Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood

Welcome to the new week. Well it took some doing and perusing but I finally found a copy of a sequel several fans were asking me to find. For those that don't want to read YET ANOTHER horror sequel, well make some suggestions please. For everybody else, the wait is finally over. Yes the demand for more Stephanie Beaton is on and we will see how this goes. We are to embark on another Witchcraft film. This is Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood.

Satan demands you motorboat me.

As many of you will recall, Lucy Lutz (Stephanie Beaton of Wicthcraft IX: Bitter Flesh, Zombie Gang Bangers, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, Monster in My Car, Eyes of the Werewolf, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood and A Passion) was in London and asked by Bureau 17 to join up along with Agent Celeste after the big vampire and Satanists showdown and...well I don't think that plot line is going to connect here.   But hey! Garner's back! Lutz's partner Garner (Mikul Robins of Teen Wolf, Frogtown II, Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh, Sexual Chemistry, Dark Secrets, My Haunted House and Opus of an Angel) are going to be busy busy as Will Spanner, Warlock and Lawyer Extraordinaire has returned!

Dayum, girl you lost...well any sex appeal.

 

Going on his fifth regeneration (yes that was a timelord reference) Will (James Servais of Scanner Cop, To the Ends of Time, Erotic Confessions, Madam Savant, V-World Matrix, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood and Dog Story) is still with Kelly (Wendy Blair of The West Wing and Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood) and for some continuity issue, um they are still engaged. Yeah this engagement has been going on forsix years. Dude commit already.   Director/writer Ron Ford (The Mark of Dracula, Alien Agenda: Endangered Species. Riddled with Bullets, Deadly Tales, A Passion to Kill and Deadly Scavengers) brings us back to the roots of Witchcraft, meaning there are actually witches again and yes they will try to seduce Will to the dark side and...maybe we need something new. Our movie revolves around Kelly's sister (yup didn't know she had one either) and her college shenanigans. Probably mostly beer bongs, bisexuality and learning magic, because every college girl has the Willow from Buffy experience...if it is written by a horny, basement dwelling perv and not Joss Whedon.

So Kelly's sister Colleen (Miranda Odell of Sweet Evil 2: Sapphire and Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood) is absorbed in the Scottish play Macbeth. Her director looks like the master from Manos: The Hands of Fate and her co-stars Maria (Lauren Ian Richards of Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood) and Keri (Kathleen St. Lawrence of Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood) want to do spells in a graveyard with a grimoire. This is somehow good for the play. WHAT?!!! How is dabbling in the black arts and I assume blood magic going by the title going to prepare you for a role in Shakespeare?! So if this was Hamlet, would they have committed incest and killed their fathers to be with their mothers???!!! Is it bad to point out that the play is happening in a Catholic college?

Well at least it ain't vampires this time, Lutz.

So our dabblers are only going to raise three witch sisters from THE DEAD!!! Yup totally reasonable and clearly something that looks good on a college transcript. Says here you're a people person, you can do Spreadsheet and you raise the dead. You're hired!... somewhere else.

So if they conjure up these dead broads they can open a gateway to Hell. Again, Catholic girls are a bit scary. A further addendum, Colleen points out how she and Kelly had fire and brimstone sermons drummed in their heads for years and this is why Kelly rebelled, fell in love with a man foretold to lead all evil on the planet and is a master warlock and...wait a minute. Is this getting goofy? 

 Naturally our night foray into the dark arts requires the girls to be topless. Must be a key ingredient for black magic or possibly banking on T &A selling this flick. Naaaah, I'm clearly just jealous I don't write this well.  Maria is taken over by one of the sisters and gacks a moron teenage horndog so no loss there.

My polo shirt protects me from your sorcerous ways!

 Once again Satan gets typecast as the corrupter of youth and the spoilers of virgins. Oh and they are supposed to open a hell gate for Abaddon. Um isn't that the Angel of Death? I admit my CDC is a bit rusty but according to Hebrew texts, Abaddon is the Angel of the Abyss. Of course New Testament also establish Abaddon as another name for Jesus after the resurrection so I am all sorts of confused on this dogma.

Enough about boobs! Where's Lutz and Garner? Surely evil is afoot! Two of the college horndogs tell Lutz and Garner that they were ogling the topless trio and then Jay got killed. So our dynamic duo go to work. Also Garner is a sexist pig now.  Um character development I guess?  Seriously, Lutz looks like she is inches away from smoking this little piggy.  They happen to bump into Will and Kelly as they passed through the very same graveyard that is technically a CRIME SCENE and not taped off. Well I don't blame Lutz and Garner, probably lazy ass unis not doing their job.

Will states he doesn't sense any dark powers and he seems to be okay with magic again. Just need some consistency dude. And then he whips around to Kelly after our cops leave and tells her there are dark forces at play. Bro, that particular twosome are gonna be pissed you just lied to them. The hell brah? Will wants to get to Colleen before the coven has taken her over, released the demon Abaddon and open a hell gate. But don't worry, male readers. There's boobs. Yes that oh so important deciding factor YOU ALWAYS ask me about. Lady readers, well you know I didn't write, direct or film any of this. I can only apologize for boobs so many times.

Okay the creature effects, the wraith like witches is actually good. The energy beams from eyes however, yeah not so good. Glad to see Lutz and Garner back but still not a lot for them to do. Current Will is lacking in real charisma, the fights are kind of impressive and once again a coven or sect of warlocks is trying to turn him to the dark side. IT DOESN'T WORK!!! Will's left a trail of bodies of those that have tried and failed ultimately so stop trying to entice him. Between offers of booty, power and enough witchy orgy badness he can digest, Will has been loyal to Kelly through and through. Face it!   He's not going to lead your armies of darkness and shroud the world in endless night or whatever the script wants this time.

Stephanie's Lutz is a hard nosed bad ass cop again, guns blazing and getting into danger. I wonder how many shots fired forms they fill out each movie.  Garner is taking her lead and he is still questioning if magic is real??? DUDE!   You have fought satanists, vampires and now witnessing a demon coming up from out of the ground.   Even Scully is saying, "Duh dumbass."

So overall the acting is fair, the witches three are well topless for a lot of it. Sex scenes fly by quickly and the sound quality was a vast improvement over ten. Will is constantly being tempted to his darker nature. Shouldn't one of these sect leaders just invite him for tea and open a dialogue instead of throwing magic floozies at him all the time? Not the greatest follow-up but I was glad that Garner and Will managed to make it back in and no vampires this time.

Oh you didn't just say that to Garner, Will!

Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft

Hey gang I'm back again. So with the more than positive responses to Stephanie Beaton and her films, I was looking high and low for another one. Heck if the actress herself doesn't think this writing is a complete dumpster fire, I might as well keep going. So I did make mention of going further into her sequels to beloved cult classic franchise and yeah some have been utterly screwy. This time around we change location as Lutz (Stephanie Beaton) has been whisked away to Jolly Ol' England (Yes everyone across the pond probably hate that term) and must do battle with vampires...again.  This is Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft.

Be honest, do you like my Sailor Mercury outfit?

Dumb horny guys try to pick up women vastly more than they and looking to get lucky. Fellas, your dangers senses should be kicking in. This club is packed and there are bound to be better looking guys than either of you. Led to a stairwell and the women turn out to be vampires. When they are trying to drain the guys, they're making out with each other. This feels like how a horny fan boy thinks bisexuality works.

Okay for the fans of this series, a few notations. 1) No Will Spanner. Yup everyone's favorite warlock/attorney/occult expert is not in this one. 2) Lucy Lutz (Stephanie Beaton of Wicthcraft IX: Bitter Flesh, Zombie Gang Bangers, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, Monster in My Car, Eyes of the Werewolf, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood and A Passion) is on the trail of a madman sorcerer hell bent on ruling the world and he likes killing people. 3) Lastly, no Detective Garner so Lutz is on her own.

Steve was found lightly groped to death.  Poor bastard.

This mad sorcerer is Hyde (Kerry Knowlton of Exposed! Pro Wrestling's Greatest Secrets, Immortal Combat and Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft) is being held by Bureau 17, a division of Interpol that deals with supernatural and preternatural effects, scenarios and creatures.

Now with those comments out of the way, welcome to London as Lucy Lutz has to deal with Interpol over an evil and cruel practitioner of magic she is suppose to extradite back to the states so he can face his crimes and probably the death penalty. I'm hoping for the wet maritime rope whipping scenario from Casino Royale. By the way, Lutz has about two bags packed. She's supposed to be there for maybe a couple of days. Agent Dixon (Sean Harry of Virtual Terror, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, Those Video Guys and Talking Who) has been assigned to Detective Lutz and the two try to bond while he's driving her. HOWEVER, the audio quality is AWFUL. Yeah I had to put headphones on just to hear it better. I don't think the music portion was added at the same time as the dialogue and it is mixed poorly. The music is dominating the scenes. Hence the headphones. Outdoor audio not fully fading so it just pops and then back to the next scene. I will have your spleen, audio editor!

The main focus of the movie is Agent Celeste Sheridan (Wendy Cooper of Breeders, Witchcraft X; Mistress of the Craft, 24 Hours in London, Blood, Bodywork, Warrior Sisters and The Rain Has Stopped) has other worldly powers. Not sure if this is from another dimension, aliens or possibly an avatar of an ancient god. She also goes through a transformation not unlike Sailor Moon aaaand she's a cop. Well that's not confusing at all. Witch Cop! Agent Sorceress! Meh, this joke going nowhere.

A cadre of bisexual vampire vixens led by Raven (Eileen Daily of Razor Blade Smile, Sacred Flesh, Cradle of Fear, Kannibal, Sentinels of Darkness, Machines of Love and Hate, Evil Calls: The Raven and Albion Rising)head into the precinct, attack several of the agents and take Hyde. Maybe omnisexual vampires is more accurate. The greatest loss of them all, Steve. Uh the front desk guy. The lynch pin, the glue that held Bureau 17 together... yeah okay he really wasn't that important but dammit someone needs to mourn Steve. I think.

No Lutz, no. That's how Steve always wanted to go out.

Now once again I warm my pimp slap hand when the writer makes Lutz suddenly startled and confused that the supernatural exists. She claims to have been chasing Hyde, sees dead cultists and alleged vampire attacks. Um she's already dealt with this with cultists and vampires prior. C'mon writer, either watch the previous movie to borrow elements from it or get the screenplay.

Continuity, dammit. Just let's not make Lutz forget all she has already learned.

Director/writer/producer Elisar Cabrera (Demonsoul, Virtual Horror, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, FWA British Uprising and Those Video Guys) made Lutz a secondary character in this to showcase Celeste more.

Raven wants Hyde to bring about a demon, god or possibly a being over an outside realm. Did I mention some of this is hard to hear? Only Hyde has the ability to read this ancient tomb about the Walpurgis (or Valpurgis) ritual to give Raven UNLIMTED POWER!!! Y'know, that old chestnut. Now given this guy is a wrestler, the dialogue isn't so far fetched for his overacting but wow. That tank top he is wearing just not flattering. The cut of it makes it look like the guy has a beer and a shot belly.

Senpai, NOTICE MEEEEE!!!!!

Celeste seems to have telekinesis, power bolts and think some flight. Her...fighting capabilities is well a bit of sword fighting and some fisticuffs. Though her telekinetic powers seems to lift Just Juice. And English, what in the nine hells is Fairy Liquid?   Guessing a dish washing liquid or a creamer? Meh, I'll look it up later.

Dixon and Lutz got close quickly after the first vampire attack as they had each others' back. So I guess that means have a hot bath and a shag. Hmm what happens in London, stays in London? Just she didn't want to stay in her hotel room? Hey not going to judge the lady, I was just curious.

Hyde and Raven do chew up quite a bit of the scenery between them, leaving walls sparse. 

 

Even for an Indie Horror movie, scenes dissolve real quick, the editing feels abrupt, the audio quality is choppy and there are several scenes not cut properly. FX is fair, the verbal sparring between Raven and Celeste is on par with a superhero flick, so that's nothing bad. Just wanted to see more of Lutz as she is already a bad ass character and given she is the only one that ties the original series, I was hoping she had lead on this.

Eileen Daily is clearly having fun with her role as lead vampiress and I love how NO ONE questions Celeste's vinyl Sailor Moon like outfit and stiletto heels. Here at Bureau 17 we are a bit lax with dress code, old bean.

Good staking scenes and no one-liners? Here's yer stake dinner! Got wood? Start your own branch! Guess you won't be pining for Valpuris! Okay so maybe not a one-liner then.

Well the full skinny, finally out of California, decent enough story ideas without the full range of technical know how. Needs more than one camera and understanding of blocking and firing the tone deaf audio editor. Beaton is enjoying herself and gets a lot more to do. Vampire slaying for example! Hell if she never wanted to go back to Cali, Bureau 17 has more than a few openings, thanks to vamps. The root of all evil. Yes, got one more in.

Vamp nibbling...apparently. Whatever.

Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh

Okie dokie, we have fan requests for more Stephanie Beaton. So I will be dabbling into a series I have not watched in some time. We are diving into the Witchcraft franchise. I will bring you up to speed. Will Spanner (Charles Solomon Jr., Marklen Kennedy and David Byrnes) is a warlock/lawyer/amateur occult specialist. Destined to be a terror similar to Damien Hellstrom from Marvel Comics, a world of evil awaits one day for him to turn. So he is on the third regeneration (yes they have gone through a few Wills) and was killed during the hammiest of vampire clans and he died...or did he?  The reoccurring cops Lutz and Garner keep somehow forget that magic and the supernatural occur.   Or their current writer forgets. This is Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh.

Psst, hey rookie. Lutz has great legs, right?

Our title cards are a bit different from the last time and company as Troma has taken over for production. Hmm, that mean there's going to be more than a few sex scenes? Yeah does scream 80s porno but lacks the bluesy saxophone or synthesizer. We open with a pretentious art gallery with wine free flowing and no smoking??  Must be California. With two bodies on the ground and maybe the cops ought to be notified.  Oh and Troma fans, there. I have reviewed a Troma movie so nyah. Almost 4 minutes of title sequence. AHHHH!!!!

Now Lutz and Garner were previously Kurt Alan and John E. Holiday, however we have a different Garner and we have the previous Lutz replaced by his sister Lucy (Alisa Christensen and now Stephanie Beaton). Now my only complaint with this Lutz and Garner(Mikul Robins of Teen Wolf, Frogtown II, V-World Matrix, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood, and The Craven Cove Murders) becoming doubters and have to recap the notion they have worked with Will before. That and Will being a lawyer somehow means he's a P.I.   Yeah more than a few hiccups. This dude would be so disbarred. Anywho, the film prior to this has nothing to do with the series continuation overall, so enough of that. No I mean it. It was about a haunted house, sex starved coven and a rival warlock.  It's been a bit garbled.

Police? I've got a warlock masturbating outside my window. Again.

Lutz and Garner are at the crime scene for a double homicide and are fairly calm there's only one body quite dead. Will tries to talk to them but he is out of his skull. By that ,I mean he is a spirit and must find someone to communicate that. We get some flashback sequences or as I like to call it Will's Slideshow. Footage of the previous flicks and up to his demise. If only someone could assist him.

Naturally you'd think a prostitute like Sheila (Landon Hall of Stolen Hearts, Different Strokes, Black Thunder, Forbidden Passions, The Escort III and Hotel Exotica) is Will's medium. Hey, beats Whoopi anyday. With a quick exposition dump, it is revealed that Sheila had a near death experience and now she hears dead people.

Will's fiancee Keli is quite upset that Will hasn't called or gotten in touch with her. At least those were lines she delivered. Suffice to say, Leah Kourtne Ballantine doesn't exactly give a great performance. Her third film but the vibe of this execution is...she looks extremely sleepy. The way she dispatching lines feels lackluster in their apartment in spite of having a house together in two films prior. Yeah I don't know either. No follow-up to what happened with that too. Will does quite a bit of wandering and for some reason a streetwalker out and about is Stephanie Beaton. Is Lutz working with Vice? Yeah I am all sorts of confused. Maybe B roll footage to pad the film. Hell I've got no clue.

Oh the hell with Hepburn and Tracy. These two capture the screen.

Lutz and Garner are hot on the case and well is it wrong for me like Stephanie Beaton in these short pencil skirts? Sorry ladies, I am normally behaved but she has amazing legs. Okay moving on, he said holding on to the pathetic shreds of dignity.

So this time around it is not competing warlocks, vampires or witches but we do have ritual killings for the sake of the Egyptian god...well I think it's for Ra as we have his symbol scrawled in blood. Yeah not really clear on that. 1/4 of this movie is sex scenes. Yup suddenly the mildly boobage series has gone straight soft core Skinamax. I mean it's going to happen if you need men to rent this flick. Toss boobs at them and they are happy guys. Plot? Meh, rather have boobs thanks. Apologies, the blood letting is happening for Kafu Hu. Umm that's not a god or demon. That's the name of a long dead pharaoh. Oh my God, he's summoning Hawkman. So the whole Satan plot thing got dropped as well. Yeah I do understand how folks have gotten confused about this series.

Also for some reason Will's body is inhabited by another spirit plowing his girlfriend. Annnd he grew longer hair and a goatee. Since he died. Huh, death is screwy, huh? So a multitude of sex scenes and Will might, just might get back to his body. This of course is assuming Sheila's off the clock. Will and Sheila banter, I think. Well it seems like good natured ribbing but it falls a bit flat.

Lutz and Garner find sacrifices with same Egyptian blood scrawling and it's the strangest thing they've ever encountered. With the exception of a coven of witches and a cadre of vampires prior. They come to the conclusion it's time to find an expert on these Egyptian symbols. Enter Professor Shannon (Katherine Hudson of Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh andMasseuse) who sheds a little light on the case. Which she really didn't. She explains about a cult founded with this pharoah and Satan and bleh! Writer, go back to the source material and then work your own plot but for crying out loud look at the stuff already done.

Sheila tries to convince Garner that she is speaking on the behalf of Will and well she forgot to mention Will's dead, and there are cultists again, hearts being carved out. Basically, EVERYTHING WILL ASKED HER TO DO!!!!

The confusing problem with this film isn't the rewrite back into Will returning from the great beyond is so much as camera angles not matching up, dissolves that don't link to the next scene and frankly I think the editor isn't doing his job. David Byrnes' performance isn't bad but it is damn confusing when the scenes don't mesh. Stephanie's Lutz is trying to genuinely get work done but her captain goes into his office after one scene and smokes. Yup. Cases closed. Hearts cut out from the bodies? Clearly suicide and I can't hear your complaints in flavor country.

She and Robins have some decent scenes but the hack of an editor was either drunk, in Union, on breaks or just flat out incompetent. Hey maybe it wasn't his fault. Regardless the ADR is awful in sex scenes. Dude porn has better ADR than this flick. The plot holes are substantial, a bit of exposition establishes Will lost his house and had to move...after he died. Whoops.

Looks like I am going to have to watch Witchcraft X if I want to actually get to see Stephanie Beaton shine. We'll see if I can find that.

Garner, where you looking at my butt?

Eyes of the Werewolf

Welcome back my fine collection of oddlings! Oh not all of you but apparently some of you would like me to investigate some more Stephanie Beaton films. So, yeah I can do that. She's a pretty nice person from what I am gathering. Owner of Silver Moon Productions and more recently, an etsy shop, FromTheCauldronWitch. Yes I have no issues plugging businesses and maybe my readers will find either cool to gaze upon. So um...the premise of today's film did throw me. The title on its own is open to interpretation. This is Eyes of the Werewolf.

Lasik didn't take.

So my Dad speculated it could be mostly in POV, through the wolf's eyes. My thought was we follow his life story and the struggle to curb the beast and hunger for human flesh. Yeah it, um is neither of these.

Director Jeff Leroy (Creepies 2, Werewolf in a Women's Prison, Psychon Invaders and Giantess Attack) helms our story opens with a gaggle of hunters out in the late day for night with a superimposed moon. Moons happen. Quite a bit. Okay yes we are in Indie Horror country so let's not loose our crap. This lot is tracking a werewolf in full wolf-man form and to be fair, he did score two kills. Gored a guy's throat and lightly massaged a guy's neck to death. I realize he was clawing him but it looked like a very dainty hold. The hunters off the supernatural butt sniffer and take his head as they work for an EeeeEeevil scientist, Dr. Atwill (Tim Sullivan of Deadly Tales, Vampyre Femmes, A Passion to Kill, Camp Blood, Camp Blood 2 and Deadly Scavengers) that is harvesting organs. Good thing they went with werewolves and not vampires and zombies. Pretty sure those organs would be useless.

Rich Stevens (Mark Sawyer of Alice, Cheers, Too Smart for Strangers, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Fraiser, Math Blaster Episode I: In Search of Spot and Alien Force) has blown up his lab and well his eyes. I mean the eye thing is painful but dammit who's paying for all that mess? ME! Taxpayer! Outrageous. He is whisked to the hospital and is given eyes almost immediately. Damn no transplant waiting list or nothing. Now that is service.

Dude is missing out on this killer smile.

Nurse Sondra (Stephanie Beaton of Wicthcraft IX: Bitter Flesh, Zombie Gang Bangers, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, Monster in My Car, Eyes of the Werewolf, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood and A Passion) is explaining how fortunate Rich is to have recieved these eyes that seem perfect for him. No tissue rejection and all in the green. Hey Rich! GOGGLES! You don't need a grant for those! You can pick up some solid goggles at Home Depot! They are safety rated for volatile chemicals, dude. About 50 bucks.

Also we go right into a love scene with Sondra and Rich. Now logically he has been in the hospital for some time, Sondra no doubt has fallen for this guy and he with her but this is happening from the last scene with the hunters and the werewolf. No real time in the film has lapsed so may have jumped the gun there. So that's about 3 minutes devoted to that with a weird woeful piano score. Not to mention a serious ethics breach for Sondra. You can get fired for that, lady. The sex better be damn impressive. So bliss setting in and Rich seemed to forget he's married. Awkward Coitus? Oh just a touch. Jerk. Using Sondra like that.

Exposition pillow talk elaborates wife Rita (Deborah Huber of Eyes of the Werewolf, Maniacal, Blood Sisters and The Last Ten Seconds) is kind of a bitch. Yeah doesn't visit Rich in the hospital, doesn't even call to see if the transplant went well, should she pick him up from the hospital, does he need any assistance navigating around the house. Nada. Warmth of a bed pan and just as full of it, Rita establishes this huge change in Rich's life was the last straw and beats cheeks. Yeah she is out on the town. Now normally I would be in Rich's corner but he was just sexing it up with Nurse Sondra moments earlier so really can't take the moral high ground, bro.

Rich goes to visit his best friend Craig (Lyndon Johnson of Eyes of the Werewolf, Pleasure Zone Volume – Promiscuous and Some Body), who also didn't visit him the hospital or look in on him at all. Seriously, does Rich have any friends or family that give a crap?

Wanna neck, baby?

With a bit of lipstick faux pas, Rich concludes best buddy and wifeypoo are doing the deed behind his back. Rich gets defensive, flails a cowboy roundhouse and gets knocked on his ass. Yup, he has not been in a fight since Star Trek aired when he was a boy. Full moon occurs and guess who is Rich's first victim? Man, he is going to need some fiber to pass Craig.

With the police hot on the case...like since maybe 9 that morning. Late start I think. Pilates, coffee and bran muffins ain't gonna happen before a homicide investigation, people. That's just science. Lt. Evers (Tarri Markel of Air Marshal, Unstoppable, Criminal Minds, My Mom's New Boyfriend, Intervention and Flu Bird Horror) is hot on the track of the homicide and technically this would probably be written off as animal attack. Cougars, coyotes, mountain lions. They are pretty common, folks. Nope, gotta be murder. By the way, Rich ended up in a field next to a dwarf's house and no that is not a lead in to a Dungeons & Dragons joke. Androse (Kurt Levi of Eyes of the Werewolf) is an expert on the occult and not the tyrannical enemy in Star Fox. He tries to help Rich figure out why his shirt's all torn up and for some reason still has shoes. I mean the feet would expand or bulge, right? Always happened to Dr. Banner via Hulk transformation.

Rich also has an unusual neighbor lurking in his backyard with the name...brace yourselves. Siodmak. Yes that is his name. He seems to be an writer on the occult and supernatural happenings and thank God for that. You want your taxes done or your tires changed by Siodmak? Sounds like a Final Fantasy villain or possibly, Secret of Mana boss. Siodmak claims he saw Rich roaming around as the werewolf and Rich just dismisses him. Gotta say, I agree with Rich. Not the ignorance of wondering if he was a werewolf but the sheer factor a dude named Siodmak gets outside much at all.

Naturally wife is back to be one dimensional bitch again. Yup that always goes well. Just drop her ass off to Crystal Lake, Rich. As a movie monster, you are practically an alumni and Jason will make her death memorable. Most likely impale on a tree stump. With another wolfing out, Androse speculates Rich may be a werewolf.

Will Rich come to terms with his late night murderous ways?? Can he and Sondra have a life together??

Okay typically my readers are expecting me to crucify this film. Something about micro budgets mean start thrashing it. Well, I am not doing that. Instead I will point out some of the highlights.

In spite how we didn't really have alloted time for Rich and Sondra to have a relationship, Stephanie and Mark have good chemistry together. Stephanie can emote and she's got a helluva reaction and scream for crazy werewolf shenanigans. There was a random potential lesbian subplot where Lt. Evers is hitting on Sondra...during the homicide investigation. But it's cool, she said it would be highly unorthodox and unprofessional to make these advances. Yeah it came out of left field leaving me to raise a Spock like eyebrow in utter confusion. The wolf costume isn't bad. A damn sight better than I thought it would be. The blocking around wolf attacks actually worked and it is feasible.

The locations could have tried a bit more. I guess they couldn't film crucial scenes in the hospital, like say an office for some but I scratched my head at that. Borrow an office from a dentist, tax accountant, run down detective agency and just block and don't reveal where you are shooting.

Ultimately I don't what this film is trying to be. Sure Horror but normally a werewolf film is about a victim making victims, the struggle of the two natures: humanity and the beast and well most of these kills were more vengeful than horrific. Is it a tragic tale? Is this a creature feature? Am I putting too much thought into this?

Car trouble?

Rich isn't an interesting enough character to feel more than pity because well the life of a chemist is a loney one. His wife and best friend were total jackasses and he could have a good relationship with Sondra if not for the curse and Lt. Evers trying to butt in with awkward lesbian hints.

Loving the transplant idea and makes you wonder how many lycanthropes the doctor has made by his bumblesome hunters. There are some interesting ideas but not enough screen time to establish all these associations or even causal acquaintances. Still there was story, characters and plot happening. Overall, Stephanie is the name to be watching this for as she busts butt and gives a pretty damn good performance. No, she is not looming over me as I write this with a gun to my head.

Abomination: The Evilmaker II

Welcome back gentle readers. Well you got a dose of Indie Horror and to be honest, it wasn't bad. I am intrigued enough to delve further into John Bowker (Platoon of the Dead, Dreamwalkers, Beyond the Lost World: The Alien Conspiracy III, Housebound, The Seekers and Werewolf Tales) and as promised, there is a sequel. This is Abomination: The Evilmaker II a.k.a. Abomination.

They were merely Freshmen...oh wait.

I know, I know, there wasn't enough alternative titles this time around. This time around we catch up from the aftermath of the previous. Rachel (Felicia Pandolfi of The Evilmaker, Dreamwalkers, The Seekers and Bloodsucking Redneck Vampires) reached out with a psychic message (That old chestnut) to her sister Kathy (Kylene Wetherell of Dreamwalkers, Abomination: The Evilmaker II and Housebound), that it took her three days to get there? Were you crossing state lines or time zones, psi-sister? With a few flashbacks in sepia, we know this is images of the past.

Kathy seems to be picking up psychic resonance (vibrations or psychic energy residue of a paranormal activity) in and around the cabin. She is also exhibiting psychometry (The ability to discover facts about events and people by touching objects that were associated with them) as she makes her way into the cabin itself.

Remember, the girls were all here because Rachel thought Serena (Stephanie Beaton of Wicthcraft IX: Bitter Flesh, Zombie Gang Bangers, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, Monster in My Car, Eyes of the Werewolf, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood and A Passion) had to get out after her divorce, so clearly girls' night or weekend in this case; the mini-van broke down and this was their only port of call.

Mmm, don't like this lip balm.

Over 4 minutes of wandering around the cabin but there seems to be a lack of anything aside from flashbacks. No gore in sight. Kathy heads out to the culvert... of DooOoOOoOm!!

Rachel appears to axe Kathy a question and it was all just a horrible dream. Cue opening credits after 15 minutes in the film. Trying to make sense of her visions, Kathy confronts Mrs. Parker(Betty Griffith of The Evilmaker and Abomination: The Evilmaker II) who will have none of it and blames Rachel for everything. Goth girls: Bringers of Doom as you know.

Ex-Cop Charlie no longer pursuing the case that is months old, he still cannot believe what happened, let alone Kathy's visions. With a bit of Johnny on the Spot exposition we learn that Serena may have gone crackers and is shacked up in the local whacko basket.

Silent Bob's cousin, Sleepy Charles.

Kathy will not be deterred and must find out what truly went on at that house.  Psychic Madam Vladmeria (Shannon Barksdale of Monster in the Garage, Dreamwalkers, Housebound, The Seekers and Bloodsucking Redneck Vampires) and friend Rebecca (Kelly Loux of Abomination: The Evilmaker II) thinks it's a bright idea to break into the cabin house and commune with the spirits. Yeah so you know this is going to go well.  Protection circle looks a little uneven, girls. Just an observation.

Kathy and Charles doing separate investigations as a body count starts building up as Rachel appears to be at the center of it all. Trapped between two realms as well as the paths of light and dark, perhaps Kathy is the only one that can save Rachel.

Upside to having full rights to your own material? Flashback candy, baybee!! Yes, this is handy for when you need to bring story, characters or simply move two stories closer together. Plus Bowker doesn't have to worry about greedy execs demanding more than what is due.

My final thoughts on this? While I really wanted to explore more with Stephanie Beaton's Serena, Kylene Wetherell's performance is sound, the story spirals into more supernatural happenings, the music is well-placed and the body count is as always with sequels higher. We have a decent ghost story in play and plenty to work with in spite of the budget.

Rather than rely heavily on gore gags, we have more camera angles, slight of hand and misdirection which builds better tension in my thinking.

That being said, I am almost wanting to own a copy of this just to re-render it but the pixels are just set too low. Methinks if they had a couple of 4K cameras it wouldn't be so bad. Again nothing wrong with the performances, story or continuation but this camera at such a low digital quality is killing my eyes.

Still my verdict stands, a follow-up to the previous and not too shabby at that. While it is a sequel, it really tries to explore beyond the previous and make its own way.

You kids get out of my yard!!

The Evilmaker

Howdy all. I'm back and want to explore Indie Horror once more. Now, now no need to run for the hills. After all, I am the one viewing this and not you. I found a name at random that sparked neurons in the old coconut. actor/writer/director John Bowker (directing: Dreamwalkers, Beyond the Lost World: The Alien Conspiracy III, Housebound, The Seekers and Werewolf Tales) and it donned on me. Platoon of the Dead.  Yeah that clearly we're college kids shooting with next to no budget, we have stormtrooper blasters and mix and match uniforms we got from Army surplus goodness??   Well he did direct and star in that but I found some Horror with his credentials and I wanted to see if he has the goods. This is The Evilmaker.

Who stole my pants??!!

Now the promo page does look like it was cut with Windows Movie Maker or a decent budgeted porno but let's not be too quick to judge. With intro titles and music we get a tad more melodious and decent font for actors. 3 minutes of wind instruments, piano and credits is a bit long. Sorry I yawned a bit from that.

Our lead character is Serena (Stephanie Beaton of Wicthcraft IX: Bitter Flesh, Zombie Gang Bangers, Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft, Monster in My Car, Eyes of the Werewolf, Witchcraft XI: Sisters in Blood and A Passion) has barely escaped an insanely abusive relationship. No really, this guy makes Ike Turner and Mike Tyson seem calm by comparison. With a freak-out light show, a unearthly voice, blood spattered in the house, I'm thinking counseling is just not going to cut it. Was it all just a dream? Nope was three days later.

Cut to Serena hanging out with her friends after her break-up. Oh, now I see. That was eluding to events not yet transpired. Okay. Thought she was dating Ed Gein. No it turns out she just got divorced from an unhappy marriage.

Robert Smith changed my whole life.

 

Serena's mom, Mrs. Parker(Betty Griffith of The Evilmaker and Abomination: The Evilmaker II) is visted by spooky Goth girl Rachel (Felicia Pandolfi of The Evilmaker, Dreamwalkers, The Seekers and Bloodsucking Redneck Vampires) at the request of Serena. Don't worry, Mom. She just has bad poetry, the smell of clove cigarettes and far too many Sisters of Mercy and Cradle of Filth ablums. Besides Rachel is out during the day so we can almost rule out vampire. Unless she's a thousand years old or really good sunblock.

Rachel is getting Serena out of the house, boost her spirits and maybe give her a reason to live. An outing is really what she needs. They're off for a road trip and some time with friends. Snagging friends Tyler (Dori Schwartz of Monster in My Car, The Evilmaker and The Seekers) and Cindy (Arlene Henry of Monster in My Car, The Evilmaker and Abomination: The Evilmaker II) so it's a girls' weekend. Could hit a bar and scoop up some boys. Maybe just zone out on some films. Could invoke a cacophony of spirits from an book bound in human flesh and inked in human blood. Sky's the limit. What? It's Horror and that leaves a pantheon of scenarios that can and will happen.

Yes male sexist readers, there's nudity. God forbid you be here for the plot.

Naturally the minivan craps out so it's off the highway and on a near deserted gravel road. Yeah because those treks always pan out well.   Just walk back the highway, let Serena flash some leg at the vehicles, you'll be at a garage and tow in no time.  They dink with the Mystery Machine for a spell but none of them know if it threw a rod, if it needs oil or hell maybe a belt broke.

Serena hears a voice from nowhere calling her name and is reasonably creeped out by it, so off to hang with the girls in their time of crisis. Time lapse and clearly they are tired of waiting for a good samaritan. You'd think there would be a perv in a muscle car at least offering Serena and Rachel a ride in multiple meanings.

The Dungeon Master feels you took too many snacks!!

The girls hoof it for a spell when Rachel hears the voices. To be fair, they may just be in her head but I am thinking otherworldly. I'm be packing cold iron and salt for my next road trip. Maybe some silver as well. Voices from the culvert aside, they better make tracks before the sun dips down or travel will be even more difficult. None of them are packing water, flashlights or even an emergency road kit. Don't mock those kits by the way. They have at least some road flares. Magnesium burns is probably going to hurt a lot.

With a bit of walking, the girls find a cabin with plumbing, electricity and being the good girls they are, they just break-in. WHAT??!!!

Yup, enjoy their booze, sleep in their beds and have a bath or two. Um, I really hope the three bears come home and straighten them out. Stephanie Beaton and Felicia Pandolfi's performances really stand out and they are busting ass in scenes so yeah. Not bad at all.

Topping off at 97 minutes, there is room for improvement, sure but not a huge amount. Director may consider wireless mics for the actors to wear, blocking needs a bit of work and exterior shots do seem to last longer.

Overall with a limited budget, this is mostly location based and the abandoned house works well enough. Music score provided by Tim Brassfield sets good tone. The girls give off the vibe of being creeped out. I would say at least two cameras and a shotgun mic would help as well. Other than that, you got a creepy film that you let unfold and you might just enjoy it. Yes there is a sequel and yeah I just might review that as well. 

C'mon Garner. Where are you?