Director: Rob Rotten

Cast: Seth Dickens, Jamie Elle, Rob Rotten, Roxy Deville, Jack Vegas, Eric Swiss, Ruby Knox, Daisy Tanks

por·nog·ra·phy (pôr-nŏg’rə-fē) noun

1 : the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement 2 : material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement 3 : the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction

“Horror Porn”… the term is pretty redundant. It’s almost as if Merriam and Webster were watching Friday the 13th in their pajamas, with all of the lights off when they thought of the third definition of “pornography”. The two genres are brothers in offense and have been thrown together by the Christian Right and others as contributing to the downfall of civilization (and panties). They claim what violence and sex in cinema warp the minds of our young and lead them down a path of fucking and killing. I disagree, it’s pussy that leads one down a path of fucking and killing (Don’t give me that look. It’s a joke, dammit).

Continue reading The Texas Vibrator Massacre (2008)

Director: Roman Nowicki

Teraz Films / Color / NTSC R0 / Unrated / Varying Aspect Ratios / Dolby Stereo / Language: Polish / Subtitles: English / 90 min. /

“WARNING: EXTREME EROTIC HORROR!!” boasts the cover of this Polish sleaze-filled, zero budget, giallo/slasher curiosity. Someone like me (and most of my readers) who is always looking for something different, entertaining and challenging, how could I not pick this up right away? Well, mostly due to my unfamiliarity with it. I have been seeing it, as well as its subsequent sequels, on different genre DVD websites for a couple of years but never pulled the trigger until now. The cover looks as lurid and boundary pushing as anything I have ever seen. And after reading the synopsis, I just had to see it.

The opening scene finds two detectives investigating the body of a completely naked woman who has been stabbed to death. They reminisce about how this murder reminds them of a murder that happened recently in which a girl was naked and torn in half. We then meet a couple of janitors who work at the local bus station and spend their time undressing passersby with their eyes and spouting misogynistic lines about how all women are whores and “deserve what they get”.

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Reviews

Continue Reading Fantom Killer (1998)

aka Settima donna, La

Cast: Florinda Bolkan, Ray Lovelock, Flavio Andreini, Sherry Buchanan, Laura Trotter

Following the success of Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left, film makers jumped on the bandwagon and tried their hand at filming the sadistic and violent sexual abuse of women. Americans released the mean-spirited I Spit on Your Grave and those sleazy Italians got involved with classics like Night Train Murders and Thriller: A Cruel Picture (aka They Call Her One-Eye). While some enjoyed varying degrees of success, others were forgotten shortly after their release only to be resurrected 30 years later on Region 1 DVD by Severin Films.

Like most of the films mentioned above, the plot is very simple and very similar. Three bank robbers break down during their getaway and walk to the nearest house that just happens to be inhabited by young, virginal Catholic schoolgirls and their nun chaperone, Sister Christina (Bolkan). Their plan is to hole up there for a few days until their car is fixed. So, to pass the time, they molest a few teenage church girls for kicks, deflower a nun and murder an innocent civil service person and Hispanic maid (mostly for being so stereotypical I presume)….

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Continue Reading Last House on the Beach (1978)

aka Delirio caldo

Director: Renato Polselli

Cast: Mickey Hargitay, Rita Caldana, Raul Lovecchio, Carmen Young, Christa Barrymore

Criminal psychologist, Dr. Herbert Lyutak is a violent sexual deviant who has been killing young women and is now under suspicion by the authorities. His gorgeous wife begins to also suspect something when she finds a bloody dress in his hiding spot in their home. Herbert is tortured by his “illness” so much so that it has rendered him impotent. But his wife loves him so much that she wants only for him to “love her” and do with her whatever he wants (including playing rough). But he will not let himself harm the woman he loves. In fact, he wants to divorce her to keep her safe but she will not allow it. She begs him to stay and act out his aggressions on her.

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Continue reading Delirium (1972)

Shock Horror!

Publisher: FAB PRESS

Year Published: 2005

Author(s): Francis Brewster, Harvey Fenton, Marc Morris

Purchase from FilmFiends.com

What if the police broke down the door of every “mom ‘n pop” video store in your town and arrested and fined the owner for selling and/or renting out horror DVDs? What if they marched into YOUR home, confiscated your exploitation movie collection and put you in jail? It would be unthinkable, like something out of a… well, movie. But it did happen. The place and time was England in the ’80s during Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s reign of censorship and oppression. It was a time that spawned anger, political and social upheaval, punk music, and the video nasties. The violent and sexual nature in these “nasty” films were said to be harmful to the children and was blamed for the rise in violent crimes perpetrated by young people.

Book review by Greg Baty

Continue reading and see all the awesome poster art from “Shock Horror!”

aka Yi boh laai beng duk

Director: Herman Yau

Cast: Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Yeung Ming Wan, Fui-On Shing, Wong Tsui-ling, Miu-Ying Chan

Kai (Wong) is in the midst of fucking his boss’s wife when he is interrupted by said boss and promptly reprimanded… or humiliated, whatever… tomayto, tomahto. Anywho, this enrages Kai and he kills everyone in sight and if they have a vagina, he rapes them. 10 years later, he has escaped the Hong Kong authorities and is now living in Johannesburg, South Africa which, oddly, has a “China Town”. He works for a restaurant owner and his cunty wife who take advantage of their knowledge of his “situation” by underpaying him and generally mistreating him.

So Kai goes along with his boss to buy some cheap meat from the nearby Zulu tribe and they stumble upon the tribe in the midst of a ritual for some of their people who are infected with the Ebola virus. After purchasing the rancid meat from the tribal leader (who spoke fluent English with an American accent) they accidentally run into a tree and wreck their vehicle.

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Continue reading Ebola Syndrome (1996)

aka Quel maledetto treno blindato
aka Counterfeit Commandos
aka Deadly Mission
aka G.I. Bro
aka Hell’s Heroes

Director: Enzo G. Castellari (Keoma, The Heroin Busters, The New Barbarians, 1990: The Bronx Warriors)

Cast: Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, Peter Hooten, Michael Pergolani, Jackie Basehart

A truck load of military criminals during WWII are being hauled off to their Court Marshall when the convoy is attacked by the Nazis. Most of the lot are killed but five escape and quickly make a tenuous pact to help get each other safely to the Swiss border. Along the way they have to fight their way through German roadblocks, dodge air attacks and basically blow shit up. During one of the shootouts with the Germans, the “Filthy Five”, as I have dubbed them, team up (again tenuously) with a Nazi soldier who has deserted his troops.

While hiding out, the “team” shoots who they think are German soldiers (they were dressed as such) but are actually Americans on a mission to heist a Nazi train because it holds plans for a new weapon that will be used against the Allies…

Buy Inglorious Bastards (3-Disc Special Edition) Here

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Continue reading The Inglorious Bastards (1978)…

aka Ratu ilmu hitam

Director: Liliek Sudjio

Cast: Suzzanna, W.D. Mochtar, Teddy Purba

DVD Specs:
Mondo Macabro / Indonesian / Unrated / NTSC R1 / 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen / English Language

DVD Extras:
Indonesian Light & Magic: Behind the scenes with FX guru El Badrun / Theatrical trailer / Extensive notes & text essays / Mondo Macabro preview trailer

During his wedding to the village leader’s daughter, Kohar’s wife-to-be starts to hallucinate that he is a corpse and that snakes are all around her. Kohar decides that this is the work of black magic and his ex, Murni, must be the culprit. He gathers a mob to hunt her down and kill her for practicing the dark art and for bringing demons to the village. They find her and throw her off of a cliff but unknown to them she is caught (in mid-air) by a witch doctor who is actually the one cursing the town.

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Continue reading The Queen of Black Magic…

The Machine Girl (2008)

Cast: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Kentaro Shimazu, Honoka, Taro Suwa

While seeking revenge on a ninja Yakuza (that’s right, ninja fucking Yakuza) boss’ son for killing her brother, Ami is captured and tortured. During the abuse, her left arm is cut off just below the elbow. She escapes before they get a chance to kill her and takes refuge with a family of a boy who was also killed by the same people. Ami forms a bond with the boy’s mother over the loss of their loved ones and vow revenge on the sadistic crime family.

They fashion a huge machine gun for Ami’s arm stub as well as a chainsaw as a reserve. Once they decide it is time, the two find the Yakuza hideout but bite off more than they can chew when they are confronted by The Mourning Gang; four grieving parents of boys that Ami killed on her initial try at retribution. Armed with guns, martial arts training and hearts full of vengeance The Mourning Gang fight Ami and company to the death. But the mourners are the least of their worries… they still have to contend with *DUN DUN DUUUUUN* Mama Ninja Yakuza!

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Continue Reading The Machine Girl Review

aka À l’intérieur

Writer: Alexandre Bustillo
Directors: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Cast: Béatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis

Dimension Extreme / NTSC Region 1 / Enhanced 16×9 Widescreen / French with English Subtitles and English Dubbed Versions / French and English Dolby 5.1 / EXTRAS: Making of Featurette; Theatrical Trailer / Purchase at DiabolikDVD.com

A pregnant woman named Sarah and her husband are in a horrible car accident in which he dies. A few months later she is released from the hospital just days before her baby is due. Amidst social and political upheaval, she is left by herself to continue grieving and plan for her new life with her child. That night she is alone at home, thinking of her beloved husband, when there is a knock at the door. An unknown woman wants to come in and use the phone because her car has broken down… or has it? She soon reveals that she knows Sarah’s name and that her husband is dead and she wants in the house. But why?

A few reviews ago I praised the new wave of French horror when I wrote up Frontière(s). À l’intérieur or Inside as we Americans call it, is part of that artistically violent and terrifyingly intense crop. From the opening prelude of the horrific car crash and the beautifully gory opening credits we are lambasted with the most perversely satisfying carnage I can ever remember.

Continue reading ‘Inside (2008)’

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review

Writer/Director: Heiko Fipper

Cast: Heiko Fipper, Mike Hoffman, Stefan Hoft

I like to think that I’m a pretty astute movie watcher. Even the most convoluted plots tend to make sense if you watch them intently enough. That is not the case when a movie is just plain shitty. When the story is secondary to say, gore, you had better ba-ring it (imagine me saying that with my pointer finger waving around and my neck making a circle with my head)!

The “plot”… HAAAAA!HAAAA!HA!!!!… sorry, I couldn’t say it with a straight face. OK, OK… *ahem*… the “plot” follows a gang war started after a dude’s father is accidentally killed. That’s it. That small nugget of story is just a device to sorta justify the next 80 minutes of mind-numbing, horribly executed gore. Think the early films of Peter Jackson if they were made with shit instead of film stock.

Continue Reading Das Komabrutale Duell (1999) Here

Review by Greg Baty of The Playground Movie Review