A Chinese Torture Chamber Story Part 1 and 2 (ACTCS1 and ACTCS2) are a pair of movies that use torture as the centerpiece of the film, as implied by the titles. They were Category 3 films made by the Hong Kong film industry, which was a severe rating indicating graphic sex, violence, or triad rituals….
Super Soul Brother and the Films of Rene Martinez, Jr. [AGFA] Blu-ray Review
There are many categories of movies. I like to think of it as a four-square matrix. One axis is good/bad in terms of technical execution. The other axis is good/bad in terms of enjoyment. So, there are movies that are well executed and entertaining (good/good) and movies that are poorly made and boring (bad/bad). Occasionally,…
I am a Nymphomaniac/I am Frigid…Why? [Blu-ray] Mondo Macabro Review
I am a Nymphomaniac is a 1970 French erotica film that is very light on eroticism. Sandra Julien plays the main character (Carole) who suffers a head injury and suddenly starts craving sex. While she is a beautiful woman, the movie keeps sabotaging itself and destroying any sensuality by having the main character feel shame…
Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore & the Films of Sarah Jacobson [AGFA] Blu-ray Review
Sarah Jacobson was a director that explored a lot of feminist themes in a less narrative driven style. Think of Richard Linklater’s less story focused work. While making a splash and generating interest in the 1990s, she died young due to cancer. Her body of work only includes one feature length film and a handful…
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians & Other Holiday Hallucinations! [AGFA and Something Weird release] Blu-ray review
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (SCCTM) is a notoriously bad movie. The first time I watched it was a Rifftrax Live event where a trio of comedians mocked the film in front of an audience. The event was hilarious. In the recent joint release between AGFA and Something Weird, the movie stands alone, and it…
Sex Apocalypse [Mondo Macabro] Blu-ray release
The year is 1982. The country is Spain. Carlos Aured is shifting from the horror genre to a new genre exploding in popularity, the rated “S” sex film. Under General Franco, Spain had strict obscenity laws and once he passed away, the law became much less censorious. Aured put together a film provocatively titled “Sex…
The Cult of AGFA Trailer Show [AGFA] Blu-ray review
The Cult of AGFA Trailer Show is kind of a mixed tape of random clips from movie theaters: commercials, public service announcements, movie trailers, etc. The “movie” itself contains some full trailers but also some clips spliced together for comedic effect, but a lot of them are crazy enough to not need editing to be…
Dark Night of the Scarecrow 1 & 2 [VCI] 4K Blu ray review
Back in the day, made for TV movies were considered low-budget, trash movies. They usually had subpar actors and poor direction. Dark Night of the Scarecrow was one of the first made-for-TV movies that broke out of that stigma. It premiered on CBS in 1981 and was popular enough that they re-broadcast it in 1985….
Demons 2 [Synapse Films] 4K Blu ray review
Demons 2 is an Italian horror movie by returning director Lamberto Bava with a producer credit from the famous Dario Argento. I recently reviewed Demons and admitted to having previously watched it. As much as I enjoyed it, I never got around to watching the sequel. So, the 4K release by Synapse Films is my…
Demons [Synapse Films] 4K UHD Blu-ray Review
Directed by Lamberto Bava Demons is an Italian horror movie by Lamberto Bava with a producer credit from the famous Dario Argento. In full transparency, I have seen this movie before. So the 4K release by Synapse Films is not my first exposure to the film. Picking up my copy, I noticed that the packaging…