Really Awful Movies: Ep 375 – Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This latest horror franchise reboot is the talk of social media, as everyone’s tuning into Netflix to perhaps hate-watch it or even, bizarrely, enjoy it.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an updated version of the 1974 classic, ignoring events of the countless interceding sequels, and tells the story of influencer/investors coming to buy up a sad, abandoned town, Harlow Texas.

What they find there, is thoroughly expected, but what is unexpected, is just how rotten this cheaply made, poorly written, laughably constructed flick actually is. Yikes.

This went through developmental hell, was filmed in Steven Seagal’s backyard (Bulgaria, har har) and is one of the more poor reboot/reimaginings in recent – or any – year for that matter.

A stain from start to finish, this one’s run time of 80 minutes feels like a cricket match.

 

Really Awful Movies: Ep 374 – Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood

Step right up folks, right this way. Take in the incredible, the stupendous, the monumental, the astonishing…feats of courage, strength. Be amazed! It’s carnival time, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood, to be precise.

What’s this you asked? It’s an obscure early-mid 70s effort, directed by Christopher Speeth. And it was largely forgotten, until Arrow gave its fortunes a boost with a re-release. And boy are we glad they did.

This is a very odd duck indeed. Part Euro, Gothic, regional, vampire, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood is at times Warholian, and just plan weird. Check it out, and subscribe to the podcast.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 373 – Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. What a title, right? This is a wonderful, cheeky, low-budget effort that’s a creature feature and based around the infamous short story, The Monkey’s Paw.

Some nerds and some sorority pledges have to bust into a bowling alley to steal a trophy to prove their mettle. While inside, they encounter an imp, but not just any imp: a wish-granting imp!

And this imp, ain’t no wimp. Soon, some of the sorority sisters are turned into rapacious she-demons and all hell literally breaks loose. Good times, good times!

Genre heads will get a kick out of the cast, which includes Scream Queen Linnea Quigley, but also Robin Rochelle, who starred in Slumber Part Massacre and American Ninja 4 before her untimely, young passing.

Tune into this one, which was distributed by the legendary Charles Band, whose book I’m reading now.