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.

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.