 Slaughterhouse is a unique film to say the least. In fact it doesn't get a lot of the credit it deserves. Its a combination of horror and comedy that never really got the respect it deserved. It has a small cult following that has grown over the years but not much else.
Also know as Pig Farm Massacre, Slaughterhouse came out in 1987 a great year for horror films, especially with the big video rental bomb that was taking place. Its the story of Lester Bacon, an old school pig slaughterer who likes to make sure everything is skinned by hand in the old school ways as the new machine slaughterhouses ruin the integrity of the meat. He lives with his son, a large dimwit who snorts like a pig named Buddy. Buddy is trained in the old school slaughter ways which is good for him as he is also a deranged killer. See Lester is about to lose his house for his land which sits by an old slaughterhouse to the bank to make way for a brand new slaughterhouse coming to the town. :ester doesn't want to sell it. He is given a choice to sell of the bank will foreclose in 30 days. Well seeing as how Buddy is a whack job Lester just tells his son they are going to kill anyone who steps foot on their property. As luck would have it, the sheriff's daughter and her friends are making a shot on video horror film and decided the old abandoned slaughterhouse would be a great place to film it. This of course leads to Buddy and Lester slaughtering a group of people. The film features lots of gore and practice special effects. Murder by saw, stabbings, and even skinning's take place through out the course of the film. So for horror and slasher fans in general there is more than enough blood and goings on to keep you entertained. Having never really had a nice release I was thrilled that Vinegar Syndrome had acquired the rights and have no released in on a special edition Blu-ray complete with special features • Region free Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack • All extras included on both Blu-ray and DVD • Newly scanned and restored in 2k from 35mm Interpositive • Commentary track with Director Rick Roessler, Producer Jerry Encoe & Production Designer Michael Scaglione • New video interview with Lead Actress Sherry Bendorf Leigh • “Making a Low Budget Indie” – Featurette with Rick Roessler • “Producing Slaughterhouse” – Interview with Jerry Encoe • Archival interviews with Rick Roessler & Jerry Encoe • “Epilogue: 30 Years After the Slaughter” • Radio interview featurette from 1987 • Local news coverage from the theatrical premiere • Behind the scenes featurette • Outtakes • “No Smoking” SLAUGHTERHOUSE snipe • Multiple theatrical trailers, tv & radio spots • Shooting script gallery • Reversible cover artwork • English SDH Subtitles The transfer in both video and audio presentation look fantastic. If you are a fan this is the definitive version to get. If you have never seen it before you should definitely check this out. Overall 3 out of 5 Stars!
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 So yesterday I sat down and watched Cathy's Curse courtesy of our friends over at Severin I wont lie, I have never in my life seen this. In fact to tell the truth I had never even heard of it before. I threw it in the Blu-ray player and I'm still not sure what I saw.
It's the story of a man named George, and his daughter Cathy. See in the opening sequence we learn that a woman has taken her son and left her husband, that son you will find out is George. The husband, who has been left with his daughter decides to take her on a drive. He swerves to avoid a rabbit, crashes, and blows the shit out his car, and himself, and his daughter. We cut to present times and George is all grown up and has decided to move his family into his childhood home. Why he dl want to move his family into such a place of obvious joy is beyond me, but once there his daughter Cathy finds George's dead sisters doll. Unfortunately the doll is possessed, or evil, or something. It talks to Cathy, and Cathy freaks out if anyone tried to touch it or take it away. Of course the doll is pure evil and soon people start dying. Obviously this makes her stronger because after a few people die Cathy is soon able to move things, make things blow up, make people see things, you name it. The film is not bad by any means, it just has a lot of plot holes. Like who has been paying for the maid in the house for 30 something years. Why does the evil doll want these people dead. Why would you want to move to a house where your parents divorced, all little things, but still questionable. The film has a cool score to it and it sounds great on the Severin Blu-ray. The video quality is nice as well. They even loaded this release with special features.
It's an interesting film to watch with friends to say the least. But still its something to say you have seen as there are enough cool parts to make you forget the plot holes Overall 2.5 out of 5 Stars!  InterVision ( a division of Severin ) has been putting out some good stuff lately. I've enjoyed there last few releases and was anxious to check out this double feature. I had heard of Dream Stalker and new it was a Straight to Video Freddy Krueger Rip off but I had never seen it. Death By Love I had actually never even heard of.
Dream Stalker is about Ricky. He's a deceased motocross racer who terrorizes his old girlfriend and her friends in there dreams. He cracks a few wise jokes and is even burned up. He wears a bad ass neon track outfit as well. He does little things like trying to run you over with his bike, rape you, stab you, throw you off stuff. The usual kill you in your dreams shenanigans. Brittney, he old girlfriend starts to think she's causing all of this and he dreams are killing people, not knowing its her dead boyfriend doing the murders. There is a lot of gore in this film, typical over the top SOV gore, but enough to keep the horror fans satisfied. Its actually a really fun film to say the least. I had a good time watching it and he print looked great. For this one alone I would recommend picking the DVD up as this is easily a 3 star film for me. Death By Love is awesome. I'll just get that out of the way now. Its also a shot on video film, but not only is it a horror film, it's also loaded with sex scenes for really no reason what so ever. I mean they play a part in the film but man there's a lot in here. Its a story about sculptor who, every time he gets a new girlfriend, she seem to be murdered. That can really put a damper on your dating life so he starts to investigate, when he's not having sex with the girls he picks up. He beings to think his best friend from childhood who was a devil worshipper may be behind these murders. Lets just say if he was it would be a pretty basic boring film. Death By Love features a very fantastic twist that you probably wont see coming. That complied with the gore and sex makes it a heck of an entertain film. The DVD has special features as well Remembering Ricky: With Actor Mark Dias
Overall these are 2 great films. And you get them both on 1 DVD. Pick it up now. I really cant stress that enough Overall 4 out of 5 Stars!  I was a child in the 80's, 70's as well. I'm old. However, and this is no joke I have no clue what Cold War means. I never cared to look it up, still don't. I know it has to do with us and Russia, so I just assume that it is because Russia is really cold. Makes sense to me.
Well the fine folks at Mill Creek have just released an 80's classic on Blu-ray, that film being Little Nikita. Staring River Phoenix, and Sidney Poitier, two fantastic actors. Its the story of Jeff (Phoenix) a high school kid who lives with his parents in California. He dreams of flying planes when he graduates and applies to join the Air Force. That was not a good move. See when you try to get in the military they background check you, and Jeff's background is really all over the place. That's when Roy Parameter (Poitier) becomes involved and begins to suspect that Jeff and his family are sleeper agents from Russia. Which makes sense that they would move to California as its warm there and not cold like Russia. Roy set himself up as their new neighbor and becomes friends with Jeff He even tells I'm how his partner was killed by a KGB agent, obviously somewhere cold. Jeff learns his parents are really Russian Sleeper agents, and to make things worse there is a crazy KGB agent on the lose killing these sleeper agents. Also Jeff finds out his name is Nikita, in case you were wondering about the title This is a fantastic film, that sadly flopped at the time of its theatrical release. Like most titles from that time it found life on video and cable television outlets throughout the years and now Mill Creek has released this on Blu-ray. The video and audio are outstanding. And the film has aged perfectly. I had it one the other night and had a great time watching it with my wife who had never seen it before. The acting, pacing, and suspense make fore a great film, one you definitely need to watch. Overall 3 out of 5 Stars! |