The Houses October Built (2014)

Beneath the fake blood and cheap masks of countless haunted house attractions across the country, there are whispers of truly terrifying alternatives. Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening and it becomes clear that the Haunt has come to them... 

The Houses October Built is a 2014 American found footage horror film and the directorial debut of Bobby Roe, who also starred in the movie. It was produced by Zack Andrews (who also starred) and Steven Schneider.

Looking for the ultimate Halloween experience, Bobby gathers four equally adventurous friends and sets out to create a documentary about their state-spanning terror tour. Starting out with some generic haunted houses and mazes, the group starts to hunger for an attraction with a little more bite. After hearing about locations that don’t exactly play by the rules, one of the guys starts to question a few of the locals about some off-the-radar attractions, finding out that a Louisiana joint might be just the thrill they’re searching for. Setting a course for the mysterious Halloween treat, the group starts to realize the experience might be a little more than they bargained for. Everyone loves a good haunt, but what happens when the workers don’t have an off switch?

Creepy Shit???  Yes

 Despite overall mixed reviews and this being another in the endless parade of found footage films, this film kicks ass in my opinion.  And my opinion is the only one that really matters.  What separates this from others is that it presents an original idea. I love rolling through haunted houses and enjoyed seeing all the different real places throughout Texas.  

The acting was good enough for what this was.  The group dynamic is so realistic.  The movie we are watching is fiction, but there's a lot of fact mixed in - documentary footage of alleged wrongdoing at Halloween attractions, and interviews about their appeal, are scattered throughout the film as transitional devices, and many of the haunted attractions our lead characters find on their road trip are indeed real, live presentations.  There is some nudity in this. The group goes to a strip club, and there are topless dancers with some of the worst tit jobs I've ever seen.

Doll Girl was pretty fucking awesome.

The best scares were in the house where they originally saw the weird girl, and the panicked camera work actually worked then. But the things-that-go-bump-in-the-night part with the camper van morphed into an abduction, and the final sequence was poorly done.  That's my only real complaint with the film....the ending.  It felt rushed and could have been fleshed out a bit more.  

The thing that really made me like this movie is the creepy scenes, where some creepy guy or girl is just standing somewhere in the dark, looking at you.  That fucking doll girl was a show.  Give her a franchise.  

All the archetypes of "scare-actors" seen here are the sorts who'd actually be broke or downtrodden in real life: clowns, carnies, hillbillies, deformed children, old people with dementia - it's hard not to notice, especially when, in the movie's most genuinely unsettling moment, a local performer who's been semi-friendly thus far asks our leads what they mean when they say "backwoods." 

This is a great film for viewing around Halloween and will certainly be watched by myself every year.  I'd like The Houses October Built to have tied things together a bit more in the end, but I can't deny it was addicting to watch.  Ultimately, though, the movie doesn't quite nail what could have been a slam dunk. 

Murder By Televison (1935)

James Houghland, inventor of a new method by which television signals can be instantaneously sent anywhere in the world, refuses to sell the process to television companies, who then send agents to acquire the invention any way they can. On the night of his initial broadcast Houghland is mysteriously murdered in the middle of his demonstration and it falls to Police Chief Nelson to determine who the murderer is from the many suspects present. 

Murder by Television (1935) is an American mystery film starring Bela Lugosi, June Collyer, and Huntley Gordon. The film is also known as The Houghland Murder Case. The cast also includes Hattie McDaniel.  

If they could put this film in a bottle insomnia would be wiped out forever.  Professor James Houghland, after years of research, has perfected revolutionary improvements in television, but he refuses all offers from companies that want to buy his inventions, and several unscrupulous promoters plan to get them by other means. On the night of the first public demonstration of his inventions, several well-known television experts are at Houghland's home. The first broadcast is an unqualified success. As the second broadcast is about to begin Houghland falls dead, and the police headed by Chief Nelson arrive, and no one is permitted to leave the house. Several of the guests are suspected: Arthur Perry, Hougland's assistant, because he was out of the room when the lights were turned on after the murder; Donald Jordan, because he tried to bribe Perry to steal the secret; Richard Grayson, an ambitious, young television engineer, because he had promised to secure the secret for his company, and Dr. Henry Scofield, because he refuses to explain a mysterious telephone call that he made shortly before the murder. 

A STORY OF A PERFECT CRIME

This movie is just bad beyond belief. The acting is horrid, while the cast is simply reciting lines with little feeling. Lugosi adds presence to any role, and his is easily the most interesting of the characters for that reason, but he is still limited by the material. Besides Lugosi, the most talented performer in the cast is Hattie McDaniel, and she also is severely limited by her character, who is there only to provide some slight comic relief, which comes at the unfortunate character's expense.  Running around yelling "Lordy, Lordy" doesn't showcase her future greatness very well.

We're stuck watching a bunch of people standing around talking for an hour about some sort of "death ray" emitted by a new contraption called a television set. Not much happens here, it's just a lot of talk and standing around, and more standing around and more talking. Unbeliveably boring film.  Murder by boredom. 

Who in the blue Hell advised me to take this role?

Trivia:

For the scenes showing television equipment, the filmmakers borrowed it from L.A.-area researchers who were working on experimental TV. The equipment they borrowed was worth $75,000 - over twice the $35,000 production budget for the film.

Quotes:

Ah Ling - the Houseboy: [while being questioned about the murder] "Mr. Perry very good friend. Chinese do not repay friendship with death"

  

Dinner guest: "Clever, these Chinese"

Arthur Perry: [explaining the mechanism of Dr. Houghland's death] "They created the interstellar frequency, which is the death ray"

 

Ilsa She Wolf Of The SS (1975)

Ilsa is an evil Nazi warden at a death camp that conducts "medical experiments". Ilsa's goal is to prove that women can withstand more pain and suffering than men and therefore should be allowed to fight on the front lines. 

Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is a 1975 American Nazi exploitation film produced in the USA. The film was directed by Don Edmonds, produced by David F. Friedman and written by Jonah Royston. 

The scene is set from the start - Ilsa, chief warden of a Nazi concentration - is enjoying the pleasures of one of her male captives. He has the temerity to orgasm before she does, and is speedily hauled off by 2 of Ilsa's henchwomen for speedy castration. Shortly after, a lorry load of fresh female captives arrives. Ilsa informs them: "Do not be afraid, we are doctors." While this statement is true, the reality is that she wishes to use them in "medical experiments" to prove that women are as able to withstand pain as men, in fact better. This is in fact "proved" by flogging one of each to death at the same time, with the two henchwomen laying on with whips while stripped to the waist. After much more along the same lines, Ilsa's nemesis arrives - a blond, blue-eyed American who has been swept up in the death camps. He satisfies her, but weakened by lust for him, Ilsa fails to spot the inevitable prisoners revolt which reverses the table on the baddies. 

The most dreaded Nazi of them all!

 This film is insane. Ilsa is first and foremost an exploitation film and, realizing that, I have to say it is in the upper echelons of its field because it wallows in filth and does so unapologetically. It boils down to this. If you search out a Euro Trash film, be it an Italian Giallo or English 70's horror, you desire it to be as sleazy and unpolitically correct as possible but also you want the movie to have some semblance of a plot, be it ever tiny. Ilsa scores big on all these points. There is wall to wall nudity, all female. Gratitutious torture scenes that are more ridiculous than offensive, (I mean every time Ilsa drags a prisoner down for torture they are completely naked as they are being tortured). And all most everyone of the female cast members at some point is completely naked. Let's be honest, It ain't Shakespeare, nor does it pretend to be. 

Dyanne Thorne plays the title role, an extremely sadistic commander of a concentration camp where they perform 'medical research'.  She chooses male prisoners to satisfy her huge sexual demands and when they can't perform, she slices off their manhood.  However she eventually brings in prisoner Wolf and he knocks the bottom out of that pussy.  But he has plans of escape. I'd sure like to read Dyanne Thorne's autobiography, if she ever puts one out.  "Well, today I get paid to go dress up in complete Nazi regalia and pretend to pee on another higher ranking Nazi. Then, after lunch...".

Say goodbye to those balls young sir.

This notorious sleaze classic packs so much depravity into its 96 minutes running time (uncut), that lovers of exploitation will have a field day. From the opening scene in which Ilsa's sex slave is dragged back to the camp to be emasculated, to the ending in which the prisoners exact bloody retribution, sex and violence pervades every frame.  I know I sound like a broken record.  But Jesus Christ, this film is crazy.  It's in no way a good film but like a car crash, you have to look.  You may not want to eat an hour or so before the viewing.

You have been given the honor of sleeping with a German woman, an officer of the SS!

Trivia:

Filmed on the set of Hogan's Heroes (1965). The series had already been cancelled, and, on learning that the movie had the camp being burned down at the end, the set was given over to save the cost of demolition. 

The film was twice rejected for a UK cinema certificate by the BBFC.  

Phyllis Davis was originally considered for the role of Ilsa. 

Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

The vampire Mamuwalde (Blacula) is stirred by African voodoo, and is forced to kill again. 

Scream Blacula Scream is a 1973 blaxploitation horror film, made under the working titles Blacula Is Beautiful and Blacula Lives Again!. This is the only sequel to the 1972 film Blacula. The movie was produced by American International Pictures (AIP) and Power Productions.

After a dying Voodoo queen chooses an adopted apprentice as her successor, her true heir is outraged. Seeking revenge, he buys the bones of Blacula the vampire off of a dealer, and uses voodoo to bring the vampire back to do his bidding. In turn, Blacula turns him into a vampire and makes him his slave. Meanwhile, a police officer with a large collection of African antiques and an interest in the occult investigates the murders caused by Blacula and his vampire horde. 

He's black and he's back.

William Marshall, The King of Cartoons, is back in Scream Blacula Scream and he gives a whole new meaning to the term "Hey Blood!"  A lot of people think that this sequel is better than "Blacula".  I don't fall into that camp. It's fine for what it is...an average sequel and horror film.  Bob Kelljan (from the great Count Yorga films) is directing this time out and Blacula even uses what I like to call the "Yorga maneuver." This consists of throwing your hands out, hissing, and running towards the camera. This movie also stars Michael Conrad "Hill Street Blues",Bernie Hamilton "Starsky and Hutch", and a young Craig T. Nelson (as Craig Nelson)who later on gained fame with the horror movie "Poltergeist" and TV shows like "Coach","The District", and "My Name is Earl" to name a few.  What makes this film interesting is the casting of the queen of blaxploitation, the wonderful Miss "Coffy" and "Foxy Brown" herself, Pam Grier.

Blacula and Foxy Brown

 The film goes wrong in the silly details though, like some hokey special effect shots of Blacula flying in bat form over Los Angeles, ending with a camp confrontation between Blacula and two jive-talking pimps who make the mistake of trying to mug him. Admittedly it has some serious problems, and is cursed by an unsatisfying ending that seems to just...stop...before anything really happens. But I still dug it, baby, and if you liked the first one, you probably will dig it, too. 

Groovy man....

Trivia:

Before this picture came out employees of AIP were asked to submit titles for a contest.  

One of the props from this film (a crucifix) appeared in the Louis Theroux documentary Louis and the Nazis (2003). It is owned by John Malpezzi.

Pimp: Your bread, man, all of it! Or are we gonna have to become anti-social and kick your ass?
Mamuwalde: I'm sorry, I don't have any 'bread' on me, and as for 'kicking my ass' I'd strongly suggest you give it careful consideration before trying.

The Black Prince of Shadows Stalks the Earth Again!

Blacula (1972)

An 18th-century African prince (William Marshall) is transmogrified into a vampire while visiting Transylvania. Two centuries later, he rises from his coffin to wreak havoc in the Watts district of Los Angeles. Blacula's particular target is Vonette McGee, whom he thinks is the reincarnation of his long-ago lady love. 

Blacula is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film produced for American International Pictures.  It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role.  

Blacula is the story of Manuwalde, an African Prince. This movie presents a modern version of the classic Dracula story in a very chilling and inventive way. In 1780, after visiting Count Dracula, Manuwalde is turned into a vampire and locked in a coffin.. The scene shifts to 1972, when two antique collectors transport the coffin to Los Angeles. The two men open the coffin and unleash Blacula on the city of Los Angeles. Blacula soon finds Tina, who is his wife, Luva, reincarnated, and gains her love. Tina's friend, Dr. Gordon, discovers Blacula is a vampire and hunts him down.

Blacula! - Dracula's Soul Brother!

 At the time of Blacula's release, studios such as American International and Hammer were pumping out cheap horror flicks.  At the same time, blaxploitation films were also making big bank . . . so why not combine the two genres? It was pure marketing genius, backed by some of the biggest box office of 1972.  

Given the cheesy title, any viewer would go into "Blacula" expecting a laughable blaxploitation flick. But in fact "Blacula" well-made.  "Blacula" certainly doesn't age very well; the music, clothes, and Afros alone drive a stake into the movie's hip status! William Marshall is a great vampire, with a suave deep voice and quite a brooding presence on screen. Vonetta McGee and Denise Nicholas provide screams and a love interest and both became very popular in the blaxploitation film industry.  

You shall pay, black prince. I shall place a curse of suffering on you that will doom you to a living hell. I curse you with my name. You shall be... Blacula!

Again, Marshall's strong presence as an actor saves the more overtly silly aspects of the movie from getting out of hand. Indeed, he is the most interesting and magnetic presence in the film despite being, in essence, the killer. This presents an unusual dilemma to the audience: should we root for the killer or the less compelling types who want him dead? 

With more sex and violence, this could have been a great blaxploitation flick, but it is sadly too mild for my tastes. It is still a classic, however, and the funky soundtrack and super-cool 70s style make it even more enjoyable. Highly recommended to all the fans of blaxploitation and cult-cinema out there!

He"s black! he's beautiful! he's Blacula!

Trivia:

While the film was in its production stages, William Marshall worked with the producers to make sure his character had some dignity. His character's name was changed from Andrew Brown to Mamuwalde and received a background story about his being an African prince who had been turned into a vampire. 

The group performing in the club is The Hues Corporation

Film debut of Denise Nicholas'. 

His bite was outta sight!

Viva Django (1968)

Django is on the trail of some renegade outlaws who raped and killed his wife. En route, he rescues a horse thief from an impromptu hanging. He discovers the man knows who committed the murder. The men team up and head west for revenge. 

Viva Django is a 1968 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Ferdinando Baldi. The film stars Terence Hill in the title role and it kicks ass.  

A group of bandits raped and murdered a woman that, for their bad luck, was Django's wife.After that,the famous gunman goes in a vengeance against the bad guys, killing everyone in his trail.  This is perhaps Terence Hill's greatest role.  He oozes class, clad all in black and convincingly playing the character second only to the Man With No Name for pure charisma. The rest of the cast is also a real treat - with both Eastman and Frank as brilliant as ever. Eastman's characters alway manage to be quite likable regardless of their bad morals and actions, whilst Frank just oozes with evil. Two of the great great supporting actors of the genre.

 All the essential ingredients of spaghetti westerns are here, including digging on the graveyard and a shootout with a machine-gun taken from a coffin.  Gianfranco Reverbi provides a really recognizible score, and the title theme track "You'd Better Smile" will stick in the head for days. This is a good film and if you like westerns then it's right up your alley.  Seek it out.

Trivia:

German Import DVD has a Super-8 Version (German language only), as a special feature on the disc. 

Following the success of the Bud Spencer/Terence Hill Italo western comedies in Germany this film was re-released as a re-dubbed comedy version in the late 1970s. Therefore it was heavily cut to 82 minutes and changed in plot. Django (now renamed to Joe) even mentions "the big" a few times referring to several characters of Bud Spencer in other movies. 

Django had his name changed into Trinita for the French version, but no attempt to turn the film into a comedy was ever made. 

Cut (2000)

A group of film students attempt to finish a horror movie that stopped production years earlier when the director was killed. Unaware that every attempt to complete the pic coincided with the murders of those involved, the students return to the original location in an isolated part of the country. When filming begins, so do the killings

Cut is a 2000 Australian comedy horror film, which was directed by Kimble Rendall and stars Kylie Minogue, Molly Ringwald and Tiriel Mora.  And guess what kids, it's really not a bad film.  It's quite enjoyable.  

The film opens in 1988 when director Hilary Jacobs (Australian uber-icon Kylie Minogue) is working on a slasher movie called "Hot Blooded" starring plucky American icon Vanessa Turnbull (Ringwald) as a teen who is being chased by a psycho with a mask and some wicked cutlery. After the climactic scene is shot, Jacobs shouts "Cut!" and then harangues the actor playing the killer. That night, the actor stabs the director and almost offs Turnbull. The film is never completed, and when a male director who takes over the project ends up dead too, "Hot Blooded" achieves a hallowed status in student film legend. Fast forward to the present -- Jacobs' assistant director Lossman (Geoff Revell) teaches at a film school and tells his favorite students -- Raffy Carruthers (Jessica Napier) and Hester Ryan (Sarah Kants) -- of his experiences on the doomed set. Raffy, who is itching to be the next Jane Campion, sets out to finish the notorious flick. She enlists Hester as a producer, assembles a crew of fellow students and manages to get Vanessa Turnbull, who hasn't worked much lately, to revisit her role as the film's main character. Of course, as soon as shooting commences, the killing begins anew.

They just have to finish the film... before it finishes them

 A bit of a "guilty pleasure"-type film, "Cut" is an entertaining little slasher movie.  By no means is it anything in terms of a classic, but I found this to be a pretty fun movie.  No, it's not entirely original, and in many instances it's just as typical as any slasher movie out there, but the premise of the movie-within-movie thing was interesting and makes for some very fun viewing. And believe it or not, it opened in France and Hong Kong at number two at the box office.

The mask for the killer is pretty creepy and adds some tension to his scenes with his demeanor.  He looks indistinguishable from the film's killer, when characters mistake him for that person and place him into the film with the actors, it gets a little frightening at times. The gore is also nice and it's quite bloody at times. There's several vicious slashes, a shear in the eye, a water pipe impaled in the stomach and a decapitation that offers up one of the best gags in the genre, where the head looks over at it's body after being separated. 

It's hard to scream without a tongue

There are plenty of red herrings and fake suspenseful moments, and there is very little time to try to work out who the killer is because the film moves at such a fast pace. It also has an appropriate low budget look, including some clumsy editing which is probably deliberate. Good soundtrack, too. If there is a difficulty with this film it is deciding whether it is a send-up of or a homage to the slasher genre. Probably a bit of both. 

The acting is good with Molly Ringwald leading the way. Jessica Napier does a good job as the films co-leading lady.  Kylie Minogue plays a bitch very well in her small role.  

Overall, "Cut" is an entertaining and creative little slasher picture that doesn't aim to be a film classic. It's schlocky and campy, and it's nowhere near perfect. But it's a self-aware horror movie that manages to balance an imaginative idea while making fun of itself all along the way, like a throwback to '80s splatter movies. It's got enough positives and is definitely worth a watch for horror fans. Anyone else will likely be displeased with it, but if you know slasher movies well, this is a pretty entertaining flick.

Audience Warning - Important Cinema Safety Notice - Caution: Movies Can Kill

 Lecturer: "We are so lucky today. We're lucky because we're here to see the most exciting screening of a very rare film. You may have read about it in the newspapers, because there was this so-called "curse" on the film. And that was that every time anybody tried to complete the film, someone died. In any case, this print is the only print in existence and we are really lucky to be able to see it today. All right, nothin' more to say. Here we go, let's roll it" 

Dracula 3000 (2004)

Count Dracula terrorizes the crew of a spaceship.

Dracula 3000, also titled Dracula 3000: Infinite Darkness, is a television horror movie released in 2004 that brings Bram Stoker's fictional vampire Count Dracula into outer space in the distant 30th century. 

The undead discover a new home in the far reaches of space in this blend of science fiction, action, and horror. In the year 3000 A.D., the crew of a commercial space freighter happens upon the wreckage of the Demeter, a massive space ship that has been missing for nearly a century. Aware that there's a substantial bounty being offered for the return of the ship's cargo, the freighter's crew begin exploring the Demeter to see what remains, and they discover that the ship's hold includes a large cache of black coffins. However, the real surprise lurks inside the coffins -- a gang of vampires, taking advantage of the darkness of deep space, have taken refuge in the Demeter's payload, and they soon begin attacking those who have discovered them. Can the freighter's crew keep the menace at bay until the ship's orbit takes them into the path of the sun? Dracula 3000 includes a stellar exploitation cast, including Casper Van Dien, Erika Eleniak, Coolio, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr., and a special guest appearance from Udo Kier. 

In space, the sun never rises.

What we have here could quite possibly be the worst vampire film ever made.  When Tiny Lister is allowed to deliver 80% of the dialogue you know that you're in for a long 90 minutes. There may not be a word in the English language that describes how horrible this film is.  How does a movie like this make it anywhere? It should not be distributed nor watched.

And there's Coolio.  You know the rapper from Compton with the big hit, "Gangsta's Paradise".  His acting is so bad it makes Kevin Hart look like Sir Lawrence Olivier.  And guess what, he loves pot. They stereotype even in the year 3000.  

My anaconda likes your Snow White ass

 The name of the movie is Dracula 3000....so let's name the vampire Orlock.  What the fuck?  And guess what....there's a planet inhabited by vampires.  What do you think it's called?  Transylvania of course. I think the script was written by a 5th grader for a writing project.  And the vampire planet is in the Carpathian solar system. The dialogue is so bad that I had to include some examples at the bottom. 

And how would such a fantastic film like this end.  Tiny and the blonde android are heading toward the sun to certain death.  Do they panic?  No.  He bangs her as they plunge to their death.  There are worse ways to go I guess. 

Tiny's going to get some android pussy.

I can not warn you enough to stay away from this movie.  After you awake from your coma and go through therapy, you may not want to watch movies ever again.  I didn't even mention Dracula...oh excuse me, Orlock.  He's a middle aged nerd with a cape and a collar that came right out of the 70's.  It's the year 3000....update your wardrobe dude. 

Staying Alive....Staying Alive

Trivia & Quotes:

The "Mother III" is actually a re-use of the slingship from the short lived 1993 TV series Space Rangers (1993)

Quotes:

Humvee: "All that bloodsuckin', that's some white people shit".

187: "I want to watch my anaconda spit all over your snow white ass"

187: "Did I ever tell you how many times I'd see you and want to ejaculate all over your bazonkas... All the times I stayed up late, high as a kite, in the non-gravitational atmosphere, while I stroked my anaconda, and dreamed about your snow-white ass"

Capt. Abraham Van Helsing: "He's after Aurora, he wants to kill her!"
Arthur "The Professor" Holmwood: "But I believe he said he wants to tittie fuck her first"

Southern Gothic (2007)

A man who must atone for a tragic mistake by saving a little girl from a ruthless, undead preacher.

Southern Gothic is a 2007 horror film directed by Mark Young.  And what do we have here with this little vampire film I saw on Showtime.  

A dejected strip club bouncer attempts to atone for the sins of his past by protecting a little girl from a vampiric preacher in Tooth and Nail director Mark Young's moody horror film. Hazel Fortune (Yul Vasquez) is a burnt-out alcoholic who works in a southern strip club. Ever since he caused the death of his daughter, Hazel has fallen into a hopeless cycle of grief and despair. Then, one day, Starla (Nicole DuPort) walks into the club where Hazel works looking for a job. She's not like the other girls in the club, because all Starla wants is to raise enough money to give her daughter Hope a better future. When local fire and brimstone preacher The Reverend sees Starla, he makes it his holy mission to deliver her from evil. Before The Reverend can save Starla's soul, however, he is beset by a gang of wandering vampires and transformed into a night-walking bloodsucker. Now, as Hazel looks after young Hope, The Reverend and his minions set out to raise some serious hell around this sleepy rural town.

Pray for Dawn

 This could've been a potentially enjoyable and rousing vampire effort instead is a classic example of a wasted opportunity.  William Forsythe always throws himself into characters and does so here. I thought the character could have been given more to do, but Forsythe provides a compelling performance. Yul Vazquez was also solid in the lead role.  The plot was somewhat incoherent and illogical. 

Let me give you a hand.

I flipped back and forth in my mind as I watched.  I thought at first, "Hey this is not bad".  Then I think, "No this is pretty stupid."  Some parts are good and other parts are not.  Average flick.  If you dig vampires you might enjoy it but we really don't see that much vampire action during the film. Although I did laugh out loud when the bouncer was looking for the stripper and finds her in the ice box.  He then just causally walks away. Ok.  It doesn't sound funny....you had to be there I guess.

Stag Night (2008)

Four men out on a STAG NIGHT in New York prematurely exit an underground train after the soon-to-be-best-man begins to hassle two women. Trapped at a deserted station these six adults become the target of a gruesome manhunt when a secret gang of cannibal dwellers, living in the tunnels discovers them. Tensions will rise as they fight to make it through the night with all their limbs attached.

Stag Night is a 2008 American horror film, written and directed by Peter A. Dowling.  In New York, on the bachelor party of Mike (Kip Parude), he goes with his troublemaker brother Tony (Breckin Meyer) and his friends Carl (Scott Adkins) and Joe (Karl Geary) to a strip club; however Tony gets in a fight with other costumers and the group is expelled by the bouncers. Tony convinces Mike and his friends to take the subway and go to another bar; in the wagon, they see the striper Michelle (Sarah Barrand) and her friend Brita (Vinessa Shaw), and Carl makes a corresponded move to Michelle. When Tony flirts with Brita, she becomes upset and uses a spray against him. The train stops in a traffic light in an abandoned station, and Brita forces the door and leaves the wagon to breath, followed by the others. However the signal opens and they are left behind in the station, Mike, Tony, Joe and Brita decide to walk through the tunnel to the next station and seek help for Carl and Michelle that prefer to stay alone dating in the station. When they reach the next station, they witness a trio of brutal homeless men killing a guard and they run through the tunnel trying to escape from the deranged murderers in the beginning of their nightmarish night.

Stay on the train...

Frankly this is a tired retread of a film. We've been down these corridors before and the film adds nothing new. That would be fine if the film had any connection to reality, which it doesn't. The film was made in Sofia Bulgaria which looks nothing like New York. All of the subway stations are these huge cavernous rooms covered in graffiti that look unlike any I've ever seen in any location anywhere.

For a Direct-to-DVD horror flick it could have been much worse. Transplant this story to the woods, and you've got "Wrong Turn". Transplant it to a nuclear California desert, and you've got "The Hills Have Eyes".  For those who prefer slowburn suspense, this one may be a pass.  

The film even put this guy to sleep.

The look of the main cannibal is rather distracting.  He looks just like fucking Rob Zombie.  Whenever he appears I can't get it out of my mind that Rob Zombie is killing folks in the Subway.  IN fact they all look like Zombie.  

Rob Zombie is ready to ROCK.....

One major black mark against Stag Night is the camera-work, it's of the shaky jerky can't see anything variety which gets so annoying to watch it's a wonder why filmmakers still continue to overuse this irritating technique.  Essentially this is a film that lacks any kind of imagination. It steals from so many other horrors yet fails to mold anything decent with its bounty.  Stag Night is a very ordinary horror film that borrows all of it's ideas from better films, while competent Stag Night is forgettable on every level.  

Stagecoach (1939)

A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.

Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay, written by Dudley Nichols, is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. 

Stagecoach is not your normal, run of the mill, western. It will have you on the edge of your seat as passengers make their way through some dangerous Indian country. By the time the film ends, you will know all of the characters very well and ,for the most part,care whether they live or die.  This landmark Western served as both the beginning of John Wayne's landmark film career and his relationship with director John Ford, who would make some of his best films with Wayne, including The Searchers. The film involves a group traveling across the desert to the town of Lordsburg. The first part of the film introduces us to the group, which includes a drunken doctor, a meek man, a prostitute with a heart of gold (Claire Trevor), the bumpkin of a driver (Andy DeVine) and the wife of a soldier.

Danger holds the reins as the devil cracks the whip ! Desperate men ! Frontier women ! Rising above their pasts in a West corrupted by violence and gun-fire !

 There is never a dull moment during Stagecoach, which says a lot when compared to other films of the day. Unlike westerns made over the past thirty years, Stagecoach doesn't have guns blazing throughout the film. A credible story is built up which makes the climax all the more interesting.  The desert setting and the stagecoach itself serve to make the great directing and camera work even greater. So many classic scenes in one movie. There are lot of little things like the shot of the coyote howling in the desert night. The shot of the stagecoach from behind going through a sand wash. The shot of the Indians on the hill looking down at the stagecoach.  Just fantastic work from everyone involved.  

Along the way you will also see: The birth of a child, the telegraph lines cut, an attack by Indians, a chase, a cavalry rescue, a poker game, a three-against-one gunfight on the streets of a town, and an exciting climax…  After building a 10 years long career as a star of B-Movie westerns, John Wayne finally proved that he could be a real Hollywood star with his remarkable performance as Ringo Kid in this film. Granted, Wayne never had a big acting range, but this film shows what he could do when provided with a great script. Claire Trevor is simply awesome as Dallas, taking the classic "hooker with a heart of gold" archetype to perfection, making a very real and human character. John Carradine shows his talent in a role that, while not having many lines, says more with physical expression than with words. However, the real jewel of this movie is the truly outstanding performance done by Thomas Mitchell as the friendly, yet unreliable Doc Boone.

You can't fuck with John Wayne.

 Overall, it's a great movie to watch!! With its drama, suspense, adventure, moral lesson, story, and plot, this a great movie that you don't want to miss watching.  According to Orson Wells he watched the film more than 40 times while making Citizen Kane. Truly vintage Ford and vintage Ford/Wayne, a collaboration that went on to make many great films

Trivia:

A device known as a "Running W" was used on the Indians' horses during the sequence where they are chasing the stagecoach. Strong, thin wires are fixed to a metal post, then the other end of the wires are attached to an iron clamp that encircles the legs of a horse, and the post is anchored into the ground. The horse is then ridden at full gallop, and when the wire's maximum length is reached - just when the rider is "shot" - the animal's legs are jerked out from underneath it, causing it to tumble violently and throw the "shot" rider off. The trouble was that the rider knew when the horse was going to fall but the horse didn't, resulting in many horses either being killed outright or having to be destroyed because of broken limbs incurred during the falls. The use of the "Running W" was eventually discontinued after many complaints from both inside and outside the film industry. 

Asked why, in the climactic chase scene, the Indians didn't simply shoot the horses to stop the stagecoach, director John Ford replied, "Because that would have been the end of the movie." 

John Wayne's 80th film. 

The Duke always gets the girl.

Local Navajo Indians played the Apaches. The film's production was a huge economic boost to the local impoverished population, giving jobs to hundreds of locals as extras and handymen. 

The hat that John Wayne wears is his own. He would wear it in many westerns during the next two decades before retiring it after Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959), because it was simply "falling apart." After that, the hat was displayed under glass in his home. 

John Ford's first sound Western, and his first in that genre in 13 years. Westerns had fallen out favor with the coming of sound, as it was tricky to record on location. 

John Ford loved the Monument Valley location so much that the actual stagecoach journey traverses the valley three times. 

In 1939 there was no paved road through Monument Valley, hence the reason why it hadn't been used as a movie location before (it wasn't paved until the 1950s). Harry Goulding, who ran a trading post there, had heard that John Ford was planning a big-budget Western so he traveled to Hollywood, armed with over 100 photographs, and threatened to camp out on Ford's doorstep until the director saw him. Ford saw him almost immediately and was instantly sold on the location, particularly when he realized that its remoteness would free him from studio interference. 

The interior sets all have ceilings, an unusual practice at the time for studio filming. This was to create a claustrophobic effect in complete counterpoint to the wide open expanse of Monument Valley.  

Thrills! Thrills! Thrills! See - The Apache Attack! Charge of the Cavalry! Fight to the Death On the Last Frontier of Wickedness!

Hosteen Tso, a local shaman, promised John Ford the exact kind of cloud formations he wanted. They duly appeared. 

When the film was being cast, John Ford lobbied hard for John Wayne but producer Walter Wanger kept saying no. It was only after constant persistence on Ford's part that Wanger finally gave in. Wanger's reservations were based on Wayne's string of B-movies, in which he came across as being a less than competent actor, and the box office failure of Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930) in 1930, Wayne's first serious starring role. 

John Ford gave John Wayne the script, asking him for any suggestions as to who could play the Ringo Kid. Wayne suggested Lloyd Nolan, not realizing that Ford was baiting him with the part. Once filming began, however, Ford was merciless to Wayne, constantly undermining him. This psychological tactic was designed to make Wayne start feeling some real emotions, and not to be intimidated by acting alongside the likes of such seasoned professionals as Thomas Mitchell. 

John Ford originally wanted Ward Bond to play Buck the stage driver but gave the role to Andy Devine when he found that Bond couldn't drive a "six-up" stagecoach and there wasn't time to teach him. 

John Wayne's salary was considerably less than all of his co-stars', apart from John Carradine. 

David O. Selznick was interested in making the film, but only if he could have Gary Cooper as the Ringo Kid and Marlene Dietrich as Dallas. 

In 1939 Claire Trevor was the film's biggest star, and thus commanded the highest salary. 

Wait....you made how much more than me for this picture?

Near the end of the movie, Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler) has a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights. This is the notorious "dead man's hand" supposed to have been held by Wild Bill Hickok before he was killed.  

It's believed by many that the famous line "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," widely attributed to a John Wayne Western character, is spoken by Wayne in this film, however, it isn't. His character, The Ringo Kid, instead says "There are some things a man just can't run away from," when asked why he intends to stay and avenge his family's murders rather than try to escape to Mexico. 

Ranked #9 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Western" in June 2008.  

Although Louis Gruenberg receives screen credit for the musical score, his contribution was not used and his name was omitted for the Academy Award nomination. 

It was selected for the National Film Registry by Library Of Congress in 1995.  

Doctor Boone's misquote, 'Is this the face that wrecked a thousand ships/ and burned the towerless tops of Ilium?', is from 'The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe, Scene xiv.