Killing Spree

Killing Spree

“I didn’t see this movie” – JoshC

KILLING SPREE

To keep the Tim Ritter ball rollin’ for at least one more review anyway, were bringing ya’ll his next movie Killing Spree, and don’t worry, I don’t hold this one near n’ dear to me unlike Truth or Dare? So this reviews not gonna be chop full my ridicules opinions such as that Truth or Dare, a virtually unheard of film is one of the best slasher movies(if you’d call it that) Ever. But the more I think about it I realize that if my opinions contradict yours, you can feel free to attack me personally via the comment board, and if that doesn’t do it for ya you can go write your own reviews and leave ours the hell alone.
(**EDITORS side note: he doesn’t really mean that, as a matter of fact if it weren’t for you readers we would obviously fade into oblivion like so many stupid fucking hairdos after the impending EMO scene implosion I look foreword to ever so)
HOWEVER, were reviewing Killing Spree now, aren’t we? Shit, I shoulda been this stoned when I watched it. Regardless, I was very curious to see what Tim Ritter could come up with after unleashing Truth Or Dare, and I dident have to look very further than the trailer (for the DVD) to find out that this one is a hell of a lot less serious and much more a comical gore fest than its brilliant predecessor. Released a year or so after Truth or Dare, Tim takes a giant leap away from the serious tone of that movie, while dealing with the same subject matter of a husband, played by Asbestos Felt, the head explosion with a mouth full of grenade from Truth after Ritter promised him another role, driven crazy by his wife’s adultery, and would ya believe it… he go’s on… You guessed it, an olde fashioned Killing Spree, killing every boss, friend, TV repair guy, yard maintenance worker, old fuckin lady and whatever or whoever else he suspects of stickin’ it to his girl.
With a movie like this you would expect it to rely mainly on gore, which is what I was hoping for, seeing as how the DVD cover boasts an endorsement by Horror culture expert and artist Chas Balun boasting “A 9 on the Gore Score with several pleasing repellent splatter sequences”, but while there is a fair amount of beautiful 80s gore, my favorite involving an old ladies neck VS the claw portion of a hammer (the results are litterly jaw dropping) I feel the movie simply couldn’t hold its own on carnage alone, instead, I find its actually the comedy (“YOU ASS!!”, great line hashahahah) and surprisingly the fucking PLOT to this thing that keep you going. There’s enough happening here, coupled with not one but 2 “twist” endings worthy of the lousy M. Night Shyamalan to please everybody. Everybody interested in obscure Shot-On-Video slasher fare from the beloved 1980s that is.
I wont ruin the ending for anybody, but by all means I highly recommend it to anybody who knows what they’te getting themselves into if not just for a good laugh. You gotta remember, these guys practicaly made something out of nothing here, as with all Indie Horror movies, which is commendable. What I like about movies like this one, is that its clear they know what they’re doing, and not only that, they respect it. These are horror movies made by horror fans, not some lame old Hollywood contract director doing a glossy Halloween rip off cause it’s the flavor of the decade(although alotta those were pretty sweet). Well, im ranting again so its time to cap things off.
I will throw out there however, the Awesome DVDs Camp Motion Pictures have been putting out on there Retro 80s Horror Collection, such as this one and a plethora of others, one of which I’ll review later, well 2 actually, Video Violence, and Video Violence 2:The Exploitation! Be patient, were a force in progress. Also, stay tuned for a reader request for Sleepaway Camp and one for the TROMA movie Mothers Day, a slasher filmed across the lake from and at the same time as Friday the 13th, which im actually Dying to see.

I give Killing Spree a fair 3 out of 5, cause they put fourth an honest effort and made a pretty wicked little flick, excellent for drinkin’ with the guys, Hey, that’s a good idea, later.

-JoshM

Truth Or Dare: A Critical Madness

TRUTH OR DARE: A CRITICAL MADNESS

–JoshM

This marks my first ever review for the site, and possibly the first review on here in general, so instead of kickin’ things off with a well known classic of the horror genre Im going in the exact opposite direction, and bringing ya one of the most SHIT UPON and not to mention underrated Horror films ive ever seen called Truth Or Dare? A Critical Madness (1986).
The year…well I cant recall to be honest, im guessing somewhere between 96 and 97, right smack dab in the middle of trying desperately to see all the Freddy and Jason and Michael and Leatherface and etc, and etc movies my innocent unsuspecting buddy, lets call him Steve and I were at Video Biz one of the local mom n pop shops not long before the blockbusters n shit took over and naturally our gore obsessed little eyes found a box covered in shiny blood and razorblades and a warning label claiming (as I read it back right now in my hand) “WARNING this picture contains graphic scenes of violence” , Well, neither of us had seen a movie yet that needed a fucking WARNING label so obviously we rented it. Little did I know that 12 or 13 years later ide be shelling out 40 bucks for the same tape on the Internet.
The beauty of it is, the movie did precisely what the back of the box claimed it would do, “Assault you personally”. At the time we had never seen ANYTHING like it, nothing made outside of Hollywood conventions and definitely nothing shot on video, and it actually did assault us on a personal level. Never before were we exposed to a film where babys and kids and old mental patients could easily be ran over, chainsawed or forced to stick a live grenade in their mouth so easily,  and we said “you cant kill a little baby!”

And at that moment I had realized the power of Horror Cinema, the power to shock and upset you, and from that point on I’ve been cheering on every drop of blood I’ve seen on film (or video as the case may be here hahaha).

I had seen the movie a few more times since than around the same timeframe, showing it to friends to disturb the shit out of them, but somewhere alone the line I forgot all about this little gem. So I got my shit together and got a copy of it, on VHS cause the DVD was as pricey as a seat in heaven, and cause the tape was what I remembered, so nervously enough I finally re-watched it and I can honestly say that Truth Or Dare still holds its ground for me. Today I recognize it as one of the most disturbing movies ever made about a serial killer with some sort of sadistic personality disorder. I find its disturbing because its so REAL. This thing could easily have been a true story, essentially its about a guy who wants revenge on his wife for sleeping with his best friend, except this guy LOOSES it and conjures up some repressed memories (or delusions?) of playing the game truth or dare as some sick excuse to harm himself crucially, all this wrapped up in a psychotic scheme to get revenge on his wife. I wont give away the plot too much, but just know its morbidly realistic. A lot of people who’s reviews I’ve read don’t seem to understand that some certain scenes are delusions of Mike Strauber, the killer and main character and when that is understood than the movie gets a whole lot better I guess, (and much more believable) cause some of these reviews make it out to be a goddamn comedy or something which is redicules. Another thing that makes this movie work so well is the budget, it was shot on video, which contributes so well to the atmosphere, almost so well as the grain in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did for that film. And it wasn’t released to theaters so its chop full of crazy violence and it can afford to stray away from the restraints of COMPLETELY narrative storytelling cause its not supposed to appeal to every Tom Dick n Harry payin to see DIE HARD 12: Blow Harder. Of course all of these reasons are reason enough for about half of the population of the Internet Movie Data Base to shit on it. Put it this way, if you’re a serious Horror fan, or even a movie fan that doesn’t need to be force fed 12 million dollars of fluff to enjoy a film you definitely may enjoy this one. Those that laugh at Horror and don’t appreciate it for what it SHOULD be, well as always you know what you can suck on.
Anybody interested in it should know its definitely one of the best slasher flicks of the 80s, as a matter of fact its leaps and bounds ahead of many of its big budget studio contemporaries. If I had to compare it to other movies of its type, I’d probably say stuff like Maniac and The Driller Killer come to mind due to the killer being the main character. Another thing I’d like to touch on is the sheer Awesomeness of its director Tim Ritter. The man is pure inspiration for young filmmakers, hes been making these Independent shot on video, straight to video(before that was a bad thing) horror movies ever since and before Truth or Dare? And he’s still doing it. An interesting fact, it was this movie and movies like Blood Cult that virtually pioneered the home video market in the 80s, which is pretty cool seeing as how the market nowadays compete to see who can stock more copys of the same piece of shit.
My partner in slyme and other various dastardly deeds JoshC, is diligently downloading Truth or Dare 2 AND 3, for our viewin’ and reviewin’ pleasure, and also watch out for my upcoming review of Tim Ritter’s next feature, 1987’s Killing Spree. And you who like your horror with some BRAAAINS, don’t fear cause were also gonna pump out a graveyards worth of Zombie flicks real soon.

My final rating of Truth or Dare? A critical madness, I’ll give it 5 outta 5 just cause I want everyone to see it.