The Dead Hour: Episode 1 "Donor" - REVIEW

The Dead Hours is a horror/suspense webseries that has taken a cue from classics like The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. The series was created by Daniel B. Iske & Scott Coleman who are also responsible for the award winning Indie horror The Wretched. Each episode is approximately fifteen minutes in length, and the first season has five episodes. The Dead Hour anthology is a radio show hosted by DJ Raven who introduces her listeners to a new tale of horror every week.

Episode 1: Donor: In a time where banks are failing, homes are shuttered, and one-and-a-half out of ten people are unemployed, Seth discovers a way to maintain the lifestyle he and his wife have become accustomed to… but at a crippling cost.

With a running time of right about 17 minutes, you'd think it would be hard to get entranced in the story but it's actually not. It starts out with a creepy kind of desperation and Mark Booker plays it to pretty much perfection. Cheri Bloomingdale also does a good job as the materialistic wife whose only concern is getting what she wants, no matter the cost. Viewers will have no problem getting pulled into this tale of macabre.

Be sure and check out this episode and the rest at thedeadhour.com. You definitely won't be disappointed.

My Soul to Take 2010 - REVIEW

Sometimes I wonder if reviewing films has warped my ability to just sit and watch something without over analyzing or picking it apart in some form or another. What if I didn't have to pay attention to the cinematography or the score or the lines of dialogue? Would I then be able to just sit and watch and enjoy? I remember being young and going to the movies and mindlessly watching what's in front of me and not really caring if it was good or not as long as it entertained me. I look at most films today and all I can think is "What a bunch of shit." Have films really gotten that bad or have I just gotten too old to be able to appreciate it the same way? Then along comes My Soul to Take.

In Riverton there is a legend of a serial killer known as The Ripper who swore revenge on the seven children born the night he died. 16 years later, people are being murdered again. Has The Ripper been reincarnated as one of the seven teens, or did he survive the night he supposedly died, hiding in the forest waiting to exact his revenge? Only one of the kids knows the answer. Bug (Max Thieriot), one of the seven born that night, is plagued by terrifying visions of his murdered friends but is unable to tell if they are true or just a figment of his imagination. If he hopes to save his friends from The Ripper, he'll have to face an evil that won't stop until it finishes what it started.

Not a completely new concept but it's a good enough foundation to build on. Unfortunately Wes Craven, who I love by the way, (I'm sorry Wes) didn't succeed at constructing this one. The first 20 minutes or so set the bar pretty high. There was the reveal of a mild mannered family man to be a town's serial killer, The Ripper, who just wouldn't die with some good performances by Raul Esparza and Harris Yulin and a pretty intense showdown of good and evil. Then a not so great scene involving a ritual or right of passage where "The Riverton 7" get together on their birthdays to face The Ripper (in puppet form) and knock him down sending him back to his watery grave. After that there's a pretty decent Cravenesque bridge scene. All of which showcased the potential for this to be a classic Craven horror/thriller but unfortunately, that's about as good as it gets.

Among many other things, MSTT suffers from one of the most unlikeable casts I've seen in a horror in a long time. I didn't buy Nick Lashaway as the bully/jock of the group and the Fang (Emily Meade) character was so unbelievably ridiculous. I don't know about you but I never encountered anyone in high school who ran a criminal enterprise out of the girl's bathroom. It was hard enough to believe that these 20 somethings were teenagers but to throw things in a script just to fill time and confuse the viewer is inexcusable to me. Especially from someone who for almost 40 years has been passing out nightmares like they were candy. Not only are we asked to believe that Bug is this completely clueless, naive 16 year old but Craven also wants us to think that a bitch like Fang has never muttered a word to him about his past? And don't even get me started on the blind kid, Jerome (Denzel Whitaker), who not only treks through the dense woods all on his own but climbs into 2 story windows in the middle of the night. It's unfathomable that any of these "teenagers" would even talk to each other much less gather once a year and make nice. Craven has filled this script with not only plot holes big enough to drive a semi through but character holes as well. No one other than Bug is ever explored deep enough for you to give two shits whether they get maimed or murdered and some of them will leave you hoping they are.

This is Wes Craven’s first film since Red Eye in 2005, and his first as both a writer and director since New Nightmare in 1994. He brings in a few of his iconic touches but most of them you won't see unless you watch the bonus features. It's just so unfortunate that MSTT is nothing more than big budget entertainment for teens which I have no doubt they will find visually stimulating. Hell, I sat through it twice just so I could see what the reactions of my teens would be and of course they loved it. Why wouldn't they? What teen really cares about plot points and story structure? It's apparent that this was his target audience. Throw a bunch of semi-hot (sorry) teens on the screen and kill them off in not so glorious ways and you've got a film that the teenage crowd will line up to see. Too bad it was so bogged down with dialogue and insignificant information that most of them probably left scratching their heads.

I will be honest and admit that after a second viewing, I did "get it" a little better but still not enough make me a fan. Sorry Wes!

The Roommate 2011 - REVIEW

What's the difference between mainstream Hollywood horror/thrillers and Indie horror/thrillers? Money? Big names? Access to great locations? The answer is yes, all of the above. BUT, let's explore that a bit by using some of my favorite Indie horrors and comparing them to The Roommate.
We'll start off with one I recently watched, Raymond Did It, which had an estimated budget of 40K, a couple of scream queens and they used the crew's houses (if I remember correctly) as their locations.
Paranormal Activity burst onto the big screen on a budget of and estimated 15K, a cast of basically "unknowns" and was shot entirely in one apartment.
The Dark Hours had a little bit of a bigger budget of 500K (estimated), a more "known" cast and was done in a cabin in the woods.
Which brings me to Pontypool my Pontypool. It cracks the 1 mil mark and had the very well known Stephen McHattie in it but was done in the basement of a church.
You're probably wondering why I'm bothering you with all this useless knowledge? I promise, I'll get to that and then you'll understand.

Sara (Minka Kelly) is a small town girl who comes to LA to study fashion. She ends up rooming with Rebecca (Leighton Meester), who seems nice enough at first. It's not long before the obsessive and extremely psychotic Rebecca grows envoious of anyone else in Sara's life and decides she would be better off without them.

I am not a Meester fan. In my opinion being able to pout your way through the entire film doesn't qualify you as a good actor. I've seen several of her films and I can honestly say that I didn't like her performance in any of them. Kelly just kinda grinned the entire time and I'm honestly not sure if Cam Gigandet can talk with his eyes open or not. Yes, it's cute and the teeny boppers will love it but come on! Characters that could've elevated the level of the film were ignored, i.e. Billy Zane and Danneel Harris, to the point of one minute they were there and the next gone with some stupid, shitty explanation of what happened to them. Maybe the oddest thing about the whole thing is after going through all the trouble to get rid of all the other people in Sara's life, Rebecca doesn't even target Gigandet. No, giving him a stupid look through a bookshelf is not considered scary or creepy it's just... weird.

This film was just all over the place. Almost like it was shot one way and then someone who wanted to fuck with Christian E. Christiansen snuck in and chopped the fuck out of it. Scenes that could've and should've been left out dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. There was very little discussion of Rebecca's psychosis... HELLO MCFLY... isn't that the whole focus of the story? If someone is a fucking nut job there's always a reason for it, be it an outside influence or just being dealt a fucked up hand in life. Either way, explain it! Someone should tell Sonny Mallhi that a simple little pout or pissy look can't tell the story for him. And not only that, it can sometimes be mistaken for constipation. When it was all said and done, this was nothing but an over glorified CW show that should've just been made for TV. See how nice I am, I'm not even gonna point out the fact that this was merely a rip off of the far superior 1992 Single White Female... oops, I didn't it anyway. My bad.

So, back to my opening remarks... If Paranormal Activity and Raymond Did It can come off as good as they did with a budget of less than 40K and unknown actors, why the fuck is Hollywood still throwing money into huge productions and overpaying actors who wouldn't know what to do with a script if the directions were tattooed on their eyelids. The Roommate cost 16 million dollars to make and what did they end up with... A ripped off (Single White Female) belly button ring and no blood, a tumble dried little kitty and no blood, a murder and no blood and a sex scene so bland a Baptist preacher could sit and watch with his teenage daughter. Kinda makes you wonder where 16 million dollars went huh? Calling this film a thriller is like calling Twilight a horror film, no one will believe you and it's quite possible you might get hit.
Avoid this film, avoid the DVD, it's not even worth a free Netflix instant queue viewing.

INTERVIEW - Angelina Armani on ChromeSkull: Laid to Rest 2

Since LAID TO REST 2 is set to be released later this year, I thought it would be nice to have a little chat with one of the stars of the film, Angelina Armani. Not only was she gracious and approachable but she's also very open about what we can expect from the sequel to Robert Hall's Laid to Rest. Check out what she has to say about ChromeSkull's reign of terror and being invited to guest at this year's Texas Frightmare Weekend and also some behind the scenes photos of her in action.

Twisted Central: I guess the best place to start is if you could briefly tell me a little about yourself. Have you always been a fan of horror films and if so, what are some of your favorites?
Angelina: You hit me with the hardest question first. It's so hard to describe yourself briefly in so few letters. I started runway modeling in New York and moved to LA at 19 to be an aspiring actress. I just finished shooting in a sequel called ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest 2. This movie has been written and directed by Robert Hall, and should be released fall of 2011. I have always been a huge horror fan since I was a little girl. It's all I would watch. My mom showed me that horror movies were for entertainment and couldn't hurt me from watching them so I grew attached to the genre. Some of my favorites are the instant classics like Halloween, Friday The 13th, Prince Of darkness, and so many more that couldn't all fit in this interview.

Twisted Central: How did you become involved with ChromeSkull?
Angelina: When I found out that a sequel was in the making, I knew I had to be in on it. I auditioned for a role of a detective. Next thing I knew, a script was in my hand.

Twisted Central: I was only recently able to actually watch Laid to Rest and I found it quite enjoyable and thought it had some of the most inventive kills I've seen in a while. Can we expect the same thing from this second chapter?
Angelina: Robert Hall promises double the kills with twice the blood shed. So I hope the viewers have high expectations because that's what their getting.

Twisted Central: What do you enjoy most about Laid to Rest and the ChromeSkull character?
Angelina: I think I can relate to the audience and say I enjoy it for its gruesome kills. As far as ChromeSkull, he's a legendary killer in the making. Robert Hall has created a piece of history that will indeed embed itself in the horror world. ChromeSkull is known for the best kills out of any horror flick. He's fast and has absolutely zero mercy on his victims and the ones to come.


Twisted Central: What affect has being part of ChromeSkull had on your life?
Angelina: My vision has definitely expanded. I get to sit back and see things through the killers eyes since I'm always on set. The affect has mostly been the learning experience.

Twisted Central: There are so many "big" names associated with this film i.e. Brian Austin Green and legendary horror actress Danielle Harris. What was it like working right along side them?
Angelina: Brian is the absolute best. He's so easy going and sweet! I didn't get to work with Danielle in LTR but I'm sure we'll hopefully cross paths again in another movie.

Twisted Central: Nick Principe gives me chills as ChromeSkull, I find him extremely intimidating and creepy (even with the mask on), were there any jump out and scare ya moments on set?
Angelina: I was opening a few of the caskets on set looking for something and nick was sleeping inside one of them with his mask on. I jumped and slammed the lid on his head when he sat up. It's more humorous than scary but I figured I'd share it.

Twisted Central: What other projects do you have coming up? More horror?
Angelina: I have so much coming up. Definitely more horror although I am not opposed to any other genre. I'll be at lots of conventions this year promoting Laid To Rest 2 like HorrorHound Weekend Indianapolis, Texas Frightmare Weekend, and more.

Twisted Central: What a rush being invited as a guest to Texas Frightmare Weekend! What are you most looking forward to during TFW?
Angelina: Definitely the fans. Its ALL for the fans. I've been to Texas only once before and loved it there. Everyone is so down to earth and super sweet. I can't wait to meet them all.

Thanks again to Angelina for taking the time to answer some questions.

You can stay updated by following them on twitter at @AngelinaArmani and @laidtorestmovie or by joining the Laid to Rest Facebook fan page.

Raymond Did It 2011 - REVIEW

While most people scour the Internet and movie news sites looking for the "next great movie" that's coming out, I just kinda hang back and keep an eye on the indie scene. As far as I'm concerned that's where the greatness is coming from these days. After all, wasn't Hatchet just an indie glimmer in Adam Green's eye when it came about? Or how about Feast, Pontypool, Ginger Snaps, Eden Lake, May or one of my new faves, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon? The list could literally go on and on. Watch any of these films and you will see what a micro budget, some imagination and a little hard work can deliver. It's getting to a point where I don't even go to the theater for big studio horror anymore. What's the point? It's all over done, re-done or just plain done. There's absolutely nothing original coming out of H-Wood anymore. At least not as far as horror goes. I'd rather just wait for a screener or DVD release and kick back at home with a few friends (who am I kidding, I don't have friends) and a little alcohol. Don't get me wrong, indie horror has it's share of stinkers too but when a gem like one of the aforementioned films comes around... instant gratification.

I'm quickly becoming aware of the effort that goes into a micro budget film be it short or feature length and I'm gaining a new respect for the people that make it happen. From directors/producers who put in their own money to actors who put their best face forward on a strictly no/low paying gig.

Raymond Did It is a slasher film in the tradition of Halloween and Prom Night. When twelve-year-old Bryce Rourke is accidentally killed in a playground scuffle, his friends decide to blame Bryce's developmentally delayed older brother for the accident. Raymond is taken to a state hospital while the true killer walks free. Six years later, Raymond escapes from the hospital to seek bloody revenge for his brother's death.

This is not your typical indie horror cast. Lindsay Felton from VH1’s Scream Queens plays Tammy, who was Raymond's only friend and the only one who had any remorse whatsoever about Bryce's death. Also from Scream Queens, Jessica Palette appears as Jayme, and horror veteran Elissa Dowling stars as the manipulative Paige. Newcomer Kyle Hoskins plays Raymond in his first feature-length film and he tears the screen up with his imposing 6'5" bulky stature. He's not really given much to say but just knowing the back story of the character, it's easy to sympathize with his character and it doesn't hurt that he pulls off the timid nature of Raymond pretty well.

Travis Legge pulls out (IMO) a very solid micro budget horror here. It doesn't have the normally shoddy sound that is infamous in these kinds of Indie films. The score is reminiscent of John Carpenter's original Halloween. (I can think of one shot in particular that brought me right back to the streets of Haddonfield.) The down side, there are a couple of choppy scenes (not overly noticable) and one or two rushed kills but the gore makes up for it. One little hint... washing machine. Not to mention the ending kinda leaves it open for a sequel. Will there be a sequel Mr. Legge?? C'mon, you can tell me.

In my opinion Legge has created one of those gems that come along every so often and he's someone who will do very well amongst the horror fiends and I for one can't wait to see what he does next..... Perhaps The Social Media Massacre with me?? Time will tell.

Zombie Ink Comics to Release MonsterMatt’s Wolff’s Run

Buffalo, NY January 26

Buffalo-based independent comic publisher Zombie Ink Comics is proud to announce that they will be releasing Wolff’s Run written by MonsterMatt Patterson (MonsterMatt’s Bad Monster Jokes Vol. 1) and illustrated by tattoo-artist Bob Bieber. Zombie Ink is shooting for a mid-2011 release for the three issue mini-series.

Combining equal parts horror, sci-fi, and crime noir set in the Prohibition Era, Wolff’s Run promises to be a dark hard-boiled romp full of surprises! The story follows Frank Wolff, an illegal immigrant smuggler and rum runner on the Canadian border who crosses the wrong people and finds himself the subject of a twisted experiment! Wolff’s Run fits in perfectly with Zombie Ink Comics’ brand of underground pulp comics.

Chrome Skull: Laid to Rest 2 Trailer

A new trailer for Robert Hall’s sequel to Laid To Rest has hit the web. If you're a fan of the original, as I am, you won't be disappointed!

ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest 2 brings back Nick Principe as the villain, plus Thomas Dekker, joined by Brian Austin Green, Mimi Michaels, Danielle Harris, Angelina Armani and Gail O'Grady as well as one of my favorites from The Mentalist, Owain Yeoman

I am so psyched for this film! With a great cast, inventive kills and the effects talent of Robert Hall, I expect this one to be even better than the first!