Chainsaw Sally (2004)

At the age of ten, Sally Diamond and her younger brother Ruby witness the brutal murder of their parents. Alone in the world, Sally raises Ruby, haunted by the memories of her murdered parents, and an ever growing lust for revenge. Now, a young woman inspired by horror movies and comic books, Sally lives the life of a small town librarian by day... and something completely different by night.

When the sun goes down in Porterville, the hunt begins, with Chainsaw Sally acting as judge, jury, and bloody executioner, of those who are evil in her eyes.

Wow, what a refreshing ride CHAINSAW SALLY is! A film that starts off slow, only to have you smiling devishly by mid film.

As children Sally and her bother Ruby witnessed the gruesome murders of both of their parents at the hands of 3 escaped mental patients. Ever since then, the two, more so Sally have been pressed for revenge. Sally, all grown up now, is a librarian at a local library in the town of Porterville.... but this is just her day-job. By night, Sally transforms herself into a take no prisoners, chainsaw carrying, badass female, whom believes all bad people deserve to die! The big cheese at a real estate agent has plans for the old farm house in which Sally grew up. and when both the agent and the property owner show up... this ultimately infuriates young Sally. It's truly a story of revenge and protecting what is "yours" as Sally with the help of little brother Ruby stop at nothing to secure their childhood memories

This amazing film is from a the multi-talented Maryland director by the name of JimmyO Burril. I see a lot of films each week and most of them do consist of all types of low budget flicks, from virtually everywhere. In the many I receive, few very rarely grab my attention as CHAINSAW SALLY has. The film starts off at a low pace, as most low budgets do but.... CHAINSAW SALLY is this way for a reason. It's reason is that it actually gives us the opportunity to actually meet the characters and get into their heads. This allows the viewers to somehow care about what happens to each one of them, something that you rarely see these days as some horrors are made just to cash in on cheap gore and T & A.

Director JimmyO is also an amazing artist and I have always been impressed with his work. Now that I see CHAINSAW SALLY it is like I am seeing one of his fabulous art pieces actually come to life! Shot in a very artistic and unique way CHAINSAW SALLY will never fail to entertain your eyes.

The acting here is great by virtually everyone. We get a treat for the loyal horror fans with Cameos from legendary writer/director H.G. Lewis, and actor Gunnar Hansen whom most of you smart kids will know as the original Leatherface from the cult horror classic, and my personal favorite, the original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. I will admit, that I somehow transformed into a giddy little school girl when I saw that Gunnar was in SALLY, more so when I saw him pick up the saw and kill those 3 bastards before he bit the dust! April Burril is simply amazing! When she gets into the character of Sally she really IS Sally. You can tell that April is really comfortable in Sally's skin(no pun intended) April is JimmyO's wife, so if I were Mr. O, I'd sleep with one I open!

I Would not be surprised if fans are talking about this film for many years to come, the character of Sally is in the running for becoming the next horror icon...no doubt about it!

Directed By : JimmyO Burril
Cast: April Monique Burril, Mark Redfield, Gunnar Hansen, Herschell Gordon Lewis, David R. Calhoun, Kristen Hudson, April Rouse.

Website: http://chainsawsally.org
Film review by Rick Blalock

Director talks latest FLY remake

You may have stumbled across his name perusing the news headlines at Fangoria, but there’s little doubt you’ll be hearing much more about young up-and-comer Todd Lincoln in the next year. Prior to being attached as the director/co-writer of the big-screen adaptation of HACK/SLASH for Rogue Pictures, Lincoln was ensnared in Fox Searchlight’s web where he drafted a second remake of THE FLY with his writing partner Martin Schenk.

Favoring the 1958 Kurt Neumann-directed FLY over David Cronenberg’s delectable 1986 display of gooey makeup FX trickery, Lincoln revisited the original George Langelaan short story that first appeared in Playboy before embarking on the latest upgrade. What he and his partner wound up hatching “was a complete outside-the-box re-imagining,” Lincoln tells Fango. “It was both a love letter to and a complete departure from Neumann and Cronenberg’s films. They already nailed the perfect versions of those stories. There is no good reason to do those approaches again.”

So, Lincoln and Schenk scrapped everything the moviegoing audience knows about THE FLY—including the pair of sequels that stemmed from Neumann’s film, and the one from Cronenberg’s. “Our take had nothing to do with the Delambre family or Seth Brundle, and there are no telepods,” Lincoln reveals. “This was a completely new story. The style and tone were a dark, smooth mixture of Val Lewton, Don Siegel and Roman Polanski. Someone still became a fly, but who, how, why they became a fly, what the creature looked like and what ultimately happened to it—we conjured totally new scenarios for all those major elements.”

Even with so much fresh blood being injected into the concept, Lincoln and Schenk couldn’t help but write in a role for ’58 FLY leading man David Hedison. But for now, the question bigger than “Who the heck is Todd Lincoln, anyway?” is the status of Fox’s redux. “Last I heard, the people behind the people at the studio had changed their minds again and are leaning toward a straightforward remake,” Lincoln says. “I wish them the best.” —Ryan Rotten

R.I.P. Dan Curtis

Dan Curtis, whose battle to make two Emmy-winning World War II miniseries, "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance," lasted years longer than the war the epics were based on, has died. He was 78.

Curtis, who also created the daytime soap opera "Dark Shadows" in the 1960s that became a pop culture touchstone, died Monday of brain cancer at his Brentwood home, said his daughter, Cathy.

Simonetti´s DAEMONIA releases DVD Tribute to Dario Argento.

Daemonia - Dario Argento Tribute Live In Los Angeles is the title of the new DVD/CD release of the band Daemonia, led by former Goblin leader Claudio Simonetti.

Keyboard player Simonetti and his fellow musicians Bruno Previtali (guitar), Federico Amorosi (bass) and Titta Tani (drums) had recorded live in LA some of the most well-known and beloved titles from Dario Argento´s movies, plus some surprise extras that sure will appeal to horror fans anywyere. Here´s the tracklist:

DVD
1. Introduction – 0:30
2. L’alba dei morti viventi – 5:14
3. Demon – 5:32
4. Band Introduction - ‘1.”05
5. Halloween (John Carpenter-Howard)/Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) – 3:14
6. Inferno/Mater Tenebrarum – 5:44
7. Opera (Claudio Simonetti) – 5:27
8. Suspiria – 5:08
9. Phenomena (Claudio Simonetti) – 5:16
10. Zombi – 5:28
11. Tenebre – 6:13
12. School at Night (Giorgio Gaslini) – 0:30 - Mad Puppet – 4:19
13. Titta Tani/Drums Solo – 1:33
14. Simonetti/Piano Solo – 1:37
15. Profondo Rosso – 6:01
16. Phenomena (Bis) (Claudio .Simonetti) – 6:54

CD
1. L’alba dei morti viventi 6:13
2. Zombi 4:29
3. At the safari* 3:40
4. Torte in faccia 1:49
5. Zaratozom 3:18
6. La Caccia 3:40
7. Tirassegno 2:50
8. Oblìo 5:39
9. Risveglio 1:02
10. Zombi Sexy 2:19
11. Supermarket 3:14

The DVD also contains the original version of the videoclips from Profondo Rosso, Opera and Suspiria. It´s a must-have for any Simonetti/Goblin/Argento fan, and can be purchased thru the italian online store Self (click for link).

More info at http://www.simonetti.org/

AWAKEN THE DEAD

There's a new indie horror/actionner badboy on the block and its called Awaken The Dead. Directed, Written and Produced by Jeffery McMichael Brookshire, this little chiller/killer is aiming high on low coin! What's it about? Here ya go!

He’s a man of God with a violent past. She’s an Assassin’s daughter hiding from her father and herself. Both are dead to the world. Fate brings them together as a government experiment transforms the world around them into a nightmare of the living dead. Rejoining humanity and embracing the power of their pasts may be their only hope of salvation.

The film is slated to be done this year (2006) and distribution is in the works. You can check out the Trailer or visit the Official Site.

Snakes + Plane + Sam L. Jackson = 'Nuff Said.

It might've gone from zero to overkill faster than a Hollywood A-list relationship, but New Line's Snakes on a Plane is still near the top of my must-see list, and it doesn't even hit theaters for another several months.

As the title phenomenon itself continues to reach critical mass, our first glimpse of the future masterpiece in motion has arrived online, and it's everything we could've hoped for: passengers in peril, screeching stewardesses, snakes slithering and dropping from every possible opening, and unfinished FX work.

Final Destination 2 collision choreographer David Ellis directs the movie, which has Sam Jackson's FBI agent taking a page from the John McClane bad luck handbook, but instead of pompous Euro-terrorists, he has to deal with a plane filled with lethal mafia snakes.

According to Hollywood Reporter, New Line authorized five days of reshoots to allow the film to wriggle from a PG-13 to a less-profitable but more satisfying R-rating. The trade reports that the footage will feature more gore, more death, more nudity, more snakes and more death scenes. And they shot a scene where Jackson does utter the line that fans have demanded ("I want these motherfucking snakes off the motherfucking plane!").

Meanwhile, click the logo for the teaser of the movie.

Bruce Cambpell talks about the EVIL DEAD remake.

In a recent interview, Bruce Campbell gave Penny Blood Magazine the lowdown on the future of the Evil Dead franchise.

He says, “We don't really talk about [another] sequel too much 'cause Sam is too busy right now. It would all be kinda moot. But I think we're gonna do a remake. It'll be a whole new story, though. It won't be with Ash. It'll be the evil book, and it'll affect a whole new group of people in a different situation. More like a reinvention. A lot of people, they got really crabby on the Internet when they first heard that type of stuff. But, we would never do anything to insult them.

The trick is to take that premise - and we think it's a scary premise - and use some cool modern day FX… so we won't have green garden hoses in the shots. We wanna make a flat out, scary-ass, un-rated horror film.”

NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING (2006)

Turner Network Television (TNT) is putting the summer on ice with its chilling all-star television event NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING.

This four-week collection of eight mind-bending tales from the master of horror, set to premiere in July, features such top performers as William H. Macy, Ron Livingston, Henry Thomas, Claire Forlani, Jeremy Sisto, Samantha Mathis, Greta Scacchi, Kim Delaney, William Hurt, Tom Berenger and many other A-List stars. In addition, the first installment of the series will be presented uninterrupted and commercial-free.

NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES comes to TNT from Bill Haber’s Ostar Enterprises, with Haber (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow) serving as executive producer. The series is produced by Mike Robe, Jeffrey Hayes and John J. McMahon.

The following is the line-up of eight one-hour stories included in TNT’s NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES:

Umney’s Last Case
Directed by Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire, Elektra); teleplay by April Smith (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)
After the death of his son, writer Sam Landry (William H. Macy) is so desperate to lead another life, he writes himself into his own book, forcing his long-time character (also played by Macy) to change places with him and live in the modern day. But things get deadly when Landry realizes he is trapped and cannot write himself out of his new reality.

The End of the Whole Mess
Directed by Mikael Salomon (TNT’s Salem’s Lot); teleplay by Lawrence D. Cohen (Carrie, Stephen King’s It)
The world had changed. Violence, war and hatred and replaced with kindness, peace and love. But at what price? Renowned filmmaker Howie Fornoy (Ron Livingston), with just one hour to live, recounts the details of his brother’s (Henry Thomas) worldwide experiment gone terribly wrong.

Crouch End
Directed by Mark Haber (Border Patrol, Alien Cargo, Daises in December); teleplay by Kim LeMasters (Threshold)
A newly wed American couple (Eion Bailey and Claire Forlani) honeymooning in London goes to Crouch End to have dinner with a friend. They soon learn the town is not what it appears to be, and the more they get lost, the more they become trapped in another dimension.

The Fifth Quarter
Directed by Rob Bowman (Reign of Fire, Elektra); teleplay by Alan Sharp (Rob Roy, Reversible Errors)
Willie (Jeremy Sisto), a just-released convict, learns from his dying friend of a map in four parts that reveals the location of $1 million from a robbery. Seeking revenge for the death of his friend and the money, as well, Willie hunts down the others who hold the remaining three parts to the map, risking his family and his freedom. Samantha Mathis co-stars.

Autopsy Room Four
Directed by Mikael Salomon (TNT’s Salem’s Lot); teleplay by April Smith (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three)
Businessman Howard Cottrell (Richard Thomas) is on vacation playing one of his many games of golf. Chasing the ball into the undergrowth, he is bitten by a snake and completely paralyzed, showing no signs of life. At the hospital, unable to communicate, he is the key witness to his own autopsy. Greta Scacchi co-stars.

You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
Written and directed by Mike Robe (News at Eleven, Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North).
A wrong turn on a lonely road turns frightening for Clark and Mary Willingham (Steven Weber and Kim Delaney) as they stumble upon a town not on any map – Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon. There is a free concert every night, but the price of admission is high – once the audience enters, it can never leave.

Battleground
Directed by Brian Henson (Farscape, Muppet Treasure Island); teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson (Mobius, It Waits)
John Renshaw (William Hurt), a professional hit man, successfully murders the CEO of a prestigious toy company only to face the biggest fight of his life when a package from the toy company is delivered to his house with surprising, deadly contents.

The Road Virus Heads North
Directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (TNT’s Into The West, Invasion, Taken); teleplay by Peter Filardi (Salem’s Lot, Flatliners)
Richard Kinnell (Tom Berenger) is a famous writer who, at a doctor’s visit, learns he may soon have to deal with his own mortality. On the drive back to his home, he buys a mysterious painting. Each time he looks at it, it changes to become more menacing and sinister. He pieces together that the painting is trying to kill him…but not if he can destroy it first. Marsha Mason co-stars.

Five of the adaptations for NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES come from King’s 1993 anthology of the same name. The Road Virus Heads North and Autopsy Room Four come from King’s 2002 anthology Everything’s Eventual, while Battleground comes from 1978’s Nightshift.

TOKYO PSYCHO (Tokyo Densetsu - 2004, Japan)

Megalopolis. It's a nice place to visit – especially if you want to die there.

From Ataru Oikawa, acclaimed director of Tomie, comes Tokyo Psycho, a harrowing plunge into obsession, violence and relentless terror made all the more chilling by one simple detail: Tokyo Psycho is based on a true story.

Sachiko Kokubu plays Yumiko, the beautiful owner of a Tokyo design agency whose upscale, enjoyable life is disrupted by fear.

First, a mysterious woman summons her at dawn with no explantion. Then Yumiko receives paper scraps stitched together with piano wire that spell out an unnerving message – "I know you were meant to marry me." Finally, as Yumiko prepares for a class reunion, someone sends her a copy of her school photo drenched in blood.

That someone is the Tokyo Psycho.

Summoning a friend, Yumiko embarks on a brutal, exhilarating nightmare investigation into her tormentor, awakening long forgotten memories and facing unimaginable horrors. For all the city's crowds and commotion, she cannot hide from Tokyo Psycho.

Director Oikawa's innovative visuals perfectly match Sachiko Kokubu's powerfully compelling lead performance, making Tokyo Psycho a must-see for fans of modern Japanese horror cinema.

DVD Features

Brand New Director Approved Transfer
Behind the Scenes Featurette, Film Premiere Footage & Trailers
True Crime: The Inspiration for Tokyo Psycho
Two Essays by cult author Selwyn Harris
Running Audio Commentaries in English & Spanish
Optional English & Spanish Subtitles with Bilingual Menu Navigation
Special Insert Card & Sticker

Released by Panik House
Trailer: http://media.panikhouse.com/trailers/tokyopsycho.mov
Official japanese site: http://www.takeshobo.co.jp/movie/tokyo_densetsu/