Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. Let’s get right into this week’s slew of horror films both new and old!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
Retro-Review: LIVING DEAD GIRL (198
RISE OF THE ANIMALS (2011)
SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SCREAM QUEEN ERA (2011)
PENUMBRA (2011)
EXTINCTION: THE G.M.O. CHRONICLES (2011)
THE MOTH DIARIES (2011)
Advance Review: SICK BOY (2011)
And finally…DISOWN!

LIVING DEAD GIRL (1982)
Directed by Jean RollinWritten by Jean Rollin & Jacques Ralf
Starring Marina Pierro, Françoise Blanchard, Mike Marshall, Carina Barone
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
I’m not ashamed to admit that before this year, I had not seen a Jean Rollin film. But in the last few months, I’ve reviewed THE RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE, REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE, and THE DEMONIACS and will be checking out TWO ORPHAN VAMPIRES next week on AICN HORROR, so in a short time, I feel I’ve had a crash course in Rollin. Having received all of the films I’ve seen so far in a lukewarm fashion, I wasn’t really looking forward to checking out this new one in my cue. Rollin seems to definitely have an eye for style, atmosphere, and ambiance, but storywise, I found his films to be a bit too fartsy for my tastes, lacking substance and narrative appeal. Sure I can appreciate a film which simply serves as a feast for the eyes, but leaves the mind hungry. But too much of it just doesn’t hold my interest.

But aside from the over the top moments of gore (and there are many), there’s a complex story of a relationship going on between Catherine and her childhood friend Helene (played by the sultry Marina Pierro…ok, let’s just make it a given that every woman in a Jean Rollin film can be described as sultry from here on out). The two are the best of friends, but having been reawakened from the dead, Catherine is a mindless monster. But as with Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER, each victim brings the bloodsucker back to humanity a little more. Wanting her best friend back as a whole, Helene begins setting up people for Catherine to drain, but as she returns to her normal self, guilt begins to set in and Catherine finds it harder and harder to kill. I love this complex conundrum of Helene, a friend who is willing to sacrifice her humanity for her best friend, but as her best friend’s humanity returns, she finds herself repulsed by what Helene has become. The humanity that was sorely lacking in all of the films I have seen from Rollin is present in spades here and in the end, I agree that this is both one of his most commercial films, but also one of his most engaging ones.

Though certain Rollin-isms perservere—the abundance of women stripped nude and then killed, the amount of time the camera lingers on said nudity and violence, and some truly haunting music, I found LIVING DEAD GIRL to be a fantastic mix of BLACK SUNDAY and HELLRAISER, two films I hold in high regard. Watching both HELLRAISER and this film, one can see Barker’s influences at play which is equally fascinating. In the end, the reason why LIVING DEAD GIRL is the film folks think of when Rollin is mentioned is because it is densely themed and a damn entertaining film with a powerful ending.

RISE OF THE ANIMALS (2011)
Directed by Chris WojcikWritten by Chris Wojcik
Starring Greg Hoople, Stephanie Motta, Adam Schonberg, Nikki Preston, Charles Bigelow, Phillip Musumeci, Katie LeVander, Melissa Orioli, Laura Blank, Tricia Dalusio, Brittany Cerra, Renee Radwan, Reviewed by Ambush Bug
A while back, I posted a sneak preview of RISE OF THE ANIMALS, and while there were those who aren’t afraid of a film whose budget most likely was low, the film got a lot of flack in the talkbacks and I was even accused of somehow being a part of the film to post such a preview. Though I didn’t have anything to do with this film, after seeing it, I am a little jealous about not being able to be a part of it because it looked like a damn fun time.

Remember the scene in I’M GONNA GET YOU SUCKA when Keenan Ivory Wayan’s momma gets into the bar fight? One scene it was an elderly black lady in a dress, the next it was a white guy with a moustache wearing a grey wig and the same dress kicking ass in a barfight—then the scene switches again and it’s back to the old lady. It’s that type of wink to the audience that this film is doing throughout its running time. The guys who put together RISE OF THE ANIMALS are winking right in the audience’s faces when they have sock puppets posing as animals chewing through walls and ripping off limbs. This isn’t a film that’s trying to take itself seriously and neither should you.

Maybe I’m alone, but the fact that the cast are reacting to cartoony CGI and hand puppets as if they were the most detailed and realistic effects imaginable makes me think of those old rubber suit monster movies of the 50’s or the Godzilla films that are still being made today. Yes, if you’re looking for convincing scares and pitch perfect quality, this is not the film for you. But if you want to see a CGI deer rip the arm off a woman and a stuffed animal cat being thrown in a sink and stuffed down a garbage disposal, RISE OF THE ANIMALS will have you guffawing and gnu-ing. No animals were harmed while making this film, but a whole lotta bad puppets were used to make some downright goofy and fun horror.

SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SCREAM QUEEN ERA (2011)
Directed by Jason Paul CollumWritten by Jason Paul Collum
Starring Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Fred Olen Ray, David DeCoteau, Kenneth J. Hall, Jay Richardson, Richard Gabai, Ted Newsom
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Though none of the films with Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, and Michelle Bauer were immense successes to the general public, if you are a horror fan like me, you’re sure to recognize their names as well as their shapely bodies which they were more than willing to show in just about every and any movie they made. Sure, these ladies were hired for their powerful lungs and their willingness to show the boob-flesh covering them, but despite the fact that most of the time the furniture had more character written for them in the schlocky horror films they appeared, these three vixens stood out as the ones who invented the term Scream Queen and, according to this film, they are damn proud of it.

Director Jason Paul Collum does a great job of illustrating how these three women went from innocent waifs with stardom in their eyes to superstars whose names have become synonymous with the term Scream Queen. Though actors and directors are interviewed as well, most of SCREAMING IN HIGH HEELS focuses on Bauer, Quigley, and Stevens through in depth interviews. The film talks about each of the trios’ rise to stardom and how distinct the three of them were while highlighting their similar paths. Collum patiently maps out how they got their most famous roles with in depth talks with filmmakers like Fred Olen Ray. It also showed the darker side of their stardom as each learned to walk the tightrope of embracing their fans and appreciating them while keeping deranged stalkers, creepy fans, and weird happenings at conventions at a distance. I also appreciated the bits about how the public and the actresses’ families reacted to their roles in these types of films.


PENUMBRA (2011)
AKA GLOOMDirected by Adrián García Bogliano & Ramiro García Bogliano
Written by Adrián García Bogliano & Ramiro García Bogliano
Starring Christina Brondo, Camilia Bordonaba, Sabastian Berta Muniz, Maria Nela Sinisterra
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I’ve seen some slow burners in my time, but PENUMBRA takes the cake.


But the ending of this Argentinean thriller is a whopper and plays out almost pitch perfectly. Had there been a little less chitter from our chattery female lead, PENUMBRA would have been a fantastic film. As is, it’s a film that made my fast forward finger twitch to get closer to an ending that really does leave an impact.

EXTINCTION: THE G.M.O. CHRONICLES (2011)
aka KRONIKI ZAGLADYDirected by Niki Drozdowski
Written by Niki Drozdowski & Ralf Betz
Starring Daniel Buder, Luise Bähr, Jerry Coyle, Tobias Kay, Lee Rychter, Bina Milas, Christian Stock, Klaus Ebert, Heinrich Baumgartner
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Though the intention is there, EXTINCTION: THE G.M.O. CHRONICLES just doesn’t seem to want to do anything too new or exciting with what it’s got. Think of any zombie film—all the beats, all the turns, all the moments that cause scares, jumps, and frights--and you’re most likely going to see it at play in this film.


But some cool looking zombie designs aren’t enough to save this one. There’s got to be an engaging story or cast or something and this films just doesn’t seem to have it. Though the atmosphere is moody and the effects are great, EXTINCTION takes most of its beats from THE WALKING DEAD and other zombie survival stories and does so capably, but its main offense is just not being different enough to stand out from the hordes of other zombie flicks roaming around these days.

THE MOTH DIARIES (2011)
Directed by Mary HarronWritten by Rachel Klein & Mary Harron
Starring Sarah Bolger, Sarah Gadon, Lily Cole, Judy Parfitt, Melissa Farman, Laurence Hamelin, Gia Sandhu, Valerie Tian, & Scott Speedman
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Mary Harron, director of AMERICAN PSYCHO, offers up another sublime horror film with THE MOTH DIARIES, which like AMERICAN PSYCHO takes its time to play out dreadful mood and heavy ambiance before sinking its teeth in the jugular of the viewer. Though much less based in our reality and less heavy on the social commentary on the culture of a specific era, Harron’s gothic teen girl romance is a thinking person’s teenage horror film—the kind of horror you would wish kids were into these days rather than vapid vamp flicks like TWILIGHT where emotions and feelings are fathoms more complex than choosing between the brooding vamp and the shirtless wolf.

Harron’s story, adapted from a book by Rachel Klein deals with the real connection young girls have with one another as they reach womanhood in a sophisticated way. Yes, there are themes of lesbianism throughout as Rebecca’s suspicions about Ernessa’s motivations are written off as jealousy at first, but as faculty and students start having unfortunate accidents and Lucy becomes less and less interested in being friends with Rebecca, Rebecca begins to believe that something much darker than teen jealousy is afoot. The story is dark in tone and deathly serious. As we see the film through Rabecca’s eyes, we see Ernessa walk through walls and lustily nibbling at Lucy’s throat in the midnight hours. Harron is not very subtle with the fact that Ernessa may very well be a vampire early on as in all horror films set in a classroom, the readings that dreamboat literature teacher Scott Speedman is teaching from in class are CARMILLA and DRACULA. As with most horror films, this is a cautionary lesson and though the metaphor lacks subtlety by blatantly stating it in class, the vampire tale here is definitely an ambiguous one here as Ernessa doesn’t resemble what one typically thinks of when we think of a vampire.

Though the more hardcore of the readers here at AICN HORROR will not really be into this film, which is more along the lines of THE LADY IN WHITE and also has the same sort of dark tone as Sofia Coppola’s THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, it definitely is a welcome change of pace from all of the torture porn, found footage, monster mayhem, and slasher flicks. Like a razor so sharp that you don’t know it has cut you until it is too late, THE MOTH DIARIES is dangerous in its delicacy; a modern Gothic tale that is more hauntingly beautiful than anything else.

SICK BOY (2011)
Directed by Tim T. CunninghamWritten by Tim T. Cunningham
Starring Skye McCole Bartusiak, Marc Donato, Debbie Rochon
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
SICK BOY is one of those films with a premise that definitely may seem familiar, but its power lies in the skill of the actors involved and the director/writer steering the wheel. Because of this, even though we may know the layout of this type of film, the road to the end remains interesting because of strong performances in front of and behind the camera.

Now, as with HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, where a babysitter is set up to watch a house rather than the person upstairs, you know sooner or later, Lucy is going to ignore the warnings of her employer and for one reason or another she will be checking in on the sick boy in the basement at some time. It’s the tension between the hiring and the snooping that will either make or break this film and director Tim T. Cunningham creates this tension with expert precision as Lucy begins looking through drawers, solidifying what we already know—that she will be going into the basement at some time.

SICK BOY does a fantastic job of amping up the tension. Telling you what subgenre this film belongs to or identifying what the sick boy is sick with would be giving away too much of this film. Let’s just lump it in with such fantastic “Babysitter in peril” films as HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and WHEN A STRANGER CALLS and leave it at that. Effective in a nail-biting build-up to a climax that definitely is worthy of the wait, filled with blood, gore, and mega-violence, SICK BOY is one of those infectious little horror films that needs to be spread to more viewers. When this one is available for the masses, I’ll definitely let you all know. But for now, keep an eye out here and on the Raven Banner Entertainment website for when and where you can see it.
And finally…this one really made me jump by the time it was over. Sure the first person POV is always something that works with me, but the way this one is cut sent chills down my spine. Check out DISOWN below from Ramesh Laktharu, Muvindu Binoy, Pamuditha Anjana, & Praveen Aasith. See if it has the same effect on you. Enjoy…
See ya next week, folks!




Interested in illustrated films, fringe cinema, and other oddities?
Check out Halo-8 and challenge everything!

Find more AICN HORROR including an archive of previous columns
on AICN HORROR’s Facebook page!