Monster Dog

Ahhh yes this is what happens when two masters of their craft meet and create a masterpiece. The two masters Im referring to are of course, Claudio Fragasso (who had his hand in directing Zombie 4 and parts of Zombie 3 apparently) & Alice Cooper (wearing fake teeth and overdubbed haha). Oh and its not really a masterpiece, but is a werewolf film I havent seen which is rare. Definitely the best thing Ive seen from Fragasso, Zombie 4 was terrible. If your a fan of werewolves this is a definite. At times the film is creepy, and the music video is pretty funny and infectious. Overall I recommend it for the lycanthrope completist.

The Sleeping Car

Mix one part Evil Dead, one part House, one part David "American Werewolf in London" Naughton, a splash of Kevin "UHF" McCarthy,and cram it all into a converted, haunted train sleeper car, you will get Douglas Curtis' "The Sleeping Car", a whatever 90's gory ghost story(thats also on the long list of horror flciks at 16 Thousand Movies(R.I.P.) I wasnt allowed to watch). A times the film does manage to brew up some atmosphere which is usually then scared away by the acting. There is a few good moments and several familiar faces supporting including Judie "Weird Science"Aronson and Jeff "Annoying as a Motherfucker" Conaway. Im a sucker for practical FX so I did enjoy this somewhat. The zombiefied corpse of "The Mister" is pretty awesome, and Kevin McCarthy's performance is good. Other than that there is alot of drag with Naughton spitting out tons of clunky dialogue. Its streaming on Netflix if you got the time...whatever..

I Sell The Dead

With a list of actors including Larry Fessenden (Who also produced),Angus Scrimm(of Phantasm fame), & Ron Perlman, theres not much you have to say to get me to watch this. Top it off with Dominic Monaghan, some zombies & vampires & theres even less to say to me than before when I mentioned those 3 actors I like.  Although it tries a little hard in spots overall this flick is very enjoyable, and all the key actors do thier damn thang. Its definitiely made by horror fans for horror fans. On top of that ths is the feature length debut of Glenn Mcquaid. I'd include this on that very small list(Dead Snow & Pontypool are the only others) of recent zombie films with a fresh approach to the genre, even though this isnt entirely a zombie film. Two nubs up!

Mario Bava's Planet of The Vampires

Wow. I love these moments. Moments when you realize you've been over looking an enormous talent and its time to play catch up. Such is the case with me and Mr Bava. Its even more interesting because im a big fan of Lucio Fulci &  Dario Argento, who are both obviously very influenced by the films of Bava. After passing this title up a million times as a kid I finally sat down and watched it last night. Its hard to make sci-fi spooky but boy does Bava accomplish just that. From the zombie like "Vampires", to the colors, the smoke, to the erie recorded voices of long dead alien giants, this flick lays it on thick. The plot would go on to be rehashed by many future films(roughly) such as "Alien" & "Creature" . Beautiful atmosphere and sets. Smashing stuff! This Bava fellow is really good.

Mario Bava's Black Sabbath (Anthology Series pt. 7)

Im here to inform and confess. First off this film is amazing, secondly, its the first Mario Bava film I've fully seen(seen half of Baron Blood). Yes I know, I know...and I call myself a fan of the genre? I know. But I plan on seeing the rest of his films. This film looks amazing, its quite a delight to the eye. I found myself alone,shirtless on my couch last night around 3am and I decided to pop this on my netflix. Damn. The first story gave me chills, which just doesnt happen that often. Second story was some good "When a stranger calls" type horror and the last story bousts Boris Karloff,the master himself, stepping into the role of vampire. Good stuff. From this one joint I can tell that Bava is without doubt a master of atmosphere and brooding terror. The use of sound in the first story(about a ghost attached to a certain ring) is top notch. More Bava going into the que immediately!

Reccomended for fans of Argento,Fulci, and Boris Karloff.

Visiting Hours

After reading Caelum Vatnsdal's "They Came From Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema", 'Visiting Hours"(directed by Jean Claude Lord) was on the top of my list of Hoser Horror to check out. Not because of Vatnsdal's review(he actually didnt give it much praise at all),but the combo of William Shatner & Michael Ironside was too much to pass up. The results are meh, not bad/ not great overall. The only real treat is Ironside really. The movie looks pretty good, some creepy shit in it. But I was definitely disappointed. Michael Ironside's performance is definitely worth checking out, but overall this is just for the avid slasher fan. Shatner is aight in it,hes no Rack Hansen though.

Recommended for fans of Canada.......the country in general.