Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. This week we’re covering the past, the present and the future as we look back at THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR and have advance reviews of ALPS from the director of last years insane film DOGTOOTH and the ultra cool documentary SKULL WORLD. Plus we have the usual batch of new horrors to sink your eye teeth in. But before that…there’s this!
I reviewed DEAD TIME last time on AICN HORROR, but for those who are still curious about the film which is available next week on DVD from Brain Damage Films/Midnight Releasing we have a clip below to tingle your spine…


Finally, I’ve got a teaser for a new film called MOTIVATIONAL GROWTH starring Jeffrey Combs and directed by Don Thacker. Here’s the official synopsis: Ian Folivor, depressed and reclusive, finds himself taking advice from a fungal growth after a failed suicide attempt. The Mold, a smooth talking chunk of aspergillus born from the filth collecting in Ian's neglected bathroom, works to win Ian's trust by helping him clean himself up, remodel his lifestyle, and attract the attention of a neighbor, Leah. Ian begins to receive strange messages from his broken TV that make him realize that The Mold may not be as helpful and well intentioned as it seems to be. Strange characters and even stranger events cast Ian's life a sharp relief in the shadow of an epic battle between good and evil that Ian is only partially aware of. Sounds like twisted good fun and this trailer is all kinds of awesome.
Enjoy the horror, folks!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
Retro-review: THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR (1968)
I SPILL YOUR GUTS (2012)
KIDS GO TO WOODS…KIDS GET DEAD (2009)
INTRUDERS (2011)
Advance Review: SKULL WORLD
Advance Review: ALPS (2012)
And finally…Andy Dodd’s LULLABY!

THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR (1968)
aka THE VAMPIRE BEAST SEEKS BLOOD, BLOOD BEAST FROM HELL, THE DEATHSHEAD VAMPIREDirected by Vernon Sewell
Written by Peter Bryan
Starring Peter Cushing, Robert Flemyng, Wanda Ventham, Vanessa Howard, David Griffin, William Wilde
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
Man, this is one of those films I would have loved when I was a kid, watching SHOCK THEATER on my belly on the living room floor on a rainy Saturday afternoon. THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR is a story of a mad scientist who has developed a process which turns his beloved into a giant moth like creature that sucks the blood out of its victims is one straight from the land of hokey. But though the premise is goofy as all get out, the film actually has a lot of redeeming qualities.

There’s also an inspired scene as Cushing watches a production of MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN that is a great wink to Cushing’s Hammer stint as Baron Von Frankenstein. The scene is played for laughs, but it’s Cushing’s attendance in the audience that causes the greatest of chortles.

The plot of the film is rather meandering as the pacing really drags in the beginning with lots and lots of discourse laden set up. The film goes out of its way to heap on the hokey science in order to make the presence of a man sized Death’s Head Moth believable, though the results are less so. Rough editing towards the end makes the finale of the film seem rushed, but I do have to say the shrill screech of the monster moth is rather terrifying and the final scene as the moth monster attacks a young man is actually well done and somewhat brutal.
THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR is your typical Saturday afternoon monster flick with hokey science, a solid performance by an extra stern cast, and a man in suit monster that indeed impresses. This would be an interesting double feature if paired with the Richard Gere helmed MOTHMAN PROPHECIES and then maybe MOTHRA as a triple feature.

I SPILL YOUR GUTS (2012)
Directed by James BalsamoWritten by James Balsamo
Starring Carmine Capobianco, James Balsamo, Billy Walsh, Llyod Kaufman, Andrew W.K., Lynn Lowry
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Well, if you’re a fan of throat roaring hard rock, you’re going to love banging your head to this film. More so than anything else, I SPILL YOUR GUTS serves as a showcase for thrash death metal. With a meandering and uninspired plot and some extremely shoddy acting, those with a penchant to hold head-bang-itude over quality is definitely the target audience the filmmakers were going for.


I’m sure the makers of this film are fans of the style of music that relies on guttural roars and heavy guitar squeals, but I’m not. The thin plot and low rent acting didn’t help things (I can usually look past that), but in the end, it was the thrash music that makes me file I SPILL YOUR GUTS in the “Not for me.” pile.

KIDS GO TO THE WOODS…KIDS GET DEAD (2009)
Directed by Michael HallWritten by Michael Hall
Starring Leah Rudick, Andrew Waffenschmidt, Joseph Campellone, Carly Goodspeed, Meghan Miller, Eric Carpenter, Amanda Rising
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug

Hosted as if it were a late night movie show by a curvy brunette, KIDS GO TO THE WOODS…KIDS GET DEAD does a decent job of maintaining my interest even though not a lot of killing occurs until the final half hour. This is a testament to the likable cast of newcomers who do their best with the uninspired script. There’s a lot of typical frolicking in the woods, going off alone to cut firewood, and of course sexing in the sticks, but the fact that this film sticks so close to convention makes it kind of a throwback and separates it apart from those self-referential and smug films of this kind we usually get today.

As long as you’re not looking for anything new or innovative, KIDS GO TO THE WOODS…KIDS GET DEAD delivers exactly what the title implies, no more/no less.

INTRUDERS (2011)
Directed by Juan Carlos FresnadilloWritten by Nicolás Casariego and Jaime Marques
Starring Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Ella Purnell, Kerry Fox and Pilar López de Ayala
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I wanted to like INTRUDERS a whole lot more than I did. All of the right elements are present. You’ve got a fairy tale boogey man haunting the closets of youngsters and creeping out of the shadows, a two tier story that spans across the globe as two separate kids have paranormal encounters with said boogey man, ultimate badass actor Clive Owen, and a director who has worked with Guillermo Del Toro. It’s all there and there is a vibe that harkens back to films such as ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? and THE ORPHANAGE, but it never quite gets to that level of scary.

Turns out the answer, is both. And that’s where INTRUDERS flaw really lies in that it doesn’t know what kind of horror film it wants to be. It is a hellish waking nightmare a la PAN’S LABYRINTH or a deeply disturbing psychological thriller. The story weebles and wobbles toward both ends, but ends up falling down in the process (a reference that definitely shows my age, but if you get it, then you are officially awesome). Had director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo gone either route with the story, it would have been stronger either way. I liken this film to PAPER HOUSE the English film from the early nineties which traveled similar paths as a deeply disturbed girl creates a world of her own with all kinds of twisted rules and metaphors representative of her own reality. INTRUDERS tries to do this, but by incorporating the two tier story, makes itself overly complicated in the process. In the end, I found myself dazzled by the visuals, but feeling empty in regards to story.

Even stone faced Clive Owen’s stoic performance as a dad who won’t give up on his little girl doesn’t save this film from collapsing on itself in the final act. INTRUDERS doesn’t know if it wants to be INSUDIOUS or A BEAUTIFUL MIND and suffers from the waffling. Though it is a pretty looking thing, I found INTRUDERS to derail by the third act with a twist that I saw coming from halfway through.

SKULL WORLD (2012)
Directed by Justin McConnellWritten by Justin McConnell
Starring Greg Sommer, Jason Pluscec, Shane Patterson
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug



I wish the makers of this film luck and do the same to Sommer who definitely deserves some kind of success and notoriety for the dedication and positive spirit this documentary encapsulates. Though the doc doesn’t quite fit into the mold of the usual AICN HORROR fare, SKULL WORLD falls firmly into realm of the cinema of the weird, which has its own nook reserved here at AICN HORROR from time to time. Those looking for high energy battles and an individual who truly understands how to live life to the fullest despite difficult odds should definitely check this documentary out when it is released later this year. I had a lot of fun getting to know Sommer in this film and so will you.

ALPS (2012)
Directed by Yorgos LanthimosWritten by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou
Starring Stavros Psyllakis, Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, Ariane Labed, Aggeliki Papoulia
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I don’t know if ALPS really can be categorized as a horror movie, but this film, from the director of last year’s trip through madness DOGTOOTH, definitely is filled with dark themes, twisted characters, and unexpected happenings. The Alps that the title refers to is explained by the main protagonist in that no mountain is like the Alps, but the mountains of the Alps can be like any other mountain. This ingenious observation applies to the main theme of this film as a group of people serve as fill-ins for the deceased to people who recently lost a loved one. When someone dies suddenly, a member of the Alps is hired to step into their role and act out their lives in order for the grieving family to come to a healthy resolution. But death is a tricky subject and everyone reacts to it differently, and that’s what ALPS is all about.


Bookended by some genuinely beautifully choreographed flag dancing from one of the Alps, the film proves that Yorgos Lanthimos is a director I will always look out for. Often shocking, often heartbreaking, and always rich in theme and import, Yorgos Lanthimos incorporates inescapable whimsy with harsh reality in every second, right up to the heart breaking end. ALPS is in limited release today and should not be missed. It’s not your typical AICN HORROR recommendation, but the themes explored are pitch black and it will take you to places you most definitely not be comfortable with. And if that ain’t horror, I don’t know what is.
And finally…Here’s a short but somber tale called LULLABY directed by Andy Dodd. This isn’t a happy fairy tale, but it’s a well done one. The short is in contention for the Virgin Media Shorts competition and I think it deserves a place in it. Enjoy, LULLABY!
See ya next week, folks!




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