John’s Horror Corner: Bad Blood (2016), a gory, funny werewolf movie… about an awesomely brutal werefrog.
MY CALL: It’s no Oscar winner, but this movie does an excellent job being this exactly what it was intended to be: a gory (even brutal) and funny creature feature B-movie. Ample blood, monster effects and humor make this a strong B-movie recommendation. MORE MOVIES LIKE Bad Blood: The tone falls somewhere between the extremes of Pigster (2019) and Bite (2015), maybe wandering into the B-movie atmosphere of Ticks (1993) and Mosquito (1994). For more wacky weremonsters, try Black Sheep (2006), Wolfcop (2014), Rottentail (2018) or Zombeavers (2015). For more amphibious B-horror, go for Humanoids from the Deep (1980), Hell Comes to Frogtown (1988), Croaked (1981) and Bite (2015).
With a major crime scene investigation in the neighborhood (a brutal murder and dismemberment), college student Victoria (Mary Malloy) sneaks out of the house to escape her domestic drama. Unfortunately, she picked the wrong night to be out of the house.
From the opening shots of the frog laboratory, a murder scene and a monstrous frog-like claw, this feels like a B-movie with shockingly high (attempts at) production value (for a B-flick). To the contrary, the writing, editing, photography and acting are acceptably on par with what you’d expect from a B-movie. But that’s okay, because this movie knows exactly what it is.
Our recently escaped monster skulks around like a cartoonish Scooby Doo villain often with greenlit mist behind him. As it nears its victims, we see its slimy rubber monster suit clawed feet pace closer. As hokey as that is, other aspects of the effects like the abundant flesh-lacerating latex and ooey-gooey bloodwork were effective and frequent. But make no mistake, the hokiness of this movie will grossly outweigh the professional if you keep score. Especially the green glowing Ninja Turtle ooze in the giant Re-Animator syringes. And don’t even get me started on the hilariously inappropriate grisly violent PTSD fantasies of the private investigator character. These scenes are short, sweet, brutal, unexpected and will have you laughing out loud.
Our story follows Victoria after she is attacked and infected with a werefrog version of lycanthropy. She works with a scientist who dedicates his garage research to the cause, and he supplies her with werefrog antigen to prevent her full moon transformation.
Eventually we get what everyone wanted to see: a transformation scene. It immediately reminded me of Zombeavers (2015) as teeth were pushed from their rooted sockets to be replaced with monstrous “amphibian” teeth (which I didn’t know was even a thing), her hair falls out along with her grip on reality as she develops her neck sac and her skin exudes thick mucous-like slime. And finally we have a frog-human hybrid with great looking mask effects along with some strikingly anatomically correct female characteristics.
Overall, the gore and creature effects in this otherwise low budget movie were very satisfying. The death scenes were messy and sloppy and fun, and I loved the head-ripping geyser of a sloppy decapitation.
I think first-time writer/director Tim Reis id admirably. It’s not Oscar winner, but he did an excellent job making this exactly what it was intended to be: a gory and funny creature feature B-movie. Strongly recommended for gore-hounds and creature feature junkies who can appreciate a lower budget. As far as those parameters go, this movie swings for the fences.
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Listen to the MFF Final Fights podcast on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean or Google Podcasts (or wherever you listen to podcasts)!
We had to dedicate our first Final Fight episode to the epic nine-minute brawl between Ito (Joe Taslim) and Arian (Iko Uwais) that breaks out during the finale of The Night Comes for Us. It’s an all-timer fight that features beautiful choreography, brutal violence and lots of personality. Watch the film on Netflix then listen to the episode!
Here’s part one of the fight to get you interested. Enjoy!
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast #268: Winter People, Kurt Russell and Freezing Water
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The MFF Podcast is back, and this week author Isaac Thorne (Gordon’s Place, Diggum) joins us to discuss the 1989 film Winter People. Directed by Ted Kotcheff (Wake in Fright, First Blood) and starring Kurt Russell and Kelly McGillis, this historical romance focuses on clock making, cold water and Kurt Russell not being a total badass. In this episode, we discuss filming in North Carolina, 1989 movies, and bear hunting. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean,or Spreaker.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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John’s Horror Corner: Campfire Tales (1997), an underrated and often forgotten horror anthology with an awesome cast.
MY CALL: From werewolves and stalkers to ghostly histories and urban legends, this was a very good anthology with an outstanding cast of before-they-were-stars. Totally worth your time if you’re a fan of the anthology style.
MORE HORROR ANTHOLOGIES: Dead of Night (1945), Black Sabbath (1963), Tales from the Crypt (1972), The Vault of Horror (1973), The Uncanny (1977), Screams of a Winter Night (1979), Creepshow (1982), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye (1985), Deadtime Stories (1986), Creepshow 2 (1987), From a Whisper to a Scream (1987; aka The Offspring), After Midnight (1989), Tales from the Crypt Season 1 (1989), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), Two Evil Eyes (1990), Grimm Prairie Tales (1990), The Willies (1990), Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (1993), Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996), Dark Tales of Japan (2004), 3 Extremes (2004), Creepshow 3 (2006), Trick ‘r Treat (2007), Chillerama (2011), Little Deaths (2011), V/H/S (2012), The Theater Bizarre (2012), The ABCs of Death (2013), V/H/S 2 (2013), All Hallows’ Eve (2013), The Profane Exhibit (2013), The ABCs of Death 2 (2014), V/H/S Viral (2014), Southbound (2015), Tales of Halloween (2015), A Christmas Horror Story (2015), The ABCs of Death 2.5 (2016), Holidays (2016), Terrified (2017; aka Aterrados, a pseudo-anthology), Oats Studios, Vol. 1 (2017), Ghost Stories (2017), XX (2017), The Field Guide to Evil (2018), Shudder’s series Creepshow (2019) and Xenophobia (2019).
This feisty little anthology breaks anthology conventions and starts right into one of its segments. Which wouldn’t normally be unusual (i.e., an anthology without a wraparound or storytelling device). Only in this case, there is a wraparound and it begins after the first segment, which is a stylish black and white to match the era of its urban legend.
The Hook—Just a couple 50s teenagers necking in a parked car, Eddie (James Marsden; The Stand, Westworld, Straw Dogs, The Box, Disturbing Behavior) and Jenny (Amy Smart; Mirrors, The Butterfly Effect, Flight 7500) are trying to have a hot date. After one too many moments that Jenny thought she saw someone or something in the darkness, Jenny demands that Eddie take her home. When Eddie finally steps out of the car, he sees a bloody disembodied forearm with a prosthetic hook hanging from Jenny’s passenger-side door… just as it’s told in the urban legend.
Next, we cut to some teenagers swerving around a woodsy rode. The Campfire introduces a group of teenagers (including Christine Taylor; Night of the Demons 2, The Craft) who get stranded with car trouble, so they make a fire and tell stories to kill time while they wait for help. This is our wraparound story. While the stories of this anthology are generally unlinked, the ending to the Campfire wraparound does a nice job tying some elements together. Another reason I favor this movie.
The Honeymoon—Road tripping across the country to Vegas, honeymooners Rick (Ron Livingston; The Conjuring) and Valerie (Jennifer MacDonald) find themselves out of gas in werewolf country on a full moon. Not believing the warnings of a scared local (Hawthorne James; Speed, Se7en), Rick wanders out to find gas. This featured good acting, and a solid gory reveal at the end with a slashed up hanging body.
People Can Lick Too—On the eve of her 12th birthday, a young girl has the house to herself when her parents go out and her older sister (Devon Odessa; Pumpkinhead) sneaks off and leaves her alone with no company except her protective family dog. This is based on the classic urban legend about the stalker (Jonathan Fuller; Castle Freak, The Pit and the Pendulum) who licks a girl’s hand at the side of her bed. Like Strangeland (1998), this also serves as a cautionary tale against revealing personal information to strangers on the internet. Very creepy.
The Locket—When a wandering drifter’s motorcycle breaks down in a storm, the man approaches a lonely rural house to ask to use the phone. A lovely mute (Jacinda Barrett; Bloodline, Urban Legends: Final Cut) offers him shelter, but she doesn’t have a phone. The wanderer soon discovers that this house has a dark and haunted past, and he has a strange connection to the mysterious mute.
Yes, I know. It’s in-your-face tropey that three of the segments involve being stranded due to a vehicle malfunction. And there’s little mystery behind the storytelling. But, however blatant these stories are, I enjoyed how they were told and presented and acted. Consider this, I basically liked all the protagonists (to some degree) among five short horror stories. That’s unusual! Surprisingly good acting across the board and decent blood and gore (even if overall minimized by budget).
This fun anthology is worth your time.
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MFF Data: A Totally Unnecessary Breakdown of the In The Heart of the Sea Movie Poster
Quick note: The math isn’t exact. There’s no way to know how large the whale is. However, it’s an educated guess and I’m happy with it. Also, clearly the advertisements were trying their hardest to sell the movie. I love the posters because they most certainly place a person in the worst imaginable place ever.
I recently watched the fun creature feature Underwater (that you should check out if you like cool monsters), and while researching the film I came across a poster that made me laugh. In the poster, an unlucky person is in an insane amount of trouble because they’re seemingly staring down the mother of all kaiju. The movie poster got me thinking about the insane promotional posters for the 2015 film In the Heart of the Sea.
The In the Heart of the Sea poster showcases a man who is also in a comical amount of trouble. He’s swimming deep in the ocean, and in front of him is a massive albino sperm whale that is eyeballing him. The sperm whale is justifiably pissed because the dude was trying to harpoon him, and it looks as if the whale is about to have an extremely tiny snack. I understand that this poster is meant to draw audiences in with the promise of a gigantic whale, however, the marketing team went a bit overboard and created a kaiju.
So, since I’m a maniac who loves to pursue and write about weird data that not one person on this earth needs, I decided to take a guess at how big the whale in the poster is. How? My best chance for an educated guess would be to figure out how large a sperm whale’s eyes are. Then, I’d do some math, to figure out the total length. Easy.
Here’s another poster that showcases the impossibly large whale.
After doing some research on the Encyclopedia Britannica website, I learned it’s possible for a sperm whale to reach 62-feet in length (which is huge). There’s no concrete data on eye size (zero – I repeat), so I analyzed a scale picture of a sperm whale, and I’m guessing its eye is 7.15 inches long (which is close to some estimates).
Let’s say the whale’s eye in the poster is eight-feet long (96 inches). I’m saying eight feet because if that’s Chris Hemsworth in the water, who is 6’3 (6 feet, 3 inches), the eye is much larger than he is. If we stick with the math from before, it means the whale in the poster is somewhere around 832 feet long.
This makes me really happy. Why? It’s a 832-foot long whale on a movie poster promoting a movie about an 85-foot whale. It’s totally misleading, and I love it.
The movie poster whale is much larger than the whale in the movie.
Final thoughts: I wish it was a movie about Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, and Cillian Murphy battling an 832-foot whale. However, it isn’t, and I’m just going to watch The Meg, Underwater or Pacific Rim again.
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You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
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The MFF podcast is back, and this week Chris Kelly (of the Classic American Movie podcast) joined us to discuss the 2015 body horror film Patchwork. Directed by Tyler MacIntyre, this bloody cult classic focuses on revenge, murder, and gross special effects. In this episode, we discuss Frankensteined creatures, gross eating, frat fights, and blood explosions. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean,or Spreaker.
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
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Check out our new Final Fights podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!
Please rate, review and subscribe to the Final Fights podcast!
We have a new podcast! Our Final Fights series about the epic final brawls in classic action films did so well on our flagship Movies, Films and Flix podcast, we decided to give them their own show.
So far, we’ve discussed the final fights in The Night Comes for Us, Commando, Blade, Man of Steel, Rocky, Equilibrium, Rob Roy, Aliens, Van Helsing, Aquaman, Snatch and Speed!
We also have a bunch of fun episodes about Rocky 2, The Count of Monte Cristo, Demolition Man, Revenge of the Sith, Empire Strikes Back, Blade 2, Haywire, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bloodsport coming up!
Please rate, review or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!
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John’s Horror Corner: Decoys (2004), a Species-LITE (1997) knock-off playing on American Pie (1999) sex-comedy gags.
MY CALL: If combined an R-rated teen sex comedy and a discount version of Species (1997), this would be that movie. This weakly written script includes weak CGI effects, nudity, tentacle sex, and college humor. MORE MOVIES LIKE Decoys: While not quite in the same league, I’d liken this horror comedy to movies like The Hazing (2004). But for something similar yet serious, I’d turn to Species (1997) and sequels.
New to campus, college freshmen Luke (Corey Sevier; The Immortals, Decoys 2, Metamorphosis) and Roger (Elias Toufexis; Bitten, The Expanse) are looking to party and lose their virginity. After meeting their overtly sultry down-the-hall-neighbors Lilly (Stefanie von Pfetten) and Constance (Kim Poirier; Decoys 2, American Psycho II, Dawn of the Dead), the boys are infatuated! But a little peeping-Tom-ery reveals these co-eds are more than they appear. Way more.
The movie wastes no time with its crass over-sexualization, nudity and humor. The special effects are weak, primarily in the form of outdated CGI tentacles flailing from our succubus’ chest and plunge down hapless horny male victims’ throats a la Species (1997)–and like Species, their true form is monstrous. Essentially, the plot is that a dying all-female alien species has come to Earth to mate with men and repopulate their kind.
After the first frozen-victim bodies appear (because, for some reason, the victims freeze like a T-1000 in liquid nitrogen), Detectives Watts (Nicole Eggert; The Haunting of Morella, Baywatch) and Kirk (Richard Burgi; Hostel II, Green Inferno, Friday the 13th) pick up the case. Meanwhile, our horny protagonists’ friend-zoned Alex (Meghan Ory; Dark House, Vampire High) tries to keep the boys from making poor decisions.
The “scares” are horribly executed, resulting in a more laughable tone—but maybe that was on purpose. To that end, this is more horror-comedy than horror. Some weak attempts at American Pie (1999) humor and the general levity of much of the dialogue make that intent clear. This wanders into some pretty silly territory as alien ladies romantically fall for their prey and others get rendition-like interrogations. And apparently these sympathetic temptress aliens don’t necessarily want to hurt anyone, but the tentacular murderous effect of copulating with them is purely involuntary. How is this not advertised as a horror-comedy?
Writer/director Matthew Hastings (Painkiller Jane, The Originals, Shawdowhunters) certainly made something entertaining, almost in a guilty-pleasure way even though this doesn’t get too raunchy with its nudity. The effects and writing were distinctly not good, but I never found myself too bothered by that. I also might have chuckled in satisfaction at the surprise ending. I wouldn’t recommend this, but I wouldn’t necessarily warn people away from it either. The key is understanding what this movie actually is—a horror comedy.
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John’s Horror Corner: We Summon the Darkness (2019), an “okay” movie about heavy metal, Satanic cults and domestic mayhem in the 1980s.
MY CALL: This “somewhat” good flick is feisty murderous fun. But it isn’t anything we haven’t seen before… and we’ve seen it largely done better and more creatively elsewhere. Still, while I was honestly disappointed by the lack of gore and intensity, this still offers good performances and good energy. MORE MOVIES LIKE We Summon the Darkness: Movies that did much better jobs of depicting Satanic Cults and their shenanigans along with a good sense of humor include Ready or Not (2019), The Babysitter (2017), maybe Satanic Panic (2019) and Jennifer’s Body (2009). Another good one, minus any humor, would be House of the Devil (2009).
Driving through 1980s Indiana on their way to a heavy metal concert, Alexis (Alexandra Daddario; Burying the Ex, Texas Chainsaw 3D), Val (Maddie Hasson; Impulse) and Bev (Amy Forsyth; Channel Zero, Hell Fest) hear some startling news on the radio. Apparently, members of a Satanic cult have been on a killing spree across the Midwest, leaving 18 dead bodies and Satanic symbols in their wake.
Our trio of protagonists quickly meet a playful trio of fellow metalheads at the concert. After the concert, Mark (Keean Johnson; Alita, Spooksville), Kovacs (Logan Miller; Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, Escape Room 1-2) and Ivan (Austin Swift) join the ladies to their family country McMansion to keep the party going. But after a drinking game gets a little out of hand, a battle (to the death) of the sexes kicks off complete with stabbing, harsh language and cattiness. But, in terms of gore, there’s little worth mentioned—and that was very disappointing.
Director Marc Meyers (My Friend Dahmer) and writer Alan Trezza (Burying the Ex) weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here. This is fun, but it isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. That said, the entire does well and I enjoyed the small Johnny Knoxville (Polar, Men in Black II) role.
Lots of blood, action, feisty murderous shenanigans and catty drama maintain decent pacing as sides change and tides turn. There’s a good energy to this movie… buuuuuut it’s nothing that’s going to stick with you like Ready or Not (2019) or The Babysitter (2017). Nope. The performances are good, but none are memorable; the writing is fine, but nothing is inspired; and deaths and action were entertaining enough, but nothing was shocking. This falls more in the territory of Satanic Panic (2019); very fun and worthy of your time, yet very little need (if ever) to revisit it.
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John’s Horror Corner: Sea Fever (2019), a highly infectious, atmospheric and interesting sea creature feature.
MY CALL: I found this film consistently interesting and immersive in atmosphere. This was a very satisfying viewing for me. Strongly recommended for lovers of sea monster cinema and patient creature features. MORE MOVIES LIKE Sea Fever: For more creature feature horrors at sea, check out Underwater (2020), Cold Skin (2017), Harbinger Down (2015), The Bay (2012), Virus (1999), Deep Rising (1998), The Rift (1990), Deepstar Six (1989), Leviathan (1989) and, although all Sci-fi and no horror, I’d still strongly recommend The Abyss (1989).
A young introverted scientist specializing in marine ecological patterns, Siobhán (Hermione Corfield; Slaughterhouse Rulez, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) joins a marine expedition for her graduate research.
The ship is run by Freya (Connie Nielsen; Gladiator, Wonder Woman, Mission to Mars, Soldier) and Gerard (Dougray Scott; The Vatican Tapes, Hemlock Grove, Dark Water, Perfect Creature), and crewed by the gruffly seasoned yet kind Ciara (Olwen Fouéré; Mandy), Johnny (Jack Hickey; Penny Dreadful), Sudi (Elie Bouakaze) and Omid (Ardalan Esmaili; Greyzone).
Although a talented up-and-coming marine biologist, Siobhán is rather filterless, so she doesn’t make fast friends. And being a redhead, the seafarers consider her bad luck. If only they knew the movie in which they were trapped.
The tone takes a hard starboard turn from adventurous to worrisome when the ship seems to hit “something” and the integrity of the hull becomes questionable. Some investigation reveals very large bioluminescent lamprey-like organisms stuck to the boat, but they are connected to a mythically-huge Charybdis-like anemone-jellyfish monster deep below.
As some sort of infection sets in among the crew, eyes burst in spraying gouts and everyone understandably gets paranoid. This monstrous parasite spreads innocuously in their water supply. Meanwhile, the crew try to assign blame, reconcile their own guilt, learn whether or not they’re infected, and figure out how to get back home. As their numbers dwindle, the stakes rise and there is little hope. Some scenes reminded me of The Thing (1982), Slugs (1988) and Night of the Creeps (1986), but not in any copycatting or campy sense.
Written and directed by Neasa Hardiman, this interesting film strikes victory for both women in horror and Irish horror. And not just for Hardiman’s direction, but the film overall. The shots of the ship and its wake in the piceous ocean were simply stunning. The performances were on point. And I enjoyed the special effects and creature effects, with ample monstrous slimy goo and actually good-looking CGI sea creatures. But when the horror and gore set in, I was especially pleased.
IRISH HORROR SIDEBAR: For more Irish horror movies check out Leprechaun Origins (2014), Leprechaun 2 (1994), Leprechaun (1993), Rawhead Rex (1986), Isolation (2005), Grabbers (2012), Cherry Tree (2015), Holidays (2016; St. Patrick’s Day segment), The Hallow (2015) and Hole in the Ground (2019).
I found this film consistently interesting and immersive in atmosphere. This was a very satisfying viewing for me, and just days after seeing (and loving) Underwater (2020). Strongly recommended for lovers of sea monster cinema and patient creature features.
Movies, Films & Flix 