Visiting Hours (1982, Jean-Claude Lord)

For some reason, this one slipped past me during my early teen years of rampant slasher fanaticism. I don't think it's one that's ever gotten much attention in the genre, since it came around a really busy time for films like these, but after finally seeing "Visiting Hours", I gotta call it out on being a very underrated flick!

A women's-rights female journalist is attacked in her home by a psychotic opponent of her strong social viewpoints, landing her in the hospital after she's rescued just in time. Unfortunately for her, the police and nursing staff are no match for the determined lunatic who intends to finish her off - killing whomever gets in his way...

It should come as no surprise that Michael Ironside is fucking awesome in this. His performance as the killer, Colt Hawker, ultimately transcends that of the basic 'masked phantom' slasher antagonist - giving him a darker and more 'fleshed out' quality than just the more traditional faceless killing machine-type of character. It makes it a bit more effective when he's running around, severing old women's breathing tubes and brutalizing bimbos in his dingy apartment. Also, Bill Shatner pops up a handful of times, bringing absolutely nothing to film other than name recognition and an appetite for hospital sundaes. So, there was that... Gotta say, overall, I was pretty surprised by "Visiting Hours". It's not heavy on the gore or nudity, which is a definite 'con', but I'd say the 'pros' outweigh it for the most part, in this case. Ironside rules and there's some good suspense and tension. Little slow here n' there, but I gotta give it a pretty hearty recommendation for those who haven't given it a shot yet.

Club Satan: The Witches Sabbath (2007, Shaun Bugbee)

There's not really much to dislike when it comes to just straight-up satanic porn and that's precisely what we're talkin', here. Light on plot, heavy on blasphemous XXX-smut...

A Catholic schoolgirl is having a plethora of sexually deviant fantasies involving incest, violence and Satan. Because of this, she is kicked out of school, but finds acceptance with a devil worshipping cult lead by Satan, himself.

Although it kinda drags a little bit at the end during the big, bloody gangbang - the sacrilegious 'edge' is what gives "Club Satan: The Witches Sabbath" it's entertainment value. Lots of vaginal crucifix abuse, Satan getting his ass eaten, some piss/blood drinking, jerking off on Jesus statues and some brief footage from a Dark Funeral concert tacked on at the tail end (their music is featured throughout the metal-packed soundtrack). Generally, it has a pretty straight-forward porno 'style' to it in the way that it was obviously suppose to be 'whack worthy', so that's a definite plus. However, it's more enjoyable for the 'outrageous' satanic content. Worth checking out for non-Christian smut hounds.

The Class (2007, Ilmar Raag)

I really wanted to like this one more, but it left me a bit torn. On one hand, "The Class" (a.k.a "Klass") is a very solidly acted and well shot Estonian 'school shooter' flick, while on the other, it just seemed too over-the-top for me to fully buy into it's 'message'...

A large collective of high school dickbags decide to single out one of the quiet, reserved kids whom they deem a "freak" and make each school day a hell on Earth for him. One of the lead bully's pals begins feeling his conscience getting the better of him and goes against the pack in order to protect the helpless victim. This basically causes a war between a classroom of sadistic tormenters and the two oppressed outcasts.

Maybe this kinda thing goes on in Estonian schools in the name of Euro-trash "honor", but the extent of the cruelty depicted here didn't seem very believable. At the beginning it states that the film is based on "true stories", so maybe it's just an assemblage of true bullying tactics strung together and inflicted upon just two characters for the sake of creating one of the most grueling high school experiences ever captured on celluloid. Then again, who HASN'T been held at knife-point and forced to blow their friend in front of a unified body of snickering peers? I dunno, it just seemed a little 'much', but when vengeance is delivered, it's definitely warranted. Perhaps the whole point of "The Class" was to completely justify school shootings. If that be the case, than they succeeded in making the most recrementitious and indulgent movie about adolescent bullying and retaliation. Not to say it's BAD, cuz it's certainly not. Like I said, it's shot nicely and well acted. However, I'd recommend Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" or "Zero Day" if you're looking for better films on the topic of school shootings which is, primarily, an American problem and I don't feel the Estonians captured it all that accurately.

Black Magic with Buddha (1983, Lieh Lo)

"The Black Magic with Buddha" is one of the better I've seen in a line of early HK horror films revolving around sorcery and demonic shit. Frankly, in the past I've found these types of flicks typically dull, poorly paced and drawn out. And while there's not much exception here, this one contains a few bits of cheezily, weird entertainment.

A couple of guys track down, unearth and extract the living brain from a mummy that apparently grants wishes. One of them takes it back home where he uses the slimy, pulsating brain to help him achieve a high level of wealth that will allow him to fit in with his fiancés snobby rich, unsupportive relatives. After a few more wishes - and some brain-related demises on his behalf - he becomes successful and gets married, but ultimately forgets to send the brain back, via some kind of holy water ritual. This pisses the brain off, causing it go berserk on everyone...

It's ridiculous and definitely drags in spots, but this one held my interest a bit more than other movies of this ilk, such as "Eternal Evil of Asia", "Centipede Horror" and "Devil Fetus". The guy getting swarmed by blood-thirsty, breathing brains in the bathtub was funny (Although, I don't think it was suppose to be...) and the ending is very chaotic and somewhat amusing, I'd say. Still, like I said, these type of HK 'black magic' movies aren't really my thing. "The Black Magic with Buddha" is very disjointed and tiringly schlocky, but still manages to be 'okay'. They also blatanly lifted some of the score from Don Coscarelli's "Phantasm". Bastards...

Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical (2011, Travis Campbell)

Well, this was an incredibly uncomfortable experience. It's about as awkwardly douchey as you would imagine a 'heavy metal musical' being and more. Even to hardcore metalheads (which I am), this is cringe-inducing...

A hooker is kidnapped and raped by Mr. Bricks - a bulky reprobate with a solid black gladiator helmet tattooed on his face and bald head. She is rescued from his warehouse dwelling and he is shot in the head in the process, but survives and sets out searching for her. Turns out she's also got a 'fling' going on with another married cop who wants Mr. Bricks dead.

Throughout this agonizingly boring movie are painfully generic, poorly recorded musical breaks that try to resemble something along with lines of 'metal'. These 'songs' consist, primarily, of lots of forcibly angry and despairing lyrics along with headache-inducing camera work and music video-style editing accompanyment. It's all the more pathetic that they did not have a budget that was conducive to pulling this "style" off, adequately. At certain points, there's this terrible fucking fire graphic that appears on screen that looks like it just a feature on the camera they were using. And as for the plot, nothing really happens... It's all redundancy and bland, hollow characters that have no developement, whatsoever.

For anyone spotting this title and thinking that a 'heavy metal murder musical' sounds "cool", it's actually the furthest thing from that, imaginable. Just total fucking cheapass garbage.

The Peeping Tom (1997, Kai-Ming Lai)

Balls-to-the-wall CATIII sleaze-ertainment, here. If the glamorization of rape bothers you, than this may not be for you...

A serial killer/rapist with a rabid leg fetish is running amok around HK, sexually violating women and lopping off their 'stems' for his collection. He ends up getting fixated on a female cop and begins stalking her, breaking into her apartment when she's gone and, eventually, going after loved ones in a sociopathic attempt to win her over.

"The Peeping Tom" wouldn't rival truly quality HK shit like "The Untold Story" or "Red to Kill", but it DOES certainly pile on the sadistic AND sexy 'action' that keeps it rolling along nicely. The scenes of rape and murder are pretty strong and the maniacal antagonist is well played. There's also countless scenes of chicks undressing as well as a gratuitous shower masturbation scene thrown in for good measure. In all, I can't say that this flick is ever boring or slow, due to it supplying a terrific blend of drama/action/serial killer/sleaze elements that all work well together. I'm definitely putting it in my CATIII top-5.