
Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. On with the horror reviews!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
Retro-review: TWICE-TOLD TALES (1963)
Retro-review: WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE (1983)
Retro-review: GARBAGE PAIL KIDS: THE MOVIE (1987)
Retro-review: MOONTRAP (1989)
IN THE HELL OF DIXIE (2015)
FRANCES STEIN (2015)
INDIGENOUS (2014)
8 Films To Die For: WIND WALKERS (2015)
BODY (2015)
Advance Review: A NIGHT OF HORROR (2015)
And finally…Sonny Fernandez’ FRIDAY THE 13TH: BLOODVILLE!


TWICE-TOLD TALES (1963)
aka NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE’S TWICE-TOLD TALES, NIGHTS OF TERROR, THE CORPSE-MAKERSDirected by Sidney Salkow
Written by Robert E. Kent, based on the stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Starring Vincent Price, Joyce Taylor, Sebastian Cabot, Brett Halsey, Beverly Garland, Richard Denning, Mari Blanchard, Abraham Sofaer, Jacqueline deWit, Edith Evanson, Floyd Simmons, Gene Roth
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
In the midst of adapting all of Poe’s best works, Vincent Price squeezed out a little time to make an anthology based on the best of Nathaniel Hawthorne as well. The film lacks the punch of Corman’s adaptations, but this is still one fun grouping of short stories once again highlighting Vincent Price’s undeniable charm and versatility as an actor.



While all of these tales are jam packed with romanticism gone terribly wrong, they still have fun twist endings and well deserved horrible fates. Plus the bright colors and ornate settings make for some amazing old school scares. This Blu is minimal on extras but does have an audio Commentary by Film Historians Richard Harland Smith and Perry Martin. Still for the Price completist, this BluRay is something you’re going to want to get.


WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE (1983)
aka BLADE VIOLENT, ENNABUELLE IN PRISON, A BUNCH OF BASTARDSDirected by Bruno Mattei
Written by Claudio Fragasso, Olivier Lefait
Starring Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Ursula Flores, Maria Romano, Antonella Giacomini, Raul Cabrera, Pierangelo Pozzato, Robert Mura, Françoise Perrot, Jacques Stany, Flo Astair, Carlo De Mejo, Franca Stoppi, Lorraine De Selle
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
Zombie and sleaze director Bruno Mattei offers up a film that is half typical women’s prison flick and half something interesting with WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE.

But just when I was about to give up on this one, things begin to get interesting as a security car with a handful of male killers crashes near the women’s prison. With only one guard left alive, he takes the shackled prisoners by gunpoint to the prison. Things go sideways quick and while most women’s prison films end in some kind of escape attempt, this one takes more of a DOG DAY AFTERNOON direction as the male prisoners take over the prison and attempt to use the inmates and guards as hostages, negotiating chips, and more devious things.

Though it is sleazy as can be, WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE does a pretty good job of being sleazy and managed to surprise me a few times along the way. While the film doesn’t really do much advancement in the realm of acting (most of the voices are dubbed anyway), but this is definitely one of the more unique women’s prison films out there with copious amounts of sleaze and gore.
BEWARE: If boobies were a crime, this trailer would be going to prison! NSFW!


GARBAGE PAIL KIDS: THE MOVIE (1987)
Directed by Rod AmateauWritten by Linda Palmer , Rod Amateau (screenplay), John Pound (trading cards creator)
Starring Anthony Newley, Mackenzie Astin, Katie Barberi, Ron MacLachlan, J.P. Amateau, Marjory Graue, Phil Fondacaro as Greaser Greg, Debbie Lee Carrington as Valerie Vomit, Kevin Thompson as Ali Gator, Bobby Bell as Foul Phil, Larry Green as Nat Nerd, Arturo Gil as Windy Winston, and Susan Rossitto as Messy Tessie
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
Yeah, it’s not really a horror film. More of a horrific piece of cinema. But as a kid, I’m not ashamed to admit, I collected the hell out of Garbage Pail Kids Cards. It felt like an act of rebellion against the mainstream love for the Cabbage Patch Kids phenomenon that went on in the mid-eighties. I don’t think I want to know how much in quarters I spent on packs and packs of those Garbage Pail Kids cards and I know I have them collected in a box somewhere. Be it my OCD tendency of a collector, a fascination with all things freaky and gross, or just something fun to do, if you were a kid in the 80’s you most likely loved the cards and your parents hated it. I don’t think I went to the theaters to see THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS: THE MOVIE. I think the craze had died down by then and my interest had moved on to other forms of geek. Still, I remember seeing it as a kid on cable and being pretty unimpressed with it. Seeing it again as an adult, I’m still not too impressed. THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS is a very bad movie and I could simply write it off as bad and leave it at that. But that’s not going to make for an interesting review, so I decided to delve into why it’s such a bad film below.

The script is the main reason this film is a piece of shit. Unimaginative and unfunny, the Garbage Pail Kids simply reenact their one dimensional trait like farting, snotting, or pissing themselves over and over, most of the time utilizing potty humor in the most rudimentary of ways (more than once, just in case you didn’t get the joke the first time). The film tries to have it both ways. It wants to be a kids film with all sorts of potty humor that makes the kids giggle, but coming from the weirdly mechanical animatronic monstrosities only makes them uncomfortable to watch. A better script and filmmaker might have been able to use the punch-line cards as a launching pad for some kind of imaginative stab at the Cabbage Patch phenomenon. That’s why the cards were so interesting in the first place. They were a way to rebel from the popular alternative. Imagine if this were a story of how the cards and the kids came to be; as a response to society’s obsession with Cabbage Patch Kids, Garbage Pail Kids came to be as their flip sides and THEN make the GPKids the more interesting and unique of the two. Using Cabbage Patch Kids would be impossible as the company sued the makers of GPKids for copyright infringement, but creative minds would have been able to get around this.

Random wrongs about this film: The horrific song “We Can Do Anything By Working With Each Other” burrows into your brain and refuses to leave.
At the State Home For the Ugly, which is a place that supposedly contains the rest of the thousand-billion Garbage Pail Kids, each cell has a qualifier as to why the inmate is there like Too Hairy and Too Silly, but it also includes the offensive Too Crippled cell which is beyond wrong.

In the final act, the Garbage Pail Kids are told the rest of the kids have been murdered by the State Home For the Ugly, a fact which makes none of the cast or animatronic kids bat one of their dead eyes at it, making for a completely downer of an ending.
So you have a story that really doesn’t involve the Garbage Pail Kids, no imagination at all put into the story, and effects that were only half done when filming started; it’s a wonder that this film was made at all. On a positive note, Barberi looked exactly like a gal I had a huge crush on in high school. It’s too bad that’s the only redeeming quality in this film. Those of us who collected the Garbage Pail Kids cards as kids deserved better. I’m not asking for an Oscar contender, but it actually pisses me off when filmmakers don’t even try. With nostalgia reigning supreme these days and new sets of GPKids cards coming out, maybe a decent version of this property can be made. Not that anyone is demanding it, but if it is something ever revisited, hopefully someone actually tries with the script.


MOONTRAP (1989)
Directed by Robert DykeWritten by Tex Ragsdale
Starring Walter Koenig, Bruce Campbell, Leigh Lombardi, Robert Kurcz, John J. Saunders, Reavis Graham, Tom Case, Doug Childs
Retro-reviewed by Ambush Bug
It’s funny seeing Bruce Campbell in a film where he isn’t hamming it up, but that’s just what he does in MOONTRAP, a low budget, small thinking little sci fi flick. By the way, for some reason every time I write or say MOONTRAP, my intermittent dyslexia has me pronounce it MOONTARP, for some reason. Say, MOONTARP. It’s damn fun to say.

This is just simply a fun movie. Set in the far future year of 1990, the film is almost quaint in its simplistic take on space travel. Because Campbell and Koenig are witness to the first sighting of the alien tech, they are vetted to the top of the list to go on the next mission, simply because the plot, not logic, calls for it. The practical robot effects are obviously a take on THE TERMINATOR as it rampages through the space control base and battles armed guards. At the same time, fun mini models of the spacecraft are used in pretty ingenious ways. The effects are all over the place, incorporating cheap miniature effects with practical. One such iconic effect is used later in the film as the robots scavenge body parts of one of the fallen astronauts in order to make new warriors out of spare parts.

MOONTRAP is a harmless little sci fi; not really offering up much to push the genre forward, but uses a lot of tropes you’ve seen from other horror and sci fi movies that you’ll recognize and appreciate. Films like TERMINATOR and HARDWARE do it better, but Bruce, Checkov, and the effects make this one brainless and harmless fun.

IN THE HELL OF DIXIE (2015)
Directed by Eric F. AdamsWritten by Eric F. Adams
Starring Austin T. Adams, Eric F. Adams, Nick F. Adams, Justin Bickham, Tom Bubrig, Chip Carriere, Russell G. Graham II, Emilia Graves, David Guillory, Pam Guillory, Travis Haskins, John Inglesman, Janet L'Aube, Donna Leblanc, Ryan Chase Lee
Find out more about this film on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
The biggest sin of IN THE HELL OF DIXIE is that it might be a little too ambitious for its own good. Apart from that, I have to give it to the cast and crew for putting together this little indie horror.
IN THE HELL OF DIXIE is an elaborate tale of horror in the South. There’s a genuine and authentic feel to this film, as if it were made with the efforts of an entire town with a bunch of good old boys pitching in and delivering a broad story with multiple characters and an elaborate plot. The main story focuses on a police officer who is vying to become Sergeant, but is passed over in the opening moments. Meanwhile, a killer is making his way through the woods and picking off a group of hunters on their annual hunting outing.

The main characters aren’t bad in terms of acting. I’ve certainly seen worse. But those not tolerant of unpolished and amateur performances are going to want to pass on this one. Still, props to all involved for mapping out a strong story and doing it all themselves. Indie film lovers are going to want to check it out. The carnage in the second hour is pretty impressive, it just takes its sweet time to get there.

FRANCES STEIN (2015)
Directed by PJ WoodsideWritten by PJ Woodside
Starring PJ Woodside, Scott Cummings, Cody Rogers, Jessica Leonard, Steve Hudgins, T.O.N.E-z, Ruby Sayard Kelly, Felicia Stewart, Vivien Worthen-Powell, Alyssa Reisinger, Lucy Turner, Sean Mooningham, Jessica Dockrey, Grey Hurt, James Gibbs, Janet Corum, Jonathan Humphrey, Rob Miles, Emily Beeny, Todd Martin, Trish Erickson-Martin, Barb Rosner, Patrick Higgs
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
PJ Woodside and her Big Biting Pig Productions she runs with Steve Hudgins are voices to be reckoned with in independent horror. I’ve reviewed almost all of their films here on AICN HORROR (THE CREEPY DOLL, THE CARETAKERS, LUCID, SPIRIT STALKERS) and with each film the writer/director/actress improves with leaps and bounds. FRANCES STEIN is her latest film and it’s definitely the best of the bunch.

I love it that this isn’t some modern retread of the FRANKENSTEIN tale. Elements of the classic story are used and the script references specific details such as Igor, the desire to conquer death, and other nods to the classic, but for the most part, it is an entirely new story about science gone wrong. The script itself is clever and fast-paced, focusing highly on character and the complex interactions between them. I was blown away by the sophisticated and unconventional way the story unfolds as the film flips back and forth through time to tell this elaborate tale. There are even some last minutes twists and turns that will definitely surprise you. It sure surprised me.

If you’re willing to take a chance on FRANCES STEIN, I guarantee you’re going to be impressed. From top to bottom, this is a structurally sound and thoroughly entertaining spin on mad science. This is a true indie gem that deserves to be seen and hopefully this spectacular film will result in even bigger and better things for this talented filmmaker.

INDIGENOUS (2014)
Directed by Alastair OrrWritten by Max Roberts
Starring Zachary Soetenga, Lindsey McKeon, Sofia Pernas, Pierson Fode, Jamie Anderson, Juanxo Villaverde, Laura Penuela, Michael Mealor, and Mark Steger as the Chupacabra!
Find out more about this film on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
While everything about this film screams “typical,” director Alastair Orr and writer Max Roberts inject enough personality and a cool monster to make INDIGENOUS an interesting ride we’ve ridden before.

I will give it to this film. The actors are really good here. While they all look like they stepped off a model shoot, they still have enough personality that you actually pull for them. That’s not to say these guys are smart people. After seeing a Youtube video of a group of people being stalked and killed by a monster, they think it’s a good idea to go into that same jungle to look for a fabled waterfall. Not expecting to stay long, they are ill-prepared when they get lost and the Chupa starts chooping them up. Inexplicably though, they all have flashlights…

The film does a cool thing by putting the focus on the recovery of the lost kids and the myth of the Chupacabra. It tries to show what it would be like if a cryptozoid was actually caught on camera for a world-wide audience. This is an aspect rarely delved into in these types of films which are basically centered on an extended chase through the woods in the latter half. I liked the incorporation of this idea in the film which makes it a little more watchable and made me more forgiving of the mistakes the film made along the way. INDIGENOUS does not tell the tale of smart people doing smart things, but it does take some turns I wasn’t expecting and the monster, what we see of it, is pretty cool.

WIND WALKERS (2015)
Directed by Russell FriedenbergWritten by Russell Friedenberg
Starring Glen Powell, Zane Holtz, Rudy Youngblood, Kiowa Gordon, Johnny Sequoyah, Phil Burke, J. LaRose, Castille Landon, Heather Rae, Christopher Kriesa, Russell Friedenberg, Tsulan Cooper, Jennifer Saba Conrad, Vinnie Duyck
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
The scope of the story seems to be the main villain in WIND WALKERS as this disjointed story holds a lot of promise, but delivers a jigsaw puzzle of a narrative with a few missing pieces.

This is a film where people just don’t act like real people. They fail to react to Sean’s weird ways an when they do notice, instead of showing concern for their tormented friend, they try to kill him. There’s a scene where the group decides to split up for no good reason, sending one person to get help while the others stick around in a cabin waiting for help. There’s no reason the group shouldn’t have left all together other than to serve the plot. This film is riddled with this type of scattershot storytelling where it feels like a page of the script is missing every ten or so minutes.

The cast especially Glen Powell, Rudy Youngblood, and Zane Holtz are all good here. Holtz looks like a young Michael Shannon and shares the actor’s intensity. It’s too bad they are occupying such an off-center story. Without a narrative throughway, one can justify anything can happen, but a story where anything goes just isn’t appealing as the audience likes to know what path they are taking. WIND WALKERS goes wherever the wind takes it to propel the characters along, but that doesn’t necessarily make it an interesting movie.

BODY (2015)
Directed by Dan Berk & Robert OlsenWritten by Dan Berk & Robert Olsen
Starring Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, Larry Fessenden, Adam Cornelius, Dan Brennan, Kimberly Flynn, Ian Robinson
Find out more about this film here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
BODY is a well acted, well structured ball of tension reminiscent of Hitchcockian thrillers of old.

What I love about this film is the infectious likability of the three main leads at the beginning of the film. Not only are these three ladies fantastic actresses, but they are also damn funny in the casual, yet hilarious way they play around with one another in the first half of this film. These are not the dim-witted machete fodder you usually see in horror films. These are likable and fully formed characters who we get to know naturally in the first twenty or so minutes of the film where we follow them around simply having fun and relaxing. Every horror movie has a casual lead in where we are supposed to get to know the characters, but not all of them succeed in making you care simply because the writing is sub par and the acting is usually worse. Here, I wasn’t longing for the horrific stuff to happen as these girls are simply fun to watch.

BODY is a film written to be watched on the edge of whatever it is you’re resting on. The acting is top tier and I know that all three actresses (Turshen, Molina, and especially Rogers who has an absolutely unique quality to her) are going to be big names very soon. Larry Fessenden is also top of his game giving a performance unlike anything I’ve seen from him before. Go see BODY. It’s a thriller that will stomp down your spine and have you wincing on the wrong but wildly entertaining turns these three women take.

A NIGHT OF HORROR (2015)
Directed by Enzo Tedeschi (“Life Imitates”), Bossi Baker (“Hum”), Rebecca Thomson (“I Am Undone”), Justin Harding (“Point of View”), Evan Randall Green (“Dark Origins”), Carmen Falk (“Ravenous”), Goran Spoljaric (“The Priest”), Matthew Goodrich (“Scission”), Nicholas Colla and Daniel Daperis (“Flash”)Written by Enzo Tedeschi (“Life Imitates”), Bossi Baker (“Hum”), Rebecca Thomson & Claire D'Este (“I Am Undone”), Justin Harding & John Hill (“Point of View”), Evan Randall Green (“Dark Origins”), Carmen Falk (“Ravenous”), Goran Spoljaric (“The Priest”), Matthew Goodrich (“Scission”), Nicholas Colla and Daniel Daperis (“Flash”)
Starring Bianca Bradley (“Life Imitates”), Jessica Collins, Abbe Ertel Magid, Bill Sarkisian (“Hum”), Jane Howard, Karissa Lane, Nicole Simms (“I Am Undone”), Peter Higginson, Jessica Hinkson, Kristy Kennedy ("Point of View”), Jane Elizabeth Barry, Rosie Keogh, Paul Vorrasi, Darrin Davies, Kaylea Caulfield, Erin Fleay (“Dark Origins”), Pauline Grace, Max Tornello, Mark Robert, Bridget Williams, David Macrae (“The Priest”), Lucia Emmerichs, John Flaus, Jessica Gower, Steve Hayden, Emily Wheaton, Rachel Soderstrom, Rhys Thomas, Pod Poduska, Jade Soderstrom, Sequoia Pather (“Scission”)
Find out more about this film here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug









As a whole, this is an extremely strong compilation of horror shorts. Varied in tone, every one of them is memorable and creative in their own way. This is labeled as volume one of A NIGHT OF HORROR. Here’s hoping there are many volumes to come.
And finally…here’s yet another short animated film from the indie director of THE ABORTED, THE LAST BATTLEGROUND, THE COMPLEX, and HIGHWAY 91. Sonny Fernandez may never get a chance to direct his own FRIDAY THE 13TH film (but I’m sure it would be pretty awesome if he did), but here’s an animated taste of what you would get if that alternate universe existed. Enjoy FRIDAY THE 13TH: BLOODVILLE!
See ya next week, folks!
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/writer of wrongs/reviewer/interviewer/editor of AICN COMICS for over 13 years & AICN HORROR for 4. Follow Ambush Bug on the Twitters @Mark_L_Miller.
Look for our bi-weekly rambling about random horror films on Poptards and Ain’t It Cool on AICN HORROR’s CANNIBAL HORRORCAST Podcast every other Thursday!