Can I Kill You?

Howdy doodly doo, my readers! Yeah stole that from a talking toaster 3 million years in the future and deep space. And what of it? So the talented and lovely Tommie Vegas (Sorcerers, The Interrogation of Cheryl Cooper, Project M, Interstellar Civil War: Shadows of the Empire, Party Night and Another Evil Night) put out a few requests of some bloggers and reviewers to get off their cans and take a gander at her project. Okay she didn't say that, because she is an absolute sweetie. She did ask if I was interested on a project she was very proud to be a part of. A little bit of horror/thriller all wrapped up in some psychosis. This is Can I Kill You.

That look in her eyes. Brother get her some chocolate ASAP!

Writer/director Nicholas Grant (Within the Shadows, In the Dead of Night, Mr. Jiggles, Brit Kids of Vegas, Homecoming,The Val Chronicles, Orey and Dark 72) delves into the obsession of morbid curiosity. That itch that cannot be scratched, that longing notion that must one day be made reality. Clearly only something your best friend, your confidant would understand, yes?

Rachel (Crisann Smith of Social Girl, Can I Kill You?and Infidelity) is having one of those dull nights when nothing is good on TV, you've seen your DVD collection and you just finished that latest novel you bought. What to do to fill the time? Now if this was an adult entertainment film, she'd order pizza and have the pizza boy for dessert.

Dunno. May get killed. IDK.

Alas, that cannot be and she instead invites her friend Tammy(Arlette Yousif of Family Bond, Eros.Emmanuel and Me, The Concord Chronicles and Emmanuel and Me)over for to shoot the breeze and to hang out. As a straight male, I can only conclude they will be doing each others' hair and talking about boys. That is all put on hold when a gentle wrapping happens upon her apartment door. Hey kudos to Rachel for actually using her peephole instead of opening up the door to a potential chainsaw wielding maniac. No in fact, it is her friend Sandy (Tommie Vegas) popping by unannounced and plunks down on the sofa.

Sandy proceeds to hint to almost life changing event and Rachel doesn't quite get what Sandy is being so mysterious about, but she doesn't seem quite herself. Well...no new visible piercings, no new tattoo, no insanely expensive wardrobe. Yup I'm stumped too, folks.

With a light hearten snicker, Sandy tells how she just had the most fun ever. It was a fluke, a random encounter and she just went to it. Rachel starts getting creeped out and hey, who the hell wouldn't be disturbed?  Sandy so proud of her determination, she apparently took some snaps on her iPhone.   Not to nitpick there Sandy, but you know that gets uploaded to your account as well as your phone, right? Just thinking it may be difficult for any future defense attorney to get you out of the alligator pit you just dug.

OMG RACHEL!!!

Sandy simply wants to share her experience with Rachel.   Hey, if you can't talk to your closest friend about a brutal murder you committed and the need to reminisce, well then you may be a crappy friend. Shame on you, Rachel. Shame on you.

Coming to grips with her friend has murdered someone and talking about it like it was a rush, Rachel is trapped in her own home with a complete and utter psychopath. The only thing she can do is stall for time.  Maybe Sandy will get bored, head home for a shower and some Mint Chocolate Chip?  She can't exactly call the cops with Sandy being right there in the room.   Wha? Oh, I'm ordering a pizza and in no way, shape or form am calling the cops on you.   I'm sure that will go sail like a lead balloon.

Not sure what is more disturbing about this film. Rachel's ensuing terror or Sandy's near euphoric state after murder. Sandy has a glint in her eye that says, "I may have a taste for this and I'm only just getting started."

With next to no budget, this 15 minute thriller is giving a command performance with a limited cast, a sinister story and the vibe that this could happen.  Crisann gives such a conflicted execution.  Does she fear for her life?  Is her friend even remotely salvageable?   Did she want chicken or pasta for dinner?  It's almost as you can see the whirlwind of thoughts in her head and they're all happening at once.

Tommie is just so blase about her murder and living off the thrill of the kill that it is a genuinely creepy performance. When typically you'd look at that this girl and think, "Yeah we can chase her with an axe and she'll deliver a Jamie Lee Curtis scream." Now you have to wrap your head around and come to terms that with the proper script and her performance, she is far more versatile than we thought.

Honey, your couch is lumpy.

Axemas 2: Blood Slay

It's a tough life in my racket. Hey folks back again for another blog and this time around director/writer/producer/actor John Ward (Chapman's Storage: Fake Commercial, Axemas, Frames of Fear 2, and Meathook Massacre 4) has entrusted me to give his newest creation of the Axemas series a review. Will it be as enjoyable as the first? Dare we hope it surpasses the original? This is Axemas 2: Blood Slay.

A holly, jolly homicide!

Under Dark Park Films and Always Out of The Box Entertainment we open with some good VST for soundtrack and eerie chords as grumpily guy in mid-twenties is chucking the Christmas Tree when he is grappled by Uncle Kris (Drew Marvick of Astro Zombies: M4- Invaders from Cyberspace, Scared to Death, Bob Freeman: Exterminator for Hire, Get Hansel!, It Stains the Sands Red and Pool Party Massacre) and feel some Silent Night Deadly Night 2 vibes are coming our way. Hopefully not awesomely bad as Eric Freeman a.k.a. Ricky Caldwell of the Silent Night Deadly Night 2.  One garbage day quote and I will wince. Well just note his death scene made me smile.

With a morning investigative report on Chapman Storage confirming the timeline that it has been one year later. Surviving girl Sarah (Ashley Campbell of Any Body Can Dance 2, Distortion, Guard Dog, The Trust, Death to False Hipsters, Axemas, Drug Z and My Mom's a Joke) feels a bit more Sydney of Scream and less Laurie of Halloween.  Sarah has still been considered a suspect in these brutal murders...OF HER FRIENDS and yet the cops couldn't find enough evidence to link her to the killings. Surprised they just didn't fabricate some evidence, craft a story to fit their needs and then break for lunch.

Just want to meet a guy that doesn't want to ax murder me.

Montey Chapman of Chapman Storages(Phillip Trickey of House of Pain, Clown Motel Massacre and Axemas 2: Blood Slay) is channeling his inner Mayor Vaughn from Jaws, assuring us those weird mishaps of the year prior has just been an isolated incident, units are available to rent and it's a damn fine day...to move heavy objects.

Sarah still haunted of the ghosts of the past; seeks advice and counseling from Laura (Donna Hamblin of Mark of the Astro-Zombies, Killer Biker Chicks, Demon Haunt, Dead Ink, Sinister, Blood Mercury and Project M). The previous events are shrouding her every waking thought.   Plus, dead boyfriend manifesting to creep her is really off putting. Yeah I am relatively sure those are just hallucinations. A bit of dating advice from Laura seems to put Sarah in a better frame of mind. FYI, Sarah. Don't open a conversation with, "Hi I'm Sarah and my last boyfriend was brutally ax murdered by a lunatic in a Santa costume," Pro tip!

With a jaunt to a used bookstore (the intellectuals' hunting ground, ladies) Sarah roams through the aisles in search of MAN...or possibly a good paperback. Maybe some Charlaine Harris. Who knows. Bumbling into each other, Eric (Ben Stobber of Unwritten, The Immortal Wars, Axemas 2; Blood Slay, The Immortal Wars: Resurgence, Dress Code, Art of the Dead, Reversal and Los Angeles Shark Attack) makes his move after startling Sarah with his Dickens. A Christmas Carol that is. Nothing pervy. Sheesh. Hey this easy going guy even gives her a window of opportunity to bounce if he is a boring plebeian. Rock star move, brohan!

No! Go find your own storage unit for that! Ew!

Prepping for the big date, Sarah's nervous. So begins the first dating dance!!! muahahaha!!!! No, I'm not bitter. After cocktails and dinner, Sarah opts for a night cap.   The end of that puts Sarah on familiar stomping grounds.   She awakes for a new night of terror and the killers (oh yes, plural) are going to take their time with Sarah and drag it out.

Did I mention some kids making their way around this place?  You'd think one Santa slaying episode that happened only a year prior would be giving off hot neon light warnings, but hormones never listen.  Darn you pesky kids!! Git outta my murder place!

Fate is a fickle mistress as Tara (The lovely and talented Tommie Vegas of Project M, The Trust, Date Breakers, Party Night, Nite Nite, Can I Kil You?, Virus of the Dead, Vice Squad: Las Vegas and Vice Squad: Chicago) who pulls the greater Hail Mary save, and gets Sarah on her feet. Now they only have to survive the night and run the gauntlet of this massive complex that is no doubt, locked down for the night. Sarah and Tara (Hey that rhymed!) meet up with Tara's boyfriend James (Nicholas Jackman of Party Bus to Hell, Social Girls, Classacts, Finding Sara, The Auction and Murder 4 Dummies).

Both kids are homeless and were just looking for a place to crash but now it looks like murder is filling their stockings tonight. Wow that last line was pretty cheesy. In fear of Uncle Kris, the threesome are trying to find a way to stay alive and must band together to deal with a crazy Santa.

As was previous for the original, this is logged as a short film for an anthology series. We have solid performances, over the top slasher villain, some great gore scenes and good dialogue. This manages to stay within the same old school cut to gore gag shots and actually gives off a bit of terror. With a bit of a Scream and Silent Night Deadly Night 2 theme, this 34 minutes of evil could easily be deemed substantial work. With an easy premise to follow and an environment with proper mood lighting, you could easily see this in a full length feature. Minor CGI spatters, otherwise old school blood packs and bladders. Not surprising that John Ward has kept the same momentum as the first. 

He seems...less jolly.

 

An Interview with Tommie Vegas

Okay, today I sit down with a young actress delving into Indie Horror, mainstream films, models, hostess and in general, a girl with a mission.  This is Tommie Vegas.

So here's a shocker (No, not the Urban Dictionary type, you pervs), I talked her ear off for nearly three hours.   I was introduced to the workings of this young lady through her director, John Ward of Axmas Trilogy as she is Tara alongside Sarah (Ashley Campbell of Frames of Fear 2, Axemas, Unwritten, Axemas 2: Blood Slay) and apparently Interstellar War as well.

So I see you have worked with Sci-fi, Sci-fi Fantasy director Albert Pyun in Sorcerers but also in The Introgation of Cheryl Cooper and now Interstellar War: Shadows of the Empire she is one to keep an eye on, my readers.

Fun lovin' criminal?

She and Shane Ryan (Revenge of the Samurai Cop, Check Please!, 60 Seconds to Die)did a full two 60 minute takes and had no breaks and only one rehearsal using multiple camera work focusing so astounding that it was all one take as it created. She was terrified and amazed at the take and the love for it. Try as I might to disprove it, this constant filming was so damn amazing and Tommie and Shane have a huge gambit of emotions. Yes, go see it.  Also, they will be both working on Interstellar War so that should be a fun experience.

Some of you know I was supposed to review this next film but I was so burned out on horror slasher genre, I took a pass. Well I gave it the viewing last night and found out that some of my fellow critics are a bit hypercritical for no damn good reason.

Party Night was the typical slasher genre of young teens off to party the night away at a cabin far away from the immediate town during Prom Night to screw, get drunk and have fun. I couldn't get why people were having such a problem with this film until I looked at it from a technical stand point because the cast was great.

So our lady of the hour likes a game for this flick. "How big does Tommie's hair get?" because of throughout the flick, the heat of Texas in July, you can see it expand and contract. I laughed because I thought I noticed that as well. Potential drinking game at Tommie's place! 

A night on the set of Party Night.

I was really impressed with the performances, the wound SFX for makeup and the lighting and sound was solid. I was expecting micro-budget skimping and cheapy Strawberry Quik but no so really didn't understand the problem. Turns out it was just the blocking and camera zooms in practice that needed some fine tuning and understanding. Tracking shots that didn't have a stabilizer on it and focus dropped a couple of times in the beginning but Heather Benson (Party Night, Captured and Stirring) the FX girl was amazing.

You and Laurel Toupal (Smart Marks, Death Rhymes with Orange and Party Night)just stood out from the rest of the troop. Mind you I wanted to put Billy Brannigan's character Travis feet first in an industrial shredder. Proof the kid could bring the goods in my humble opinion.

Also most of the guys reviewing these slasher flicks are forgetting what teenagers sound like. Most are in their 30s and 40s, so they are no longer bombarded by the tsunami waves of hormones, snap judgement and defensive nature. Relax old fellas and go have some Ensure.

Shot in Vegas with guerilla shooting (Next to no permits) Christ returns remade cybernetic, comes the underground cult following of Neil Breen (Double Down, I Am Here... Now, Fateful Findings and Pass Thru).  Now there are plenty of critics, fans and folks that cannot fathom this dude and let me just say, I'm one of them.  Still got to admire a guy that just throws himself into his own work.  I couldn't help but recognize a young girl near a pickup truck as Robo-Jesus preaches.

As a reviewer that films himself bashing or praising movies on YouTube, I have not a stone to throw but I just didn't get the guy.

Desperate to find a copy of The Trust, I found a dodgy Czechoslovakian site with about three different languages subtitled but it was the real deal.  Starring Elijah Wood and Nicolas Cage, two cops investigating a drug invasion stumble upon a mysterious bank vault.  Now because the copy I streamed was the foreign release, I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything

A cut with The Trust in the region of Czech Republic has Tommie Vegas in the film but not in the US release. She fast forward and rewound and not in the American release. Need to send that site to her but again, dodgy as Hell.

A shave and a haircut gag goes horribly wrong.

Our fear of zombies is funny after the remake of Dawn of the Dead and it creeped Tommie but good for a few weeks and of course, I tell her my zombie walk issue.  FYI, don't watch zombie films if the irrational fear kicks in.  I went for a six pack of soda, boom 80 people in a zombie walk in my neighborhood.   I hid in the Walgreens until they passed.  I perused the movies until they were gone and ironically I think one of the titles I bought was a Romero dead flick.

Allergic to far too much of the desert but she soldiers on and who can't relate, right?

We'd both love to see her play Claire Redfield for Resident Evil reboot, so c'mon fans let's back her on that. Maybe we can snag Shane Ryan for Leon Kennedy.

"I am content with acting, it is my happy spot. I want to try meatier roles, so close but beaten by a better known actor from CW snatched up the role."   She's not bitter, gang.   She just bid on a part and didn't get it.  She picks herself up, dusts herself off and gets back in the ring for other things.

"It's difficult explaining acting to friends and family about acting. She kind of just fell into it. She was so shy and was placed into baby pageants, did gymnastics, dance and acting was just the next step. She simply became it and it her."  She got her break ten years ago and just works her ass off is what I got from this.

She is a workhorse.  Yesterday looking at new projects to audition for.  Not caring about what she is doing but she likes being busy.  So she has a photo shoot and then in to shooting for a few days.

"Once you're done, you have to wait on editing and it's a lull. You want something else to do.  People are confused, not understanding the process of onto the next new thing."

It comes with the industry as you are a commodity, not a person.

"Not a huge fan of the superhero movies, not my viewing pleasure.  I'd rather star in them. Psychological thrillers and horror that take you somewhere else. Something that takes you to another world, immerse yourself and give you a full experience".

"Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman were fun but look at that ten year gap.  There are so many of these films it is hard to keep up with it."  Trust me Tommie, if it wasn't my gig, I'd have a helluva time keeping up with them.

"I had to turn down quite a few projects but Inverted looked amazing it is very comfortable as you see what the main characters go through as you deal with the present and past, establishing life experiences. Explains who they are, what they are and why they were chosen for this."

"Crowdfunding isn't horrible but there are folks that take advantage of people. The money allocated just raised for Inverted, it's all invested in SFX, camera, actors, working crew to be ready."

"They want people to be invested financially and emotionally to not be ruining it with a spoiler in the trailer."

"We had character introductions, our filmography and interaction about donating and loving on the show.   Personally messaged friends and emails that are going to be able to work with and reach out to show what we are doing and events to show off what the project really meant."

"Heart and soul went into your project and the fans we got heart and soul back. If you don't believe in your project, why do it?"

She goes on to tell what her goals were in five years.  "I'm taking it as it comes. Looking into new projects for a couple hours every other day and then see what my schedules are. With the talent I am, I am just waiting to unload on the world. Every new offer is another way for me to share my range with the world." She went on to tell me about how she helped with a bit of casting and getting the word out for Inverted on social media and sounded genuinely proud of the hard work that was done every day plugging the film, plugging the contacts and the project.

 "It is my hard work that is my strength but within the project. I know the script back and forth. I am prepared, ready to go.  I even know my fellow actors' lines.  Folks are talking and meeting and I am in the script to work.   Next week, I am shooting five pages and I have to work an accent and be introduced to the film viewers."

"Every job you go for, learn the script, filming, taking time to bring the emotional range, how they speak, upload and edit for an audition that you may not even get.  The next time you have two maybe three projects right then." 

Sassy in the Wasteland.

Albert Pyun is remastering his film while dealing with illnesses still doing it independent while his cast and crew has his back. This man is astonishing to me. Tommie's praise of what kind of director as well as man he is, makes me feel like I get to know his work and who he is even more.

I mean I got that from Cyborg oh so many years ago but alas, we are getting off subject. Back to the talented Ms. Vegas.

Casting couch is a big time no-no. Topless is not happening unless it has an artistic decency.

"A Skype encounter required me to be topless in that from a total stranger I did not know and just told them that was not going to happen."

Stereo-typically, he belittled with the nonsense of, "Well good luck in this industry, Honey." Yeah, this writer really wants to bury these kind of guys in the sand from the neck down, cover them in honey and unleash the fire ants.

So of course we had to ask the cliche' question, "What do you have to do to become an actor?"

Now keep in mind; Tommie is not plagued by this query, but it has been asked more than a few times and frankly I was impressed with her response.

"Expect rejection every time. Pour your heart and soul into every performance, every reading. Commit yourself to being this actor with every fiber of your being."