For his sophomore effort, director Scott W. Mackinlay has reassembled much of his cast and crew from 2006’s Gag, including Brian Kolodziej, who takes the driver’s sear as Campbell, a young man forced to accept a lowly gig at a car wash after being fired from a grocery store for stealing porno magazines they don’t […]
gore
Posted inArts & Culture
Rites of Spring
Realizing that’s been done before, writer/director Padraig Reynolds shrewdly introduces a second storyline in the form of a $2 million kidnapping scheme concocted by a white-trash trio on a wealthy family. For these two storylines to converge takes about 50 minutes, and just before they do, Rites delivers a welcome twist. Well, it would be […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Hostel / Hostel: Part II
From 2005, Hostel drops three collegians into Amsterdam for a debauched vacation of pot and poon, only to accidentally become victims in a bizarre business in which the wealthy pay big bucks to torture the kidnapped in an underground warehouse. Roth spares nothing, leaving viewers to cringe at every slice of the Achilles tendon, snipped […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Zombie A-Hole
I wish I could say the live-action Zombie A-Hole matched those felt-based shenanigans of Massacre; instead, I must admit being disappointed. While it exhibits flashes of Mills’ indie-minded manic brilliance, three things killed it for me: • amateurish acting, • nudity just for the sake of nudity (to a ridiculously exploitative degree), and • a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Kill List
The less you know beforehand, the better, but know that Jay (Neil Maskell, Atonement, Doghouse) is stricken by immense stress. Struggling under the grips of the recession has placed his marriage to Shel (MyAnna Buring, The Descent, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1) on shaky ground, and their verbal disagreements dampen the spirits […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Don’t Go in the Woods
The first feature as director for longtime fine actor Vincent D’Onofrio (Kill the Irishman), Woods is as ambling as the five young musicians — one of whom is blind — who drive their van to a forest for a songwriting retreat, where the following things are not allowed: booze, drugs, girls, phones and common sense. That […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Burning Moon
Not for nothing does its cover brazenly warn, “Uncut. Uncensored. Unconscionable.” Chances are you’d agree with all three, but the average person isn’t likely even to complete its trailer. Shot on video, “The Burning Moon” is not only a gorehound’s delight, but a German gorehound’s delight. To put it another way: those with framed covers […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Needle
Oh, it’s not great, but for an Aussie mix of “Final Destination” and “Hellraiser,” you could expect much worse. College student Ben Rutherford (Travis Fimmel, “The Experiment“) inherits an interesting item from his late father’s estate: an ornate, 18th-century box that, he and pals learn the hard way after it’s stolen, has the power to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Needle
Oh, it’s not great, but for an Aussie mix of “Final Destination” and “Hellraiser,” you could expect much worse. College student Ben Rutherford (Travis Fimmel, “The Experiment“) inherits an interesting item from his late father’s estate: an ornate, 18th-century box that, he and pals learn the hard way after it’s stolen, has the power to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Needle
Oh, it’s not great, but for an Aussie mix of “Final Destination” and “Hellraiser,” you could expect much worse. College student Ben Rutherford (Travis Fimmel, “The Experiment“) inherits an interesting item from his late father’s estate: an ornate, 18th-century box that, he and pals learn the hard way after it’s stolen, has the power to […]