Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. This week we’ve got another grab bag of gory goods for you all to check out. But before we do that…there’s this!


Here’s another new trailer for a Victorian Era horror film called A SWEET AND VICIOUS BEAUTY. I like the way this indie flick looks and hopefully will be checking it out for review very soon. Find out more about this film on its website here and on Facebook here!

Here’s the synopsis of the film; Proudly produced entirely in the Washington DC Metro Area, NINJAS VS MONSTERS offers a fresh take on classic movie monsters with a Martial Arts twist. Tired of being thwarted by the heroic NINJAS, DRACULA hatches an evil scheme to erase them from existence. Aided by FRANKENSTEIN, the MUMMY, the WOLF, and a trio of deadly, sexy WITCHES, Dracula challenges the NINJAS to combat for the right to have ever existed. The NINJAS, in their darkest hour, form alliances with former enemies and a band of Monster-Hunting Mercenaries led by the mysterious MASERO and the beautiful STEP. As simple combat erupts into all out war, the NINJAS battle monsters in this smart, funny, bloody and exciting Action/Horror/Comedy from the creators of NINJAS VS ZOMBIES and NINJAS VS VAMPIRES.
Find out more about this film and how to get tickets to the event here! And check out this hilariously awesome exclusive video clip from the band SolarIce whose single “Until We Drop Down Dead” is in the movie! SolarIce might be my new favorite band.
So many festivals in October, so little time. If you’re in Burbank, CA and like indie horror, then you need to check out ZedFest an annual celebration of indie horror features and shorts. Slide over to the website to check out all of the cool films playing the fest including; COST OF THE LIVING: A ZOM ROM COM, DEATHUMENTARY, PRESIDENT WOLFMAN, & ZOMBIE eX’s. Sounds like an awesome event and it happens Saturday October 27th!
Though it’s not horror, filmmaker Andy Dodd (who did the horror short LULLABY which I played a while back at the end of my column) has an Indigogo campaign to complete his short film IT’S A LOVE THING, a romantic 80’s style comedy about a young boy and girl brought together by their love of sci-fi. Sounds fun. Check out the preview below and if you like what you see, go to the Indiegogo page and support the film!

(Click title to go directly to the feature)
Retro-Review: LISA & THE DEVIL/HOUSE OF EXORCISM (1974)
BARRIO TALES (2012)
EVIL INSIDE (2011)
THE BIG BAD (2011)
HYPOTHERMIA (2010)
CHAINED (2012)
And finally, an AICN SHORT PREMIERE of Lonnie Martin’s COUGARS!

LISA & THE DEVIL/HOUSE OF EXORCISM (1974)
Directed by Mario Bava & Alfredo LeoneWritten by Mario Bava, Alfredo Leone, Alberto Cittini, Giorgio Maulini, Romano Migliorini, Roberto Natale, Francesca Rusishka
Starring Telly Savalas, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, Robert Alda, Alessio Orano, Gabriele Tinti, Kathy Leone, Eduardo Fajardo, Franz von Treuberg, Espartaco Santoni, Alida Valli
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
Though I’ve seen tons of Bava films, LISA & THE DEVIL and its American counterpart HOUSE OF EXORCISM has eluded me through the years. For a long time, I believed them to be two separate films, but having seen both films back to back, I’ve been set straight. I believe as I understand it, the studios felt Bava’s original story of LISA & THE DEVIL to be too obtuse and surreal, so they decided to cash in on the theme of demonic possession which had become the new thing in Hollywood after THE EXORCIST by adding additional footage to Bava’s piece and renaming it HOUSE OF EXORCISM. The result is basically two completely different films, despite the fact that both films have almost entirely the same footage. The only difference being that HOUSE OF EXORCISM has added footage of Elke Sommer contorting around on a bed, swearing to a priest, and spitting green slime all over the place.

Telly Savalas does a fantastic job of chewing up the scenery in this one, even popping his Kojak trademark lollipop into his mouth a few times as a wink to his fans. He plays the devilish man servant to a reclusive old Countess (Alida Valli) and her weirdo sweaty son Max (Alessio Orano). Lisa, having lost her way in the labyrinthine streets, accidentally kills a man, then flees, only to be picked up by a couple (Eduardo Fajardo and Sylva Koscina) who are having marital problems of their own. When their car breaks down, they are forced to stay the night at the Countess’ castle, but soon realize that they have walked into a nightmare.

Add the additional footage and slapping on HOUSE OF EXORCISM on the cover only makes these complex relationships between the characters all the more hard to keep track of. Because scenes are cut midway through to check back into a hospital bed to watch Lisa contort and swear like a some amalgam of a drunken sailor and a spitting Cirque du Soleil acrobat is downright distracting. The fact that scenes are blatantly ripped off of THE EXORCIST makes me dislike the added scenes all the more.

Still having a BluRay offering both looks is a cool way of seeing the studio process at work. It’s a flawed but fascinating look at the decisions made behind the curtain and I wish more films offered these original vs. altered takes on films as this LISA & THE DEVIL/HOUSE OF EXORCISM does.

BARRIO TALES (2012)
Directed by Jarret TarnolWritten by Brent Tarnol
Starring Alexander Aguila, Carson Aune, Adam Beesely, Hunter Cope, Ana Corbi, Isait De La Fuente, David Fernandez Jr., Maritza Graciela, Aaron Jaeger, Fabian Lopez, Oscar Lopez, EJ Marin, Christopher Meyer, Scott Pollard
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Giving voice to a culture that is often underrepresented and over simplified in modern mainstream films; BARRIO TALES gives us horrors from a South of the border feel. While I applaud this type of film being made, it is, in the end, a mixed bag when it comes to quality, as are most anthologies. The bookend story focuses on a pair of privileged, white, rich kids who go to Mexico in search of cheap drugs. While waiting for the dealer, a creepy guy sits and tells them stories to pass the time. Not the most original way to bookend these short stories, but it gets the job done.

But that’s just me singing campfire songs and wishing for world peace. Enough with all of that. How do these short films stack up?
The first short, “Maria” is filled with stereotypes as some more rich white kids party in a mansion and end up treating their Mexican maid in a racist and demeaning manner, ending in her death. There’s not a lot of story here other than the maid’s death and the revenge put upon them by her bruja (witch) aunt. Though the acting is above average, the story is pretty shallow.

“El Monstruo” is by far the most wicked of the three short stories and portrays whitey the most despicably as a group of racist good old boys offer jobs to a group of Mexicans illegally crossing the border only to lure them into slavery and torture at the hands of the legendary El Monstruo who is a precautionary tale told to young children. This segment is the most deftly handled in terms of story complexity and delivery. Sure, it’s a typical tormented turning the tide against the tormenters, but still it works the best of the three tales.
BARRIO TALES is not a terrible anthology, but the especially bitter slant against whitey left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Had as much attention been given toward the horror, the story, and the acting, as it was on contempt for a specific race of people, I believe it would have been a much more enjoyable film.

THE EVIL INSIDE (2011)
aka DEAD INSIDEDirected by Pearry Teo
Written by Jennifer Zhang
Starring Hannah Ward, Matthew Mercer, Rayne Bidder, James Lim, Jennifer Zhang, Tara Strand, Sage Howard
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I didn't know what to expect coming into EVIL INSIDE formerly known as DEAD INSIDE. The trailer made me think it was going to be a SIXTH SENSE sort of deal, but after seeing the film, I have found that if I go in knowing next to nothing about the film, I usually enjoy it a whole lot more. That said, I will go into a little detail about the film, or rather, the aspects of it that I enjoyed the most.

Wrong. When they decide to have a little party which Sarah at first is ok with, but as soon as she starts seeing visions of her new friends impending deaths, the party comes to a crashing halt. Then the kids find out they are locked in the house with crazy Sarah and that's when shit gets interesting. The best thing about this film is the fact that Sarah simply predicts these events, yet she is labeled a witch as if it were Medieval times and pretty much prosecuted as such by her peers. In many ways, director Pearry Teo from Jennifer Zhang's script depict teenage hierarchy pretty accurately and the actors playing the teens, though most of them don't look so much like teens, they do act as such, talking about sex, drugs, and treating life or death situations in a manner that seems scary and foreign to them.

The main problem with this film, once it was over, is just that it kind of plays with your mind TOO much in that there's not really anyone to root for. Sarah is a victim of her prophetic visions, but is also somewhat of a lunatic as well. Surely the teens aren't the people to feel for as they are apathetic, shallow, and downright mean to one another throughout the film. If anything, you'll root for them to get what's coming to them when it comes to them. In the end, I felt some decisions were made that seemed a bit out of the blue. It's a somewhat striking revelation, but still, wasn't really necessary and somewhat lessens the impact of the events that lead up to it.
Still whether it's called EVIL INSIDE or DEAD INSIDE, there are enough dark moments and tense atmosphere to make this one of the better loopy girl in a spooky house movies I've seen.

THE BIG BAD (2011)
Directed by Bryan EnkWritten by Jessi Gotta
Starring Jessi Gotta, Jessica Savage, Timothy McCown Reynolds, Patrick Shearer, Alan Rowe Kelly, Rebecca Comtois, Brian Morvant,
Find out more about this film here!
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
As far as revenge films go, the formula is pretty well tread. Someone is living la vida loca and then someone comes along, out of the blue, and everything goes pear-shaped. After a bit of time of self doubt, self loathing, and a bit of hatred to the world and everything in it, the prey decides to take action against her predator and who usually ends up dying in an especially despicable manner.


Not your typical revenge film in structure and with the added bonus of a bunch of werewolves howling around and clawing up the place, THE BIG BAD is not a bad little horror film. With some great performances by pretty much the entire cast and some talented camerawork under the direction of Brian Enk from a script by the lead actress, this is a smaller budgeted film that knows how to pack in scares and action.

HYPOTHERMIA (2010)
Directed by James Felix McKenneyWritten by James Felix McKenney
Starring Michael Rooker, Blanche Baker, Greg Finley, Amy Chang, Asa Liebmann, Benjamin Forster, Don Wood,
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
A more appropo title would have been CREATURE OF THE FROZEN LAGOON as a sea monster terrorizes a group of ice fishermen when their loud music and machinery disturb its icy slumber. This old school, monster in scuba suit creature feature is a throwback, but it’s a pretty fun one, at that.

Though not much is explained as to the why and what this black skinned, many toothed monstrosity is exactly, the movie is made up of some fun CREATURE OF THE BLACK LAGOON-esque moments as the man-monster leaps from the ice hole and attacks those above, pulling them to the briny depths below. There are well paced action shots a plenty in HYPOTHERMIA as the fishermen become hunters and eventually hopeful survivors of the fishy onslaught. These scenes make up for the ambiguity of the monster itself.

For a while there, I thought HYPOTHERMIA was going to get clever. Rooker’s character falls through the ice in the beginning moments and though he is able to pull himself out, he lays unconscious on the shore freezing. With a name like HYPOTHERMIA, I thought, maybe the ambiguity of the monster was indication that this was going to be more of a metaphoric tale and I would kind have dug this demonic black monster actually being the dying dreams of a freezing man. Unfortunately, this film is much too straight forward for all of that. Turns out it’s just an action horror film with some nice action, decent acting, and a helluva cool looking monster.

CHAINED (2012)
Directed by Jennifer LynchWritten by Damian O'Donnell & Jennifer Lynch
Starring Vincent D'Onofrio, Eamon Farren, Evan Bird, Julia Ormond, Conor Leslie, Jake Weber, Gina Philips
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
After watching three of Jennifer Lynch’s films, there’s definitely a theme arising. Unlike most, I found BOXING HELENA to be a twisted little gem and Lynch’s last film SURVEILLANCE proved to be an amazing exercise in mystery and suspense. But in both of those films, the main character is trapped in a prison and unable to leave the situation they find themselves in. In BOXING HELENA, Helena (Sherilyn Fenn) has her arms and legs amputated in order for her to stay in one place as an object for Julian Sand’s demented character to possess. In SURVEILLANCE, the prison is much less literal, as a little girl is held in a police station and grilled by FBI agents about witnessing a murder. Continuing the trapped trend, Lynch brings us CHAINED this week.


I wish I could say that this film was great from start to finish, but developments in the final act make things more complicated than they should have been. The revelation Rabbit comes to is out of left field, for the most part, definitely takes away from the rest of the film. That said, D’Onofrio’s performance and Lynch’s unflinching method of pointing her camera at extremely ugly things and forcing us to find beauty in it are reason enough to seek out CHAINED.
And finally…I caught COUGARS at a film festival a while back and thought it was a very cool throwback to AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON with a modern twist, some fun performances, and some awesome practical makeup effects. Now, director Lonnie Martin contacted me about premiering the short to everyone here on AICN HORROR. I gladly agreed. So here it is…Lonnie Martin’s COUGARS!
See ya next week, folks!




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