An attractive young woman moves into an old apartment while going through a messy divorce. Soon she starts to receive mysterious phone calls on her old rotary phone. The calls are from a woman claiming to be calling from 1979. Of course the young woman is skeptical, until the mysterious caller begins to alter the present. The young woman must unravel the mystery before her entire world is turned upside down…by the past!
I have said it before; movies about mysterious phone calls really intrigue me. Now days with cell phone technology where it is, it is almost impossible to not know who is calling you. But there is just something about not knowing who is on the other end of the phone, or where they are. It is all shrouded in mystery. That to me is pretty scary.
THE CALLER starts out a little slow, but the tension starts building and I soon found myself engulfed in the story. It is basically a one woman show with some supporting characters thrown in to keep the story interesting. The actress who played the young woman did a very good job and made the story very believable. I could have done without the ex-husband character though; he seemed very out of place in this movie. Unfortunately, he was needed to set up the ending, minor complaint. The haunting score keeps the tone of the movie nice and tense. It really stood out for me. There is some light blood in a couple scenes, but that’s not what this movie is about. All the tension in the movie comes to a peak and makes for gripping climax. The ending was a tad predictable, but I dug it anyway.
I went into this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it. Other than the very brief synopsis, I was going in blind. And honesty I’m glad I did. There are little twists and turns throughout the whole movie that kept it very interesting. The synopsis was vague for a reason, and I purposely kept this review somewhat vague as well. Nobody wants the mystery unveiled before even watching the movie!
THE CALLER is FREQUENCY meets STIR OF ECHOES. Not a perfect movie by any means, but hey, it’s original! I respect and am grateful for original genre flicks these days. If you are burnt out on the gore fest slasher movies, take a break and give this movie a shot. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

As big, sprawling movie rental stores begin to fall off the face of the earth, more and more people are turning to the internet for all their movie watching needs. Thousands of movies and TV shows, in every genre, are at your finger tips with your remote control or laptop. The most popular and my personal favorite of these services is NETFLIX. Have you found yourself aimlessly browsing through the streaming horror movie section? Reading plot summary after plot summary trying to decide on a flick that is not going to totally suck ass and waste your precious time? I sure as hell have. So one evening I decided to just let the remote do the picking for me. I closed my eyes and let the arrows scroll from movie to movie, and page to page, vowing to myself to watch the random pick no matter what. It could be old, it could be new, it could be a classic, or it could be the biggest piece of shit since HOUSE OF THE DEAD. Hence, Netflix Roulette was born! Every week here at FUN WITH HORROR, I will be randomly watching and reviewing a horror movie that is currently streaming on NETFLIX. Hopefully this segment will aid you in your next online viewing decision. Enjoy!

The Evil Dead

Often imitated, never duplicated! THE EVIL DEAD is the original ‘cabin in the woods’ masterpiece from director Sam Raimi. Now, 30 years old, I’m going to go ahead and call this movie a ‘classic.’ Well played roulette wheel, well played.

The plot goes like this; a group of friends head out to an isolated cabin to do some partying. When they find their way to the cellar, they discover the Necronomicon, also known as ‘the book of the dead.’ They also find an old tape player with recorded passages from the book. When one of the idiots hits play, the unholy words are read out loud, awakening the sleeping demons in the woods. One by one, they become inhabited by the evil. It’s up to one man to fight the demons. This man goes by the name of…ASH! Who will prevail?!

If you have not yet seen THE EVIL DEAD, you have obviously been living in a cave or just plain hate awesome horror movies. If you have been living in a cave… where do you plug in your computer?! If you hate awesome horror movies…what are you doing on this site?! Ok, now that we have established that you either already love this movie, or that you are at least interested in seeing this movie to see what all the hype is about, we can proceed.

Before Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and THE EVIL DEAD were household names in the horror community, THE EVIL DEAD was just a low budget horror movie written and filmed by a bunch of friends. They probably never imagined that 30 years later it would become one of the biggest cult classics in the history of horror movies. Its simplicity works perfectly. The plot, the violence, the gore, the characters, all meld together to make a very well rounded horror film. The only way to destroy one of the possessed is by ‘bodily dismemberment.’ So you know it is going to get messy. We also get to watch Ash transform from a very passive, mild mannered man in to the demon destroying icon we know him as today. His character is explored a lot more in EVIL DEAD II and ARMY OF DARKNESS.

THE EVIL DEAD sparked one of horror’s biggest trilogies. It is kind of hard to say if this movie would have been as well known if it wasn’t for its two sequels (also directed by Raimi.) As far as straight horror goes, it is the best out of the three.

I have watched THE EVIL DEAD a million times, and it gets better and better each time. If you are surfing through the Netflix instant offerings and can’t decide what to watch, revisit the EVIL DEAD and reminisce about finer times in the horror genre. If you are that person finally  climbing out of your cave and joining civilization, before even getting a social security number, watch this movie!! You will not be disappointed.

10 Swallowed Souls Out Of 10

Every day I spend countless hours at work searching eBay, Amazon, wikipedia, and numerous other reference websites in hopes of coming across horror movies still trapped on only VHS.  After numerous written warnings for non-work related internet usage I have amassed a collection of movies that will NEVER be transferred onto a high definition platform.  Some are hidden gems, some are total garbage, but all of them are part of my VHS Vault.

David Hess is my all time favorite villainous character in movies.  What he does to playing detestable pieces of shit is comparable to what Leonardo does to painting.  Movies like LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, HOUSEON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, and HITCH-HIKE are all mainstays in my video library and I was deeply saddened to hear he died last year.  A little while back I caught wind that he also directed a movie that has never been released on DVD titled, TO ALL A GOODNIGHT. Since then, I have been trying to locate a copy.  Finally the interweb gods blessed me with a pristine VHS copy with an intact, uncut box.

TO ALL A GOODNIGHT starts with a girl running through a sorority house, being chased by her sisters, one of which is weilding an axe and dressed like Santa Claus. The girl makes it to an open patio door, pausing, turning, she screams, then gets scared backwards over the patio rail by the axe wielding Santa Bitch.  What ever happened to initiations that ended in topless pillow fights and Corey Haim movies?  Two years later, the same school for girls is shutting down for Christmas break.  Most of the girls leave, except a group holed up in the same sorority house.  The clever little shits convince their house mother to hit the hay early so the plane, yes private plane, carrying a payload of eager co-ed cocks (dressed like Santa Claus) can land and sneak their way into the sorority house.  One by one, the girls and their suitors start getting knocked off by a killer, also wearing a Santa Clause suit and mask, until the thrilling conclusion.

What I really like about TO ALL A GOODNIGHT is the setup. It’s like a standard slasher movie, but there are enough nuances to set it apart from the rest of the low-budget pack.  For example, I was expecting everyone was going to get knocked off during the first night and a predictable person would reveal themself as the killer. But, the night ends and everyone is sitting around waiting for the police to show for one murder. Sure, some slasher flicks last a few nights, but not many low-budget slashers.

Another thing I thought was hilarious was the fact that all of the girls were setup with their suitors, but then everyone started blatantly swapping partners.  You just don’t see that. Usually, everyone is locked in with his or her sweetheart for the whole movie. (With the exception of one or two sluts.)

Finally the ending, no spoilers I promise! (Speaking of spoilers, don’t fucking read the wikipedia page for TO ALL A GOODNIGHT. It ruins the movie.)  Naturally almost everyone is killed during TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT, but one girl, aside from the final girl, survives.  She slips into insanity and wanders around the house like a cracked out Cirque Du Soleil performer.  It was AWESOME.  When we finally reach the big reveal for the killer, the writer came up with a great twist that won’t let you down.  TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT was a great movie. Director David Hess doesn’t smother the movie with a lot of the exploitive themes he is known for. Watching this flick provided me a little closure to a profound loss in the horror world. I am grateful to Zena (The Real Queen of Horror) for bringing it to my attention last year.

TO ALL A GOODNIGHT grabs a 100%

A woman kills three people and claims she is possessed by demons. The court deems her insane and locks her in a mental hospital. Years later the woman’s daughter, and a documentary film crew, head to Italy to shed some light on what really happened.  Oh yeah, and there is an exorcism.

THE DEVIL INSIDE is another entry in the Mockumentary, ‘inspired by true events’ genre.  Shaky cam, fake interviews, night vision, it’s all here. I don’t know if my attention span is getting shorter, or if these movies really are THIS boring! It took almost an hour for anything even remotely interesting to happen. As much as I love watching a fake doctor being interviewed for 20 minutes, I would like to actually see some kind of devil, possession, or anything that the film’s title suggests. I understand what THE DEVIL INSIDE was going for. Big build up followed by a big pay off. Unfortunately, the ’pay off’ fell extremely flat. It was a blatant rip off of THE EXORCIST. Apparently, demons love the word cock, because it is repeated over and over in every possession movie I’ve seen.

These movies have been a dime a dozen, lately. Thanks for nothing PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.  The one thing I enjoyed about THE DEVIL INSIDE was that the camera work during the last exorcism. For some reason, I’m a sucker for blood splattering on the camera lens. As long as it’s not done in excess.

If you are in the mood for a good quality possession movie, stick to classics like THE EXORCIST and ROSEMARY’S BABY. I would steer clear of THE DEVIL INSIDE. Unless you are having trouble sleeping…

The Black Angel is out tearing his way through the female population of a college. All of the female students seem to be connected, somehow. The movie begins with a dumb ass chasing a giggling girl through the woods.  They make it to a car, hop in and start sexing it up. Well…..first the screen is completely taken up by a tit, then fingering, then they sex it up.  She gets out after he gets off, presumably to go let the load drip out. Next, she comes strolling back outside to find her lover. He’s missing and a popped trunk prompts her to look inside. But, instead of finding anything she gets killed by the trunk slamming down on her.

From here on out, SHADOWS RUN BLACK is a side story interweaved with a non-stop kill-fest of naked chicks.  The story follows Detective Rydell King, who has finally returned to the police force after his daughter was kidnapped and found decapitated.  To say the least, he’s a little edgy. King starts contacting girls who might be connected to this string of homicides and eventually reaches Judy. Judy once dated bad boy Jimmy Scott, played by Kevin Costner, but left him when she found out he was screwing around with other chicks.  Judy lives with her racist brother, Morgan, and his wife Helen. We learn that Helen is getting a little action from Morgan’s law partner on side.  Morgan almost kills Judy’s boyfriend, literally, because he’s black so you can really feel the love in the house during dinner time.  During the scenes I just described, four other naked chicks have been killed by the Black Angel serial killer!

The ending for SHADOWS RUN BLACK wasn’t a big shock, because the killer’s identity is partially revealed through profile shot, during one of his obscene phone calls. But, evidently it was supposed to be a shock.  The killers’ motivations was a little surprising and tied together the loose theme of the film. But, this movie wasn’t rocket science by any means. One of the best scenes in the movie was one with a party filled with potential victims.  During the party, entertainment is provided by a magician and his upright bass playing assistant, who get heckled by a drunk Kevin Costner.

All in all, I liked SHADOWS RUN BLACK, it’s hard not to.  It’s a good movie to have on in the background.  The story is pretty thin. Much of the movie consists of girls getting naked and then killed. So, girlfriends and wives will love it.  On a side note, the end credits are the WORST I have seen in a movie. Imagine watching a green computer screen from 1986 with someone typing in the cast and crew for the movie……..that was it!

As big, sprawling movie rental stores begin to fall off the face of the earth, more and more people are turning to the internet for all their movie watching needs. Thousands of movies and TV shows, in every genre, are at your finger tips with your remote control or laptop. The most popular and my personal favorite of these services is NETFLIX. Have you found yourself aimlessly browsing through the streaming horror movie section? Reading plot summary after plot summary trying to decide on a flick that is not going to totally suck ass and waste your precious time? I sure as hell have. So one evening I decided to just let the remote do the picking for me. I closed my eyes and let the arrows scroll from movie to movie, and page to page, vowing to myself to watch the random pick no matter what. It could be old, it could be new, it could be a classic, or it could be the biggest piece of shit since HOUSE OF THE DEAD. Hence, Netflix Roulette was born! Every week here at FUN WITH HORROR, I will be randomly watching and reviewing a horror movie that is currently streaming on NETFLIX. Hopefully this segment will aid you in your next online viewing decision. Enjoy!

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

The wheel has landed on my favorite Robert Rodriquez flick, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. A glorious mash-up of action, horror, and black comedy. Co- written by Quentin Tarantino, you know right off the bat, you are in for a treat.

George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino star as the Gecko brothers. Two bank robbers on the run from the law after a violent crime spree. They hijack an RV, along with the minister and his two kids that occupy it. They cross the border into Mexico and hole up in a little dive bar called The Titty Twister. It’s a rough joint, full of bikers, gangsters, and strippers. But, once the sun goes down, the occupants of the bar become a whole different entity. The kind of entity that loves blood and hates crucifixes.

It’s hard to believe that this movie came out over ten years ago. I remember watching it over and over again when it was first released. It was the movie you had to see or you were shunned by the group. Guns, violence, vampires, blood, and Salma Hayek dancing half-naked with a snake. What high school boy wouldn’t want to see that?! George Clooney tears up the screen as the leader of the bunch and an all around bad ass. He doesn’t take any shit and is hilarious with his sharp wit. Tarantino plays it more mellow but is, of course, psychotic. His delusions often get the best of him and he acts out with horrible ultra violence. When the vamps finally come out to play, things get messy. Red blood, green blood, decapitations, amputations, burnings, and much more to add to the gore meter. The story moves right along, never leaving your bored. The dialogue is well written, funny, and has the Tarantino/Rodriquez stamp all over it.

If for some odd reason you are reading this and have NOT seen FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, throw down your laptop and fire up Netflix! (unless of course you watch Netflix  on your laptop, then slap yo’ mamma instead.)

10 Bikini Clad Hayek’s Out of 10

I’m a big fan of Italian horror flicks, whether they’re cannibal exploitation or zombie exploitation, they are usually pretty insane and full of gore.  So, when I caught wind of DR. BUTCHER M.D. I was pretty excited to find that it is an amalgamation of both a zombie movie and a cannibal movie.

DR. BUTCHER M.D. starts in New York City in the late 70’s. Someone is stealing parts from cadavers in a medical school.  Finally, the culprit is caught but jumps out of a window and splats on the ground before anyone can ask questions.  Lori, a doctor at the medical school becomes interested in the connection between the tattoo found on the body part snatcher and the red symbol on one of the knives hanging on her wall……..she’s an archeologist too.  When the police get involved, they say the same thing has been happening all over the city.  So, the next logical step is for the lead investigator in the body snatching cases, along with Lori and a news reporter looking for her big break, to venture off to the islands where the symbol originated.  In the area, and I couldn’t figure out really where, the group meets up with Dr. Obrero, who unbeknownst to them is experimenting on corpses.  They are then sent to an island with the help of Dr. Obrero’s assistant.  It’s evident that the assistant is trying to steer the group to a safe island, because he is sweating bullets. But, unforeseen boat trouble lands them on the shores of the vicious cannibals.  Soon, we find out this island is also inhabited by the zombie creations of DR. BUTCHER.  All forces clash and many people die violent deaths.

I thought DR. BUTCHER was very entertaining.  There is a lot of great gore and all the zombies look cool as hell!  The story is self-explanatory and all of the characters are memorable enough.  The movie also follows the standard Italian horror film tradition of having soap opera-esque acting. But, if you’re used to that, it doesn’t really stand out.  The only thing I found strange was the scene where Lori is exalted as the cannibal queen instead of being made into a cannibal saltlick.  However, the newly appointed position requires excessive nudity so I decided to trust the cannibals’ electoral system and relax.

This was a good flick. No real complaints.  If you’re a fan of ZOMBIE, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, EATEN ALIVE, or the scores of other Italian horror movies, I recommend picking up a copy of DR. BUTCHER M.D.  It’s been recently re-released in a blu-ray/DVD combo by Shriek Show and you can’t go wrong.