see...she will also kiss well. We have a neat scifi/monster film from the late 50s that looks ahead to space exploration before we even got up there. Our feature today, set in the Yucatan jungle, and also featuring a chimpanzee, is 1958's "The Flame Barrier," directed by Paul Landres.

A space satellite is rocketed up into orbit. When it gets 200 miles up it collides with the flame barrier and blows up...or does it? Dr. Howard Dahlmann (Dan Gachman) believes it fell back to Earth and landed in the Mexican jungle. He sets off to find it and goes missing. Now his sultry wife, Carol (Crowley), comes to Mexico and hires Dave (Arthur Franz) and his drunk brother Matt (Robert Brown) to guide her into the dangerous jungle to find Howard. They both tell her that he could not have survived in that jungle, but Carol is insistent. Does she love her hubby? She doesn't know, which to me sounds like "NO!" The hunks bring her in and enlist local Indians. They carry the heavy stuff and get scared at weird phenomena that occurs. Carol is steadfast and Matt and Dave continue the trek with her.

Dave saves Carol form poisonous snakes and yells at her a lot.  She yells back.  The two sweat a lot and finally lock lips, swap spit, and grind themselves against the other. Passion ensues and Matt becomes the third wheel. There is a mission and Carol and the boys plough deeper into the jungle and find skeletons and Indians who have been attacked by some acid monster.  The poor souls burn alive. Then they find a chimp...in Mexico!  See, there was a chimp aboard the satellite which tells them the craft did land back on Earth and was not destroyed in space.  Then they find...well, its ungodly. It is also a threat to the very existence of this planet.  No...not aerosol products but something slimy and pulsating.

Will Dave and Carol forget that she is married and give each other passion like neither one of them has ever experienced?  What of Howard, and is he dead?  What is this thing secreted in the jungle that poses such a threat to all mankind?  Kathleen Crowley turns in a steamy performance and has some gratuitous scenes...at least for 1958.  She came in sixth in the Miss America Pageant when the babes in that contest were indeed babes.  Begs the question, who were, and where are the top five dames in that pageant?  See "The Flame Barrier" and enjoy a sweaty dame in mortal peril film.   

Blood Rush, Bikini Babes Fall Prey to Masked Killer

Okay, ignore it! Yep, those snobs saw fit to give this film a rating of 1.6 out of 10. IMDB is just a modern day Leonard Maltin. In what is a modern retelling of Guy De Maupassant's 1883 masterpiece "Lilies in the Rain," Jamie Grefe gives us a horror film that captures the ethos of Idaho...potatoes and bikini babes. Yep, we have one with four sultry bikini babe sorority sisters who always yell "I LOVE YOU!" and use the word "like" in like every sentence...just as de Maupassant did in the 19th century. Alas, Mr. Grefe left out the potatoes. Our film today is the 2025 slasher film "Blood Rush."

Okay, here's a hint of what is included in this film. The four actresses who star and jiggle in it are Annabel Storm, Tessa Raine, India Darling, and Maggie Peril! No, not performers at the Hangar Club but serious actresses who look marvelous in bikinis. The types of babes who could make the IMDB snobs and the Leonard Maltins' of the world uncomfortable. Alas, Guy de Maupassant was very comfortable with babes like these, hence his early demise at 43 years old. Okay, the babes lounge in and out of the pool and look fabulous. One wonders if their dialogue was ad libbed, or is it a slightly embellished version of de Maupassant's playscript. The blonde with teased hair has an internship at the police department and is fascinated by serial killers.  She finds out a serial killer is loose in Idaho and on cue all four babes confess to the same dream. In it, all are killed violently by the fiend (Grefe).

All the girls had the same nightmare and try to convince themselves this is no big deal. They keep yelling "I LOVE YOU!" and "LIKE!"  This film is gritty reality at its best. The sorority girls embody the duality of human nature that de Maupassant created in his plays.  They also embody great big...smiles, and jiggle and wriggle well.  When Bryan enters the sorority house, they will also scream, act helpless and vulnerable, and juggle some more. Their seeming fate mirrors de Maupassant's vision of the fate of us all as our human nature turns dark...though these babes add a certain jiggle to that duality. More pool scenes.  More wriggle and jiggle scenes, and some very ominous kills await the discerning movie goer.

If Guy de Maupassant had stayed away from loose, scantily clad women, would he have lived longer?  Is Bryan, our serial killer, in reality the dark side of the bubbly and flirtatious ditzes in bikinis?  If four sultry babes in bikinis were in the plot of "The English Patient," would more people have seen that film?  Very loyal to the 19th century play, "Blood Rush" is a spectacular effort by Mr. Grefe and his four nubile and jiggling actresses.  

Battle Beyond Mars, The Red Planet Under Attack

I don't know if the Polonia Brothers used AI, or what, but they have some gratuitous exotic dancing scenes with some very nice talent.  Sure, the plot line of our movie today is not advanced by this elongated scene, but the gals are nice to see...and they seem so happy.  The thrusting.  The gyrations.  The smiles.  Okay, enough on the dancers, I must say the other f/x are first class, as well.  Mars looks like Mars.  The alien landscape looks legit...and the space-spider infestation, looks like a real space-spider infestation, or what we would imagine a space-spider infestation would look like. Our feature today is "Battle Beyond Mars," directed by Mark Polonia.

As our film begins, Commander Gordon (Tim Hatch) and men are battling a space-spider infestation at a nearby base. The critters got into and nested inside a base that helps ward off alien invasions of Earth.  It is the year 2227 and Mars has been set up with bases to repel any alien invasion headed to earth.  The spiders are all killed and Gordon heads back to the main Martian base where Professor Benson (Jeff Kirkendall) is ticked at him for destroying alien lifeforms. Vann (Polonia) is happy to see Gordon back as word comes that an alien planetoid, that is really an attack mothership, is headed toward Mars. When the armed orb fires upon Mars and the bases, Gordon and Vann jump into a shuttle and head to the orb to take the fight to the aliens.

Did I mention the dancers?  Okay, the scene is gratuitous and too long, but for some reason, we don't mind. Back to the plot.  Benson joins the warriors and the trio land on the orb.  A mini-orb comes out to meet them and a firefight breaks out. Now the trio find an entrance into the orb and there they figure on meeting the aliens. The aliens!  The exact aliens Whitley Strieber warned us about in his book Communion.  Grouchy things that desire to kill all humans and take over our planet.  Okay, Streiber's aliens were quite a bit more boring, but these are bloodthirsty and ugly. what follows will be a battle in which the fate of humanity will be decided. 

Will the exotic dancers ever have contact with the aliens, and if they do, will the aliens see fit to do experiments on reproduction?  Do Gordon, Vann, and Benson have what it takes to repel an invasion from another world? Would Gordon, who is also grouchy, be better humored if he brought along the exotic dancers instead of Vann and Benson?  This is a fun one and fans of Polonia Brother films, like me, will love it.  For some neat Martian f/x and babe dancers, see "Battle Beyond Mars."

Anthropophagus II, Cannibalism and Sultry Coeds

10 years ago I reviewed "Anthropophagus" on this blog. The Italian film, shot in Greece, may have been one of the most disgusting movies ever made, rivaling "A Serbian Film." But wait!, today we look at the 2022 sequel to that 1980 film.  A film, 42 years in the making.  And yes...the fiend will take a new born baby from its mother and eat it. I must say, our film today was difficult to watch as so many sultry college girls have so many awful and disgusting things done to them. You will turn your head from the screen every few minutes. My feature today is "Anthropophagus II," directed by Dario Germani.

Nora (Monica Carpanese), a pretty professor, leads her eight sultry students into the Italian mountains. They are heading to a nuclear bunker, long decommissioned, so the beauties can live in it for the weekend. Why? You know colleges...probably a project about Global Warming...Yawn! The bickering babes are not likable, except for the nerdy Angela (Giuditta Niccoli), who underneath her big glasses, is sultry. Isabel is pure b***h, and yes, she will be the first to get taken apart by the fiend (Alberto Buccolini), who lives in the cavernous bunker.  As the door to the bunker is locked behind them, sealing them in for the weekend, the gals begin stripping to their undies and bickering. The fiend has just finished eating a pregnant woman and her baby, prematurely induced, and her boyfriend. Now he smells college girls.

One by one the gals are abducted by the creep.  When he has them he takes them apart while still alive and eats them piece by piece.  These are hard scenes to watch.  Isabel, the blonde may have deserved her fate...actually, all of them...well, never mind. They are sultry, but all cranky. The fiend is crankier and he has machetes, spikes, sickles, pick-axes, hunting tools, etc. A veritable slaughter ensues and then Giulia (Jessica Pizzi), the brunette with the biggest b**bs asserts herself as the alpha-babe. Her goal is to survive and to do so, she will have to become as bad a monster as the fiend that is eating them. Unfortunately for the babes, they do not realize Giulia is just as dangerous as the monster guy.

Will Giulia eat anyone...I mean literally?  Will any of the girls figure out what is going on and be able to save themselves?  Will our favorite nerd, Angela, the only one of the babes who is likable, turn that charm into a Rambo-like desire to murder, and survive?  This is the goriest film I've seen lately, and if you have not seen the 1980 "Anthropophagus," do yourself a favor and don't watch that one and this one in the same night. It will play havoc with your senses. See "Anthropophagus II" and be able to say you endured the goriest film of the 21st century.