The Legend of La Llorona (2021)

La Llorona is a malevolent spirit bent on vengeance that has shown up in plenty of movies as the Latino film market grows and the realization dawns that the character is public domain. In this film, the crying woman is stalking a young family visiting Mexico, but perhaps they picked the wrong town.

Andrew, Carly and their son Danny have traveled to an isolated hacienda in Mexico for a much-needed vacation. Seeing as how they’ve just lost a child, they need to fix their family and get past a lot of pain. They learn the story of La Llorona, the spirit of a distraught mother who lurks near the water’s edge and strikes fear in the hearts of all who see her.

Soon, La Llorona thas taken Danny and trapped him in a netherworld between the living and the dead. Can taxi driver Jorge (Danny Trejo!) help them against the spirit and the cartels that run the area?

The Legend of La Llorona is competently made and would have completely fit into the 5 for $5 rentals category back in the Blockbuster days.

You can catch it in theaters starting today, January 7, and then on demand and digital January 11 from Saban Films.

Twin Sitters (1994)

Man, I really will watch anything. Case in point, I have watched nearly every movie that The Barbarian Brothers David and Petter Paul made. The Barbarians? Loved it. D.C Cab? Own the blu ray. Double Trouble? It’s on the site later today.

Identical twins who were gigantic hunks of beef in the days when size meant everything, they somehow got to make a whole bunch of movies that I alone enjoy. I mean, if this comes out on blu ray, I better be doing the commentary along with the surviving Peter Paul. I have so many questions of him.

Peter and David play, well, Peter and David Falcone. They’re also identical twin brother waiters who want to open their own restaurant. They save the life of a man who is going into witness protection, asking him to keep his twin nephews Bradley and Steven (Christian and Joseph Cousins, who played Dominic in Kindergarten Cop) out of trouble. However, those kids are going to destroy our heroes.

Yet stop — this was directed and written by John Paragon, the man who was Jambi the Genie, Pterri the Pterodactyl, the sex shop worker in Eating Raoul, a Walt Disney Imagineer, a creative partner of Elvira who was The Breather on her KHJ-TV series, a Groundling and even the director of ten episodes of Silk Stalkings. So yeah, another obsession.

And yep. Paul Bartel shows up. Of course he does.

George Lazenby too.

I really think this movie was created for me and me alone. So thank you, forces of the universe. You have infinitely upset me as of late, but I will take this gift from you and look to better days.

See for Me (2021)

Sophie (Skylar Davenport, a visually impaired, non-binary actor who is legally blind due to a stroke and rare neurological condition; they are also known for voice work on the Final Fantasy video games) is a young blind woman house-sitting at a secluded mansion that is silently being burglarized by thieves seeking a hidden safe. Her only means of defense is a new app called See For Me that connects her to a countrywide volunteer ready to help her survive by seeing on her behalf like Kelly, an army vet who relives her past playing video games. Can a blind teenager survive against the odds?

There have been plenty of home invasion movies — I may have watched more than one just this week — but the direction by Randall Okita and the script by Adam Yorke and Tommy Gushue has some unique edges, like presenting Sophie as someone who steals small objects from the homes she watches and who rages against the world, a place that has cost her the ability to ski.

If you’re looking for something new to watch this weekend, See for Me just might be it.

See for Me is now available in select theaters, on digital platforms and on VOD from IFC Midnight.

What’s on Shudder: January 2022

This isn’t an ad — we just really dig watching Shudder. After all, there are tons of great movies, all focused on the horror genre, and this month may be one of the most exciting the service has provided.

Here’s what’s playing!

January 1

  • The Blood on Satan’s Claw: This month is packed with folk horror and there’s nothing better than this British freakout!
  • Witchfinder General: If you’ve only seen Vincent Price play over-the-top roles, then check this one out. It’s one of my absolute favorite movies and has a tremendous influence on the world of doom metal too.
  • The Wicker Man: Honestly, if you only watch two folk horror movies, January’s first day has everything you need.
  • Sinister: I usually dislike everything made past the 80s, so trust me when I say that this 2012 film is worthwhile and packed with darkness.
  • Lake Mungo
  • Eve’s Bayou

January 3

January 4

January 5

  • Vinegar Syndrome’s Homegrown Horror box set is now available on Shudder! Check out the near-indescribable Beyond Dream’s DoorFatal Exam and Winterbeast.

January 6

January 10

  • If you haven’t purchased Severin’s Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, Shudder not only has the doc — look for an expanded review posted soon — but several of the movies that were on the All the Haunts Be Ours set, including Il Demonio, Alison’s BirthdayLeptriciaClearcitWilzcyzcaLake of the DeadTilburyLokisEdge of the Knife and Eyes of Fire.

January 16

  • The Runner: Check out this movie by Boy Harsher, which is also their new album.

January 17

January 20

  • The Last Thing Mary Saw

January 24

  • The Last Matinee: Influenced by giallo and slashers, this is another interesting pick up for Shudder.
  • Dachra

January 27

  • Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster: A documentary on one of the original horror film heroes.

There are also new episodes of A Discovery of Witches to watch.

What are you excited about on Shudder this month?

KINO CULT ADDS 20 NEW TITLES FOR JANUARY

There are twenty new films available to stream as of today on Kino Cult, the new free ad-supported streaming destination for genre lovers of horror and cult films. These films join a growing list of hundreds of new and rare theatrically released cult hits, all presented in beautiful high definition. Additionally, Kino Cult offers an ad-free subscription plan for $4.99 per month.

Here’s what’s new:

Cub (director Jonas Govaerts) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/cub

Young Boy Scout Sam (Maurice Luijten) is the victim of bullying at the hands of the rest of his troupe and one of his pack leaders. On a camping trip Sam runs into a feral boy in the woods who suspiciously fits the description of an old folk legend called Kai. Sam tries to warn the others but is unaware the real danger comes from a crazed poacher instead.

The Dead Ones (director Jeremy Kasten) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/dead-ones

For four outcast teens, summer detention means being assigned to clean their high school after a horrific incident. But they are not alone; a macabre gang wearing guises of The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse — Famine, Pestilence, War and Death — has locked them inside and is hunting them through the school’s ravaged hallways. As the four students battle to survive, each must confront the supernatural echoes of past traumas they have struggled to forget – and may be condemned to relive.

Demoniacs (director Jean Rollin) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/demoniacs

A Poe-like study of guilt and revenge, Demoniacs (Les Démoniaques) concerns a band of “wreckers” who rape and murder two young sisters, the survivors (Lieva Lone, Patricia Hermenier) of a ship they have lured into coastal rocks and plundered. The ghostly sisters haunt the Captain and obtain help from a mysterious clown (Mirielle d’Argent) who leads them to an impressive disused cathedral. There they meet a gnostic priest (Ben Zimet) standing guard over a cell that harbors the Devil himself (Miletic Zivomir), who empowers the angelic girls sexually with the evil necessary to exact their revenge.

Dracula’s Fiancee (director Jean Rollin) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/draculas-fiancee

As Euro-horror pioneer Jean Rollin (Requiem for a Vampire, The Iron Rose) approached the sunset of his career, he distilled the dreamlike images and themes of his work into films that were deeply personal and unapologetically cryptic. Dracula’s Fiancee stars Jacques Regis as a vampire hunter whose pursuit of the descendants of Count Dracula leads him to a convent (The Order of the White Virgins), where supernatural beings of a parallel world are unleashed, including a bloodthirsty ogress (Magalie Aguado), a wolf-woman (Brigitte Lahaie, Fascination), and a young woman who is being prepared as Dracula’s bride (Cyrille Iste).

The Flesh and Blood Show (director Pete Walker) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/flesh-and-blood-show

Billed as “An Appalling Amalgam of Carnage and Carnality,” Pete Walker’s The Flesh and Blood Show is an homage to the blood-splattered, sex-smeared theatre known as the Grand Guignol. Still haunted by an especially tragic production of Othello, a seaside theatre reopens its doors as a groovy musical revue, only to have several of its performers fall victim to the deadly curse.

For Men Only (director Pete Walker) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/men-only

A sophisticated London fashion columnist takes a job with a small-town publisher and “moral crusader,” much to the dismay of her rich, jealous boyfriend. The “crusader,” however, turns out to be not quite what he says he is…

Marquis De Sade’s Justine (director Chris Boger) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/marquis-de-sades-justine

Without a family, penniless and separated from her sister, a beautiful chaste woman will have to cope with an endless parade of villains, perverts and degenerates who will claim not only her treasured virtue but also her life.

Mercy, the Mummy Mumbled (director R.W. Phillips) https://www.kinocult.com/short/mercy-mummy-mumbled

A professor of Egyptology seeks a mummy for experimentation. A young man devises a scheme to give the professor his desire in hopes of winning the hand in marriage of the teacher’s daughter.

Peek-A-Boo (director Lillian Hunt) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/peek-boo

Mastered from an original 35mm print and presented in cooperation with Something Weird, Peek-A-Boo is a filmed record of a 1953 burlesque show, shot on location at the New Follies Theater in Los Angeles. A time capsule of live adult entertainment in the era of pasties-and-a-G-string, Peek-A-Boo showcases performances by Venus, Patti Wagggin, the Duponts, and baggy-pants comedians Leon DeVoe and Billy Foster.

Permissive (director Lindsay Shonteff) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/permissive

Suzy arrives in London with nowhere to stay and meets Fiona, a groovy bird who has settled into a relationship with Lee, a singer/bassist in a rock band. Fiona is, in the parlance of the Swinging Sixties, a “groupie,” and she turns Suzy on to a secret world of pleasure, vice, and psychedelic music.

Reckless (director Joram Larsen) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/reckless

Two ex-cons kidnap a millionaire’s daughter and hold her for ransom, only to see their scheme go awry when she proves herself to be more cunning than expected.

Scarlet Street (director Fritz Lang) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/scarlet-street

A box-office hit (despite being banned in three states), Scarlet Street is one of legendary director Fritz Lang’s (M, Metropolis) finest American films. When middle-aged milquetoast Chris Cross (Edward G. Robinson, Double Indemnity) rescues street-walking bad girl Kitty (Joan Bennett) from the rain-slicked gutters of an eerily artificial back-lot Greenwich Village, he plunges into a whirlpool of lust, larceny and revenge. As Chris’ obsession with the irresistibly vulgar Kitty grows, the meek cashier is seduced, corrupted, humiliated and transformed into an avenging monster before implacable fate and perverse justice triumph in the most satisfyingly downbeat denouement in the history of American film.

Scavenger Hunt (director Michael Schultz) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/scavenger-hunt

It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World meets The Cannonball Run, populated with 1970s TV stars whose popularity is on the wane. With a star-studded cast, bizarre cameos, and an absurd premise, Scavenger Hunt is an underrated camp comedy classic. After the sudden death of Milton Parker (Vincent Price) his large cast of quirky extended family members and houseworkers are sent on a wild goose chase of a scavenger hunt with the goal of inheriting his $200 million estate.

School for Sex (director Pete Walker) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/school-sex

Lord Wingate, acquitted after appearing in court for fraud, starts up a ‘finishing school’ to teach girls how to extract money from rich men, in return for a percentage of their gains. He enlists the help of the Duchess of Burwood (Alcoholic Aristocrat played by Rose Alba) as a teacher and Hector (Cockney Geezer played by Nosher Powell) as a fitness instructor. A probation officer friend supplies the first batch of pupils fresh from Holloway prison via a clapped-out old minibus. Suspicious neighbors and police together with newspaper reports naming the prison girls now hobnobbing in high society results in a raid and a new court appearance for Lord Wingate. The Judge sentences him but plots to start up his own school for sex.

The Stewardesses (director Al Silliman Jr.) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/stewardesses

A single eventful night in the lives of a crew of Los Angeles-based, trans-Pacific stewardesses, as they experiment with drugs and engage in various sexual encounters.

Suspense (director Lois Weber) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/suspense

Filmmaker Lois Weber mimicked the techniques of D.W. Griffith (and upped the ante with several visual innovations) in what is possibly the finest example of the race-to-the-rescue melodrama. When a hobo invades a secluded home occupied by mother and child, a frantic phone call summons the police to their aid.

Two Orphan Vampires (director Jean Rollin) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/two-orphan-vampires

Two Orphan Vampires (Les Deux Orphelines Vampires) follows Henriette and Louise (Isabelle Teboul and Alexandra Pic), two blind girls of unknown origin, raised in an orphanage by two adoring nuns. Little do the nuns know, each night as the sun goes down, their “little angels” acquire night vision (they “see blue”), as well as an appetite for blood and teenage mischief.

Wither (director Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/wither

A group of naive young people has their carefree weekend in an isolated country house thrown into turmoil when one of them accidentally unleashes a mysterious and murderous creature trapped in the basement. As the demon begins to attack the couples, the blood-drenched body count mounts and, with it, more creatures with a taste for human flesh. The dazed young men and women soon mount their own desperate counter-attack, an attack that includes decapitations, dismemberment, spurting blood, flailing axes, and the kind of gore not normally associated with Swedish cinema!

Zombie Lake (director Jean Rollin) https://www.kinocult.com/feature/zombie-lake

Conceived by one master of erotic horror (Jess Franco) and pseudonymously directed by another (Jean Rollin), Zombie Lake weaves the tale of a contemporary French village haunted by water-logged Nazis slain by the Resistance. With little regard for narrative subtlety, the film veers from the shamelessly exploitive (as when a women’s volleyball team skinny-dips in zombie-infested waters) to the tearfully sentimental (depicting a young orphan girl’s psychic connection to one of the walking dead). Beneath its garish surface, however, Zombie Lake embraces several themes that run throughout Rollin’s body of work, showing that this eclectic artist could not help investing even a playful film such as this with his personal sensibilities.

You can download the Kino Cult app in the U.S. and Canada and watch free on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google TV, iOS, Android and at www.kinocult.com.

Saurians (1994)

Directed, written, produced, starring and edited by Mark Polonia, this movie makes Carnosaur look like a 5D CGI spectacle by comparison, but come on. It was shot by a teenager in Pennsylvania and has the energy that that statement embodies.

I mean, what’s your tolerance for stop motion dinosaurs on green screen, Amiga graphics and amateur green screen endeavors? You’re either the kind of person that looks at this and thinks it’s complete junk or you get obsessed and can’t turn away. There’s really no in-between.

Explosions wake up two dinosaurs, who proceed to destroy most of Mark’s hometown, Wellsboro, PA. It looks like this movie is all him and not as much of his brother John, who does show up as an extra. And Mark cares about you, his audience, so much that he even has his future wife do a shower scene.

But yeah. Rubbery dinosaurs.

Brother of the Wind (1973)

A mountain man named Sam Monroe (Dick Robinson, who also directed this movie*, voiced by Leon Ames) saves four wolf cubs after their mother dies. Somehow, against the odds, they form a pack and protect one another. Thirty other animals appear in this movie, all handled by Robinson.

Written by John C. Champion (Zero Hour!) and John C. Mahon (who produced Chariots of the Gods), you may wonder, “Why would Sam care about this movie, much less write it up for me to read about?”

Because this is a Sun International Picture.

This was four-walled into theaters, taking the kind of movies that they felt the American public wasn’t getting — which would be wildlife pictures and the kind of UFO and conspiracy shows that are now on basic cable, but in theaters and drive-ins — and selling it directly to them. Toklat came before this and is incredibly similar, with Robinson tracking a bear that he knew as a cub with Ames doing the voiceover.

Later known as Sunn Classics and Schick/Sunn Classics, the ultimate expression of their outdoorsman against the odds movies would be The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

*Robinson also made or worked on the similar movies Birth of a Legend, Cougar CountryToklatMountain CharlieBuffalo RiderThe Rogue and the Grizzly and did the animal sequences for Sasquatch: The Legend of Bigfoot.

The Mildew from Planet Xondar (2015)

Ah, Necrostorm. What have you brought us this time?

Let’s go back to 1984, thanks to Hotel Inferno director Giulio De Santi and Neil Meschino (whose movie Mold! was retrofitted into this revamped gorefest). Bentan Labs has just created a mildew that can spread and consume any form of vegetation with the goal of deploying it to destroy the food sources of enemy armies. But to their surprise, they soon learn that the midew is actually a sentient alien being devoted to destroying human beings through the grossest and goopiest ways possible.

The scientists that have survived join with the mstyerious mercenary Toxic to try to escape. But trust me — it’s not going to be easy.

Less its own movie that a remix, it’s still got something for the folks who love to see bodies destroyed in geysers of gore and gristle. You know who you are, there’s no self help group for you and all you can do is just watch more of these things. So here’s one more, albeit one that is self-aware and realizes exactly what it is.

Freddy vs Dylan (2015)

So while we may have gotten Cemetery Man and Dylan Dog here in the United States, Italian horror fans like Denis Frison didn’t get enough and made their own movies like 2012’s La morte puttana and this 2015 mashup of Freddy Krueger and the Dylan Dog comics.

Dylan Dog is, after all, a “nightmare investigator.” So who better to seek out when you’re being hunted by “the bastard son of a hundred maniacs,” Freddy Krueger? But what if Freddy realizes who Dylan is and sees him as an arch enemy that needs to be destroyed so that he can keep on killing?

When you read the words “fan film,” don’t turn up your nose. This looks better than so many movies that have been sent to us as actual films for review. And the concept is absolutely perfect.

You can watch the entire movie here.

Dawn Raid (2021)

One of the best things about doing this site is that I learn about things I’d never know otherwise.

Like New Zealand hop hop.

Dawn Raid Entertainment was started by Andy Murnane and Brotha D and the label includes stars like Savage, Mareko, Adeaze and Aaradhna. From humble beginnings selling t-shirts on the streets of South Auckland, Andy and Brotha D formed a legendary partnership that would enjoy worldwide success.

Oscar Kightley’s first full-length film, this movie moves quickly and involved me in a story and life that I had no idea I would have any interest in. Thats the hallmark of a great filmmaker and an interesting piece of art. So while I may never listen to anything Dawn Raid has released, I could see the passion and drive they had to change their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

Named for the 70s raids that targeted Polynesian immigrants to New Zealand, this hard scrabble label made its share of mistakes — Andy and Brotha D are more than open about some of the not-so-great choices they made along the way — while also finding surprising success.

With quick cut animation, great insight from artists and even family members connected to the label, as well as the authentic and honest remembrances of the label from its founders, this is a movie worth watching.

Dawn Raid is available on demand and digital from Universal Pictures. You can learn more on the film’s official site.