Mar 19, 2013

Savage Vengeance (1992)



Fifteen years after gracing us with her presence in I Spit on Your Grave, Camille Keaton returned to the small screen to do Savage Vengeance, a low budget film written and directed by Donald Farmer (Demon Queen, Cannibal Hookers).

While getting some R&R by the waterside, four dudes see an opportunity to take what isn’t theirs, leaving Jennifer violated and humiliated. Five years later, we see her revenge through flashbacks, and a jaunt into the woods becomes another nightmare, as her friend gets raped and killed by a couple of creeps, and not much later, she's terrorized too.

As with many low budget films, the acting and dialog are horrible, and is often drowned out by the music, which is looped and tiresome. Not to mention, rape/revenge flicks come a dime a dozen, yet they're still a very popular subgenre, evident by the remake of I Spit on Your Grave in 2010, which tended to cater more toward the new horror watcher and fans of the SAW franchise. Not one I personally cared for, as it felt like a watered down version of the original, even with the more extreme torture scenes.

As for Savage Vengeance, it’s not a great movie either, but did bring a smirk with the misspelled title screen, and nice to see Camille’s upper assets still looking quite perky. The simulated rape scenes were quite laughable in that you can clearly see her pants are still on, buttoned, and zipped, so the dudes were really just air humping her jeans.


This was intended to be a sequel and often billed as ISOYG 2, but doesn’t compliment it the least bit. I’ve heard that Camille has denounced it, and she even went by the alias Vickie Lahl/Lehl/Kehl to act in it. But, it does remain a must-own for DIY/SOV completists.

Originally released by Magnum Video in 1992, then onto DVD in 2000 by Eden Pictures as part of their I Will Dance on Your Grave series, which is now out-of-print. But, within the last year, it was re-released on VHS by The Uneasy Archive, limited to 23 copies, plus an exclusive version given away on Freddy In Space, and now, Massacre Video will release their DVD, VHS, and DVD hardbox over the next month or so. The VHS is limited to 100 copies and available now.


Miss Keaton is still active in film, recently being in Toe Tag Picture’s Sella Turcica, and helping to promote it by making appearances at conventions and screenings. She also has a spot in Rob Zombie’s Lords of Salem, but according to IMDb, the scenes were deleted from the theatrical version, so we may have to wait to get a glimpse when it hits YouTube or video.

I got the honor of meeting her at Texas Frightmare one year, where I had her sign a picture for a friend. Mind you, it was one of the nudie pics from her table, and she was very nice, appreciative, and not the least bit bashful.


So, run over to the Massacre Video Facebook page to keep up-to-date on the latest Savage Vengeance happenings.

Mar 11, 2013

I Told You Not to Call the Police (2010)



I ran across this unposted blog from 2010 and decided to share.

Why am I such a sucker? It’s because I continue to buy Bill Zebub’s films. I guess it’s my unquenchable curiosity, or mere stupidty, but in the last few years, I’ve purchased pretty much all of his new ones (and resold some), and also gotten a few of the older ones at horror conventions, where I think he was peddling them 4 for $30, which I obliged. Much like newer Jess Franco films, you can guarantee a loose storyline, loose women, and tons of lingering boob and bush shots. Simply put, Bill's movies are made for perverts by a pervert (dang, I guess I just outted myself again). Not all of his roster of chicks (strippers, groupies, etc) are great looking, but don't seem the least bit bashful to bare it, which is why they got the gig.

Let me give you a little bit of history on Bill and I. I made the mistake of having my girlfriend sit in on a screening of Zombiechrist at Cinema Wasteland last year. Needless to say, she wasn’t the least bit impressed, and seemed rather disgusted most of the time. Plus, it didn’t help that it was late at night in a packed room with a bunch of drunks, who saw no fault in yelling at the screen. Sure, that’s commonplace at a convention, but rudities like “Yeah, give it to her” and “F*** the bitch!,” are rude in most settings outside of 42nd Street theatres. But, the more I watched, the more I was torn, as I wanted to walk out because I could see her discomfort, but I also wanted to stay. So, being the caring boyfriend I am, we stayed. I know, I know, what an asshole I am, but needless to say, I won’t happen again, as I'll be attending the convention alone this year, where Bill's supposed to unleash his 46th feature, Rap Sucks.

His latest feature, I Told You Not to Call the Police, is pretty much typical Bill, minus the blasphemous religious dialog and intended humor we've gotten from the others I've seen. Once again, the chicks can’t act, and awkwardly go through the motions, but still end up baring it all. Now, I’m not saying that Bill’s films don’t carry any jerk merits, but they’re usually once overs, then easily forgotten.

The highlight of the disc is the bonus feature, Assmonster, which is the sheer essence of how and why Bill’s guerilla films are made. All the humor is in this one, but Bill kept it to "tops off" only. He must not have had as much influence as he has today in making the panties drop.

Stuff I Watched: A Thousand Cuts, Girls Against Boys, Demon Queen, Junk Films, American Fetish, Bunny Game, and Blood Beach



It's been quite a while since I've posted, so I can only hope that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and not fungus, as the Barenaked Ladies would say. While I've bought and watched quite a bit over the last few months, I haven't really felt compelled to talk about them at length. So, as I've done in the past, this is more of a video round-up, giving my brief thoughts on several movies, in hopes of steering your time and hard earned bucks in the right direction.

A Thousand Cuts--what a snoozefest. Luckily, I had a free Redbox rental, but sadly, I wasted it on this. Another movie that became background viewing while on the internet and I remember very little about.

Girls Against Boys--I didn’t have very high expectations for this, but it was a decent flick. Nothing really new as far as premise, but executed well enough to keep my attention, and the geisha scene was kind of creepy. Something I’d pick up if found on the cheap.

Demon Queen--while I’m sure Massacre Video used the best possible film source for the transfer, a lot of the picture was dark and sometimes muddy. This is the first and very obscure shot-on-video movie from 1985-86 by Donald Farmer, who also did Savage Vengeance (also being re-released by Massacre Video) and Cannibal Hookers. The biggest mystique around Demon Queen is that for such a forgettable movie, original VHS versions would sell for hundreds on Ebay. There’s nothing great about this movie, but for fans of DIY cinema, it’ll complement their SOV collection, with some blood and boobs to boot.

Junk Films--Oh, Junk Films, I wanted you to trump anything I’d seen before, and put the beloved Orozco the Embalmer to shame. I hoped you’d make me queasy and hang my head in shame, then feel compelled to hide you when others came around. But, rather than make we scream like a little girl, I got bored, and thought I was just watching another Traces of Death or Death Scenes rip off. Sadly, A&E’s Death Detectives: The LA County Coroner brought more (demented) pleasure.

While there are some interesting scenes, and the limited hardbox from Massacre Video is totally badass, the contents didn’t live up to the hype. What you’ll see are several accident scenes from India and Thailand, with bashed-in heads, loose organs, and blood trails. There’s also suicide, a few death rituals, and cremated remains, but much worse can be seen on the internet.

It serves as a good companion piece to Orozco (same director/photographer) and is worth having to complete your gross-out collection, but I know there’s much more Asian underground shock just waiting to be discovered.

Limited Hardboxes from Massacre Video

American Fetish--this is a pretty tame look at the industry, following the story of a son exploring a murder and his father’s fetish films. It felt like a Cinemax After Dark movie, which come a dime a dozen and get little attention other than when T&A flash on the screen.

Bunny Game--If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was a Lucifer Valentine film, which much like his films, became tedious. What is it with bunny-titled movies and BJs? Brown Bunny had a full-on BJ and so does Bunny Games. Cocaine + prostitution + torture, sexual perversion and head shaving + lots of screaming = Bunny Games. Watch for sheer curiosity, then follow it up with your favorite comedy.

Blood Beach--I’m really surprised this hasn’t been released on DVD here in the states, seeing that it has John Saxon and Burt Young. This was my first viewing, and yeah, it’s not a great film, but does have a kick-ass poster and tagline (Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…you can't get to it.). This probably ran on late-night TV and was a big hit, but when lumping it with all the other horror films of the time, it’s pretty forgettable (other than the title). So, what’s taking people out on the beach? Is it a sandshark? A tremor? Someone living in an underground bunker? I won’t ruin it for ya, but I will say, the reveal wasn’t worth the wait. I’m sure it’ll be released in the future, but if you can’t wait, there are plenty of bootlegs running around, and you might even score this alternate artwork.


So, I'll try not to be such a stranger, and if you have any suggestions on what you'd like for me to review, please let me know. Don't forget, we do have a Facebook page, and thanks for reading!