Double T's blog of reviews

The Crimson Cage TPB

2026-11-01T00:40:00.000-05:00

TITLE-The Crimson Cage

SOURCE-AWA Upshot TPB

I love horror,I love comix and I love pro wrestling. Put all three together and you get The Crimson Cage. The online comic shop I use charges pretty much one flat shipping fee,which means at times I will grab stuff like "Random lot of 30 horror comics for 10 bucks" deals. Got issue one of The Crimson Cage. Looked at the cover,same one up at the top which is also the TPB cover. Saw AWA and wondered for a second if Rambo Greg Gagne was publishing comics. Read the issue and saw it was cheaper to get this TPB,was 9 bucks shipped,versus ordering the issues I needed.

Chuck Frenzy is a wrestler in the mid 80s working steady in the south Louisiana territory. The fed he works for is pretty much the Mid South Wrestling in this comic's world. He has a best friend that works a face painted monster gimmick. Lots of time is spent in the car those two traveling the LA backroads with Chuck's girlfriend.

Then late one night coming back from a wrestling event they meet some old witches. Who tell Chuck his future. How he will never lose inside the ropes if there is a roof over the ring. And guess what Chuck starts getting attention from this world's version of the NWA.

Chuck gets a title shot against Vandal Emerald,Think Ric Flair. Gets promised one thing and gets fucked over. And this is where Chuck's bloody rise up the ranks of pro wrestling starts.

Yea this is Macbeth but put into 1984/1985 pro wrestling in the USA. Filled with wild bloody art. A creative team that either grew up as fans in the 80s era or did a pile of research. I was enjoying this so much that I limited myself to one issue out of the TPB each night after dinner.

No clue if anything else from AWA Upshot is good but The Crimson Cage is a solid A-.

27 years of this WOW

2026-10-31T03:21:00.000-05:00

Yea I didn't realize until halfway through the month this marks the 27th year I have gotten at least one horror/Halloween thing reviewed each day in Oct,minus one year where I missed the last 10 days of the month.

Now all the years before this blog started the reviews were on an old AOL site I made,and also on a usenet group. The AOL site is LONG GONE. The usenet group the posts still might be up no clue. I have a list of what all I covered those years. Not sure if I should do them again since they really didn't get that much exposure or just keep focusing on stuff I haven't covered.

This year I focused more on stuff outta my collection. Only streaming a handful of films. And of course every year there are films I watch in October I don't review. Like as I write this Prom Night remake is playing. Might do it next year might not.

Thank you to all that have been here since the start.Bubbleboy,Aero The Jobber,Lord Fanboy and many others. Thanks to the Walrus for alerting me that one year Google had decided to take the blog down thx to a nipple showing on a movie poster?!!!?

31 films watched. Most of them off DVD/Blu Ray or 4k from my personal collection. 6 of the films I streamed. With 2 of those being on Youtube. Best film was Sinners,just a well made horror film that kept my attention from start to finish. Worst was Legend of Boggy Creek. Yea I know for the generation before me it is a childhood favorite. And if I had seen it as a kid I would have loved it. Nah I saw it as a grownup that has seen 1000s of horror movies. And Boggy Creek was just dull.

Out of the 31 films

7 of the films I know for sure I have seen before. 1 I think I might have seen back when it hit home video in the VHS days,but when I watched it this month I remembered nothing. 23 were new to me.

I have already got one film picked out for next year. And there is a few I was gonna cover last year or this year that might get covered next year.

I never do a theme. Just cause I would get tired of just one type of horror film every day for the month. Mostly last few years use October as a way to work through my large NEEDS TO BE WATCHED pile.

Everyone be safe. Have fun.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 31 Obsession

2026-10-31T02:06:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Obsession

SOURCE-Universal Blu Ray

Having grown up about 15 minutes west of Mobile AL when I heard a filmaker from the area had a horror film coming out I wanted to see it. Obsession hits theaters and gets highly praised. Grabbed the Blu Ray the day it came out. Then it sat unwatched for a long time. Got it watched now and yea....

Our lead is in his 20s and in love with a co worker. But she just sees him as a good friend. He learns she lost her crystal necklace so goes to the nearby hippie store,New Age store,and gets her a necklace and sees One Wish Willows. A willow branch that you break and make a wish and it is granted. Our lead breaks the branch and wishes the lady was in love with him. And the shit starts.

At first she just seems odd. She is obvious obsessed with our lead,but there is times it appears her old personality comes through. Putting out lead through hell.

They end up at a party playing a game. The male lead has to kiss whoever is on his left and his now obsessed GF gets up pulls the chair of the lady to our leads leftback and stands to his left. But that is nothing compared to the best kill in the film. And oddly for an almost 2 hour film there isn't many kills.

The best kill...our male lead is out in a car talking to a female coworker. When his obsessed Gf comes out breaks the window and slams the coworkers face into the steering wheel over and over and over again. Bloody as fuck and a great kill.

The lead goes back to the hippiestore and learns sure he can buy another One Wish Willow but you only get that one wish. So his plan is to buy one and get a friend to make a wish that counteracts the wish he made. This backfires cause his best friend breaks the willow and wishes for 1 billion dollars.

Not spoiling the ending cause it ain't bad. Didn't go the way I figured it would.

Every few years feels like a horror film comes out gets lots of hype and most of the time I watch it and end up disappointed. For example about 4 years ago Skinamarink was that film. I watched it and hated it. Last year it was Late Night with the Devil and In a Violent Nature,and I loved both. Obsession... it has flaws. One flaw is it is way too long. Lots of modern horror films have this issue. They got enough story for a good 30 minute to hour long short film,and then pad it out to be feature length. Makes me wish some streaming service would have a Horror Anthology series. Cause cut the fat and Obsession would be a good short film.

Obsession gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 30 Slumber Party Massacre II

2026-10-30T02:30:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Slumber Party Massacre II

SOURCE-Shout Factory DVD

1987 or 1988 I'm in the best video store I had seen,Phar-moore Video in Tillman's Corner Alabama. They had a great deal old stuff was 6 movies for 4 bucks for 3 days. New stuff was a buck for 3 days. Same price on video games. We had 3 accounts cause they had a limit of 12 rentals at a time.

Walking the horror aisle and I see Slumber Party Massacre II. See Crystal Bernard is in it and had to rent it. I got a horror/comedy/musical/slasher and not at all what I was expecting. I hated it mostly.

Skip ahead decades I want the first film on DVD. Shout Factory puts out the DVD collection pictured at the top an I order it. On this more recent watching of SPMII I got it. This is the Elm Street Dream Warriors of this franchise. An all girl rock band heads up to a suburbs area that is being built. They can stay in the mmodel homefor the weekend and practice on their songs.

But one member is the younger sister from the first film,this time played by Crystal Bernard from It's a Living and Wings. And she keeps having horrible nightmares and hallucinations.

And then you got the killer. A rockabilly looking dude with a guitar with a drill bit on the end. Which he uses to drill folks. While making cheesy on-liners.

Decent gore,decent acting and just an odd feel makes this worth seeing. But it seems this dvd and the blu ray release are long out of print.

Slumber Party Massacre II gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 29 Hellmaster

2026-10-29T01:37:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Hellmaster

SOURCE-Kings of Horror Youtube Channel

Ahh Kings of Horror thanks to them I got people to watch Vampeggedon. Hellmaster is one I saw the VHS in the genre mags for sale. Sure I saw it at a few video stores to rent and skipped it. Was looking for something to watch remembered Kings of Horror and saw they added this in October this year. And it is the long THEM cut,about 5 minutes longer than the cut titled Hellmaster.

A prof at KIT has changed a pile of the students into demonic looking creatures. This prof is played by the late great John Saxon. Who does a lot with what little he was given in the film.

So we get these ghoulish creatures chasing students. And who do the students have helping them? David Emge as a kind of odd monster hunter armed with a crossbow.

The makeup work on the creatures is nnice. Nothing super fancy but it stands out as at least a bit original looking. The acting outside of Saxon and Emgee is ok at best and "Wow who owed who a favor" level.

Really what makes this stand out from all the other DTV horror of the early 90s is the sound and light. There is always spooky ambient noise in the background. Like a constant howling wind. The lighting reminds me of the Italian horror I would rent in the 80s. Stuff like Demons.

Not sure this is worth the 30 bucks or so I am sure VinSyn wants for the blu ray. Might track down a DVD if it has one.

Hellmaster gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 28 The Curse of Humpty Dumpty

2026-10-28T02:39:00.000-05:00

TITLE-The Curse of Humpty Dumpty

SOURCE-Scream Factory DVD

Might have been 2 years ago I watched what I found out later was the 2nd part of this UK based horror trilogy. It wasn't amazing but it also wasn't total shit. Found this triple feature,where they cram 3 films on one side of a dvd...

Two sisters learn their mother has dementia. So they take her back to the old family house out in the country to care for her. Once there they get settled in. See how hard it is to deal with a loved one with dementia. A doll that looks like the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty is found and that is when shit starts to happen.

Over the past 5 or so years there has been a flood of cheap horror movies made in the woods of the UK. Some are good,some are bad. Having seen 2 of the 3 Humpty Dumpty films I can say this franchise so far leans towards the good side.

The acting from the 3 leads is good. The two sisters feel like real sisters. Arguing but still being there for their mom. The mother is great. She really appears to be suffering from dementia. The rest of the cast isn't as good.

Humpty Dumpty looks creepy. Decent practical fx worked used to make him appear to be alive,along with some guy in a suit shots.

I know at one time this trilogy was on Peacock. Betting Tubi has them all. Go give the first one a try.

The Curse of Humpty Dumpty gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 27 Piranhaconda

2026-10-27T09:26:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Piranhaconda

SOURCE-Prime Video

Around 14 years ago I watched when it debuted on the SYFY Channel. Back then every other month I would drive to the coast to help out with my grandpa. I was over at my cousin's house hanging out,her and her family were going to see some nieces band concert.I elected to stay at their place. Saw Piranhaconda was debuting put it on expecting to see at most an hour before they got back. The concert went on for 4 hours and by the time they got home I was crashed out on the couch.

Down in Hawaii we got a film crew making a slasher film,while a group lead by scientist Michael Madson is looking for eggs from a mythic creature. The mother that laid that egg is out to get her baby back.

Directed by Jim Wynorski and produced by Roger Corman this is a modern creature feature. One that decades ago would have played drive ins on double and triple features for years. With drive ins sadly almost dead the new venue for these types of films back in 2012 was SYFY channel. Now they just appear on TUBI.

The creature of course is CGI and ok looking CGI. The cast is made up of people you are like I know them but have no clue what their name is. Being filmed in Hawaii the scenery looks great.

Having seen Sharktopus,by Roger Corman,I knew going in what to expect. And got what I expected.So kills. Lots of shots of women in bikinis. And a decent way to pass 2 hours.

Piranhaconda gets a C-

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 26 Frankie Freako

2026-10-26T01:30:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Frankie Freako

SOURCE-Prime Video

A tribute to all those 80s Lil creature films,stuff like Ghoulies/Munchies/etc,Frankie Freako is another hit from Ashtron 6. A group of Canadians that make lower budget horror/comedy films.

Our lead works at a advertising agency. He is left in charge of the home he shares with his girlfriend. Is up late at night watching tv and sees an ad for a party line. For those that weren't around in the 80s it was a number you called and talked to other people and usually cost ya say 2 bucks a minute. Frankie Freako is the party line and when called Frankie and 2 other freaks appear.

Imagine a more demonic looking Garbage Pail Kid and that is Frankie Freako. The three freaks wreck the house. Glue our leads boss to the floor of the basement. Then end up taking the lead to their home world. Where we me the corrupt leader..

The freaks and our lead stumble and bumble their way to victory against the evil tyrant. Head back to our world thinking it is all over. Nope the evil tyrant comes through the portal and we get a wild battle.

Evil defeated our lead gets a phone call his girlfriend is on her way back. He has an hour to get the house back to how it was. The Girlfriend gets there and we learn she went to college with the female freak. And we end with Xmas music playing as the credits roll.

Sure the story isn't much new. It is the great practical FX that make this film stand out. When the lead and the three freaks first get to their homeworld it is a long sequence of stop motion miniture work that looks really good.

Just saw Shout Factory has the full film up on their Youtube channel

https://youtu.be/dxBAptawFdU?si=2not7njMnwH41uoW

Frankie Freako gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 25 RL Stine's Pumpkinhead

2026-10-25T02:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-R.L.Stine's Pumpkinhead
SOURCE-TUBI

I heard about this last year and planned on watching it. Thinking it was connected to the old Pumpkinhead Franchise,it isn't. Needed a film for 31 Days of Horror and gave this a shot.

New family moves to a small farming town. Mom and her two sons,the dad is dead. The older brother tries to help the younger brother get over the death of their father. The younger brother's new friend tells them about a farm where vegetables are given away in a festival.

They got and the new friend,sorry no one in this film's name stuck in my memory,warns the younger brother to not mess with the farmer's pumpkin. Being a dumb kid he of course steals it.

Of course the farmer notices his prize pumpkin missing and the younger brother is told to bring it back. Being a good kid the older brother sets off on his bike at night to return it. And just vanishes.

The next day the mother acts like she only has one child. And the friend tells the younger brother how kids just vanish and are forgotten about. But that the town oddball might know more.

So off into the woods to meet up with a grown man who lives in a camper. He tells them to "Dont move you are surrounded by landmines" then walks right by them.... Seems he is sure the farm is connected to the missing kids. And his living outside of the area is why he is the only adult that remembers the missing kids.

Plan is made they are gonna get the brother back. Using fireworks the farmer is distracted. We get a twist and then the gut punch of an ending.

SPOILERS

The older brother and the missing kids are found! But now the mother and everyone else it appears has no clue who the younger brother is....

Guess that will be resolved in the next film. Which has already been made.Worth seeing,there is some creepy scenes. But go in remembering this is a kids/young teens horror film.

R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 24 Water Park Shark

2026-10-24T02:20:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Water Park Shark

SOURCE-TUBI

There is enough cheap made Shark movies I could do 31 in October. And this one is one of the better ones.

A former football star has returned to his hometown. He is gonna be security at the local water park. Which is where his former football coach works. And the coach is great has various COACH TIPS. But sharks have invaded this water park,seems the park gets it's water from a source with sharks. And with interest in the park dying can it survive this attack of sharks?

Dumb and fun and shockingly better than I expected. The acting isn't bad. I was expecting local community theater level acting and instead got made for Lifetime channel level acting. The FX work is decent. And whatever waterpark this was shot at looks great.

The stand out in the film is the toothless shark that loves candy,kknown as Gummy. Great little twist that helps add to how fun this film is.

Just remember going in this is gonna be a bit dumb. A big cheap. The kind of film back in the day we would rent drink a few beer and watch while cracking jokes.

Water Park Shark gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 23 Summer of Fear

2026-10-23T02:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Summer of Fear

SOURCE-Artisan DVD

I saw this Wes Craven made for TV,at least in the States,film a long ass time ago on VHS. Sure it was a dub. Really didn't remember much about it. Then good brother CodyLL offered me his DVD. Knowing I needed stuff to watch in October I took him up on the offer.

Linda Blair,when she was doing a streak of Made for TV movies,lives on a ranch with her brothers and parents. A cousin of her's loses her family so moves in with them. The cousin and Blair get a long at first. Then Blair's horse attacks the cousin. Stuff starts missing and Blair is suspecting this cousin is a witch.

A bit over 1 hour and 38 minutes this film really feels like a 70s made for TV horror film. Seem a few of them as a kid and many more as an adult and they got a feel and look that stands out. The pacing is a bit slow. With really enough plot for a 60 minute feature stretched out. Thankfully the cast helps cover this minor flaw.

Besides Linda Blair you got a young Fran Drescher as Blairs best friend. and many of the others in the cast I knew their faces . Looking them up some were from soap operas. The cousin.... more than a feew times I was sure it was Michelle Baurer.

Betting this is the first film Wes Craven directed that was filmed on 35mm,which is why this DVD looks really nice even if it is framed for TV. Speaking of Craven he is on the commentary and offers some decent info on the film. Mentioning that Linda Blair had "just gotten better"...guessing this was during her partying days.

Worth seeing? Yea it is. Worth owning? Maybe if you find it cheap.

Summer of Fear gets a C+.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 22 Beast from Haunted Cave

2026-10-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Beast from Haunted Cave

SOURCE-Shout Studios channel on Youtube

Was looking for something to watch today. Wanted something short plus something I had never seen. This came up in my YT feed and what the hell it is barely over an hour give it a watch.

Some crooks are planning on robbing a company. The plan is set of explosions in a nearby mine and while everyone is dealing with that they gonna steal the gold and haul ass on skis to a cabin out in the middle of no where.But when the explosions happen it releases a beast. Got our crooks in the cabin and the beast outside killing them off.

Simple plot. Did a bit of research and this was made in South Dakota while Roger Corman was also filming Ski Patrol Attack,a WWII movie. Using mostly the same cast and locations.

Monte Hellman directs and this is his first feature film. And even early on you can see that Monte has an eye for capturing moments. Lots of interesting angles and shots in the film. Which normally you don't see in cheap films like this.

The beast? Looks cheap but betting the budget for it was 20 bucks. What makes this film stand out rom the 100s of creature from this era.

Made cheap and it shows some this is worth seeing at least once if you got any interest in low budget horror film making.

Beast from Haunted Cave gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 21 Ghoulies

2026-10-21T02:05:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Ghoulies

SOURCE-MVD 4k UHD

I can clearly remember being 10 or 11 and seeing the trailer for Ghoulies. And I wanted to see it. It looked like a more horrific version of Gremlins. No theater near me got the film. And almost a year later finally Video Showboat got in the tape. Rented it and HATED IT. The Ghoulies are barely in the film and pre-teen me wanted small monsters running wild.

So since the first one sucked I skipped the sequels. Decades later I saw Ghoulies goto College and loved it. Earlier this year saw this 4k and it was 12 bucks. Took a chance.

At a old home a Satanist is trying to do evil. A wild party is going on. With Law & Order's Mariska Hagerty as one of the cast. I do enjoy seeing her in stuff like this. Back when she knew how to act and just didn't make the "I gotta crap but can't"face she makes on SVU now. You end up with dwarves,Ghoulies and other evilness running all around this place as our heroes try to prevent them from taking over the world.

Seeing the film now without the idea that it is gonna be like Gremlins I actually enjoyed it. I can see why it go so many sequels. Now it isn't an amazing hidden gem. But it is much better than I remember.

The 4k looks great sounds good and I love how it comes with a poster that makes the cover look like a CED.

Ghoulies gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 20 The Stepfather Remake

2026-10-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-The Stepfather

SOURCE-Screen Gems DVD

Having seen the original back in the day when this remake was announced I wondered why? I get remaking films that were good but had flaws. The Stepfather had no flaws. Decided to wait till I could get the DVD in thru Netflix by mail,remember that? Got it in,watched it and it was decent. Totally forgot about it until I found the above pictured copy at a junkstore cheap.

So this is an ex-rental DVD. Which means a great super tough case,these Blockbuster cases are great and much better than the eco-cases we get now with most releases. And yea I gotta get the "$9.99 sale" sticker residue on the bottom right corner.

The film starts off with our lead having just killed another family. He targets widowed or freshly divorced women with kids. Ends up married to them and as the family disappoints him he kills them and then moves to another state and starts up again.

After moving the Stepfather meets Sela Ward in a grocery store. They start talking and 6 months later when Sela's oldest son is coming back from reform school and learns he has a new step dad.

The new Stepfather starts cracking,like when the younger son is told to turn the TV down and doesn't. So Stepfather gets a bit rough with the kid. More and more cracks are showing, with the oldest son and his girlfriend noticing them.

Decent remake. Still wasn't needed. Good cast with Sela Ward standing out as the best in the film. Still it's a film I doubt I watch again for a long time. Glad I paid a buck or less for this.

The Stepfather Remake gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 19 Primate

2026-10-19T01:45:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Primate

SOURCE-Blu Ray

I barely remember seeing ads for this when it was hitting theaters. Never heard many folks talking about it. Saw the Blu ray cheap,got a local pawn shop I have found out that usually has new releases in a week after they came out cheap.

A family that lives in Hawaii has a pet chimp. One of the daughters is coming home to visit right when the father has to be gone. So she plans a party with her friends. Not knowing a mongoose with rabies in in the chimps cage.Now our lead and her friends are trapped by a rabid chimp.

Simple plot and one I've seen before with other animals. What made Primate stand out is the level of gore. First few minutes got one guy getting the skin ripped off his face. Got another scene where all the women are in the pool,the chimp fears water. They think they are safe,but the chimp shimmys out on some wires grabs one girl by the hair and rips her hair out by the root.

Yea it's nothing amazing. Just not use to see a studio film with this levels of gore. More than worth seeing.

Primate gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 18 Pet Sematary II

2026-10-18T09:35:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Pet Sematary II
SOURCE-DVD

I am sure I saw this back in the day. More than likely in a 2 year period where I got cheap/free rentals from a video store. But when I put the movie on I remembered nothing about it.

Ed Furlong is the son of a actress. He is on the set of her newest film and watches as she accidentally gets electrocuted on set. And wow is it brutal. Which leads to his father taking him and moving from California all the way to Maine. His dad is Anthony Edwards and is a vet.

In this new town of course Ed stands out. Making just one friend,a local fat kid with a POS step dad. This step dad is a local cop and played by the great Clancy Brown. The POS Step Dad shoots and kills the fat kid's dog Zowie. So of course Fat Kid and Ed go bury Zowie in the Pet Sematary and big surprise the dog comes back to life.

Shit happens and the step dad dies and gets buried and comes back. And that is when the film just goes off the rails. Clancy is amazing in this role and single handedly saves this movie.

I had heard for years how this was horrible,and it could be,if not for Clancy Brown. Him as the piece of shit cop saves this movie. He is so over the top and appears to be having a blast. Like in the scene where he kills a kid using a motorcycle tire.

Sure this ain't a classic like the original. It is still one of the best sequels to a Stephen King movie.

Pet Sematary II gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 17 Skeleton Man

2026-10-17T09:01:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Skeleton Man

SOURCE-DVD

I had heard for years how bad this "horror" film is. Had a friend that loved shitty horror claim it was one of the worst she had seen. So when I found the DVD for a buck I had to grab it.

A man removes a skull from an ancient Indian Burial ground. Causing the Skeleton Man to rise from the grave,hop on his horse and ride through the woods killing people. Skeleton Man is someone in a cheap leftover cloak the production staff got from an after Halloween sale at Walgreens. And Skeleton Man has on a skull mask. The standard Skull mask you find for 10 bucks at any store around Halloween. The horse Skeleton Man rides,it changes color from shot to shot. Yep they didn't bother to get horses that look similar for this film.

Fairly quickly Skeleton Man kills off two "Delta Force" troops that are in the woods. Never seen Delta Force dressed in cheap workout gear. Still their deaths brings in the only names this film could get.

Michael Rooker,yea I know to many he is Merle from Walking Dead,he is always Henry from Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer to me. He is head of a another group of "Delta Force" Troops. Which also includes Casper Van Dien. I always wondered how and why he went from big roles like Starship Troopers and Sleep Hollow to made for SYFY tripe like this.

The rest of the film is this group of "Delta Force"members trying to stop Skeleton Man. And if this is legit Delta Force wow recruiting standards have went way down since I was in the military.

The kills are decent,fairly gory and look good. Just you get dumb stuff like a scene where Skeleton Man uses a standard arrow to take down a helicopter.

Normally a film like this I can just sit back and enjoy it being BIG DUMB FUN. This is just dumb!

Skeleton Man gets a D+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 16 Office Killer

2026-10-16T02:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Office Killer

SOURCE-Echo Bridge DVD

Oh Miramax,made a pile or aqquired a pile,then either sat on them for years or dumped them straight to cable/home video. Office Killer is one of those films that got that treatment.

In 97/98 this came out,I saw no press about it in the genre mags. Never even heard of it until 10 or so years ago when I bought a 20 pack of horror films from Echo Bridge. 20 films spread across 4 discs. So 5 films a disc. And while the film looked rough and a bare step above vhs I enjoyed it.

Skip ahead to early this year. Heard Vinegar Syndrome was releasing it on a packed HD release. Dug out this old ass DVD to rewatch it and see if it was worth a pricey upgrade. Thinking I paid 5 bucks for this release. Then the DVD got knocked under the TV stand. I forgot about it. Found it a week ago and watched it today.

Carol Kane is a office worker,who also takes care of an elderly relative. Her workplace is downsizing so everyone is worried about their jobs. Then late one night working over Carol accidently electrocutes a co worker. Instead of reporting it,she takes the body home hides it in her basement. And now any co worker pisses her off she kills them. And the co workers is a great cast. Got Molly Ringwald in 1 of the 2 horror films she has starred in. As the bitchy co worker that gets downsized. Jeanne Triplehorn a as another co worker.

More of a dark comedy/thriller than horror. But worth a watch. Not sure I will upgrade unless I can find it for 25 or less.

Office Killer gets a B-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 15 Return to Silent Hill

2026-10-15T07:35:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Return to Silent Hill

SOURCE-Blu Ray

While I heard about the Silent Hill games I never played any of them much. By the time they were coming out I was not playing many modern video games. So that first Silent Hill movie came out. I skipped it. Then one day years ago wanting something to watch bought it on DVD. Enjoyed it and when I saw the trailers for Return to Silent Hill I wanted to go see it. Never could work out a day that I could make it to the good theater up in Pearl MS. My local theater charges too much for subpar projection and sound. Day the blu ray came out I bought it and like what happens often it got put on the to be watched pile and sat.

A young man returns to Silent Hill,possibly to save someone named Mary. And it seems he is stuck in a time loop. This isn't a film with a deep plot. It relies on the creepy images and sound to tell it's story. Which works well for me. Again I don't know the games so I have no clue how close to the games this film is.

Our lead is an actor I have never seen before and he is decent in his role. The lead actress is another I have never seen. She does a great job with her part. The rest of the cast ain't bad.

I gotta say the practical FX work in the film looks great. Got a few scenes that feel like they are outta Society. Now the CGI work... some is decent and some looks like junk from a PS1 game.

Hearing this bombed,which sucks,cause I would love to see a sequel.

Return to Silent Hill gets a B-

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 14 Hollywood Kills

2026-10-14T01:30:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Hollywood Kills

SOURCE-Echo Bridge DVD

Sometimes you just need a film to kill sometime. And this one did that.

Hollywood Kills is the perfect example of a great premise that gets turned to doo doo butter cause of budget and the cast.

A crazy director likes to invite young actors/actresses to his studio. Then he drugs them and hold "Auditions". Where he kills them while filming the kills. This time a young female director in the bunch of aspiring thesbians. So the crazy director takes her nails her to a director's chair. And forces her to watch as one by one her friends are slaughtered.

See sounds decent. Coming out in 2006 this was trying to catch some of the wave of popularity that Saw/Hostel and other films like that had. Just Saw and Hostel had budgets higher than what I paid for my first car and a cast that wasn't found by throwing darts at the Los Angeles phone book.

At least the kills are all practical. The best is a broken champagne bottle shoved into someone's mouth. The worst is when the crazy director cuts the lady director's eye lids off,so she cant shut her eyes. And it looks like those fake "nasty eye" appliances you would find near Halloween at places like K-mart and TG&Y.

Barely and hour and 20 minutes including the opening and closing credits the film still fills too long. Maybe cut the film down to 30 minutes and it would work decently as part of a horror anthology film or an episode of a TV show like Tales from the Crypt,Tales from the Darkside or Creepshow.

The cast... only one person in the cast have I seen in anything before. The actor that was Scutt Farkus in A Christmas Story. And his part is tiny with little screen time.

Overall I say don't buy this.I got it on a set that was 20 horror films for 5 bucks. And feel like even at 25 cents a movie I overpaid for Hollywood Kills. Maybe if you have to see it track it down on TUBI or one of the other FAST apps.

Hollywood Kills gets a D+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 13 Final Remains AKA Mortuary 2005

2026-10-13T02:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Final Remains AKA Mortuary (2005)

SOURCE-Echo Bridge DVD

Remember like 10 years ago when Echo Bridge had the license for a pile of Dimension and Miramax films? You could get a 20 pack of movies,5 films per DVD,for 5 to 10 bucks depending on the store. And this wasn't your normal Mill Creek/Brentwood/Diamond Public Domain or Grey market stuff. You got real "winners" like Dracula 2000 and that Halloween with Busta Rhymes (RIP TheFUCKERFROMHELL).

On one of these packs I discovered this forgotten 2005 slasher comedy. Looks like it was shot on video and cause it is crammed onto one disc with 4 other films it looks like a ex rental VHS. The sound was also a bit low. Normally I watch movies in the living room on the large tv. And that one I can normally keep the volume at 14 to 17 for a DVD and hear it clearly. This one I kept having to bump it up to 20 or even 25.

A bunch of college age teens want to party in their small town. A killer is on the loose and a man suspects the killer is hiding out at the local funeral home. And of course the teens goto the funeral home late one night to party.

Thankfully this is only 76 or so minutes. A bigger budget and more professional cast would have this at the level of forgotten horror that Vinegar Syndrome would release with a limited to 2k slipcase edition. But this has a budget around what a family of 4 would spend on a 3 day trip to Disney World.

The kills are not bad. I like the look of the killer,surgical face mask and shower cap. Being a homage to 80s slashers we do get some nudity. With one scene feeling very gratuitious.

When we finally learn who the killer is I wasn't surprised. My short list of who it could be was 2 people.

Betting this is streaming on say Tubi or one of the other FAST services. And if you like slashers and comedy it is worth watching. I doubt I will ever upgrade from this DVD.

Final Remains gets a C-.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 12 It's Alive

2026-10-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

TITLE-It's Alive

SOURCE-DVD

Somehow as a kid in the early 80s I ended up with a vhs tape with the first of this trilogy of films on it. Watched it over and over as a kid. Then kind of just forgot about it until last year when I found the trilogy on DVD for cheap.

A expecting father enters the delivery room to see everyone dead and a trail of blood. His new born son is a mutant baby that kills. And the rest of the film is this father trying to find his son and protect him.

Great concept,playing off the various "these drugs if taken when pregnant will mess up your baby" scares of the 60s/70s,and Larry Cohen does a good job. Just wow this movie is slow as fuck. We don't see the mutant baby clearly until almost the end. Which makes the film feel a bit like a 50s drive in monster movie. When we do it looks a bit like a Cabbage Patch kid put into a microwave.

As a kid this was one of my favorite films. One I know I saw at least once a week. Rewatching it now it isn't as good as I remembered. Which kind off sucks. The film isn't bad. Just my brain had built it up as this gore soaked forgotten 70s classic. Which it isn't.

It's Alive gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 11 Bambi the Reckoning

2026-10-11T02:00:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Bambi the Reckoning

SOURCE-ITN/Scream Factory DVD

Few years back when I watched the first entry in the Twisted Childhood Universe films I made a joke about "I want a killer Bambi movie". Not knowing just 3 years later I would get it.

Not long after the Bambi movie we all know Bambi meets a doe.Then have an offspring that dies and Bambi gets exposed to toxic waste and mutates into a giant killer deer.

And we also got a family gathering at their mothers home,a mother who is suffering from dementia,and guess what that home is in the woods Bambi lives in.

Now years back I bought a few films from ITN,who I dubbed International Turd Network. Mostly cause almost all their films were made overseas and they all sucked. This was the exception.

Instead of folks in obvious rubber masks this film has decent CGI FX for Bambi. The actors/actresses feel more like the crew tracked down people that do acting for a living and not "Hey didn't your cousin once star in the little theater production of Driving Ms Daisy?"

So far the other 3 Twisted Childhood films work mostly cause it is seeing a person from your younger years now out there killing people. This one works because it has a decent script. You could take away the connection to the Disney animated film and it would still work.

Bambi The Reckoning gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 10 Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

2026-10-10T05:10:00.000-05:00

TITLE-Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

SOURCE-Scream Factory DVD

Now I saw and enjoyed both Winnie the Pooh horror films. So when I saw the same universe Peter Pan horror movie I grabbed it. And like with most DVDs/Blu Rays I buy it sat on the to be watched stack for months.

Peter Pan is a sick man. He kidnaps kids and "sends them to Neverland" by killing them. After forgetting to go pick up her brother after school,Wendy learns Peter Pan kidnapped her brother and is trying to get hi back,

I like how the writer took the basic Peter Pan story and twisted it. Reminds me of how at one time the comic book Fables the big bad guy was planned to be Peter Pan,that got stoppedd cause at least during that time frame Peter Pan wasn't public domain in the UK.

And quickly I wanna speak on all these "horror" fans I see complaining about "All these films taking childhood things and making them edgy and evil" Ok yea I get that but just don't watch the films then. Nope they will go watch it knowing they will hate it. And I do not get that at all. I got more free time than most and I don't have the time to watch something I know I won't enjoy.

Overall this ain't a bad film. The acting isn't bad. The FX work is well done. I would say it is a step above Winne the Pooh Blood and Honey part 1 and almost as good as it's sequel.

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2026 Day 09 The Devil's Dolls aka Worry Dolls

2026-10-09T09:34:00.001-05:00

TITLE-The Devil's Dolls aka Worry Dolls
SOURCE-IFC Midnight/Scream Factory DVD

Made a bit over a decade ago,and shot in Natchez,Canton and Jackson MS,this is the second feature fro the director.

A serial killer's worry dolls end up in the hands of a crafty young girl. Who uses their parts to make charm bracelets. Which are sold at her mothers junk store. Seems these dolls are possessed by the evil spirit of the serial Killer

Each person that buys one of these charms gets possessed and starts killing. Like when one guy attacks a corner store owner with scissors. Once the leads figure out what is up they start trying to find everyone who bought one of the charms.

Decent acting some good gore and helps it is shot in locations I know somewhat. Like one scene I knew they filmed in Jackson cause I saw a place I have been often.

The film is a mixture of serial killer+possession horror. It works. But also this is a movie that if I hadn't found it for a buck I wouldn't have bought it. The kind of film you are wanting something to watch so scroll through TUBI ffor an hour and decide on this.

The Devil's Dolls gets a C+