For the last twenty years, thousands of deformed frogs have been popping up in Minnesota ponds with some populations having over 70% of their number mutated.  After years of testing, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency came up with plenty of theories for the cause but nothing definite and in 2001, the U.S. Government pulled all further research funding.

This isn’t something made up for a movie. It’s a true story and it’s nowhere near finished, as frog mutations have spread to other states and even India and China.

Strange Nature is a full-length feature film from writer/director James Ojala, who was part of the special effects crew for movies like Thor, Tron: Legacy, Jackals, John Dies at the End and more. It’s based on the Minnesota frogs and how they impact the lives of a single mother and her 11-year-old-son who have come back to her hometown.

Kim Sweet (Lisa Sheridan, who has appeared on TV shows like CSI: Miami and Invasion) and her son, Brody, are in town because they’ve run out of options. And with Chuck (Bruce Bohne, the Snyder Dawn of the Dead), her father, dying of liver cancer, there’s a chance for her to reconnect.

They’re in town for less than a few moments before mutated frogs start hopping up. The American Patriot organic pesticide plant may be the cause, but just like Jaws, Blood Beach and every other movie mayor ever, Mayor Paulson (Stephen Tobolowsky, Single White Female) squashes every attempt to get the story out. After all, they keep the town alive. The guys who work at the plant — like Sam (former WWE star John Hennigan) don’t want to hear a single thing about it, nor does the neighbor whose shed hides furry costumes in a moment of weird humor that takes the movie off the tracks for a bit.

That said — this movie really shines when it comes to the creature effects, like the mutant frogs, puppies, two-headed wolves and more that start to emerge. Maybe it’s all of the Bigfoot movies I’ve been watching, but I enjoyed that this film feels more like a 1970’s eco-horror film than a modern movie. Trust me, that’s a compliment. It balances real human drama — fitting in at a new school, befriending kids that others make fun of, trying to come back to a place that you thought you escaped, dealing with your life’s dream turning on you, going from being cared for by a parent to being their caregiver — with horrific elements well.

Soon, tourists start coming to town to make fun of the townsfolks with their Minnesota – Land of 1,000 Freaks shirts. Even worse, the mutations and child disappearances start to tie together, as do more and more mutant births. And when our heroine gets pregnant — to her son’s teacher no less — things go from bad to worse. Add in the fact that babies act like parasites, killing their mothers and this becomes a film that progressively paints its characters into deeper and darker corners.

Hennigan is really good here, as is Dave Mattey, who plays Joseph, who shares a birth defect with his daughter that the townsfolks wrongly take as the reason for their town’s issues.

Those that appreciate a decent story — as well as those that love gore — will be equally satisfied with this one.

You can learn more about the movie — which is making its theatrical debut at the Laemmle Glendale in Los Angeles September 22-27  — at the official site.

“It didn’t make any sense. They were bikers and gnarly psychos and…crazy evil.” That’s a line from one of Nicolas Cage’s many breakdowns in Mandy and there’s no better line to describe this to those not ready to behold its majesty.

This movie is pure heavy metal. Not the pablum that passes for metal today, trying in vain to frighten old people inside dying malls from shiny black plastic fake Hot Topic environs, but the kind of metal that envelopes you within its darkness. From the opening strains of King Crimson’s “Starless” to the slow, druggy doom drone that each scene in the first hour or so makes you feel to the actual bravura moment that the title of the film appears 75 minutes into the picture and transforms into a black metal spiral of roots and trees and black infinity, this isn’t a movie influenced by metal or referencing it. It has become pure heavy metal. This is a t-shirt with holes in it that the kid in the back of the class wears. This is staring at the details on the cover painting of “Somewhere in Time.” This is slowly losing your mind as you stare at a blacklight poster and that thudding slow bass and wait for the riff to slow down enough for the screaming to begin.

Let’s get one thing straight: Nicolas Cage is the only person who could be in this movie. One of my friends has often scoffed that no actor has squandered their promise more than Cage, following his Best Actor Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas with Face/Off. I disagree. This is the actor who has referred to himself as the “California Klaus Kinski.” Someone who has inspired impressions that refer to the Cage Rage. No one else could bring such a feral intensity to films that probably don’t deserve it. I would argue that true art is the kind found in the gutter; if that is true, then Cage has imbued films like Con Air with a heart and bloody soul that a lesser actor would just see as dollar signs.

At heart, Mandy is a simple story. In 1983, logger Red Miller (Cage) has settled into a quiet life in the woods with his soulmate, an artist named Mandy (Andrea Riseborough, Birdman). A gang of “homicidal Jesus freaks” kidnaps her when their leader, Jeremiah (Linus Roache, Thomas Wayne from Nolan’s Batman Begins), falls for her. When she rebuffs his advances and has the gall to laugh at his music, the gang unleashes its fury by torturing Red and setting his love ablaze.

As her ashes fall through his fingers, we’re treated to Cage doing what he does best — pure raw emotion, screaming and sobbing as he washes blood and pain away with a bottle of vodka, shrieking in a 70’s style bathroom clad only on tighty whities and a t-shirt with a tiger’s face on it. If you watched this scene and any other actor attempted to essay it, it would derail the film, forcing it into parody or low pathos. But this is Nicolas Cage, an actor who you can’t avoid or look away from. You are forced to see Red’s pain as he marshalls his energies and begins to rebuild.

Oh — did I mention that the gang isn’t all human and that there are demon bikers among their number? Or that Cage responds by grabbing a crossbow and hammering boiling hot metal into a gigantic scythe?

Beyond metal, Mandy also draws inspiration from the artwork you’d shouting at you from 1970’s science fiction and horror paperbacks, with title cards torn directly from those pulpy pageturners.

This is the kind of work that only emerges when an artist has pure control of his vision. Here, that artist is Panos Cosmatos, who bestowed on us the truly touched film Beyond the Black Rainbow. The inherent promise of that film is realized here. Forget pundits blabbing about how horror must be elevated so that the stigma of the genre title doesn’t impact art. This is a movie that recognizes that the only difference between the arthouse and the grindhouse is the neighborhood your film plays in.

I always wonder if films can still surprise me after all of the craziness that I’ve witnessed. I’m happy to report that Mandy has shown me — in one scene — that I am not jaded. Not yet. Have you ever seen a movie where the hero comes upon one of the villains doing coke and watching scummy looking 1970’s porn, only to attack said hero with a demonic sword penis? And what if the hero slices open the villain and laughs like a lunatic while blood sprays all over his face and in his mouth? And then that hero decides to do some of that leftover coke? Until you see this one, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Beyond Cage, there are also great performances here from Richard Brake (the only good part of Rob Zombie’s 31) as The Chemist whose drugs have set the Children of the New Dawn cult on a path they may never walk away from; Bill Duke (Predator) in a brief role as Caruthers; and the aforementioned Riseborough and Roache. And the music by the late Jóhann Jóhannsson (who scored Prisoners and mother!) is a drone masterpiece, echoing the sounds of bands like Sleep.

I have so many questions. In the end, does Red become Kali, the destroyer of worlds, as he hacks off head after head in his quest for vengeance? Part of me thinks this is true, with his distorted voice saying lines like, “I’m your god now.” How amazing is that shot of Cage’s face while his truck speeds through the night his face awash in blood, dreaming of his dead love with big eyes and a maniacal look on his face? And how frightening is that scene of Ronald Regan’s disembodied voice on the radio, reminding us of the uncertainty and terror that 1983 had, the year that both this film and Beyond the Black Rainbow share? How rad is the artwork that Boris Vallejo’s collaborator and wife Julie Bell created for the film?

Honestly, this is the best movie I’ve seen all year. It may be the best movie I’ll see for a couple of years. It’s as if I asked Cosmatos to include everything that I want to see in one film: demon bikers, chainsaw battles, animated sequences that echo Heavy Metal, commercial parodies where goblins vomit mac and cheese, tigers roaring against a dayglo night sky and geysers of gore. And after all that noise, the credits roll to total silence. I often remark that certain movies are better with various substances. Mandy needs no other stimulants. It is a powerful and transformative hallucinogen all its own.

UPDATE: This movie is now streaming on Shudder.

UPDATE: “Nic Cage Bitch” is our Nicolas Cage blowout written by Paul Andolina of Wrestling with Film. It’s a must read for all fans of the Cage, so check it out and learn about some Cage films you may have missed, such as A Score to Settle, Between Worlds, Kill Chain, Outcast, Rage, and Seeking Justice.

The Gemini, a deranged serial killer, has been torturing and killing people in the basement of his San Fernando Valley home. But once he meets famous musician Craig Owen and his girlfriend Kelly, he may have met his match.

The Gemini (Jackson Davis) has already claimed seven victims, maiming them and decapitating them with a blowtorch. He’s a master of psychological mayhem, but it turns out that Craig (Cayleb Long) may be even better. They play a back and forth game of identity for the entire film, with neither ever holding the upper hand for long.

Craig is abducted while buying champagne for his wife and awakens in Bill’s basement, who turns Craig into the killer and himself as a number of personas that are interrogating him. Jackson Davis is great in this as the killer, bringing a variety of voices, mannerisms and pure insanity to each new role. Seeing as how this is a film where two actors have to carry most of the weight, both Davis and Long really hold their own.

There’s also a subplot where that wife — Kelly (Mischa Barton, making her second recent appearance on this site) — deals with an affair Craig is having. This made me feel like I was watching two different movies.

Directors Brian Conley and Nathan Ives may not have done many movies that you’ve heard of, but this movie proves that they’re two talents to watch. The film looks really great, with special attention being obviously paid to lighting and shadow. I think they both have a great film in them and this is a good start.

The torture scenes here gradually increase in how rough and gory they are, starting with smashed teeth and only getting worse. There’s also a plot twist or two here, but you’ll be able to spot them coming from a few hundred feet out. It also owes a lot to Split, but is a more down to Earth tale.

That said — the climax does NOT skimp on the gruesome, offering a real surprise. That part I enjoyed. I could have done without the one month later denouement, but some people like having things explaining. At least after an entire film of Micha Barton feeling estranged from the plot, it ties it all together.

The Basement is opening today in these cities:

• LA: Laemmle Music Hall
• Cleveland: Tower City Cinemas
• Atlanta: AMC Southlake Pavilion
• Chicago: AMC South Barrington
• Houston: AMC Gulf Pointe
• Minneapolis: AMC Apple Valley
• Phoenix: AMC Arizona Center
• San Francisco: AMC Deer Valley
• Dallas: AMC Grapevine Mills

You can also find it digitally starting today. Learn more at the official site.

Disclaimer: I was sent this film by its PR team and in no way did that impact my review.

The Nun is the fifth movie in The Conjuring Universe, which are dramatizations of the real-life cases of paranormal investigators and authors Ed and Lorraine Warren. As the true story of the Warrens gets controversial* — Ed Warren has been accused of having had a lover live in their house for four decades, starting when she was underage — not to mention Gerald Brittle, author of a book about the Warrens called The Demonologist, suing Warner Brothers claiming they stole his idea, it’s only natural that the storyline move to only tangentially involves the main characters.

The series begins with The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, during which the Warrens investigate the haunting of the Perron family. There’s some tremendous art direction in this film, particularly when it comes to the Warren’s occult museum where they keep all of the objects they come across, kind of like the trophies in Batman’s cave. There are also some genuinely frightening moments, giving one hope that true scares still have a place in the multiplex.

The first spin-off, 2014’s Annabelle, was seen by many as a misstep. I enjoyed the film’s Manson Family allusions if not the entire story. 2016’s The Conjuring 2, which dealt with the Enfield Poltergeist incident (and offered potential spinoffs like The Crooked Man and Valak the Nun, who we’ll get to in a second, I promise) got the series back on steady ground. And 2017’s Annabelle: Creation was a box office success.

Becca disliked both Annabelle movies at first, yet has come to enjoy both of them on video and has tattoos of Valak and Annabelle, so that should tell you how excited we were for the potential of The Nun, a movie that has been teased for over a year with effective trailers and artwork. Just look at that poster that’s part of this article. Kudos to the PR and ad team that worked on this — you got us in the theater. But did we have a good time?

Funny aside — the theater where we went is often my favorite to see a new horror film in. It’s always packed with raucous teenagers who shout, scream and go crazy during the jump scares. None of that happened here. Perhaps it was the fact that the air conditioning didn’t work on a 90 plus degree day (we were offered the chance to see something else or wait an hour to see another showing, but we decided to stick with it). Or perhaps it was the fact that someone brought a baby with colic to see the movie and that child coughed throughout, continually giving us the real world worry that someone was insane enough to bring a child to a 10 PM movie. Then again — if a movie is really engaging, it defeats its environment and captures you. I’ve seen some great movies in fleabag theaters, after all.

The Nun starts in 1950’s Romania, as two nuns are being attacked by something we can’t see. They’re searching for an artifact, yet one nun is dragged into the darkness while the other hangs herself to that she can’t be taken by the demonic force. Her body, partially devoured by crows, is found in the morning by Frenchie, a villager who brings the nuns supplies.

When the Vatican learns of these events, they send “miracle hunter” Father Burke and novitiate nun Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga, sister of Vera, who is the actress who plays Lorraine Warren in these films) to investigate. There, they learn that Sister Victoria’s body has moved from where she was laid to rest and that she’s holding a strange key.

While they stay at the abbey, all hell breaks loose. Irene has more of the visions she’s had her entire life and Burke is haunted by a possessed child (spin-off alert) that he failed to save. Valak appears and buries Burke alive, with Irene saving him at the last minute by digging him up. There’s a moment here where I thought, “Surely they’re not going to rip off the scene in Fulci’s City of the Living Dead where Christopher George uses a pickaxe to rescue the girl.” Of course they do. But it’s also framed and presented in a way that has none of the visceral impact of the way that Fulci shot it. Perhaps this is your first clue that I didn’t like this movie very much.

The next day, the nuns reveal that they’ve been praying non-stop to keep some evil at bay. After all, the abbey was built in the Dark Ages by an evil duke who worshipped the devil and summoned Valak, just at the moment that Crusaders broke in, killed him and sealed the gateway to Hell using the blood of Jesus Christ. The flashback that happens here presents us with a glimpse of a film that would have been much better and more exciting than what we’re currently enduring, a film that necessitates constant looks at your watch and math to determine just how many minutes are left before you can escape the theater.

Bombing runs during World War II broke the seal and now, the evil of Valak has been slowly leaking into the abbey and the surrounding village (again, a much better idea for a film that we only get glimpses of). Nun by nun has fallen to Valak’s evil and now, the nun who seemingly runs the abbey has transformed into Daniel, the buy who Burke failed to exorcize, and is attacking him.

While all that’s going on, Frenchie comes back to help and Irene joins a prayer circle of nuns who were never really there in the first place. Valak carves a star into the shoulder of Irene before taking her to a room filled with dead nuns whose heads are covered by bloody rags, making one long for a better nun film such as Alucarda.

This is where the film shows it has no concept of the occult, kind of a cardinal sin when it comes to making a movie about it. Valak traps Irene inside a pentagram, instead of the center of the pentagram being used to protect and ward off the evil spirits. Everything up to here is shown to be Irene’s visions. Keep in mind that devout Catholics believe that feeling the presence of spirits would be heretical, but this is a script that doesn’t understand anything that it’s writing about, so just go with it.

Finally, our heroic trio find the Blood of Christ (and a woman is entrusted with it, showing again that this film has no real understanding of the Catholic Church) and use it to stop Valak (again, with that Blood of Christ being spit out of a human mouth in an act that a devout Catholic would find completely against their belief).

Because every movie in this series has to tie back to the others, it turns out that Frenchie is the possessed man that appeared in the footage the Warrens show when we first see them. That said — the dialogue where Ed says, “They called him Frenchie,” was added and did not appear in the original film.

Let’s cut to the chase. This is worse than a bad movie. It’s a boring movie that squanders the promise of great scares. At no point was I worried for anyone’s safety. There’s no real story arc for any of the characters, nothing that moves them through other than interchangeable forces of good and evil for the sake of telling us about this great evil that we’ve already seen in a better movie.

The Catholic Church has been through some rough media in the past few weeks. Completely justified bad media, mind you. The Nun seemingly takes place in some alternate world filled with free thinking nuns like Sister Irene who believe that we should question everything and who are presented as being seen as on the same level as a priest. I loved that in the midst of all the Satanic panic at the end of this film, she takes the time to finish her vows and become a full nun, as it’s a great advertisement for a church that wants nothing to do with a movie like this that claims that exorcisms and possession are real. It’s another one of God’s mysteries: a film that is the best sales pitch for the Catholic Church in years is one that they’d abhor. Take it from someone who angrily yelled at the Pittsburgh Catholic** and their reviewer Father Peter Horton from the age of 9.

My first film critic enemy.

I know that I’ve been down this same path so many times, determined not to be an old man yelling that movies used to be so much better when I was young. But time and time again, I get all excited about something new only to be crushed by the resulting boredom and ennui that modern horror delivers. I should have to watch The Other Hell three times in a row as my penance.

*The Warrens have always been controversial. Skeptical investigators have said that while the couple was very nice and genuinely sincere in their beliefs, pleasant people, they were “at best, as tellers of meaningless ghost stories, and at worst, dangerous frauds.” They also determined that some of their most famous tales, such as Amityville never happened. That said — that battle against skeptics has been a major part of The Conjuring Universe.

**The Pittsburgh Catholic also featured a list of what films good Catholics should avoid. Notably, favorites like Amityville II: The Possession, The Howling and Halloween were rated O for morally offensive. Therefore, they’re the movies you want to see.

My grandparents used to have a trailer that they bought for vacations. Most of the time, it sat as a refuge in the backyard for my grandfather to relax in. I didn’t get to spend many nights away from home in it, except for once, and it was so hot and so claustrophobic in there, I was awake all night, just staring into the unfamiliar environment and hoping to go home.

I’ve always had this majestic idea about getting an RV and hitting the open road, seeing the sights and having a place to crash. After The Toybox, I’m forgetting this fantasy.

Charles wants to put his estranged family back together — a promise he made to his wife just before she died. One son, Steve, is married to Jennifer (Denise Richards, Wild Things, Starship Troopers) and has a young daughter and dog. The other, Jay (Brian Nagel, Ouija House) wants nothing to do with his father.

Nevertheless, everyone piles into a vintage RV that Charles got for a steal. As they make their way through the desert, they pick up Samantha (Mischa Barton, The O.C.) and her brother Mark (Matt Mercer, Beyond the Gates). Of course, there’s a detour that Charles just has to take and a roadside attraction he is just dying to see. Soon, they’re stranded and the RV begins to reveal that all is not as it seems.

Yep. You’ve seen possessed houses. You’ve seen The Car. You’ve even seen RV based movies like Race with the Devil and The Hills Have Eyes. But have you ever seen a possessed RV before?

Director Tom Nagel created ClownTown a few years back and has appeared in several films, like Man of Steel, as an actor. Here, he shows a pretty deft hand at building suspense. There’s a great scene where Richards’ character sees a past tragedy yet cannot do anything to stop it while the serial killer who possesses the RV slowly makes his way toward her.

There are a few moments — like the RV chasing the dad and him not just sharply turning away from it — that were a little silly in an otherwise decent film. But the movie totally redeems itself with the scene where polaroid after polaroid of the murders that happened inside the mobile home are revealed and one of the characters meets a gory end at the hands of cutlery.

Richards and Barton may not be in the A list any longer, but they approach this film as if it’s a major release. They both go all out in their performances and bring plenty of meat to their roles.

Want to see this one for yourself? The Toybox will open in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s NoHo 7 on September 14 for a one week run. Then, starting September 18, you can grab it on blu ray, DVD and Cable and Digital HD, including Amazon Instant, iTunes, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, Comcast, Optimum, Dish, Google Play and more.

You can get more info — and preorder your copy — at the official site.

What does it take to have Becca, who has been watching horror movies since she was 9, to get up and walk out on a movie? Well, Terrifier holds your answer.

If you are afraid of clowns, stay away from this movie.

If you are squeamish about gore, don’t even start watching it.

Basically, just know that this one goes all the way. And then some. It’s like someone told the filmmakers that they were in Italy in 1980 and had bought stock in latex, food coloring and corn syrup.

Al the Clown first showed up in the anthology film All Hallow’s Eve. Now, he’s back, as the film opens on a talk show hostess interviewing the only survivor of a massacre where she was the only survivor. As the host asks if the woman saw her attacker die, we pull back to reveal Al the Clown destroying a TV set.

Following the interview, we hear the talk show host make fun of the mutilated victim, who soon shows up to gouge out her eyes.

If you’ve made it this far, you haven’t seen anything yet.

After a night of partying, Tara and Dawn are walking down the street and encounter Al carrying a bag of weapons. Dawn yells at him as Tara tells her to settle down. They decide to sober up at a pizza shop when the clown shows up again, leading to Dawn taking selfies with him. Al gets up and gives Tara a toy ring before the owner kicks him out.

The girls return to their car to find their tires slashed and have to call Tara’s sister for a ride. They’re going better than the pizza shop employees, who are quickly butchered and decimated by the sinister clown. Soon, Tara and Dawn are captured by Al and Tara is forced to watch Dawn get…well, I don’t want to ruin it. But I will say that this was the exact moment that Becca got upset and shut off the blu ray. It’s that unexpected and intense.

Needless to say, this is the slasher for those of you who have been waiting for a modern version that can live up to movies like The Prowler. My disclaimer above is no joke: this is one brutal movie filled with gallons upon gallons of the red stuff.

David Howard Thornton, who plays Art, is amazing. He imbues the character with sheer menace and you can see that his mime training really pays off. He’s creepy just sitting there or walking on by. Once he gets on a tricycle or starts killing everyone in his path, he gets downright terrifying. Hey — the title makes sense. Director Damien Leone also directed All Hallow’s Eve and Frankenstein vs. The Mummy and is someone to watch. Unlike so many modern horror movies, there’s definitely attention paid to mood, pacing, color and lighting.

We got our copy at Diabolik DVD, which came with a blu ray and DVD version of the film. It also seemed like some scenes had way more gore than the version that’s playing on Netflix right now.

One of the coolest parts of doing this site is having filmmakers reach out to us. For example, this email: “My name is Matt Frame, director of ‘Camp Death III in 2D!’ Enjoyed your Friday the 13th Part III review and thought my film might be up your alley. It’s a comedy/horror parody of ‘Friday the 13th Part III 3D.’ We just completed the film and are about to launch our festival run. We’d be honored if you would consider watching the first 5 minutes of the film and/or the trailer. If you dig what you see then feel free to watch further.”

Good news, Matt. We watched the whole movie!

Matt sent us the link for his “$35,000 Canadian opus,” which he also told us, “someone described it as ‘the most horrible GOOD movie I’ve ever seen’ so bear that in mind.” I told him that I spend good money on Claudio Fragasso movies that no one in the United States knows or cares about, so there was a good bet I’d love whatever he did.

For someone like me that not only spent an entire week reviewing the entire Friday the 13th series, loves Sleepaway Camp and can count the slashers in my DVD collection in triple digits, Camp Death 3 in 2D! hits all the right buttons. It also helps that its gory heart in firmly in Caddyshack and Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker territory. Sure, there’s a narrative here, but the film works best as a collection of sight gags. Those are my favorite kind of films, where the description is as simple as “a family goes on a vacation, hijinks ensure” or “there’s a golf tournament, hijinks ensue.”

Camp Crystal Meph has reopened…again. Yet the scurvy and male pattern baldness ravaged death machine known as Johann Van Damme can’t be stopped. Head Counsellor Todd Boogjumper has a dream to convert the camp into a rehab center for adults who are either completely stupid or unable to contain their violent impulses. Joined by his Uncle Mel (who once was talked by the trees into fighting a lake), his guitar playing girlfriend Rachel and other counselors, the camp opens again. But now, the killings begin again. Is it Johann? Is it a copycat? Is it the squirrels who roam the camp and try to kill Uncle Mel every few minutes?

Crowdfunded in 2014, this movie took 14 months to shoot all over British Columbia. It looks awesome and is also a film unafraid to use B roll cutaways to establish mood (and then establish, establish and establish again). One of the ways it was funded was by director Matt Frame setting a world record by non-stop walking for 24 hours and 109 kilometers with a coconut strapped to his waist.

If you’re looking for gore, look no further. This one features around 80 onscreen deaths that Joe Bob Briggs would have a field day describing. Sure, there’s some computer aided stuff, but there’s also plenty of practical blood spraying here. Between all the red stuff and the frequent allusions to a whole red rainbow of slashers and other films, there’s plenty to enjoy here.

How funny is it? Well, that depends. My sense of humor runs toward The Kentucky Fried Movie variety as much as it does Mr. Show and SCTV, so I liked a lot of the jokes. You’ll also find more to like here the more 1980’s movies you’ve seen. It’s also completely unafraid to be beyond politically incorrrect in its humor, so if you’re eaisly offended, you might want to find another movie (or get a little more open minded).

Thanks for sending this our way, Matt. You’ve made our day! For more info on the film, head on over to its Facebook page!

Dead Envy is written, directed by and starring Harley Di Nardo, someone who knows something about music. As the lead singer of Closer and White Light Motorcade, he’s gigged and toured for years. You can sense the desperation that he feels, knowing that he might have one great song still in him and wondering if a normal life is a prison that he’s not ready to be part of yet. Despite claiming that his wife Cecily (Samantha Smart) saved him, it never seems that he cares all that much for her.

Javy (Adam Reeser) saves David from a heckler at the club and soon insinuates himself into his life. He gets a job at the salon that the aging rocker owns with his wife, then drugs him at a club and sets him up to have an affair. This allows Javy to further insinuates himself into their lives, as he saves Cecily from an asthma/panic attack.

Between the affair and his need to be a star again, David neglects the salon and the electric bill. He goes to visit his landlord who is also a medium. She tells him that he has to beware of Javy coming into his life. That’s when we learn why David’s rock and roll life ended: he had to skip out on a European tour to take care of Cecily and they went on without him. He learns that she had a miscarriage and never told him.

Meanwhile, Cecily has brought Javy into their home for dinner, along with his other personality, a flickering demon who brings up his worst impulses. That’s when David has to come to terms with how his ego has blinded himself to just how great normal life — and having someone like Cecily — can be.

Dead Envy moves quickly and its cast may be unknown, but DiNardo, Reeser and Smart all bring plenty of talent to their roles. Reeser, in particular, is able to switch his persona from sensitive and thoughtful to maniacal and manipulative, coming off as a really well-portrayed villain. The scene at the end where he has Cecily trapped in her home, asking her if she’s David’s possession and reveals all of his tattoos is pretty intense. The meltdown that he’s been holding back explodes as the film races to its conclusion.

Things wrap up a little too neatly and I wish there was a bit more background about David’s past success to show just why he was so important to Javy, but the film’s still pretty interesting. Band dynamics, lead singer ego and the bond between fan and artist are all pretty powerful — so there’s already plenty of mull over here.

Dead Envy premieres tonight at the Arena Cinelounge Sunset in Hollywood for a one week run, then will be available as a video on demand starting September 3. Check out the official site for more info.

Disclaimer: I was sent this film by its PR team and in no way did that impact my review. Thanks!

The war in Afghanistan has left scars on Steve — physical and emotional ones. He never really returns home, as every day is just a series of repetitive tasks and drinking himself to a fitful slumber. But when the corpse of a gorgeous singer — Diane — shows up in his backyard, he does something strange before calling the police. He takes her photo.

Soon, Steve can only think of the dead woman. The rest of his life is a shambles — attacked by neighbors who think he’s the killer, hounded by the police and even visited by Diane’s husband. There’s only one good thing in his life — he’s now haunted by a woman who he can’t ever remember meeting.

Jason Alan Smith, who appeared on FX’s Feud and in the movie Before I Wake, has to carry nearly this entire movie as Steve. A majority of the film is him speaking directly to the camera or going through the motions of his ruined life. He’s the best actor in it, which is a good thing, because it’s one hell of a challenge. I really liked how the closer Steve gets to Diane’s ghost, the more he changes. He no longer needs a cane to walk and he can easily best the neighborhood toughs. He’s found something to care about again.

Director/writer/director Michael Mongillo (Being Michael Madsen) set the bar high here. Probably higher than the budget would allow, but there are flourishes of style that make this movie stand out. I love the prelude of Diane singing before the title is revealed. And the video effects as Steve battles her spirit near the end of the film are really inventive.

Carlee Avers is interesting as Diane. Most of her role calls for her to look alluring and she easily handles that, but there are some nice moments where her gorgeous veneer is cracked and she speaks honestly of the waste she’s made of her life. At least Steve had the war — all she has are dreams unfulfilled.

Soon, Steve has turned the crime scene into a shrine and Diane into someone he alternately worships, desires and fears. And the ending can only be a tragedy, right?

Diane is an interesting noir-ish film. The press kit has a review that describes it as “Jacob’s Ladder meets Memento,” which is pretty close. I just wish that all of the actors in the film were as solid as the leads. Some of the cop dialogue felt really forced, as did the bullying kids that fight Steve and the people he works with.

While there were times of brilliance when it comes to shot choice and lighting, there are many times when the film looks flat. However, I found more to enjoy than dismiss here. I’m interested to see what Mongillo, Smith and Avers do next.

Diane opens at LA’s Arena Cinelounge on September 7, then will be available nationwide on cable and digital VOD including iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play and Vudu September 17. For more information, visit the official site.

Disclaimer: I was sent this film by its PR team and in no way did that impact my review. Thanks!

Thanks to Paul Andolina for sharing this. Check out his writing at Wrestling with Film.

I was walking through our local Walmart last week when some DVD artwork caught my eye. It was simple, a few faces hovering over a battlefield, the most predominant being a man wearing an open faced helmet. I picked it up because it felt like something was telling me to. I try to trust my gut when it comes to movies. I read the back and immediately checked what language the audio was in. I was delighted to find that it was in Russian! It was titled The Last Warrior. I have been interested in Russian culture since I was young. Its history, people, and entertainment have fascinated me in one way or the other over the past 18 years of my life. One thing I have struggled with as a film lover interested in Russian films is that not as many films make it to the English speaking market for some odd reason. When they do get released here I am hard pressed to find it in its original length and audio without cuts or dubbing.  I didn’t have the cash to immediately buy it which is what I would normally do when I come across anything in the Russian language but I did head over to the nearest Family Video to see if it was available to rent. There it was, all alone, a single copy of the video; normally if something is also released on Bluray, a copy of it in that format is also there but there was one DVD of The Last Warrior in the entire store. I shouldn’t be surprised as not everyone races out to watch the latest Russian language release to hit shelves. I couldn’t wait to run home and throw it into my player and get lost for a bit. What I got in the end was more than I could have hoped for.

The Last Warrior is titled Скиф (The Scythian) in its native language. The Last Warrior centers around a soldier named Lyutobor (Лутобор). His wife gives birth to a son but is then kidnapped along with the child. Lyutobor receives a note to kill the leader of his settlement in exchange for her life. A tribe of trained Scythian assassins is near the end of their culture’s presence abducts them. One off the Scythians named Kunitsa (Куница) which is the Russian word for the animals known as a marten is left behind during the attack and becomes Lyutobor’s guide to find the tribe and hopefully the kidnappers themselves. It seems to be a fairly by the numbers Russian epic set during the ancient Russian period. It proves to be anything but that.

Russians churn out period pieces set during conflicts quite often. Whether it be during the Great Patriotic War or more recent conflicts like the 1979 conflict in Afghanistan you’re bound to find a movie set in those times. My favorites, however, are the semi-historical epics that center on legendary warriors. The Last Warrior was certainly satisfying in that aspect but I was not prepared for its turn into dark fantasy. When Lyutobor has Kunitsa swear before one of the many ancient Russian deities Perun, a haunting spectre of frailty descends a ladder saying that Kunitsa’s oath means nothing as he does not worship this god. The guardian of Perun’s temple who utters these words is a blind man covered in ashes or white paint imbued with mysterious powers. I knew then that I was in for a special treat if it continued down this path. There is a later encounter with a collective of tree-dwelling folks who worship a strange strong man that continues this film’s flirtations with the mystic and barbaric. The Last Warrior isn’t a typical Conan cash in that was so popular with Italian and English directors alike after its release but I do feel it is in some way kin to those films. The world you get to experience for 104 minutes is one that folks of Robert E. Howard’s work may enjoy. It is not lacking in the brutality department either. There are a few battles between small groups of folks and even some great hand to hand combat on display. Those that love swords and other bladed weaponry are in for a treat as well as combat with these instruments is throughout the film. There is no shortage of blood either with even some nice gore effects being showcased in some fights. I really do feel like this film will be much more appreciated a few years from now if it is not discovered by many folks while it is out now. It has all the trappings of a film that could become a favorite among fans of genre film. All said if you are a fan of sword and sorcery and dark fantasy you should enjoy this film. If you are feeling adventurous and would just like to see what I consider a sterling example of what Russian cinema can offer when done well I would like to suggest you give it a shot. The DVD and Blurays both offer English language options in the form of dubbing and of course includes English subtitles for the Russian audio track.