Entertainment Earth

5/28/2022

Horror Crush: Vicky Dawson


It's time for another induction into this site's Horror Crush section. And, that induction is the beautiful Vicky Dawson!


Vicky Dawson was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Summit, New Jersey. She has been acting since the age of 10. And, while she is still involved in the movie biz, she only appeared in one horror movie. But, it's a cult favorite in the form of The Prowler!



The Prowler
(also known as Rosemary's Killer and The Pitchfork of Death) starts off telling us about soldiers coming back home from World War II. But, one of them has been dumped by his girlfriend, Rosemary, via a letter. At a dance, a girl and the dude she is with are killed by an unseen man. 35 years a college graduation dance is being held. And, if you guessed that murders start occurring again, you are correct!

Directed by Joseph (Invasion USA, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) Zito, The Prowler rises above the usual slasher dreck and is a solid and entertaining, good time. Zito's directing gives us some suspenseful moments. It's also a nice looking movie with some good use of shadows. It all builds up to a really kick ass climax. The killer, in his army fatigues, has a cool look and loves to use a bayonet, pitchfork, and a sawed-off shotgun. This makes him one of the few slashers smart enough to use a firearm, which makes sense as we know he is a war vet. What really helps it to stand out, though, is the graphic and bloody splatter FX by Tom Savini. This includes: throat slashing, bayonets to the head, wall painting squibs, a spectacular exploding head, and more. If only more slashers actually reached this level of splatter, I might be more of a fan of them.


Another highlight is that there is some character development, which is oh so rare in this sort of movies. Well, OK it's really only limited to our lead couple but still. One of those two leads is Christopher Goutman who is believable and likable as cop Mark London. Dawson plays his girlfriend Pam MacDonald. As our final girl, Pam is truly great, being spunky and someone you actually give a flying fuck about. Plus, she really stands her ground against the Prowler in the aforementioned climax. As Pam, Dawson is also naturally beautiful and the girl you wish you could take to the dance, or anywhere else for a date.


While, her work in the genre isn't the biggest, she stands out cause she's great in her one horror role. That it is in such a bloody, fun, and endlessly rewatchable slasher like The Prowler, is the icing on the gory cake. So, it is with great joy and much honor that Vicky Dawson is named an official Horror Crush! 

5/19/2022

Horror Crush: Lucy Martin


It's time to induct another talented beauty into the Horror Crush section! And, this around we are going to induct a newer actress that has stepped into the genre. That lady being the gorgeous Lucy Martin, who is already gained a huge fan in me. 


Lucy Martin is a British actress, who was born in Solihull, West Midlands. She is the third of four children. Martin is most well known for playing Ingrid on the History Channel series Vikings. I have to be honest in saying I have never really watched that show. So my introduction to her came from her appearance in the recent body horror flick The Seed.


The Seed tells the gory tale of three, beautiful friends who head off to the Mojave Desert to livestream a meteor shower. They stay at the house of the father of one of them, Heather (Sophie Vavasseur). It all seems to indicate that this will be a fun weekend. One which will also be great for their social media. But, this being a sci-fi\ horror flick, shit soon turns bad, and the fun times instead end being filled with alien terror, body horror, slime, gore, and gross orgies! In words, it is total fun for everyone!


If you have been longing for a new sex and slime movie after the void left by Brian Yuzna's Society look no further folks! This flick gets progressively weirder and more disgusting, while somehow always looking beautiful and not just cause of the three lovely ladies in it, including, of course, Ms. Martin. But, we'll get back to her in a bit. Anyway, it is suffice to say, for now, that they are all quite good in the acting department. The movie is also funny, with some deliciously dark humor at times. I'm really disappointed that it isn't getting the love that it should be. The way that it mixes laughs, hot babes, aliens, slime filled sex orgies, vomiting, bloody violence, and gruesome body horror, this ought-to be hailed as future cult favorite!


Martin plays Deidre a popular social media influencer who is there to stream the weekend for her viewers. She is perfect in her role, which mixes bitchiness, sexiness, and attitude with a good dose of humor and fun. She looks fantastic in a bikini and, like the other two leading ladies, isn't afraid to get covered in gore and go full gross-out mode.


I absolutely loved The Seed! It's one of my favorite movies this year, so far. Gorgeous, sexy, talented, and adding much fun to this splatter filled movie and role, Martin is fucking awesome! With just this role, she has already become a favorite of mine. She has a great acting future ahead of her, and I really hope she returns to the horror genre and soon! Regardless, with only this genre credit under her belt, currently, its more than enough to induct Lucy Martin into Horror Crushes!

5/12/2022

Shudder Acquires Award Winning & Darkly Comedic REVEALER


NEW YORK – May 12, 2022 – Shudder, AMC Network’s premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, has acquired Revealer, the feature debut from Emmy® Award-winning director Luke Boyce. The film, which made its U.S. premiere at Kansas City’s Panic Fest, stars Caito Aase (Black Mold) who won the fest’s Audience Award for Best Actress and Shaina Schrooten (Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge) and will be available exclusively on Shudder in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, June 23.

 

Said Craig Engler, general manager of Shudder, “Luke Boyce has crafted a darkly funny and surprisingly moving apocalyptic horror that we can't wait to share with Shudder members.”

 

“We made Revealer as the entire shift of the world changed beneath our feet and we responded to that creatively. It is a movie that's wild and scary, but also heartfelt and emotional. It's a neon-drenched, horror-filled call for connectedness and we are so incredibly excited to have teamed up with Shudder, a platform and community I love dearly, as the perfect home to share it with the world," added director Luke Boyce.

 

In Revealer, what started off as a typical Chicago work day in 1987 for Angie Pittarelli (Aase), a dancer at the Revealers Bookstore peep show booth, turns tragic when her annoying boss is suddenly killed in an uprising outside the store leaving her trapped in the booth, unable to escape. Soon she learns that hiding out in the booth next to hers is none other than Sally Mewbourne (Schrooten), an overzealous religious protester that seems to get a kick out of regularly harassing Angie. Sally is in a panic claiming that the rapture has occurred and the apocalypse has begun. With nowhere left to turn Angie and Sally must separate their differences and come together to fight this unknown evil, navigating the treacherous bootlegger tunnels below the store to survive the unthinkable.

 

Revealer is written by comic authors Tim Seeley (Hack/SlashRevival) and Michael Moreci (BarbaricThe Plot) and produced by Shatterglass Films and The Line Film Co. along with a number of genre mainstays including Sarah Sharp, Robert Patrick Stern and Brett Hays. Aaron B. Koontz rounds out the producing team under his Paper Street Pictures banner.

 

The deal was negotiated by Aaron B. Koontz on behalf of the filmmakers, and Emily Gotto, VP, Global Acquisitions & Co-Productions on behalf of Shudder.

 

About Shudder

AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and originals is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

5/10/2022

The Sadness (Review)


Writer/ Director: Rob Jabbaz
Cast: Berant Zhu, Regina Lei, Ying-Ru Chen, Tzu-Chaing Wang, Emerson Tsai, Wai-Hua Lan
Year: 2021
Min: 99

In Taiwan, a young couple, Jim (Berant Zhu) and Kat (Regina Lei), have a minor argument about him working instead of going away with her as had been planned. On the TV news, a podcast is shown featuring Dr. Wong (Wei-Hua Lan), who warns that the current flu like Alvin virus is mutating and that the nation needs to quarantine. The host of said podcast scoffs at this stating that is all being done cause this is an election year. Before going to work Jim notices a blood covered old woman on a nearbay roof. Immediately there after, he talks to his neighbor Mr. Li (Ralf Chiu, here credited as Ralf Yen-Hslang Chiu) who thinks that the virus is a load of bullshit. 

But, of course, it ain't, and when Jim goes to a café all hell breaks loose. The old lady he saw on the roof viciously attacks the cook. Immediately after, bloody violence erupts. Meanwhile, on the train that Kat is on, murder and violence explodes as people begin to brutally attack and kill passengers Blood and viscera begins to fly, as a body count quickly rises. She helps a woman named Molly (Ying-Ru Chen) who has gotten stabbed in the eye. They both head to a hospital, and hope to be safe there. Kat tells Jim where she is. He heads to there to meetup with her, as they both try to survive the ever increasing acts of brutality and horrific violence that are happening around them. For you see, the virus is spreading quickly and creating more assaulting, murdering, and raping zombies.

The Sadness is a 2021 Taiwanese infected/ zombie/ hardcore splatter/ horror movie. It premiered in its homeland of Taiwan on January 22, 2021 and played a few festivals in the months that followed. The movie's extreme and boundary pushing ways quickly gained it a reputation, as gruesome and shocking. But, it has also been getting praise for the movie's inherit quality. 

Horror has always been indictive and responsive of the world around it. Look no further than the nuclear horror movies of the 1950's or the post 9/11 torture porn era. So then, it comes as no shock that the COVID pandemic era is seeing a rise (pun not intended) in infected horror, as also seen in the recent and well made Argentinian/ Uruguayan Virus-32 (currently streaming on Shudder). But, with The Sadness, we might have already hit our be all-end all of disease horror flicks.  

As would be expected the film is highly topical and its politics very contemporary. It's allegory to the corona virus and the attitudes of denial and political standings inherit with it are certainly blatant. But then, this movie is in your face in every fucking way. That its warranted and timely statements are all wrapped in a balls to the wall splatter movie reminds us that yes, you can make an extreme horror movie with something important to say. Its commentary is not just regulated to COVID, though, as one incredibly uncomfortable and realistic feeling scene involving a creepy businessman hitting on Kat showcases. 

One of the things that really makes the movie work are our two leads. Both Berant Zhu and Regina Lei, as Jim and Kat respectively, are an incredibly likable and believable couple. You care for them and want them to survive, even when it all feels nihilistic. As such, it really adds to the tension and fear that we feel watching them. It also helps that both give great performances. They come off as heroic, but still feel grounded, in a reality where no one suddenly becomes an unbelievable action hero. 

Writer/ director Ron Jabbaz makes his directorial debut with this movie and blows away some guys who have been behind the camera for fucking years. Right off the bat, this is one of the absolute finest and, certainly, most dangerous debuts in many moon. He gives us a very good looking movie, that is also savage in its intensity and extreme content. From the very first moment of violence committed onscreen, your jaw will drop to the floor.

In fact, if you leave with even one takeaway (even though I can't see this being only one), it will be that the ultra-gory, take no shit splatter movie is not dead! Unlike most recent gorefests, this one is dead serious. It isn't trying to be funny or hip. What humor is included is enough to break the intensity with some levity. Also, the flick doesn't bring its message through some pretentious "elevated" bullshit. What this flick is is a true balls to the walls, excellently made genre movie. The climax is powerful and harsh in both story and feel. We also get a totally kick ass death/ grind metal track named "Crying City" by Ashen, which serves as the icing on the bloody cake, ending everything perfectly.  

And, make no mistake, this motherfucker takes no prisoners. The infected in this movie don't simply run and kill. They can also talk, shoot weapons, and commit rape. As a matter of fact, there is a lot of rape, which may make this a disturbing viewing for some. The splatter FX are excellent, shocking, and realistic. They include arterial spraying, eye gougings, bodies hitting the pavement, finger chopping, fleshing munching, arm snapping, barb wire to the balls, stabbings, and more. A couple of set pieces really stand out among all the spattering blood and guts. One of them involving an infected neighbor and garden shears that made even this old gorehound wince! Another one has to be a stab to the aorta which leads to a geyser of blood hitting the train ceiling and passengers. This scene alone counts as the year's best and bloodiest kill. Scratch that. The whole goddamn train scene is easily the year's most horrific, bloody, and nightmarish moment! And, we get even more graphic shit happening after that! 

Look, I'm not gonna beat around the bush, The Sadness is the most uncompromising horror movie in a very, very long time. It's shocking, unmerciful, ultraviolent, and an easy 10 on the gore-meter. But, it isn't simply a mindless gorefest, as it also serves as a terrifying reflection of the post-COVID world in which we live in. The film is the definitive and final word on the infected zombie trope. It is also technically excellent. This is thanks to the strong directing, which gives it a great look, fast pacing, nail-biting tension, and a nihilistic feeling. On top of this, the acting is superb, especially from the two likable leads. That being said, it is most certainly not for the queasy or easily offended. Those with trigger warnings like rape and sexual harassment should definitely avoid as well. All other horror and splatter fans should take heed and jump right in, when the movie begins streaming exclusively on Shudder on May 12, 2022.



5/01/2022

Chiller Theatre April 2022

I made my return to the greatest of all conventions, Chiller Theatre, on April 30, 2022. Thanks to the pandemic it was cancelled in 2020, and I didn't go last year. But, with a great guest list and me feeling more willing to do more cons, I headed out with my friend and Master's Minion Freddie to the show.  

The first person that I went up to, was long overdue. While I had seen the lovely Amy Steel at many cons, I never met her. I finally did and it was well worth it. She, of course, played Ginny, one of the best final girls ever, in Friday the 13th Part 2, among other roles.

Next for me was the beautiful Denise Galik who starred in such classics as V: The Final Battle, Don't Answer the Phone, and Humaniods from the Deep, which is one of my favorite movies. I told her it was one of my favorites and asked her how it was working on it. She said it was a rough shoot being that it was out in the elements. In fact, she talked to us quite a bit was very sweet, and all smiles and laughs. Especially as she signed my friend's Don't Answer the Phone pic and couldn't remember her lines or even much of what she did in that movie! 

I've been a fan of the gorgeous Deborah (Waxworks, Sundown) Foreman ever since I was a kid and, as such, been wanting to meet her forever. She had an awesome deal for selfies with her at $15! So, I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by me!

The final celeb that I met on my own was the legendary Russ Tamblyn. He's worked on so many classics like West Side Story (he was there as part of the cast reunion), The Haunting (1963), War of the Gargantuas, Twin Peaks, and so much more, that I simply had to meet him. He was very nice and gracious in person. I was honestly honored to have met him (on a side note, I met his daughter Amber [The Ring] Tamblyn many years ago at a Fangoria Weekend of Horrors).

Alongside of my friend Freddie, I also met Tony (West Side Story) Mordente. He was so incredibly friendly and nice in person!

Finally, the last person that we both went up to was the amazing Lea Thompson! She looked even more beautiful than when I first (and last) met her. She was so nice to us and chatted with us for a bit. I also got to tell her that I loved the issue that she appeared in for the Howard the Duck comic-book. It seemed that she definitely liked to hear that. 

The following are the autographs that I got at this show:
Russ Tamblyn- Twin Peaks
Denise Galik- Humanoids from the Deep
Amy Steel- Friday the 13th Part 2

And, the following is all the stuff that I bought. By the way I have seen all these movies before, except for Caligula: The Untold Story and Night of the Demon.
From Vinegar Syndrome's booth I got:
Ticks
The Scary of Sixty-First (an awesome arthouse/ indie/ exploitation horror movie from this year with Polanksi and Eyes Wide Shut vibes)
From Severin Films booth:
Joe D'Amato's Caligula: The Untold Story
And, Screem magazine, which scored me a copy of Frankenstein's Daughter


We left early, so no party for us, but we had a blast! This is also the most packed con I been to, outside of New York Comic Con, since the pandemic started. We hope to be back in October. Were any of you there? If so who did you meet? What were some of the highlights for you? Let me know in the comments section below.