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justinc79
Reviews
The Ghouls (2003)
Chad Ferrin does it again
After his debut film, Unspeakable, Chad Ferrin has returned with a film that's much less shocking, but definately more effective: The Ghouls. Following an interview I did with Chad Ferrin, he sent me a review screener of The Ghouls, which is one of the most original horror films I've seen in recent years.
The Ghouls stars Timothy Muskatell(who also was featured in Unspeakable) as Eric Hayes, a "stringer": one who videotapes various police chases, amubulance runs, and random street violence and sells their tapes to the highest bidders. After a falling out with a local news broadcaster(played by Joe Pilato from Day of the Dead), missing out on a big police chase, and unsuccessfully trying to reclaim his love interest(Tina Birchfield), Hayes solves his problems with glass after glass of alcohol. On his way home, he sees a couple of bums who look like their about to rape a young woman. He follows them into an alley with his camera running, shocked to discover that they weren't bums at all, but flesh eating ghouls who have torn the woman apart. Narrowly escaping them, Eric flees to take the news office, only to discover in his drunken stupor, he had forgotten to put a tape in the camera.
Determined to find out what he saw, he enlists the help of another stringer named Cliff(Trent Haaga). Each armed with a gun and their cameras, they head out into the streets to investigate and find out what these ghouls really are. But when Eric gets the footage he desires, he's also lead to realize what kind of horrible things he's documented and how dispicable he is by doing so. However, maybe he can use his talents for good by warning the public of what is lurking in their streets... if only he can get the footage.
The Ghouls is a horror film that features a great cast, with many familiar faces to Troma fans (Troma released Ferrin's aformentioned first film, the shocking and overly disturbing Unspeakable). Besides the aforementioned cast members, James Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, and Tiffany Shepis also appear in the film. Though being shot on MiniDV, it does not distract the viewer from the film and actually fits it better, due to the film regarding someone who videotapes violence. The gore and other special effects are top notch and there's not really too many negative aspects about the film.
If you'd like to see a film that gives an original edge to modern horror films, check out The Ghouls when it finally makes it's way to your local video store.
Outlaw Comic: The Censoring of Bill Hicks (2003)
Good documentary, though presented in a hypocritical format
I must say, this documentary was very well made. It featured footage of the late, great Bill Hicks I had never seen before and told details of his life I had never known about. In fact, there's only one problem about the documentary: it was presented on basic cable.
Trio! aired this during their "Uncensored Comedy" month. The really great thing is, get this, everything aired during the month was completely edited. Do you realize how hypocritical it is to release a documentary on why it was wrong to censor a genius like Bill Hicks, only to censor him once again post-mortem? Comedy Central has gotten away with airing severely offensive material, such as South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, without any problems. If Trio was planning on censoring this, they should have never claimed it was uncensored.
The best example of this occurs during the end credit. Footage of Hicks flipping off the crowd is shown with his middle fingers obscured by large bars reading "CENSORED", while Trio's UNCENSORED Comedy month logo gleams in the lower right corner.
Great idea, great documentary, but full of bad choices of editing. Maybe in the future, a truly uncensored version of this documentary will be seen.
The Alchemists (1999)
Hmmm... this sure sucked.
We rented this movie, expecting to see deformed monkeys and other things (as the box showed) but instead, we got almost 2 hours worth of people saying the SAME THINGS THAT WERE ESTABLISHED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE, one weird deformed monkey, and an ending that made no sense. It also seems that they've cut dialogue and other information to save time, because there are a lot of odd and jump cuts. And how pathetic the characters sounded saying "Sorry!" whenever someone was pronounced dead. This is BOUND for Mystery Science Theater 3000... too bad it was cancelled.
I'm sure the good votes this got, was from cast members, investors, or friends of cast members, and investors.
Big Wolf on Campus (1999)
Hilarious!
I love this show! It is a very funny horror parody, that is like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Teen Wolf meets Eerie Indiana. When you watch it, you will INSTANTLY notice the talent of Danny Smith, who plays the loveable sidekick, Merton Dingle.
Man on the Moon (1999)
Very good. Very very very good
This film was probably the best movie I've seen in quite a while. The reason: I'm an Andy Kaufman fan, and this is an Andy Kaufman movie. But really, Jim Carrey is EXCELLANT as Andy. Paul Giamatti (Pig Vomit in Private Parts) did Andy's best friend/writer Bob Zmuda perfectly.
If you have not had a chance to see Andy Kaufman's act, go see this film, or watch Comedy Central, they usually Air the "Salute to Andy Kaufman" and "I'm From Hollywood" and "Hollywood" even contains THE REAL MATCHES between Andy and Jerry Lawler
Oh, this film completely ABANDONED the fact Andy had a daughter! I couldn't believe it! It made me SOOOOO MAD! Although it did clear up the whole dispute between Andy and Jerry Lawler for me.
So check this movie out. You'll laugh, and you will most definately end up crying toward the end. Whether tough guy or total wuss, you will.
Downtown (1999)
I love this show
This show is so addicting.... the main characters seem real and the animation is good. Sadly MTV isn't giving it too much vibe.... there are no sites out there for it.... go watch it and have a good ass time!
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
Best Movie Ever!
This movie is a masterpiece. Okay so it does have the filthiest language around, but it's great. The plot is the kids see a movie by Canadians Terrance and Phillip with naughty language. They repeat it at school and their parents hear of the movie teaching them this language. So they start a group called MAC (Mothers Against Canada) that try to stop it and ends up starting a war. During this Kenny dies and goes to hell were he finds out Satan and Saddam Hussain's plot for taking over the world if Terrance and phillip's blood touches the earth, and they are going to be SENTENCED TO DEATH! A perfect film which probably tells about what is going to happen when parents see this movie. 10 stars
The Compleat Al (1985)
Funny!
This is a great movie for all Weird Al fans! Some of the funniest parts happen when Al is asking Michael Jackson for permission to do "Eat it." It also has videos to "I Love Rocky Road", "One More Minute" and "Dare To Be Stupid."
Airheads (1994)
FUNNY
I loved this movie it was hilarious. Rent this flick 2-nite for a funny film. And don't forget to look for "Stuttering John" Menendez from Howard Stern as the masturbating rocker. And an awesome performance by White Zombie