jade1-1 Reviews

Evil Unleashed (2003 Video)

Evil Unleashed - The (Dancing) Mummy!!!

[17 January 2004]

The Plot - A group of college students unwittingly release the spirit of an ancient mummy with the help of a professor. The mummy wrecks havoc on those who unleashed her killing them one by one... but not before doing her rituralistic dance in order to seduce them. Now, Lisa must fight in order to save herself and her friends form the evil clutches of the mummy and send the mummy back to hell for good.

The Directing - Slightly above average for a shot on video feature. One of the better directed features the director has under his belt.

The Story - Been there done that. Same plot as the David DeCoteau flick Ancient Evil: Scream of the Mummy but on a lower budget, but the pacing is fast and it has a slight camp humor to it which makes it a better film.

The Acting - This is a mixed bag. Heather Ashley, Jill Moore, and Perrine Moore are great with the material they are given. Brian Guest and David Ortega were weak as the male students. Everyone else was either ok or need need more acting classes. The main standout from the leads would be Heather Ashley... she is a breath of fresh air in the low budget film industry. She has talent and looks to go far in the industry and be a mainstream success. Jill Moore doesn't trail far behind Miss Ashley and had only like two bad

deliveries. Props goes to these two actresses.

Production Values - Lower than your average independent horror flick but still acceptable. Nice to see the indy filmmakers film on an actual college campus instead of a made up house.

Overall - I give the film a 7/10. It is an enjoyable, fun flick that you won't waste too much braincells in viewing and Heather Ashley should keep any guy interested.

Maniacal (2003 Video)

Main Attraction of Film HEATHER ASHLEY... this girls goin' places!

[23 June 2003]

Maniacal is basically a Halloween rip-off with a little bit of Slumber Party Massacre and Sorority House Massacre mixed in. All in all, it is a very enjoyable film the suffers in a few departments. One of these departments is the acting...

A lead cannot carry a film on her looks alone. Yes, Perrine Moore is beautiful but she needs acting classes. This leads to one question... WHY wasn't Heather Ashley (DJ) the lead? She is a natural actress and makes the best of her usually sex-obsessed character's dialog. No wonder she has done like five movies in the past year alone. She is deserving of better material. Deborah Huber is great as the mother in the beginning too. She is also deserving of better material and also shines in her Eyes of the Werewolf and Blood Sisters performances. The rest of the cast is okay but they don't shine like these two actresses. Another department it suffers greatly in is camera work...

I know this is a very low budget film, but they could have at least used a tripod more often. Now the tape I saw was a screener copy so the image may be cleared up by the time of release. The cinematographer has done better work in the past.

The writing is okay for a film of this genre but it is all a cliche. I have a feeling it was meant to be that way. The direction is adequate but doesn't feel like Joe Castro really put his effort into it like Blood Sisters and Terror Toons.

All in all, a entertaining throwback to early eighties slasher films that resembles them is every department.

PS: GIVE HEATHER ASHLEY AND DEBORAH HUBER BETTER MATERIAL!!!

The Scoundrel's Wife (2002)

Very Entertaining

[10/10 · 5 July 2002]

This movie was filmed around the area where I live (I was almost in it but I was on vacation for callbacks). It is truly a great movie. The writing, cinematography, acting and directing were all superb. It is about a family who is the outsiders of the town of Cut Off in the 1940's because her husband threw barrels of illegal immigrants into the gulf that they were shipping to America for profit. Her husband has died and her family have to make lives for themselves but WWII hits hard on the community. The wife ends up housing a doctor who is really an illegal immigrant and they become close and a chain of events are sparked. I know a few people that were in the film. I know the girls (Britney Levron, Danielle Lagard) that are sitting at the table in the dance hall and one of the dancers (Natalie Duet). I also know the girl (Kayla Duet) that is in the crowd in the final scenes. She is the blonde that is shaking her head.All in all, A+ entertainment.

Sorority Slaughter 2 (1996 Video)

Worse Than Part 1..........

[9 December 2001]

This is worse than part one. It was written and directed by the same people but they managed to come up with a less coherent plot than before. The film mustn't have had a script because everyone stares to the side of the camera and delivers their lines.

The sets were also horrible. You can actually see the top of the sets in the all too obvious shots. There's not an ounce of suspense to be found. Now for the plot....

Kim (Tina Krause, who has gone onto better films) is apparently the only survivor from the previous SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE but is really a zombie and needs the blood of three girls to survive. This is very convienent since she is now the head of the sorority house and it is pledge week!!!

The same plot from part one is made more incoherent this time around. This is from WAVE entertainment, a company that you can get to make part three by sending them a script and money to their production company.(I'm not lying, check out their website).

Sorority Slaughter (1994 Video)

Shot on Video Crap

[9 December 2001]

I am probably the only person that has ever seen this little film from WAVE entertainment(NOTE: SAM MENDES DID NOT DIRECT). Poor camera work, bad acting, worse editing, cheap effects and not even an ounce of nudity.

The "plot" is about three sorority sisters who accidentally shoot their RADU worshipping neighbor and leave him for dead. He soon comes back to life seeking sacrifices in order to live forever.

While some castmembers are semi-famous for Z-grade films (Tina Krause, Pamela Sutch, Laura Giglio, and Leslie Cummins), they were in their early stages of their career and it shows. How could someone market this crap and sell it for $30.00 a copy is what I want to know!

This isn't the bad news, though! This one's followed by an even worse sequel!!!! Check out my review for that film.

Sledgehammer (1983 Video)

Watchable shot on video horror film...

[4/10 · 10 August 2001]

This is a mediocre horror movie. It's very cheap, has acceptable (Sandy Brooke, Ted Prior, Linda McGill) to downright bad (George Eastman, Steven Wright, Tim Aguilar) acting, standard direction, poor screenplay, and okay photography.

It is about a woman and her lover who is killed by her young son(looks about seven years old, kinda young to be insane). Ten years later a group of vacationing teens (they look like their in their 30's, serious!) show up looking to have a weekend full of sex, booze, and fun. Their fun turns to sheer terror as their weekend is interrupted by the raving maniac's spirit.

It was directed by David Prior (KILLER WORKOUT, LOST PLATOON, MARDI GRAS FOR THE DEVIL) who does an okay job with the camera (for being a video movie) and creates a real film feel but when the action starts, he results to too many slo mo shots. Sandy Brooke is the most capable actress in this film, she gives real feeling to her character. Too bad she was in this movie.

It was shot on video before "BLOOD CULT" though and is wwwaaayyy better than W.A.V.E. Exploitation/Horror videos (At least SORORITY SLAUGHTER 1 & 2). Since IMD doesn't have a cast list I will supply one.

CAST

JONIE....LINDA MCGILL

CHUCK....TED PRIOR

JOHN.....JOHN EASTMAN

MARY.....JANINE SCHEER

JIMMY....TIM AGUILAR

CAROL....SANDY BROOKE

JOEY.....STEPHEN WRIGHT

LOVER....MICHAEL SHANAHAN

MOTHER...MARY MENDEZ

THE BOY (young)....JUSTIN GREER

THE BOY (older/spirit)....DOUG MATLEY

THE DRIVER....RAY LAWRENCE

All in all an entertaining if not throughly enjoyable genre piece stricken by poverty ($40,000 U.S. dollars).

5/10 (based on shot on video horror features)

X-Ray (1981)

Better than most say it is.

[6 August 2001]

This film is one of the most underrated slasher films of the early 80's. It has okay camera work, good acting, fluid direction, recycled plot, etc. Barbi Benton plays Susan Jeremy. She enters a city hospital to get the results of a recent physical. From the moment she enters the hospital, she is approached by weird doctors, old and strange patients, and is forced to undergo one of the most exploitive examinations in movie history (THE DOCTOR TAKES HER BLOOD PRESSURE AFTER PLACING HER HAIR JUST SO YOU HAVE A GOOD LOOK AT BARBI'S NIPPLES). Soon you learn that there is a crazed killer after Susan and he's out for revenge. Though exploitive in some areas, the film has its fair share of good, solid film making. The script is pretty weak and so is the ending but the direction makes up for it. The camera work is okay but just not as fluid as HALLOWEEN II's (which has a similar plot). All in all > 7/10