Wishmaster
Directed by: Robert Kurtzman
1997
90 Minutes - Color

The idea of the movie is sorta unique I guess, and it's done in a convincing manner. Some of the scenes do have a creepy type feel to them, and since this a relatively late entry to the world of horror movies, it benefits from special effects that look a bit better than a few kids raiding a joke shop for blood packets.

A collector [played by Freddy himself] buys a statue, and while it is being delivered, it falls from the dock and kills the assistant. One of the guys grabs the opal that falls from the case after it breaks open and he takes it in to have it appraised. While this is happening, the evil Djinn inside is awoken.

He grants a single wish to different people which leads to the beginning of all the gruesome deaths. The main girl in the film is stalked by the Djinn, who wants her to give him three wishes because that will make him rule the world. He puts her in lots of different situations [some creative filming/effects as well] trying to get her to give in, but of course, she doesn't.

The battle scene at the end of all the statues coming to life and going after her is interesting to watch and a bit eerie as well. Overall I'd recommend this movie for something a bit more "modern" that doesn't look gay like those Scream movies or all their pathetic clones.

As a bit of a bonus, you can get Wishmaster 1 and 2 on the same DVD for about $12 at any Best Buy, which makes it a good value and easy to find. I recently picked up part 3 and 4 of this series, and I will be writing up reviews of those soon!

Murder Rating: 9
Movie Rating: 7

Review by Baron


Wrong Turn
Directed By: Rob Schmidt
2003
84 Minutes - Color

Ehh. I guess this was an ok movie, but it's basically Texas Chainsaw Massacre part 24823490284490 with kEwL teenage actresses.

A group of teens get in an accident with another guy out in the woods and they become the hunted. The killers are "cannibalistic mountain men grossly disfigured through generations of in-breeding", or so I've read.

The main focus for most people watching this is that tramp Eliza Dushku, but who gives a shit about her. You're better off watching the 80's Linnea Quigley flicks if you only care about how hot the stars are.

This movie is nothing special, but it's not the worst thing ever. Check it out if all the copies of Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers are out.

Murder Rating: 4
Movie Rating: 5

Review by Baron


Zombie
Directed by: Lucio Fulci
1979
91 minutes - Color

A lot of horror fanatics are absolutely nuts about this film, and for good reason. Theres tons of gore, great special effects with the zombie makeup and exploding heads, and the acting is actually pretty decent for a low budget film.

The film starts out with the daughter of a missing scientist/doctor, who is out on some haitian island in the middle of nowhere [close to haiti i hope], and she is looking to find him. She meets up with some guy and they decide to go visit the doctor on the island... and as usual, when they get to the island, shit hits the fan.

The dead are rising and feasting upon the living. The wood splinter through the eyeball is one of my favorite scenes in the film, and its nice to see the zombies feasing upon the woman after she dies of afformentioned eyeball impalement. The graphic views of her open disemboweled body on the floor, legless, zombies eating away truely showcase the great special effects here.

While I cant say there was a ton of built up suspense with this one, the ending barn fire was a great closer to the story and i truely believed most of this could have happened.. haha.

[Don't forget the shark! ~Baron]

Murder Rating: 10
Movie Rating: 7

Review by Dave


Zombie
Directed by: Lucio Fulci
1979
91 minutes - Color

I've read and heard a lot of hype about Lucio Fulci and his gore/horror films, Zombie being apparently the pinnacle of his career. I just dont get what all the hype is about. The only accolade I can see this movie deserving is by taking horror to the sea, to tropical islands and aboard boats, unusual settings for terror to strike. Fulci's zombies are not very blood thirsty, they are very laid back and passive, they dont really lunge for every human they see. They just sort of dawdle around or sit like my autistic nephew Jerry.

I notice in this movie that zombies always seem to prefer the flesh of topless or showering women over any other palatable flesh. There is some pretty awesome gore in the hospital scene, other than that there aren't many highlights to this. One thing that annoyed me was that sometimes the dialogue is overdubbed as if the actor was originally speaking another language, but other times the actors are speaking english.

Best line in the movie: "Why dont you two rest here, and we'll take a look up ahead"
(just because whenever someone says that you know whats coming next)

Murder Rating: 8
Movie Rating: 4.5

Review by Ben


Zombie 4: After Death
Directed By: Claudio Fragasso
1988
84 Minutes - Color

I won't even fully explain the plot, because it's confusing and stupid. Lets just say this is another "trapped on an island in a jungle getting attacked by zombies" flick and we'll leave it at that.

The opening scene is great, with the evil rituals going on and all that. A nice face ripping off scene to start the movie out is always good. The zombies themselves look totally stupid, and they can jump and do ninja moves and stuff like that. For some reason though, I found this to be way more entertaining than Zombie 3 was.

My only complaint about the movie is that the main guy who makes it out alive is a gay porn actor. Man, do I hate faggots. Trying to look past that, I can give this movie a decent rating.

Murder Rating: 7.5
Movie Rating: 6.5

Review by Baron


Zombie Flesh Eaters
Directed by: Armando de Ossorio
1975
89 Minutes - Color

Zombie Flesh Eaters is also known by a million other titles such as Ghost Ships of the Blind Dead, Horror of the Zombies, Ship of Zombies, The Blind Dead 3, and The Ghost Galleon. All those titles fit a hell of a lot better than Zombie Flesh Eaters, because, well… There's only one scene even close to that.

This movie is so strange because with all the effort they put into making the zombies [more like skeletons] look truly evil, they spent $3 on a toy ship for all the far away scenes. I'm not kidding here either. This is truly one of those times where it IS a toy boat floating in a bathtub. Oh, and when it's on fire? PRICELESS.

Well, this movie is about 2 sluts who are sent out on a boat for "something" or other. Either I'm an idiot or it was never really explained. I'm guessing both. Anyway, they find this "ghost ship" floating out in the middle of the fog, and of course 1 of them decides to check it out while the other stays behind. Many hours go by and the other girls radios back that she is going on board to investigate as well. They don't hear anything, so the guys who sent her there in the first place bring this scientist type guy along who knows about the mystery of the ship. Something about anyone who reports seeing the ship doesn't come back alive. They mix in a bit of the "it exists in another dimension" thing, which is a decent twist on it. They make it to the ship and discover the skeleton zombies which of course manage to kill off a couple of them.

The ending is kind of cool when the ones that escape make it to an island, and decide to lay down and rest. In a well shot scene, the zombies rise out of the water at .1 mph and when the people awake, they're right on top of them.

I actually enjoyed this movie a lot. It's NOT a gore or splatter movie in the slightest bit, so if that is all you care about, don't bother. But the slow pace and creepy vibe really worked for me and it held my attention. You can find this as part of the Horror Rises from the Grave 4 movies on 2 DVD's set that is currently taking up space in your local Best Buy. For less than $10, you can help them make room for romantic comedies.

Murder Rating: 1
Movie Rating: 8

Review by Baron