The Scream Factory Crypt

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 16: The Boy

Welcome to the Scream Factory Crypt! In this binge series I will be watching all my Scream Factory titles I own alphabetically! Scream Factory is my favorite imprint of Blu-Ray’s because they take movies that studios and the public might not adore but have fans and deserve to be given respect. This will take a long time as I have over 120(!) titles and counting, I know I will have more before I finish, so stay tuned! Not only will I talk about them on the podcast but I will review them here as well so you can see how I feel about aspects of each release. Part 16 is The Boy!

The Boy is a slow burn horror film that is wonderfully acted. It stars Jared Breeze as Ted. A young boy that that is a sociopath. He also really likes killing things. At first it’s animals but slowly (and I mean, slowly) onto bigger things. Ted lives at a Motel ran by his father John (David Morse) one day Ted meets a drifter named William (Rainn Wilson), who is hiding a secret in his room that Ted is determined to find out.

The Boy’s strength lies in the acting of not only veterans like Riann Wilson and David Morse, but also Breeze who must of caught the eye of producer Elijah Wood who produced this film and stared in Cooties with Breeze. Director Craig Macneill is able to get great mileage out of his young star which is important when a kid is the star of your horror film. The Boy does suffer from pacing issues and not being surprising in the least. When a horror film is slow it doesn’t always mean a bad thing, however when the tension doesn’t quite build it can make watching a film like The Boy quite a chore. The performances and the direction however make up for most of The Boy’s short comings.

The video on the blu-ray of The Boy is solid. Colors are vivid with great detail. Although this is a small budgeted film it doesn’t look it. Wonderfully shot with a nice use of the barren land the film takes place on.

The audio also stands out for a film that is relatively quiet. The mix is stellar and pops at just the right time.

The extras leave a lot to be desired but getting even the brief 16 minute featurette is better than nothing. It’s not that interesting but not bad, worth a watch once.

The Boy is solidly acted and the ending is cool. It does however take a long time to get there and if you are not willing to sit through some of the quieter, slower moments of the film, it will be a tough watch.

Film: B-

Video: B+

Audio: B+

Extras: C-

Overall: B-

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 15: Body Bags

Released in 1993, Carpenter tried his hand not only in directing a cable television horror series but he also serves as a Crypt-Keeper knock off host known as The Coroner. Now Carpenter says that this was to serve as sort of pilot for Showtime, however in the commentary, Sandy King (producer and also Carpenter’s wife), says that is not the case. That Body Bags was intended to be a horror movie on TV to show everyone else on how to do horror. King is right at least one of the three tales as the final tale, “The Eye”, not directed by Carpenter but by Tobe Hopper is pure horror bliss.

The first tale is “The Gas Station” that is a straight up slasher film starring Robert Carradine from “Revenge of the Nerds”. A woman named Anne is starting her first day at a remote gas station. After her co-worker leaves she is unsettled by several customers, the best being a man played by the great Wes Craven. Besides some cool horror cameos, “The Gas Station” is pretty ho-hum and it’s those cameos that save it from being totally forgettable. Carpenter does have some clever shots as well, however “The Gas Station” is just average.

Second up is a more comedic tale, “Hair”. Starring Stacy Keach as a man who is going bald, looking for anything to give him a full head of hair. He finds it in a wacky doctor who gives what he wants a beautiful mane of hair. Featuring more awesome horror legend cameos, “Hair” works better than “The Gas Station.”

The final tale is easily the best and maybe the best segment ever in a horror anthology, “The Eye” is mean and violent. Mark Hamill stars in a tale as a Major League baseball player who suffers a horrendous car accident that costs him his right eye. With the help of doctors, he receives an eye transplant. His new eye comes with a side effect however, as now he has violent visions and a violent temper. Hamill is amazing, his descent into madness is something to behold.

Body Bags is a little uneven. Carpenter, who admits he’s no actor and his Crypt-Keeper/Beetlejuice knock off, The Coroner is just not as good as the those two horror icons. That might not be fair to Carpenter, but when you do a horror anthology, being introduced by a dead guy, the comparisons are inevitable. Also, the first tale, which should have been right in Carpenter’s wheel house suffers from predictability. Body Bags is saved by the other two tales being better, with “The Eye” a straight up classic.

The video on Scream Factory’s Collector Edition of Body Bags is solid but won’t blow you away. The colors a little muted but the detail that appears on the makeup and clothing is great. The image does have some scratches and a big red dot pops up during “The Hair”. I am also betting that because this is a TV movie from the early 90’s might also have something to do with the inconsistences in the video.

No issues with the audio. It sounds clear with dialogue coming through very well. It won’t test your home theatre system but it does the job.

For being a Collector’s Edition, Body Bags is a little light on extras. The extras that are included however are pretty good. The better of the two is the commentary that is supplied by Carpenter and a few of the actors, specific to their segment. Sandy King pops up to give some great insight to the production of the film on “The Eye”. King is great at giving some really great behind the stories of the making of Body Bags. The only other new extra is a short 20 minute making of featurette.

Body Bags is a fun horror anthology. It never reaches the heights of Creepshow, but it doesn’t have to. It does entertain and deserve a place on a horror movie fans shelf.

Film: B-

Video: A

Audio: B+

Extras: B-

Overall: B

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 14: Return of the Living Dead Part II

Return of the Living Dead Part II, revolves around a group of teenage boys that stumble upon a canister of the deadly Trioxin. The boys accidently open the canister and unleashes the Trioxin into a nearby cemetery, where a threesome of Ed, Joey and Brenda go into a mausoleum to rob graves.

Soon the living dead rise from their graves to reign terror on the local town.

Return of the Living Dead II is an odd movie. The first Return of the Living Dead is a brilliant blend of horror and comedy. Directed with flair, it’s a horror classic. Part II almost completely abandons all hints of horror and goes right for screwball comedy. Much of the comedy comes from not so scary zombies. Some of the comedy falls flat which makes for an uneven viewing experience. Even the famous tar man zombie makes another appearance in the film, but the lighting and the way tar man is shot he loses a lot of what made him great. The performances also are a little uneven. Thom Matthews and James Karen return from the first film, but playing different characters that end up with the same fate. They are pretty fun, so too is Jesse the young hero. The rest of the cast is ok, nothing that stands out. There is one true horror scene, Jesse is being stalked by a zombie in the basement of a hospital that lends itself to some great horror and gore moments. It is fun seeing a bunch of practical effects used to some gory goodness that only a film from the 80’s can deliver.

I do enjoy the film and any sequel to one of the greatest horror film ever was most likely to be a step back. But the director’s choice to make it more of a straight up comedy really hurt the overall quality of the film. Flawed but fun.

Return of the Living Dead II had never looked better. The brand new 2K scan does wonder to the film. I’ve seen the film many times but watching Scream’s new transfer it was like watching it again for the first time. Textures can be seen. Colors truly pop. This is a great transfer.

The dead have also never sounded better. One of the biggest issues with the previously released DVD is the not so great replaced soundtrack, well Scream has fixed this by including the original music from the theatrical release! That makes Return of the Living Dead a must for fans. I have never heard the original mix and it makes for a much more satisfying experience. The rest of the film also sounds great. From dialogue to gore this film is thumping.

Scream Factory has packed Return of the Living Dead II with some great new features. A whopping three commentaries can be found on the disc, two brand new, and one ported over from a previous release. All three are great with my favorite being with Gary Smart and Christopher Griffiths it’s full of history and is lots of fun. Also included is about an hour and a half of new interviews. I love when the participants are candid about their time on a movie. 0The disc has fun and very honest interviews, all a must watch.

Return of the Living Dead Part II is not the best zombie movie, but that’s ok. It’s a fun B-movie that has some really fun moments. It deserves to be on blu-ray. Scream Factory once again delivered an amazing disc that fans of the film and fans of the zombie genre will surely devour.

Film: B-

Video: A

Audio: A+

Extras: A

Overall: A

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 13: Blood and Lace

A crazed maniac kills a young woman’s mother and her lover with a hammer! The young lady, Ellie is now an orphan and sent to live at an orphanage ran by Mrs. Deere and her handyman Tom, but something sinister is afoot!

Blood and Lace is all over the place. Besides the opening murder scene that is somewhat effective it is a really strange picture. The opening scene is a cool tracking shot that is focused on the hammer, but it is ruined by some really hokey effects. The next scene deals with a teenage boy running from the orphanage, only to be chased by the handyman Tom who throws a knife at the kid which in turn he gets his hand chopped off. There’s also a really creepy subplot that deals with a Detective assigned to Ellie’s moms murder who falls in love with the young woman, who is in her teens and he is like 50. Also there is a batshit crazy subplot that involves Mrs. Deere killing the kids but keeping them in a freezer. She does this to collect a fee from the state, but if the state finds out they are dead or runaways she loses that money. All this is happening plus Ellie trying to run away from the orphanage as well. I am going to spoil this movie because it is so gross and stupid that it needs to be said (((Spoilers!!!!))) Near the end of the movie Ellie is terrorized by a burnt up old man. She runs from him and is chased to somewhere outside the orphanage. When the “killer” catches up to her he removes his mask, it’s Detective Carruthers! He tells Ellie that he knows she murdered her mom and her lover (this is confirmed in a flashback scene). He then tells her that if she agrees to marry him he will forget the whole she murdered someone part. Barf. Oh it gets better, during the course of the movie Ellie remarks on how she never knew her father but her mother said that he was the first person she made love to, and that’s how she became pregnant. Flashback to the last scene of the movie where Ellie tells Carruthers that her mom told her that older men make the best husbands (barf again). Carruthers then says, “you know I was the first man your mom made love to.” (triple barf).

Blood and Lace is not well made. The performances go from awful to terrible. The direction is boring. The effects are horrific. Movies like this should be fun because they are bad, Blood and Lace is a chore.

The video is pretty solid. The movie was released in 1971 and there is some nice looking colors and the details are pretty sharp. Some of the scenes lack some depth but that might be due to the lack of money not a transfer issue.

The audio is serviceable. It’s a lossless Mono track and the dialogue comes through well. The music in the movie is garbage but that has nothing to do with the discs capabilities.

Not much in the way of extras, but the Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Harlan Smith is way better than having to listen to the actual film, so if you want to watch Blood and Lace, I recommend it with the commentary. He has a lot of interesting facts about the film.

Blood and Lace is awful. I am sure it has fans, I am not one of them. Scream Factory’s disc however is solid and the one meaty extra on the disc is great.

Film: D-

Video: B

Audio: B

Extras: B

Overall: C-

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 12: Blacula/Scream Blacula Scream

70’s funk is alive and well in the Double Feature of Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream. I remember watching these films late at night on the old USA networks, Up All Night. They have some undeniable charm anchored by a pretty great performance by William Marshall as Prince Mamuwalde.

In Blacula an African prince visits Count Dracula in Transylvania and the devious Count turns Mamuwalde into, “Blacula!” After two centuries of slumber Blacula awakes and makes his way to Los Angeles to be reunited with his long lost love who he believes has been reincarnated into a woman named Tina. The vampire turns many people into his minions and continues to befuddle the police. Blacula in the meantime is also trying to get Tina to fall for him.

Blacula is at times super campy, but also has tons of charm. Don’t let the PG rating fool you there is some horror to be found. There is also a sequence in a morgue that is kinda scary too. I found myself liking Blacula for its 70’s aesthetic and magnetic performance by Marshall. The ending is pretty great too. The major drawback might by its shoestring budget as the makeup effects are pretty laughable.

Scream Blacula Scream is a step up in pretty much every aspect of the film making process. More money, better looking and sharper, it’s what horror sequels should be.

Prince Mamuwalde is resurrected by (of course) voodoo. Being forced to kill again, Blacula brings his reign of terror back to the streets of Los Angeles!

Marshall again is great as Mamuwlade, but he joined by Pam Grier bringing attitude and toughness to the female lead. I actually liked Scream Blacula Scream a little more than Blacula. While both suffer from being products of their time, it is fun to watch them back to back.

The video on both films is good not great. Scream appears to look a little better as Blacula suffers from some crushing blacks and a couple of color issues. My guess however, is this has much to do with the limitations of the productions. I will say they don’t look bad, just not spectacular.

The audio too won’t blow you away but it delivers where it needs to. Most importantly in the thumping bass of that 70’s funk.

The films come with a few features with Blacula getting a commentary and Scream Blacula Scream with an interview with Richard Lawson on playing Willis, which is a pretty fun if not long 13 minute interview. The commentary on Blacula however is a treat. Film Historian David F. Walker delivers a fun and engaging track full of cool trivia. Both feature a trailer and some dope behind the scenes photos.

If you dig 70’s horror with some blaxploitation thrown in for good measure, the Double Feature of Blacula/Scream Blacula Scream is a great title to sink your fangs into. The blu-ray menu alone makes this a super cool purchase.

Films: Blacula B-/Scream Blacula Scream B

Video: Blacula C+/Scream Blacula Scream B-

Audio: Blacula B-/Scream Blacula Scream B-

Extras: Blacula A-/Scream Blacula Scream B

Overall: B

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 11: Black Christmas

One of the first truly slasher films, Black Christmas set a lot of the classic tropes we know now. It also has one of the greatest reveals in horror movie history.

A mad man is terrorizing the ladies of Pi Kappa Sigma. The police are befuddled and on the search for the killer. Through a series of fright filled phone calls the psychopath instills fear into the ladies. And as a couple of them go missing, the ladies and the police grow more and more scared. The film barrels toward a shocking and tense filled ending that will leave you speechless, making the 98 minutes fly by.

Truth be told there are only a few true slasher kills. However with clever POV shots and expert directing by Bob Clark sell the low budget thrills effectively. It’s hard to quantify the impact Black Christmas is still having on horror films some 40 years after its release, so it is great that Scream Factory gave it the Collector’s Edition it rightfully deserves.

The video transfer on this edition is quite remarkable. It features a new 2K scan and the 40 year old, low budget horror film sparkles. I love when older films retain their natural look, with grain and cool looking colors. Scream Factory as done a marvelous job capturing the spirit of the film, while also making it look better than ever before.

The film also sounds great. No noise popping and crystal clear dialogue throughout. Again, this film has never sounded better.

The 2 Disc Collector’s Edition of Black Christmas comes packed with vintage features as well as a new interview with actor Art Hindle, and Victims and Virgins: Remembering Black Christmas with Lynne Griffin. There is so much packed onto the discs it will take you a long time to get through them all. No joke I lost count at over 5 ½ hours of features. This relasese has all the bases covered for Black Christmas fans.

This is such a stellar release by Scream Factory. The movie is fun, looks and sounds great too. Black Christmas is one of Scream Factory’s best efforts and you would be doing yourself a disservice if you did not snag a copy.

Film: A

Video: A

Audio: A-

Extras: A+

Overall: A

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 10: Bite

Welcome to the Scream Factory Crypt! In this binge series I will be watching all my Scream Factory titles I own alphabetically! Scream Factory is my favorite imprint of Blu-Rays because they take movies that studios and the public might not adore but have fans and deserve to be given respect. This will take a long time as I have over 120(!) titles and counting, I know I will have more before I finish, so stay tuned! Not only will I talk about them on the podcast but I will review them here as well so you can see how I feel about aspects of each release. Part 10 is Bite!

A bachelorette party gone wrong! Casey (Elma Begovic) and her friends are on a trip to Central America when Casey gets bit by an unknown bug. Casey is also having doubts about marrying her fiancé. But soon all of that seems insignificant as Casey’s bite turns her into something monstrous.

For a low budget film that Scream Factory picked up, Bite will surprise you with its practical make-up effects. They are gross and horrific, with some gore to spare. Bite follows a lot of transformation tropes, something happens, victim is in denial, victim accepts what’s happening to them, victim becomes a monster and eventually kills other people. Bite does suffer from being a low budget film as well. Some of the acting is not very good. A couple of points in the film I was rolling my eyes on how some of the dialogue was delivered. Not always the actors fault as some of the dialogue is clunky and just plain silly. Elma Begovic is pretty solid as Casey, her transformation is awesome. Too bad her fiancé played by Jordan Gray is awful, in character and in acting ability. He should angrily drink more whiskey from a glass, oh wait he does that like five times in the film.

The make-up truly shines. Casey’s transformation is pretty wicked. She is scary, and menacing with a great help from the make-up. The set design is pretty solid as well. As Casey changes, so too does her apartment. It slowly changes into an insect hive complete with goopy eggs and slime.

The video isn’t too solid. It might be the limit of the production but a lot of it looks muted and washed out. It is the first time I haven’t been too impressed with a Scream Factory Blu-Ray. Not terrible, not great.

The audio is good. The drips and rips come through extremely clear. Dialogue isn’t too important in a movie like this, but it sounds a little washed out.

For a movie that came out of nowhere it is cool that Scream Factory gave it some nice features. There are five featurettes about the production. Especially cool if you like the make-up effects as there is a featurette that focuses on it. The other feature is a pretty solid commentary track by Writer/Producer/Director Chad Archibald.

Bite is a fun, gooey, gory B-Movie. It doesn’t do anything new with the transformation horror sub-genre, but it delivers solid make-up effects, which is the most important aspect of these films.

Film: C+

Video: C+

Audio: B-

Extras: B

Overall: C+

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 9: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Ten years ago, Behind The Mask burst onto the horror scene. Part faux-documentary, part straight up slasher film, Behind The Mask was one unique film. In lesser hands this film would not work, but the cast and crew fully understand and appreciate the movie they are making.

Behind The Mask follows a film crew composed of three college kids, Taylor the overly eager reporter and her crew of Doug and Todd. They are following around Leslie Vernon as he prepares for the ultimate slasher night. Vernon has the mask, the set-up, plus he is working really hard on his cardio to prepare. Vernon is giving Taylor unprecedented access to him while he prepares. He introduces her to his mentor Eugene and his wife. He also tells her why he choose his specific victims and how he plans on murdering them. The last 30 minutes of the film has a pretty great twist as Leslie’s plan unfolds, and things aren’t quite as they seem.

Behind The Mask is such a great horror film. The cast is outstanding. Nathan Baesel as Leslie Vernon is amazing. He has you laughing one minute and scared the next. He is able to weave in and out of threatening and goofy with great ease. Also “Final Girl” Angela Goethals is great as she soon learns that maybe interviewing and following around a serial killer is a poor career choice. The cast is also peppered with horror royalty, Robert Englund, Kane Hodder and Zelda Rubinstein to add more credibility to an already impressive cast.

The Scream Factory release of Behind The Mask sports a new HD master from the digital intermediate. The uptick from the DVD is immediately noticeable. Higher resolution and greater detail can clearly be seen. My only complaint is some of the documentary footage is out of focus. There are some points in the film where it is really jarring, especially when Leslie and Eugene are conversing at Eugene’s house.

The audio packs the right amount of thrills. The film oscillates between a documentary style to a more traditional horror film on the fly and the soundtrack reflects those changes as well.

Behind The Mask is a Collector’s Edition and it has a couple of great new features, the highlight being, Behind The Mask-Joys and Curses, a nearly 30 minute long retrospective with cast and crew. The Scream Factory release as carries over most of the extras for the DVD release including two audio commentaries. Be on the look out for an Easter Egg as well. Press left when Behind The Mask-Joys and Curses is highlighted and Leslie Vernon’s mask will appear, it’s cool I promise.

Behind The Mask-The Rise of Leslie Vernon is one of my most favorite horror films. I am over the moon that Scream Factory gave this movie the release it deserves, even if you own this film on Blu-Ray, Scream Factory’s new Collector’s Edition is worth the upgrade!

Film: A-

Video: B+

Audio: B+

Extras: A-

Overall: A-

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 8: The Beast Within

Being shocking isn’t always a great approach to horror. That’s because being shocking won’t help a film if you don’t care about the characters. Shocking things abound in The Beast Within, however the characters are not that well developed and the acting at times leaves a lot to be desired. The Beast Within opens with a monster raping a young woman, and impregnating her. Eighteen years later as the boy grows into a man he also grows into a horrible beast. Tom Holland of Child’s Play and Fright Night fame wrote the script, but it is one of his weakest. The movie is gory so it is satisfying in that regard. In a way The Beast Within is a werewolf movie that has a so-so transformation, but the effective gore saves the mundane and cliché riddled script. The Beast itself is some sort of cicada (according to Holland in the commentary track). The evil boy, played by Paul Clemons is lame and not scary so that makes him being evil somewhat laughable. Plus his romance with the town’s racist hick daughter feels forced and unnatural. I still think it’s a fun watch if you can get past its weak script and enjoy the monster mayhem.

The video looks great. The colors are very natural and I did not see any real scratches or imperfections. The film looks solid, hats off to Scream Factory for delivering a great looking disc.

The audio is good too. Dialogue comes through clear and the ooey-gooey monster effects sound great.

The extras aren’t plentiful but solid. You get two commentaries, one with the director and star, the other is a little more informative with Tom Holland the writer. Also included is a trailer and radio spot.

The Beast Within is an ok movie with great gore. Not really scary but there is some good 80’s fun to be had.

Film: C+

Video: B+

Audio: B+

Extras: C+

Overall: B

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 7: The Battery

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the well-made indie film, The Battery. We were on hand for its premiere at The Telluride Horror Show, when we covered it in 2012. We had a chance to interview the filmmakers on this micro-budgeted zombie flick and we came away impressed with the film and respect for what they accomplished on a $6,000 budget.

The Battery tells the story of Mickey and Ben, former baseball players, (hence the title The Battery) who are scrapping by in the zombie apocalypse. The two are friends, at least it seems that way during the film, but both have some deep underlying psychological problems. Mickey is weak and afraid of the zombies, Ben is reckless and fearless. The Battery has some truly disturbing scenes with not very much gore. Director/Writer/Actor Jeremy Gardner pushes the limits with his pacing and the way he stages scenes. I won’t spoil the more intense scenes in the film, but there are two that truly stand out. One involves Mickey masturbating to an attractive zombie girl. The other is the climax that is truly one of the most intense and interesting scenes in a zombie film ever, and I’ve watched a lot of them. While some zombie film fans may be put off by the lack of gore, The Battery makes up for it in an interesting human study character piece.

For such a small budget, DP Christian Stella gets the most out of the locations. Being shot so well serves the video well on this blu-ray. The colors are sharp and the color palette is spot on. The video looks really good.

On the audio side, The Battery is also solid. Again this isn’t the most bombastic zombie film, but the soundtrack is particularly strong making The Battery stand out amongst the other small budget films. The mix won’t overwhelm you, it will however set the mood properly.

The extras have a truly standout feature and that’s Tools of Ignorance: The Making of The Battery. The interviews are great. The charisma of crew really shines here. The interviews are awesome. The commentary is also spot on. A nice assortment of Outtakes, trailers, and a fun little feature about the music in the film.

The Battery deserved to be seen by horror fans. Scream Factory did such a great job finding this gem and getting out to the masses. Do yourself a favor and pick up this horror movie gem.

Film: B+

Video: B

Audio: B

Extras: A-

Overall: B+

Bonus!-Here’s our interview with Director/Writer/Actor Jeremy Gardner, Actor Adam Cronhiem and Director of Photography Christian Stella!

https://pdcn.co/e/reelnerdspodcast.com/2012/10/31/october-31-2012-telluride-horror-show-interview/

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The Scream Factory Crypt Part 16: The Boy

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 15: Body Bags

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 14: Return of the Living Dead Part II

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 13: Blood and Lace

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 12: Blacula/Scream Blacula Scream

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 11: Black Christmas

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 10: Bite

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 9: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 8: The Beast Within

The Scream Factory Crypt Part 7: The Battery