Scarecrow's Blog From the Darkside

The sequel once again repeats the first "alphabet anthology" film's formula. Also again the sequel will have tales that will either appeal or not appeal to each individual viewer. Each is directed by a different indie director, with ABCs of Death 2 providing them with a short, short film format to show their talents. Some fail miserably (Ti West, who had already made a name for himself, but you wouldn't have known that from his piece of shit in the previous ABCs of Death) while others make the most of the opportunity given to them.

This is a companion piece to my 2012 blog review for  Critters 2 . I could think of worst ways to spend a Sunday afternoon than with the fine folks at Grover's Bend. Garris sure gives Critters fans what they want even if the creatures are less menacing and more cartoonish than in the first film when they terrorize Grimes (who returned in a fun lead for this sequel); the money's worth is ample crites of various shapes and sizes. The number of faces like Barry Corbin, Lin Shaye, Eddie Deezen, Terrence Mann, and Don Opper are a treat. Even the bunny rabbit (well, the current sheriff in a bunny outfit) gets eaten! This also features the infamous monster ball of rolling crites combined to work down a country side to eventually run over and devour one unfortunate farmer! The Freddy Krueger pop culture reference was a neat reference. And Playboy gets a nice shout out as well.

Critters 2 (1988; Mick Garris) Guess what day it is? Easter with the Crites, of course!

Five tale anthology from Thailand, a sequel to the hit film 4bia (2007) ***/*****

Kid genius isn't about to let the girl he adores just die, and the obliterated remnants of his cute robot could support him in keeping her alive. *****/***** (more for my own personal love than content quality)

Lisa is quite interested in "sexual studies" but what happens when she herself becomes a part of the study? ***/*****

Nightmare in a Damaged Brain (1981) is everything I imagined it would be. It runs that gamut of madness, bloodshed, cliche, and violent indulgence a slasher fan might hopefully anticipate. A deeply troubled trauma sufferer with psycho-sexual hangups and this unyielding repetitious  nightmare seems to be considered "rebuilt" and rehabilitated by his doctors...but we all know he's far from well. Sex triggers a savage inside him that is encouraged no matter how much he wants the psychotic urges to stay away. Medication and the rehabilitative tricks of the mind can only do so much to halt the noise of the psychopath who wants out to play. And does that bad boy want to play. The uncut version is the way to go if you want to see a severed head at the end of the bed opening her eyes, surrounded by chopped body parts and blood splatter as the killer is reminded of his responsibility for why her presence torments him. There's the pointy end of a hammer mutilating a babysit...

A salesman finds himself at the doorstep of a funeral parlor as the rain comes pouring down. The mortician requests kindly for the salesman to stay awhile and listening to some stories regarding his clients, particularly with how they wound up in his establishment. **½ / *****

I watched this last night about eleven, and I even jotted half a review down prepared for my woefully neglected IMDb account as of late. Sinister 2 (2015) is another one of those low budgeted Blumhouse joints that more than recouped its cost substantially. This I wrote about on my other laptop taking a nap on the dvd shelf. I have commented on how too much time was spent on the evil dark spirits of those damned kids following their insidious, emerging-from-the-shadows deity. These kids were about on par with the devotees of He Who Walks Behind the Rows in the many, many Children of the Corn films. The series does seem to hinge on the mystique of cult diety Bughuul, and how it works like those Onryu with their sea of black hair waving open to reveal that penetrating eye and pallid skin, using technology, from the past and present, to unveil it's imposing presence. But the kids getting plenty of exposure in their mission to seductively lure a new boy into their fold kind of disint...

An archaeologist major at an unnamed college receives a crate carrying the body of an Egyptian mummy (not sure where he was able to get it from or how) and uses it as a destructive force against a rival for grants that could help him achieve success and make a career and the girlfriend who underhandedly opposes him in favor of her boyfriend who undeservedly is awarded in the process. A fellow tenant in the apartment he lives will not take kindly to a mummy killing his best friend and sister and so a struggle for ultimate revenge results in the unsavory finality through the read words of a powerful scroll. **/*****

I think vampire films can produce certain results with simple scenes like above. Vulnerable prey, seemingly unaware of a predator in their midst, could be victimized at any moment. As seen above, a sleeping beauty, as was the case with Lucy in Dracula (1931), in her own bed, isn't safe from the potential vampire bite.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post regarding Price and Carradine’s involvement in The Monster Club (1981), I was rather excited to finally see the film just because they were in it together. And they do share enough time in the film to at least please me. I wish it was more but we get what we get. In regards to horror anthologies, I think fans of Amicus or Corman have certainly seen better. Carradine and Price take the roles they’re given and play them for amusement. Price as a vampire at least fulfilled my horror dream’s bucket list: seeing him bear the fangs for a moment was a cool moment for me personally. Carradine as a victim soon flattered and lauded by admirer Price (Carradine is a horror novelist; Price is a vampire follower who wants him to join him at a club featuring monsters of all kinds) just kind of shrugs off the blood depleted from his throat as if it was no biggie! Price also tries to move away from the bite and blood removal, seemingly rejuvenated by t...

I did want to close with some final thoughts before moving on completely from Macumba sexual. The ending is rather fascinating to me. The “it’s all a dream” twist is a standard bearer of such films as this. It is kind of a bummer but I guess it should be expected. However, Lina Romay’s character isn’t the same. This whole surreal fantasy has left her scarred. Obongo is forever etched in her psyche and sexual subconscious. Within all the psycho-sexual madness and rampant nudity, I think Franco gets the point across that deep inside Romay is a desire that wantonly created itself from the ether. Inside her Obongo represents this loud aching yearning to be set free. The foursomes that emerge, how Romay just goes manic on Obongo’s vagina at the end that results in her “demise”, and the unleashing primal scream at the end that frightens her man while in bed (after awakening from her total fantasy once it “dies”) are these provoked urges exploding. I kind of dig the approach and id...

When Christopher Lee died, I had this deep gasp, and then I let out a profound sigh as the news sunk in. Losing one of the last remaining "holdouts" to death, as a fan of the horror icons I had to accept that time takes from us and all we have left behind is the work. The great, the good, the bad, and the ugly. There's also the mediocre. But seeing those men emerge on screen--whether or not it was Carradine, Pleasence, or Price--even in the worst brought a special smile to my face and warm feeling that, despite the material, these are actors that had something special about them, a significance. Why would Fred Olen Ray exploit the faintest of Carradine material whenever he could (or allow it to be used by others) unless he realized that this man he captured on camera meant something to an audience he hoped to draw to his film. We rehash the bad in our minds often. I know that I don't like looking back at Lugosi during the Ed Wood years unlike others who...