Category Archives: Movie reviews

ARROW 4K UHD RELEASE: Ms .45 (1981)

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Thana (Zoë Tamerlis, who also wrote director Abe Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant) is a mute seamstress working in New York City’s Garment District.

After she’s assaulted twice — once at gunpoint in an alley by a masked man and then again in her own apartment by a burglar — Thana lives up to her name, which is inspired by Thanatos, the Greek god of death. She attacks the second man with a glass red apple and then beats him to death with an iron and leaves him in her tub. After dealing with her horrible work situation, she cuts her rapist apart and dumps him all over the city.

She keeps the man’s gun and soon uses it on another man who corners her, then runs up her steps and throws up in an echo of Paul Kersey’s first night of vigilantism in Death Wish.

Soon, she’s a literal Angel of Vengeance, which was the film’s other title. She targets a series of men who have treated women badly, and even causes one of them to kill himself when her gun jams. Finally, her vengeance reaches the point where she unleashes her full fury on her horrible boss and every man who attends her party as she whirls around, full action heroine, repeatedly shooting everyone while dressed as a nun.

Ms. 45 is better regarded than I Spit On Your Grave, perhaps because it doesn’t dwell on its rape scenes or have them take up much of the movie’s running time. Or maybe, just maybe, because it’s a much better movie.

The Arrow 4K UHD of Ms. 45 has a brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films from the original 35mm camera negative, as well as extras including new audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of Rape Revenge Films: A Critical Study and Cultographies: Ms. 45, featurettes with film critic BJ Colangelo and Kat Ellinger, interviews with director Abel Ferrara, composer Joe Delia and creative consultant Jack McIntyre, plus short films, a trailer, an image gallery, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sister Hyde, a perfect bound collector’s book featuring new writing by Robert Lund with previously unseen photographs of Zoë Lund, plus select archival material including writing by Kier-La Janisse and Brad Stevens, and a double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sister Hyde. You can get it from MVD.

PARAMOUNT BLU-RAY RELEASE: Smurfs (2025)

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Directed by Chris Miller and written by Pam Brady (who has worked with Trey Parker and Matt Stone on their projects going back to Cannibal: The Musical), The Smurfs is the sixth full-length movie for the cartoon characters created by Peyo.

Rhianna is Smurfette, following Katy Perry and Demi Lovato, while John Goodman is Papa Smurf. This is the kind of movie that has Dan Levy, Kurt Russell, Marshmello, Nick Kroll, Alex Winter, Amy Sedaris, Nick Offerman, Jimmy Kimmel, Natasha Lyonne and more, all to tell the story of how the Intergalactic Evil Wizard Alliance once battled the smurf force of Papa Smurf, his brother Ken and the best smurf ever, Ron for magical supremacy until Papa decided to run following a defeat and hide, occasionally battling Gargamel but rarely getting involved in the world of magic — until No Name Smurf tries to find what his talent is, tries the occult and leads Gargamel’s brother Razamel to Smurf Village where he takes nearly every one of them, doing what his brother never could.

Many reviewers said it was tedious, dull and unfunny. Me, I liked it, but I watched so much Smurfs as a kid that I know who Johan and Peewit are.

I could do without James Corden being a voice in these movies, though. There’s also no Frank Welker in this. Come on, what the smurf?

The Paramount Blu-ray Smurfs has over 25 minutes of Smurf-filled bonus content, including voice-over features, music videos and animation features. You can get it from Deep Discount.

FANTASTIC FEST 2025: Dildo Heaven (2002)

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Allow me to play this broken record again, but it’s astounding just how much the moviemaking of Doris Wishman, Bruno Mattei and Jess Franco line up. At the end of all of their careers, there they are, making movies way past their contemporaries, even if it’s shot on video now. As Bruno would make Zombies: The Beginning and Franco would make so many movies in hotel conference rooms with quick zooms into the anatomy of his actresses, Doris would come back to make this film, one that is so close to her past movies, even if it looks better when every other director who shot on video was supposedly taking a step down quality wise.

Doris was 89 when she made this and was working at the Pink Pussy Cat in Miami — which is in the movie and so is Doris, as well as a photo of Chesty Morgan on the wall — and it allowed her to finally have sync sound in a film and seemingly look back on her own career. Yet in this movie, she still does all the things you want: the apartment is needlessly over-decorated, sex scenes often just show feet rolling around in the bed, dialogue feels like one of those Russian spy stations that are trying to read English phrases to send coded messages and all the men are jerks. And, as if ready to seem like another of my favorite warped directors, Claudio Fragasso, Doris places several stuffed animals in this, and they are often zoomed in on.

This is the story of three roommates—Lisa, Beth, and Tess—who all want to sleep with their boss. Only Tess has succeeded so far, except that she’s had to hide her short dark hair and wear a blonde wig to win him over. There’s also a teenage peeper who keeps looking in on the girls and fantasizing about them, which transforms into footage from The Immoral Three. Not to be outdone, but when a TV comes on later, it’s playing Doris’ Love Toy. Never mind that these movies were shot on film, and the jump between media is jarring.

That peeping tom also has a dream where he has two penises, which reminds me of the creepy story where Bill Cosby told Keenan Thompson that after he played Fat Albert, “You know, life is good in the movies or whatever, but you just be ready, because when this movie comes out, you’re gonna need two dicks — because women are gonna be all over you.” That pervert also goes to Dr. Faust, who promises that his cream can make his small-eyed monster into a bigger beast. That reminds me of a joke that used to make my dad laugh, even when he was going through dementia.

“Dad, I finally got this penis cream. It’s going to make me so much bigger when I rub it on it.”

“Does it work?”

“They said it might take a few months. But my hands are huge!”

This movie made me overjoyed, as it feels like, unlike so many directors, Doris got the opportunity to finish her career on her terms, making a movie that was uniquely hers. She never fit any mold, starting to direct movies much later in life than most and continuing it well past nearly all of her nudie cutie contemporaries. I’ll think about this film and how the women finally discover that perhaps dildos are better than men — and then a new neighbor knocks on the door — more than any movie I’ll see made in this year or any other.

It feels and looks like sub-VCA porn and never gives you the payoff. And that’s the payoff. And it’s terrific.

Thanks to the incredible theironcupcake on Letterboxd, whose Doris reviews were an inspiration to me. She even wrote down the lyrics to this film’s theme:

“When love has left and you’re bereft, reach for your dildo
When life’s a mess and fraught with stress, reach for your dildo
When a lover twice caught cheating
Says for you his heart’s still beating
Send him away, don’t let him stay
Reach for your dildo!
My dildo is very close to me. I keep it in my drawer
It’s HIV negative, it has no flaw
Someday I’ll find my love divine, and I’ll be overjoyed
But ’til that fateful day, my dildo fills the void
Reach for your dildo!”

I’m thrilled that there’s a new 2K version of this film, especially one that features a poster by one of my favorite artists, Corinne Halbert.

No matter how much they clean this up, however, it still has the scuzzy and wonderful heart within. I get all emotional just thinking about Doris, a woman who some would think should just be playing bingo or taking it easy, was out there making movies into her eighties.

Good Boy (2025)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Perry writes for the film websites Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, The Good, the Bad and the Verdict and Diabolique Magazine; for the film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum; and for the pop culture websites When It Was Cool and Uphill Both Ways. He is also one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast and can occasionally be heard as a cohost on Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast.

Official synopsis: Our canine hero, Indy, finds himself on a new adventure with his human owner — and best friend — Todd (Shane Jensen), leaving city life for a long-vacant family home in the country. From the start, two things are abundantly clear: Indy is wary of the creepy old house, and his affection for Todd is unwavering. After moving in, Indy is immediately vexed by empty corners, tracks an invisible presence only he can see, perceives phantasmagoric warnings from a long-dead dog, and is haunted by visions of the previous occupant’s (Larry Fessenden as Grandpa) grim death. When Todd begins succumbing to the dark forces swirling around the house, Indy must battle a malevolence intent on dragging his beloved Todd into the afterlife.

Dog lovers, whether or not you usually enjoy horror movies, you’re bound to love director Ben Leonberg’s labor of love, Good Boy. Fear-fare aficionados, you’re likely to be captivated by Indy — Leonberg’s pet Nova Scotia Duck Retriever — and the lengths that Leonberg went to to replicate the film as much as possible from a dog’s eye view and with canine reactions to supernatural occurrences.

Indy is a star. From showing affection to sickly owner Todd to cowering from malevolent forces to playing hero — one scene in particular will have audiences cheering with glee — this “middle-aged, 35-pound retriever,” according to press notes, nails every nuance that Leonberg could hope for. Sure, it took the director three years to complete the film because, I suppose, some days Indy just wasn’t feeling it, but it was worth it because the result is a super slice of genre fare.

Virtually every shot seems to be from dog ‘s-eye level, whether from Indy’s perspective or for wider ones showing the dog in action. That’s commitment. Also, human faces are rarely shown, and dialogue is minimal. 

It takes a while for any shots of real horror, as the assumption is that dogs are in tune with unseen forces that we humans might be less aware of, but when the creepiness truly kicks in, it does so effectively. The element of the cursed house into which Indy and Todd move could have used more backstory, but there’s enough here to make things work.

Stylistically intriguing and emotionally engaging, Good Boy is a fun watch. Helmed with original approaches and a huge heart, I strongly recommend it.

Good Boy, from Independent Film Company and Shudder, opens in theaters on October 3, 2025.

THE IMPORTANT CINEMA CLUB’S SUPER SCARY MOVIE CHALLENGE DAY 3: Cult (2013)

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October 3: A Found Footage Horror Film Directed by Koji Shiraishi

Directed and written by Kōji Shiraishi, this starts when Tomoe Kaneda (Sayuri Oyamada) and her 15-year-old daughter Miho catch paranormal activity in their new home on camera. A paranormal TV show sends actresses Yu Abiru, Mayuko Iwasa, Natsumi Okamoto, and Mari Iriki — playing themselves — along with Buddhist priest Unsui (Shigehiro Yamaguchi) to investigate.

Yet when Unsui tries to move the spirit from the home, it possesses Miho, who murders her dog. Bringing in his superior, Ryugen (Hajime Inoue), Unsui and the older man are unable to stop the entity and are both killed. Another exorcist, NEO (Ryosuke Miura), learns that Miho is the perfect conduit between a cult and their god, bringing it to this world to take over.

This film is tied to the EisukeNaitō movie The Crone and Norio Tsuruta’s Talk to the Dead.

You can watch it on Tubi.

Night of the Reaper (2025)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Perry writes for the film websites Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, The Good, the Bad and the Verdict and Diabolique Magazine; for the film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum; and for the pop culture websites When It Was Cool and Uphill Both Ways. He is also one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast and can occasionally be heard as a cohost on Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast.

Official synopsis: In the heart of a quiet, 1980s suburb, college student Deena returns home and reluctantly takes on a last-minute babysitting job. That same night, the local sheriff receives a cryptic package that pulls him into a sinister scavenger hunt that sets off a game of cat and mouse with a dangerous killer. As the clues unravel, Deena finds herself ensnared in a nightmarish mystery that she may not survive. 

Plenty of 1980s-inspired throwback slasher movies are released every year, some merely aping the style, others paying loving homage, and a few that add their own flavor and unique elements to a revered fright-fare tradition. I’m happy to report that director Brandon Christensen’s Night of the Reaper is planted squarely in the third camp.

The lengthy opening sequence involving a teen babysitter (Summer H. Howell in a fantastic supporting performance) and the murderer who toys with her nicely sets the tone for what’s to come, and suffice it to say that it is no mere cold open. The film is rich with surprises and twists, and is best viewed by going in as cold as possible, so no spoilers here.

Jessica Clement is terrific as Deena, who, being the lead female character in a slasher-themed movie, seasoned viewers of the subgenre can guess will eventually cross paths with the main baddie. Ryan Robbins is also great in an emotional performance as Sheriff Rodney Arnold, now a single father after losing his wife in a single-car crash.

Christensen cowrote the screenplay with his brother Ryan Christensen (the pair worked together on 2023’s The Puppetman and this year’s Bodycam, which is currently on the film festival circuit), and it’s a corker, playing with slasher and whodunit horror tropes and therefore viewer expectations that go along with watching those types of films. Brandon is well-versed in horror filmmaking and builds both suspense and drama impressively here.

Night of the Reaper is super Halloween season fare. This strong slice of post-meta horror comes highly recommended.

Night of the Reaper is currently streaming on Shudder.

2025 Scarecrow Psychotronic Challenge Day 3: The Bloody Ape (1997)

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3. SIMIAN CINEMA: Grab a six-pack of bananas and watch a primate film. Something appeeling.

Directed by Keith J. Crocker, who co-wrote it with George Reis (who organizes the twice-a-year drive-in events), this is also known as Son of Sweetback vs. Kong.

Lampini (Paul Richichi) runs a carnival, and when you do that, you get a gorilla. This one is named Gorto. And when people do you wrong, you send the giant ape out to get revenge. Did you break up with Lampini? An ape is going to kill you. Even if you’re an innocent in this movie, there’s a good chance that a gorilla will kill u and that’s if you’re lucky. If you’re not lucky, you will also get raped by the monster. Then killed. Meanwhile, Detective LoBianco (Reis) is a racist cop (is that a double negative) who suspects black man Duane Jones (Christopher Hoskins) of these killings.

You will believe that an ape can not only drive a car, but rip heads and cocks clean off. Well, not clean. You know what I mean. People used their day jobs as locations, topless dancers from local strip clubs who got paid $100 dollars to get naked and it took five years to finish. That’s a labor of love. Well, as much love as you can make when a murderous ape is scalping people as if he were Joe Zito. And what if someone’s stomach gets torn out? And what if there’s also a castration?

Edgar Allen Poe spun in his grave, screaming, “Is this a loose remake of Murders in the Rue Morgue?” What he should be excited about is that a mayhem-loving gorilla can drive a car, much less drive over a cop’s head. And hey, Joe Zaso shows up. I mean, if you make a shot on video movie — I know, Super 8, I’m a big nerd too, you don’t need to start writing a comment that shows me how much you know — in New York City in the 80s or 90s, he knew you were out there and would show up. He can cook, so he usually brings cookies. Or hot dogs!

Anyway, many people say online that this is total trash. Perhaps this is the first time they’ve encountered actual, absolute trash in their lives. They should shut up and wallow in it.

You can get this from Crocker’s Cinefear Video site.

UNSUNG HORRORS HORROR GIVES BACK 2025: Invocación Satánica (1989)

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Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: Bleeding Skull!

I love that the VHS cover for this seemingly rips off the art of Stefano Tamburini and Tanino Liberatore’s RanXerox.

This is a Mexican SOV horror film that begins with extended sequences of a women’s locker room and billiards, punctuated by sinister killers scored to old Slayer tracks, which is the best Slayer. Slayer over Mexican SOV horror is even better. Throw in an Ouija board and I’m there, even if this is boring for long stretches.

I’m patient.

Director Xorge Noble — or Jorge — also made El virus del poder, Masacre en Matamoros: la secta satánica, Cartel de la droga, El reloj de la muerte and Asesino de medianoche, Mexican movies that you can’t tell if they’re slashers, narco or giallo movies from the covers, but sure can tell that Luis Aguilar is in them. Noble is often in his films, and he’s Ivan here, the killer, which is a good evil name.

Here’s what I do know: if you find a spirit board, don’t use it. Nothing good that can outweigh a killer coming back from the dead can make up for it. This combines public domain organ classical music with a totally ripped-off Slayer cover of “Hell Awaits” played over and over, which is a strange mix, but I am there for all of it.

Silvia (played by Rebecca Silva, who bears a resemblance to Lina Romay) is the one who brings Ivan back. He’s the same guy who killed her mother and assaulted her sister before her dad bashed his brains in with a bottle of beer, which is fitting, as he’s the only horror movie killer I’ve seen wear a straw Corona hat.

I wanted more blood and Satan and got, well, not a lot. I did get a fog that can eat away the clothing of nubile teens, and I’m, again, OK with that.

If you want to know more, TrashMex said it much better than I can.

You can watch this on YouTube.

W.E.I.R.D. World (1995)

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last week of Tales from the Crypt content, as I got through all of the Perversions of Science episodes. Do you have another anthology you’d like me to tackle?

W.E.I.R.D. (Wilson Emery Institute for Research and Development) It is a place where the world’s most intelligent scientists get unlimited budgets to come up with whatever they want, all under the watch of Dr. Monochian (Ed O’Neill!). Three of the stories of this scientific lab form the basis of this TV movie, which seems to have been a pilot for a show.

When you see William Gaines’ name on this, know that’s because these three stories — like Tales from the Crypt, Two-Fisted Tales and Perversions of Science — were based on EC Comics. Specifically, stories from Weird Science and Weird Fantasy, the science fiction books of EC. Unlike the other shows based on the comics, these are all part of an overall tale and are all directed by the same person, William Malone.

In one, Dr. Dylan Bledsoe (Dana Ashbrook) is spending just as much time making a virus as he is trying to hook up with Dr. Noah Lane’s (Jime-True Frost) assistant Diane (Audie England, who was Kitana and Mileena on the Mortal Kombat TV show and was a girl rolling around in bed in Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” video), all while robotics expert Lane tries to figure out if Bledsoe killed his last girlfriend, Catherine (Cyia Batten, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning). Meanwhile, Dr. Abby O’Reardon (Paula Marshall) and her husband Dr. Bryan Mayhew (Clayton Rohner) are constantly arguing — did any EC Comics creative have a good marriage? — and she wants a baby, despite all of that. And then there’s Dr. Patty Provost (Gina Ravera, Molly from Showgirls), who has figured out time travel, which leads to her brother Bob (Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Spider from Return of the Living Dead), a security guard, to sell out W.E.I.R.D.

Written by A.L. Katz, Gilbert Adler and Scott Nimerfro, this never reaches the levels of the other shows, but from all accounts — read The Schlock Pit — this was a troubled production. Does anyone know what comics this was based on?

You can watch this on Tubi.

UNSUNG HORRORS HORROR GIVES BACK 2025: The Soultangler (1987)

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Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and happy homes.

Today’s theme: Bleeding Skull!

About the Author: Parker Simpson is a writer and podcaster focusing on cult films and their social impacts. They currently cohost Where Is My Mind, a podcast focusing on underappreciated films from a variety of genres and countries. They have also held panels, chartered local organizations, and written articles to their blog. When not writing or studying, they like to spend time with their pets and go outside. Check out the podcast Linktree and blog.

Homemade horror films are a huge hit or miss of mine. Oftentimes, I’ll get frustrated with the boring visuals (both film and video), Z-grade acting, and disjointed pacing. Then I remember I couldn’t make anything half as charming, so I shut up and take some sleeping pills to further disjoint the experience. This is no different with The Soultangler, a late 80’s riff on the reemerging mad scientist genre. In it, Dr. Lupesky invents a drug that allows the souls of the users to transplant into corpses. Naturally, this comes with some very severe side effects, from mild hallucinations to downright madness. 

If you’re like me, you could see this as slightly… derivative of a well-known cult classic. The Soultangler initially seems like a rip-off of Stuart Gordon’s classic Re-Animator, taking a doctor’s fascination with life and death to the extremes while characters around him are extremely concerned about what he’s doing. In the latter, you see a clean-cut, no-nonsense Jeffrey Combs slyly manipulating everyone around him as he weasels his way out of every situation. Here, we see a grease-ridden, basement-dwelling hubris-ridden maniac who seems to be significantly more attracted to women yet hates them more than his counterpart. You might be able to see who I like more based on the wording. That being said, I would argue that watching Dr. Lupesky ramble about his work is a strong point of this film, and that he is dissimilar enough to disqualify his character as a mere clone of the indomitable Herbert West.

The film’s main flaw is the pacing. Most SOV/16mm horror films of this era slip into a time distortion, where 15 minutes feels like an hour or more. The Soultangler is no different; this thing drags its feet from the 5-minute mark until the final 15. It is a challenging watch on a small screen, with no one around you to comment on the small yet quirky aspects of everyday life that inevitably pervades all folks in its ilk. Additionally, the majority of the camera work and acting are all stiff as a rod. The saving grace that undercuts those criticisms is the weirdness that suddenly pops up at any given moment. Completely unsynced audio that made me restart a scene? Killer original music? Believable investigative reporting? C’mon, you can’t help but love it. The cherry on top is the goopy gore that is scattered throughout the film; the finale in particular is a lot of fun.

I didn’t hate this. I really wanted to love it, even. If anything, it proved to me that these sorts of films are an acquired taste, which is maybe something I don’t have at this moment. That’s ok; it doesn’t take away the fact that Pat Bishow made a relatively entertaining film with an extremely low budget, and that on its own is remarkable. 

Thanks to the folks at Bleeding Skull for dropping myself and many others a line to this (and many other unknown gems)!