The Loved Ones (2009)

This movie is exactly why I enjoy being a horror fan. This film really grabs a hold of its indie nature and kicks you straight in the groin. Intense, Uncomfortable, and in some cases down right nasty are the best ways to describe The Loved Ones. The harsh reality of this movie is that it will probably not be seen by most casual horror fans. To most, they will pass this off as some straight to video, low rate horror flick and will not give it the time of day. That statement could not be further from the truth.

The Loved Ones was shot in Australia in 2009. While the film made the usual festival rounds shortly after it had trouble being distributed here in the States. Eventually the film was picked up by Paramount Insurge, given a very limited theatrical run in June of 2012 and released on home video on September 2012, 3 years after is creation. Why it took so long to be picked up is beyond me. Unfortunatly that is just an example of how good horror is overlooked so that overly generic PG-13 "Teeny Horror" can get massive studio backing and promotion.

At any rate The Loved Ones takes you on a twisted journey in the home and life of a high school psychopath. Without giving anything away, its prom time in Australia, and Lola is going to get what she wants. This movie is not entirely original, but it has great concepts and in some ways grabs influence from the infamous serial killer Jeffery Dahmer. however most don't realize it. I am probably twisted for noticing the similarity right off the bat. at any rate, The Loved Ones will, for the most part, keep you on your toes and at some points say "No Fucking Way" and make you wanna look away from the screen. In my book...they did well.

The story is good, but does have some plot holes, fortunately they are minor and easily forgotten about once the action picks up. I felt all the actors did great jobs and major kudos to Robin McLeavy & Xavier Samuel for their portrayals of Brent and Lola. I felt the dynamic and tension of the 2 together really helped their characters and made the film very entertaining. Written & Directed by Sean Byrne, this film stands as his full length directorial debut as well as first time writing a full length script.

As I stated before there are some small plot holes but I eventually didn't care due the the graphic nature of the film. The special effects where very good. you get a cleaver to the face (F13-4 style), some nice chest carving, knives trough the feet, hit and runs, and the best of the film drill to the skull. All of which look great. As for the nudity you get 2 sex scenes, one shows some female action and a dude shirtless, the other is a brief back of car scene where you don't see much of anything.

Overall I was very happy with The Loved One, its cleaver story and humor really make it worthwhile, while the atmosphere and acting make you really want to wash your hands. GLP give The Loved Ones 4 out of 5 stabs for great special effects, acting and atmosphere. If you wanna check out this movie is available on DVD. To find out more about the title you can visit the films Facebook. View the trailer below.

 

GLP Rating 

Father's Day (2011)

Lock up your fathers! This film is udderly ridiculous...In an absolutely awesome way! Take all of the cheesiest 80's slasher, comedy and dramas you can think of. Combine those with some porn, and then add buckets of fake blood, dildos, and guns. That is the unique recipe for Astron-6 and Troma Releasing's Father's Day.

"You don't call a man a tree." Fathers day screams 80's. The stellar soundtrack, the vintage film color, and the added film grain was a nice touch as well. This movie should be everything a fan of the 80's would want...if you like your movies EXTREMELY over the top. Father's Day defiantly hit the mark, and could be the best thing to come out of Troma Releasing since Blood Junkie.

Father's Day is about a serial killer named Fuckman, that has an affinity for raping, killing, then eating fathers, and a vigilante named Ahab whose own father was subject to fuckmans brutality.. Ahab, a priest, and a gay street hooker set out to stop the Fuckman once and for all and save fathers everywhere. While the plot summary sounds ridiculous, Astron-6 manages to make the film hilariously entertaining, even through some very uncomfortable scenes.

There are so many aspects of this film that are entertaining, its hard to write them all out. But there are some stand outs that are evident throughout the flick. First was the cinematography, a lot of the angles, and shooting techniques of the film really help give the film the dated 80s vibe while still showing the ability of modern camera work. The whole opening sequence was shot beautifully, and the film continues the trend throughout. The special effects are done marvelously as well, buckets of gore and entrails engulf this effort and really add to the shock factor and overall grittiness of the film.

The acting is extremely comical in this film. Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy and Conor Sweeney really that the classic 80's cheese and overacting to another level. As a result you have a perfect combination that makes this film stand out. Viewer be warned, there is alot of pretty graphic scenes in this film involving rape, mutilation, and nudity. But as most horror fans know, that only adds to the delight of watching twisted movies. The boys and girls get bunch of ass and tit shots, as well as some gritty sex scenes. Everyone wins!

Ultimately, Father's day is a ridiculous homage to 80's slasher and exploitation flicks the will leave you wanting to take a hot shower by the time your finished with it. With equal parts comedy and horror, gore hounds and relish in this delightfully twisted film from Astron-6 and Troma Releasing. GLP gives this film 5 out of 5 stabs for being the most fucked up movie we have seen in recent years. If you would like to check out this film you can buy the 3 disc blu-ray, dvd and cd combo pack here. For more information on Astron-6 and Troma Releasing click the links to visit their webpages. View the trailer below.

GLP Rating:

V/H/S (2012)

The hype behind this movie in the horror community was awesome! V/H/S was and still is being hailed as "Best of the year" by Fangoria, "The scariest, rawest horror movie of the year" by Rolling Stone, and Dread Central called it "A Phenomenal piece of work." Needless to say I was very excited to check it out. I had been following news on the film since hearing about it on Bloody Disgusting around the time it hit Sundance, so to finally get to watch it was quite a treat.

V/H/S/ is about a group of jackasses that are hired to steal a vhs tape from some old dudes house in the middle of nowhere. However when they arrive and find hundreds of vhs tapes depicting horrifying tales they realize they may have bitten off more than they can handle. V/H/S is a "found footage" and "anthology" which at first sounds like its gonna be a fucking mess, but the film develops a nice pace and before you know it your sucked into the TV.

All together there are 6 shorts in this film (including the main story). While I liked them all, I found some to be more effective than the others. The first and last stories Amateur Night and 10/31/98 were my favorites! I really feel with the time that each story had the respective directors and writers did a fantastic job. My only beef was with the short "Tuesday the 17th" I felt a little empty as far as the story. It left me with questions and I felt it could have been explained better. Regardless, it still found enjoyment in that short, so I am not extremely disappointed. The other 3 stories were good and I really have no criticisms.

The writers and directors Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, and Radio Silence did a great job overall with their respective shorts. I was really impressed with the special effects of Radio Silence's "10/31/98" and David Bruckner's "Amateur Night". While Ti West's "Second Honeymoon" was a bit slow the ending was awesome. It left me with a chill and eerie feeling throughout.

For the gore hounds out there, there is plenty of the red stuff. Throat Stabbings, disembowelment, decapitations, surgical cutting, and plenty other body parts are removed, chewed, and violently torn off. As for the stories themselves I really liked the diversity, I felt there was something for everyone. Slashers, Monsters, Aliens, Demons, Ghosts and more prove that this film is not just a one trick pony. The found footage aspect was a nice tough, I felt like i was 10 years old again watching my favorite splatter pic on vhs again. I will say though that if you have trouble with dizziness, or nausea with handheld films like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity and those alike that you may want to take an antihistamine or some sort of anti-nausea medication.

Lastly this film is heavy on the nudity! I for one love a nice T&A shot in a movie, but this film is FULL of them. The guys get about 4 or 5 different beautiful pairs, a full frontal, and some nice thong action. But wait thats not all, Ladies you're in for a treat too. The girls get some dudes with their shirts off, a full frontal male, and a couple of butt shots. Everyone wins!

In short V/H/S lived up to the hype for GLP. while a couple of shorts has some flaws, the film as a whole was extremely entertaining. Magnet Releasing did a wonderful job bringing the fans a worthy film, that will surely be a must have for a lot of collectors. GLP gives this effort 5 out of 5 stabs for originality, special effects, and overall badassery! For more information on the film visit the Official Site, and Facebook. Catch this film as soon as you can on-demand because it is scheduled for its theatrical release on October 5th and will probably be removed at that time. View the NSFW Redband trailer below!

GLP Rating