A to Z Horror: “The Evil Dead” (1981)

Slasher Studios*Horror

Evil-Dead-Blu-ray-Cover

I finally watched The Evil Dead for the first time (“E” of #AtoZHorror in August) and this movie took me by surprise! I love how this movie succeeded with minimal ingredients but having maximum suspense! I can even say that I enjoyed watching it more than the remake of last year and I did not expect that to happen. Not only did it have lots of black humor, it also had some fantastic gore effects and make up effects. It was really frightening and disturbing in a lot of parts and I was even grossed out sometimes, which rarely happens when I watch a horror movie.

Bruce Campbell was amazing as Ash! Some comparisons, the remake had more character development and the characters lasted longer, in the original however the movie finds the perfect balance between horror and comedy. The remake was more serious. Both movies have things that work in its favor though. The Evil Dead is a cult classic in the genre and has so many memorable scenes that you can’t forget about this movie too soon. Highly recommend it to every horror fan who wants a killer good time! Can’t wait to watch the sequels, also besides Ash, none of the other characters were really memorable, but that is an obvious observation.

–Ferdi Akkulak

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“Eden Lake” Fires On All Slasher Cylinders

Slasher StudiosEden Lake

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So to start off, EDEN LAKE isn’t your typical horror slasher movie. Eden Lake goes where other mainstream Engilsh horror movies will stop.

Story
Eden lake is about a man and a woman who are going to a lake in the woods to camp there and have a romantic time. They get picked on by a group of teenagers but nothing serious is happening. Some time later the picking on gets worse and the teenagers do the harshest things from stealing till torturing. No spoilers, but the woman gets badass.

Scary and Gory?
These are important factors for horror slasher movies. So is it scary? It isn’t like supernatural movie scary A.K.A jumpscares. This movie is intense the whole time, you can say that due to the intensity it is pretty scary. So is it gory? This movie isn’t as gory as movies like ichi the killer or as bloody as the evil dead (2013), so it is not the whole time squirts of blood etc. However, when this movie is gory, it is pretty realistic and rancid.

The movie itself
But how good is the movie itself, acting, music, directing etc? The acting in this movie is pretty good and realistic, I loved Kelly Reilly because she did such a good job. The music in this movie was okay. The music was good but there are movies where the music really helps with the scariness factor but that wasn’t the case with this movie. The directing really surprised me because it is directed by James Watkins who made the woman in black and I didn’t really like that movie. However, in this movie the directing of him was really good and I hope he will make more movies like this in the future.

Conclusion
This movie was just amazing and it was pretty original for an not foreign horror movie. Everything worked for me. The gore and scaryness were amazing and I think that every horror fan would love that. However, I do think that you have to like movies like the last house on the left (2009) or I spit on your grave (2010) because this movie is pretty raw and not for the weak stomach or weak mind.

–Merik Westerveld

3.5

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“Dismembering Christmas” Hacks Up Kickstarter Goal

Slasher Studios*Dismembering Christmas

dvdcover

WE DID IT!!!!! We just hit our Dismembering Christmas goal! THANK YOU to everyone out there who have either become a backer and/or shared the campaign. We are so excited to make this movie the bloody holiday horror slasher you have been waiting for. If you haven’t yet become a backer, there is still time. The more money we raise, the bloodier we can make this Christmas creation. Once again, thank you from the bottom of our slasher hearts. You guys ROCK!

To become a backer:
Dismembering Christmas Kickstarter

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“All Cheerleaders Die” is Gory, Good Horror Fun

Slasher StudiosAll Cheerleaders Die

all_cheerleaders_die_xlg

All Cheerleaders Die is the new comedy-horror film from indie directors Lucky Mckee and Chris Silverston. The film follows the story of 4 young cheerleaders who are all involved in a fatal car accident. Luckily for the girls, they are brought back to life by their friend Lenna who is a practicing witch. However, the spell has some pretty dangerous side effects as the girls soon learn after feasting on Lenna’s next door neighbor. With this new power within them the girls take a bloody and brutal revenge on the guys who chased them on the night of the car accident which led to their deaths.

Caitlin Stasey and Sianon Smit-Mcphee (both Australian actresses who had previously worked together on the Aussie drama Neighbors) head up the cast and do it pretty damn well for this Indie thriller. The other members of the cast also do a pretty decent job as well. The acting in this film is not the best but from the main five girls It is clear to see they had fun with this film as I felt their performances were very well done (for what they were given). It’s clear to see that the filmmakers were not trying to make the next big horror film they just wanted to make a film which is fun, sexy and bloody gory and this is by far what it is.

With a run time of 1 hour 29 min, this fast paced horror-comedy is by far the most fun I have had in ages with a horror film. Although some of the male actors were a little off with their acting it didn’t take away from the fun. This film had guts pulling off themes of sexuality, coming of age and mixing that with a mean girls vibe this is a total crowd-pleaser. Screening this year (August 2014) at Londons annual Fright Fest the film will make its UK DVD premiere on October 13th “014 with the film already receiving a Netflix and DVD/ Blu-Ray release in the USA and other countries.

This was such a fun movie and although not the best horror film, it did give me some things to think about. Overall the weirdness of the film and the supernatural elements of the film were very engaging and made for an epic film. However, it is safe to say that this will not be for everyone but festival fans and horror fans will be sure to love it!

–Ross Wilcock

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A to Z Horror: “Detention” (2011)

Slasher Studios*Horror

Detention-poster

I watched Detention for the first time (“D” of #AtoZHorror in August) and its safe to say that nothing could’ve prepared me prior watching this movie! I can quote this movie as ‘Scream on steroids’ but I still had a lot of fun with it! Its amazing how it accomplished to be the perfect blend of comedy and horror. Sometimes the movie seems to have no limit and that is what I love about it, the jokes do seem far fatched at some point however. The pop culture references to previous movies in the horror/comedy were priceless and really spot on.

I really felt a strong sense of self awareness in this movie and that worked so good! The cast full of newcomers is amazing. Josh Hutcherson is a really charming and likeable leading man and Shanley Caswell is a revelation! I also really liked the supporting role of Dane Cook! The script might have copy catted a lot from previous efforts in its genre but in my eyes it did a really great thing to make it look original. This movie is just a ride you have to experience for yourself. Some may love it, some may hate it, but I was definitely on the side that loved it! Highly recommend it to all of you, who loves a tongue in cheek, self aware horror/comedy with lots of blood and laughs! Detention is a winner and soooo next level in its doings.

–Ferdi Akkulak

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Slasher Studios Horror Podcast: Horror Celebrity Encounters

Slasher Studios*Horror

Slasher Studios Webcast

On this week’s Slasher Studios Horror Podcast, our hosts Kevin Sommerfield and Andrew Beirl will be discussing the horror celebrities they’ve met at horror conventions and film festivals. Find out which celebrities are must sees and which ones are must to avoids. The fun begins Wednesday night at 10PM central.

To listen live or to check out an archive of the podcast:
Slasher Studios Horror Podcast: Horror Celebrity Encounters

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A to Z Horror: “Cherry Falls” (2000) Review

Slasher Studios*Horror

cherry-falls-poster

I finally watched Cherry Falls for the first time (“C” of #AtoZHorror in August) and I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It was everything I wanted it to be, plus more! I have to give props to this movie for keeping it real and not borrow too many things from other slasher movies that came before it. It was trying to pay homage to those movies, and I loved the way they did that.

This movie was the perfect blend of scary frights and witty humor. The cast was pretty good as well. The stand out performance definitely belonged to the late Brittany Murphy who was both a vulnerable and very strong female heroine, definitely one you root for. The rest of the cast was pretty solid too, Jay Mohr, Michael Biehn and Jesse Bradford were good in their roles. The soundtrack is also what really caught me off guard, its both atmospheric and especially hip for its own time. Cherry Falls had some pretty great unexpected twists and turns that came out of nowhere, I really liked that a lot! Its nowhere near as good as Scream but its a great standalone slasher with winks towards previous efforts in the genres. The clever script is what is definitely one of the best things and the pacing is really good along with the blood and awesome deaths and of course one kick-ass final girl!

Its not a Scream clone at all, highly recommend this movie to anyone! You will love the ending too and one hilarious scene towards the end! I see what they tried to accomplish with this movie, and well, it worked! This movie needs no sequels in my opinion…

Follow Ferdi on Instagram for more horror pictures/reviews!

–Ferdi Akkulak

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A to Z Horror: “Body Bags” (1993) Review

Slasher StudiosBody Bags

I watched Body Bags for the first time (“B” of #AtoZHorror in August) and it was pretty good for a first horror anthology film. It is different in every way than watching a regular feature film but that can be fun too. There were 3 segments in total, and here is what I thought of them. “The Gas Station” was easily the best segment, it was fun to watch, had suspense, great story and not to mention: fantastic horror cameos by Wes Craven, David Naughton and Sam Raimi!

“Hair” is downright awful and is in every sense a misplaced segment… It might be cheesy and funny sometimes but it drags on for too long and when something finally happens it is too late. Worst segment of the bunch. Lackluster story too.

Finally “Eye” was really interesting to watch and had a good story and Mark Hamill was great. I liked the blood effects but the ending is a letdown. The introductions of John Carpenter were awesome and he was really amusing and great cameo by Tobe Hooper in the end. This horror anthology has flaws but the positive beats the negative at the end. Worth a watch, recommend it for the legendary cameos alone!

Follow Ferdi on Instagram for more horror pictures/reviews!

–Ferdi Akkulak

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A to Z Horror: “An American Werewolf in London” (1981) Review

Slasher StudiosAmerican Werewolf in London

I finally watched An American Werewolf in London for the first time (“A” of #AtoZHorror in August) and I ended up loving it so much! So many things in this movie worked so well for me! I really like the cast to begin with even though all the actors are pretty unknown to me. I thought David Naughton provided to be a great, charming and likeable leading man. I also really liked Jenny Agutter and Griffin Dunne in this movie!

I have to say, the make-up special effects were tremendously done by Rick Baker, and it was not only during the terrifyingly realistic transformation scene but just every little detail in the rest of the movie. The make-up looked absolutely superb. Definitely deserved the Oscar for Best Make-Up Effects and it started that category so it will go down in history as legendary! I also liked how this movie combined horror/comedy/romance into one film, that really stood out to me. I liked the story, allthough its simple, but fun. The movie is witty, scary, has a moody 80’s soundtrack and boasts some great pair of leads. I really liked John Landis’ direction and this movie just proves that Werewolf movies can be great. Its also pays perfect homage to the elder Wolfman movies. Also love the blood and gore in it and some bizarre sequences! I highly recommend this cult classic from the 80’s!

Follow Ferdi on Instagram for more horror pictures/reviews!

–Ferdi Akkulak

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