Halloween 1986. The kids of Sleepy Hollow High are about to have a very unexpected visitor during their annual Trick Or Treating adventures around town. The evil pumpkin headed killer, "Stingy Jack", is back to steal the souls of the children who happen to be the ancestors of the ones that sent Jack to the pits of hell in the 1800's. Phoebe, along with her best friends, uncover the true story of what happened to Jack and take it upon themselves to destroy the demon once and for all. State of the art special effects by DARK MAGICFX and a now, hip soundtrack featuring Cube Squared and Radikill will have you pulling this classic out year after year during the spooky season. Don't go kicking this pumpkin kids, Because this evil gourd will have you screaming to DEATH! Death O´Lantern is written and directed by Rudy Bellafonte. The acting is all out bad but a most of it is intentionally bad. The camerawork and editing isn´t good. The audio isn´t the greatest, I found it funny that they use a pretty well known 1980s hit in the soundtrack and it´s pretty doubtul that they actually have the right to use it but hey this is a small movie with a small release. This is first and foremost a comedy in the slasher genre, it´s homage to the shot on video flicks era of the 1980s and it sure has the vibe showcasing, hairstyles, clothes, music and so on. There are lots of references to other movies. The back story of "Stingy Jack" is actually really cool and could easily serve as a basis for a more serious horror entry (perhaps it already has). The pacing is good and the running time just under 44 minutes, additional running time on the DVD is made up of behind the scenss footage. There´s some really cheap gore fx. There no T and A in this.
This review is based upon the region all (region 0) DVD release from Warlock Home Video.
Rating: 2½ out of 7. Honestly it´s hard to rate Death O´Lantern, as a horror movie it a catastrophe but in my mind this is a loving spoof of 1980s shot on video and is VERY much tongue in cheek!! It´s bad but it´s bad in a good way, LoL, so if you think you´ll enjoy it check it out.
/JL
Psychology student Erin (Christiane Imdahl) has had enough with her studies. Frustrated, she and her friends Julie (Pia de Buhr) and Danny (Christian Stock) decide to spend a relaxing weekend in the woods, far from their everyday lives. Gathering up several more friends, the group heads into the forest - but their carefree weekend quickly goes downhill. When an unexpected stranger arrives, their fun turns into a nightmarish race for survival as a psychotic slaughters them one by one. Alone, bloodied, and hunted - the group's friendship is put to the test... and secrets from their black pasts bubble to the surface to unleash holy hell on everyone left alive. Slasher is written by Jörn Döring and Frank W. Montag who also is the director. The acting is pretty good, the camerawork and editing is good. The pacing is good and even if Slasher never is really scary it does feature several nice scenes. There are a few twists which is a nice move on behalf of the film makers. It´s violent and gory, some of the violence is pretty mean-spirited and might not be for the squemish. Most of the gore is practical fx but I think, although I´m not certain to any degree, that there might be a few digital effects. There is gratuitous T and A in this including a prolonged sex scene between the gorgeous Maja Makowski as Maya and her on screen boyfriend.. I´m inclined to say that the quota of sexy actresses (Christiane Imdahl, Maja Makowski and several more) in one flick is very well met in this. LoL.
This review is based upon the region 1 DVD release from Unearthed Films, it has german audio and english subtitles.
Rating 6 out of 7. I liked this a lot, sure as hell we´re in familiar territory, Slasher doesn´t try to re-invent the slasher genre but it sure makes a nice addition to it. Lots of nudity, violence and a few twists makes this a winner.
/JL
In Ray Falls, Ohio on Halloween night someone is torturing and killing young women one by one, the only thing they all have in common is they belonged to the same babysitter club in high school... Who could be doing this, and can anyone stop them? Babysitter Massacre is written and directed by Henrique Couto. The acting is pretty good, it´s very pleasing to see Independent Flicks favorite Erin R. Ryan playing the role of Angela and she, as always, delivers. The camerawork and editing is good. The soundtrack is good. The pacing is nice, but it´s never especially scary but there are a couple of really nice moments in this but as usual I don´t want to go into details due to spoilers. There is comic relief in some comedic one liners and situations. There are quite a few references to the slashers of the 1980s. I really like the look of the killer. The kills takes place, sadly, mostly off screen. Actually the most graphic scenes are the torture scenes with nails being ripped off, one girl gets scalded as the killer pours boiling water over her head and so on. Those scenes are the nastiest in this flick. The gore fx is for the most part limited to aftermath fx. There´s gratuitous T and A in this, honestly there is even more than I expected, including full frontal female nudity.
This revew is based upon the region all (region 0) DVD release from Independent Entertainment.
Rating: 5½ out of 7. Babysitter Massacre delivers what it promises, the plot is familiar for most us, there´s a cool looking killer but unfortunately most of the kills are lacking that extra edge due to them being off screen (this just might be the gorehound in me complaining). If you are a fan of the slasher genre I recommend that you check out Babysitter Massacre, it is much better than many of the soulless remakes that the big budget companies keep making.
/JL
