August Underground: Mordum

August Underground: Penance

Bad Taste

Big Bad Wolf

Braindead

Dagon

Dead Pit, The

Dead Scared aka The Hazing

Dellamorte Dellamore

End of the Line

Evil Aliens

Faust: Love of the Damned

Feast

Feast 2: Sloppy Seconds

Feast 3: The Happy Finish

From Beyond

Gravedancers

Gutterballs

Happy Hell Night

Hatchet

Head of the Family

Humanoids from the Deep

Meatball Machine

Monster Man

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

Premutos

Redsin Tower, The

Rumpelstiltskin

Scarecrow

Sideshow

Street Trash

Peter Jackson's first feature film which took him over 4 years to complete on a shoe string budget.

A colony of inter galactic aliens have invaded earth and disuised themselves as humans. Their goal is to add an exotic new meat to their menu...human flesh. The aliens are lead by Lord Crumb who intends to harvest as much meat as possible but the humans are striking back with a force more fearsome then any army...The Boys have been called.

It's now up to a small force of vigilantes to thwart Lord Crumb and his dasterdly schemes for galactic fast food supremecy with as many weapons and brain splatters as subhumanly possibly!

Bad Taste is the king of low budget horror films. You can see the effort and desire Peter Jackson had at a young age and why he went on to become so successful.

Werewolves in horror films should be an instant hit but for some reason I can think of very few which are any good. It may be due to the fact that the horror scene was treated to the classic 'An American Werewolf in London' back in 1981 and every film of it's ilk is now unfairly compared to it.

If you put that to one side then you will most likely enjoy Big Bad Wolf as it is probably one of the better efforts in a long time. The wolf himself is pretty sinister and can actually talk and uses this to taunt his victims before despatching them.

The film doesn't try to be too clever and sticks to some basic principles which makes it easy to watch. There is a streak of dark humour throughout the film but nothing over the top which would of turned it into a mockery.

My only criticism would be that most of the action happens at the start and end of the movie with very little going on in the middle.

Even after Peter Jackson directed the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, many remained steadfast and claimed Braindead was still his finest piece of work.

A very rare rat monkey is shipped to New Zealand from Sumatra much to the local inhabitants dismay. Lionel and his domineering mother soon find out why the locals fear the creature so as his mother is bitten at the local zoo. A blossoming relationship between Lionel and Paquita is soon halted as Lionel's mother dies...and then comes back as an outraged zombie.

Soon, a string of zombified community members are locked in Lionel's basement in hilarious circumstances until his greedy Uncle Les blackmails him and unwittingly releases the zombies on a house full of party guests where the blood flies and the zombies rampage!

Magnificent film that all horror fans should see, one of my personal favourites. May also be known as 'Dead Alive' in some countries.

No film had been banned in more countries as Cannibal Holocaust. This is the original video nasty and even the hardcore among you will find some of the scenes difficult to watch.

Four documentary film makers go missing in the jungles of South America. Their mission was to capture the habits of cannibal tribes that still reside there but they never returned. An Anthorpologist visits the same location to discover their fate only to come across a gory totem comprised of human remains and film canisters.

The film is shipped back to New York where the Anthropologist attempts to convince the TV stations not to air the footage. They remain convinced the public will want to see what happened...until they view the documentary themselves and witness just what happened to the 4 young film makers in a land of cannibals.

If you want to see a shocking piece of film and have a strong constitution then try and pick up an uncut version of Cannibal Holocaust which should run around 95 minutes.

Usually if you mention Stuart Gordon then you will instantly think of Reanimator.

What you may not of heard about is this little gem he directed in 2001 based upon a short story by H.P Lovecraft. If you have read any of Lovecraft's work then you may be familiar with the story or at least his style.

A freak boating accident forces a young couple onto the mainland to seek aid in a small Spanish coastal village. This all seems straight forward enough but the village inhabitants are a little...unusual.

It is not long before the village turns hostile and the couple discover a cult runs the village who worship an ancient sea god known as Dagon. The villagers are transforming slowly into disgusting sea creatures and they need a sacrifice for their god...

This is a great little film which will keep you immersed and wondering why it took you so long to watch it.

Not a bad little zombie film this one, quite cheesy and you have to stick with it to get the most out of it.

A young woman suffering from amnesia is admitted to a state hospital for the mentally ill. The occupants are unaware that the hospital was once used by the sinister Dr Ramzi to conduct a number of grisly experiments in the basement.

When an earthquake strikes the facility, Dr Ramzi is awakened and begins to wreak havoc. His ultimate goal is to carry on his work and finish what he began when alive. The young woman finds help in another inmate to fight against the Doctor and his experiments but as the truth is close to revealing itself...so are her forgotten memories.

Good fun to watch and well done for a low budget flick.

A nice little B-movie here which was most enjoyable starring the excellent Tiffany Shepis who is destined for great things.

Five fraternity members are charged with stealing a bunch of random junk on halloween as the first part of their initiation before spending a night in a haunted house. The scavenger hunt doesn't go to plan though as one of the items they must steal is an old spell book which leads to the untimely death of it's owner, Professor Kapps.

As the night grows older the fraternity members realize that the professor is not quite dead as he takes possession of one of the students and attempts to open a dimensional gate.

Cool film with some iconic actors and actresses in it and is well worth a place in your DVD collection.

Quite an artsy Italian film which has gone under numerous titles including 'Cemetary Man' (US) and 'Of Death, Of Love' (UK).

A gravedigger and his sidekick are having problems keeping the local cemetary's inhabitants under control as they have a tendency to pop back up from the ground for no apparent reason.

Our hero, Dellamorte, meets a mysterious woman in the cemetary one day and they appear to fall in love instantly after he shows her the graveyard's ossuary. As they copulate their newfound love though, the woman's recently deceased husbands crawls from the ground and infects her with a bite.

Dellamorte must now dispose of his new love like all the other zombies. Unfortunately Dellamorte begins to have serious problems telling the living and the dead apart and goes on a headshot rampage.

Really good classic zombie film here with a twist, if you like your zombies to shuffle instead of run then this is for you.

I love it when I come across a film I have never heard of before and genuinely enjoy it.

A young psychiatrist nurse has a disturbing vision on the subway train home one night. The vision is more of a portent as the next night the subway train breaks down in the middle of a tunnel. A handful of passengers soon learn that they must battle for their lives as a sadistic religious cult roam the tunnels.

With rumours of armageddon pending on the surface, the survivors fight desperately against supernatural and cult adversaries to avoid doom. The tunnels and subways could be their only escape...or it could be their tomb.

Surprisingly good survival horror film which is quite brutal at times.

It's hard to find a British splatter movie but that is exactly what Evil Aliens is.

The plot is fairly simple, a small team from a UFO TV channel need to boost their ratings so they travel to a Welsh farm to investigate an Alien pregnancy claim. Their phony attempts to exploit the situation turns into a battle for survival as they realize the sightings are fact and not fiction...and the Aliens aren't friendly.

Shotguns, chainsaws and even a combine harvester are used by the crew in order to survive.

If you are looking for a good old fashioned gore movie or are bored with zombies then give Evil Aliens a try.

This comic-book-esque film adaptation deserves a lot more credit for it's efforts and is an enjoyable ride.

An artist, who's wife has been murdered, attempts to commit suicide only to be stopped by the mysterious 'M'. The stranger offers the man a deal...gain revenge on his wife's murderers by becoming Faust - a demonic alter-ego.

Soon after, Faust realizes 'M' is plotting on opening a gateway to Hell which will doom all of humanity. Thus begins a war between the 2 rivals as the devil-like Faust attempts to stop the devil himself.

If you like your comic book adpatations with a bit more bite then check out Faust.

If you like survival horror films then Feast will be right up your street, it's quirky, gory and has lots of ravenous creatures trying to eat humans.

A injured man stumbles into a remote bar one night and warns them that something is chasing him. Before he can reveal anymore he is captured by the very creatures he was running from and eaten. The shocked patrons must now defend the small bar with their lives as a clan of primative creatures seek their flesh.

As the human numbers dwindle they begin to realize the creatures are not only after their flesh...they need to breed...and they do so at an alarming rate with anything that dares to move!

Cool film which spawned 2 sequels which I have also reviewed in this section.

Feast 2 picks up from where the first film left of as the survivors of the bar travel cross country trying to fiind a safe haven.

As the survivors of the bar make their escape, they wander into a small neighbourhood where the residents are having a hard time trying to survive themselves. It seems the survivors have stumbled out of the proverbial frying pan and into the awaiting fire.

The creatures are far more plentiful here and are running amok on the town's citizens. The bar survivors join forces with another group of locals who have thus far evaded death which include 2 midget Mexican wrestlers and a gang of biker chicks. They find themselves trapped on the roof of an abandoned building and the creatures are waiting down below...

Maybe not as smooth as the first film but still a good watch if you enjoyed the previous release.

Part 3 of the Feast triolgy carries on right after the second finished in a seamless storyline.

Our alliance of bar surviviors and town locals are now desperately on the run after a botched attempt to escape from the rooftops. Just as it seems like the creatures will slaughter them, they are rescued by a bizarre prophet who appears to have the ability to control the beasts.

A few more unlikely survivors join the ever decresing group as they flee through the sewars. Unfortunately they learn there is a 'Hive' nearby and the humans must decide whether to destroy the creatures once and for all...or make it to the surface and safety.

Last part of the Feast trilogy...will it be a happy ending?

Another Lovecraftian film adaptation by Stuart Gordon, where we explore the macabre visions of H P Lovecraft.

Two scientists successfully create an experimental machine which opens a doorway into a parellel universe. They see things which are normally hidden from mortal eyes but it costs one their life and the other a stint in the local psychiatric wards.

A young psychologist convinces the scientist to re-create the experiments to see this world for herself. They get more then they bargained for though as the mysterious creatures get inceasingly aggressive including frequent visits from the dead scientist who is a shadow of his former self.

This is an excellent little film which has been a lttle forgotten by time but it still holds its own in this day and age.

One of the films released for the After Dark Horrofest in 2006...while not every single one of them was particularly good, this one stood out for me.

Three former friends reunite at the funeral of a close acquaintance who has died in a car accident. The reunion brings back old memories and the group decide to pay their final respects to the friend back at the graveyard. They find a mysterious letter containing a cryptic poem which they ignore and continue to celebrate. In their drunken state they accidentily dance across some graves, awakening things which are best left undisturbed.

In the following days all three are haunted by strange apparaitions and quickly band back together, realizing they have done something terrible. They seek the help of a paranormal duo who inform them the letter they found was more of a curse and they have unleashed the grave's spirits they danced on through sacrilege.

Unfortunately the graves belonged to an area of the cemetary where the most evil criminals in the town's history are buried.They must survive until the next full moon for that is when the curse will be broken andbut this is also when the ghosts can take physical and are at their most powerful.

Great original ghost film which should get a lot more praise for it's efforts.

I'd heard of Ryan Nicholson before watching this and knew him mainly for his excellent work in the effects department for numerous projects. So, with interest, I sat down and watched Gutterballs.

I think this was one of the biggest surprises to me out of any film I have watched before due to the nature of some of the scenes. Bascially 2 rival groups at the local ten pin bowling alley have a run in which leads to the violent rape of a member of the other group.

The movie then proceeds to become a bit of a revenge film with the 2 groups meeting again, at the same bowling alley, the next night. This time however people start to die in various horrible and quite unique ways at the hands of a killer with some kind of bizarre bowling bag on their head.

The sex scenes are extreme and the gore is plentiful...this is not one for the feint hearted!

I had high hopes for Happy Hell Night after watching the first 10 minutes or so as it looked potentially creepy with the promise of being a slasher flick with an edge.

Zachary Malius, a demonic priest, has been incarcerated in the local sanitarium for the past 25 years and has been kept somewhat of a secret by the authorities. A college prank is about to go horribly wrong as 2 frat boys are charged with breaking into the asylum and taking a picture of this local myth to prove his existence once and for all.

The priest is unwittingly relased by the 2 pranksters who then proceeds to slaughter as many victims as he can in a variety of bloody ways until a small group attempt to stop him once and for all.

Unfortunately the promise to this film is spoiled by some poor plot holes and scripting but it still has it's moment and is worth a shout.

The tagline for this reads 'Old school American Horror' as it bravely attempts to create a new horror icon in the same vein as Jason Vorhees and company.

Poor Victor Crowley died in a horrifying accident at the hands of his father as he tried to rescue him from their burning house. Victor was horribly disfigured and stayed in his daddy's house until some vicious bullies set it on fire. People now go missing in those woods and there are rumours you can still hear Victor Crowley calling for his daddy...

Some tourists on a river boat trip into the swamps are about to find out that the urban legend of Victor Crowley is very much alive. They stumble across the old Crowley house when their boat is marooned on some rocks. Unfortunately for them, poor Victor Crowley is all grown up and he doesn't take kindly to visitors.

Credit to this film, it's a hell of a lot better then many and will leave you feeling quite satisfied that somebody has had the guts to go old school.

It was pretty hard trying to class Head of the Family into a specific genre as it almost leaves the horror field and goes into the realms of comedy.

I remember seeing this way back and quite enjoying it considering it was fairly low budget and fell into the B-movie category.

Two lovers seek to be rid of a thuggish husband and decide to enlist the help of the local Stackpoole family. Unfortunately for them the Stackpoole family are an odd assortment of human beings who delight in kidnapping and conducting experiments on unsuspecting travellers.

They are governed by the so called 'Head of the Family' who is in fact a well spoken giant head with a ridiculously small body.

You'll either love this one or hate it but isn't that always the case with films which earn the title of 'Cult' status.

Not an easy film to find nowadays at a reasonable price but worth the hunting if you love those early 80's horror films.

Fisherman from a small town are having their livelihoods threatened as a proposed new salmon cannery is being built in the area. Some of the fishermen oppose this new cannery but many of the townsfolk support it. Not long after, young couples keep disappearing, the males brutally killed and the women stolen away and found wrapped in seaweed.

The townsfolk are about to be united though as mutated fish creatures attack the boardwalk where many of the residents are celebrating the annual salmos festival. The creatures are bloodthirsty and they need to breed with the women of the town.

Very watchable film which will make fans of creature feature smile in amusement at the fish men costumes.

I think we could all name at least one film featuring a giant predator that has been unwatchable due to poor CGI effects. Krocodylus uses good, old fashioned animatronics which make this film entirely watchable.

Palm Island is a surfing paradise and is the destination for some girls and boys looking to catch some waves. They have a cutting edge idea of spreading chum in the sea so it attracts sharks while they surf in order to film a documentary.

This goes to plan until they realize the island is also home to a giant crocodile that has also been attracted by the blood surf. The crew must now flee through the tropical island, over land and through water as the giant reptile gives chase and aims to make them lunch.

You may also come across this film at retailers under the title of 'Blood Surf'.

If you have seen any films from Japan before then you will know they can be a little wacky and zany. Meatball Machine is no exception as it blends horror, sci fi, anime and lots of blood.

Tentacled Aliens have visited our planet and sonsume their human hosts by turning them into genetic cyber warriors. It all begins when an infected child is run down by a car and the driver is transformed. Thus begins a deadly battle amongst the genetic warriors as they attempt to wipe each other out.

When a man and woman are also infected they find themselves battling each other in a reluctant game as their alien hosts control their mutated bodies for sport.

Not one for the weak of stomach but fans of anime and gore alike will find this very entertaining.

Surprisingly this never got enough press in what is essentially quite a funny and threatening movie rolled into one.

Two best friends travel across the country to a wedding only to be harrassed by the meanest looking monster truck I've ever seen. Tie this in with a really gruesome bad guy and a healthy dose of comedy and you have quite a movie.

The 2 friends pick up a hitchhiker on their journey who is also drawn into the battle for survival as the Monster Man persistently gives chase to them. It all concludes at the Monster Man's woodland shack as they learn what is really going on.

Not a bad movie, can be a bit slow until the last half an hour or so when things start to heat up.

Part of the 2007 Afterdark Horrorfest, Nightmare Man is another low budget offering from Rolfe Kanefsky starring Tiffany Shepis and Blythe Metz.

A woman has a disturbing dream one night where she is attacked by a masked demon known as the Nightmare Man. The attacks seem to be linked to an African fertility mask which she has in her home. Her husband decides to take her to a clinic but their car breaks down and she is once again attacked by the Nightmare Man...and this time it's no dream.

They find refuge in a secluded wood cabin where a group of friends offer them refuge. Unfortunately for them, the Nightmare Man is among them and the woman they rescued has a more sinister secret then any of them could of known which may spell the death of all of them.

Another decent effort from Rolfe Kanefsky who makes a habit of using a sometimes togue-in-cheek method with his horror films which does make them enjoyable.

I've seen enough offerings from Troma to know that some are good and some are just plain awful. This one falls into the good category luckily.

At first I thought what many of you are thinking...what a ridiculous title. I began watching it though and couldn't help but be entertained.

The storyline is a bit of a satirical medley of horror themes. An ancient red indian burial site is demolished and on top of the ruins is built...a takeaway fried chicken restaurant.

Hilarity ensues in the form of singing and dancing (Yep thats right!) with some genuinely funny scenes and amusing characters. The chicken that is served up somehow becomes...cursed and the visitors turn into giant zombie chickens with a hunger for human flesh.

It's all very tongue in cheek yet somehow manages to avoid that low budget look you expect from Troma. Probably their best release to date.

I first saw Premutos back in earl 2001 when I was ordering a glut of German gore and splatter films. The version I got had no subtitles and my German isn't fluent but I grasped enough of the dialogue to watch it.

A demon appears throughout the annals of human history as a harbiger of doom and brings with it great suffering. Premutos is the first of the fallen angels and his son is sent before him to pave the way of destruction.

A young man in present day Germant is about to have his birthdya party ruined by the discovery of a mysterious case and the revelation of what he was in his past lives.

An undead army is awoken as the case's contents are examined and the party guests find themselves in the fight of their lives to survive the night.

Maybe one of the better known German splatter films which is more widely available now in the US and UK under the title of Premutos: The Fallen Angel. Well worth a look if you are a fan of gore as you will be hard pressed to find more in a film then this one.

The Redsin Tower was handed to me among a pile of unwanted horror DVD's to look at so I wasn't really expecting much from it. After watching 2 godawful films, I put the Redsin Tower on and my mood improved.

It doesn't do anything special as far as story goes. A group of friends decide to explore the local urban legend, Redsin Tower, after a night of partying. You can probably guess this place is not safe for a group of innocent teenagers. Couple this with the fact that the main female lead's psychotic ex-boyfriend is on their trail and you have a bloodbath waiting to happen.

The film does creep along at a fairly slow pace with things only picking up in the latter half. When something does start to happen though then it's well worth sticking around for!

If you look hard enough you will likely find a popular children's fairytale turned into a horror movie and Rumpelstiltskin is no exception. It is one of the more suggestive and darker tales that make this prime horror material.

The film begins in the 1400's where an angry mob corners a deformed babysnatcher. The demonic creature is trapped inside a jade figurine to remain imprisoned for a thousand years unless a wish should release him again.

The film fast forwards to modern day America where a recently widowed single mother buys the jade figurine from a curiosity shop. She soon wishes for her dead husband to return to her which he does for a single night in the guise of Rumpelstiltskin who now desires his payment of her baby.

I really like this one as it's an interesting cat and mouse film with the deformed little maniac scuttling after the attractive widow. Very watchable take on a children's classic.

This one is a little unusual but still worth a shot if you like the idea behind carnival freaks and how they fit into the horror genre.

A group of local teens make the cardinal error of upsetting the travelling carnival which is in town. The ringmaster tempts one of the unsuspecting teens into trying 'The Great Unknown'. A machine which will grant their biggest desire...but there is a twist.

The machine will transform them into a sideshow freak as a result of their desire. The other teens follow the same fate albeit by force to try 'The Great Unknown.'

Not terribly well acted or thought out but it may leave you squirming a little if you are disturbed by deformity and grossness.

If you pick up a copy of Street Trash, have a look for the running time on the back. If it says 80-90 minutes then avoid like the plague as it will be heavily cut.

A local liqeur store owner discovers a crate of outdated hooch in his basement and decides to seel it at a dollar a pop to the hobos around the area. Little does he know that this mysterious case of hooch, called 'Viper', has the tendency to have a nasty side effect on whoever drinks it.

This usually involves the hobos melting in disgusting ways and even exploding in some cases in a brilliant and disgusting scene.

If you can get hold of an uncut copy of this film then I would highly recommend it for lovers of cult films and gore alike.

If you are a fan of Italian Horror from maestro's such as Dario Argento or Lucio Fulci then you will love this...mainly because Argento originally penned this for Fulci just before his untimely death.

We begin in Paris, 1900 where a couple have been murdered by an unknown assailant leaving only a small girl as an eyewitness. We then fast forward to 12 years in the future where our little girl has now grown up but still suffers nightmares about the man with the mechanical hand who killed her parents.

People on the streets of Rome begin to disappear and all roads lead to the local waxworks owned by an eccentric professor. But who is this strange man with mechanical hands who can rip people's hearts from their bodies and why do the displays in the waxworks look so realistic?

If you can withstand the dodgy dubbing then this is a good watch from the Italian masters of horror.

Banned in 1984 as one of the infamous 'Video Nasties', this film by Lucio Fulci has gone under many names, most notably Zombi 2, although it is not a sequel.

Two officers investigate a drifting vessel in New York only to find there-animated remains of the owner onboard. The owner of the vessel was a scientist and his daughter is keen to find out what happened to him. She teams up with a local journalist and employs 2 locals to take them to Matul Island to investigate.

When they get there they discover a doctor who is desperately trying to find a cure to a plague which is bringing the dead of the island back to life. The plague is turning the islanders into flesh hungry zombies and there doesn't seem to be any way to stop them as their numbers increase by the day.

I saw this film years ago now and it made me appreciate the slower pace of Italian horror films that were made by some true masters of the genre. A brilliant film if you want a throwback to shuffling zombies and are tired of modern day ones which sprint!