Movies with the word Slaughter in it: Slaughterhouse Rock

Welcome back from the second day of the week. Yeah movies that have the word slaughter in them seems a trifle lame but again NO SUGGESTIONS WERE MADE. Sorry if that was a bit on the nose, I got a couple of messages complaining about yesterday's write-up. I wasn't sure it was because it was blaxploitation or just my idea to watch it. So again the randomness of the week I have an 80's horror film of featuring music by Devo, a gaggle of teens and Alcatraz!?! This is Slaughterhouse Rock a.k.a. Hell Island a.k.a. Alcatraz Horror and Slaughter House.

There is no Alex, only Zuul.

Our story centers around Alex Gardner (Nicholas Celozzi of Pretty Smart, Marked for Death, Carnal Crimes, Hidden Obsession, Campus Hustle, Big Sister 2000 and Deep Cover) a young college student (that seems to be held in a high school) who has vivid dreams or nightmares if you will, experiencing the numerous deaths of victims in Alcatraz. No, no. Not the inmates of decades past, but a vicious killer who dwells in Alcatraz slaughtering at will. His nightmares start effecting the physical plane of existence as his starts sleeping above his covers. Four feet above his covers! He barks, he drools he claws! His friends all share the same rental house and have witnessed this first hand. Thank God he didn't sleep in the nude or wank at night.

And there on the handle, was a hook...

Discussing it with his teacher, Professor Harding (Donna Denton of Nashville, The New Mike Hammer, Death Blow: A Cry for Justice, Glory Years, Slaughterhouse Rock, Gor II and Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All) professor of the occult and supernatural, suggests to head to Alcatraz to face his demons if you will. His brother Richard (Tom Reilly of Paper Dolls, ChiPs, Young Warriors, Kiss and Be Killed, Sworn to Vengeance, Mirror Images II, Valleys of the Dolls and Ice Cream Man) and gang of Marty (Ty Miller of The Young Riders, The X-Files, Without a Trace and U.S. Seals), Krista (Hope Marie Carlton of Hard Ticket to Hawaii, Savage, Bloodmatch, A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master, Round Numbers and Noctropolis), Jan (Tammy Hyler of Cloak & Dagger, Pretty Smart, Judgement, A Time to Revenge, Back in the Day, Heaven Bound and I'm Not Ashamed) and Jack (Steven Brian Smith of Moonlighting and Slaughterhouse Rock) all decide to help Alex confront this problem head on and boat out to Alcatraz... cause you do that.

Pumpkinhead: Man on the Town.

A friendly and foxy ghost Sammy (Toni Basil of Myra Breckinridge, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Movie, Greaser's Palace, Mother, Jugs & Speed, Angel III: The Final Chapter, Rockula and Eating) formerly a pop rock star of the band Bodybag, tries to give Alex advice to stop this evil residing in Alcatraz and save his friends, maybe bring herself some peace as well.

No sooner does the Scooby gang make their way to land, Richard gets possessed by a cannibalistic demon trying to attack his buddies and brother alike. Can anything be done to save Richard? Will Alex continue to be haunted??

The use of Alcatraz makes sense as the general theme giving us dark dreams, demonic possession, astral projection and ghosts roaming about. Ladies be warned there is an attempted rape. Yeah, that was clearly needed he said with great gobs of sarcasm. This film loaded with some decent practical effects, good lighting, a fair degree of fog machines going on full tilt, the atmosphere is creepy but the lack of enough characters cuts down on the potential for eerie effects. This film has a solid, fast pace giving a flick with horror elements rather than the typical 80s exposition, drawn out slasher film.

Director Dimitri Logothetis (Pretty Smart, The Closer, Body Shot, Hungry for You, Cheyenne, Dark Realm, The Lost Angel and Wings of the Dragon) had a good crew, a decent cast and good direction overall. Not too shabby.

Not even my 80s hair to stop all this weirdness.

Happy New Years!!!! Bloody New Year

Greeting and salutations as we tackle another helping of Phantoms of the Year Day 3. As it is indeed New Year's Eve, it is only fitting and proper that our movie for tonight is actually occurring on New Year's Eve unlike Life Blood's blatant excuse to put models in cotton teddies. I know that sounds odd, a heterosexual man complaining of such viewing but dammit folks that was a really bad film. With that in mind, what say we catch up with some pesky teens that plan to get liquored up and explore one another sexually, all the way releasing some mutant hell beast bent on destroying the world? This is Bloody New Year.

Peggy Sue and Charlie Bodell are startled!

Five teens kill time before sailing away at the Fun Fair in Wales... I have no idea why they are in Wales but how cares? Our in-depth background on everyone is they are having a weekend to celebrate the New Year when a young American get bothered by the weakest carnie punks ever and the older gent of the three looks like the bartender of the Winchester via Shaun of the Dead. After the daring rescue and very mild fisticuffs with the carnies our preppy bunch got sailing when they encounter coral reef which in my opinion was accidental during the shoot and they just added to the movie. Washed to shore, these plucky preppies make their way to the famous Grand Island Hotel that is all the rave in Wales. With no one about, they pair off, start exploring, diddle each others brains out and swipe dry clothing. Strange goings on in our haunted hotel as our director tries to go Kubrickian on us and give us cheesy haunted effects like magazines closing themselves up, fireworks going off and the death defying possessed vacuum cleaner ambled for toes.

They're upset being greasers is outdated.

The kids slowly realize that all the 1950's apparel, decor and random blurts of music might mean that nobody has been to this hotel in ages and something odd may have occurred. This by the way starts shedding light to the place is cursed PAST THE HALF HOUR MARK!!!! Up until this point it has been exploring, heavy petting (as heavy as the English can allow themselves) and poorly constrewn dialogue. Finding a 1950's film Fiend Without a Face would have been far more enjoyable to watch versus the movie I am enduring. To say the film drags on until about the 37 minute mark and finally one of the cast gets attacked, throttled and murdered by a ghost from the projector. With our hapless teens splitting up the party, it is a safe bet that death is on the rise but there is so much filler of staring aimlessly, pointless dialogue how weird everything is and LESS VACATING THE ISLAND!!!

Will there be survivors?? Does anyone get any more chances to hook up? Are they having a happy New Year?

A few comments on the movie now.

British director Norman J. Warren (Her Private Hell, Satan's Slave, Terror, Spaced Out, Alien Prey, Inseminoid and Gunpowder) clearly grew up with a steady diet of Hammer movies like many of us did, but this lad chose to try to top Hammer's gothic time period pieces with a touch of cold and grim tones set in modern-day as well as the future. With a paltry shoestring budget, our director channeled Sam Raimi's Evil Dead, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and added a dash of Fulchi's Zombi and set it to boiling point... by that I mean it was left on the stove too long, caused a house fire and everyone died violently.

Ambitious to a fault, it almost seems like no footage hit the cutting floor, the editing was unusual and the cast of unknowns are flubbing lines and tripping over themselves. Some well timed sight gags and jump scares and the makeup for the ghouls is pretty fair but overall this felt forced. An A for effort but solid D- minus for execution. Best thing said about this movie... I am done watching it.

Deborah was under the tanning bed too long.

Hammer Features Week

Hello all and welcome to the event of the week.  I thought from all those heroes of yesteryear we could use some villainous behavior now.  Some wonderful orchestral music, amazing sets and wonderful costuming.  A little bit of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee roaming across the screen.  Yes ladies and gents I thought this week will be a collection of Hammer Films.

Need...Visine!!!!

Fear that which is about to come. From vampires and werewolves to the Frankenstein's monster this should make for interesting reading or at least I hope so.   Please again feel free to leave a comment on this blog or Facebook.

Ta ta!