BLOOD SCARAB 2008 (TUBI)

A Don Glut T&A horror film.

Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Monique Parent) arrives in modern day Los Angeles with the intent of taking over and becoming even more powerful.

The Countess had made a pledge with Vlad Dracula so she can gain eternal life. Early in the film we see Dracula die as he is caught in the sun while watching two lesbians in action thru a window. Vlad (Tony Clay) is almost saved by his servant Renfield (Del Howison), but the sun is faster.

Bathory is not at all bothered by Vlad's death and she immediately demands that Renfield find a way she can live in the sunlight. This, we discover, is possible but only with help from an ancient Egyptian goddess named Hathor (Angelica Monro).

Bathory attempts to contact Hathor and does but only after she steals the ancient Mummy of Hathor from a pawn shop where it has been stashed after it was stolen by two men who found the body after the Mummy walked out of a museum!! Make sense?

This eventually brings about a final battle between Bathory and Hathor in Mummy form. This is a very low budget, but interesting film actually shot on video.

The women in the film are beautiful, but the standout is, of course, Monique Parent. She makes a most fetching Bathory. The rest of the cast includes Brinke Stevens, Natasha Diakove, Cindy Pucci and Christina Morris.

If you're a fan of very low budget horror and beautiful women, then you might like this little film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

James Brolin is 80, Audrey Landers is 64, Amanda Saccomanno is 30, Susan Marie Snyder is 57, and Al Snow 57.

THE SLAYER 1982 (TUBI)

Somewhat interesting early 80's horror.

Two couples decide to take a vacation together and soon find themselves stranded on a small island with a powewrful hurricane headed their way. However, this isn't their only problem.

One of the women on the trip named Kay (Sarah Kendall) is haunted by dreams she has had since she was a child about a strange demon who stalks and kills people. Everytime she sleeps, people die.

This is a rather interesting film with some classic early 80's gore killings including a pretty good death by pitchfork scene. This has been compared to the classic "Nightmare On Elm Street" as it deals with a dream demon, and while there are a few similarities two are very different.

You don't see the monster until the final 3 minutes of the film, and it is an impressive creation, but I wish it had been seen a little more. The ending is what really surprised me. I think it's quite unique, and I still haven't seen anything like it in any other films.

The actors perform their roles well under the direction of J. S. Cardone and everything seems to jell well. If you haven't seen this, I do think it;s worth hunting down and at least look at once.

The rest of the cast includes Fred Flynn, Carol Kottenbrook and Alan McRae.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Donald Sutherland is 85, P. J. Soles is 70, David Hasselhoff is 68, Heather Langenkamp is.56, and Catherine Schell is 76.

ALABAMA OUTLAWS: WRESTLING ON THE INDIE CIRCUIT 2002 (AMAZON PRIME)

A great wrestling documentary from Fred Olen Ray.

This is a stunning look at the behind the scenes show that many people cannot even imagine during a single evening of an indie wrestling show on a very hot and muggy Alabama evening.

Many of the wrestlers are interviewed including The Iron Shiek, Bob Armstrong and many others. Fred Olen is on hand as manager "Freddie Valentine: and it's always good to see Fred in the wrestling business.

This gives you a good look at who is really in the small circuit. Everyone always talks of WWE, but this is where the real business is, and these people really have to work to make what small living they make from this.

It's not all glitz and glamour as everyone seems to think. I don't want to give too much away, as this is one of those documentaries you need to see to really appreciate.

If you're a pro wrestling fan, you won't want to miss this award winning look at the REAL world of small circuit wrestling, a world most people never see and few could even survive. AKA "Southern Discomfort" Wrestling On The Indie Circuit".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ann Turkel is 74.

REFLECTIONS OF THE LIVING DEAD 1993 (RONIN) BLU-RAY

A MUST HAVE for any Night Of The Living Dead Fan.

This as originally released in 1993 when Night was celebrating it's 25th anniversary. Directed by J.R. Bookwalter, this looks at the movie from several different perspectives.

There is a round table discussion of the film with George Romero, John Russo, Russ Streiner and Karl Hardman who give some very cool insight into how the film came to be as well as many sequences and how they were shot.

You also have many different people in the movie business such as Sam Raimi, Fred Olen Ray and John Landis telling about how the film affected them and their future careers.

If you've seen the other documentaries about Night, there really isn't much new here, but it is, as I said above, an absolute MUST for fans of the film. The entire 101 minute roundtable is included as an extra.

I enjoyed this a lot and cannot imagine any NOTLD fan not owning it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Brigitte Nielsen is 57, Patrick Wayne is 81, Andra Martin is 85, Linda Ronstadt is 74, and Lori Cardille is 66.

MANSION OF THE DOOMED 1976 (TUBI)

A bizarre film I never got to see until a while ago.

Richard Basehart stars as a surgeon named Leonard Chaney. He has a big problem. His daughter is blinded in an accident and he is driven to make her see again.

He decides to get unwilling victims and take out their eyes and perform transplants. One of them actually works, but only for a while, and this drives Chaney over the edge. His life in companion, Katherine (Gloria Graham) doesn't want him to continue his quest, but the doc wants his daughter to see again no matter what.

A basement prison cell is filling up fast with victims and soon things get out of control as some of the prisoners escape and when one is struck by a car it brings in the police.

There is one very disturbing scene of the doctor going to a playground and attempting to kidnap a young girl to use her young eyes in an operation, but she manages to escape. This film uses the mad doctor playbook which we have seen in other films such as "Awful Dr. Orloff" or "Eyes Without A Face".

Baasehart does a good job as the mad surgeon and it's al;ways a treat to see Graham and the rest of the cast includes Lance Henriksen, Donna Adresen, Katherine Stewart and the gorgeous Marilyn Joi.

The ending is a shocker for the time and one you won't forget. If you like 70's horror films with a low budget, I think you might like this little film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lynn Loring is 76, Roosevelt Grier is 88, Helga Line is 89, and Jeff Jarrett is 53.

DR. JEKYLL'S DUNGEON OF DEATH 1979 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

A long lost 70's film is finally given the Blu-ray treatment.

I guess it's not really a lost film, but it has had a bad history of being on very dark VHS releases and often butchered beyond belief. Now Vinegar Syndrome bring this epic to us in a beautiful blu-ray transfer.

Porno director James Woods made this film and it's his only non-skin flick. James Mathers stars as Henry Jekyll. It seems Henry is as insane as his great grandfather was.

Jekyll has his hulking assistant named Boris (Jake Pearson) kidnap people so he can use them as guinea pigs for his experimental aggression drug that was first created by his grand father.

He has them fight kung fu style in his basement dungeon and it usually ends up with one of the people dying, which Jekyll is trying to prevent but can't quite get it right.

He has invited one Professor Atkinson (John Kearney) to his home to help him. Atkinson's beautiful daughter was working with Jekyll before she died and Atkinson wants some answers.

He learns that his daughter Julia (Dawn Carver Kelly) isn't dead, she is being held captive by Jekyll. His experiments get more and more out of hand until everything comes crashing down.

This film really has it all. Kung Fu fighting, mad scientists, bondage, torture, cannibalism and so much more. The rest of the cast includes Tom Nickelson and Nadine Kalmes as the insane sister of Jekyll. Her performance is something to see.

I was knocked to the floor when I saw Vinegar Syndrome was actually releasing this and was even more astounded when I saw the quality of this film on Blu-ray. If you're into bizarre cinema this is simply a no brainer, if you can find it at the moment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYTO...

Robyn Hilton is 76, Malisa Longo is 70, and Sean Waltman is 48.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Cheryl Ladd is 69, Denise Nicholas is 76, and Lisa Pelikan is 66.

THE STAND 1994 (CBS)

A great mini series based on the best book Stephen King ever wrote.

The DVD is a two disc set and it contain four chapters. The story is pretty basic actually.

A "Super Flu" is accidentally released from a military base and it quickly spreads all over the country killing thousands. The Government is powerless to stop the spread and soon over 3/4th of the population is dead.

The survivors soon begin having dreams of both a woman named Abigail Freemantle (Ruby Dee) and an evil demon known as Randall Flagg (Jamie Sheridan).

The story centers around both groups of people. Those who choose to go see Mother Abigail and those who choose to go the way pf Flagg. Finally as all sides are chosen 4 men must journey on foot from Colorado to Las Vegas for a final showdown with the very evil Flagg and his many minions.

I know this is a very simplified write-up, but I could literally take pages to do it justice. It is an incredibly well made show and it have never failed to suck me in every time I see it. Mick Garris directed this classic and the cast has so many people that do such an excellent job.

The cast includes Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Ray Walston, Laura San Giacomo, Ossie Davis, Corin Nemec, Matt Frewer, Adam Storke, Rob Lowe, and so many more. There are cameos by John Landis and Ted Raimi as well as Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

There are many great set pieces including a haunting tour thru the Lincoln Tunnel, a disease control center in Maine and a few dream sequences involving Randall Flagg and Mother Abigail just to mention a few. The music is excellent as well and includes "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House and "Boogie Fever" by The Sylvers.

Of all the characters in the movie you will never forget "Trashcan Man" played to the hilt by Matt Frewer. This follows the book as faithfully as anything I have ever seen and all I can say is this is a MUST for any King fan. It runs 6 hours, but is NEVER slows down. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Robert Pine is 79.