Public Domain Flick: Grave of the Vampire

Hello there again everyone. Well I have been checking my Rotten Reelz Reviews Facebook page and the gmail account, (rottenreelzreviews@gmail.com) and I haven't seen a complaint, compliment or crass comment. So I suppose I can just take down all the above and just review whatever the hell I feel like. Let me know either way, people.

Now then I decided to hit up some good old fashioned public domain movies. Why you may ask? 1.) I am not required to hit up more than archives.org to find a copy. 2.) It is less hassle than dealing with commericals of Hulu and broadband issues of Netflix and Amazon. 3.) There is almost certainly a title that makes me blink more than twice after reading it. So howzabout a vengeful vampire searching the Earth for the one that killed his mother and made him into this abomination in the eyes of man and God? No I am not talking about Saya from Blood, D from Vampire Hunter D or even the Daywalker Blade. This is a precursor to all the above. This is Seed of Terror a.k.a. Grave of the Vampire a.k.a. The Tomb of the Vampire.

Sorry but I had to flap away a 400 year old fart.

Created in 1972 ( A whole year before writers Gene Nolan and Marv Wolfman pushed Blade into the Tomb of Dracula comics) and based on the novel The Still Life, writer/novelist David Chase (The Magician, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Switch, The Rockford Files, Moonlight and Almost Grown) and writer/director John Hayes (The Kiss, Shell Shock, The Cut-Throats, Sweet Trash, Dream No Evil, Jailbait Babysitter and Pleasure Zone) concoct a delightful tale of a day walking hybrid of human and vampire searching for his father...to drive a stake through his heart or maybe to do a father/son potato sack race. Who can truly say.

Our story begins in a cemetery, with a young couple making out by the headstones. Yeah that always goes well after dark. The grave of 1930s rapist/murderer Caleb Croft rumbles the ground so and the murderer has risen from beyond the grave attacking the lad defending his lady's honor and well the rape is implied. Caleb (Michael Pataki of Star Trek, Easy Rider, Side Hackers, The Cut-Throats, The Flying Nun, The Amazing Spider-Man TV series, Zoltan, Hound of Dracula and Rocky IV) is kinda scum, folks. Also hot on Caleb's trail is a detective that took Vampires 101 I guess who seems to have seen too many Bela Lugosi movies (Seriously, this is a line) Lieutenant Panzer (Eric Mason of Days of Our Lives, Scream Blacula Scream, Kiss of the Tarantula and The Love Boat) thinks the impossible is happened and the dead have returned from the grave and then...yeah he gets gacked and there doesn't seem to be any follow-up. Guess Panzer was not loved at the station. Tank jokes a plenty left in his locker, the wife is seeing the milkman on the sly and the family dog pees in his slippers.

Scrawny and Chunky.  They're cops.

The girl carries the child to term, believing it is her boyfriend's offspring...until she has to bottle feed him blood to strengthen him to manhood. That by the way we commonly call, a clue. 30 years later the infant is a man name of James (William Smith of Laredo, Gunsmoke, The Ultimate Warrior, Blood & Guts, The Frisco Kid, Hawaii Five-O, B.J. And the Bear, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Platoon Leader and Warriors of the Apocolypse) who has one mission, to avenge his mother (Kitty Vallacher of Deathmaster, To Hell You Preach, Savage Abduction, Soul Hustler and The Legend of Frank Woods) and slaughter pappy. A bit myopic I grant you but it keeps him going. James is also a vampire but can easily move around during the day without a lethal tan.

Hmm, like that Blade guy. Yeah, I figured that was still a comparison. James is convinced the deaths around the campus that Caleb under the guise of Professor Lockwood is no boating accident. The tox screens point out that all victims have died of extreme blood loss whether or not their throats were slashed or not and it isn't on the ground where they lay. The killer could have just propped the bodies too but hell I'm no detective with Vampire 101 training. Stake or be staked was a good chapter.

Will James get his revenge? Will he be no better than his father? Will Tiny Tim be allowed to walk again?

Well the overall vibe is commercial 1970s showing mild hedonism, flat partying and hints at sex. The cinematography is very precise, very little handheld and a bit static. The rumble between Caleb and James looks damn impressive. Think Roddy Piper and Keith David in They Live without so many shots to the balls of course. There really isn't explicit gore, sex or even that much blood in our vampire movie which was kind of surprising really. With a budget under a half a million, this give a decent feel to a film in spite of some of the content. I think it would have gotten a wider audience with a bit of the old T &A with some blood but all in all not a bad film. This marks the second vampire movie I have seen Michael Pataki in. The other being Zoltan: Hound of Dracula. I just wanted Pataki to quote from Sidehackers. You think I didn't love the boy??!! MY OWN FLESH I DON'T LOVE AS MUCH!!!

Anyone else get a laugh the sound editor is a guy named James Cheap? I just envision the foley stage made up in someone's garage but he has to hurry because the wife wants to park the station wagon and bring in groceries.

I don't have ADD, in fact I...Look a bunny!

Giallo Film: The Fifth Cord

Hey gang! Look, I really would love to hear your input on how the reviews are going. Again you can reach me at rottenreelzreviews@gmail.com or leave a message on Rotten Reelz Reviews so I know I am actually tickling your funny bone and/or informing you on film, TV and games. Let me know if there are some specific titles you want me to look at.

I thought I would look at a Giallo movie today. For those that are unaware of this, a giallo movie is a murder mystery with a fair degree of gore inspired by yellow paperbacks translated for Italy the mystery novels of both British and American writers and primarily devised by director Mario Bava.

Today's giallo is straight up murder as a raspy, excited voice over anticipates murder. Deciding the pros and cons of weapons versus hands on and with such glee you think he was opening Christmas presents instead of arteries. This is The Fifth Cord.

What do you mean you cannot do Eggs Benedict??!!!

With a fish eye lens our killer speaks of stalking his prey at a New Year's get together with too much thrill in his voice. John Lubbock (Maurizio Bonuglia of The Troops Get Married, Ludwig, The Perfume of the Lady in Black and The Kiss of Death) was the killer's first victim but he bungles it and leaves him alive and by that I mean he survives the clumsy attack. Finding out this man injured but alive fellow partygoer and journalist Andrea Bild (Franco Nero of Django, Force 10 from Navarone, The Salamander, Enter the Ninja, The Last Days of Pompeii, Django Strikes Again, Die Hard 2: Die Harder and Django Unchained) decides he better investigate into this attack. A second attendee of the party a invalid doctor's wife Sophia (Rossella Falk of 8 1/2, Modesty Blaise, Black Belly of the Tarantula and Sleepless) is gacked rather easily in her own home and even Andrea's crotchety elder editor has been found dead in the park.

Ew, make out scenes with Edmund Purdom.

 

Both bodies leave a calling card, a black glove with each with a finger cut off. Next thing Andreas finds himself as a potential suspect being an often outspoken alcoholic, this lead police to start to put things into perspective. Who is next? Why is this happening? Will Andreas be convicted via lazy cops?

The atmosphere in the film drags us across many lives from what lurks behind closed doors to what is out in the open for all to see. It dares you to look away but has the feel of a crime caper rather than a typical gialli and even gives a strong role to a woman rather than treating her like eye candy or a prop to be moved from set to set. Helene played by Silvia Monti (The Brain, Blackie the Pirate, A Lizard in a Woman's Skin and While There's War There's Hope) brings a sharp mind, a cool head under pressure and insight to a grim scenario.

Our director Luigi Bazzoni (Pride and Vengeance, The Possessed, Footprints on the Moon and Blu Gang e visseror per sempre felici e ammazzati) brought his "A" game telling a dark and morbid tale along with acquiring the astounding cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Apocalypse Now) giving shape to blackmail, bizarre sex parties and astrology intertwined with a murder mystery. That being said, the gore fans will be a tad disappointed as the gore isn't shown in gushing fashion. This is rather stylish and while a bit restrained, this film is completely worth watching for its complex story and excellent characters.

Wait...am I still the ninja??

Lucio Fulchi's The Black Cat

Hiya gang. Well we have viewed a few TV series and I was initially going to talk about DC Comics Legends of Tomorrow but... I wanted to watch a movie instead. Yup, no real rhyme or reason to the week. I just decided to switch gears. Today's review will be instead a Lucio Fulchi horror movie based on the writings of Edgar Allen Poe. No I am not going into great lengths who Edgar Allen Poe is. Read a book, short story or any of many biographies about the man. This story hails about a professor of the occult, psychology and parapsychology who feels to exact vengeance on those that had wrong him in the past and present. A plucky photographer feels there is more to than words.

This is The Black Cat.

CLEAN UP MY POOPS!!!

We see a fisherman make his way to the car and drive through a village that looked like Notting Hill as he and the black cat make vicious eye contact, distracting said fisherman causing him to crash through his windscreen causing him to bleed out and his car to burst almost instantly in the flames. A clear factory recall. Yeah that is all in the first two minutes. Gotta say Fulchi never skimps on violence but right out of the gate seems to be his m.o. An elder gentleman sits in his study listening to recordings he has made conversing with the dead via electronic tape. The same black cat makes his way into his study, slashing the professor for not cleaning up his poops quick enough and saunters out.

Cut to young blonde photographer Jill (Mimsy Farmer of Body of Love, The Suspects, Autopsy, The Istambul Train and The Girl from Trieste) has traveled into an ancient dungeon to spy on the Crimson Executioner's former handy work, possibly an BDSM rave that when horribly wrong (the safety word was pickles) when a copper shoos her from the cemetery she was taken snapshots. After discovering a modern day adapter to a battery or recorder she is left with a bit of confusion. But enough of that, it's clearly time of teens played by twenty somethings to get freaky. Another trope of Fulchi is get the boobage in and out of the way. Our young stupid lovers sneak into a boat house that is SOUNDPROOF and AIR TIGHT. Things you do not associate with make out spots.

Um, are you giving me the creeper eye?

We bounce around back to the cemetery in the middle of the night as the prof doesn't seem to have any luck “talking to the dead” and just seems to be null and void with it. Meanwhile the teeny boppers are slowly suffocating in said boathouse with no one aware whatsoever. Scotland Yard is requested a detective Inspector Gorley (David Warbeck of Duck, You Sucker, The Beyond, Hunter of the Apocalypse, Fatal Frames, Pervirella and Razor Blade Smile) to assist in finding the teeny boppers.

Jill meets with Professor Miles (Patrick McGee of Marat/Sade, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, Chariots of Fire, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne and Play for Today) conversing over his chatter with the dead and yes I could see how the village thinks he is a complete nutter butter as he creepy eyes he delivering his dialogue. Telling her of his psychic abilities to interact with the dead then is trying to overtake her mind. Kinda of a jerk move and the cat didn't care for it, slashing him. Miles explains they need one another as they are bound by their anger. Sith lord stuff I am speculating.

The drunken Irish Groundskeeper NOT NAMED Willie claims Miles is a wackjob talking to headstones and being all creeper like. After an all day drinking binge (again remember he is Irish) he wanders back home when he is stalked by the black cat. The cat traps him in a hay loft taunting him with growls, slashing him and leaving him to fall on a pitchfork...the kind that apparently stands upright and can support a grown man's weight. Jill thinks something is amiss with Miles and his cat but only Gorley believes her.  Miles tells Jill with patented creeper eye that the cat is to blame for those youngins death in a methodical manner, carefully played to detail. The cat is more than appears and he is easily riled. 

Will Scotland Yard take action? Will it be public execution if they put him to sleep? Will they grace his grave with Greenies?

With the exception of Miles and the cat, there is no direct link to the film to the short story. This is a dark morbid tale with decent gore effects, creeper mood music and a good cast. Lot of patented eye zooms via Fulchi but ever since Zombi I am just expecting an eye gouge every time.

Does it look like the creeper eye??

TV series: Ash vs Evil Dead

Well here we are. Moving back into TV I came to the conclusion that a lot of what I view is very dramatic and less and less funny. How about a series involving deadites, possession, a book that resurrects the dead? Sound too bizarre or does it sound like a few movies prior? Well folks, this show involves the Chin himself. The master of B Movies and patented splatterstick (comedy horror violence with humorous content) as Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert.

This is Ash Vs Evil Dead.

Well, that was mind blowing.

30 years prior, stock boy of Value Mart, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell of The Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn, Army of Darkness, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Jack of All Trades, Spider-Man, Burn Notice and Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe) went to a cabin in the woods with his friends when they discovered renowned Professor Knowby's reel to reel recorder of notes, an ancient dagger carved of bone and steel and the book, Necronomicon ex Mortis. Bound in human flesh and inked in human blood, the book contained ancient burial rites, incantations and demon summoning. It was never meant the land of the living. The book awoke primeval forces in the woods, demons taking over human beings and the only way to stop them is through the act of body dismemberment.

The Classic!!!

Burying the remains of his friends, girlfriend and sister, Ash put this insanity all behind him but he kept the book. Life is rough for Ash living in a crappy trailer and chasing after various women and hitting bars left and right he takes a girl (Marissa Stott of Blood Crime, Orphans and Angels, Shortland Street and Power Rangers Megaforce) back his place, they blaze up some wacky tabaccy and proceed to read passages from the book releasing the evil again. With the evil back, Ash decides to get the hell out of dodge when his work partner Pablo (Ray Santiago of Girlfight, Raising Hope, Touch, Sex Ed and Trash Fire) tells him that whenever evil comes there is always a chosen one to battle it. Ash reluctant to his calling decides to hit on the new girl at work, Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo of Peep Show, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Eagleheart, Californication, Impress Me and Driving Arizona) when a storm of darkness start swirling around, taking over susceptible souls making them meat puppets of evil to lash out at Ash. Pablo and Kelly get caught up in the middle of this mess as Ash breaks out the boomstick and chainsaw.

Two other souls grabbed up in the lunacy, Special Agent Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones of Girlfriends, The Perfect Holiday, The Longshots and Drool) loses her partner in a deadite shooting and Professor Ruby Knowby (Lucy Lawless of Xena: Warrior Princess, Bedtime Stories, Spider-Man, EuroTrip, Battlestar Galactica, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Spartacus: War of the Damned and Parks and Recreation) looking for the man she believes slaughtered her mother, father and sister.

Can Ash send back the evil? Should the book be destroyed? How many crackers will be possessed??

My only issue is a production argument over the Army of Darkness production issues. Renaissance Pictures may have created Medieval Dead or Army of Darkness' rights are owned by Universal Studios and rather than accommodate an understanding they decided to be total wankers. Barring Starz from making any references of Army of Darkness, Ash does get a robotic hand rather than a medieval gauntlet with gears, alloys and molecular stuff. They also establish their big stink on if the show did any Evil Ash but (LOOPHOLE!!) that reference falls back to Evil Dead 2 so tough noogies, Universal.

So if you loved the originals for its goofing and gore gags, then you will love Ash vs Evil Dead as they stick to the same medium of his cheeseball lines, hitting on young women and violence against the deadites. Groovy.

We'll swallow your soul... as get through your screen.

Daredevil: Season 2

Hiya gang. Well I have been back to TV and thought now would be a good time to clue you in some shows that are sweeping the internet and TV. Netflix and Hulu both have been jumping on this bandwagon of the binge watchers that enjoy these series from their Smart TVs, Tablets, Laptops and personal computers. That being said, I covered 4 episodes individually of Season 1 of Daredevil, the story of Matt Murdock, a lawyer by day and a crime-fighter by night. With the intense performances of the cast fleshing out these characters to the like I did not think possible in a TV series and I thinking there is no way they can keep that intensity for the next chapter... or can they? This is Daredevil Season 2.

Shane??!!!

Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin (Vincent D' Onofrio of Full Metal Jacket, JFK, Men in Black, The Thirteenth Floor, The Cell, Law & Order: Criminal Intent,The Narrows and Jurassic World) is in the big house, the hoosegow, the slammer and now there is a huge void in the criminal structure. Nelson & Murdock still enjoying some of the limelight of his capture are not making an exorbitant amount of money amongst their Hell's Kitchen neighbors but they are doing their best to stay afloat when a client comes in with a wild tale. The Irish mob took a huge hit on their organization when a lone gunman the media dub the Punisher (Jon Bernathal of CSI: Miami, The Class, The Air I Breathe, Day Zero, Eastwick, The Walking Dead and Justice League vs. Teen Titans) wasted them with superior firepower and special forces training. Trying their level best to protect their client from the cops and the Punisher, Matt dons his new persona from the Devil of Hell's Kitchen as Daredevil (Charlie Cox of There Be Dragons, Boardwalk Empire, The Ordained, Hello Carter, The Theory of Everything and Daredevil) slugging it out with the scum of New York, trying to make some peace for those that can't always turn to the law. Matt tries to reach the Punisher a.k.a. Lieutenant Frank Castle of USMC Recon begging him to find another way to rid the streets of crime.

OMG...What are you wearing??!!!

John Q. Public is also voicing their opinions of the Punisher. Some are for him, others are against and the biggest issue is how Castle's trial is being handled. The D.A. Seems hell bent to burn him at the stake with no mention of the deaths of his wife and children during a major syndicate drug deal of more than 3 different factions that don't even get along but a new player in town called the Blacksmith. As if Murdock didn't have enough on his plate, an old flame name of Elektra (Elodie Yung of The Great Challenge, Fragile(s), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, G. I. Joe: Retaliation, Still and Gods of Egypt) who informs him of an impending danger of the very sect of warriors and assassins he managed to irk when their representative Nobu (Peter Shinkoda of Paycheck, I, Robot, The Hole, Godzilla and Western Religon) was dispatched last season.

With gang violence out of control, a bloodthirsty vigilante blasting everything in sight and a elite guard of monsters on the rise, you would think Murdock would go take a vacation.  Will Frank live in prison? Can Murdock fight all the evil in front of him? Will the Kingpin rule from big house?

The tension is ratcheted to 11 with the first three episodes alone. More character development with Foggy and Karen. Karen is starting to fall for Matt who cannot give her a normal life because it really isn't fair to the girl you are dating to make mad, passionate love and then an hour later go out and beat up bad guys. Jon Bernathal is the fourth man to play the Punisher but unlike the guys prior who only could invoke sadness in a few flashbacks or pure rage, Jon gets to show a human side to Frank Castle in the likes the films could never have the time or really inclination to do so. The Punisher must always be whacking wiseguys like he has a hunting license, but this was moving.

Give it a view, folks and definitely see the first season prior if you haven't already.

No, I am not Batman.  That's Affleck.

Blade: The Animated Series.

Sorry for the delay with this review, folks. Off day when you haven't slept in 30 hours. Insomnia is not for the faint of heart or mind. Today I wanted to gander at an interesting trend. Marvel's Anime project was to give more of an adult theme to the series as violence cannot be shown on cartoons to the magnitude it can in anime. Part of a four anime shows set in Asia in the southeast this projects include: X-Men, Wolverine and Iron Man. This is Blade.

Hey, that's not Wesley Snipes!

The daywalker himself resembles in both story, comic and even film and TV Erik Brooks a.k.a. Blade the damphir was created after his mother was attacked by Deacon Frost, giving Blade (voice actor Harold Perrineau of Romeo + Juilet, Lost, 28 Weeks Later and Zero Dark Thirty) superhuman reflexes, speed and strength to match that of a vampire and none of their weaknesses...except the thirst for blood. Operating out of Asia, Blade searches for Deacon Frost to repay him for all the kindness Frost has shown his mother and he. Probably a full tang titanium disemboweling or beheading would be my guess.

In his search, he comes across a hit going down by a collective of vampire hunters taking out baddie at a night club (Yes, the cliche' nightclub scene) when the young girl Motoko (Kim Mai Guest of TMNT, Dead Rising, Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide) loses her father and compatriots to the vamp bite. Blade dispatches Motoko's father to spare her doing it herself. The two have a love/hate relationship for the start of the series, Blade tries to remain cold and uncaring to spare himself the potential loss of yet another comrade.

Yup, the streetwalkers got really ugly.

We also meet another teacher in Blade's life as we are introduced to Noah Van Helsing (Troy Baker of Naruto: Shippuden, Batman: Arkham City, Saints Row: The Third, Prototype 2 and The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) a bit warmer of a man than say Whistler was, his background is closer tied to the Tomb of Dracula comic series at it is he who took in Erik as a young boy. Consumed by his hatred of what the vampires did to him and his family, Noah also recognizes that Erik too, is a victim and hones the boy into a warrior.

Will Blade find Frost, dispatch him and get back to more vampire hunting? Will Motoko allow herself to care for the daywalker? Is there a happy ending for any of the mentioned?

This series rounds Blade out better rather than his stereotypical bad ass portrayal in the films. Similar to Sticky Jones' take on him in the TV series, Blade is shown to be a tragic character rather than this cold, killing machine. With the tattooed appearance, body armor and weapons of both TV and movie versions, Blade is equally driven to end vampires but it shows he has dimensions beyond that in letting Motoko travel with him. He sees her capabilities as a hunter but more than that, he sees another victim of vampires and offers tutelage. Interestingly enough several of the vampires species Blade encounters in this series are based on folklore of several Asian legends ranging from Japan to the Phillippines.

This succession of the character shows his accomplishments as a sword master, his appearance is similar to Sticky's bald edgy look and the depths of his power. So Blade fans I do recommend this one and hope you enjoy it as much as I did. FYI, there is a guest appearance of a popular X-men. No, I am not telling who. Go watch and find out.

Yeah he is that bad ass.

Blood+

Back again kiddies! Yes I have actually been watching anime, a concept I thought not possible in this modern era of CGI overlapping, countless reboots and more inept rewrites than the mind can handle. With that in mind, today's anime is not a reboot, re-imagining or any such nonsense but a continuation from the film. Will it cut the mustard or will it be dry and less than appetizing?

This is Blood+

But, but I signed up for debate!

After the success of the 45 minute movie in 2001, it was contracted to for a 52 episode series offering more background to the series and addition characters expanding upon the original 6 part episode plan allowing the main story, subplots and secondary stories to unfold more naturally.

So forging ahead from last we saw Saya was 1966 in Yokota Air Base near Fussa, Tokyo, Japan during the Vietnam War. The Chiropterans (bat-like humanoids, demons or vampires) managed to infiltrate the air base with no one the wiser until Saya dispatched with ease until attending to their higher ups which took a toll on her mentally and physically. We cut to 2005 in Koza, Okinawa Island near the US Kadena Air Base, our otherwise moody and methodical killer schoolgirl is... attending classes, living with a family and worried about her high jump for championship matches?? Huh?  Saya has been living with an adopted family and seems to be suffering from anemia and amnesia at the same time. Having no knowledge of her skill set, fighting style or even her past, her adopted family treats her as they would their own daughter and sister.

You just know the fan fic makes us gay in this scene, right?

All seems well in Saya's life when she seems a mysterious cellist Haji, who she seems drawn to and yet could not explain why. No sooner than plot device of "Left my track shoes and clothes at the school," is unleashed the Chiropterans make an appearance, slaughtering the innocent and looking to do away with Saya.  Haji brings Saya's blade and her old instincts kick in, take over and kick serious ass in the process. Haji refers himself to Saya as her chevalier (Knight) who will selflessly deliver assistance to her in her battles against the Chiropterans and stay on helping her recover her lost memories.

Of course the black ops link to the CIA is still there, allowing her passage around the planet and the ability to operate with impunity of the laws of the land. How long has she been without memory? The seemingly innocent looking 17 year old as we know it was 17 in 1966 and 1892 so...has she been off the radar since the Vietnam War for 39 years, going from "family" to "family"? Has combined intelligence operations been searching for Saya this whole time? Who has hidden her in plain sight?

The Chiropterans have a standard manga/anime monster feel as they are hulking monstrosities with bulging eyes, enormous fangs and the cackling process of tormenting the protagonists. With the creators of Ghost in the Shell on the job, the stories blending with CGI almost seamlessly added to the hand drawn work it is amazing. This series will be on your shelf next to Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Naruto and Ruroni Kenshin. I hope you enjoy this series as much I am doing now.

Turn the other cheek, perhaps?