Crypt of Gore

Uncle Sam 1997 – William Lustig
Film Rating 6.5/10

Residents of the United States beware, Uncle Sam is roaming the streets once more with a vengeance, and he is coming for you!

William Lustig, responsible for the legendary Maniac Cop trilogy, brings us another horror flick that is best described as a horror slasher movie in its purest form

The story revolves around diseased war hero Sam Harper, who died in combat during the gulf war, whose body is returned to US soil on the fourth of July, and comes back to life to make the lives of unpatriotic citizens very miserable. As he hacks and slices his way at first to a dime store, he takes the uncle Sam suit from an unfortunate “peeping Tom”, in a scene that is nothing short but hilarious.  From there on its slice and dice until the movie climax, when it is up to Sam’s nephew Jody and former war buddy Jed to put an end to the murder spree. Without saying to much it is safe to state that the ending is in every way as classic as the movie, and shot in a solid maniac cop like fashion.

The victims in Uncle Sam are those that are deemed “unpatriotic” by our Zombie slasher and in this regards he does not care whether his victims were cheats on their taxes or burn flags, they all die just the same!  This little given brings the necessary originality into the movie. While his reasons may not be good reasons for killing those people, at least he has a reason, which is more than could be said from other slasher villains of that time period, like Halloween’s Michael Meyers, who just kills for the killing.

Uncle Sam is in any way a classic slasher movie, with a low budget, but luckily for us William Lustig knows how to shoot a horror movie, and even on a budget has delivered a solid movie without frills but one that does what it’s supposed to do.

Zombie Sam is at turns terrifying, but also hilarious as he slices his way through the movie. The only bad thing that could be said about it is the fact that it takes a good 45 minutes before our Zombie patriot springs into action, but once he does, it slice and dice time all the way to the end.

Just about every cliché in the book is in this movie and it should because Uncle Sam is a classic slasher movie and those should include all the classic slasher scenes, with lots of blood and gore.

Compared to William Lustig’s Maniac, Uncle Sam is rather tame, but still Lustig managed to deliver a gem of a slasher movie that is well worth watching and fans of the genre will love the scenes and the comparisons from famous scenes of the Maniac Cop trilogy, we all know and love!

Zombie Sam is a gem of a movie compared to the other low budget slasher flicks of that time period, with at least somewhat of an original storyline, combined with the slashing scenes we so love to see, shot in a solid way. A true classic in every sense of the word.

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Someone’s knocking at the door 2009 – Chad Ferrin
Film Rating 7.5/10

Someone’s knocking at the door is one of those rare gems you come across every once in a while. It’s hilarious, creepy, and even brings back the atmosphere of those seventies horror flicks.

Essentially Someone’s knocking at the door would classify as an exploitation movie, but it is so much more than that. The best way to describe this movie would be as one long mind fuck, because that’s what it will do: Blow your mind.

The story revolves around a group of medicine students who are less interested in medicine, as they are in certain types of medication, and with this in mind they venture forth into a mental institution, in order to find more “medicine”. Needless to say they find it, and shoot up.

This is the starting signal to open up a royal can of weirdness, and the proverbial shit really starts hitting the fan when they disturb the ghosts of two ex-residents of the asylum, and two of the worst kind. Mass murderers: John and Wilma Hopper. While alive the two had some unique ways of doing in their victims, like using a 4-inch round meat bat to basically fuck their victims to death with it.

I am sure that enthusiasts of the genre by now have the necessary visions in their mind, and let me tell you, those visions will be an understatement, Just wait until you see the opening scene of the movie!

As far as exploitation movies go, Someone’s knocking at the door is not the most extreme I have ever seen, but does a pretty good job, and added to this, a decent story, good acting(Minus Andrea Rueda as Meg, she seemed out of her league throughout the entire movie), and you have a basis for some excellent blood and gore entertainment.

Ferrin , who treated us to the movie “Ghouls” in 2003, already proved his ability to show us some pretty disturbing eye candy, and it is obvious he is doing his best to treat us to the best he could do, and this is the only shortcoming of the movie, as he is clearly trying too hard, to produce one over the top scene after the other.

Don’t get me wrong, Someone’s knocking at the door turned out to be a great movie, but I for one, would like to see Ferrin do a remake without trying so hard and just shoot what feels natural. I am willing to bet we would get an even better movie then.

This being said, Someone’s knocking at the door is one of those movies every self respecting horror fan needs to have seen or crawl away in shame, for missing out on it. So if you haven’t seen it yet, run to the local video store, or go to Amazon, or other favorite DVD supplier and rent/buy a copy, you won’t be disappointed, and it sure as hell belongs in your collection, in fact it’s a crown piece!

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Creepshow – 1982 – George A. Romero
Film Rating 8/10

Here’s another one of those movies any self respecting horror fan must have seen, and is a must have for any DVD collection. Master of Horror George A. Romero delivered an excellent movie that has gone into history as a classic of the likes of Twilight Zone. Of course names like Romero, and Stephen King, are well known, famous, and that by itself sets high expectations, but as we could see from the disappointing first season of Masters of Horror, great masters of the genre at the helm is by no means a guarantee for great movie material. However, do not fear, as this is certainly not the case with Creepshow, where King and Romero truly were the dream team, delivering a movie that goes way beyond of all people expected from it at the time.

The screenplay of Creep show was written by none less then that other Horror Guru: Stephen King, and it shows. All characters in the movie have that sleazy treat, King is famous for in his books. Nobody is truly respectable, because King likes to tap into the darker side of man.

Romero and King prove to be a deadly(pun intended) combination as they bring the series loosely based on the dc comic book series to live on your screen.

Sharp horror, moral undertones and hilarious scenes follow each other in this roller coaster ride from hell, during 5 short stories:

Father’s day, is the hilarious tale of a despised patriarch, coming back from the dead, just to pick up his holiday cake!, while The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill, features King himself in the leading role of a stereo typed redneck, with dollar signs in his eyes when a meteor hits his on his doorstep. Little does he know the thing will turn him into a vegetable.

Something to tide you over, is the terrifying tale of Leslie Nielsen(Yes Naked Gun Leslie!) who is planning a nice wet watery grave for his wife and lover, while The Crate revolves around an ancient evil being in a crate(surprise!) that was sent from an archeological expedition.

The movie finishes with They’re Creeping up on you, where a millionaire is suffering from an Insect phobia.

In order to present the audience with the authentic look and feel of the comic book series, each tale is connected through a small animation sequence that looks exactly like a comic book scene, after which the fun of the next short story can begin.

Romero and King truly succeeded in delivering an excellent movie, where each tale has just the right balance between sincere horror, sharp humor and in some cases downright hilarious scenes. Creepshow is therefore a movie that has achieved a true cult status, a reputation that is well deserved. I would even go as far as stating that Creep show is better than any movie based on Kings own horror tales, and there have been some pretty decent ones.

So if you haven’t seen this gem of a movie yet, go see it, and of you have seen it, but don’t own it, go buy it, because this is one that simply cannot be absent in any decent horror movie collection. Creepshow is a showpiece, a jewel of the collection no horror fan should be without. The Blu Ray edition is well worth the price as well!

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Irreversible – 2002 – Gaspar Noé

Irreversible is what you may call a typical Gaspar Noé movie, which is shot in a fashion to confuse you from start to finish. Therefore some will love this movie, while others will hate it.

The story is basically a simple one and revolves around revenge. We start with a scene where two men are talking inside a prison cell, when the focus shifts towards a club called the Rectum, which is a Gay club. Police have arrived at the scene, a stretcher comes out, and a guy appears to be under arrest, and we move to another scene where we find the two men inside the club searching for somebody called La Telia. So we go back and forth until finally the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and we find out the two men are called Marcus and Pierre, and are after La Telia for raping and beating Alex the girlfriend of Marcus into a coma.

This given spirals the two men into a spree of violence and destruction, which increases with every twist and turn of the movie, as they are searching for La Telia, which is typical for Gaspar Noé. The movie is atmospherically shot, and will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, but be prepared to just accept what you see, and don’t try to understand it at that point, it will all fall into place at the right time.
Normally I hate movies that use flashbacks as a means to tell the tale, but in this case it actually works, and turns what is basically a very simple story into a complex puzzle.

What Gaspar Noé is showing us here is how easy it is for human kind to lose that thin layer of civilization, and regress back to animal like instincts, as we see Marcus and Pierre going from bad to worse as they become more violent and extreme during their hunt for La Telia(Which actually means the Tapeworm).

While Irreversible is not as good as Noé’s brilliant I stand Alone, it still is a movie that grabs you and takes you in for the ride of a lifetime, as the events unfold flashback after flashback.

The camera work of Irreversible is remarkable, with some amazing twists and close ups, which is refreshing compared to some other movies I recently watched.

This is the kind of movie you either love or hate, personally I recognize the quality of it, and for this type of movie it is very nicely done, So I would buy a DVD of it, although I like my horror to be a little more straight forward, while I could certainly see others go crazy about it and buy it as a show piece in the collection. All I can say is that Irreversible is one of the better movies in this genre, and whether you love it or hate it is something you can only find out by watching it. So go watch a copy, and see how it fits!

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I Stand Alone – 1998 – Gaspar Noé
Film Rating 7.5/10

I stand alone is the debut movie of Gaspar Noé and often described as a “provocative exploration of hatred that chews on the audience’s guts”.

The movie revolves around The Butcher(Played by Philippe Nahon), a bitter man, with a passionate hatred against everything. A narrative voice over, reveals to us what is bothering him, which is plenty and at all times. At the start of the movie he lives with his pregnant girlfriend, and her mom, whom(surprise) he hates, and at one point he just can’t take the endless(And often pointless) nagging any longer, something breaks and he pounds her stomach and heads towards his hometown in a hurry. When he arrives he is met with unemployment, and here is another reason for him to be bothered.

Those that have not already seen this movie will be amazed. The story isn’t much to talk about, just a bitter man, the end, and the movie at times feels like it’s one barrage of complaints after another, and when it ends you will be left feeling you just read a novel, due to all the narrative voice over sequences, but yet the movie never gets to the point that it is boring. Interesting screenplay and excellent camera work are what save this movie from boredom. In a way one could say that it’s Noe’s sense of style.

The story is controlled basically by the thoughts of the Butcher, which makes for a very unique way for a movie to unfold, which makes it interesting, and strangely compelling. I Stand Alone is a movie that excels in excellent dialogue, and raw scenes, like the pounding of the pregnant girl, and others, which are definitely not for the weak hearted, but then again I Stand Alone is a movie that was especially designed to turn the public off, and it works. Throughout the movie we will see many unsettling scenes which are sometimes disgusting, and always disturbing.

I stand alone is a movie that is not meant to be liked but the one thing that makes it a masterpiece in my book is the fact that after you have sat through it and watched every scene thrown at you. You will have watched a movie that you will remember for the rest of your life, and that my friends is rare these days, in a time where run of the mill flicks with way to many cheap effects and no depth worth mentioning seem to rule the horror movie scene.

To call I stand alone a horror movie is not entirely correct either, it’s partly a drama, but due to the cruel and often violent scenes, it won’t classify for that either. In fact there is no real genre one can place the movie in, as it is truly unique. I can’t say it is my favorite movie as it is not, but I can say that I stand alone is a definite work of art, which amazes and deserves the recognition it gets as the first installment in Noé’s trilogy of hate.
Crypt of Gore recommends you get this film!

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