Gut (2012)

 

 

Gut – Elias (2012)

Tom (Jason Vail) and Dan (Nicholas Wilder), two old friends from teenage years and which now even works at the same place seems to drift apart. Tom lives a relatively happy life with his wife and a daughter but feel that something is wrong, or missing a piece in life and decides to move and get a new job. Dan gets a little depressed and worried about their relationship will end and try to repair their friendship by inviting Tom to watch a movie he has managed to find on internet. The film shows when a woman gets slit and with the fear in your eyes, it feels as if the film could be a snuff film. Dan just wanted to impress his friend but it gets the opposite effect, instead Tom becomes completely mad at his friend and does not want see him anymore.

This movie has received quite varied ratings among all the reviews I read and I personally find it hard to believe that some people find it is a waste to see this movie. I personally sat and watched the movie with great excitement and wondering how this story will end. Despite having just a few actors, sparse with blood and guts I stayed awake through the entire movie with a sense of wonder. Pretty soon you realize that it's probably a snuff movie they watched, but who is behind the film. Naturally you believe it must be Tom or Dan, but you're not really sure, there might be a joker in the game?

Sometimes low-budget film fails because of an incredibly poor and deficient decor but I must say that Elias managed quite well with all the props and interior. Even office where Tom and Dan work looks actually pretty ok, we have seen many movies there an office looks awful with a table, a chair and a few binders.

The few actors who are involved act well and convincing, Tom as the thoughtful and a little frustrated and Dan as the funny dude. The other actors also do a splendid performance. Also want to point out that the music in the movie is nearly perfect and creates a splendid, creeping mood to the flick. A movie that could have been tedious and dull, but definitely not in this case despite a relatively narrow story, I sat and waited for the resolution all the way to the end.

Interview with the director Elias

Tomas Larsson: You had your first trailer out for over two years ago. Why did it take so long time to finish the movie?

Elias: The effects took quite a while to perfect, and I always start promoting early. We were also working with a low budget and that can slow things down a bit as well for obvious reasons.

TL: Pretty thrilling story about friendship. Two old buddies growing up together and watched horror movies and so on. I think many people can recognize themselves in the film. Where did you get the idea for the film? Is it possibly somewhat related to yourself?

Elias: Thanks! Yeah, the two main characters in the film are definitely inspired from my friendships and relationships of the past and present. I figured a lot of us had probably known friends like Tom or Dan, and found themselves drifting apart over the years, finally held together more by circumstance and convenience than the friendship that once was.

TL: You have a fantastic cast. How did manage to lay your hands on those actors?

Elias: Thanks! I'm sure they're very happy to hear you say that. We had an open casting call and we were very lucky to find such talented people.

TL: Gut has been screening a lot on festivals around the world this year and you have as well won some prominent awards. 2012 looks like a good year in many aspects for you and GUT. Can you tell us a bit about "The Year of Gut"?

Elias: Yeah, it's been going well. Always nice when something you've been working on generates strong reactions, positive or negative. We've been fortunate enough to screen at a lot of great film festivals so far, 20 I believe, and we're still screening at others into 2013. The movie's won 7 awards, most recently Best Feature & Best Special Effects at the New York City Horror Film Festival, which was a really wonderful surprise! In October the film was released streaming On Demand in North America and we're starting to get a lot of reviews coming in, many of which have been very positive. A US DVD release is in the works as well and I'll know more specifics in the coming weeks. It's been a really great year on a lot of levels, and the most exciting thing has been watching the film pick up steam and get out there and get seen.

TL: What can you say about LovecraCked! The Movie? The trailer looks hilarious and totally crazy "Weapon-wielding psychopaths, evil temptresses, creatures from beyond, forces of the unknown, zombie sex... and a journalist without a clue."

Elias: "LovecraCked! The Movie" is a feature horror anthology that I put together with a bunch of other filmmakers, many of whom I'm still in touch with. It's a little bit of everything icky, sticky, silly and weird. Many of those guys continue to make great films. It was a fun time and a good way to break into the feature world.

TL: It does not surprise me to see Lloyd Kaufman have a finger in the pie. How did you meet this guy?

Elias: Lloyd's awesome and has been a great inspiration to many filmmakers starting out, myself included. I emailed him back in '05 or '06 and he agreed to play a cameo in LovecraCked. He was a blast to work with, great, very funny improviser and a total pro!

TL: Want to give us some clues about the future, any new projects ongoing?

Elias: Glad to! I co-produced a feature horror "Alone", which should be getting out there in the new year. My good friend and our assistant editor from "Gut", Rory Abel, directed it and our "Gut" leading lady Sarah Schoofs plays the supporting female lead in it as well. Some of her scenes are really gonna blow people's socks off I think, but that's all I can say right now. Recently finished another script called "Dark". It's a thriller about a woman trapped in her apartment during the big North American blackout of 2003. It's still in development at the moment, but another close friend, Nick Basile, will be directing that one. In terms of directing something myself next, I have a few ideas/scripts I'd like to do and it really all depends on what catches fire first. Right now I'm writing a horror comedy that takes an alternative view on one of the darker, but more popular horror sub genres of recent years.

TL: Thanks a lot for taking the time answering all the questions. I wish you all the luck and I hope we get the chance to see more of you in the future. Any last words to the readers of the blog?

Elias: My pleasure! If I have anything to say about it you will! Yes, thanks for watching independent horror films and keeping the genre interesting!

Links: Official Movie Site, IMDb

Abolition (2011)

 

Abolition - Mike Klassen (2011)

Joshua, a thoughtful and nice person who only wants everyone well get fired one day from his job as property attendant of a small apartment building. He trudges to an abandoned building where homeless junkies reside. After a fight about food, he wakes up and discovers that only he and his junkie friend are alive. He really have no idea what’s happening around him and he desperately heads off in agony and pass out outside a church, he wakes up at Matthews apartment who offers him shelter and work as property attendant. Something lurks in Joshua's past and soon, it occurs to him that he is the one who will decide the world's fate.

I like Andrew Roth's performance as the shy, thoughtfully and kindhearted Joshua, who slowly becomes aware of his call. I scream out loudly when Reggie Bannister who plays Matthew pop up on the screen, a well known name which featured in the legendary Phantasm series. Many of the actors are very experienced actor with many films behind them, so you would think it could have been a really good movie, but no. The movie feels a bit too slow-paced, and you have to wait too long for it to really kick off. It is a pity because the story is sometimes mysterious from time to time and you wonder what it really is all about. The film has a significant religious undertone about taking care of those who are good-hearted on earth and destroy the evil minded souls. It could have been pretty good, but with a very low budget, it is not all that easy.

Abolition is Mike Klassen's first feature film and is produced by a relatively new company called SKG Films with films like “48 Hours in Purgatory” and “Stripped!”. They also have two new films in the works for 2013 with Jason Armstrong that looks promising.

Skeleton Key Film, IMDb

Petter Baiestorf Part 2

”The Crazy World of Petter Baiestorf” Part 2

 

Arrombada (2007)

 

In this part two, I have taken a look at Arrombada. Even this time, Petter gave me the plot but the movie had English subtitles.

 

A State Judge senator who has been elected by popular vote twice (Coffin Souza) and his perverted friends, a priest (PC) and a doctor (Gurcius Gewdner) blackmails an arrested trafficker so he must take the freedom from a girl (Ljana Carrion) for their horny perverted sex games. They masturbate and rape the girl with cruelty several times. Only after delivering the girl, the dealer is weighing in and solve conscience go free her. At the same time the girl runs away from boring perverts the right eye of Judge (and shitting on his face) and to find the dealer sorry kills her thinking he was helping perverts. The girl still manages to kill the doctor, but then is re-captured by the priest and judge who kills and eat her flesh, leaving her in the middle of a road, in Brazil because "power is synonymous with impunity" and the double 's authority, ie, there is no law for authorities and powerful.

 

I must admit that I was a bit shocked after seeing this tale of weirdness. I had hard times to really grab my feelings for the content I just have seen. Arrombada is very brutal and disgusting, but also entertaining in a bizarre way. The movie stretches only about thirty-nine minutes but Petter has used every second in a remarkable way without bullshit and unnecessary babble. If you look behind the story and the content visually, you discover that the Arrombada has a clear message. This is definitely a political movie about the abuse of power among "Authorities and powerful people" and Petter wants to show this in his very own special and disgusting way. For me, the woman who is raped in the movie is a symbol of raping the citizens of a nation.

 

TL: Any comment? Can you describe your point of view of the story, what symbolize the State Judge, the Priest & the Doctor?

 

PB: When I wrote the "Arrombada" I was angry with a case involving a corrupt state judge here in Brazil who had embezzled millions of dollars of construction of a building of the judiciary. My initial idea was to shoot a feature film, but could not raise enough money to produce and had to choose to do it in the format of an average film. The State Judge of the film, which is played by actor underground Cult Coffin Souza with a mustache style Adolf Hitler (I hate Nazis and fascists), is also a senator elected by popular vote twice in history, it is the law and the political class in this story, drawing a parallel with the corrupt politics of my country, which is supported by the church (so the priest played by PC) and the Brazilian middle class professionals, represented by the figure of the doctor played by Gurcius Gewdner also editor of my films. In place of the doctor I could have put the military, which would crack the holy bastards here in Brazil, but I decided not to be so obvious and wanted to talk about supporting "civil" and not military corrupt politicians get here. It's a plot that the Brazilian public understands, "Arrombada" was released in Brazilian theaters and some had a public performance, but do not know if it is easy for Europeans to understand that here in Brazil's leaders, rich with people and studies in most cases, takes advantage of this "superiority" just to take advantage. And here in Brazil, and the people being screwed by political, military, religious and rich, also live hostages crime! I do not know if the European people know this, but here in Brazil we live an undeclared civil war with drug dealers organized criminal gangs who run the Brazilian favelas where the state does not get involved, so I added a "fourth power" in script "Arrombada" which is the figure of a drug dealer making alliances with the powerful. Everything could be solved with quality education, lower taxes (the tax burden of taxes here in Brazil is one of the highest in the world and this money is diverted, mostly by corrupt politicians) and jobs that pay a living wage, but, Brazilian politicians prefer the people living in complete darkness, ignorant and poor, fighting for soccer teams and praying in churches!

 

TL: What do you mean by Land of Impunity?

 

PB: Welcome to Brazil! Land where politician no goes to jail, where people fight over football, where children do not receive quality study, where artist (mostly filmmakers) dreams of living with money the state makes the law and outlaw! At this time the supreme court ordered some Brazilian political party of President Dilma by corruption, were to be in jail, but have not been arrested yet, Zé Dirceu, one sentenced to 10 years in prison spent this past weekend at the beach. Also right now a politician who was mayor of São Paulo called Paulo Maluf was ordered to return to public coffers more than $ 22 million and, until now, was not arrested! The state Judge that inspired the screenplay for "Arrombada" was arrested in 2009, but it was not for a prison, this law judge fulfills his sentence under house arrest, you know? Brazil is the land of opportunity ... of corrupt!

 

The movie is packed with loads of violence and obscure incidents like sexual abuses, cannibalism, necrophilia & beatings of defenseless women. Petter has taken everything to the limits in order to show his clearly distrust to politicians, to the religion and to people who have a respected work in high positions. I do not want to ruin all the fun for those who might get the chance to see this flick in the future, by telling everything that happens during these thirty-nine minutes of seriously provocative and humiliating fun. A thought I get is why anyone would like to be so extreme in its creation of such an important message?

 

PB: Yes, I agree Larsson, I should have addressed this issue in a more serious and less violent, but my school of filmmaking is Troma and Jesus Franco, ie, can not address these issues in a way that is not full of debauchery, sarcasm and absurd violence, so overreacted at all! I know that the film could have raised in a clear way that everyone wanted to discuss these issues here, but I'm not the director appropriate to make conventional films! I'm quite a fan of the films of Costa Gavras, for example, but I could not do films with the content of seriousness that Costa Gavras's films have. I have a bizarre sense of humor too, I did "Arrombada" thinking it would be seen as a comedy and gore I was surprised to see that the public was shocked when I launched the film. Here in Brazil the film was censored in many places, but still has a career and raised some interesting discussions. In fact, I consider myself a comedian, but I think the public does not see me with a comedian because comedy has become harmless. Unfortunately we do not have more political comedians like John Waters (70s), Monty Python, Buñuel or Pier Paolo Pasolini, the current comedy is harmless!

 

To mention one scene that got me laughing uncontrolled, yeah I must be sick. After the remorseful trafficker are killed by becoming impaled by a stick through the ass, the priest passes by and sees the possibility of a little extra pleasure and sit down on the stick for a ride. Haha,,,

 

TL: What do you have to say about this scene?

 

PB: This scene illustrates my sense of humor, I think that a scene can be even more absurd nonsense forever. Here in Brazil is large number of priests pedophiles (the Catholic church and pastors from other churches), mostly cases involving homosexuality, so it seemed natural to think that if a priest stalker find someone impaled on the stake he would sit down and have fun anal sex (laughs). Maybe my sense of humor is too bizarre, but I like to tackle serious issues in a more stupid!

 

Next part in this series will be Vadias Do Sexo Sangrendo.
 

 

 

Petter Baiestorf Part 1

”The Crazy World of Petter Baiestorf” Part 1

First I want to warn all readers because Petter's movies are definitely not for the "good taste mainstream" horror fans. His movies are very brutal and probably highly offensive for many viewers. Violence and sex are mixed in the most obscure way, so to all of you who are still with me, sit back and continue read ”The Crazy World of Petter Baiestorf”.

Tomas Larsson: Who is Petter Baiestorf? He is a fascinating, bizarre indie director from Brazil you should not miss in your life. This is a really odd director who in many ways shocks its viewers with both sex and gore in his own bizarre way. Titan Video will soon release some of his movies and that is awesome. DO NOT MISS THIS.

Petter Baiestorf: Thanks for the words! I try to be original (in my own way and within my extremely low budget), doing all kind of movie that can escape the commonplace (gore, sexploitations, experimental). Sometimes it works, so many times it's all wrong, hauahauaahauaahauaa

I would like to thank Petter for sending a bunch of copies of his movies and gave me the opportunity to enter into his crazy world of madness. The first film to go into the DVD is Blerghhh!!! and appears to be his first movie, but I put this question to Peter himself.

TL: Is Blerghhh!!! your first movie?

PB: "Blerghhh!!!" (1996) is not my first film. My first production called "Criaturas Hediondas" (released in 1993), then did "Criaturas Hediondas 2", "The Vegetable Monster from Space", "Detritos", "They Eat Your Flesh", "Caquinha Superstar a Go-Go" , "2000 Years for This?" and then "Blerghhh!!!".
"Blerghhh!!!" I have not launched here in Brazil on DVD (only VHS in the 90s), but I intend to subtitle it as soon as possible!

Blerghhh!!! (1996)

Because the movie is not subtitled, I leave over to Petter to describe the story.

Sid, Young addict (José Salles), and his bodyguard (Denise V.) are kidnapped by terrorists after buying drugs with your dealer (Petter Baiestorf). The terrorists are a group of young people who were inspired by terrorists who suffered from the 1964 military coup, as Cremado (David Camargo) and Rumba (Coffin Souza). Among the terrorist they fight for power between Rumba and Cruella (Madame X). Rumba takes the bodyguard of Sid and wants to make a snuff movie. Cruella and another terrorist (Marcos Braun) will ransom pro dad Sid and get nothing, then he decide to kill Sid (which is seen by a couple (Onésia Liotto and E.B. Toniolli) that needs to be killed as well), but Sid needs more and more drugs and come back as a zombie who wants more drugs to continue revived (re-animated). Rumba discovers later that if Sid is dismembered he will stop. At the end the sole survivors of the terrorist group kidnap someone new and still in their ideology and anti-military governments.

More or less this is "Blerghhh!!!".

Blerghhh!!! Is a 42-minute joyride into a madness of drugs, blood and tits. The opening of the movie is quite provocative with a baby getting shot because of its fucking screaming. Just one shot and they can continue taking their drugs in peace and quiet. It happens off screen so no baby goulash at this point. All this is done by atmospheric tones of a pan flute that quickly change after the shooting and becomes brutal Grind.

TL: In the opening of the movie you shoot a baby and I suppose that's very provocative in many ways. What has the reaction been around this? I believe most parents who have/had small children have at some time thought of the idea of throwing out their screaming baby out through the window, when the patience is tested to the extreme.

PB: When I launched the "Blerghhh!" here in Brazil, in 1996, the film was banned in almost all display channels. I made a distribution of this film independently, as I have done to date! I have no children and don’t intend to have, but I wanted a provocative opening in the film and the act of a junkie drug dealer killing a baby who cries seemed to me a good idea. I make small-budget exploitation movies, I need to make a difference and scene like that you will never see in common movies. I am an advocate of sex, but not violence, you know? I try to trivialize violence through exaggeration in my films because the human being is more and more violent and through my movies I criticize that! Now, I'm pre-producing the feature film "Zombio 2: Chimarrão Zombies," which is a movie about the undead (continuation of the first zombie movie made in Brazil, "Zombio", which I did in the 1990s. The Brazil has no tradition in film gore), where I explore all the evil of living. The zombies in the film are just an allegory, something that I’ll use to criticize the living and their greed, their weaknesses, etc., all wrapped with cynicism and sarcasm, my trademark!

The film has a comic undertone and I cannot help but laugh a bit of what´s going on between those wonderful tits that adorn the picture periodically. The movie is funny while the blood spurts across the screen and guts are dug out after the hunt for a bag of cocaine, which someone has swallowed. The flick feels a bit like Das Komabrutale Duell with Heiko Fipper from 1999, for no one seems to be able to die in the movie. They keep coming back even if you cut the head off or get a bullet through the head. Now Blerghhh!!! was done before Komabrutale Das Duell but I'm doubtful that Heiko found the inspiration through Blerghhh!!!, but who cares, both are crazy indie movies you must see. To put an end to this zombie like pain-in-the-ass character they cut him up in pieces and the movie ends, but not the story…

TL: The movie contains a lot of drug use; is this something that reflects the society in Brazil? Or is it just an important content of the story?

PB: In the movie "Blerghhh!" Drug use is intense because it reflects the Brazilian society. Here, we are experiencing an epidemic of crack cocaine, a whole generation turning zombie because of the drugs they use to escape the misery. Brazil does not invest in education and workers here are exploited by big businesses and industries. This generation of Brazilians are not just running away from reality with the use of drugs, but also escaping from reality through the religions. Here in Brazil you can open a church if you want. And there is a business involving religion and faith. Lack of education makes a people completely stupid, and because of this ignorance, we have sick people seeking healing in drugs or in religions! In the case of "Blerghhh!", The film also speaks about the Brazilian left (Communists) which is the same thing that's right, actually. In Brazil there was a violent military dictatorship in 1960 and 1970 and these military were supported by almost all Brazilian society, with a few focus of resistance left. "Blerghhh!" Talk about it, about the total lack of organization of the Brazilian left. Here in Brazil, much energy is left behind when the young leftists start consuming drugs! As a student of anarchist philosophy I think it’s regrettable!

 TL: I must admit that I am very fond of women's body, especially the boobs and you delivered that a few times. The woman who is chained to the ceiling is delicious. What are your personal thought behind such a scene?

PB: I love women, physically and intellectually. I think women are stronger than us men. And I’m a proponent of sex and nudity as artistic expression. In my films, I use sex as a way to break the Christian values of Brazilian society. Here in Brazil, if you walk naked in the streets you will be arrested for indecent exposure, but if you murder someone in the streets and if you be first offender (without having committed other crimes before the inept Brazilian justice), you can pay for this murder in freedom. Here, it is easier to be arrested for walking naked than to kill someone, you know? In the case of "Blerghhh!!!", I purposely created female characters stronger than men and nudity is part of their force! Women are powerful and I wanted to show it in the "Blerghhh!!!".

Definitely a fun, entertaining and totally insane movie in the land of independent obscurity. The next movie that I'm going to take look at is Arrombada, so keep your eyes open and watch out for part 2 in "The Crazy World of Petter Baiestorf".

Blodspår (2012)

Blodspår - Jon Martin (2012)

 

First I would like to say thanks to Kriss who provided me this screener.

Two girls are brutally murdered at a Thai Kickboxer gym by a psychopathic maniac with a knife. Born as Peter Zättlin is caught and locked up in a secure psychiatric institution for treatment. To the police fear and incomprehension, after three years of treatment he will be moved to an open institution instead. Peter escapes and immediately he stab his knife into a woman and disappears into the night. Meanwhile, a bunch of girls has gone to a cabin in the woods for a course and soon our brutal psychopathic killer will use them on his pile of corpses.

 

It is with a bit of expectation I “put on” the movie (and not my girlfriend, haha I´m not sure about my English here) because I have heard a lot about the movie and not exactly positive reflections. Those of you who have read my previous reviews know that I let the viewer decide if a movie is good or bad. Technically it's no Lord of the Rings exactly, but all who complains should that. This is a zero-budget slasher flick in our elongated Sweden set in the forest somewhere and nothing else. I see those crappy indie movies as an important part in my viewing and definitely not as a waste of time of my precious life on earth. If I have to complain about something, I would have appreciated a bit more blood and guts. There are quite many who get their final rest during Peter's rampage as the Great Butcher, but with sparsely bloodshed.

 

The story is basically non-existent, so it feels a bit like watching a porn video. The talk is relatively unimportant, instead you´re waiting for the next chick to be killed. Since most of the actors are young babes you sit waiting for any cheesy sleazy moment. The best event in the movie is when a photographer brings a young, huge busted and sexy woman (played by Sanna Rough) into a creepy abandoned house in the woods, to shoot some pictures. You sit and wait for the bitch to take off her shirt and show her Godly creations, and sure she does. My eyes nearly pop out and this wonderful moment make the movie worth buying, because the screener I received is of very low quality. The proper DVD release is said to have a much higher quality so it is just to wait.

 

This is a flick for us indie geeks and it should have a place in your DVD collection, among other Swedish low-budget productions like Svart Död that I saw for not so long ago.

 

Octopus 1 (2000)

Octopus
John Eyres (2000)

Submarine, I would never enter a submarine,,, what if something goes to hell and you sink deeper and deeper into the ocean until the hull crumpled up like a fucking beer bottle that gets run over by a big fat foot . A large part of the movie is of course set in a submarine in distress on the seabed, and if that was not bad enough, it lurks a hugely overgrown octopus, which is angry and hungry for human flesh.

”Above and below the water, there is no escape”

The movie starts with a Russian submarine with barrels containing something that is not good for Mother Nature being shot and sinks to the bottom. The barrels break and the shit inside starts to leak out in the ocean. Soon an evolution starts which results in an octopus grows to enormous proportions, talk about growth hormone. We move to the present day and witness a terrorist detonates a fairly powerful bomb at the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria that results in many dead and injured people. Fortunately, the terrorist is captured and with handcuffs they put him in a submarine for transporting him to U.S. for trial. Yeah, this should have been an easy trip but something dangerous is lurking in the depths of the cold dark ocean that makes this routine mission to become a nightmare.

Boaz Davidson is behind the story and seems to love when animals of all kinds run amok against the man because he has written numerous stories in the genre including Spiders (2000), Crocodile (2000), Rats (2003) and Larva (2005). Although this does not help it to become an interesting movie because, it is a fairly predictable story without any sudden fluctuations in the story. The entire story is based on trying to survive down at the bottom of the sneaking octopus and the wayward terrorist Casper (Ravil Isyanov: Arachnid) who tries to get free all the time. I do not understand why all the kind people have to die and those who truly deserve to die: Casper, who survives all the way to the end. Sorry if I ruined the end for you, but I think, let the terrorist die early in the movie and concentrate more on trying to get up the submarine instead. Let the big lovely octopus with its enormous flapping tentacles get more space to tear the crew into small pieces. Why not take a bite with the oversized fangs that adorn the mouth so very nice.

If you choose to see the movie or not does not matter because in my opinion the movie is rather dull with just a small entertainment value, thanks to the sexy octopus. Thumbs down for Dr. Lisa Finch (Carolyn Lowery) who wins the poker game in the beginning of the movie; this might have saved the movie a bit.

More Octopus mayhem in the next issue of Horrophobic. Do not dare miss it...

 

Zombie 108 (2012)

“After a catastrophic accident at a top secret research lab, a deadly virus is released into the city and all hell breaks loose.”

A SWAT team is sent in District 108 to evacuate the survivors, but ends up in gunfire with a local criminal gang who thinks that they are the targets of a round-up. During the shootout, they are attacked by zombies, and they decide to initiate a ceasefire and together combat the currently biggest threat, bloodthirsty attacking zombies. The entire district is overrun with hungry zombies who have only one desire, to eat human flesh.

When thinking of Asian horror, it's probably not Taiwan you think of first, but there are definitely a number of more or less known as The Heirloom (2005) and Invitation Only (2009). Zombie 108 is said to be the first of its kind from that island over there in Asia, this is exciting in many ways because it's always nice when it comes genre films from new makers from the so-called not so common countries in the world. Is this zombie mayhem unique? Not in all aspects, it is a combination of Western and Asian film history but it is definitely an exciting combination. What makes the movie in my opinion entertaining and puts a lovely touch to the it is when a woman and her young daughter are captured by a crazy malformed cripple. He has decorated his basement to a prison-torture like dungeon where he have imprisoned women in cages, which he rapes and performs medical experiments on. One of the coolest and bizarre event is when he injects a tied woman with the zombie virus, just to get the opportunity to fuck a zombie.

Otherwise, we also have two Westerners who get in trouble with the gangster gang and leaves behind tied as food for the approaching zombies. All this hilarious collection of individuals came together for a common band of lunatics who just want get out from the district now owned by the zombies.

This is not really a low-budget indie production, the effects are clearly good and zombies is either the slow or the fast one, a little bit in between but they are many as there usually is. The beginning of the movie is clearly delicious with some sexy Taiwanese dancing at the nightclub owned by the fat hyper stressed crime boss who also adds a bit of entertainment in the flick. Yet another film for us zombie lovers around the world and have English subbed and best of all, it can be purchased cheaply from Amason.uk.

Links: Facebook, Trailer, IMDb

Horrophobic #2 On sale now.

Horrophobic Fanzine #2 on sale now.

The new issue is now even better with full color throughout the magazine and in A4 with 36 pages. Full of bloody photos, reviews, interviews, etc.
I have two qualities of paper: 80g paper and a little thicker paper 100g. That's because if you want to save some money on the postage. Yeah, postage really sucks.

Price including postage:
Europe: 80g paper (8 EUR) or 100g paper (11 EUR)
Rest of the world: 80g paper $10 or 100g paper ($15)
Just trasfer the money to my PayPal account horrophobic@gmail.com and I send you a copy of my Horror zine.

För Svenska köpare så blir priset med 80g papper 51kr och för 100g papper 63kr. Om ni vill köpa ett ex. skicka mej ett mail till horrophobic@gmail.com

Best Regards
Tomas/Horrophobic

Contents in this bloody issue:

Slasher or not Slasher: Lets see if The Midnight Horror Collections ”Bloody Slashers” really are slashers or not. Is it possible to define what a true slasher is, it is a wide term in the world of horror.

VHS Corner: When The Mutilator hit the shelves in all video stores around the world in the eighties we were offered a straight forward slasher with outstanding FX from Mark Shostrom & Anthony Showe. I found this old VHS tape in a box and I could not resist seeing this flick once again.

Luigi Pastore Interview: With Symphony in Blood Red have Luigi Pastore created of what I want to call a modern giallo. A brutal story about a serial killer and his obsession for death and later this year it will hit the stores for an international release.

Alexandra Delli Colli: Many of us remember this gorgeous and sexy actress from Zombie Holocaust & New York Ripper. In this article I take a look from my perspective of her seductive acting in Fulci´s masterpiece New York Ripper. I love her.

Alex Wesley Interview: With Zombie Infection have Alex Wesley put Russia on the zombie infected map. It is a unique movie that has to be seen by all indie zombie lovers. In this exclusive interview he talks about his directorial approach and his movies.

German Splatter Frenzy Part 2: In this second part of my journey into the Gory madness of Germany I take a look at three more crazy directors: Maik Ude, Andreas Pape & Andreas Bethmann teach you how smash heads to goulash, to kill mutated zombie-creatures and how to cook a great meal out of your dick.

Killer Bees: I hate bees, yeah I really do. But, after seeing a bunch of killer bee movies I love them because now I know what you can use them for. Can they beat hungry Killer Crocodiles? It is up to you to judge. Feel free to read my thoughts about that topic.

Den Magiska Biodagen: Is there anything that can beat a good sex act? Hell yeah, what about two days of horror with same-minded-lost-souls. A fantastic event with movies & horror related stuff to dig deep into with pleasure.

Independent Madness: Independent reviews in its glory and lovely absurdity. We love it low budget, we love it gory, we love it sleazy, and we love it wild and crazy…

The Secrets of Die Zombiejager: In this Part 1 of 2 Jonas Wolcher, the man behind Sweden’s first zombie flick in the spirit of Troma speaks out about shooting his movie. It is not always easy, I can tell, but of course fun as Hell.

ATM (2012)

ATM – David Brooks (2012)

After a party when David (Brian Geraghty) offers to drive Emily (Alice Eve) home their annoying workmate Corey (Josh Peck) also want to follow. Corey is a real pain-in-the-ass for David who just want to drive home Emily as he just managed to get a date with. The three ends up at an ATM after Corey want to take out money for buying a pizza. This is such a machine that is inside a small building and to enter you need your bank card. It's just before midnight at Christmas time and its horrible cold outside. After they have get their money and will go back out to the car again they see a mysterious man who stands and stares at them, so they hesitant to go out. Soon, it pops up a man who is out with his dog and they witness the dog owner is brutally murdered by the mysterious man. This is the prelude to a horrific nightmare for the three friends. What is the mysterious man really looking for?

This is a quite good debut of David Brooks, who has brilliantly created a thriller that makes you sit on pins and needles in the couch. I find myself repeatedly sit and yell at the actors what they should do, stupid as they are. At one time they hear my suggestion and it turn out to be a fatal mistake, so I shut up for the rest of the movie. The entire drama takes place in and around this particular ATM machine and the three friends struggle to find a way out of this mess. With such a small location you really need the movie to move on with a clever, well-made script. David Brooks keeps the tension throughout the movie in an almost perfect manner with sudden twists in the three friends' attempts to find a way out of it. It is an ice cold thriller during a chilly night with madness and murder. There are a number of similar movies with a few people's struggle for survival on relatively small areas. Frozen by Adam Green where some people get stuck in a lift on a ski slope is a prime example of this.

The effects of the movie are pretty sparse but when they appear on the screen, they are frightening because of its brutality. It is not Santa Claus standing outside and is the lethal guardian of the night. In my opinion a very good movie that is exciting, tight and shot on a very small area with just a few actors.

Links: IMDb, Trailer

Svart Död (2012)

Svart Död - Daniel Lehmussaari (2012)

Daniel Lehmussaari is not exactly a debutant in the Indie movie camp, his first movie; I Vädurens Skugga came back in 2003. Since then, he have made three more flicks and a short. Now his fifth flick will be released really soon, and this is something as unique as a Swedish zombie movie and on top of that, it's a really charming low-budget indie flick that is not so common here in Sweden. Could be that the Swedes appreciate the film a little extra because it's damn funny and a bit odd to hear the actors speak Swedish. For those of you who only watch movies on top 100 on IMDb can stop reading now because this is, as I just mentioned, low-budget indie-zombie-flick-for-fans.

A professor with assistant and four students set out on a geological expedition a weekend to explore some minerals. By accident, they discover a mine entrance on the road and decide to investigate the mine instead. It's something they should not have done but for us who watch the film, it is an excellent decision, because there are hungry zombies inside and skulk. Thirty years ago, namely, five miners were buried after a cave-in and the bodies were never found.

The actors are real amateurs so it gets as it gets but it is a wonderful collection of geeks who runs around in the mine. One of the characters that I have fun at is Therese played by Evelina Nilsson, a really stupid blonde who really lives up to its name in every way haha. Then there is the professor who always is sympathetic and calm in most situations. In the beginning you might get a bit scared that only this gang will be food for the zombies, but it appears more idiots during the movie, which has different reasons to just visit this deadly mine.

The special effects are pretty good standard for a movie like this. I actually think the zombies are pretty cool and the blood looks thick and good. In a zombie movie, there's always a zombie slaughter so in this, including headshoots & headstomps. Even the zombies gets one or two meals, of number one on the list of zombie food, namely, living, fresh, raw and wiry human flesh. A scene that I laughed at was when our cave scientists end up at a small opening with a pool of water. After they admired the beauty of the pool for a while they go further into the mine, a zombie head pops out of the water, gosh so fucking terrible but funny.

Buy the movie when it hit the market for sponsoring the beautiful and crazy world of independent cinema.

Links: Trailer, IMDb, Facebook, Cruzical Film & Media