Camp Dread 2014 - REVIEW

We are quickly approaching summertime which means it's time for some summer camp slashers.  The first one to rear its head is Camp Dread.  Could this be the Sleepaway Camp of 2014?  Probably not but it does boast a cast member that is no stranger to a summer camp killer.  Popping this one in and really really hoping for the best.

Washed up director Julian Barrett (Eric Roberts) is looking to revamp his career and get back to his hayday.  Julian made a trilogy of slasher films in the 80's called Summer Camp.  His ploy is to record a reality TV show at the camp where his movies were filmed.  He picks a group of troubled young adults to fill the camp with a chance to survive a killer in order to earn a million dollars.  He brings in the star from his Summer Camp movies Rachel (Felissa Rose) as a counselor, who is now an actual trained therapist and is really looking to help these kids.  The atmosphere is set for a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.  A classic case of "who done it".  Who will survive this trip to camp?

This is one movie I was really excited to see and wanted to love it but that sure didn't happen.  Camp Dread is shall we say dreadful!  The really only bright spots I can point out is Felissa Rose, the quality of the film and the use of practical effects.  I am a fan of Felissa Rose and if she gave a bad performance I would still tell it like it is but she is one of the few that did shine in this movie.  I have never been a big fan of Eric Roberts so I really don't care for him.  I haven't mentioned Danielle Harris yet and for good reason.  She again, just like in Hallows Eve, is just to attract an audience and is only in the film I would say less than 5 minutes and 2 scenes.  It's really a joke that she is on the cover with her name as if she is a main cast member.  I know this happens a lot with lower budget movies but still pisses me off whenever I see someone billed as the main cast member to only see them in the movie as fast as you can blink, Ala Intruder "starring" Bruce Campbell.

The story itself was decent to be nice but it really took too long for the movie to get going.  Too much time was spent on the story.  In a horror film, specially a film that is tagged as a slasher, the audience wants to see action they don't want to sit and continuously wait for something to happen.  I will say once it does get going the action picks up alot but for me it was too late cause I was already bored and Camp Dread lost my attention.

I wanted to be able to give this a good review and rating but it's just not going to happen.  My opinion isn't the end all be all but just don't get your hopes up too high if you decide to give this movie a whirl.  I will have to give this one 3 out of 10 stars which is probably one of the lowest I have given in a long time if not ever.  Stay twisted everyone!

Official Artwork Released for The Divine Tragedies

Writer and director Jose Prendes (The Haunting of Whaley House) and producers Jon and James Kondelik are excited to announce the beginning of principal photography for their fever dream: The Divine Tragedies! As well, the official movie poster has been released for the film, to coincide with the shoot. The official poster was designed by graphic artist Devin Koehler; fans of horror can preview the poster’s mesmerizing imagery here.

The Divine Tragedies, based loosely on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case, tells the tale of Charles Brubaker (Graham Denman, The Haunting of Whaley House) and his half-brother Thomas Lo Bianco (Jon Kondelik, Airplane Vs. Volcano), who were raised by their arthritis-twisted, alcoholic mother (Barbara Crampton). The boys concoct a deadly game to test their superior intelligence against the dimwitted masses. This game will eventually lead to murder, and when Genevieve, a beautiful single mother, enters their lives they finally find the perfect girl for their first kill. But, problems arise when they quickly discover that Detective Homer Gaul (Ken Foree), a cop with a very special gift, is hot on their trail.

Here is the first look at the exquisite poster for this mind trip of film, designed by Koehler. Producer Jon Kondelik says of the poster’s quality: “I love the poster Devin has created for us. We’ve worked with him on several projects before and he continues to amaze us with his pieces, which are lovingly created throwbacks to the days of the classic artworks from the ‘70s and ‘80s.” Editors and horror fans can see the exquisite artistic detail in the artwork here.

Filming begins today! Film fans can follow the production on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/divinetragediesmovie

No Service Kicks off IndieGoGo Campaign

San Francisco, Ca., January 14, 2014 – Indie cult filmmakers, Reyna Young aka Miss Misery and Maureen “Mo” Whelan have teamed together to give you their first twisted feature horror film No Service.

The story is about a group of friends driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for summer break who find themselves stranded in the middle of the High Dessert while the Carson family offers to take them in for the night not disclosing what Momma Carson is cooking for dinner. This is a Last Doorway Production.

Both ladies are known for their more surreal, experimental stylization filmmaking combining horror with dark humor. Their recent collaboration was “M is for… Miscarriage” which was one of 500 + films of the first round of films for the ABC’s of Death Competition. Reyna Young just finished production on her cheesy monster film Golden Gate Monster and hosts bad horror films on Movie Massacre; Seen on KCTH 27 out of Hayward and AT&T U-Verse. Mo Whelan’s recent short film A Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven was an Official Selection of the 2013 A Nightmare to Remember International Horror Film Festival and was an Official Selection of the 2012 AOF International Film Festival. She is also a producer for The Divine Order which Dave Vescio stares in and is known for her quirky writing style that has been published through Girls and Corpses Magazine and other publications.

The film also stars; Felissa Rose (Sleepaway), Max Wasa (My Mother is a Step Alien, Playboy), Michelle Tomlinson (The Cellar Door), Victoria De Mare (Batty Boop, Horrorween), Lisa J. Pellegrene (Worlds Best Beaches / Animal Rights Advocate / Director Idea Analyst and Associates, Inc.), Jeff Dylan (Stuck, Lazarus), Marv Blauvelt (Sculpture, M is for… Miscarriage), Kenneth J. Hall (Puppet Master), Mary Whelan, and Donald Ross. Members of the cast and crew are Pit Bull advocates; therefore a few Pit Bulls will also star in the film.

The film will be filmed on location in the San Bernardino area. One scene will be filmed at Tropicana Liquor which was featured on several southern California news shows, including KTLA, unfortunately due to their own real life horror story at the beginning of 2013.

Please visit the IndieGoGo page of No Service and donate to help the filmmaker complete this project http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/no-service and like their FaceBook fan page for updates https://www.facebook.com/noservicemovie.




Last Doorway Productions is an independent horror film company based out of San Francisco. Credits include Welcome to My Darkside: Women in Horror Documentary, 18 short films and a television show called Miss Misery’s Movie Massacre. For more information go to www.lastdoorwayproductions.com or www.missmisery.net

Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas Coming to DVD and VOD November 19th

New York, NY - Wild Eye Releasing is excited to announce the November 19th DVD and VOD release of Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas. Co-written and directed by Dave Campfield (Caesar), Deadly Xmas arrives in time for the holidays with more all-star B-Movie legends than you can fit under a Christmas tree, featuring cult icons Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Felissa Rose, Joe Estevez, Deron Miller, Robert Z'dar and Debbie Rochon. Streaming links and review discs are now available upon request.

These legends join Campfield, Paul Chomicki (Otto), Ken MacFarlane, Samantha Barrios, Summer Ferguson, Avi Garg, and Youtube sensations Lauren Francesca, and Shawn "Coolduder" Phillips in a hilarious homage toSilent Night Deadly Night and the slayer santa genre that Ain't It Cool News says "brings genuine humor to the horror genre".

Caesar and his half-brother Otto take on duties as Santa and his elf. However, the bodies begin to pile up when a fellow store Santa (CKY's Deron Miller) develops a vendetta against them, and he soon turns Caesar's list of Dinner guests into a list of Xmas-inspired victims! 

A hit on the horror festival circuit, the DVD release of Deadly Xmas (SRP $14.95) will include three commentary tracks (Director, Cast/Crew, Actors), a behind the scenes featurette, alternate scenes, short films: Piggyzilla, Otto's First Job, & The Perfect Candidate and trailers.

Preorder Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas

Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas Coming to DVD

New York, NY - Wild Eye Releasing is excited to announce the November 19th DVD and VOD release of Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas. Co-written and directed by Dave Campfield (Caesar), Deadly Xmas arrives in time for the holidays with more all-star B-Movie legends than you can fit under a Christmas tree, featuring cult icons Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Felissa Rose, Joe Estevez, Deron Miller, Robert Z'dar and Debbie Rochon. Streaming links and review discs are now available.

These legends join Campfield, Paul Chomicki (Otto), Ken MacFarlane, Samantha Barrios, Summer Ferguson, Avi Garg, and Youtube sensations Lauren Francesca, and Shawn "Coolduder" Phillips in a hilarious homage toSilent Night Deadly Night and the slayer santa genre that Ain't It Cool News says "brings genuine humor to the horror genre".

Caesar and his half-brother Otto take on duties as Santa and his elf. However, the bodies begin to pile up when a fellow store Santa (CKY's Deron Miller) develops a vendetta against them, and he soon turns Caesar's list of Dinner guests into a list of Xmas-inspired victims!

A hit on the horror festival circuit, the DVD release of Deadly Xmas (SRP $14.95) will include three commentary tracks (Director, Cast/Crew, Actors), a behind the scenes featurette, alternate scenes, Shorts films: Piggyzilla, Otto's First Job, & The Perfect Candidate and trailers.

Preorder Caesar & Otto's Deadly Xmas

The Perfect House 2011 - REVIEW

Stop me if you've heard this one... a newlywed couple is looking for the perfect house to spend the rest of their lives in... blah, blah, blah, things go wrong and everyone dies. There's always some schmuck that ends up buying or renting a house with a haunted history. OR, or... a serial killer escapes from prison and goes home to find his Mommy was run out of town by an angry mob and a whole new family has planted roots. There are so many regurgitated tales of home buying gone wrong to choose from that it's becoming really hard to find one with any worth.

Newlyweds, Mike (William A. Robertson) and Marisol (Andrea Vahl), are given the tour of their potential dream home by a perky real estate Agent (Monique Parent). As they progress from one room to another, the history of the house is told in anthology type tales. "The Storm" is a Hitchcock inspired, dark shadow filled tale of an abusive family taking shelter in their basement from a violent, fast approaching storm. Soon we learn that the weather isn't the only thing threatening to tear this family apart. "Chic-ken" is the tale of a serial killer who rapes and tortures his victims in the basement of his home. "Dinner Guest" is a disturbing look at what can happen if you fail to return gardening tools to your creepy, hermit neighbor.

With a cast composed of film stars from the 80's and 90's, The Perfect House is likely to be a horror's fan wet dream. Jonathan Tiersten and Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp) and John Philbin (Return of the Living Dead) are clearly the headliners here, and they do a great job, but it's the brother and sister duo (Alex Markousis and Michael Wagner) from the first segment "The Storm" that steal the show. Or maybe it's just the creepiness of that particular story that caught my attention... who knows. Overall, the acting is hit and miss to varying degrees. It occasionally gets a little over the top and at times a bit cheesy but I think that had more to do with the dialogue they were given than with their acting abilities.

I have to admit at first, I had no idea what was going on with this film. I got a little lost in between the first couple of flashbacks and it took me a minute to realize exactly what was happening. Okay, okay I'm a little slow. I freely admit it. That said, looking at the stories individually, I'd have to say that "The Storm" was my personal favorite. It had the right amount of uncomfortable eeriness to it that is maintained through out that whole segment. That coupled with the impending storm outside and the intensity of the conflict inside makes for a pretty strong story. "Chic-ken" came off a little too Hostel'ish for me. I do dig the blood and guts type film but I'm a little burned out on the torture porn aspect of movies. Not to mention the scripting in this one was a little on the bizarre side. There is no circumstance where I would see a serial killer's hostage say and act the way this one does. Yes, I'm fully aware of Stockholm Syndrome but I don't see it happening in this case, again because of some of the dialogue. This in turn, made me wonder if Kris Hulbert's intentions were for this segment to be more of a dark comedy. It's still kind of unclear for me. "Dinner Guest" was the hardest one for me to get through as it contained a lot of physical and psychological child abuse and that's not really my cup of tea.

As I said before, I didn't hate The Perfect House. I like that they tried to shake things up and make it not your normal "evil house" type film. The effects are well done and it's well shot. It's definitely worth a watch AND for the entire month of February, when you rent or buy The Perfect House a donation will be made to Roswell Park Cancer Institute. That right there should be enough to make even NON-horror fans watch!