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VAMP U An Award Winning Horror/Comedy Is Available On VOD

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VAMP U an award winning horror comedy which reached #1 on iTunes for the most popular movie trailer! Check out the trailer for yourself at https://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/vampu/.

Also a winner for – “Best Horror Film” at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and "Best Actor" – Adam Johnson & "Best Actress" – Julie Gonzalo at Los Angeles Comedy Festival.

If you are attending the SXSW Film Festival, join in for a special one-night only showing of VAMP U at the best theater in Austin…Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter Lane on March 14 at 10:00 p.m.

VAMP U is a hilarious vampire comedy packed with sexy sorority girls, crazy frat boys, bloodthirsty vampires, and lots of laughs that was written and directed by Maclain Nelson (Osombie, Orc Wars and Dragon Warriors) and Matt Jespersen, plus it features a great cast of rising stars and veteran talent.

Synopsis:

  • Wayne Gretzky (Adam Johnson) is a vampire with fangs that won’t grow.  His “impotence” began when he inadvertently killed Mary, the love of his life, 300 years ago.  To take his mind off the pain, he teaches college history – who better than a guy who’s been around for centuries?  Attempting to regain his full vampire powers, he enlists help from his friend and colleague, Dr. Levine (Gary Cole).  But nothing works…that is until a new semester brings freshman Chris Keller (Julie Gonzalo) – a dead ringer for his beloved Mary.  They begin to have an affair, which quickly goes south when he accidentally turns Chris into a vampire.  Now, as she leaves a bloody trail of destruction across campus – converting a sorority house full of coeds including the irresistible Samantha (Alexis Knapp) to her vampire legion – Wayne is faced with the task of stopping her before they kill the entire student body!

Cast:

  • Adam Johnson (Orc Wars, Frozen and upcoming Dragon Warriors)
  • Gary Cole (Pineapple Express, Talladega Nights, Entourage, Office Space and Dodgeball)
  • Julie Gonzalo (Dodgeball, A Cinderella Story, Must Love Dogs, Eli Stone and currently starring on Dallas)
  • Alexis Knapp (Pitch Perfect, Project X, Percy Jackson & the Olympians and Couples Retreat)

   
Available NOW on VOD and Digital Download, plus coming to DVD on March 12, 2013!

Check out VAMP U on Facebook!

A Cadaver Christmas Review

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Title: A Cadaver Christmas

Year: 2011

Distributor: Level 33 Entertainment

Director: Joe Zerull

Stars: Daniel Rairdin-Hale, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey, Yosh Hayashi

Language: English

Length: 86 minutes

Sub-Genre: Zombie, Comedy

 

 

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Plot: After a janitor (Rairdin-Hale) shows up at a local bar covered in blood, a rag-tag team of heroes is thrust into battle with a horde of “cadavers”. Can the janitor, the drunk (Smith-Dorsey), the bartender, the cop (Hayashi) and his perp work together to survive this Christmas Eve and save humanity?

Review: I love Christmas. Soon after Thanksgiving I’ll be the first to start breaking out the Christmas CDs and I won’t be tired of it until New Year’s. Freakish, huh? Because of this, I have a hard time getting into Horror films which are set on or around Christmas, put simply: it’s just too macabre for me. Tim Burton’s animated, A Nightmare Before Christmas, truly disturbs me. I’m also not huge on Horror Comedy. My point in all of this is that this film should be a perfect film for me to whole-heartedly despise. It starts off leaning that way. We open with a bartender and a single patron in a bar and the first exchange (albeit small) leaves me wondering what I had gotten myself into. Then something strange happens; a janitor covered in blood walks in and heads to the bathroom to wash the blood off, he does so, and then comes back out still dripping in blood and for whatever reason, I was hooked from that point on. This janitor looks like one of the pencil-necked and single brain-celled teachers on Disney and Nick shows which my daughter likes so much. However this janitor becomes the action hero of the film and is almost believable. In terms of acting Rairdin-Hale, who plays our kickass janitor, is clearly the standout, but nearly everyone plays their part to perfection.  Soon we meet our bumbling cop type Sam Sheriff, that’s right -his last name is Sheriff- and he has to save the day by dragging the bar patrons back to the building in which the zombie (or cadaver) outbreak began. A female security guard joins the fray after a hilarious and useful side gag and then we’re ready for some serious mayhem. At times the film is nearly too silly to bear but it always works in its favor; it is reminiscent of a Monty Python film in ways. Touting a reported budget of only $7,000, A Cadaver Christmas looks damn good and I’ve seen films which cost over a hundred times more that look no better. For that budget the effects are more than adequate and the cinematography is solid. Let me say this about the writing; the stupider you can make a film and have it still work, the more intelligent the creators must be. That might be hard to grasp, but I believe it’s true nonetheless. The writers are very intelligent and aren’t just good at bringing laughter, they present some truly unique ideas. I don’t want to give anything away but I truly hope this creative team makes enough money on Cadaver to make a high-concept horror film one day, I think they have it in them. Kudos to everyone involved and to director Joe Zerulla, I may have found my first go to holiday horror film. Well done.

A Cadaver Christmas released on VOD and DVD October 4th. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwWQYWLb3MI

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American Scream King Review

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American Scream King Cover PosterMovie: American Scream King
Year: 2010
Studio: Brain Damage Films
Director: Joel Paul Reisig
Stars: Jordon Hodges, Joel Paul Reisig, Aranzazu Diez, Kristin Mellian
Language: English
Length: 71 Minutes
Sub-Genre: Slasher, Horror/Comedy

 

Plot: When two sleazy street hoods wind up in possession of a video camera, they decide to make it big by shooting their own horror movie. Not ones to let a lack of funds, actors, or filmmaking experience stand in their way, the psycho duo opts to simply kill young women for real and record the grisly results.

Review: When you pop in an ultra low-budget horror flick, I always get excited. You never know before the movie begins if you have a gem in your hands. Well that feeling fades immediately with American Scream King. This is yet another one that tries the “Grindhouse” feel with black lines and weird squigglies running through the film. What these filmmakers fail to realize is that the 70’s cheap video camera style doesn’t work. You need some spit shine and polish to pull off the dated look, a la Death Stop Holocaust that the Grisly Zone team reviewed on Episode 028.

Off to the story; 2 lowlifes are wanting to make a horror film, they write 3 rules on a chalkboard when coming up with a concept. They state you need “Boobs, a Beast and Blood” and the rest doesn’t matter. While contemplating the effects portion they realize they have no idea what they are doing, so they concoct their ultimate plan of just killing the abductees, in effect, needing no special effects. What transpires is a group of women tied up in a basement (most topless or each one will become topless) while the 2 high school dropouts play little “games” with them.

Because American Scream King is a short movie, thank god, you still have to sit through the 2 leads “trying” to be demented, all the while making a “mock” on the genre I so dearly love. It’s amazing to me that filmmakers enter into the horror genre, have no idea how to make a movie, and can pass this off to us (horror fans) knowing that we will buy them. And we do, we love horror and support indies, but we have got to draw a line somewhere. Even more unbelievable and astonishing is that the writer/director/actor Joel Paul Reisig has his own “How-to Film School” at Be Your Own Hollywood. If you want to produce low-grade schlock that no one will like, and ruin your career, take the course!

Lets keep the ripping going on American Scream King, horrible audio quality, the screaming peaks and distorts making it unbearable, atrocious acting all around, and this one I am adding a “Stupid” factor of a 10. You may be thinking, I am coming in with the lowest possible overall score of a 1, but I always give credit where credit is due; there is one part with a drill that was actually passable (at least they did a little work there), and some of the girls were easy on the eyes.

American Scream King found distribution in February of this year and is available on DVD if you want to see how bad a horror film can be. After the review I shouldn’t have to say it but avoid American Scream King at all cost. It is not worth even a one-time rent.

Reviewer: BillChete
Date: 05/05/2012
Rating: 2/10
Recommendation: Avoid		 Trailer: Watch
DVD: Red Tag Market
BluRay: N/A
Social Media: Facebook