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Blu-ray Review: Mill of the Stone Women (1960)

Writer-type Hans van Arnhim (Pierre Brice) sets out down Holland way to visit the eccentric Professor Gregorius Wahl (Herbert A.E. Böhme) who lives in an old windmill which contains a carousel of female statues, which Hans has been sent to research. Just seems like some shit you’d find at the Playboy Mansion during it’s heyday to me… Anyway, the Prof. carries himself in a manner that just screams “fuckin’ horrible hidden secret”, but Hans continues his work anyway… probably because Wahl’s daughter Elfie (Scilla Gabel) is both easy on the eerie eyeballs, and immediately hot n’ horny for ol’ Handsy Hans… who returns the admiration despite having a full time main-squeeze; namely one Liselotte Kornheim (Dany Carrel)… Kornheim sounds like Valhalla for Nu-metal bands that can’t get into the real deal because they simply don’t rock hard enough… Any-fuckin’-how, push comes to shove, and Hans kinda/sorta murders Elfie… as one does… but she probably wasn’t long for this world as

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jan 15, 2022

Blu-ray Review: Giallo Essentials: Yellow (1973 – 1975)

Remember like 5 fuckin’ days ago (give or take) when I reviewed the first edition of Arrow Video’s new Giallo Essentials collections (that one dubbed “red”)? If not head here… All caught up? Peachy. Let’s dive in to the sinister selections present in round two… the “yellow” set (fitting as how “giallo” literally means “yellow”… but I’ll let you discover the German origins of that one on your own… ), if you will… First up comes 1974’s After a naked pregnant woman is found hung from the rafters in an attic (and not unlike an overcrowded submarine, she is packed to the gills with semen), Inspector Silvestri (Claudio Cassinelli) and Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori (Giovanna Ralli) spring into action. As the duo dig deeper they discover the victim was part of an under-age teenage prostitution ring whose “clients” (read: abusers) are some of your garden variety high society perverts. As the search widens, the bodies begin piling up…thanks to

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Dec 19, 2021

Italian Horror ‘Stagefright’ Coming to 4K Ultra And Blu-ray

Director and master of Italian horror, Michele Soavi‘s (The Sect, The Church) 1987 horror Stagefright is being unleashed on 4K Ultra. In the film, “when a masked killer infiltrates a group of actors rehearsing overnight in an isolated theatre, the stage is set for carnage! Featuring an abundance of over-the-top kills and spills, shot with Soavi’s typical style, marvel at the mayhem as the iconic chainsaw-wielding ‘Owl Man’, delivers a blood-soaked performance for the ages.” Stagefright is at the pinnacle of 80s slashers. Michele Soavi was schooled by Dario Argento and Terry Gilliam and his beloved first feature can now finally be seen as intended, with this edition further benefiting from the director’s color grading and framing indications given during a candid interview filmed exclusively for this release. SPECIAL FEATURES – New 4K restoration – ‘Staging the Fright’ – Interview with director Michele Soavi – ‘The Theatre of Blood’ – Interview with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice – ‘The Last Performance’

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Dec 2, 2021
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Strike Commando 2 (1988)

Everyone’s favorite Rambo surrogate, Ransom, is back on the scene in Bruno Mattei’s 1988 follow-up to his batshit action pic Strike Commando (which I reviewed right here), the reasonably titled Strike Commando 2! While Ransom may be back, Reb Brown sure as shit isn’t… so this time we follow The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak’s Brent Huff (who looks more like Solid Snake than Rambo once kitted up) on a mission to rescue Maj. Vic Jenkins (Richard Harris… yeah, the actual one from Camelot and the first couple of Harry Potter Pictures… not to mention dozens upon dozens of other memorable performances), his old squad leader from ‘Nam from a group of ninja warriors with KGB ties (there’s heroin smuggling mixed up in this hot mess as well)… this is the most fucking ’80s plot I have ever witnessed… Anyway, the kidnappers are demanding a cool ten million in diamonds, so the CIA sends in

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 5, 2021
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Strike Commando (1986)

You know who was shit-hot in the 1980’s? John mother fuckin’ Rambo… we all loved his PTSD-infused spots of rough n’ tumble fun n’ games (mostly involving murdering large swaths of human beings post his first outing in 1982’s First Blood). You know who else loved his ass? The fucking creative team behind Troll 2, and my personal fav, Uncle Bruno Mattei… How do I know this? Because I just watched the most Rambo thing ever created that doesn’t have jack-shit to do with Sly; 1986’s Strike Commando, and those are the cats that made it! Ransom (Jesus, they aren’t even trying to hide it… anyway, he’s played by Yor: The Hunter From the Future himself, Reb Brown) is the sole survivor of a botched mission in ‘Nam while the war was raging hot n’ heavy. Soon Ransom finds himself in the savior-biz as he ends up in a small village, who’s residents include the missionary Le Due (Luciano Pigozzi,

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 4, 2021
Horror Fuel

Animated Horror Comedy ‘Resurrection Corporation’ Comes To Amazon

Italian filmmaker, Alberto Genovese, who brought you Troma’s Sick Sock Monsters from Outer space, is back with new tale of horror, the indie animated film Resurrection Corporation. Inspired by Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Resurrection Corporation follows the paradoxical adventures of a famous undertaker who’s been on the streets since death itself was banned in the city and supplanted by a practical method of resurrection, to which no citizen can resist. The uselessness of the now obsolete coffins drives the funeral director to an economic and existential crisis. Man, now too old, is not able to adapt to the changing times nor is he able to confront a society so distinctly tanatophobic. His own stubbornness will drive the protagonist to expose an irrational system that, in the repudiation of the word ‘end’, reveals all his deception. This dark and morbid (in the best possible way) film about humanity’s fear of death is now out on Amazon Prime Video, from 1844

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jun 3, 2021
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Flesh Contagium (2020)

In a plague-ravaged future a nomadic couple, Helmut (Lorenzo Lepori, who also co-wrote, co-produced, and directed the film) and Ornella (Shiri Binder), traverse a rural landscape trying like hell to avoid the murder-happy, haz-mat suited, gasmask sportin’ mother fuckers that eliminate the remaining populace with wild abandon. Long story short, Helmut buys the farm, and Ornella is taken in by Udolfo (Pio Bisanti in a Dafoe-level performance); a highly troubled individual who rapes her repeatedly while using her in his experiments involving nightmarish mutants and his disease-ridden wife that take place within the stone walls of the dilapidated fortress Udolfo calls home. What follows is a wicked whirlwind of brutal survival in a new world ruled by monsters and madmen! What begins with a set-up you may expect from a Bruno Mattei post-apocalyptic flick from down Italy way, soon transforms into something a bit deeper as Flesh Contagium unfolds. Sure we get mutants, naked flesh, and oh-s0-much bloodshed (more on

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 18, 2021
Horror Fuel

Massacre Video Set to Infect Us With FLESH CONTAGIUM!

In what will surely be the ultimate answer to “Does this look infected to you?”, those fine fiends o’er at Massacre Video are giving us Italy’s own FLESH CONTAGIUM! Here’s the sinister skinny on this fright flick straight from the haunted horse’s monstrous mouth! “The year is 2029. A horrible flu virus has devastated the planet leaving the global health infrastructure in ruins and leading to the creation and rise of hideous mutants. All large cities are now extermination camps and the new government, called “The Executors”, are in charge of eliminating these ghastly abominations. Survivors are left to fend for themselves, taking refuge in the most remote of areas, but a special team of “Executors” have been formed to find the survivors and eliminate them with no mercy. Massacre Video proudly presents Lorenzo Lepori’s FLESH CONTAGIUM, written during the first Italian lockdown and in the vein of cult filmmakers Jess Franco and Bruno Mattei, FLESH CONTAGIUM is a gory

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 13, 2021
Horror Fuel

Get Ready For Big Ass Bugs! ‘Insect’ Is Landing This Month!

Grab a bottle of bug spray, Riccardo Paoletti‘s 2018 Italian creature feature Tafanos (aka Killer Mosquitos) is heading to the US with a new name, Insect! The film, which is a remake of the 2000 film by Dipteros and Guidice, follows a group of friends, holed up in an isolated house in the mountains, who are attacked by a swarm of killer bugs that feast on human flesh like piranhas. Alessio Lapice, Cristina Marino, Salvatore Langella, Filippo Tirabassi, and Maria Grazia Giannetta star in this big ass bug movie that lands on March 26, 2021, from Asylum Entertainment.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Mar 4, 2021
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Patrick Still Lives (1980)

Patrick (Gianni Dei) is sent into a coma courtesy of some asshole hucking a bottle into his puss from a passing van, and finds himself a resident of his father’s remote, posh spa where he lays in a bed in a room bathed in Bava light; his eyes permanently open (and the soundtrack cranked to ‘Theremin Hootenanny Mix’ full fuckin’ blast). Speaking of Patrick’s eyes; they seem to appear before some of those that stray past his room… and those floatin’ outre orbs contain nothing but malice… and perhaps just a dash of the hornies… Before you can say; “Boy howdy, there sure are a lot of naked tiddies in this film”, we learn that Patrick can make people do his telepathic bidding, plus he can hike up a lady’s skirt with his vast mental abilities (which is perhaps the truest representation of what someone would do with mental powers that I’ve ever seen committed to film)… How is all

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Nov 11, 2020

More from Italian

Blu-ray Review: Mill of the Stone Women (1960)

Writer-type Hans van Arnhim (Pierre Brice) sets out down Holland way to visit the eccentric Professor Gregorius Wahl (Herbert A.E. Böhme) who lives in an old windmill which contains a carousel of female statues, which Hans has been sent to research. Just seems like some shit you’d find at the Playboy Mansion during it’s heyday to me… Anyway, the Prof. carries himself in a manner that just screams “fuckin’ horrible hidden secret”, but Hans continues his work anyway… probably because Wahl’s daughter Elfie (Scilla Gabel) is both easy on the eerie eyeballs, and immediately hot n’ horny for ol’ Handsy Hans… who returns the admiration despite having a full time main-squeeze; namely one Liselotte Kornheim (Dany Carrel)… Kornheim sounds like Valhalla for Nu-metal bands that can’t get into the real deal because they simply don’t rock hard enough… Any-fuckin’-how, push comes to shove, and Hans kinda/sorta murders Elfie… as one does… but she probably wasn’t long for this world as

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jan 15, 2022

Blu-ray Review: Giallo Essentials: Yellow (1973 – 1975)

Remember like 5 fuckin’ days ago (give or take) when I reviewed the first edition of Arrow Video’s new Giallo Essentials collections (that one dubbed “red”)? If not head here… All caught up? Peachy. Let’s dive in to the sinister selections present in round two… the “yellow” set (fitting as how “giallo” literally means “yellow”… but I’ll let you discover the German origins of that one on your own… ), if you will… First up comes 1974’s After a naked pregnant woman is found hung from the rafters in an attic (and not unlike an overcrowded submarine, she is packed to the gills with semen), Inspector Silvestri (Claudio Cassinelli) and Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori (Giovanna Ralli) spring into action. As the duo dig deeper they discover the victim was part of an under-age teenage prostitution ring whose “clients” (read: abusers) are some of your garden variety high society perverts. As the search widens, the bodies begin piling up…thanks to

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Dec 19, 2021

Italian Horror ‘Stagefright’ Coming to 4K Ultra And Blu-ray

Director and master of Italian horror, Michele Soavi‘s (The Sect, The Church) 1987 horror Stagefright is being unleashed on 4K Ultra. In the film, “when a masked killer infiltrates a group of actors rehearsing overnight in an isolated theatre, the stage is set for carnage! Featuring an abundance of over-the-top kills and spills, shot with Soavi’s typical style, marvel at the mayhem as the iconic chainsaw-wielding ‘Owl Man’, delivers a blood-soaked performance for the ages.” Stagefright is at the pinnacle of 80s slashers. Michele Soavi was schooled by Dario Argento and Terry Gilliam and his beloved first feature can now finally be seen as intended, with this edition further benefiting from the director’s color grading and framing indications given during a candid interview filmed exclusively for this release. SPECIAL FEATURES – New 4K restoration – ‘Staging the Fright’ – Interview with director Michele Soavi – ‘The Theatre of Blood’ – Interview with actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice – ‘The Last Performance’

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Dec 2, 2021
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Strike Commando 2 (1988)

Everyone’s favorite Rambo surrogate, Ransom, is back on the scene in Bruno Mattei’s 1988 follow-up to his batshit action pic Strike Commando (which I reviewed right here), the reasonably titled Strike Commando 2! While Ransom may be back, Reb Brown sure as shit isn’t… so this time we follow The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak’s Brent Huff (who looks more like Solid Snake than Rambo once kitted up) on a mission to rescue Maj. Vic Jenkins (Richard Harris… yeah, the actual one from Camelot and the first couple of Harry Potter Pictures… not to mention dozens upon dozens of other memorable performances), his old squad leader from ‘Nam from a group of ninja warriors with KGB ties (there’s heroin smuggling mixed up in this hot mess as well)… this is the most fucking ’80s plot I have ever witnessed… Anyway, the kidnappers are demanding a cool ten million in diamonds, so the CIA sends in

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 5, 2021
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Strike Commando (1986)

You know who was shit-hot in the 1980’s? John mother fuckin’ Rambo… we all loved his PTSD-infused spots of rough n’ tumble fun n’ games (mostly involving murdering large swaths of human beings post his first outing in 1982’s First Blood). You know who else loved his ass? The fucking creative team behind Troll 2, and my personal fav, Uncle Bruno Mattei… How do I know this? Because I just watched the most Rambo thing ever created that doesn’t have jack-shit to do with Sly; 1986’s Strike Commando, and those are the cats that made it! Ransom (Jesus, they aren’t even trying to hide it… anyway, he’s played by Yor: The Hunter From the Future himself, Reb Brown) is the sole survivor of a botched mission in ‘Nam while the war was raging hot n’ heavy. Soon Ransom finds himself in the savior-biz as he ends up in a small village, who’s residents include the missionary Le Due (Luciano Pigozzi,

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Jul 4, 2021
Horror Fuel

Animated Horror Comedy ‘Resurrection Corporation’ Comes To Amazon

Italian filmmaker, Alberto Genovese, who brought you Troma’s Sick Sock Monsters from Outer space, is back with new tale of horror, the indie animated film Resurrection Corporation. Inspired by Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, Resurrection Corporation follows the paradoxical adventures of a famous undertaker who’s been on the streets since death itself was banned in the city and supplanted by a practical method of resurrection, to which no citizen can resist. The uselessness of the now obsolete coffins drives the funeral director to an economic and existential crisis. Man, now too old, is not able to adapt to the changing times nor is he able to confront a society so distinctly tanatophobic. His own stubbornness will drive the protagonist to expose an irrational system that, in the repudiation of the word ‘end’, reveals all his deception. This dark and morbid (in the best possible way) film about humanity’s fear of death is now out on Amazon Prime Video, from 1844

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jun 3, 2021
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Flesh Contagium (2020)

In a plague-ravaged future a nomadic couple, Helmut (Lorenzo Lepori, who also co-wrote, co-produced, and directed the film) and Ornella (Shiri Binder), traverse a rural landscape trying like hell to avoid the murder-happy, haz-mat suited, gasmask sportin’ mother fuckers that eliminate the remaining populace with wild abandon. Long story short, Helmut buys the farm, and Ornella is taken in by Udolfo (Pio Bisanti in a Dafoe-level performance); a highly troubled individual who rapes her repeatedly while using her in his experiments involving nightmarish mutants and his disease-ridden wife that take place within the stone walls of the dilapidated fortress Udolfo calls home. What follows is a wicked whirlwind of brutal survival in a new world ruled by monsters and madmen! What begins with a set-up you may expect from a Bruno Mattei post-apocalyptic flick from down Italy way, soon transforms into something a bit deeper as Flesh Contagium unfolds. Sure we get mutants, naked flesh, and oh-s0-much bloodshed (more on

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 18, 2021
Horror Fuel

Massacre Video Set to Infect Us With FLESH CONTAGIUM!

In what will surely be the ultimate answer to “Does this look infected to you?”, those fine fiends o’er at Massacre Video are giving us Italy’s own FLESH CONTAGIUM! Here’s the sinister skinny on this fright flick straight from the haunted horse’s monstrous mouth! “The year is 2029. A horrible flu virus has devastated the planet leaving the global health infrastructure in ruins and leading to the creation and rise of hideous mutants. All large cities are now extermination camps and the new government, called “The Executors”, are in charge of eliminating these ghastly abominations. Survivors are left to fend for themselves, taking refuge in the most remote of areas, but a special team of “Executors” have been formed to find the survivors and eliminate them with no mercy. Massacre Video proudly presents Lorenzo Lepori’s FLESH CONTAGIUM, written during the first Italian lockdown and in the vein of cult filmmakers Jess Franco and Bruno Mattei, FLESH CONTAGIUM is a gory

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Apr 13, 2021
Horror Fuel

Get Ready For Big Ass Bugs! ‘Insect’ Is Landing This Month!

Grab a bottle of bug spray, Riccardo Paoletti‘s 2018 Italian creature feature Tafanos (aka Killer Mosquitos) is heading to the US with a new name, Insect! The film, which is a remake of the 2000 film by Dipteros and Guidice, follows a group of friends, holed up in an isolated house in the mountains, who are attacked by a swarm of killer bugs that feast on human flesh like piranhas. Alessio Lapice, Cristina Marino, Salvatore Langella, Filippo Tirabassi, and Maria Grazia Giannetta star in this big ass bug movie that lands on March 26, 2021, from Asylum Entertainment.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Mar 4, 2021
Horror Fuel

Blu-ray Review: Patrick Still Lives (1980)

Patrick (Gianni Dei) is sent into a coma courtesy of some asshole hucking a bottle into his puss from a passing van, and finds himself a resident of his father’s remote, posh spa where he lays in a bed in a room bathed in Bava light; his eyes permanently open (and the soundtrack cranked to ‘Theremin Hootenanny Mix’ full fuckin’ blast). Speaking of Patrick’s eyes; they seem to appear before some of those that stray past his room… and those floatin’ outre orbs contain nothing but malice… and perhaps just a dash of the hornies… Before you can say; “Boy howdy, there sure are a lot of naked tiddies in this film”, we learn that Patrick can make people do his telepathic bidding, plus he can hike up a lady’s skirt with his vast mental abilities (which is perhaps the truest representation of what someone would do with mental powers that I’ve ever seen committed to film)… How is all

Continue reading →
DanXIII
Nov 11, 2020
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