Tales Of Frankenstein is packed with stars: Mel Novak (Bruce Lee’s Game Of Death), Ann  Robinson (Imitation of Life and both the George Pal and Tom Cruise versions of The War Of The Worlds), Beverly Washburn (Elizabeth from Spider Baby!), Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd from Power Rangers), Jerry Lacy (Bogart from Play It Again, Sam) and even Len Wein, the creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine!

This horror anthology comedy film was written, directed and produced by Don Glut, who also wrote the bestselling novel version of The Empire Strikes Back.

This is the movie version of Glut’s Tales of Frankenstein short stories, presented in an anthology format.

The first story, “My Creation, My Beloved” is all about a deformed descendent of the doctor trying to make the ultimate man and woman.

“Crawler from the Grave” is about another relative of Frankenstein who dies because of a serum he created and his reanimated hand protecting his jewelry.

“Madhouse of Death” is a 1940’s hard-boiled tale of a detective, three dragon ladies, a mad doctor, a headhunter and a gorilla.

The final story is “Dr. Karnstein’s Creation” and as you can tell by the name, it’s all about creating new life in Transylvania.

While this movie doesn’t have a huge budget, it has plenty of heart. There are tons of references to other films and each chapter has a totally different feel for its era and the style of films popular within it. If you can keep the budget in mind, this is a fine way to enjoy the evening.

Kermit Gosnell was a Philadelphian physician and abortion provider convicted of three cases of first-degree murder for infants that were alive when he killed them, the involuntary manslaughter death of a patient undergoing an abortion, 21 felony counts of illegal late-term abortion and 211 counts of violating the 24-hour informed consent law. Obviously, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This film tells his horrible tale.

The film was originally intended to be a made for TV movie, but the filmmakers later decided to make it into a feature film. They finished filming in 2015 but ran into difficulties finding a distributor to carry the film, as well as a lawsuit by a judge who objected to his portrayal. It also had negative run-ins with Kickstarter, which censored its email advertising before raising over $2 million dollars on Indiegogo.

Finally, this movie — directed by character actor Nick Searcy (General Frank Hoyt from The Shape of Water) — was finally released in 2018.

This controversy went on after the film was released, with the filmmakers claiming that multiple theater chains dropped the film after its first week. And Searcy later wrote an op-ed for the National Review where he claimed that the film would cause him to be shunned in Hollywood.

Honestly, it all feels rather like a rerun of a second string Law and Order ripoff. But hey — Dean Cain is in it! And the owner of Rob’s Place from What’s Happening! plays Kermit!

If you want to know more, you can visit the film’s official site. Or check out the superior 3801 Lancaster: American Tragedy, an astounding documentary on the case. It’s playing for free on Amazon Prime.

In the world of Abnormal Attraction, mythical creatures are real and must learn to co-exist with humans. However, if you thought there was prejudice before, it gets even worse. However, this film has three different storylines that all come together. Plus, it’s literally packed with stars.

It all starts when Dr. Stanley Cole (Bruce Davison, Willard) takes over the AA group from the usual leader Nick, who has been kidnapped by a witch (Leslie Easterbrook from Police Academy) and the Boogeyman (Malcolm McDowell) as his fiancee tries to track him down.

If you love horror, you’ll be delighted by some of the heavyweights that show up here, like Tyler Mane (the Michael Myers of Rob Zombie’s Halloween films) as a cyclops. For big stars, there’s also Jim Hanks, Tom’s brother, as Frankenstein’s Monster. If you’re more of the Howard Stern school of humor, you’ll find a lot to like with Gilbert Gottfried as the Pig Man and Ron Jeremy as the tooth fairy.

There’s plenty of gross-out gags and gore, too. I enjoyed the film, as it has a great look, but it could have used some trimming as it’s hour and forty-seven-minute running time feels a little long. But don’t let my short attention span keep you away from this fun movie!

I mean, how often do you see a guy try to sleep with Bigfoot and get torn to pieces?

You can learn more at the official site for the movie.

DISCLAIMER: We were sent this movie by its PR team and that has no bearing on our review.

There’s nothing like a drive-in. I feel that it’s the best way to see a movie. The open sky, watching from the car or a chair, hamburgers, hot dogs, a cooler full of beer and perhaps some other substances, pizza, popcorn and staying up way too late. It’s pure magic. We go see drive-in movies as often as we can and know all about the Mahoning Drive-In. This documentary tells even more of the story.

From sleeping in the concession stand to working entirely for free, the volunteers of the Mahoning Drive-In have kept their theater alive, using their vintage projector and 35mm prints. However, when Hollywood announces that all new movies will only be available digitally, it might be the end.

Obviously, the Mahoning is still open. This movie tells you how they stayed that way.

I get really emotional at the drive-in. I well up with emotion at times, remembering how it felt to escape reality as a child and get to go and sit under the stars. Just seeing the big screen with the sun behind it makes me choke up a little. This film made me feel exactly the same way.

To learn more, visit At the Drive-In‘s official site. You can also order the movie here or watch it on demand April 9.

NOTE: This was sent to us by the movie’s PR team but that has no impact on our review.

The trouble with watching so many horror movies is that I often feel like I’ve seen what I’m watching before. This time, this feeling isn’t all in my head. Seriously, 2015’s The Abandoned was about a troubled, antipsychotic-dependent young woman who takes a job as a night guard and has to deal with demonic forces. 2016’s The Autopsy of Jane Doe was about coroners who experience supernatural phenomena while examining the body of an unidentified woman. Put them together and you get this movie.

Shat Mitchell plays Megan Reed, a troubled ex-cop in rehab who takes a graveyard shift in the morgue as part of her therapy. This doesn’t seem like a good idea. Nonetheless, she soon meets the body of Hannah Grace, a dead girl who was possessed and is now reanimated by demons. This also doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Hannah’s father smothered her during the exorcism to save one of the priests. Now, she’s escaped her grave and heals with each murder she commits. The police caught her father attempting to mutilate her body, as the demon can only die once her body is destroyed. He convinces Megan to help him, but Hannah burns her father and stalks our heroine, feeding off her fear and depression.

Her cop ex-boyfriend shows up to rescue her, but Hannah tears him apart. Megan grabs his gun and unlike when she couldn’t shoot back at a perp — which is how she got depressed in the first place — she’s able to destroy Hannah.

That said — you know this is a modern horror movie that needs the callback at the end, so it’s hinting that the demon is now in her, despite her being clean, sober and happy.

If you were born after 1995, then perhaps you’ll enjoy some of the jump scares in this. But if you are old, like me, and remember a better time for horror, you can’t help but be disappointed. Or feel disoriented and say, “Didn’t we already watch this?”

Alan Grilo is a police officer struggling to do his job because all he can think about is how his wife might be cheating on him. Then, there’s Glenn Kolasa, a bank thief who is dealing with Alan chasing him down as well as two blackmailers. Everyone gets pulled into a dangerous and violent cat and mouse game between these two men.

Director Richard Friedman may not be a household name, but around here, we celebrate him for Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge. He also directed several episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series and Tales from the Darkside, along with movies like Doom Asylum, Scared Stiff and Death Mask.

This movie has some unexpected star power, as Paul Sorvino is in it. Jason Gedrick is the lead as Grilo and you may remember him as the lead from Iron Eagle way back in 1986 and Backdraft.

I really liked the actor who played Glenn, Treva Etienne. He’s been in a variety of films like Bad Boys II, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Black Hawk Down in smaller roles, but as he finds a star role here, he really goes all out.

Character actor Vince Lozano also appears and produced. You may know him from roles in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl or TV’s The Last Ship and American Horror Story.

This movie has some really fun little touches, like the blackmailers’ handwritten letter and the different people that Grilo interviews about the bank robbery, like the lady obsessed with playing poker. And the blackmailers make the whole film.

This was way better than I thought it was going to be. I’d compare it to a low budget version of Crash.

Acts of Desperation is available on DVD and On Demand. For more information, visit the official Facebook page.

Disclaimer: The PR team for this film sent it to us, but this has no impact on our review.

Alice and her best friend Lauren have inadvertently set a hellish curse in motion. I mean, this is the kind of thing that usually happens after you find a mysterious shrunken head, right? Instead of leaving well enough alone — and throwing away that head — they decide to meet up with Hunter Perry, the host of a paranormal podcast called Beyond the Veil.

Hunter does some research and learns that the shrunken head is legit. He wants to get more hits for his podcast — I feel your pain, dude — and they do a live podcast where the real story of the shrunken head is revealed to his audience. However, doing so releases the demonic spirit of Lilith Ratchet.

When you chant Lilith’s name and play her game — which involves throwing around that severed head ala hot potato — the ancient woman comes and kills you. It turns out that back around the Civil War, her husband chose another woman, so she killed both of them and severed that woman’s head. Now, she lives eternally and always ready to claim new victims.

If you liked Mother Krampus 2: Slay Ride, the last film from director Eddie Lengyel, chances are good that you’ll enjoy this as well. Amazingly, this is the ninth American Poltergeist movie since 2015, although most of the other films aren’t connected. You don’t need to see any of them before this.

Thanks to this helpful IMDB list, those other films would be:

• American Poltergeist
• American Poltergeist 2: The Poltergeist of Borley Forest
• American Poltergeist 3
• American Poltergeist 4: The Curse of the Joker (which has Eric Roberts and Martin Kove in it)
• American Poltergeist 5: A Haunting at the Rectory (based on true events!)
• American Poltergeist 6: The Haunting of Alice D. (with Kane Hodder and Al Snow, minus Head)
• American Poltergeist 7: Haunted
• American Poltergeist (which I guess would be American Poltergeist 8)

American Poltergeist: The Curse of Lilith Ratchet is available now on VOD and DVD. For more information, visit the official Facebook page.

Disclaimer: We were sent this movie by its PR team but that has no impact on our review.

I’ve always felt that the black metal scene of the early 1990’s is hard to explain. The music that emerged from it is pretty much timeless, but in order to enjoy it, you need to either embrace or get past a lot of things. And by things, that word seems pretty light. Those things are murder and arson just for a start.

Based on the book Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind, this Jonas Akerlund directed film falls prey to some of the issues that book has. Namely, who can know exactly what was going on in the scene unless they were there? Varg Vikernes — who recorded as Burzum and appears as one of the main characters in both the book and movie — has been a major critic. Vikernes states that the authors of the book had no insight or knowledge of what Black Metal was and they still filled the heads of a generation of metal fans with lies.

He hasn’t gone light on this film either. In a series of YouTube videos, he’s denied the filmmakers the rights to his music. He wasn’t pleased at being presented as being power mad. He’s also claimed that the movie is made up and plain wrong. Then again, this is the guy who murdered the other main character in this movie. So, like I said, black metal has a lot to get past if you’re going to go any deeper.

The film begins when Euronymous (Rory Culkin, Signs) forms Mayhem with Necrobutcher, Manheim and Maniac, but soon the last two members leave and are replaced by drummer Hellhammer (Anthony De La Torre, who played young Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) and Dead, a singer who was once killed for several seconds by bullies in grade school. As a result, he has become defined by death, sending his vocal audition to the band along with a crucified mouse.

Mayhem soon becomes big within the metal scene, playing shows where Dead cuts himself and throws pig heads at audience members. As Metalion — a journalist who created the Slayer Mag that would document the scene (you can grab the collected issues from Bazillion Points) — films a show, the band meets a fan named Varg Vikernes, who is initially made fun of by the band.

Meanwhile, Dead decides to slice up his body and use Euronymous’ shotgun to commit suicide. Instead of calling the police right away, he takes photos of the body and takes pieces of Dead’s skull fragments to make necklaces. This causes Hellhammer to leave the band.

Euronymous then opens a record shop called Helvete that becomes the social center of the scene, drawing people like Varg, Darkthrone’s Fenriz and Emperor’s Faust (Valter Skarsgard) into becoming the Black Circle. Euronymous’ ego is threatened by Varg’s growing popularity — particularly amongst women — and willingness to live up to the anti-Christian rants and do things for real.

It becomes a battle of who is in control of the Black Circle. While Euronymous can lay claim to creating true Norweigan black metal, Varg has been the one willing to actually burn down churches and incite others like Faust to commit murder. While all this is going on, a new version of Mayhem that features Euronymous, Varg, Blackthorn and Attila record “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.”

Helvete is soon shut down by the police and Varg is arrested as the prime suspect of the church burnings after he does an interview with a newspaper claiming he committed every crime. That said, Euronymous does the same in a Kerrang! article. Varg is arrested but soon released for lack of evidence. And after an argument over who was in charge of the scene and what true black metal means, the two men reach the point of no return. To Euronymous, everything he said was just promotion. To Varg, selling records is meaningless next to his cause and his former mentor is now seen as fake.

That’s when Euronymous starts telling stories about how he’s going to kill Varg and make a snuff movie out of it. To him, this was all probably just talk. To Varg, these threats are real. So on the morning of August 10, he goes to Euronymous’ apartment and kills him. The knife stabbing extends on and on, probably like it did in real life. Varg would go on to serve the maximum sentence of 21 years in jail, which he served, despite escaping once.

So what did other people from the scene think? Mayhem’s Attila spoke for the current band members, saying that their position regarding the film and its creators is a “big fuck you.” He also pointed out that the movie only focused on Mayhem during the 1990s, not the whole black metal scene. That said, he did allow some of Tormentor’s songs to be used in the film and his role is played by his son, Arion Csihar. He was also on set for the church burning scenes.

Mayhem’s founding bassist Necrobutcher said, “I will do everything I can to stop this film. Tell the Swedes and the Hollywood people to go fuck themselves.” That said, the director claims that he got the band’s support. Their actual music doesn’t appear in the film. Instead, the songs were re-recorded by Malparidos re-recorded their songs for the picture.

So how did I feel? I hated this movie from three minutes in. Its tone feels like it wants to be a comedic tour through the formation of Mayhem and the fun — such as it is — of the scene. Let’s keep in mind how strange it is to portray many of these events — like church burnings — as buddy buddy moments.  I didn’t believe in anyone in the film, didn’t see them as these near-mythic people they are portraying. Maybe that was the intention, to show us that the true Black Circle was just a bunch of silly kids acting up. But it just feels false. And false is at the very heart of everything that black metal stood against, demanding truth and devotion to a cause, no matter how patently insane it could be. I’d compare it to gangster rap, another genre that demanded that artists live up to the lyrics they recorded.

There’s nothing here that answers why one of the most gorgeous places in existence could give root to one of the darkest sub-genres in music. I guess I shouldn’t expect that much from a movie. But with Akerlund having some knowledge of this scene — he was in Bathory, which predates this era — but this all rang as false as the black metal band in Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem.

If this is your first exposure to this music, there’s no way you’re going to want to listen to it or enjoy it. Even the end, where Euronymous tells the audience to fuck off and proclaims that he invented true Norweigan black metal, feels fake. It sounds like words on a page, not something proudly proclaimed. For all the faults of this film, that’s the worst. And when its followed up by cartoony fun images of church burnings and devils, it’s just upsetting.

This could have been so much more. Instead, it’s worse than nothing.

For another POV, check out my friend Brian Krasman’s review of this movie. If you love metal, his site totally has you covered.

Otavio and Gilda are two members of the enormously wealthy Brazilian elite who have an interesting kink: they like to eat their employees. Luckily, Otavio owns a private security company that’s always on high alert. He’s also a notable member of The Cannibal Club, but when Gilda catches Borges — a powerful congressman and the Club’s leader — having sex with a man, both of their lives are in extreme danger.

The Cannibal Club is an all-male group of the elite who meet to give speeches about faith, family and hard work while watching sex shows and people being violently killed.

Director Guto Parente makes all of the proceedings look lush and opulent, no matter how depraved they get. A warning — this movie is packed with sex and gore. There’s no skimping on either, so if you’re going in expecting a sanitized Hollywood style movie, be prepared for a shock.

The Cannibal Club has a limited U.S. theater run starting March 1 but will be available on Demand March 5.

NOTE: This movie was sent to us by its PR team, but that has no impact on our review.