After recently reviewing J.R. Bookwalter’s awesome 90s horror/mutant action hybrid film ‘OZONE‘ I was quite excited to dig into more of his filmography! Already being a big fan of ‘THE DEAD NEXT DOOR‘  and recently purchasing (gonna check it soon!) ‘ROBOT NINJA‘ I was super curious just what this guy has been up to these days, if anything at all? Well I was quite happy to find out that he’s indeed been quite busy working hard a brand new film that he’s currently taking on the road for a tour of some incredible independent theaters across the country. J.R. however has not made a new movie in over 20 years, so obviously this new feature horror film called ‘SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY‘ he’s recently completed called has really peaked my interest. I’m hoping for some old school horror and I think I’m going to get just that!

 Judging from the trailer that just recently dropped it looks to be more of everything that I’ve originally loved from his blood soaked, fx driven earlier films. This appears to be not only a gruesome practical effects extravaganza but also like George Romero’s great films a social commentary on our current state of recent affairs across the globe. It takes place during a pandemic and it looks like our main character here has just received some sort of vaccination that to his surprise, doesn’t quite do what it claimed to & gives him some pretty gory side effects to deal with. Having just gone through the pandemic (some still claim is raging on) one thing is clear- we had a major debate going on around the world about just how safe and effective the covid 19 vaccine actually was.

I’d say there’s definitely a solid debate to be had about it all now that the smoke’s more or less cleared-as some people reported some intense side effects, which makes this one’s plot quite intriguing and for some people maybe even quite triggering. That I suppose remains to be seen, whatever the case I think the topic is prime for a horror flick!

One thing was certain at least in the real world, people were polarized on the topic and quickly turned on each other. We witnessed some unnerving behavior and many now even distrust the Government and big pharma even more than pre-pandemic. Trump’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ teamed with massive pharma companies and immediately a debate raged about the safety of what some deemed a rushed experimental medical intervention. Whatever you might think we can all agree, it was a real shit show to say the least, kinda like this image below…

The world was turned upside down for several years by the pandemic AND the extreme polarization of people in fear of the virus and others of the vaccine. Here Bookwalter seems to be putting all of this behavior under a microscope in a slightly grotesque but comical way for an examination, delivering a completely over the top looking body altering horror film. Sign me up!

I’m totally curious to check this out and see exactly what his take on the whole situation is here, as he’s mentioned before that he’s quite distrusting of the Government in general and after everything we’ve been through-can you really blame him?! Oh yeah on a different note it also stars scream queen Brinke Stevens pictured below.

First and foremost though he’s stated that people should really just have fun with this film, as it’s ultimately really all about the gruesome spectacle of it all. I’m not sure if it brings to the table any political sentiments, I’ve heard it shows some of the absurdism from both sides of the isle as well as the media. So without further ado, if you’re a fan of this his past work and might not have been aware that he’s just recently completed a brand new flick, check out this wildly gory trailer. Hopefully ‘Side Effects May Vary’ is coming to town here in Portland! I say bring it on-stir the pot and let’s see what you got!

Also here’s a really cool interview he just did on Cereal at Midnight that goes deep into his past and covers why he’s come back to deliver the gory goods yet another time: