
Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. What an eclectic handful of horror do I have in store for you this week! There’s cannibalistic hotel owners, another creepy clown, an obsessed algorithmatician, a yeti, a monster with the itch to beat stuff up, a game of terror, two baby horrors, an apocalyptic caretaker, a zom rom com, more TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, and an HP Lovecraft rock opera!
Whew! On with the horror reviews!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
The Boo Tube: THE TWILIGHT ZONE Season 3 Episodes 13-18 (1961)
Retro-review: MOTEL HELL (1980)
Short cuts: DISENGAGED Short Film (2014)
Send in the Clowns: THE CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT (1998)
DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE: A Lovecraftian Rock Opera (2014)
LOGOS (2013)
RUSSIAN YETI: THE KILLER LIVES (2013)
THE MIDNIGHT GAME (2013)
LYLE (2014)
JOHNNY RYAN’S PRISON PIT: BOOK ONE (2014)
PROXY (2013)
LIFE AFTER BETH (2014)
And finally…PJ Wolfe’s 9 MINUTES!


THE TWILIGHT ZONE SEASON THREE (1961)
Episodes 13-18Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
With the release of the Complete Season Collector’s Box Set of TWILIGHT ZONE on DVD from Image Entertainment a few months ago, I’ve been celebrating by checking out each episode and tossing out my two cents on a semi-weekly basis. Now that I’m also looking back at the MONSTERS TV series, which was just released in a swanky box set, I’ll be switching back and forth between the two series on a bi-weekly basis to cover both over the next few months. Image Entertainment is also releasing THE TWILIGHT ZONE ESSENTIAL EPISODES, covering all of the best episodes of the series including “Time Enough at Last,” “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” “To Serve Man,” “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” and more! You can pick up the this collection by clicking this link here!
Now, let’s continue with THE TWILIGHT ZONE Season Three…

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod and Leslie Goodwins
Written by Richard Matheson
Starring Buster Keaton, Stanley Adams, Jesse White
This is a truly unique episode of TZ which starts out as a silent film, becomes an old timey talkie, and then reverts back to a silent film. Starring an aged Buster Keaton, this one focuses on a bumbling janitor who happens upon a clunky time helmet and is whisked from 1890 to 1960, where everything is pricier and much louder. While many of the TZs have a theme of returning to a better time, this one seems much more personal. Seeing this silent film star pining to return to the simpler days felt like such a personal story for Keaton, who shined brightest during the silent film era. There’s a lot of charming and hilarious slapstickery going on with some fantastic sequences of Keaton running from the police. Less of a TZ and more of a celebration of the silent film era of moviemaking, this episode is bound to make you smile.

Directed by Lamont Johnson
Written by Rod Serling
Starring William Windom, Susan Harrison, Murray Matheson, Clark Allen, Kelton Garwood
One of the most popular and well known episodes of the third season, this one focuses on a quintet of people who wake up not knowing who they are, but only what they believe themselves to be. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t reveal the ending here, but it’s a whole lot of fun. Seeing these vastly different characters banging into one another is fun, with the clown getting most of the best lines making light of the situation and the major’s serious demeanor. This is a well-acted and fantastic conflict of five completely different stereotypical characters representing one aspect of the human self--sort of like HERMAN’S HEAD, in a way. Seeing them all work together in the end has a poeticism to it. There’s a reason why this is a classic episode, and it’s as much because of the simple premise and the fine acting as it is the big reveal at the end.

Directed by Buzz Kulik
Written by Rod Serling
Starring Dean Stockwell, Albert Salmi, Jerry Fujikawa, Leonard Nimoy
While most of Serling’s war stories end up being preachy, this one has a premise that actually makes things intriguing. Much like the tragic first sequence in TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, a green and gung ho lieutenant fresh on the field and hungry for battle orders a battle-weary squadron to attack a group of Japanese soldiers holed up in a cave. Just when they are about to attack, something wonky happens and the soldier becomes Japanese and experiences the whole thing from the flip side. A white man dressing up in Japanese-face wouldn’t be able to be done today due to political correctness, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful, especially when it’s the likes of Dean Stockwell as the lieutenant with the always amazing Albert Salmi as a weary soldier and Leonard Nimoy playing another one in a bit part. This is one allegory that resonates and puts some of Serling’s other attempts at examining the futility of war to shame.

Directed by Lamont Johnson
Written by George Clayton Johnson
Starring Gladys Cooper, Robert Redford, R.G. Armstrong
Though I saw the twist coming a mile away and you will too, most likely, this was one of the more heart-wrenching episodes, mainly due to a fantastic performance by Gladys Cooper as an elderly lady who has barricaded herself into her home during wartime. When she lets a wounded soldier (Robert Redford) in for shelter, she has a discussion about all things life and death with him. Character actor R.G. Armstrong makes an appearance as another soldier, but more powerful than either of them is Cooper’s tragic loneliness and fear of death. This one touched me deeply and will most likely bring a tear to anyone who watches it with fantastic performances all around and an ending that echoes in the heart.

Directed by Lamont Johnson
Written by Rod Serling
Starring Joseph Wiseman, Katherine Squire, Trevor Bardette, Gage Clark, Josip Elic
This small scale tale of a giant chip on one’s shoulder is elegant in its simplicity. An angry man traps those who have wronged him in a bomb shelter, tells them the world is going to end, and then offers them sanctuary if they can only do one thing; tell him they are sorry. The thing is, the folks gathered haven’t really done anything wrong, so it’s a battle of wills between a man too proud to admit his own mistakes trying to force people who haven’t to admit to ones they haven’t made. The poeticism of it all is nicely done as bitter people arguing back and forth has always been something Serling always wrote well. This one also ends on a resonant note, making it an all around great episode.

Directed by Montgomery Pittman
Written by OCee Ritch
Starring Warren Stevens, Joan Marshall, Richard Devon, Ron Hagerthy, Joe Mell, Ben Wright, Harry Swoger
This tonally lopsided episode follows a homeless man who happens upon a well shoed and very dead man in an alley. After putting on the corpse’s foot attire, the bum seems to become possessed by the dead man’s spirit and goes on a mission to avenge his death. The episode starts out rather comically as the bum encounters a few other bums who are jealous of his new street-beaters, but evolves into a solid gangster story. Not that TWILIGHT ZONE ever offered any explanation for the bizarre shit that happens in any given episode, but there’s no real explanation as to how the gangster had the power to return from the grave and possess the living like he does. Unlike most TZ’s this one lacks the poeticism or at least the irony that is a standby of most episodes. The whole thing just feels off.
In two weeks we continue into the third season. See you next week with more MONSTERS Season Three episodes!
Season 1: Episodes 1.1-1.6, 1.7-1.12, 1.13-1.18, 1.19-1.24, 1.25-1.30, 1.31-1.36
Season 2: Episodes 2.1-2.6, 2.7-2.12, 2.13-2.18, 2.19-2.24, 2.25-2.29
Season 3: Episodes 3.1-3.6, 3.7-3.12
Season 4: Episodes 4.1-4.5, 4.5-4.8, 4.9-4.13, 4.14-4.18
Season 5: Episodes 5.1-5.7, 5.8-5.14, 5.15-5.21, 5.22-5.28, 5.29-5.36

MOTEL HELL (1980)
Directed by Kevin ConnorWriter: Robert Jaffe, Steven-Charles Jaffe, Tim Tuchrello , Frank Cotolo
Starring: Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod, Paul Linke, and Wolfman Jack!
Retro-Reviewed by Ambush Bug

The best thing about MOTEL HELL is that it confidently knows that it is a horror film and never apologizes for it. Sure there are comedic elements to it, but most of the comedy in this film is of the blackest kind. The way Ida toys with the heads in the garden. The story Vincent tells at the picnic about grandma cooking and eating the dog. The confused S&M couple who finally realize that it isn't nitrous gas in the gas mask. These are dark, dark scenes, but at the same time, they make me laugh every time.


The iconic look of Vincent & Ida wearing the pig head is an image that one can't soon forget. Recently this look has been used in Grant Morrison's BATMAN & ROBIN comic as well as the torture porn THE BUTCHER (which I'll delve into in another column), but there's something about the fiendishly evil simplicity of a chainsaw-wielding villain wearing a pig head that hits you on a guttural level. What's that head like on the inside? How do you see out of it? What's it smell like? God, just thinking of the answers makes me cringe a bit.

Special features in this Bluray include a new making of MOTEL HELL featurette, commentary from director Kevin Connor, special interviews with Connor, and writers/producers/brothers Robert & Steven Charles Jaffe, actors Marc Silver, Paul Linke, & Rosanne Katon, and stunt coordinator Gene Hartline, and a new special focusing on the character of Ida and the actress who portrayed her so memorably Nancy Parsons. As usual, Shout Factory went all out with this one, presenting one of my favorite horror films in a clear and gorgeous way as it’s never been seen before.


DISENGAGED (2014)
Directed by Christopher G. MooreWritten by Eryk Pruitt
Starring Alena Koch, Katie Carpenter, Gilly Conklin, Tracey Coppedge, Lisa Gagnon, Nick Karner, Jarod Kearney
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I’ve got a slew of short films to catch up on, so over the next couple of weeks expect more Short Cuts Short Film reviews. This week I’m checking out DISENGAGED, which has won quite some recognition at fests around the country, and after seeing the film I know why.
A woman seems to be going about her humdrum day, reading the paper and sipping a coffee, seemingly getting ready for her daily routine. Things don’t get weird until we realize what that routine is. Seems something in the sky made everyone on Earth (at the very least, everyone in this woman’s neighborhood) turn into living statues, frozen in place looking towards the sky. Unfortunately, it appears these guys are decaying and the woman’s duties seem to be to check up on the folks in her neighborhood to make sure they don’t rot away so quickly.

Not wanting to reveal too much, things take a turn for the worse in the last minute or two of this 14 minute film. It’s a turn that I saw coming, but still made for some fun viewing nevertheless. With some nice pacing and just enough info to let us know what’s what without being too extraneous, DISENGAGED is a great short with a terrific bite at the end. It’s currently touring fests, so if you have the chance to see it, I recommend you do so.

THE CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT (1999)
Directed by Jean PellerinWritten by Kenneth J. Hall
Starring Christopher Plummer, Margot Kidder, Sarah Lassez, James Duval, Tatyana Ali, Melissa Galianos, J.P. Grimard, Ryan Bittle, Liz Crawford, Vicki Marentette, Jonathan Barrett, John Bluethner, Pauline Broderick
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I’m continuing my coverage of clown/circus related horror films and reminding folks about my own circus horror comic book PIROUETTE, which hits stands in September (Previews item code JUL14 0937 and issue #2 item code AUG14 1131). Today’s clownie horror is A CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT.

The theater the crew is cleaning up has a macabre history reminiscent of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, where a performer dressed as Pagliacci from the performance of the same name kills the leading lady in a fit of jealousy. Years later, one of the Breakfast Club, the shy Kate (Sarah Lassez) who happens to be daughter of the songstress the clown killed all of those years ago, returns though she is haunted by visions of ghosts and clowns. Along for the ride is also FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIRE’s Tatyana Ali and Gregg Araki fave, the Keanu-eque George (James Duval), as two others roped into cleaning the theater. Adding to the recognizable star power of the film is a post-manic attack Margot Kidder who for some reason wears a man’s suit for her limited screentime as the teacher calling the shots and Christopher Plummer, who is definitely slumming it here as the theater owner.

I will admit, while the kills are pretty bloodless, they are pretty brutal and the killer is one of the more gruesome versions of clown you’re bound to see. The film does get the context right, as the title and premise refer to Lon Chaney’s classic line “A clown is funny in the circus ring, but what would be the normal reaction to opening a door at midnight and finding the same clown standing there in the moonlight?” This film at least gets that simply having a clown isn’t scary. Put it in the right context and it is effective, and while there are a lot of faults most likely due to studio dabblings, at least THE CLOWN AT MIDNIGHT gets that right.

THE FUNHOUSE
SPLASH AREA: NIGHT OF THE FREAKS/CLOWN HUNT
STITCHES
VULGAR
DOLL-BOY/ALL HALLOW’S EVE
THE DEVIL’S CARNIVAL
MR. SARDONICUS
CLOWNHOUSE
FEAR OF CLOWNS I & II
CIRCUS OF THE DEAD
BITTER HARVEST
100 TEARS/KLOWN KAMP MASSACRE
ALL DARK PLACES


Support your old pal Ambush Bug by checking out his new comic book!

DREAMS IN THE WITCHHOUSE: A LOVECRAFTIAN ROCK OPERA Narrative Horror Concept Album (2014)
Produced/Directed/Composed by Mike DalagerBased on the short story by H.P.Lovecraft
Starring Soma Allpass, Stuart Ambrose, Daniel Arevalo, Jody Ashworth, Seth Ayott, Masato Baba, Patrik Bonnet, Sean Branney, Mike Dalager, Alaine Kashian, Johan Kollberg, Bruce Kulick, Chris Laney, Ulf Larsson, Conny Laxell, Andrew Leman, Douglas Blair Lucek, Lisa McClennahan, Jesse Merlin, Nalle Pahlsson, Anders Ringman, Ray Rochelle, Peer Stappe, Marc Thomas, Liny Wood, Lennart Ostlund
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
I happened upon producer/director/musician/composer Mike Dalager at a booth at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. After introducing myself, he proceeded to talk about a version of a Lovecraft classic he guaranteed I’ve never experienced before and produced a small CD case to me with the words; DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE: A Lovecraftian Rock Opera on it.

The album is extremely faithful to the original Lovecraft story. In some instances, it reads the story directly, while other places are filled in with musical interpretations and elaborations. Beginning with a desperate man seeking out the advice of a priest in regards to a friend who tapped into something evil and otherworldly and has now disappeared. Through numerous songs, we find out the residence the man lived at used to house a witch and her curse still haunts the halls, enticing its residence to sell their souls for knowledge beyond their wildest dreams. As the story unfolds, what begins as a simple confession, evolves and changes into a Faustian tale of lost souls and other-dimensional monsters peeking into the world we live in. While this is a theme of many a Lovecraft tale, DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE definitely feels much more personal than most, describing not only the frightened man and his missing roommate, but also spanning time to get into the head of a persecuted witch and her familiar, a human-faced rat monster called a brown jenkin. Culminating in a breach between our world and something much more twisted, the story unfolds from a simple plea into a cosmic scream.

Still, you’re not going to hear anything like this version of the Lovecraft tale, which seems to raise to a thunderous crescendo by the end filled with all sorts of alien sounds and melodies. If you’re a Lovecraft fan, this is something you can’t miss. But even those who aren’t familiar with the lore are not going to have a difficult time following this one and this might even serve as a great gateway into some of the books if you like what you hear.
While not all of the songs were my cup of tea, I ended up liking quite a bit of them and enjoyed the entire album as one work immensely as it realized the Lovecraft tale more than any other adaptation of his work has before. Hopefully, Dalager will work his musical magic on some other Lovecraft stories in the future. You can download the entire album here and below is the video for one of the songs, the Evanescence-esque “No Turning Back” featuring Alaine Karshian!

LOGOS (2013)
Directed by Michael SorokorenskyWritten by Paul Hine, Michael Sorokorensky
Starring Paul Hine, Sara Alcorn, Ted Carr, Michael Ducharme, Ann Hsieh
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
While it might be odd to have this philosophical take on grief, remorse, and the existence of evil included in a list of horror films, as a firm entry in the cinema of the weird, LOGOS fits right in.

While watching a man quietly walk through life in a non-combative and downright introverted manner doesn’t always make for a compelling watch, writer/director Michael Sorokorensky and his co-writer Paul Hine (who also stars in this film) make it all compelling by mixing media such as black and white photography, artwork, and rudimentary yet effective animation. By switching stocks and styles, the film reflects the different and complex feelings the narrator is going through.

The point of the film seems to be to have the viewer come to the rationale of how violence effects all involved. It takes the time to examine the complex minutiae swirling around in our heads in a post-9-11 world. And while it may not have come to a complete solution, LOGOS does raise some interesting questions about life and death, grief and loss, and good and evil. It’s not a thrill a minute, but if you like your sci fi on a more philosophical and cerebral level, you might be interested in checking out this low fi attempted remedy for a national tragedy that effected us all.

RUSSIAN YETI: THE KILLER LIVES (2014)
Directed by Leon RawlskiStarring Mike Libecki, Maria Klenokova, Donnie Eichar
Find out more about this film here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug

In 1959, a group of 9 Russian campers went on a hike across the Northern Ural Mountains. They never returned and when they were found, their bodies were mutilated. The cause of death for these hikers continues to be a mystery with all sorts of theories popping up attempting to explain that occurred to them. Some blame it on the military, stating that the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile test was occurring right around the same time as the campers’ disappearance. Some blame the murders on the indigenous Mansi people who have been known to attack trespassers who venture too close to their hallowed ground. Then there are the fantastical theorists who believe it was everything from aliens to yetis who murdered and mutilated the campers who apparently ran from their tents in the middle of the night without their clothes into the middle of subzero temperatures to their ultimate doom.

What is both fascinating and unsettling is that I’m not sure what’s real and what’s made up in this so-called documentary. While I used to trust Discovery to deliver factual info, I did end up catching the dreadful MERMAIDS: THE BODY FOUND and MERMAIDS: THE NEW EVIDENCE, obvious mock-documentaries, but ones that don’t go out of their way to let the audience believe the footage is real. While RUSSIAN YETI is nowhere near as hokey as MERMAIDS, it does raise the question whether any of this “new evidence” is real or something made up. Being someone who is a believer in the existence of something giant and hairy roaming around unnoticed somewhere in the world, it’s frustrating to see this film being played off as fact and then see the “some parts of this film have been dramaticized” show up in the end credits making you wonder if this was just a slickly produced BLAIR WITCH PROJECT or a stab at some actual research. And while Libecki is an actual explorer who has appeared in many Discovery shows, there’s a part of me that just doesn’t trust any of this.

Writer Donnie Eichar, who wrote DEAD MOUNTAIN: THE TRUE STORY OF THE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT, is interviewed and after seeing him here, I need to read his book ASAP. Still, while Eichar states that the yeti theory may be a more fantastical reason for the deaths, he goes into other areas much more believable. Of course, the film doesn’t delve into those theories when we can slap a camcorder on the adventurous host and have him go running and screaming through dark caves. That’s what happens in the latter half, which seems to take a much more produced and predictable turn.

Personally, the film didn’t convince me either way. Be it bomb, alien, yeti, or the military, the film does lay out the facts pretty well, but obviously favors the yeti angle and runs with it. Had the whole thing been handled with a more even-handed manner, exploring all the options, I’d have been more into this one. And again, making up shit and calling it a docudrama is going to infuriate believers who are trying to be taken seriously and only add more fuel to the fire to those who don’t believe. So while RUSSIAN YETI: THE KILLER LIVES is an eye-catching title, it can’t even make up proof to back up what the title claims. I had fun with it, but parts frustrated the hell out of me. Here’s hoping Discovery tries a little harder in presenting their next crypto-caper with a more factual approach. I left RUSSIAN YETI not knowing what to believe, and that’s not a good feeling to have after watching a film. Airing a film like this and making it vague as to what is real and what is doctored for TV also hurts the credibility for the entire Discovery Channel network, who established itself on documenting science and nature specials based on factual evidence. Airing this not only makes one question the validity of this show, but all shows the channel airs.
RUSSIAN YETI: THE KILLER LIVES was intriguing. It presented most of its info in what seems to be a well researched manner. Still, the recording of what could be a yeti from the final moments not only feel a little too coincidental, but also make for a pretty feeble climax and bring back those IN SEARCH OF shows of old, but while I remember those fondly, this feels more like a cheaper, less interesting knockoff. For more on the Dyatlov Pass tragedy, check out Renny Harlin’s surprisingly fun DEVIL’S PASS (reviewed here). It’s not factual, but it’s a rollercoaster of a fright flick.

THE MIDNIGHT GAME (2013)
Directed by A.D. CalvoWritten by A.D. Calvo (story), Rick Dahl (screenplay)
Starring Renee Olstead, Shelby Young, Guy Wilson, Valentina de Angelis, Spencer Daniels, Robert Romanus, Deborah Twiss, Luz Alexandra Ramos
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug

Three fourths of THE MIDNIGHT GAME can most likely be interchanged with a million other Ouija board films out there. The film revolves about the urban legend of a mysterious game that, once played, shreds sanity and twists reality. Of course, this is too tempting for this group of teens to turn down, so they give it a go and while they think they messed it up because nothing seems to have happened, soon they realize they are trapped in the game itself in a never-ending loop of terror.

I can’t go so far as to recommend THE MIDNIGHT GAME. Had the filmmakers behind this one made the rest of the film as original and creepy as the ending, I think it might be worth seeking out. But as is, if you happen to catch this on cable some day, don’t worry about missing the beginning. You’ve seen it all before and this one seems to have saved the quality stuff for the end.

LYLE (2014)
Directed by Stewart ThorndikeWritten by Stewart Thorndike
Starring Gaby Hoffmann, Ashlie Atkinson, Kim Allen, Rebecca Street, Michael Che, Ingrid Jungermann
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug

LYLE is a story of a lesbian couple expecting their second child. The film opens with the couple; aspiring artist June (Ingrid Jungermann) and the just-showing, house frau Leah (UNCLE BUCK’s Gaby Hoffman all grown up), being shown a new apartment by a peculiar older landlady Karen (Rebecca Street) who despite her old age, attests that she hopes she is pregnant too. Shortly after moving in, a horrible accident befalls the couple, forcing June to work more since her career is taking off and Leah to spend more time home alone. But while bizarre events start occurring leaving Leah to think she is not as alone as she thinks, she also feels the pangs of paranoia set in as the baby inside of her gets closer to its birthday.

Bloodless and jump scare free, LYLE is a tale of terror by inches, slowly ratcheting up the tension until you’re as terrified as it’s characters. This is an edge of your seat thriller that manages to end up being just different enough to not be a complete knock off of the Polanski classic. The ending is resonant and powerful, as are the last fifteen minutes leading up to it as the world around Leah swirls at a dizzying rate. Clocking in just over an hour, there are parts of this film I really did want to see lengthened, but for the most part, LYLE stays just as long as it needs before its powerful climax. Like all good horror films, this one has many layers; this one involving women’s rights, gay and lesbian themes, and the challenges of parenthood and especially motherhood. Though the story is familiar, LYLE ends up delivering a unique set of chills in terms of quality and visceral horror.
LYLE trailer // FREE on LYLEmovie.com // AUGUST 4th from Stewart Thorndike on Vimeo.

JOHNNY RYAN’S PRISON PIT: BOOK ONE (2014)
Directed by Greg FranklinWritten by Johnny Ryan (adapted from the comic book by Johnny Ryan)
Starring James Adomian as Cannibal Fuckface, Blake Anderson as Jizzra, Kyle Kinane as Rabies Bloodbath and Rottweiler Herpes, and Rick Shapiro as the Prison Guard
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Being an avid PRISON PIT reader and admirer, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I picked this DVD up at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. I’ve reviewed almost every book of PRISON PIT so far (Book One review, Book Two review, Book Four review, Book Five review, and interviewed Johnny Ryan about it all at SDCC last year) and each installment blew me away at the depths it goes and the awesomeness that abounds from each and every page.


While rudimentary, the art in both the books and the film (which is basically done in the exact same style) is effectively simplistic. Not a lot of details are drawn, except for the uncomfortably close shots, which I will leave for you to enjoy without spoilers. I’ve said this before in my reviews, but in doing so, this almost feels like something a troubled teenager draws on the back of his trapper keeper in school while bored in biology class—something that, if the teacher were to see it, the kid would be sent to the guidance counselor for evaluation. This isn’t a knock on Ryan’s work. For him to tap into that nether-realm that most have had hammered out of us through adulthood is something special. Sure there’s semen, blood, guts, snot, and pus in every scene, but under all of the childish fascination with bodily fluids, Ryan is also telling a complex story of eternal conflict.

Part wrestling match, part brutal sci fi, part uncorked id let loose on a rampage, seeing PRISON PIT alive, moving, and speaking is a thrill this long time reader loved. I recommend this book to anyone who needs a break from cerebral comics and just like seeing a symphony of violence and bodily fluids play out. If you’d like to see this and more PRISON PIT episodes, and you bet your sweet patoot that I do, click here to see how you can make that happen. Here’s hoping this is the first of many adaptations to this hilariously brutal and basely satisfying book.

PROXY (2013)
Directed by Zack ParkerWritten by Zack Parker & Kevin Donner
Starring Alexia Rasmussen, Joe Swanberg, Alexa Havins, Kristina Klebe
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
PROXY is truly one of the most mesmerizing and horrific films I’ve seen all year this year or any year, for that matter. There’s something about a pregnant woman that instinctively makes people defensive. We want to protect them from harm. We criticize sharply when we see someone smoking or drinking around them or, god forbid, seeing them do it. It’s one of the few precious images that is almost universally wholesome and promising, as a pregnant woman is a symbol that life goes on and there’s a future ahead for humanity. Maybe that’s why horror films that involve pregnant women are so effective. Think of films like ROSEMARY’S BABY, or more recently the found footage shocker DELIVERY, and you automatically get a chill because it involves the endangerment of the mother and her child.

With its unconventional plot and complex themes at play, PROXY is an ingeniously smart film tackling an intricate disease known as Munchhausen By Proxy, which involves a darker take on motherhood. Those who know the condition understand how horrific it can be and motherly martyrdom, while often the subject of comedy in cinema with a nebbish mother seemingly enjoying the attention she gets from friends in the sewing circle, has never been portrayed in film in such a manner that is so nerve-shatteringly real and terrifying.


PROXY is one of those films that leaves a deep scar after viewing. It’s not the Hollywood horror with jump scares, CGI, and Don Music head slams on the keyboard for audience reaction. It’s a film that will grab you and shake you and leave you devastated, but done in a manner that feels all too real and all the more tragic. PROXY pulls no punches and is some brave and bold horror that some might not be prepared for, but I hope to see much more of from director Zack Parker, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors working today.
I couldn’t recommend this film more if my life depended on it. Just superb filmmaking from start to finish.

LIFE AFTER BETH (2014)
Directed by Jeff BaenaWritten by Jeff Baena
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Cheryl Hines, Paul Reiser, Matthew Gray Gubler, Anna Kendrick, Garry Marshall
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Unfortunately, I know from experience that the number one thing people feel after someone close to them dies is regret. There’s always that nagging feeling that something was left unsaid or something should have been given more attention. You never know when the last moment you spend with a person will be, so you’re bound to take it for granted until you can’t have any more moments with that person. Under all of the zombie makeup and comical situations, that’s the serious and universal theme that hides beneath the surface of LIFE AFTER BETH, the first time directing effort from I HEART HUCKABEES writer Jeff Baena.

Dane DeHaan, who has had some pretty big roles of late from CHRONICLE to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 to A PLACE BEYOND THE PINES, shows much more here in this movie that I gave him credit for. For the most part, DeHaan’s Zach is the Winona Ryder character in both HEATHERS and, especially, BEETLEJUICE who mopes around in mourning of his girlfriend Beth’s (played by Aubrey Plaza) death, which occurs in the opening moments of the film. Dehaan plays the straight man here, mourning cartoonishly at the loss, but also exemplifying the melodramatic goth vibe often seen in teens (though both DeHaan and Plaza clearly look older than teenagers in this film). DeHaan sits silently during the family meal (with his family made up of Paul Reiser, Cheryl Hines, and his overly macho brother played by Matthew Gray Gubler) and leafs through his all-black wardrobe for the right black shirt to wear. Towards the beginning of the film, I was especially impressed with the scenes DeHaan shares with John C. Reilly, who plays Beth’s dad. After losing Beth, Zach instantly starts forming a bond with Beth’s dad which develops into bordering on stalking. DeHaan does this straight-faced and serious, never really overplaying the situation for comedic effect and hitting every note right along the way. This is a range I’d never seen in the actor before and it impressed me.

Despite all of the serious themes of grief and loss, there’s a lot to laugh at here. There’s quite a bit of gore at play here, while still refraining from overuse. And while the scares are at a minimum, the emotional core of the film is going to hit a lot of people just right. Reminiscent of the Billy Connolly zom com FIDO from a few years back which dealt with some of the same themes in a funny way, LIFE AFTER BETH retains its dark tone, casting very human reactions to death against the ridiculous concept of the dead rising from their graves and not remembering that they died and attempting to assume their previous lives. It doesn’t hurt that some of the funniest people on the planet are saying all of these lines and reacting to these situations. Yes, there are some inconsistencies involving “the rules” of how the dead are getting up and walking around with embalming and burying corpses they way they are today, none of that is really taken into consideration here, but this film is not really about those kind of details. It’s about seeing a loved one just one more time and being able to say what you needed to say, all set with a darkly comedic tone. Seeing CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’s Cheryl Hines and MAD ABOUT YOU’s Paul Riser react to zombies is priceless, as is seeing Jerry Marshall come back as a complaining zombie grandpa. With solid comedic performances, a consistently pitch black comedic tone, and a story that never makes fun of the genre, but has funny people react to it instead, LIFE AFTER BETH is a comedic horror film that will make you laugh while bringing up themes about loss that horror films rarely touch upon.
And finally…written and directed by PJ Wolfe and starring BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’s Joshua Leonard (JOSHHHH!!!!!) and a dog named Jett, this genuinely scary sci fi short is all sorts of awesome. Wolfe is not stopping there as he is in the middle of a Kickstarter for his next film, SINNER’S HOLIDAY, which is described as a celebration of B-movie bad girls, motor-psycho outlaws, switchblades, kinky cops and rock 'n' roll. You can support Wolfe’s film by clicking here.
Enjoy 9 MINUTES!
9 MINUTES from P.J. Wolff on Vimeo.
See ya next week, folks!


Be sure to tell your comic shop to order his new comic PIROUETTE from July’s Diamond Previews (item code JUL14 0937) today and the new issue #2 available to order in August Previews (item code AUG14 1131) from Black Mask Studios!!


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