Catcall 2 (2019)

Catcall 2 (2019) - Canada

Directed by: Patrick Fortin

ABOUT THE FILM:

(Special thanks to Patrick Fortin for providing me with a screener for review!)

Catcall 2 is the latest film from Quebec-based filmmaker Patrick Fortin, wherein a pair of women continue an onslaught of hyper-violence against the pigs daring enough to taunt, harass and follow them, topped with a noisy soundtrack by Smegma Pile and Kids Kill Kids.

REVIEW:

Similar to the first Catcall, this sequel dishes out over-the-top gore and guts without skipping a beat. Heads are smashed and bashed into smithereens, men are shot until they are nothing but unrecognizable matter, and greasy, bloody stains coat the walls and the streets.

Sounds like a great time, right? It definitely is, but there are a few small complaints I have. For such a short film, there is very little story to take in and some of the scene transitions feel confusing, such as a dance/party sequence following a hyper-gory killing spree near the end. One other issue is the inconsistency in the special effects. The special effects were executed courtesy of Camille Monette and Gore Gore Dave, with additional props provided by filmmaker/effects artist James Bell. The props vary in quality, with some looking great and some looking noticeably fake and cheesy, such as a prop head that has its eyes gouged near the start of the film. There are also several shots where blood tubes are visible without having to look for them, which can be distracting.

With those gripes aside, this is still a really fun short that I can recommend.

RELEASES:

Catcall 2 was released on DVD by Goriest Production et Macabre Édition on a 

limited run of only 30 copies, along with a few bonus short films:

Fucker Apocalypse (great title!)

Young Blood

Fisheye

Sequelle

Extremism Breaks My Balls (2000)

Extremism Breaks My Balls (2000) - Sweden
Directed by: Nicholas Debot

ABOUT THE FILM:
A 5-minute short film about a young couple who are making love, when suddenly, a pair of thugs burst into their bedroom and castrate the young man with a meat cleaver for committing adultery and for voting for an extremist right-wing party.

REVIEW:
Without attempting to bring any personal biases or political views into this review, Extremism Breaks My Balls certainly gets its point across in its short runtime. There are some people who feel a little too strongly about politics, to the point where they will commit acts of violence against others. Sometimes, these extremists are allowed to work in the government, and will go out of their ways to force their views onto others, even if it means invading their privacy. I personally think that the castration sequence is symbolic of such a concept, and the way it is presented is not only graphic, but very effective in driving the message.

RELEASES:
-Extremism Breaks My Balls was included as an extra on a double-bill DVD of Pearls Before Swine and Bloodlust, released in Sweden by Njutafilms.

Nocta (2019)

Nocta (2019) - Germany

Directed by: Master W and Crippler Criss

ABOUT THE FILM:

Nocta follows 40-year old Ernst, a sheltered, devout Catholic man who 

goes above and beyond effort to live a life free of sin. Come his 40th birthday, his pal 

Till decides to throw him a birthday party and help him make new friends, including hooking him up with a woman. Till invites his Afro-German friend Shabbi, who is a believer in the Islamic faith. Although dubious at first, what with their religious differences, Ernst tries to learn to overcome these differences and find trust in Shabbi and his new friends.

As the party starts, Ernst quickly grows skeptical of his surroundings. There's alcohol, marijuana, obnoxious music, strobe lights, dancing and sex. However, Ernst is distracted as he's introduced to Nocta, a beautiful young woman who he believes to be more than human; an angel, if you will.

Nocta is quite the contrary, as she smokes marijuana and talks extensively (and rather graphically) of how alcohol triggers her menstrual cycle in the worst possible way.

Till ends up making Ernst and Nocta unknowingly consume alcoholic drinks, in

the hopes that the two will be driven to have sex. Shabbi and Nocta then tempt Ernst to smoke marijuana, stating that the oils were once used by Jesus. Ernst is blinded by love and wants nothing more than to express his love toward Nocta. Unfortunately, she becomes sick in the process, as she doesn't believe in love, coupled with unknowingly drinking alcohol. She finds herself vomiting and bleeding simultaneously, and everything escalates as startling revelations are made...

REVIEW:

Nocta is the latest film from P.S.Y.C.H.O. Productions. They are an independent

film-crew based out of Silschede that consistently pump out ridiculous and over-the-top, 

yet immensely entertaining splatterfests, of which Nocta is no exception. 

In fact, Nocta is so over-the-top and extreme that it transcends being a splatter film.

Rarely do films that are this gory attempt to challenge the viewer with a story. Often times,

they are made simply to showcase special effects. Sometimes whatever plot given is only there to build up around the gore scenes. However, Nocta slowly takes its time to build up to

the intense gore scenes, perfectly balances humor with gore and terror, and carefully fleshes out its characters. Ernst, portrayed by the talented Jim Aal, is a Catholic man struggling to find friends and love, who tries to live up to his racist father's expectations after the death of his mother. Shabbi, portrayed by Raping Ras, is a man who is faced with violent oppression because of his race and his religion, but he protests with peace and with reasoning. When the two work together, they work together well, differences aside.

As the story finally builds up to our gore, we are given gore in spades. Throats are slit, limbs

are torn apart and chopped in half, vital organs and jugulars are ripped out; blood and fecal matter

flies all over the place; there is so much blood that a dam should be built.

In addition to the blood spraying like a firehose, the effects, crafted by gore-wizard Sebastian Zeglarski, glisten with red beauty and will more than satiate the average gorehound's appetite.

Speaking of glistening, for such a low-budget production, Nocta is a very polished-looking film! Shot in HD, every gruesome detail pops out like an eyeball, and the lighting is goregeous in most spots!

There are few cons I can personally find with this film. The few that I have are a 

few minor technical errors, what with occasional visible equipment and wonky sound in some areas. But of course, these fleeting negatives are demolished by all the positives. The entire cast hams up their performances, but that only makes them even more entertaining and memorable.

I've been psyched for Nocta ever since it was first announced, and it exceeded my expectations. Nocta is one of my favorite German splatter films I've seen in a while.

I highly recommend Nocta to fellow gorehounds.

RELEASES:

-Nocta was released on DVD and Blu-Ray by P.S.Y.C.H.O. Productions in 2019.

-Extras:

Audio Commentary

The Making Of Nocta

Interviews

Bloopers

Jim-Aal Special

Music Videos

Trailer

-The film was also released on Blu-Ray in Japan!

Please consider supporting independent horror cinema and purchasing a copy of Nocta! You can buy it from the filmmakers here:

https://www.facebook.com/PsychoProductionsNRW/

The Man Who Lived Under the Porch (2019)

The Man Who Lived Under the Porch (2019) - United States

Directed by: Travis Vulture

ABOUT THE FILM:

The Man Who Lived Under the Porch is a brand new short film from haunted house scare actor Travis Vulture.

This experimental short plays out as a first-hand experience of a woman who has been captured and held captive by a demented man who lives under her porch. The man is filthy, donning tattered and torn, blood (and feces?)-stained clothing, and sports very greasy and nappy hair. He introduces himself to the woman as a self-proclaimed "encyclopedia salesman", and berates her for not purchasing one of his books. In a fit of rage, he destroys one of his books. As the short progresses, we bear witness as the man seems to switch personas, from a salesman, to a dancer, to a culinary artist.

The man becomes increasingly more hostile and violent towards his victim. He proceeds to cut out portions of his own hair and eat it on a sandwich, threatening to make his victim into a sandwich as well.

REVIEW:

This short film, while not necessarily scary or gory, is definitely intense and there are a lot of small details to digest.

Travis Vulture is a very convincing scare actor who truly proves to be intimidating in this lo-fi video romp. Travis successfully showcases his range as an actor through his character, as his character's change in persona is shown through his behavior. One minute he's screaming expletives at the victim, played by Emma Lenar, and tearing things apart, and the next he's eating a hair-sandwich and imploring the victim to have a bite. What I find interesting about this concept is that it takes a profession such as an encyclopedia salesman, which isn't usually considered scary, and actually makes it disturbing.

The man's state of mental decay is further emphasized not only by his own body language, but through effects and filters as well. I should mention that the short was shot using a Panasonic VHS camera, and was filmed in one take with no edits, barring a few in-camera effects that were used during filming. The home-video quality image only makes the given scenario feel more visceral and dirty. It feels as if I'm truly watching through the eyes of a victim who wants nothing more than to retreat back to their brighter life, when instead she is roped into the midst of this twisted man's world. Occasionally the image will invert, mirror or turn pixelated which further brings the madness to life, during which point the man is having a breakdown or transitioning into a different state of mind, thus successfully capturing his mental instability.

Lastly, underneath all of the madness we're treated to a couple of great brutal death metal tracks, courtesy of Wisconsin-based one-man-band Putrid Pile. The music fits perfectly when matched with a mentally unstable individual.

At first glance, the average viewer could brush off The Man as just another cheap YouTube horror short. But if one pays attention and examines the behaviors portrayed, it becomes evident how well-thought out such a piece is. This little piece of experimental performance art is absolutely worth checking out, and I'm looking forward to seeing more work from these filmmakers in the future.

RELEASES:

The Man Who Lived Under the Porch is currently available to watch on YouTube.

It can be viewed here.

Catcall/Gorefest 2 (2019)

Catcall/Gorefest 2 (2019) - Canada

Directed by: Patrick Fortin

ABOUT THE FILMS:

Catcall and Gorefest 2 are a pair of short films, both under 10 minutes in length, made by underground Canadian filmmaker Patrick Fortin.

Catcall takes place in Quebec and tells the story of a relentless young lass as she cooks up her grisly revenge on all the men who constantly hound on her.

As for Gorefest 2, whereas no real story is easily interpreted, there is an endless barrage of bizarre and violent imagery. Across the 6-minute runtime we are treated with demons, clowns, chainsaws, vomiting and plenty of gore and melting body parts, a la Street Trash.

Some savory fixings in Gorefest 2

REVIEW:

Whereas the shorts don't provide much in terms of story, gorehounds will sure as hell have a lot of fun with these little sickies! Director Patrick Fortin truly packs a punch here with an endless array of truly grotesque but thoroughly entertaining gore effects sequences. Not only are the effects very well-crafted and well-implemented, but they prove to truly get under one's skin, due in part to the sound effects provided. The endless sounds of spurting and squishing will leave one wanting to clean their ears out after a while.

It's also clear that a lot of care and attention to detail went into visually crafting the films as well. The shorts are tightly edited and lit, with some interesting cinematography. Whereas Catcall is shot on digital video, Gorefest 2 almost looks to have been shot on film. There is plenty of grain and scratches present, and the colors are very bright and vibrant; both films definitely give off a Grindhouse sort of feel.

Definitely peep these shorts out if you're a fan of Grindhouse-style cinema and films like Street Trash.

Sweet revenge in "Catcall"

RELEASES:

Catcall and Gorefest 2 were released together as a double-feature DVD by Gore Addict and Goriest Production, a DVD which was limited to a run of 100 copies.

Extras:

-English subtitles

-Making of Gorefest 2

Please consider supporting indie horror and buy the movie here:

https://patrickfortin.wixsite.com/patrickntu/product-page/catcall-gorefest-2-cover-2-50-copies

Backyard Gore Torture (2019)

Backyard Gore Torture (2019) - United States

Directed by: Gore Filth

ABOUT THE FILM:

Backyard Gore Torture is the first official short film from underground filmmaker/gore movie enthusiast Gore Filth. Shot with a VHS camcorder over the course of one afternoon, this very modest "horrific home movie" plays out like a faux snuff film, as a couple castrates and tortures a pedophile who they caught off of the street. The film comes to an end after the camera man instructs his lover to saw off his hand and his foot, as his bloodlust has not yet been satiated.

REVIEW:

Backyard Gore Torture is very self-deprecating and doesn't take itself seriously at all, and as a result we get a thoroughly entertaining, if inept 12-minute short film.

Immediately, the inspiration behind such a creation is obvious in the opening credits. The camera pans across walls and shelves decorated with posters and obscure horror DVDs and memorabilia, with the credits crudely written on paper, an opening familiar to that of Chainsaw Scumfuck. Meanwhile, grindcore music can be heard blaring from speakers off camera, as the credits roll.

The scene moves to the backyard, where a hooded and masked figure takes a hedge trimmer to a very crudely designed dummy, fully stuffed with cotton with several blood bags in place of where the dummy is to be cut. As if the visuals weren't funny enough, there are several instances where blood bags can be seen falling out of place, and there are malfunctioning blood tubes all over the place. Gore and props seem to consist of store-bought meats and Halloween shop prosthetics and mannequins.

Backyard Gore Torture is an absolute mess, albeit a very entertaining one. The creativity and the "horrific" special effects really help make for an interesting and fun viewing experience.

If you are a fan of (quite literally) backyard productions made on the ultra cheap or are just looking for a good laugh, Backyard Gore Torture makes for a great candidate.

RELEASES:

-Backyard Gore Torture was released on DVD independently by Horrific Home Movies, and has no extras. Since the film was shot on VHS in one take with no edits, the DVD is just a rip of the tape.

Meat Butcher Baby (2009)

Meat Butcher Baby (2009) - Canada

Directed by: Yan Kaos

ABOUT THE FILM:

Meat Butcher Baby is a very obscure underground gore film from Canada made by Yan Kaos, an artist who specializes in gore and in the dark arts.

This 18-minute short follows a very simple plot. A masked lunatic murders and very slowly dismembers his female victim inside of a bathtub, removing her arms and gouging her eyes out in gut-wrenching, grisly detail until it all ends with her unrecognizable body in the tub.

REVIEW:

Meat Butcher Baby is an excellent sophomore effort by Kaos, succeeding his debut short film Wrong Dose/Bad Reactions.

Meat Butcher Baby plays out like a faux snuff film and is surprisingly effective in achieving this. Director Yan Kaos takes a very straight-to-the-point direction with this film, as the torture begins within only two minutes. Our masked assailant slowly saws the woman to pieces in a sea of blood, a mountain of gore as an unidentified camera operator documents the entire process.

The faux snuff feeling is further pushed by the grainy and ugly VHS-like picture quality, which really gives off an uneasy aura of reality to the whole thing.

Such atmosphere is pushed even further by the gore effects, crafted by both Kaos himself and Jordan St-Louis. The gore is very well-done and proves effective enough to get under the skin of even the most jaded gorehounds. In addition, to keep an air of realism, music is used at the very bare minimum and only makes appearances in the opening and closing credits. For music, we are treated to some great lo-fi thrash/punk tracks, performed by Kaos with his band Diearea as well as a band called Demonic Disaster.

Definitely hunt this one down if you're a fan of gore and faux-snuff type stuff.

RELEASES:

-Meat Butcher Baby has been released on several occasions, on both VHS and DVD, by Kaos under his label D.I.Y. Productions.

Les Démons de la Cave (1998)

Les Démons de la Cave (1998) - France

Directed by: Yoann Malnati

ABOUT THE FILM:

Les Démons de la Cave is an early 44 minute effort by French cinematographer Yoann Malnati, who went on to work on many Canadian television series and films. This early horror short film tells a rather familiar story of a young French man named Franc, who finds an ancient relic in a box hidden away in a cellar. It is soon learned that anyone who touches this relic will become possessed by a demonic entity, and Franc spends the film attempting to fight off this deadly deity.

REVIEW:

Les Démons was produced and filmed in France on weekends over the course of over a year. Malnati wrote, directed and starred in the film at the young age of 17.

Within only about 10 minutes of watching, it becomes clear that Les Démons is a film with naked ambitions. Whereas there are a few clear nods and homages to films such as Evil Dead 2, the film maintains originality and takes its own twist on the classic lore of unearthing demonic spirits by newfound relics. For a 44 minute film, I never felt bored and often found myself on the edge of my seat, anticipating what would happen next. Every scene is carefully interspersed and well-paced; every movement of the actors and the cameras are well-choreographed and the editing for such a low-budget production is tight. The film, for the most part, takes place indoors and is well lit with a nice selection of yellows, reds and greens to give each scene the appropriate feeling and set an awesome atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the film's original score is haunting, well-crafted and further helps set up an amazing atmosphere.

Director and star Malnati steals the show as Franc. Malnati is surprisingly proficient in exhibiting body language and is not afraid to go all out with his performance. This man bashes himself into walls and piles of wood and junk, flips over tables and pulls all kinds of stunts with style. While the actors aren't very good at conveying emotion through voice, all of the cast members deliver strong showings, which is surprising considering they're just a bunch of kids.

The special effects are also very well-done and nicely implemented. The gore effects are never over-the-top and feel moderately realistic, and are used sparingly but used well. The monster and creature effects are well-made and look really good for such a low-budget production! It obviously took a lot of time and careful attention to detail when crafting every mask, hand and other limbs.

Les Démons is probably one of my favorite movies that I've watched since I started To Obscurity and Beyond. Everything about it is awesome and I highly, HIGHLY recommend you looking for this film! It is absolutely worth your time, especially if you love creature features!

RELEASES:

-Les Démons de la Cave was independently released on VHS by Malnaski Production in 1998.

-The movie is officially available to watch on YouTube, courtesy of Malnati himself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ainvNy8VhU8&t=126s

Das Weststadt Massaker (1991-1994)

Das Weststadt Massaker (1991-1994) - Germany

Directed by: Andreas Bethmann

BACKGROUND / ABOUT THE FILM:

Das Weststadt Massaker is the earliest available film from prolific German splatter/porn director Andreas Bethmann, who is better known for his works such as Dämonenbrut, Rossa Venezia and Help Me I Am Dead. Bethmann began making films at the age of 18 in 1988 with his debut film Begrabt in Tief (yet to be released), and he continued to make amateur films for 10 years until he could finally afford to make his visions come to life at a reasonable cost.

Das Weststadt Massaker was one of those amateur films. The film is combined of three separate shorts from 1991 and 1994, and the storyline is that of...a killer in a mask setting loose to wreak havoc upon any and all he finds in the woods.

REVIEW:

Of course, the entire thing is in German and there are no English subtitles available, but those really aren't even needed as you can easily follow the plot. The cast, more than likely Bethmann's friends and family members, are all amateurs and the few who actually try to act see laughable results at best.

The camera work is often very shoddy, shaky and poorly done. The poor editing can be forgiven when you consider this film was edited together with two VCR's, which is a very frustrating editing setup to begin with. Aside from scenes that seem to have been included for no reason, there are several slow-motion shots that will draw out scenes to unnecessarily long lengths, which reminded me a lot of an earlier shot-on-video movie called Sledgehammer.

Probably the only thing that makes this film truly worth it are the laughably bad gore effects. The gore, while not good, is available in abundance. There are plenty of scenes of decapitations, stabbings, castrations, eviscerations, dismembered limbs and people getting run over by cars. Each effect has a considerable amount of (watery) blood involved and plenty of meat and viscera.

Despite all of the bad things I've said about this movie, in some weird way it's still sort of entertaining; even funny at times. It just goes to show that no matter how bad films like this can be, there will always be at least a certain charm or element to them that makes them enjoyable! Even if it feels like your typical Violent Shit knockoff, Das Weststadt Massaker still stands as a moderately entertaining viewing experience and a collector's item for fans of German underground gore.

RELEASES:

-Das Weststadt Massaker 1 was originally released on VHS in January, 1991 by AB-Video Pro with an uncut runtime of 21 minutes.

-Das Weststadt Massaker 2 was originally released on VHS in September, 1991 by AB-Video Pro with an uncut runtime of 34 minutes.

    -Extras:

     Das Weststadt Massaker 1

-Das Weststadt Massaker 3 was originally released on VHS in 1994 by AB-Video Pro.

Permanentes Diarrhö und Hämmorhoiden (1999)

Permanentes Diarrhö und Hämmorhoiden (1999) - Germany

Directed by: Leif Lorenzen and Sönke Petersen

ABOUT THE FILM:

Permanent Diarrhea and Hemorrhoids is the second film in the CUM Pictures trilogy. Similar to its predecessor, Exhumiert und Beschnitten, this "film" is a collection of shorts that have little to nothing to do with each other. Similar to its predecessor, this film is driven by incredibly cheap amateur gore scenes, plenty of real shitting, grindcore music and very "edgy" humor.

REVIEW:

There really isn't much more that can be said about this film as was said about its predecessor. I'm not going to bother trying to address story, as there is no story. These shorts were created for no reason other than to try to be as edgy and disgusting as possible. One of the shorts, Schulmassacre, is simply about a kid in a beanie who goes around shitting everywhere until he shoots up his school. The entire opening crawl of the movie is a series of real gore, autopsy and accident photos stolen off of the internet interspersed with the title cards. Even with the extensive and unnecessary scenes of shitting and shit-eating, the movie falls flat on it's face and feels more gross and stupid than "shocking."

Although not as ugly as the first, the film is clearly aged. There are plenty of VHS artifacts and the colors are oversaturated and will quickly give you a headache. The camera work is incredibly amateurish, as are the few "special" effects and the "acting."

You really aren't missing much.

RELEASES:

-Permanentes Diarrhö und Hämmorhoiden was distributed by CUM Pictures on VHS and sold through advertisements in the Gory News magazine. However, due to its scarcity, the movie is currently only available on bootleg DVDs.

Merah (2019)

Merah (2019) - Malaysia

Directed by: D-Ni

ABOUT THE FILM:

Merah ("Red") plays out like a 5-minute anti-bullying PSA, about a couple of bullies who pour red liquid all over another young girl's artwork, supposedly ruining it. However, her drawing is brought to life, and she confronts the young bully, smacking her in the face hard enough to draw blood.

REVIEW:

Being only a 5-minute short, there is very little content to digest in terms of story. I will say, however, that Merah works well as PSA as it can encourage people to stand up for themselves and not let people walk all over them.

On a visual level, the short is interesting. The gritty black-and-white cinematography works well with the subject matter and tone, and the highlights of the color red make the short feel more three-dimensional and give it life. The short is also tightly edited, with good sound design and choice of music. Probably the best part is the rotoscope effect, which takes place as the young girl's drawing, Hana, comes to life. The animation perfectly fits the movements of the actor and the style particularly reminded me of traditional anime/manga art, which I am quite fond of.

For a five-minute short, it gets its point across and definitely delivers some interesting ideas and techniques.

RELEASES:

-This short has not yet been released and I was provided with a screener copy from the director.

Feto Morto (2003)

Feto Morto (2003) - Brazil

Directed by: Fernando Rick

ABOUT THE FILM:

Feto Morto follows John, a mentally-challenged geek who was born with a dead fetus attached to his head after his fat, abusive father had incestuous sex with his own sister. No matter where he goes or what he does, poor ol' John is faced with misfortune. Whether it's his bizarre sexual encounters with his love interest, or his unpleasant experience with a local trio of violent and anarchic punks, John will be faced with misfortune, until he decides to seek help and get revenge.

REVIEW:

Let's face it: Brazilians know how to gross us out, and they know how to make quality trash cinema. This has been proven time and time again. Feto Morto is no exception, and is the embodiment of the word "trash." We get babies with their heads stomped, a cured crippled man who only gets his legs run over again, gratuitous scenes of sex and vomit, ridiculous over-the-top gore scenes, kung-fu style fights, and much more.

Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where the filmmakers care more about trying to shock the audience instead of focusing on a story. And while the story is there, it's only used to set up the stupidly laughable gore and "shock" sequences. I will say that the few gore scenes presented here, while very cheesy and fake-looking, are certainly fun to watch. They made for a good laugh, specifically a unique kill where a man is killed with his own appendage. Also for a movie shot on video, the camera work isn't too bad. Despite being handheld, the shots are usually very smooth and it's easy to tell what's happening on screen. Unfortunately, the sound is quite poor. The music is too loud compared to the dialogue, and as a result, will drown the dialogue out. The music and sound effects are also noticeably low-quality, as if ripped from the internet, which can be quite distracting at times.

I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy the movie. I'm a huge fan of films produced and distributed by Troma, and I could definitely see this passing as an early 2000's Troma film. Although I thought the movie was entertaining to some extent, I don't think I'll be watching it again any time soon. Overall, being only 58 minutes long, it's a moderately entertaining viewing experience.

RELEASES:

-Feto Morto was released on DVD in 2003 by Black Vomit Filmes and distributed through the Canibal Filmes/Bulhorgia Produçoes website.

-Extras:

Making-Of

Trailers

Exhumiert und Beschnitten (1999)

Exhumiert und Beschnitten (1999) - Germany

Directed by: Leif Lorenzen and Sönke Petersen

ABOUT THE FILM:

Exhumiert und Beschnitten is one of three amateur German "splatter" films made in the year 1999 by the colorfully-titled label, CUM Pictures. This label was run by two teenage metalhead filmmakers who were fixated on dark humor, gore, and very graphic and disgusting scat-centered toilet humor. The first film in their trilogy is a very loosely tied-together collection of shorts made over the past few months of the two filmmakers acting out various "funny" scenarios, including fighting giants, watching porn, eating their pet rabbits, taking a shit, killing each other, and a variety of trashy antics.

REVIEW:

...And I thought Kifferduell was bad. This amateur German roughie is an embarrassing wart on the face of underground horror.

There is very little to no structure to this thing at all. Each short will randomly kick in with no build-up or anything. That is, aside from overlong title card sequences with the name of each short crudely sketched onto toilet paper. Occasionally, these are decorated with gross-out gore/porn images stolen from the internet. The entire movie is nothing but two teenagers dicking around with a camera while the parents are away, as they play with real feces, pretend to eat their pet rabbits, and play with some of the shittiest gore this side of Der Henker. Fake blood seems to be made of either paint or watery ketchup, there are ping-pong balls for eyeballs, and semen is just water flung out of buckets.

This unholy pile is topped with a soundtrack consisting of low-quality, stolen grindcore/brown-metal tracks, and video quality so atrocious that the filmmakers had to have run the master tape through sewage.

I could forgive Exhumiert und Beschnitten being bad if it wasn't absolutely boring as hell. During each short, the camera will usually run the entire time; they rarely cut the shot or make any edits. I think this film could have definitely used some editing; It could have easily been 45 minutes long, considering how much dead air there is. There are many scenes where the two just walk around and do nothing, and any of their juvenile attempts at humor feel very drawn out and fall flat.

Ultimately, Exhumiert und Beschnitten is a tedious, boring and ugly 90 minutes to sit through, and I would advise against watching it if ever given the opportunity. This atrocity is proof that some amateur films deserve to remain hidden.

SIDE NOTE:

Interestingly enough, it seems as though German authorities actually wanted this to remain hidden. According to a Pastebin link, there is an excerpt featured from the now-defunct Gory News magazine claiming that the filmmakers were visited by the police after they obtained their three videos by mailorder. Among the other films were Permanentes Diarrhö und Hämmorhoiden, Anale Geburt and a film called Fötus Gulasch. Whereas the first three films listed were finished and distributed, Fötus Gulasch was only about 90% complete when the raw materials were seized and production was shut down, thus making it a lost film. Judging by the quality of their other works (or lack thereof), this could be a good thing. But at the same time, morbid curiosity is peaking my interests. In the link provided, the director claims that the film was better than their previous efforts, even in terms of splatter effects. I don't know if the film will ever be released, but if it does leak or get released, maybe I will check it out.

RELEASES:

-Exhumiert und Beschnitten was distributed by CUM Pictures on VHS and sold through advertisements in the Gory News magazine. However, due to the scarcity of the film, it is currently only available on bootleg DVDs.

A Bad Day (1999)

A Bad Day (1999) - Germany

Directed by: Jens Wolf

ABOUT THE FILM:

A Bad Day is yet another obscure German amateur film from the late 1990's. The movie starts innocently enough, with a bunch of teenagers in the forest, until one of the boys gets pissed off with a girl and things turn ugly very quickly. The boy ends up brutally beating and killing the girl, and continues to hunt down and kill his friends as they try to stop him.

 

REVIEW:

A Bad Day is a genuinely entertaining first effort from then young director Jens Wolf, who later went on to create the zombie-splatter drama epic Noctem. I must say that I wasn't expecting anything good, considering the cover is just in black with the title and no screenshots, but boy was I wrong.

Each different part of the movie is divided into its own chapter, with intercut title cards telling us about this next segment. It's a great way to structure this tense little story about a bunch of youngsters essentially having a bad day.

For a movie essentially made by what I'm assuming are teenagers, this one is surprisingly well shot and edited, as the director uses some creative and inventive camera angles and techniques. The lighting is all natural (as the film is completely shot outdoors), and is never too dark or too bright, letting the camera focus on the action.

Another thing I wasn't expecting was how gory this film is. There are many kills across the 40 minute runtime, including impalings, prolonged scenes of gory dismemberment with blood gushing everywhere, suicide and so much more. The effects actually aren't that bad either, although they reminded me a lot of Das Komabrutale Duell.

The movie also has a soundtrack made up of cool classic rock tracks. When else in your life will you watch a movie where someone gets cut in half to the tune of Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd?

It's obvious that Jens Wolf is a talented director who is more than capable of crafting an enjoyable movie. If you can find A Bad Day or any of Jens' other work, I can highly recommend it, especially if you're a gorehound.

RELEASES:

-A Bad Day was independently released on VHS by GOREProductions in 1999.

    -Extras:

    Behind-the-Scenes/Outtakes

The Last Days of Livermore (2016)

The Last Days of Livermore (2016) - United States

Directed by: Nathan Hine

ABOUT THE FILM:

The Last Days of Livermore is a short horror film from up-and-coming director Nathan Hine, the mind behind small independent film crew Hardgore Core Productions.

Hine has been active for several years on his YouTube channel reviewing and promoting underground splatter and horror movies, sharing his thoughts and his endless love for the genre and the community centered around it. Hine had been itching to make his own films for as long as he could remember, however, it wasn’t until 2016 that he had finally set out to do so.

The film's storyline focuses primarily on two individuals who are struggling to deal with issues they are having with their relationship. In an effort to better understand the situation and come to terms with each other, they travel out into the beautiful, yet eerie abandoned town of Livermore, Pennsylvania. They take a walk and end up at the local cemetery, where they talk and attempt to correct their troubles. It is then that things start to go horribly wrong.

 

REVIEW:

Being the first ever film produced by Hardgore Core Productions, it is not free from error and it is expected that there will be a couple of issues.

The sound mix is a little stilted in some places and you have the occasional line of dialogue that could have used another take. However, the few minor setbacks do not overshadow all of the amazing things that this short film has to offer. For starters, the cinematography is well thought-out and well-shot. Livermore, which is a beautiful real-life ghost town, was the perfect setting and made for some hauntingly gorgeous shots. The film successfully captures the unnerving atmosphere of the place. The script and story are simple, but both work well enough to be carried across the short 20 minute runtime.

The special effects are nothing short of awesome. The blood is realistic in color and consistency, yet flows like a firehose, which will please gorehounds, and the makeup effects are done well enough to get under the average viewer’s skin..

Overall, this is a solid first effort from the Hardgore Core crew.

Hine is hard at work at getting his first full-length feature film The Sideling Hill professionally pressed and prepped for distribution. Meanwhile, both him and the rest of the crew have just wrapped up shooting a new short film called Keepsake and continue to aid other indie filmmakers on their projects, namely Jim Roberts from Blind Sight Productions.

The Hardgore Core crew are obviously very passionate about the splatter subgenre and dedicated to delivering the goods. This makes them definitely worth looking out for.

RELEASES:

-This film was independently released on DVD by Hardgore Core Productions in 2018.

    Extras:

    -Intro

    -Director's Cut

    -Final Cut

    -Director's Cut Trailer

    -The Sideling Hill Trailer

-Released on VHS by UK-based Dead Format Films in 2017.

-Featured on the First Annual Short Film Compilation DVD from King of the Witches and Dead Format Films, released in 2017.

Nasty Nancy (2010)

Nasty Nancy (2010) - Croatia

Directed by: Sandi Mance

ABOUT THE FILM:

This low-budget Croatian outing features Nancy, a young, honest girl who is doing her best to pass her classes in a school where the teachers will only pass you if they can get in your pants. When she is failed on her final exam, after all of her hard work and effort, she sets out for revenge on the perverted teachers by sending out fake invitations to an orgy at an abandoned building. She dons a Japanese-style schoolgirl outfit, grabs a katana and then the bloodshed begins...

REVIEW:

It's quite unfortunate that (as far as I can tell) director Sandi Mance hasn't made another film since, because Nasty Nancy really has a lot going for it.

The only negative aspect is that the lighting is really bad in most scenes. Sometimes, scenes are so darkly lit that it's really hard to see the onscreen action and there is plenty of visual noise present, as this was shot with a cheaper camera. However, these negative aspects don't hold the film back.

The acting is stupidly hammy enough to pass for your usual Troma fare, but this actually enhances the viewing experience, because this film is not to be taken seriously at all. The movie is barely feature length with a runtime of 49 minutes, but it never feels boring and really delivers the goods.

Minus some obvious and fake-looking CGI blood, the gore effects are well-executed and there is plenty of dismemberment and bloodshed on display. The special effects were done by Miroslav Lakobrija, who also did the effects for the infamous A Serbian Film, so you know you're in for something awesome.

There's also several nods to the bizarre Japanese splatter films such as Tokyo Gore Police and Machine Girl, such as Nancy's schoolgirl outfit and katana, and the occasional Manga-style speech bubbles and Japanese writing.

If you're a fan of cheesy low-budget goodness, especially with a Japanese influence, Nasty Nancy may just be what you're looking for. I'm hoping to find more films from Croatia in the future.

RELEASES:

-Nasty Nancy was independently released on DVD by Castrum Films in 2010.

     Extras:

     -Trailer

     -Film Premiere

     -Bloopers

     -Photo Gallery