HOMOEROTIC HUMPDAY: DREAMMANIAC

DREAMANIAC
Wizard/Full Moon
1986 Color
82 Mins.
Horror
Thomas Bern, Ashlyn Gere, Bob Pelham, Brad Laughlin, Lauren Petersen and Sylvia Summers star.
Written by Helen Robinson
Directed by David DeCoteau

Sure to give Nightmare on elm st. 2 a run for it's money as the gayest horror movie of all time. The rarely seen Dreamaniac which features a poster that inspires you to think that it's going to be a female Freddy Krueger ripoff is in fact a softcore t&a horror flick at first glance. But when you stop even for a moment to think about it the homoerotic subtext is so abundant it becomes increasingly clear that the only exploitation going on here is of the male actors. The film centers on a young man who performs a ritual and ends up unleashing a succubus at a sorority party. The film begins with a nude young man walking slowly through a dimly lit hallway until finally coming upon a naked young woman taking a blood shower. It's of course a dream sequence as the effeminate Adam awakes horribly startled. His girlfriend (lol) soon arrives and tells him of the evenings plans. A sorority party if you can call it that with minimal paper decorations, a few bottles of liquor and like 7 people in which the boys out number the girls. The succubus makes her appearance and what follows is some of the most tragic, unintentionally funny sequences ever captured on film. Some examples include death by power cord while an white underwear clad young man slowly dances and touches himself, a young man that is stabbed while drinking out of a punch bowl in daisy dukes and touched up with some whipped cream and another guy killed while the succubus is giving him a blow job in a strange porn like angle. The guys are scantily clad throughout the movie while the girls remain mostly covered. It doesn't really matter what the film culminates to because it's a big hot mess. Although the main character Adam does like to slowly touch his chest and stomach and there's a scene where a girl who discovers her boyfriend cheating and throws up on the girl. Camp Gold. The film was of course directed by David Decoteau whose responsible for homoerotic treasures  like the brotherhood series, leeches and Voodoo Academy as well as some straight up hardcore gay porn films like New Wave Hustlers, Make it Huge, Totally Awesome, Fleshtone and Never Big enough. Dreamaniac's story line is messy and incoherent for the most part and the gore is cheap and silly. Full moon's transfer of this lost film is expectedly foggy with quick cuts and a messy soundtrack. So if your looking for a trashy, terrible film that only works because it doesn't work at all and features lots of scantily clad young men trying to be sexual while getting doused in fake blood than Dreamaniac stands way above the pack.A hidden, campy piece of cinematic coal from yesteryear. ***/5

I JUST HIT 2000 VIEWS TIME FOR A GIVEAWAY CHALLENGE!!!!!!

I JUST HIT 2000 VIEWS!!!!!

As a celebration I will be giving away one blu ray copy of It Follows to the first person who subscribes to my blog, shares the post, leaves a great comment and emails me at Rcavellero34@gmail.com with the exact dialogue that Hayden Panettiere's character Kirby says when the killer asks her the question about remakes in Scream 4. Good luck guys and keep on visiting for fresh updates on all things HORROR!!!!!!

Here's some cool horror gifs for you to enjoy!!!!

RETRO HORROR FIX: THE VAGRANT

THE VAGRANT
Canal
1992 Color
91 Mins.
Horror/Comedy
Bill Paxton and Michael Ironside star.
Written by Richard Jeffries
Directed by Chris Walas
Rated R for language, violence gore and sexuality.

I just discovered this camptastic little horror flick that was a little ahead of it's time. The film centers around a new yuppie home owner who moves into a quaint little house and discovers he has a mega creepy vagrant who lives to visit his newly purchased humble abode. His paranoia increases as things begin to move, people go missing and body parts begin to show up. This film is one of those oddball, very dark clever horror comedies that would be better accepted nowadays. In accordance with the nasty horror and dark humor the film offers a light social commentary on classes as well as an exploration on the anxiety of  buying your first place. Surprisingly the film moves along briskly and in truly unpredictable ways. It would have been easy to present the situation as something more accessible. But instead the film makers take a more challenging approach playing on audience expectations as well as their own fears taking the story far past where you think it would go. The culmination of events is shocking and innovative. Although with that build up it does leave a bit to be desired. And even though The Vagrant has a bit too much crammed into it's 91 minute run time which starts to make  the proceedings feel a bit stretched out. It's a surprisingly solid hidden gem. A film that's flown under the radar for me at least for most of my whole genre loving life. Definitely worth a visit if you haven't seen it! ***.5/5

HORRORESQUE: HARDCORE HENRY

HARDCORE HENRY
STX/H.Bros.
2016 Color 
90 Mins.
Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller
Sharlto Copley, Danila Kozlovsky, Haley Bennett and Tim Roth star.
Written by Ilya Naishuller and Will Stewart
Directed by Ilya Naishuller
Rated R for language, violence, gore, nudity and drug use.

I went into this film with the lowest of expectations. Despite a multitude of positive buzz the trailer left me feeling like the film would be gimmicky and loose it's luster after the first ten minutes. Well I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the hell out of Hardcore Henry. The film is a completely immersive first person experience. Similar to playing the most bad ass video game ever. The story is light but surprisingly involved. It centers around Henry who awakens to his wife and discovers he's been reborn with a whole bunch of strong robotic parts. He has no memory or voice and immediately finds himself on the run. He quickly learns to fight and runs into an array of charismatic one note characters who quickly ends up being dispatched in gory fashions. As he moves from one breath taking spectacle to the next he discovers clues along with new missions/destinations he must get to if he wants to survive and save his wife. It all culminates with an awe inspiring, goregasmic showdown of epic proportions. Watching the film is similar to playing a video game as you the audience are Henry. Like a video game some characters and story lines are rushed through but the experience is incredibly immersive to an almost  unbearable point. The acting is fittingly hammy and the first person execution from Ilya Naishuller is inspired. Now let's talk about the gore of which there is a spectacular amount. Not since Dead Alive has there been such a display of goretastic goodies which range from severed heads, hands being torn apart, hearts being torn out, faces being dragged against buildings, gouged eyeballs being used as weapons and lots and lots of meaty blood and so much more that I don't want to ruin. Not all of Hardcore Henry is perfect, the film suffers from having a too cheesy, over the top Luc Bessonish villain who has cool but overly ridiculous telekinetic powers and the female lead Haley Bennett, so good in "Kristy" leaves much too be desired here. Also the story feels like it should culminate to just a bit more but regardless there has never been a film like this and it is one hell of an awesome fucking experience. As a cohesive movie it may not hold up but as a wild fucking experience it pushes the bar for movie going up to an exponential level of cinematic craziness.
****/5

RETRO FRANCHISE KILLER REVIEW: CANDYMAN 3-DAY OF THE DEAD

CANDYMAN 3: DAY OF THE DEAD
Artisan
1999 Color
93 MIns.
Horror/Thriller
Tony Todd, Donna D'Errico, Jsu Garcia and Wade Williams star.
Written by Al Septien
Directed by Turi Meyer
Rated R for language, violence and gore.

Insipid, convoluted, unnecessary, ridiculous, unintentionally funny these are all terms used to describe this ultra terrible fake sequel to the Candyman franchise. Obviously intended for straight to video/dvd consumption in 1999. Day of the Dead makes Farewell to the Flesh looks Oscar winning. It all starts off with a young big breasted woman walking in her cotton white panties and a very small t shirt in an all white bathroom. There's a cheap jump out scare of laughable proportions with some truly loathsome acting to accompany it. Much of the film follows suit. The film centers on a young woman played by playmate? Donna D'Errico , a descendant of Candyman's bloodline, I think. She's supposedly a popular artist but her works looks of the cheap HS variety. She of course becomes entwined in the myth and people start to die all around her. The acting gets worse as the film goes along including a truly "Scary Movie" moment as her best friend is attacked by the title killer and a sex scene featuring one dimensional characters and a glue on swarm of bees. Tony Todd so good in the other films is awful here and seems hammy and bored. it doesn't help that the film is directed by a person with no talent and the screenplay displays a generic, silly culmination of events that goes nowhere but includes being kidnapped by an snm gang of Candyman worshippers, lol. And most offensive of all the effects are so beyond awful featuring but not limited to a 99 cents store Halloween chest plate filled with plastic bees. Considered to be one of the worst sequels of all time. Day of the Dead was dumped to a quiet DVD/Video release and justly so. Now more than 15 years later the film is barely remembered. My advice stop with the second so that the franchise retains some type of credibility. After having survived this entry it's ruined the overall effect for me. .5/5

RETRO FRANCHISE REVIEW: CANDYMAN-FAREWELL TO THE FLESH

CANDYMAN: FAREWELL TO THE FLESH
Polygram
1995 Color
93 Mins.
Horror/Thriller
Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, Timothy Carhart and Veronica Cartwright star.
Written by Rand Ravich and Clive Barker
Directed by Bill Condon
Rated R for language, violence, gore and sexuality

A young Bill Condon Academy Award Nominated Director of Dreamgirls began his theatrical film career with this visually stunning, entertaining but less effective sequel in the Candyman franchise. Although not nearly as powerful as the original, Candyman Farewell to the Flesh is a lot of fun. It picks up after the events of the original film in New Orleans where the descendants of the hooked madman find themselves in turmoil when their family is targeted. The movie centers around Annie played by a young Kelly Rowan of The OC, a struggling school teacher who begins to discover her sordid family history when her brother is wrongly accused of the madman's murders. Before she knows it there's a string of gory corpses and a plethora of dark family secrets rearing there ugly head. The performance from Todd doesn't have the disturbing presence it had in the original, that being said it is in some part due to the struggling screenplay that is filled with loads of hammy dialogue and jump scares. Kelly Rowan fares much better as Annie, she lends the character a formidable strength. The cinematography is rich and the direction from Bill Condon feels confident. All in all it extends the mythology in a mostly successful way but never fares to far away from it's desperation in becoming a profitable franchise. Sadly the film didn't fare well with critics or at the box office and left the door open for one of the most ridiculous, terrible franchise killers in the history of cinema. Still Farewell stands as an overly entertaining if slightly forgettable addition to genre cinema. ***.75/5

Box Office:

Opening Weekend-$6,046,825
Total Domestic-$13,940,383

RETRO FRANCHISE REVIEW: CANDYMAN

I remember going to see the original Candyman when it was first released in theaters. I remember that film ruining countless nights of sleep for me and causing much anxiety throughout my life. I remember thinking do I have to say his name 5 times in a mirror or does any reflective surface count? Do I have to say it externally or is just thinking it five times enough to merit a visit. Now at 36 y/o visiting this cinematic masterpiece I'm reminded of all that fun torment I went through. But now after having seen so many genre features in those 23 years I can appreciate not just how well the original film holds up but how complex and intelligent it is. The film isn't merely a standard issue slasher film. Instead it is an intriguing examination of social classes, urban legends and racism. That superior film was followed by a lighter, entertaining sequel in Farewell to the Flesh and an embarrassing straight to DVD mess subtitled Day of the Dead. Below you will find reviews for each film as well as box office stats, critical reception as well as a light foray into the lasting impact of the material, so read on if you dare! And whatever you do don't say his name five times...

CANDYMAN
Tri-Star
1992 Color
99 Mins.
Horror/Thriller
Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Kasi Lemmons, Vanessa Williams, Ted Raimi and Xander Berkeley star.
Written and Directed by Bernard Rose
Based on The Forbidden by Clive Barker
Rated R for language, violence, gore and nudity.

Well I can tell you Candyman holds up damn well. The film centers on a grad student Helen whose writing a thesis paper on urban Legends. While investigating she learns about the round the campfire tale of Candyman. Probing deeper she begins to unravel it's origins as well as how the tale exists as a symbol of the real life horrors of the community. After a tragic incident leaves her wounded she soon after discovers that the legend may in fact be a reality and is more terrifying than she ever thought possible.  Bernard Rose's now classic horror masterpiece resonates more today than ever. His poetic execution highlights the social inequality subtext and cleverly acts as an examination of the material. Besides just being an extremely intelligent film it delivers on gory thrills and most brilliantly of all a dreamlike atmosphere that's overly unique and horrifying. No film before and since than has captured the beautiful combination of theatrical horror, desperate romance and political subtext. And most of all the film is still terrifying due in great length to Rose's execution and his main boogeyman played by Tony Todd in a career making, iconic performance. Virginia Madsen is also stellar as Helen giving her depth and conviction. The films rich atmospheric cinematography and one of a kind haunting score make the proceedings that much more effective and memorable. Candyman is indeed a horror classic and a near perfect horror film. The film never received the attention it deserved and after the two disappointing sequels the impact of the franchise has lessened. That being said the original film still stands as one of the most intriguing and terrifying genre experiences to date! *****/5

Budget: $6,000,000

Box office:
Opening weekend-$5,404,320
Complete Domestic-$25,792,310

Release Date: 10/16/92

Awards:

Saturn Awards

Virginia Madsen, Best Actress

Best Horror Film

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival

Bernard Rose, Audience Award

Virginia Madsen, Best Actress

Phillip Glass, Best Music

Fangoria Chainsaw Awards

Virginia Madsen, Best Actress