by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Direct-to-DVD films are often a crapshoot. Sometimes you end up with a surprisingly good film that just got lost in the studio system shuffle. Other times you can tell from the title alone that the flick was never meant to see the inside of a movie theater. With Halloween officially upon us, EU decided to peruse the internet and local video stores to find some fun direct-to-DVD horror movies. Here are a handful of titles we came across during our search:
82 min. Not Rated
Unlike a lot of zombie movies, The Stink of Flesh uses the rising of the dead as a backdrop to a far stranger and more original story. Nathan and Dexy are married swingers always looking to add some spice (usually in the form of one or more people) to their sex lives. But a recent zombie problem afflicting the area has left them with very few choices. Enter Matool, a killer of all things undead who is kidnapped by the couple and forced into the bedroom. Meanwhile, the world is turning into a zombie wasteland and the flesh-eating monsters are descending upon Nathan and Dexy’s love shack fast. Plenty of gore and an outrageous take on the zombie genre makes The Stink of Flesh a surefire winner for horror fans who have a taste for lots of blood.
57 min. Rated TV-MA
I didn’t want to add any of the Masters of Horror DVDs to this list since they technically are made-for-TV, but a look at the opening scene and the brilliant cover forced me to make an exception. We All Scream for Ice Cream was directed by Tom Holland (Child’s Play) and is the 10th episode of season 2 of Showtime’s Masters of Horror television series. In it, a group of childhood friends are tormented by the ice cream man they accidentally killed when they were kids. The ice cream man’s weapon is evil frozen treats that, when eaten, turn people into puddles of melted Neapolitan. Demented, but oh so delicious, We All Scream for Ice Cream is well worth a rental.
94 min. Rated R (violence/gore, language, some sexuality and nudity)
Looking at the cover art, The Wickeds looks like your average Night of the Living Dead rip-off and, by all accounts, it is. But this particular Night of the Living Dead rip-off stars Ron Jeremy and that, my friends, makes it worth a rental. The plot goes a little something like this: a group of 20-somethings decide to spend Halloween at a run-down house in the middle of nowhere that’s currently being used as a movie set. Not far away, a couple of grave robbers disturb the wrong corpse, causing the dead to rise again. The grave robbers end up fleeing to the house where they team up with the kids to try and stay alive. With a budget of $50,000, a first-time writer and a cast of nobodies (Jeremy, of course, being the exception), The Wickeds will not knock your socks off or make it on your Top Ten list, but it’s just campy enough to be a fun hour and a half.
83 min. Unrated
The Mad is yet another zombie film but it’s got an interesting premise. A normal family is traveling and comes across a café that is unknowingly selling tainted burgers that turn those who eat them into blood-thirsty monsters. Billed as a horror/comedy, The Mad stars Billy Zane and was directed by Canadian indie filmmaker John Kalangis. Even if it isn’t the next Shaun of the Dead, you gotta appreciate the film’s clever tagline, “A zomedy with flavor,” and tongue-in-cheek cow-power message.
91 min. Not Rated
Reeker actually looks like the ever-so-rare legitimately good direct-to-DVD film. Five college kids find themselves stranded in a deserted travel lodge while on their way to a party. While there, the students begin seeing horrifying visions of mutilated travelers killed by a wicked entity known as the Reeker. Soon the frightened kids are being picked off one by one and those left behind must fight to stay alive. Don’t let the description fool you, this is not another The Hills Have Eyes. Entertaining, scary and full of twists, Reeker got some fantastic reviews after its DVD release, so much so that a sequel is currently in the making.
86 min. Not Rated
The title alone kind of says it all. Evil Bong is a horror/comedy starring Tommy Chong (naturally) about a water pipe that magically transports the smoker into a world where they are brutally killed by monster bras. Yes, I said bras. Directed by Charles Band and shot in just 7 days, Evil Bong is by no means a masterpiece but the concept alone had me in hysterics and I haven’t touched pot in nearly a decade. This low-budget C-movie is supposed to be stupid, mindless fun so keep that in mind before picking it up and you shouldn’t walk away disappointed.
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