Review: Ravage Nation

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet

Ravage Nation (aka Ravage III: Ravage Nation)
Directed by Michael Moutsatsos
Dondi Inferno Productions
87 minutes, 2022

Before I even start, please note that the fact that this is the second chapter in the series should not matter, and I will explain below within the review.

 When idjits refuse to get mass vaxxed, as with the COVID virus, the disease has the chance to mutate. So far, we have been fortunate that until now, the mutations have been slightly lesser in severity. But what if they got worse, instead? That is the premise, in part, of this film.

Jake Scozzaro, Ed Gage

By 2036, most of the population has been wiped out by CV5., Let everyone thank the likes of Trump, DeSantis, Bobert, Greene, etc., for this. According to the text scrawl that opens the film, mothers gave birth to human mutations in the forms of beast-like creatures, which hunted humans. If they bite or even scratch you and you live, you turn into a flesh-eating zombie yourself in a mere 12 seconds. All this info and exposition is presented before the credits (it also appears in the trailer, below).

The mutants tend to be people with either extreme white make-up on, or animal heads (masks), and they go around either capturing and killing humans on their own, or murder them in gangs, often with axes or sledgehammers, for some reason: a pragmatic choice may be that because the mutants wear thick gloves, I am guessing to help with the make-up expenses, rather than having to show the misshapen hands. If this is true, I respect that.

Rather than a narrative storyline, we see vignettes of people being killed, many bound up beforehand. The film is mostly monochrome, usually black and white, and the slaughters in red. These fragments are not exceedingly long, so if you tire easily, a new one is coming up very shortly.

Because Act 1 of this film is episodic, it really does not matter that there were two previous releases. There are very few returning characters, except perhaps one of the main ones from the previous releases, Dean (Jake Scozzaro), who has multiple personality disorder (they are legion, including one from my home town of Brooklyn, NY) – think of Split (2017), without The Beast – perhaps derived from PTSD resulting from the effects of the first two films (which I have not seen), after what happened to his family, shown in the prologue. He dominates nearly the entire Act 2. Amusingly, he kills a chained zombie who wears a tee-shirt that says “Vaccinated.” Perhaps a Right-Wing commentary, as they claim you will catch COVID even if you had your shot(s)? That is true because too many, as I said, have not had their shots to neutralize it communally. Also, one character discusses how COVID was invented by the Chinese as a chemical weapon, a solid Republican talking point. Again, I politically digress, but at least you know where I stand…

There is some humor here and there, seemingly to revolve around a ventriloquist’s doll called Marv, who not only Dean has conversations with, but so does a guy named Stan (director Michael Moutsatsos), who not only talks to Marv (and hears answers), but also to imaginary people. When Dean and Stan get together at a picnic table with Marv to play cards, it feels like sitting in on an ad-lib, off-the-wall conversation.

Another returning character is survivalist Silver (Ed Gage) who is into martial arts; however, his appearance in Act 3 is more of an extended cameo, though he does get to show off his “moves” with fists and a sword.

Another aspect I found of interest is both the external and internal actions of the two food groups, as it were. The mutants kill humans randomly but like to eat babies. This leads me to a question: if a mutant, also known as a hybrid, eats a human, is that cannibalism, as they are both the same and varied species? Anyway, the mutants mostly seem to work together (not counting the lone wolf zombies who are mindless eaters, as they should be) to slaughter the humans they consider inferior. However, the humans kill mutants, zombies, and other humans, the latter for the competition of food, I guess. In this scenario, the mutants seem more cohesive, socially.

While there are some squeamishable scenarios, the gore looks decent, but, though the level of violence is quite strong, shown steadily throughout the entire film. For me, I did not mind the monochrome, but the way the red filter is used gives a “tell” that a kill is about to occur, kind of ate away at the surprise value, even if it was obvious what was coming.

The ending is a bit up in the air, but considering the storyline, such as it is, it makes sense to leave it open ended, because a title card at the end informs of a Ravage Domination sequel. There is not an easy resolve for the world situation as it depicts; no fixes. Sort of like the end of The Planet of the Apes (1968) with Charlton Heston yelling on the beach, or I guess a better choice may be Night of the Living Dead (1968).

Though the film occasionally feels amateurish and cobbled together (yet it has won numerous festival awards), it certainly is entertaining. I may have to go back and watch the first release, and see the origins of the events that are recounted here.

IMBD listing HERE

Review: Parts Unknown

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Parts Unknown
Directed by Richard Chandler
Boston Film Family; Wild Eye Releasing
117 minutes, 2018 / 2020
www.facebook.com/PartsUnknownMovie/
www.bostonfilmfamily.com/
www.wildeyereleasing.com 

There is a natural correlation between professional wrestling and horror cinema. Just seek out releases from Mexico, even from the 1960s. Sure, lots of films use actual wrestlers in tough guy roles. For example, in mainstream there are Dwayne Johnson “The Rock,” “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Terry Bollea aka Hulk Hogan; but there is also an impact from luche libre made in indie films, such as Gene Snitskey and Samu Anoa’i.

William DeCoff

For this mash-up, its William DeCoff, whose multi-title winning wrestling name was Sean “Battleship” O’Reilly, playing scarred patriarch Hermann Von Strasser (perhaps a nod to DeCoff’s mentor, Fritz von Erich?). He angrily struggles with his place in the modern tech world, where people at matches are more focused on scrolling their cell phones than on what is happening in the ring. I understand this: if you go to a taping of a live television production, be it a talk show, game show or “Saturday Night Live,” you will see people in the audience watching the monitors rather than the real-life action happening a few feet from them. Fascinating to see. But, as always, I digress…

It seems the angrier Hermann gets, the more his western Massachusetts accent flairs, which is delightful, especially in moments when he says things like “We’re all paht of this now... capisce?!” Then again, he says cringey stuff like, “I gotta get some money from the Jew,” meaning sleezy wrestling promoter Gary Wilkerstein (Ralph Regine). It’s plain obvious that nearly the entire Von Strasser family is pretty, well, not nice people. While patriarch Hermann (DeCoff) is a piece of work and his insane/infantile brother Harvey (Alexander Hauck) is a murderous ruffie-rapist who wears a MAGA hat to show just how mentally “off” he is, the scarily insane one is cute, pill-poppin’ sister Kitty (Sarah Michelle), who has a vein of evil that is to the core. Just look at her eyes and the way she twirls her hair… oh, and how much she gets off on people getting killed, even kin. To be fair, though, most of the characters are pretty scuzzy, though one possible shining star of decency may be wrestler Lacey (soapmaker Lizzie Havoc). Let’s see where that goes.

Lizzie Havoc and Sarah Michelle

So, what happens to this evil family when they are asked by some diminutive demonic creature called The Holiness (voiced by wrestler Jake “The Snake” Roberts and embodied by Christina Costello, who is 5-foot tall, the same as my mom; but again, I digress…) for blood sacrifices? Hermann complies, making a deal with the demon with “I live for blood.” And a murder spree is on its way. But honestly, from the time before this, it’s pretty obvious that they don’t need to promise a demon, they’re pretty violent from the beginning.

Christina Costello

I believe this is taking place in 2033, from a radio announcement, which would explain the neon lighting everywhere that’s right out of Café Flesh (1982). In fact, there is a lot of this that reminds me of that film, as well as the director’s (Steven Sayadian) follow-up, Dr. Caligari (1989), including the synth score and the camera angles/editing. Like Café Flesh, this is a film, on a secondary level, about voyeurism and the audience’s lack of ability, which is appropriate in today’s world, never mind 2033. An example of this is a wrestling match between Lacey and Kitty, which becomes downright brutal, yet the audience is cheering it on in flaccid fascination, reminiscent of a theme from Garfunkel and Oats’ “Sports Go Sports”: “You watch genetically superior people/Do things you never will.” There’s a nice nod to Gladiator (2000) to put an emphasis to this.

Alexandra Cipolla

To add onto this story, there is Mary Price (Alexandra Cipolla, who was also good in The Trees Have Eyes, 2020; reviewed HERE) as an undead police detective and possible goddess on the trail of the killer family for justice and revenge. And damn, I’m not even half way through this film.

Lizzie Havoc

While this isn’t necessarily a sequel to the director, Richard Chandler’s previous film, Witch Hunters (2016; reviewed HERE), there is a connection, as they both take place in the same universe of witches and demons, with a character from the previous film, Dominic Damarus (Chandler) making an appearance, and Lacey is the daughter of Sheriff Tormada in that film. There is also a cameo reference to an earlier Chandler film which I have not seen, Gilgamesh (2014).

As is common with Witch Hunters, there appear to be no separation of acts, and the action flows constantly, be it wrestling or physical havoc involving guns, knives, and even a wood chipper. The gore is fun and not necessarily over the top in looks, but the action is at times brutal and the mere suggestion of it is enough to make most (especially women) squirm. There is violence perpetrated by everyone and on everyone, but it’s particular when it comes to women, which I won’t go into detail. Speaking of women, there is lots of skin exposure (one male at a distance), especially the northern territory, be it cleavage, under-hang, or just toplessness. Men are killed, but women are sexually harmed. I’m not going to take a side on the argument, but I am sure there may be bound to be one if you see this as a couple.

My issue with the film, mostly, is just the pure length of it, at three minutes shy of two hours. Sure, the acting is all over the place, and the storyline sometimes gets convoluted, but that’s the nature of indie cinema and you can take it or leave it, but the sheer length is… well, it could be edited down a bit without losing any of the piledriver impact.

Review: The Jurassic Dead

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018

Images from the Internet

The Jurassic Dead (aka Z/Rex: The Jurassic Dead; Zombiesaurus)

Directed by Milko Davis; with Thomas Martwick

Wild Eye Releasing / Cyclopsdome / GAM3 / MVD Visual

82 minutes, 2017 / 2018

www.wildeyereleasing.com

www.mvdvisual.com

I kinda get it. I mean, there’s a whole subgenre of inane-yet-fun dinosaur flicks, especially involving the king/queen of them all, the T-Rex (only thing missing is Marc Bolan). As a small sampling, there’s Valley of the Gwangi (1969) and Carnosaur (well, the first one of three was 1993), among many others (does one want to include 1993’s A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell? Let’s not, okay?).

What gives this some validity and credibility, such as it is, is like Carnosaur, it doesn’t take itself quiiiiiite so seriously. I mean, there are clichés, cartoonish stereotypical characters, a mad scientist in a lair in the middle of the desert threatening the world, and of course the zombie dinosaur. First off, the cover makes it look like a T-Rex, but it’s actually more T-Rex shape in velociraptor size, but I’m not going to quibble over something that trivial when there is a world of wonder to look at here.

In some way, what this film reminds me of is Isis Rising: Curse of the Lady Mummy (2013) because nearly all the film is actually 3D Modelling, animation and green screen technology. Some of it actually looks really good, and some, well, not as much. Still, I’m impressed with the work that must have gone into it, and am willing to bet a lot of it was done on home computers using modelling software.

As for the story, the prologue sets up the insane anger of a dismissed professor/scientist, Wojick Borge (Cooper Elliot). After a car accident, he becomes evil, looking like a cross between the Phantom of the Paradise and Bane (including face mask). He has a massive and serpentine lair that looks like a flattened pyramid out in the desert, though there is no explanation of how a professor could afford it. This is something Lex Trump-thor would look at and say, “Looks pricey.”

Back: Klosterman and Singer
Front: Goeke and Johnson

After the prologue, we are introduced to two groups of people who encounter each other on the road to… well, we all know where they are going to end up, don’t we. The first is two couples: nerds and stoners* Sadie (Mia Klosterman, who is also a singer) and Cameron (Adam Singer), and Sadie’s bleach blonde cheerleader sister Roxanne (Nicole Goeke) and her football player b/f and macho moron Gunnar (well played by Ben Johnson, who often plays Superman in Justice League shorts); Gunnar likes to say the word “Bro” in as many sentences as he can. Yeah, they’re all stereotypes, but the good thing is that the viewer doesn’t really need much exposition about the characters.

Gonzalez, Pennington, Haman, La Page, Perry

The other SUV contains 5, err… Well, they’re pretending to be military, but they could be mercenaries… but from the looks of it and their conversations, it’s probably just some right wing militia (more about this later). There’s the lone female Cuchilla (Raquel Pennington, from the UFC, whose character seems to be based on Private Vasquez in 1986’s Aliens), the redneck and racist Spivey (Shale Le Page), the cop wannabe Swat (Juan Gonzalez), the sole person of color, Stick (Ruselis Aumeen Perry), and the bullish and muscular leader of the pack, Duque (Andy Haman, the IFBB Pro Champion Bodybuilder in his screen debut and doing a bang-up, comic book Sgt. Rock-ish performance). There is even a shot of the five of them walking side by side, in slo-mo, Tarrantino/Reservoir Dogs (1992) style, which has become a trope used often in many films.

Then of course there is the dino, who is injected with some green glowing liquid that brings him back to life (reminiscent of the goo from 1985’s Re-Animator). He’s cool looking and moves a bit clumsily though not too bad, and has a temper… oh, and glowing green (or, when angry, red) eyes. He is unkillable and a zombie. When he (I’m assuming it’s a “he”) kills someone, they also come back as glowingly green-eyed zombies.

After the two sets of people meet up and get separated into smaller and mixed groups in the lair of the loony, the action picks up as they get taken down one-by-one by reptile or human zombies. Interestingly, they keep some of their humanity and growl a lot, and they walk rather than stumble or run, thereby being neither slow, nor fast zombies. They move stiffly but steadily, more like Jason or Michael.

While all this is going on, our mad professor is planning to explode his chemicals all over the world, creating an earth of zombies, again I am assuming, under his command. There are computers and timers counting down all over da joint throughout the film.

I’m not sure if this qualifies or is meant to be an actual comedy, but definitely a dramedy. There are lots of parts that are snarky, especially the swipes at the gun lobby / alt right mentality of the furious five.

I did have some issues with the film in the fact that there is no logic or sometimes a lack of consistency within the story. For example, an object falls from the sky, causing a pulse that kills all the electricity in the area, including cars, phones, etc., and yet a helicopter works. In another example, the doors are solid steel, and yet bullets shatter it into small pieces.

With all the flaws, this kind of works, though it really is silly and nonsensical in a lot of ways, but so were the films I mentioned in the first paragraph. It’s perfectly summed up during the credits when we see each character turn into a cartoon of themselves. There is even a sequel in the works for 2019 called Z/Rex: Dead War.

* Speaking of Bolan, I kept hearing the song “Bang-a-Gong” whenever the weed was passed around.

Review: Night Zero

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2017

Images from the Internet

Night Zero

Written and directed by Mark Cantu

Lost Empire; Cineworx; Tredd Productions;//; Dreaming Droids Productions; MVD Visual

81 minutes, 2017

https://www.facebook.com/NIGHT-ZERO-322401744861444/
www.mvdvisual.com

First of all, right off the cudgel let me posit that Night Zero is a great title. For those who don’t know, when the word “zero” follows a noun, it usually means “where the destruction began,” such as the first known to die of AIDS being called “Patient Zero.”

As the prologue shows, there is some kind of explosion that releases a chemical gas – it’s ambiguous by whom – with a toxin that increases the person’s rage, and also takes away all inhibitions. Thereby, the infected becomes extremely angry and violent without the compulsion of socially constructed guilt. One might think from the trailer that this is yet another zombie movie, but rather it’s more insanity with the blood lust, without the need to consume said blood or body parts. Just Me Smash!

Dawnelle Jewell, Monisha B. Schwartz, Katie Maloney

For the meat of the film, we are introduced to three couples who come together to celebrate the moving away of Sophie (Dawnelle Jewell) and Eric (Vincent Bombara) from a small-ish town in Pennsylvania (more on that in a sec) to Boston. Joining them are interracial couple Monica (the fabulously monikered Monisha B. Schwartz) and Danny (Umar Faraz), and the two main protagonists who are on the verge of separation, Nina (Katie Maloney) and CJ (Eric Swader).

For the first 20 minutes or so, we get to hang out with these three pairs, as they talk, argue, talk, argue, celebrate, and then talk some more. For an action film, there is a lot of conversation at the onset, but I have come to believe that when cinema historians look back on the horror genre of this period, they will come to the conclusion that the first 20 minutes of most films is basically lead-up time and exposition.

This all takes place in a burg about 20 miles away from Pittsburgh (actually filmed an hour south of Steel City). Of course, Pittsburgh is a touchstone town for this kind of story as most of the …of the (Living) Deads took place in that area, thanks to the godfather of the modern zombie and violently looney genres, George A. Romero.

There are many film references and hallmarks that are reminiscent of others that came before. Let’s start with the local, mainly being the trapped in the house as the infected try to get in of Night of the Living Dead (1968), and the diseased violence of the Crazies (1973). But here, those effected by the gas can run (though we don’t see much of that), such as in 28 Days Later… (2002). Like 28 Days, neither that nor this is a zombie film per se, but rather both pertain to a disease or infection, and this is certainly closer to 28 Days than to NotLD. There is also the cabin-in-the-woods claustrophobic feel and fear of Cabin Fever (2002), and the last is the slow, inevitability of On the Beach (1959).

Eric Swader and Umar Faraz

Especially once the film gets on its hind legs, there is a lot to like about it. For example, whether you like them or not, the main characters feel like real people; they make good or bad choices, but mostly it feels realistic, such as Monica wanting to go home even though there is extreme danger in the streets and a greater possibility of absorption of the gas. They also turn on each other out of fear, even after years of friendship, which also feels accurate to me. But on a more subtle note, the audience begins to wonder about how much of the anger this group exhibits among itself is the onset of the toxin, or just righteous indignation and anxiety.

What especially impressed me was that while the cast is certainly attractive, they also have more of an everyday look, rather than as if their second jobs are models. For example, while low on role credits in IMDB, Maloney would be more believable to me as Tonya Harding in the new film, I Tonya, than poster queen Margot Robbie (plus, I believe Maloney would do a great job of it).

Writer (and director) Mark Cantu wisely adds two characters later on: a cop (Mike Dargatis) and a scienist (in this case, the ironically named Tom Mirth), who both help with exposition and to be the connection to what is happening beyond the door – which is locked, but never barred, even with all the glass.

Going against the grain, I’m guessing in part due to direction and budget constraints, this is more of a thriller than a gorefest, into which it could easily have waded. There is some violence, and there are spurts of the salty red stuff, but it’s kept at a minimum and is not a key part of the zestiest. It’s more about how the characters interact with each other and their situation that is the locus focus.

For me, the one flaw is that the protagonists are trying to avoid being seen by whomever is out there, yet walk around with flashlights on making themselves targets. Me? I would turn off all the lights to avoid attraction, but they’re swinging the huge torches around, even when not needed, such as waking through the center of town.

Despite the budget and a few of the actors with limited credits, the cast is quite strong and work together well. With a mixture of good writing, editing that isn’t in hyper speed, and a wise use of the unseen (such as being able to hear the screams and sirens from outside without needing to drive the audience into it), Cantu comes up with a film that is subtle and one that becomes more interesting as time passes over its single night.

Review: Dreaming Purple Neon

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2016

Images from the Internet

Dreaming Purple Neon

Written, filmed, directed and edited by Todd Sheets

Extreme Entertainment / MVD Entertainment

111 minutes, 2016

www.dreamingpurpleneon.com

www.facebook.com/DreamingPurpleNeon

www.zombiebloodbath.com
www.mvdb2b.com

Fanzine publishers know it. Self-recorded musicians know it. So do indie film producers and directors. It is the knowledge and experience that sometimes you just have to go all in: take out the credit card, empty the bank account, fuel your dream and take a shot. It’s about putting into reality what you visualize in your head.

Thus is the micro-budget Dreaming Purple Neon, which went from Todd Sheets’ wallet to being available on VoD since Halloween of 2016. The thing is, experience has shown me that when it comes to indie…well, anything, some people know how to make the best of their finances by stripping down as much as possible (single room, minimal number of actors, shot in their own houses, for example). Others try to overdo it, making up for what can’t be afforded to be made up for more readily in digital post-production. Then there are the Todd Sheets of the world, who know how to work the balance between the simplified and the over the top digitalization.

Man, I don’t know how they did it with such a small budget, but there is a hell of a lot packed into this film, which looks way more than its budget suggests. Sure the acting is somewhat questionable (as with many indies), but the sheer size of the cast is amazing. The body count alone is bigger than most productions. Sure there is a lot of digitalization in the last 5 minutes (which looks great, by the way), but most of the gore – and there is a hell (pun intended) of a lot of it – is appliances and real liquid (as opposed to digital spray).

I’m kind of jumping ahead of myself here, but let’s get back to basics, namely the plot. There is a new recreational drug on the market called, of course, Purple Neon. But its root is even more nefarious and diabolical than just greed, which we also see in abundance. The focus is on a couple of drug dealers (while I’m not happy that they are Black, which can be interpreted by us PCers as stereotypical, they are not the only actors of color, so I’ll let it slide) in Kansas City, who are after someone who nipped their stash. [Postnote from Todd Sheets: "Ricky (Farr) was a manager at a chain store and he had a dream of playing that character, so I kind of tailored it to him, and Antwoine (Steele) has worked with me for 25 years and he wanted the part of Ray Ray to prepare for a similar role in a script he has been writing for a few years that I am going to produce for him."]

The dentist, the drug enforcer, the best friend
and the love interests

In a separate story, which you just know is going to link up with the other, poor lovesick Dallas (Jeremy Edwards) has returned to town, mooning over his lost love Denise (Eli DeGeer). I’m assumed he’s named Dallas because he wears a wide-brimmed hat, which is weird considering he’s from KC (though the name of the town is never mentioned). Anyway, with the help of his bestie, Chris (Grant Conrad), he’s out to see how she’s doing.

The catalyst of all the action, or the fork in the road of where the stories converge, is a demon-worshiping cult in a magical and unending basement that reminds me of a theme from Grave Encounters (2011), which is a link to hell. There are some other homages as well, to the likes of Hostel (2005), Demons (1985), and even arguably Goldfinger (1964), but nothing that really feels like a rip-off.

Even with the rubbery looking internal organs (there’s one intestine that looks like it was used a few times), the gore effects look pretty decent, and I’ll always go for appliance over digital. Lots of blood and gnawing and tearing with teeth give it a smile-inducing factor (for me). As the film flows on, the level of blood (and other secretions) pours even more.

Usually, I posit that indie films that are over 90 minutes really need to do some editing to keep interest keen. Now, at 111 minutes, this film could arguably use some trimming, but to be honest, it went by pretty fast as the pace of the film – especially the second half – is pretty consistently on a fast track.

Just for the heck of it,
a publicity shot of Millie Milan

Points of contention? Well, as I said, some of the acting is not very strong, and the two romantic leads are lacking in the chemistry department, but I like that most of the cast look like everyday people as opposed to prom queens/kings (one of the exceptions being the sultry Millie Milan, whose character is key to bringing all the storylines together). There is also one plot question which baffles me, and I’ll try to say this without giving away anything substantial: when a character leaves behind some drugs, why not keep the guns, considering the situation? Now, if that’s the worst I can come up with, well, this film is more than just leaning into the positive side.

I didn’t know what to expect walking into this release, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by how much fun it is. From the first scene, which always has to have a bit of violence in it to bring in the modern, jaded audience, we are pulled in, and even most of the expositions move at a decent pace.

The sets are interesting, as well. It’s obvious the scenes in the Dentist’s office (said DDS, played by Nick Randol, is possibly my fave character: unassumingly nerdy – despite the numerous tats – with the heart of a warrior) is an actual location, as the real dentist’s name is still on the door; I Googled it, which is how I knew it was in Missouri. The basement sets are cool and dark, but with decent lighting so you can see the action. The editing is sharp, with the occasional extreme-close-up that hides the ultra-violence, but again, overall it is very well done.

Other than a couple of moments here and there of “hunh?” dialogue, most of the storyline works well together, bringing it to a satisfying conclusion (watch past the credits for some eggs). The pace, as I said, is just right, which makes the few weaknesses here and there less egregious and forgivable.

There’s a fine line here walking the artiness of the whole gizmigollogy that still maintains its meat’n’taters horror base, which is where I like to go. Yeah, stripped down has its place, but when you add a flair to it, especially when dealing with a single camera, it’s the mark of a decent director.

If this is the kind of output Sheets can manage with a micro-budget, with some decent funding I bet he could open up the seams even more, and give a great bloodletting story that would soak your socks.

Link to trailer: HERE