X-Ray (1981)

Lately, I've been in the mood to check out some of the more 'oddball' - or just lesser-known/often unmentioned - slasher flicks of the early '80s that I've yet to see. I was pretty positive I had already seen "X-Ray" (aka. "Hospital Massacre") but after skimming a synopsis for it I realized I must've had it mistaken for another hospital-horror joint, "Visiting Hours". Definitely not as good as that movie, but I thought this one was watchable enough.

We start with a flashback to 1961 where a misunderstood, introverted little boy sees the girl he likes destroy a birthday card he left on her doorstep so he promptly kills and hangs her friend/brother from the coat rack. Cut to present day, the all grown up girl drops by a hospital to pick up some results but soon finds herself held there against her will by the creepy staff who seem to believe she is seriously ill. All the while, a killer dressed as a surgeon is making the rounds - dusting people off around the building in a variety of slasherific ways...

I'd say this one's worth it alone for Barbi Benton's prolonged "examination" scene, showcasing some awesomely puffy nipples. Kudos for this one taking some surprisingly sleazy 'turns'. Some of the kills are decent - for one, a fairly gruesome hatchet to the head as well as some bloody stabbings. The whole "Twilight Zone" vibe surrounding the seedy hospital faculty was also kind of a cool accompaniment to the all-too familiar slasher formula and definitely adds to an already strong atmosphere. Hospitals can make for pretty great slasher film environments. The killer's reveals was ridiculously and disappointingly obvious, however, seeing as how we know his name as a kid and the guy who turns out to be the culprit just has a shortened version of that name. Might be one of the most obvious 'whodunnits' in slasher history while ironically having what might be the most 'red herrings'. At the end of the day, fans of '80s slasher flicks are sure to get a kick out of this one. It's nothing too memorable, but it's entertaining.

Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016)

There was definitely some potential to be had with "Gehenna: Where Death Lives", however, it doesn't end up amounting to much other than a vastly mediocre supernatural horror flick. Had it played up its strengths and scaled back on it's meandering, I think this would've been a pretty decent movie.

A team of architects are scouting the future location of a lavish resort in the Western Pacific when they come across a Japanese WWII bunker. Upon exploring it, things get hairy when they discover rooms containing withered corpses, are attacked by an old man and eventually find themselves locked inside. As they struggle to find their way out, apparitions start targeting each of them - preying on their own personal past traumas.

While there are a few scenes that are fairly effective - namely the old man scene (starring Doug Jones of "The Shape of Water" fame, whose part is but a mere minute-and-a-half, tops), which was kind of creepy and also a part involving a ghostly chicks' head and neck contorting which looked alright. Though, aside from these brief moments, the movie is MUCH too long and incredibly drawn out. None of the bland back stories touched uon mattered at all to me and the overall execution of the story felt aimless to a frustrating extent. Had the more 'interesting' scenes come across as less of an obvious 'seize the opportunity' of getting Doug Jones and Lance Henriksen for a VERY limited time, which is highly toutable for the films cover, I think the movie would've played out much better; and especially if they tightened up the story and done a little more editing to cut down on tedium. Again, I can kinda see where they wanted to go with this, but unfortunately, it was a swing and a miss.

A Quiet Place (2018)

I think almost anyone who checked out "A Quite Place" in the cinema can agree that it definitely provides a unique theatrical viewing experience that certainly makes it stand out. Aside from that, however, I wasn't all that blown away by the premise - which is pretty familiar and basic, overall.

We pick up with John "Big Tuna" Krasinski and his family as they are in the midst of surviving an apocalyptic invasion of auditorily adept creatures of unexplained origin that viciously attack and devour anything that makes even the slightest sound. We first seem 'em in action when their youngest son is pounced on after activating his battery-powered toy rocket ship which he was forbidden to have. About a year later, the family is living practically in total silence out on a farm. The eldest daughter - who is deaf, coincidentally - feels guilty over her brother's death and feels her father blames her for it and the mother has another child on the way. After going into labor, things go from bad to worse when the creatures swarm their dwelling and the fight for survival becomes paramount.

First off, as far as theatrical viewing, this is NOT a popcorn movie. It's more of an egg salad movie. I've never seen so many people afraid to eat their concessions at a film showing. Reason of course being, the majority of this movie is VERY quiet, if not completely soundless, which is actually pretty fucking cool, I thought. This both does a good job of bringing you into the head of a deaf character as well as boosting the tension in key scenes where the characters mustn't make a peep - making you feel all the more involved in what's going on. This also increases the impact of jump-scares, which weren't all that prevalent, yet the ones it had worked well. I didn't much like the look of the creatures. It just seemed like too familiar of a design, as did the films premise in not going anywhere all that unpredictable. That said, I had a good time checking this out at my local cineplex. It's definitely a rare kind of experience, seeing as how so much of the movie is so quiet and played out using mostly sign language in place of dialog. Good atmosphere, decent performances and quick enough pace. Just wish the creatures and plot structure were a little more original.

The Great American Snuff Film (2004)

This one turned out to be a bit better than I expected, mainly due to it not being a 100% 'faux-snuff' flick like I thought it would be. It's actually a pseudo-dramatization of a "real life" serial killer with, what is claimed to be, an authentic snuff clip tacked on at the end.

A psychopath and his retarded, hillbilly buddy abduct two women and hold them captive out in the buddy's desert junkyard where he intends on recording - you guessed it - 'the great American snuff film'. They put the girls through various forms of abuse and torment leading up to the final 'shoot', though their partnership becomes strained when the hillbilly friend can't seem to help himself from wanting to rape one of the girls, which he does, as well as killing her, thus putting a damper on the 'director's' project.

I found this one a decent enough indie effort with a fairly sleazy look to it and adequate acting, overall. Could've been a bit more rough, violence-wise, but oh well. And for the record, the 'true story' claim, as well as the purported "real" murder footage at the end is bullshit, as I initially figured. My search engine research wasn't at all extensive in finding this out, plus, if this footage (as well as the three other snuff clips the movie states exist on the internet) was real I feel I would've known of it long ago, seeing as how I DO tend to scour the web for shit like that. So, despite its falsehoods, I'll give this one a moderate rec. Not great, but definitely falls into my 'ok' category.

American Guinea Pig: Bloodshock (2015)

"Bloodshock" is definitely a step up from the previous debut film in the "American Guinea Pig" series, although, much like how that movie was basically a remake of the Japanese GP entry, "Flower of Flesh and Blood", this one is more akin to "The Devil's Experiment". Still, I'm pleased to report, "Bloodshock" does have a slight bit of originality behind it (mostly in comparison to the other movie), as well as a glimmer of PLOT, unlike it's bland predecessor.

A guy finds himself in the clutches of a depraved doctor and orderlies in some kind of unknown facility where he is subjected to cruel and violent torture methods. When not, he's locked in a padded cell where he discovers a captive female is residing in the next cell who he's able to exchange notes to through the gaps in the wall. As things progress and the painful experiments become more severe, we learn that the doctor is siphoning their blood and injecting it into himself which seems to give him an intense 'high'. The film eventually concludes in a pretty stylish and bloody way...

While "Bloodshock" IS, like I said, superior than the first AGP installment, I'm honestly just not finding this kind of stuff all that 'disturbing' or 'shocking' at this point. By now I've pretty much run the gamut on this type of material so I'm not all that affected by episodic sequences depicting torture and gore. There ARE one or two fairly "inventive" methods of pain-infliction; namely the carving through bone with a wire, however, I really didn't find the gore and violence to be all that 'rough' or impacting with this one. The scene with the little spiky 'wheel' implements was pretty weak and went on way too long, especially. It must be said that nothing in this comes close to the 'graphic' eyeball scene from "The Devil's Experiment". I DID like the tone of the movie as well as the "climax" which, as out-of-place as it feels, IS the highlight of the film and the effects work, as a whole, are pretty solid so kudos to Marcus Koch once again. In all, I've yet to be all that impressed with the "American Guinea Pig" films, though I'm still willing to give the next one a fair shot. I hope future entries take off in a more unique and original direction and don't continue to mirror their Japanese counterparts so much.

Terrifier (2017)

I never saw the "All Hallows Eve" anthology, though I DID see the short film, "Terrifier", as a standalone piece before even knowing it was a part of a feature horror collective. I reviewed it so you can go and read that, but I really dug it as a hugely entertaining and gory 20-minute watch that I thought could definitely warrant an extended run-time. Well, we got it and I'm pleased to say: it's as enjoyable and bloody as one could hope.

Two young ladies are accosted by a crazy looking clown after leaving a Halloween party. After an incident at a pizza place - involving the clown getting "fresh" with one of them and being thrown out after painting the restroom with feces - the girls experience car trouble on their way home and, unfortunately for them, the psychotic clown isn't far behind. The rest of the movie is pretty much a Cirque du Sol-bloodbath in an abandoned building.

Don't go into this one expecting anything more than an incredibly psychotic looking clown slaughtering people in some exceptionally gruesome and over-the-top ways. Plot-wise - like the short - there's not much to speak of, though the kills are clearly the meat-n-potatoes here. Hacksaw-on-vag action, skull-smashing, human flaying (pretty creepy scene, might I add...), decapitations, and others. There's also a few things you may not quite see coming as far as weaponry used in the film as well as how the killers' outcome is handled. Speaking of which, they got a different guy to play Art the Clown than in the short and he certainly nails it with the creepy/bat shit insane appearance. The fucking huge grin is priceless. If I had to gripe, I wish they wouldn't have dropped the Halloween 'vibe' so soon. The movie is kept pretty well contained in a small area which doesn't allow for a whole lot of seasonal October atmosphere. Still, slasher fans and gorehounds will get a kick out of "Terrifier". If you're into Adam Green's "Hatchet" series, you'll probably dig this. I definitely foresee a string of sequels in the not-so-far off future.