Attraction is another film by Tinto Brass that makes you wonder what the fuck kind of drugs he was on back in the 60's. Like The Howl, Attraction is another "Pop Art" film filled with some of the weirdest imagery you will see in a film.
           The movie follows Barbara, after she is dropped off in the park by her husband. We continue to follow her as she walks around the city, sometimes being followed by a mysterious tall black man. The film also throws in many messages about Vietnam, Racism, Conformity, and more while at the same time being beautiful to look at. The imagery in this film is amazing. The editing is perfect. Though it did bug me when some of the stock footage was inserted. Like in one scene the razor blade scene from the 1920's experimental short film, Un Chien Andalou is inserted. Stuff like that kind of pulled me out of the movie, just because it was so unexpected. Though there is some stock footage of vietnam, hippies, war in general that fit in.
          Tinto Brass must've been taking a lot of Acid. If you start watching the film, and you can't get past the first 15 mintues because of how incredibly strange, and flashy the shooting and editing style is, then you will not like the rest of the film. Like I said before it is beautiful to look at. I loved the fact that it kept the same atmosphere throughout the film. I highly recommend picking up this film. It is finally getting release on dvd 9 - 19 - 09 from Cult Epics Releasing. Also coming soon is Tinto Brass' latest film, Kick the Cock, which I have not seen but I am looking forward to, so hopefully it screens around here or gets a release sometime soon. Overall, Attraction is a 7/10, check it out!

          Tinto Brass has had a very interesting filmography, from sleazy sex comedies to nazisploitation. He's done a handful of interesting films, and this is probably the strangest out of the few that I have seen, and after watching this I want to see more of his work. This film is not for everybody though. It has virtually no plot and is full of surreal imagery and slapstick comedy.
           A woman ducks out of her marriage for a stranger during the ceremony and goes on a rather interesting journey with him. We see them as they go on to find a cannibalistic philosopher who is one with nature, get into war territory, and more. To tell you everything would be to ruin the movie. A lot goes on throughout the film, it gets into directions you wouldn't expect it to go in. Though it is extremely dark, it does have its comedic moments. The scene with the cannibal-philosopher is hilarious, if you see the film you will see what I'm talking about.
          I am keeping this review shorter than my others mainly because it is hard to talk about this film without giving the entire thing away. It's a fun ride, the characters of the man and woman are a lot of fun to follow. Tinto Brass must have been tripping on acid while writing this. Check this film out, it's nbeen recently released on DVD for the first time in America from Cult Epics Releasing. It finally has its well deserved release, I'd rate this at a 7/10.

Buddy Giovinazzio's Combat Shock is fucking depressing! It's gritty, realistic, and sad. Buddy G. has made a great film, but one that also makes you want to run head first into the nearest brick wall. The movie takes place after the vietnam war. Frankie is a man who has come back from the war, to his normal life after imprisonment, exposure to chemicals, torture, and more. He lives with his wife and his deformed son in an apartment he can't cover the rent for. His family is starving, and he is about to get evicted. The movie is pretty much a day in the life of Frankie, while he tries to find a job, deals with drug dealers and other homeless veterans. While going through all of this, he is haunted by flashbacks of the horrors he expirienced in Vietnam. We see him as he begins to slowly lose his mind.
          Combat Shock has nothing uplifting about it, which I think is one of the best things about it. It kept the straight sad, gritty feel throughout the entire movie. From Vietnam to New York. The movie opens up with Frankie Vietnam, coming across a Vietnamese woman, so in fear of not knowingwhat to do, he puts a bullet in her stomach and runs away. Throughout the movie he is put into situations he doesn't know how to get out of. He is just a simple guy who has nowhere to go. Everywhere he does go, he is shat on. He even finds an eleven year old prostitute that he tries to help (Yes it sounds like Taxi Driver, but has no connection whatsoever) and gets the shit kicked out of him. Throughout the movie there is also not a bright color to be seen. The contrast is very low and the main colors to be seen are grey and black. The locations that the movie is shot at are pretty much rotted away. The movie really shows how disgusting the world can be. Now one thing I also have to bring up is the last ten minutes of the film, which are so well played out. The movie is actually very slow but all the slow moving scenes are worth sitting through for the finale of the film.
           Overall, I would give the film itself about a 7/10. While it's a great film, it makes you feel like absolute shit by the end. Not some something I would want to watch again, or at least by myself. This is worth picking up though. Troma has given us the 2-Disc Uncut 25th Anniversary edition as the 4th film in the Tromasterpiece Collection. The DVD comes with two versions of the movie, the theatrical cut, and the directors cut (which in this version is titled American Nightmares). It also comes with a commentary with Buddy Giovinazzio and Jorg Buttgereit (Who has directed some of my favorite films like Der Todesking, Schramm, and Nekromantik). The second disc is packed with interviews, trailers, and etc. I would highly recommend picking up this set, the film is great, and the extras are amazing. I hope to check out more releases in the Tromasterpiece collection.

          I remember when the DVD for Zack Snyders 300 was released, the trailer for a small horror film from director Michael Dougherty called Trick R Treat played on the trailer reel before the DVD menu. That was in 2007, it is now 2009 and it has still yet to come to DVD. Last night I went to a screening at comic con for Green lantern: First Flight and Trick R Treat. The crowd was huge, and that's the way the movie should be seen, with a huge audience. Sadly this film is coming straight to video. This is an audience film, one that should be seen on a big screen.
          Trick R Treat is an anthology film. We haven't seen a good anthology film in a while, come to think of it the only anthology film I've seen in the past few years was the 2006 shitfest Creepshow 3. So the four stories in Trick R Treat include a principal who gives poisoned candy out to children, a group of friends followed to a halloween party, a group of tweens testing an urban legend, and a man who absolutely hates halloween.
           The movie itself is extremely atmospheric. It's a fun film but has a really creepy feel throughout. The casting was perfect. I think Dylan Baker deserves a break though, first he's a child molester in Happiness, and now he's a child murderer in this. Another thing I really liked was the "Cryptkeeper" of the movie, Sam. Though he never says a single word, he appears throughout the film in various spots and has a lot to do with the last story in the film (Much like Trilogy of Terror's Zuni Fetish Doll). There is a lot I would like to say about the movie that would give it away. See this! There is a reason Harry Knowles ends butt numbathon with this movie. See this with a large group of people! Catch it in some of the film festivals it's showing at or pick it up on DVD on October 19th when it comes out and watch it with some friends. This is one of the best horror films to come out in the past ten years so I am going to rate it as an 9/10, it's a close to perfect horror film.

         Well it's an improvement from Bryan Loves You because at least with this movie I can understand what the fuck is going on! Sledgehammer is one of the shot on video movies from the 80's, rumored to be the first one ever made even though Blood Cult officially takes the name. The movie is so god damn ameaturish. I know all of these shot on video movies, or at least the ones I have seen, are shit, but the thing seperating this from a lot of the other ones is that this one is close to unwatchable. Though it's not the worst one I have seen it's still pretty fucking bad!

          So the movie starts out with a young boy getting locked in the closet so his mother can have sex with some guy who they make clear is not her husband. But the kid ends up killing them both with a sledgehammer, hence the title, Sledgehammer. So several years later a group of friends decide to have some fun inside the house. I'm guessing they're college kids because that's what they act like, but they all look like they're 40 years old. Hey, middle age aged people can pary too! Well like every other slasher film, the group of friends start to get picked off one by one.

           One thing that makes this movie so bad is the fact that it's incredibly boring. Not only does nothing fucking happen, but half the movie is in slow motion. I don't just mean kills, I mean random scenes are shown in slow motion to lengthen the movie out. The movie has nothing that makes a slasher film fun. Well when ever you watch one of these shot on video movies you can't expect them to have good writing, or story. But the death scenes are shit, the characters are just plain boring and the killer is uninteresting. I'd expect when all this is shitty enough, the filmmakers would start having the lead actress get naked in front of camera, but no! Not even that unless you count Ted prior showing off his buffness throughout the whole movie. The movie just plain sucks. The only thing I like about the movie is the atmosphere. Throughout the movie there is a really nice vibe throughout the movie that I like, so I give it points for that.

           So overall the movie is shit, 3/10. Like I said I liked the atmosphere of the film, it reminded me of some of my favorite guilty pleasure slashers liks The Forest, or Don't go in the Woods. The movie is tolerable. Again, like I said, it's not the worst shot on video slasher flick, I could have spent that time watching Black Devil Doll From Hell! But I also could have spent that time watching a good slasher like The Burning or Halloween