At the Alamo: GI:Joe The Movie

I love The Alamo Drafthouse's programming. Sometimes it is just fun. This past Saturday Morning I attended a screening where we had a buffet of Cereals with milk where we watched a iconic kids film from he 1980s. 

Yes the 80s! I remember that time. One thing I love about the Drafthouse is they aren't afraid to acknowledge that era in cinema history. 

And I love the fact that there are folks that aren't alive during that time that confuse the icons of hat era with the Reboots and counterparts today.

Here are the facts, back in the 80s a new trend began with the creation of cartoon shows with the intention of selling the toys. As a result we received some great programming...including none other than GI JOE: A Real American Hero.

"GI Joe is the Code name for America's daring highly trained Special Mission Force. It's purpose, to defend Human freedom against Cobra, A ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule he world." 

This was the quote from the television series which every episode featured the focus on a particular character ranging from the sailor Shipwreck, the martial artist QuickKick, and even wrestler turned Drill Instructor Sgt Slaughter. 

With Slaughter being an actual living person in reality often served as host during wraparound segments on the program. 

I recently showed the show to a young chap the toys and all he wanted to ask was why does Roadblock and Duke look nothing like The Rock or Channing Tatum...I responded "long story".

The original program produced by Sunbrow was all the rage in the 80s and brought much patriotism in the youth of America at the time. 

Inevitably a movie was produced which was intended as a finale to the sunbrow era...and also to sell a new line-up of figures. 

Featuring the voices of Don Johnson and Burgis Meredith, GI Joe the movie explains the origins of Cobra and Cobra Comander as well as it introduces the audience to Duke's brother Lt Falcoln. 

Now there are some facts about this flick that are far interesting.

First off the film was produced at the same time as Transformers: The Movie and the My Little Pony film and due to the poor performance of the latter film which was released theatrically, the decision was made to release the film Direct to Video and eventually it was cut into five segments and aired in syndication. 

This brings us to the next interesting fact of the film...Duke. 

Though produced first production problems caused delays for GI:Joe and Transformers was released first. 

Now as many of you will know Optimus Prime is killed off early in the film. A fact that was not well received by the fans. 

What many don't realize is that in the original cut   of GI:Joe is that Duke is killed 3/4ths into the flick while taking a spear to the chest to save his brother and having the dramatic death with one last "Yo Joe".

After the backlash from Transformers film dialogue was added to the film where it is said "He's Gone into a Coma". However if you watch the film you will see that the way all characters are reacting to his death. 

In the end of the film you again hear dialogue stating that Duke has come out of his coma and that hi is going to be "A-Okay". 

This is not the last time that this happens to the character. Those of you that have seen Retaliation know what I mean. 

Now while this was intended to be the finale of the series it was the last to be produced by Sunbrow as production was taken over by DIC studios. The reason for this remains unknown and those of us that remained for the transition could definitely tell the difference between the shows. 

I am happy that The Alamo included this flick in their line up for the Saturday Cereal but then again why not? This is in fact a classic with a strong nostalgia and the toy give away from Lost Toys was a nice touch. 

Check it out.

Autopsy of Jane Doe

Everyone that has seen this flick has been singing the praises. From Blumhouse to IHorror.com they have all stated to check this Festival flick out.

Well I headed over to the Alamo and enjoyed a couple of Mexican Martinis deciding to checkout The Autopsy of Jane Doe

I have to say that the praise is well deserved.

The plot seems relatively simple. A body is taken from a crime scene to a local morgue where a father and son team conducts the autopsy and that is where the simplicity ends.

All that I can say is that this body is connected to a series of strange events in the morgue and there are strange things afoot here that will keep you guessing till the end.

Helmed by Andre Ovredal, The Autopsy of Jane Doe utilizes it's limited location and cast with lighting and addition to the claustrophobic and isolated feel to the flick.

Emile Hersch and Brian Cox make a great father and son duo and Olwen Kelly maintains the frights despite being a corpse for the entire flick.

8 Dead Bodies

2 Breasts

3 Beasts

1 Dead Cat

1 Fire

3 1/2 stars

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Beware The Slenderman

Tragically sometimes a documentary has to be made to tell us the bad news.

They always say its all fun and games till someone gets hurt and that is the recent case with our internet habits. Sometimes we get so into things that we blur the lines between reality and fiction with disasterous results. 

I admit that yes I am into Creepypastas in the fact that I love a good scary story and in the words of 1978's Halloween "Everyone is entitled to One Good Scare". 

The subject of Beware The Slenderman is the events of 

Lucky for all parties involved there were no deaths in this tragedy, which is a sad state of affairs in our society today. 

Now first off...What is Slenderman? 

I am not here to debunk the myth because quite frankly I've seen Candyman enough times that I know what not to mess with but I will do my best to explain...without Spoilers as well. 

Essentially Slenderman is an internet creepypasta character that has achieved quite a following, so much in fact that many believe that the character is real. 

Depicted as a tall man in a black suit and tie with a featureless face and in other cases hidden tentacles and often in he company of children. An internet boogie man of sorts. 

The brand new documentary from HBO follows a tragic case where a couple of girls stabbed a friend in an attempt to appease Slenderman and the aftermath. The victim being Payton Leutner and the perpetrators being her two best friends Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser.

Academy Award nominated Irene Taylor Brodsky not only tells the story of Slenderman and the case but looks into an explanation of the phenomena and how it could appeal to the young and lead to the tragedy. 

Looking at folklore such as Grimm Fairytales and especially the case of the Pied Piper and the linking of the tales to The Slenderman. All of this while taking a look at the psychology of a child and why this would appeal to them making   Slenderman an imaginary friend rather than a Boogieman. 

The documentary also focuses on the families of the accused in a search for awnsers to the many questions. 

I particularly liked he cinematography of this documentary and the flow that it maintained and the putting a human face on the attackers. 

I know that there are some controversies with the production of this documentary but due to the subject matter that can be expected. 

All in all I feel it is worth a look.

Kickboxer: Vengeance

Memories! I'm reminded of staying up late in the summer when I was 10 years old for HBO's "Best Summer Ever".

It was during this time that I was introduced a flick and its star in what was pretty much his second film. That star would go on to be known as "The Muscles from Brussels" aka Jean Claude Van Damme.

The film that I am referring to of course is Kickboxer which was by the looks of it was intended to be a Star vehicle for Van Damme who was fresh off the success of Bloodsport and was being built as the next Sly or Arnold.

Following Kurt Sloan (Van Damme) who while serving as corner man to his USA Kickboxing Champion brother Eric travels to Thailand to face their champion Tong Po, Tragically Eric is quickly defeated by the massive brute and to add insult to injury is paralyzed and left for dead with Kurt vowing revenge.

Taking the tutelage of Master Xian (Dennis Chan) Kurt learns Maui Thai and works his way to a face off against Tong Po and his corrupt handlers in the "Ancient Way".

Needless to say Van Damme enjoyed his success and Kickboxer spawned 4 sequels.

Penned by David S Goyer Kickboxer 2 was produced and was in fact a success.

Van Damme at this point would not return for the second film and it was explained that his character was gunned down by Tong Po after his defeat in an act of Rage.

Taking over for Jean Claude was Sasha Mitchell who remained for 3 films with Dennis Chan returning for 2 and 3.

Despite the killing off of characters many of the sequels were pretty good flicks though I admit that I stopped at 4 as Mitchell's character was killed in the opening credits using a body double.

The original flick has enjoyed its own following and has had the jokes of memorial scenes such as Van Damm's Bar Room Dance.

Recently Kickboxer received the full remake treatment and clearly with a bigger budget and cast.

Helmed by genre veteran and Director John Stockwell who you may all remember from Christine and Top Gun and director of Turistas and Into the Blue, Kickboxer: Vengeance is basically the same story as the original with a few brief subplots dealing with corrupt officials.

Van Damme also returns to the Franchise in the Dennis Chan role as Master Durand. While maintaining some of the quirks still keeps his status as action star.

Where in the original you briefly saw Xian take action with Van Damme it happens often.

Van Damme also serves as Executive Producer alongside he man who takes on the role of Tong Po is taken on by former WWE Champion Dave Batista who I already knew would make a great villain as I am familiar with his work and presence that would be required for the role.

Also joining the cast is female MMA Star Gina Carano in a villain role.

That brings us to lead actor and stuntman Alain Moussi in the role of Kurt Sloan. I have to say I was impressed with him. Not only taking on the role but to play the role opposite the actor who played the original.

All in all I enjoyed the flick. As a matter of fact I watched again soon after my original watching and I just learned of a planned sequel which I am looking forward to.

2 Dead Bodies

4 Breasts

5 Street Fights

Elephant Chase

Dance Parody

3 Stars

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The Bye Bye Man

Well it appears that we have a new Player in the genre. 

This past week Keath, Anjanette, Stephanie, and myself headed over to The Angelica Film Center and Cafe over by Mockingbird Station for an advance screening of The Bye Bye Man, the new horror flick that opens nationwide this Friday the 13th. 

Now first off I love these advance screenings because despite the fact that I have to arrive super early to secure our seats you meet some fun people that are there for the screenings as well. 

Not only that but The Bye Bye Man himself appeared in the Lobby after the screening was completed, Complements of The Dark Hour Haunted House. 

This Flick reeks of some of the current trends that we are seeing in the genre in terms of dealing with The Supernatural and a Malicious Boogieman that wants nothing more than to kill and torment. 

Following the college couple Elliot and Sasha as well as their roommate John while moving into a new off Campus rental house that as you may have guessed has a connection to a tragedy from the past in terms of dealing with a mysterious entity that everyone says...

"Don't Think it, Don't Say It"...Guess What, THEY SAY IT!!! 

Okay we would not have too much of a flick if they didn't. 

This Entity as it turns out is known as The Bye Bye Man who is quite interesting. Similar to Candyman except for the fact that you only have to say his name once to bring him and it is when you talk about him that brings him. Here is the interesting part, If you don't talk about him or think about him he drives you insane and you soon begin committing horrible crimes that you aren't even aware that you are doing. 

Not only that but This Guy Has a Dog as well. 

Similar to many of it's fellow horror flicks The Bye Bye Man focuses on the Investigation but not the origins as well as facing the monster while evading the skeptic authorities.  

Now I like the fact that you have the main characters played by the younger cast but you have veteran actors like Carrie Ann Moss and Fay Dunaway in support capacity. 

There are some good Jump Scares in the flick and both the editing as well cinematography add to the atmosphere and scares. 

Generally I did enjoy the flick as it kept us all entertained the entire time and the slow parts were brief. I would definitely recommend it for the Horror Crowds...Not too bad for a studio flick. 

I see this as a new franchise but for now let's just enjoy the flick. 

11 Dead Bodies

0 Breasts

2 Beasts 

1 Car Chase with Crash

Flaming Woman 

Death By Train

3 Stars
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Siren

You know I am happy to see that Chiller is starting to gain ground. While it's older sibling station SyFy , still gets all of the good shows Chiller is beginning to become more than a Rerun network.

They have had quite a few "Original Films" in the past couple of years that have the quality to make up for them taking away our Fearnet but I know that was not their fault. On top of that Universal is still a high quality studio that still produces quality content for genre fans... That and they are buying all the rights to the good films. 

I am willing to assume that Universal Acquired the rights to the V/H/S franchise with the recent release of Siren which... I am honestly still trying to figure out where this flick lies, Prequel, or Spinoff but it definetly takes place before v/h/s.  As many of you are aware I am a great supporter of v/h/s as I am a fan of the Found Footage subgenre as well, 

Now for those of you that aren't aware the v/h/s franchise is a Found Footage series that began in 2012 featuring the works of various genre directors and producers ranging from veterans as well as up and comers. 

One of the most popular entries was the short film Amateur Night in which a group of young men decide to make their own hidden camera porn video and attract the attention of a mousy young woman named Lilly and after taking her back to their motel room find out that they bit off far more than they could chew. In Lilly;s case well...That was not a problem. 

Well Kiddies that brings us to Siren,   

This flick is what you get when you cross From Dusk Till Dawn with Hostel. Basically in the opening we see the result of a satanic conjuring gone wrong and when an "Expert" is brought in to investigate he finds a young Demon with a taste for Human Flesh...Well as you probably thought The Demon is none other than our old friend Lilly the Succubus from v/h/s. 

Well the flick soon skips ahead for a few years and we are introduced to a small group of friends looking for a good time at the Bachelor party where after locating a subpar strip club soon and deciding to invest Shrooms catch the attention of a local who leads them to another club where as you may have guessed one of the feature entertainers is Lilly among others and as you have probably guessed chaos ensues. 

Now first off there has been some changes to our girl, who is once again played by Hannah Fierman. In this flick she has a singing voice that is used to hypnotize her victims which was cleverly utilized in the flick. 

Another interesting fact about Siren is that, Yes Lilly is the "monster" in the flick but the "Villains of the Story" are in fact the humans that seek to exploit her abilities and use their influence to their advantage. 

The Flick also utilized POV shots to reference The Found Footage origins of this character and flick. There is also some great psychedelic camera work as well as sound to give us the victim's perspective in not just a POV camera style. 

Now I admit that this is the UnRated cut and not the version that I am sure will be airing on the Chiller Network. So don't be surprised if some of the things I describe in this review aren't in the flick. I however will always recommend the Blu-Ray/DVD Release of any flick.

18 Dead Bodies

6 Breasts

1 Beast

Tail to the Throat

Anal Rape with Demon Tail

Throat Ripping

Throat Slashing

Groin Ripping

Groin Slashing

Crowbar to the Knee

Fecal Bathing

3 Stars 

Check it Out  

The Return of The Blair Witch

Let's face it you all knew that I was not going to pass this one up did you kiddies. 

This one was not about to get past me and I knew that someone was going to have to be a defender of not just the flick but the franchise and the subgenre as well. 

A couple of years ago I wrote an entry here on the Video Creep titled The Rise and Fall of The Blair Witch which had a great reaction. In said article I spoke about the media sensation on the flick as well as the sequel and the backlash that it received. 

In 2014 I had the honor of meeting the cast of the original 1999 film and thanked them for the influence and was able to record a QnA where they speak candidly about the events both during and after the film was produced.

I have stated many times the influence that the Blair Witch Project had on my own career and the times that I. Have tried to pay tribute. Especially with HauntShooter.

I even made it a point to tell this to Heather, Joshua and Michael, to which Heather apologized which I have to admit that I am in a state of confusion as to weather she was joking or if she was truly bitter about the direction that everything had gone for her after the film. 

I have to admit that I thought that it was all over for this franchise but I was wrong. It seems with the recent trends in the genre we have the return of myths and legends in the main stream as well as the technology which has led to "Found Footage" becoming a mainstay in theaters and home media it was inevitable that The Blair Witch would make a curtain call.

It was announced at Comic Con this year that a film titled The Woods was actually a Blair Witch Sequel and the reaction was instant with fans rejoicing at the return. This is the time for a film like this and while the 2000 sequel focused on the hype surrounding the 1999 ground breaker this flick is a direct sequel. 

Naturally on opening weekend I was off to The Alamo where they were all ready with the themes and photo pops and a few Stick figures for us all to see. However would the film live up to this. 

I have to say that I am surprised about the direction of this flick and Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez are back as producers however the flick is helmed by You're Next's Adam Wingard and  written by frequent collaborator Simon Barrett. 

Returning to the Found Footage format the flick follows James Donahue, the brother of Heather from the first flick who after viewing a online video of an encounter with The Blair Witch thinks that he sees his sister 15 years after her disappearance and gathers a small group of friends and naturally they decide to film the entire event using as much of the modern technology as they can. 

Soon hooking up with the couple that made the video of Heather they are off to the Woods to investigate and the group's inexperience begins to show it's self and soon they find themselves not only having to deal with each other but strange developments with the woods as well. 

I felt that the flick was missing a few elements. While covering events in the Blair Witch Mythos that was explored in the special features of the original flick I felt that this flick could have explored them for more but failed to do so to which is.a disappointment for me. 

I liked the time displacement in this entry and the more references to Rustin Parr and other areas that were not explored in previous films but in Special features like Curse of the Blair Witch on The Sci-Fi Channel which allows them to remain as canon for the franchise. 

Now while I like some elements I however also feel that more could have been done with the filmmaking techniques. It was nice to have the actors all wearing cameras to explain the cutaways which is explained today with GoPros but I feel that more could have been done with the Drone camera that was highly Hyped in the film but I felt was not utilized to it's full potential. 

Like the original film the film features much "Shaky footage" which leaves many audience members with the strong nausea and some were leaving the theater due to this but there is also much loudness which adds t the disorientation and I have to ask weather this was deliberate and I have to think that it was and while audience members were complaining I felt that it added to the film. 

I felt that the film could have done more as the franchise was one of the pioneers of this subgenre and had the potential to add to it, comes across as nothing more than following the trends that it started.  

For Blair Witch and Found Footage fans it is worth a look... For those of you that aren't videographers take your nausea mess. 

6 Dead Bodies

0 Breasts

0 Beasts

8 Stick Figures

4 Broken Bones

1 Claustrophobic tunnel

Lens striking 

Camper Fu

Woods Fu

2 1/2 Stars 

Check it out