HERE COMES THE DEVIL...SPOILER FREE REVIEW

It's every parents' nightmare; Tragedy strikes a couple on vacation in Tijauna, Mexico when their two children go missing, but when the kids reappear the real nightmare begins.
Writer/director Adrian Garcia Bogliano's HERE COMES THE DEVIL is a wicked mind fuck of a flick. I saw it this past saturday night at the Nevermore Film Fest, with an audience of willing and enthusiastic horror fans. The film is disarming and bewildering right from the start with wildly humorous zooms and an intense and long sex scene, that (at least with an audience) was almost embarrassingly engrossing. Bogliano constructs a really good roller coaster with DEVIL. He sets us up for a fast drop into despair and fear then keeps us guessing while leveling out for the final drops and loops, driving the audience to a satisfying and disturbing end.
DEVIL's  plot is nuanced and multi-layered, weaving crime noir/murder mystery and the supernatural into a pretty dreadful tapestry. The cast is strong, particularly Laura Caro as Sol, who's the anchor of the film. As a grief stricken mother that evolves into a machine of revenge and later into a mother jaguar willing to take on the Devil himself, Caro is brilliant and mesmerizing. Francisco Barreiro, who plays Felix, the father, is also a win on casting. He's flawed, but like any good father there's no end to what he'll do to protect his

children. Sol and Felix's marriage in and of itself is quite a roller coaster and it's actually the energy that powers the story. Sol and Felix's children, played by Alan Martinez and Michele Garcia don't get much screen time or dialogue considering their disappearance and later behavior is the catalyst for every thing that happens in DEVIL. Of course that may be because Bogliano didn't want to expose the kids to the more gruesome and erotic elements of the film.

It's hard to stay vague about HERE COMES THE DEVIL, because I enjoyed it quite a lot and would like to cut loose with a full dissection of the film and why I think it's worthy of your attention, but I'll save it until after the DVD release. Instead I'll leave you with my mini-tweet review; "A director from Argentina uses Mexico to make a great Italian possession flick." If it plays near you, I recommend you catch it.

WE LOST BOB CASALE OF DEVO THIS WEEK.

From Akron, Ohio, Devo formed as a band in 1973. Bob Casale played guitar, was featured on every one of the band's recordings and was instrumental in their sound. He died at 61 of heart failure. Devo was an amazing and exciting group-to be as weird and out of left field and yet highly listenable even to the point of heavy rotation on MTV with their great video for Whip It. The world is a better place because of Devo and Bob Casale.

Monsterman

Girl U Want

Freedom Of Choice

Through Being Cool

Beautiful World

Gates Of Steel

LIVE IN THE DURHAM/RALEIGH AREA AND WANT TO GO TO NEVERMORE FILM FEST?

Well I've got two passes for any film of your choice!
Nevermore has a great lineup this year and I'm excited to be attending myself. Go HERE for the complete lineup and schedule. So you want to go?
Just post your email in the comments below! Winner will be chosen at random. Good luck, fiends!

Here's the trailer for one of the films playing, Almost Human

CONSPIRACY OF BIRDS IS LIVE!

Available right now; my new e-novella Conspiracy of Birds. Just $2.99 from Smashwords.com.
Not exactly horror, but couldn't exist without my obsession with horror. Conspiracy was inspired by my nightmares. I hope everyone checks it out!










'I didn't want to burn any bridges, but I doused them real good with gasoline just in case.' Conspiracy Of Birds is the new novella from Tim Murr, creator and writer for the blog Stranger With Friction and author of Lose This Skin. It is a hallucinatory skin dive into the nightmare world of a failed writer living on the broken edges of America.

KING VULTURE'S SOUND ATTACK 2.7.14

LAZERHAWK...Massacre 

ANGELO BADALAMENTI...Red Bats With Teeth

PERE UBU...Heart of Darkness

MICK HARVEY...Intoxicated Man

FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY REVIEWED

Richard Raaphorst's Frankenstein's Army is an amazing monster film. Since I first saw stills from the production a couple of years ago I've been chomping at the bit to see this beast. There were a couple of teaser trailers on-line called Worst Case Scenario, which are a must see if you haven't yet, but they really don't prepare you for this tense and fast paced war horror work of art.
When I discovered that Frankenstein's Army would be a found footage film I lost a great amount of enthusiasm until I saw the first trailer. Now that I've seen the film, I can't imagine it being done any other way. Raaphorst places you in the film and makes you feel every ounce of tension and terror the damned camera man feels.
The film follows a battalion of Soviet soldiers making their way through Nazi territory in the latter days of World War II. Upon receiving a distress call from some comrades they set off for a small town to rescue them, but nothing is what it seems and it's a quick plunge into unbridled monster horror.
The creatures are fantastic and creepy as hell. The gore is gruesome. The level of craftsmanship that went into making Frankenstein's Army almost makes you forget the found footage device as you're immersed into the story.
At only 84 minutes(!) you'll either be thirsty for more or so stressed out you'll be grateful it's over so fast. Either way, we need sequels, lots and lots of sequels.
In the sub-genre of Frankenstein films, Frankenstein's Army is unparalleled in terms of high quality creature effects and originality in designs. Story wise, it's tight if not a bit thin. There are certainly more philosophical Frankenstein films, but there's no room, no time, for long speeches about man and God, life and death. You'll be too busy trying to get the hell out!

Worst Case Scenario #2 Blue

ReANIMATOR ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK FROM WAXWORK RECORDS

This week I received my copy of Waxwork Records' release of the ReAnimator original soundtrack! I won this beauty through Basement Screams (if you're not following that site, you should really start!).

ReAnimator (starring Jeffery Combs, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, David Gale, and Robert Sampson, directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Yuzna) stands on a very high pedestal for me. Based on the novella Herbert West, ReAnimator by HP Lovecraft, it's a bit of a reworking of the Frankenstein story with some very wild ideas and experiments Dr Frankenstein never dared to imagine. The movie is even wilder with explicit gore and a black sense of humor. Great performances from the whole cast, fantastic practical effects, and lovingly adapted by the filmmakers.

When it comes to '80's horror ReAnimator defines 'high water mark'. I wrote about it in My Heroes Have Always Been Monsters Part 7.

Let's get to the soundtrack! Composed by Richard Band, the music is iconic and always gets me excited when it starts. I've seen some comments that it's just a rip off of the Psycho soundtrack, but I dismiss that notion. I guess Band has said it was an homage, and on a superficial listen of the main title you can draw some similarity, but if you live with music you'll find a brilliant slab of sound that stands perfectly well on it's own without the movie.

This is a really smart choice as a first release. Waxwork Records have done a gorgeous job, from the re-agent colored record (some glow in the dark!) to the original sleeve art by Gary Pullin (also included as a poster). The sound quality is crystal clear and warm.

Waxwork has also released the Day Of The Dead OST and coming next is Rosemary's Baby. Follow the link to their site to stay up to date on all releases so you won't have to chase them down on EBay!

Here's a little taste of the great music.