"The Better Angels" Review - Written by Abraham Phillips

The Better Angels (2014)

Starring: Diane Kruger, Jason Clarke, Braydon Denney, Brit Marling, Wes Bentley, Cameron Mitchell William, McKenzie Blankenship, Ryan McFall, Madison Stiltner, Bruce Bayard, Venanne Cox,

Plot: The year is 1817, the state Indiana. Location a log cabin. The atmosphere the growing frontier.

Our main character the one and only childhood of Abraham Lincoln.

My Review and Thoughts:

What a truly wonderful, historical drama on one of the greatest men to ever live, Abraham Lincoln. This is a surprisingly awesome and utterly brilliant, black and white, biography on the young life of Lincoln growing up in the wilderness of Indiana. You get to experience this harsh way of life through a realistic setting that transcends off screen, as believable and reality based. Directed and written by A.J. Edwards, which I am shocked and amazed, that this is his first feature length film as director. He did a stunning and amazing job. He made you believe the story and crafted it in a way, that comes to life off screen and makes you feel, as if you’re a part of what is happening.

This has some amazing actors and actresses. The beautiful and stunning Diane Kruger who plays Sarah Lincoln. Diane is amazing and is one of those actresses that can truly own her part and give you a stunning realization of the character she is playing. I first got wind of her watching the wonderful, and sadly canceled television show, The Bridge. She aces the part of Sarah Lincoln. Also starring another amazing actor, Jason Clarke; he plays Tom Lincoln. Like always in his acting career, he is able to become the part and makes you feel as if you are there with the character. Simply put he makes the part come to life. The other stunningly beautiful lady of the film Brit Marling, is excellent as the role of Nancy Lincoln. She graces the part with genuine believability of her character. She seems effortless in the part.

Now I must speak highly on a gifted actor. This being his first role. His first acting experience. I was blown away by this extraordinary young man, playing Abe Lincoln. Braydon Denney is golden in this part and I cannot wait to see him act in more parts. I hope he has a long career in this field, because what I saw through this role, is something Hollywood sadly is lacking a lot of this day and age, and that is the very definition of actor. Braydon Denney aces this part and defines what great acting is about through emotion, moods, gestures and a complete owning of his character.

The whole cast is wonderful. The film feels, original and unique and places you there in the time period and makes you want to learn more about Lincoln. On a side note, my father named me after Abraham Lincoln and so his legacy and his truth has always been a part of my life. He was a man that needs to be remembered, and studied, and looked upon for every generation.

I think what ultimately needs to be said is how one the greatest directors in cinema history saw something in this picture, and presents it to the world. Terrence Malick who is one of the producer’s allowed this beautiful piece of Americana. An almost poem like history listen. It’s an art-house film of excellence in story, acting and direction. I think it’s a film that needs to be seen and experienced in all its vivid artistic atmosphere. I think the best way to describe this film is like a beautiful black and white picture come to life. A.J. Edwards, has been a protégé of Master Terrence Malick and that mastery has rubbed off onto A.J. Edwards. Edwards not only brings the beauty of silence, and lightening, but also uses his own unique stamp upon the film-making world.

To sum the movie up, it’s emotionally draining and very intense in an artistic setting. I think what really makes this film stand out, is the lighting, the moods, the darkness, the brilliantly massive and stunning camera work. It’s an interesting experience that the viewer steps into, an almost dream like state of history.

I highly recommend this for its unique and fresh take on a part of history. I recommend it for its artistic atmosphere. I massively recommend it for its unique camera work. It has very little dialogue, but that is also the brilliance of it. The way the film comes together, you don’t need a lot of dialogue. It’s filmed in a documentary style that is a historical value in the understanding of history.

Researching some of the back story of the growth of the film is amazing. Six years A.J. Edwards has but into this. Researching and studying alongside historians just adds to the truthful brilliance of the film. To me some of the hardest acting in the world, is when dialogue, is but a small factor in a film.The moods, emotional makeup, and structure of a character has to be acted out for the viewer to understand, believe and grasp. You have to control the viewer. The actors along with A.J. Edwards’s unique approach, through his artistic, poem style of filming, comes off as something new. Something the film world needs, is new. A.J. Edwards is that new.

Review by Abraham Phillips

My Rating: 4/5

You can buy this on DVD, put out by Anchor Bay Entertainment. There is an 8 page insert booklet. The DVD comes with option of English subtitles for the hearing impaired plus an option of Spanish Subtitles. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1. Aspect ratio Widescreen 2.40:1 Runtime is 95 minutes. Rated PG Black and White.

Horrorpalooza 2014: "Play Hooky": DVD Review - Written by Anthony T

“Play Hooky” is the first film under the new Pollygrind Presents label which is being distributed by Wild Eye Releasing. It grabbed my interested, because I was interested in seeing what this new label had to offer.

The film follows five high school students who skip school to party. They come across an abandon hospital and break into it. The place is known for many strange occurrences in its history. Their day of partying will soon turn into a fight for survival as someone or something has its sights on them. Can they find a way out of this notorious hospital before it’s too late?

I was surprised that I enjoyed “Play Hooky” considering the fact that I didn’t know what to expect from this film. One of the reasons that I enjoyed this film was its direction. Co-writer/director Frank G Petrilli does a very good job in the way that he approaches his direction and the filming of this. This film felt like something that I’ve haven’t seen before. Most of it was the way that he had “Play Hooky” filmed. Instead of using traditional means to capture the images, Petrilli along with his director of photography used a flip camera to capture everything. Normally would be trashing his methods for using a flip camera because it looks home made, but it’s perfect for a film like this to capture the found footage feel. It added something that you don’t see in other found footage films. The other thing that I liked about it was the fact that Petrilli does a good job directing his cast. He makes sure that the performances weren’t annoying or overacted. It helped especially with the first half of the film, as you’re getting to know these characters and not being turned off by them. It’s something that’s needed to keep your interest in a found footage film.

The screenplay written by Petrilli, Jason Chester and Vincent Kulish was good. What made me interested in the screenplay was it allowed you to get to know the characters. It got me interested with the story throughout the film. If there was one problem that I had with it, the fact that it spends a little too much time on them. I would’ve liked a little more horror action especially in the middle part of the film. Once it got to that part, it became a different film for the better. The other thing that I liked about their screenplay was the way the twist work. I was going into this film thinking it was going to be the typical found footage film that dealt with something paranormal but it turns into something different. It made it a more enjoyable for me, as this was something that I wasn’t expecting.

The first extra on the disc is the audio commentary track featuring co-writer/director Frank G Petrilli, Co-writer/actor Jason Chester, co–writer/actor Vincent Kulish, Actress Kim Kleemichen, Editor Peter Jay Gould and Pollygrind Film Festival founder Chad Clinton Freeman. This was a good track, as they do a good job talking about the film and the stories about its production and cast. It worth listening too for fans of the film.

Next, the disc has three bonus scenes that features three faux interviews with three of the film’s minor characters. This fits in very well as an epilogue to this film. After that, the disc wraps up with an introduction from Pollygrind Film Festival founder Chad Clinton Freeman, Two Short films, “The Bet” and “Kuriosity Kills”. Both of which you should check out if you have this disc and trailers for “Play Hooky” and other Wild Eye Releasing releases.

“Play Hooky” is one of those films that’s able keep your interest through its characters and its storytelling. Check this film out, if you’re a fan of found footage films.

Review Rating: Three and a Half Stars

Extras: Four Stars

"The Perfect House" DVD Review - Written by Anthony T

When I came across the trailer for “The Perfect House”, I immediately liked the trailer as it look very frightening and something that I would be interested in watching. Still, I had the thought that the trailer made the film look like a “Hostel” rip off. I decided to review this film on the site because I thought everything else in the trailer looked very well and there was positive press on it.

The film is about a young couple who moves into their dream house. The only problem is the house has a very dark past, as there have been three generations of families that met their demise at this house. Soon, the couple must to save their lives before they become of the house’s doomed history. The film stars Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), John Philbin (Children of the Corn, Return of the Living Dead), Johnathan Tiersten (Sleepaway Camp), and Monique Parent.

Going into this film, I thought that this was going to this going to be more of a straight forward horror film, but I was surprised that this played more like an anthology film. Still, I enjoyed this film. “The Perfect House” might be the most bloodiest and gruesome film that I’ve had a chance to review in a while.

One of the reasons I liked this film, its direction. Both Kris Hulbert and Randy Kent did a good job with their direction. One of the things that makes the direction good was the fact they made sure some of the film’s scenes were horrific and downright shocking to watch. There were a couple of scenes where I had to cover my eyes. That’s a credit to the way they handled the gore effects. The other thing that makes this good was the way that they handled the performances. The directors do a good job making sure that their cast put in effort into their roles. There were some very good performances here including Johnathan Tiersten and Holly Green in the film’s second segment Chic-ken and Monique Parent as the sexy real estate agent in the film’s wraparound segment. The performances and the direction helped made the film worth my time.

The screenplay written by co-director Kris Hubert was very twisted. What I liked about it was that all of the stories had a twisted and demented feel to them. He does a very good job spending time to make all of the stories including the film’s wraparound segment entertaining. It didn’t feel repetitive and it made me enjoy this film a lot more as every story felt different. This is one of the things that’s needed for an anthology film to work. The other thing that he does very well is make the tone of film feel very demented. Hubert does that well by creating violent scenes in his screenplay process and making sure that they had a shocking tone to them. It made for some very bloody and twisted moments that made me shocked at what I saw.

There are a lot of extras on this disc. First, it’s the film’s behind the scenes featurette. It’s divided into five chapters “Meet the Crew 1 &2”, “Meet Monique Parent” “Meet John Philbin” and “Meet Chris Rabb”. I thought, they were all too short in length and the interviews were too brief. It would’ve worked better a regular featurette with more time to the interviews instead of five short segments. Next on the disc is “The Creation of “The Perfect House RV”. It’s pretty much a boring featurette that wasn’t interesting. After that, is “On the Road” This featurette goes into how the publicity was created for the film’s road tour and Facebook release. It’s an interesting look at the publicity side on an indie film. It’s something that you don’t see in DVD releases, as it gives you another side of the industry. There’s a lot more features after that including “Basement Walkthough”, “Buffalo Facebook Countdown to the Premiere, “Buffalo: TV Press”, Original Spec Trailer, Audience Trailer Q &A Highlight Reel and Alternate Ending.

If you’re fan of bloody and demented horror films, this film will definitely fit well in your DVD collection. “The Perfect House” is a very twisted and gory horror film that will shock you in many ways.

Review Rating: Four Stars.

Extras: Two and a Half Stars

"Blood Soaked" DVD Review - Written by Anthony T

“Blood Soaked” follows a freshman coed (Heather Wilde) on her first day of college. She begins to fall in love with an older female student (Rachel Corona). The two women are enjoying their time together before they come across a couple of homicidal sisters. They discover the sisters plan to raise the dead and start the rise of the Fourth Reich. The couple must find a way to outrun the sisters before they become part of their twisted plan. I was kind of surprised that “Blood Soaked” was worth my time considering that I felt audio track seemed to a have a low pitch with the dialogue. When something goes wrong like that, it usually becoming distracting for me to the point that it usually hurts my enjoyment. But surprisingly it didn’t hurt it as much as I was into this film and enjoying it.

One of the main reasons for that was the direction. Writer/director Peter Grendel’s direction was very good. He does a very good job making sure that the film keeps moving at a good pace. It made some of the scenes work so well including the second half of the film. It got me interested with what was taking place in the film. The other thing I liked a lot was the way that Grendel transitions from color to black and white. It helps give the film its dark and horrific tone, which is needed for the film like this to work. The transition also helps what’s whatever horrific violence that’s put on onscreen feel horrifying as it becomes a very gory film in the second half.

Also, I enjoyed the acting here. Grendel does a very good job making sure that each of his cast brought some personality to their characters. It helped made the characters interesting and entertaining. He also a good job making sure his main cast developed chemistry and played off one another. It helped made scenes work very well, as I was into the film’s action and characters. Grendel’s screenplay was good. One of the things that makes it work so well was the fact that he does a good job developing his characters. He spends time developing these characters considering the film’s short running time. It helps made the characters either interesting or frightening to watch. The other thing that he does well with the screenplay was to keep you on edge. Whether it’s the gory violence or the film’s twist midway through, it does a good job providing some shock value to give the film’s story its grindhouse feel.

The DVD boasts a good amount of extras. First, there are three tracks on the disc. The first track on the disc is the filmmakers’ commentary on the film. The track features writer/director Peter Grendel and editor/director of photography Tyler King. It was a nice and entertaining track. The filmmakers did a very good job talking about the production of the film and the stories that happened on set. It made the track interesting to listen. The next track is the cast commentary featuring the film’s stars Heather Wilder and Laina Cathryn Grendle. This was also a fun and entertaining track. The two actresses share stories from their time on the set of the film while also providing some funny moments as they recall the film’s shoot. After that the tracks wrap up with the audience track from its screening at Pollygrind 2013.

The next featurette is the short film “This Side of Nightmare”, which “Blood Soaked” is inspired on. It’s different from the feature film, as its plays more like an abduction/serial killer film than a Nazi zombie film. I thought it was pretty good film and worth checking out after watching the feature film. Next on the DVD was the cast introduction of the film with stars Heather Wilder and Laina Cathryn Grendle. After that its “Two Drunk Girls vs The Introduction”. The featurette is a bunch of fun outtakes from the DVD introduction. If you liked their commentary track then you’ll like this. The disc then wraps up with original trailer for the film and trailers for other releases from Wild Eye Releasing.

Overall, this is a very good release from Wild Eye Releasing. Considering my minor grip with the film’s audio track, I still suggest you should check the film out as I had a blast with this film. With its good direction and solid acting, “Blood Soaked” is a must for B-movie horror and grindhouse fans to check out.

Review Rating: Four Stars

Extras: Four Stars

"Invasion of the Scream Queens" DVD Review - Written by Anthony T

When I first heard that “Invasion of the Scream Queens”, I was very interested in seeing it because of some of the talent are in the film like Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Elizabeth Kaitan, and Mary Woronov. The other thing that drew me into this was the fact that was a nostalgic documentary on eighties b-movies, which I’ve been interested in for a couple of years now.

The film was recently released on DVD for the first time after its debut on VHS on 1992. “Invasion of the Scream Queens” in a documentary that goes into what it takes to being a scream queen. From stories of how each actress became a scream queen to the pit falls of the business, everything is talked about in this documentary. The film features interview from Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Elizabeth Kaitan, Mary Woronov, and David Decoteau.

I was hoping to really love “Invasion of the Scream Queens”, considering I like watching documentaries about this genre plus it had scream queens. Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this as much as I would’ve liked to, considering that I liked some of these actresses is this documentary.

What I liked about this film was that does a good job in covering all of these actresses’ careers. Farmer does a very good job with the way that they were interviewed. The interviews covers everything from stories of the various films that they were apart of and focus on topics about directors, nudity and business side of filmmaking. It was a nice look at each of the subject.

But this film is hampered by two things. First, the pacing of this film was awful. The reason for that was the way the film moved at a slow pace. It felt that way to me, because all of the interviews felt like little short films where the actresses will talk for a couple of minutes then you don’t see them again. It made the film drag, as it would’ve been nice if that the filmmakers focused on one topic at a time then having mini short films about each actress. Some of them felt like it went too long than it should’ve. If some of these were edited, it would’ve made the film move along. The other problem that this film is fact that some of big actresses from the era weren’t in the film. I have no problem with having some of the actresses that you haven’t heard of in the documentary. When you start noticing some big names during that time like Linnea Quigley, Lynn Lowry and Jewel Shepard to name a few not participating in this documentary. This really hurts the whole thing in a way, as there were too many unknown actresses than the big ones from that era.

Another thing in this film that might hurt your enjoyment, the grainy picture and audio. It felt like it was taken off a VHS tape, as this is the first time this film has appeared on DVD. This didn’t hurt my viewing experience but may hurt someone else that not’s familiar with the VHS days of cinema.

First thing on the DVD was a 2013 interview with the film’s director. This 67 minute featurette talks about the film and his career. The problems that I had with it was the fact he’s being interviewed at a convention and some of this could’ve been edited as it felt I was watching outtakes after the first hour. It would’ve made this a better segment. After that, there was forty-seven minutes of deleted scenes, a behind the scenes photo gallery and wraps up an excerpt from the out of print book “Invasions of the Scream Queens” book featuring Linnea Quigley.

I was surprised that I didn’t enjoy this film as much as I should’ve. I wished “Invasion of the Scream Queens” moved quicker and had more known b movie actresses during that period.

Review Rating: Two Star

Extras: Two Stars

"Scavenger Killers" DVD Review - Written by Abraham Phillips

Scavenger Killers (2013)

Starring: Eric Roberts, Robert Loggia, Robert Bogue, Charles Durning, Dustin Diamond

Plot: 'Bonnie and Clyde' are reinvented in SCAVENGER KILLERS, where a charming judge and a hot criminal defense attorney go on a maniacal, random killing rampage. With bizarre, yet somehow believable, FBI agents on the hunt, the deranged duo amp up their rampage, never murdering with the same method but always with same untamed ferocity.

My Review and Thoughts:

To start with I really had a super hard time writing this review and most of all getting through the movie. Usually I can pop a review out easily but this one was a pain because it’s truly a film that only a few will enjoy or take to its odd silly premise. It tried too hard and because of that it failed miserable. As you can see I am not a fan of this film.

Well this is clearly a gory low-budget B-movie. Wild over the top violence and bloody mayhem. A simple wild twisted over the top horror film. This is not for everyone. It's geared toward the lover of low budget drive-in fodder. Simple, silly and outrageously dorky with bad acting and a trippy horror induced reality.

A Law Judge and a Defense Attorney are sadistic crazy sex grazed and deviant serial killers. Add in a psychic who can see a person’s thoughts by touching there boobs and all the make-up, buckets of blood and you have this crazy piece of cinema.

Its Baywatch meets Roger Corman.

The cast is wild. You have tons of character actors and b-movie stables such as Eric Roberts, the legendary Robert Loggia and legendary Charles Durning and my god Screech from Saved by the Bell.

This is either ridiculously good in the low-budget Roger Corman type setting or it's ridiculously horrible. I guess it's all up to the viewer and what they think of this movie. I for one laughed at times yet was massively bored. The acting is horrendous. The plot is all over the place. The gore is just for shock value. The movie is what it is, a b-movie that some will like and some will loath. I feel the loathing will out way the liking.

So the judge and his woman basically go on a rampage killing for the fun of it, causing massive slaughter and bloodshed in all the gory wonderful ways of a twisted horror style film of pure carnage. This is not about great acting, or interesting plot or even direction, what it's about is nothing more than bloodshed and that’s where it's geared toward the fan of these style of films.

The audio and video are fine. You can hear crystal-clear and the imagery is colorful and beautiful, so there's nothing wrong in the department of audio or video.

I think the extras are actually better than the film.

Behind the (CRAZY) Scenes,

How to get killed in a really gory horror movie,

Hoboken International Film Festival

World Premiere,

Trailers

If you're into really bad acting, tons of senseless gore, don't get me wrong I love gory movies, but like I say, this was done poorly in the acting and direction and plot. Throwing buckets of blood and brains and killing and stuff like that into the mix to better your picture; well it fails horribly in this case.

I'm sure there are fans out there that will enjoy this film. I for one laughed a little bit but it got old, boring and senseless and I just wanted it to end.

Reviewed by: Abraham Phillips

Review Rating: 1 out of 5

"Antisocial" DVD Review - Written by Anthony T

“Antisocial” is a film that I first heard about during last year’s Fantasia Film Festival. The stills and plot caught my interest immediately. So when it came time to review this film, I was excited about this film but I was still cautious as there’ve been films that I’ve been excited for in the past and turned out to be a dud. 

The film follows five college students who are throwing a New Year’s Eve party. Unknown to them, there is chaos running in the streets. An epidemic has erupted outside, as people are being turned into monstrous killers. Trapped in the apartment, they barricade themselves in the house with their phones, laptops and other devices. Soon they discover what’s causing all of this and realize that there isn’t a safe place from this chaos and infection.

Once in a while, I sometimes come across a low budget horror film that captures your attention and interest for its complete running time. “Antisocial” does this very well, as this is one of the most interesting and intense biological horror films that I’ve seen in a while.

One of the reasons for this is Cody Calahan’s direction. His direction was very good from start to finish. What makes it very good was the way that Calahan approaches his film. This film had an intense and dark feel from start to finish. From the way that the scares worked to how the action was executed, everything had an intense feel to it. It helped make the film entertaining and not a boring horror virus film. The other that I liked about the direction was the way Calahan directs the performances. He makes sure that the performances had a dark tone, while making their characters interesting. The performances added to the tension of the film and made it enjoyable in the process.

The screenplay written by Calahan and Chad Archibald was well executed. One of things that makes this screenplay good was the fact that the concept work so well. I know that the story had a “Pulse” vibe to it, but this felt original. I feel this way, because I haven’t seen a biological virus film that deals with the way that the entity is distributed through social media. It made the story have its original feel to it. The other thing that I liked about the screenplay was the fact that it was scary and dark from start to finish. The writers did a very good job with the way that they kept the action moving. It felt scary and downright intense. That’s what separates good horror films from great ones like this film. It’s nonstop intense action from start to finish.

The DVD extras start off with the film’s commentary track featuring director/writer Cody Calahan and director of photography Jeff Maher. This a very good track, as it goes into the production of the film and how some of the effects were created. It made this commentary interesting and provide an in depth look into the making of the film.

After the commentary track, there’s a behind the scenes featurette of the film. The featurette features interviews from the cast and crew that worked on the film. The featurette does a very good job going into the how the concept came about and how the cast and crew approached some of the film’s scenes. It’s worth checking out. The disc then wraps with the film’s trailer, trailers from other Breaking Glass Pictures releases and photo gallery.

I truly hope horror fans seek this film out, as this was a great film filled with scares from start to finish. “Antisocial” is one scary film that will make afraid of social media.

Review Rating: Five Stars 

DVD Extras: Three Stars