Tagged: practical effects

NIGHT LIFE (1989): If JOHN HUGHES made a Gory Teen HORROR Film in the 1980s!

Today U-Dork covers the ultimate “John Hughes” HORROR flick! From 1989 comes this “trapped on VHS” gem, NIGHT LIFE, one of the best genre mash ups of all time and one of the most unique little teen horror rom coms of all time! This sweet but nasty lil’ gem stars 80s teen heart throb SCOTT GRIMES of CRITTERS fame and a gang of vicious teen bully ZOMBIES who not only wanna eat his flesh but also ruin his love life!! Jam packed with rad practical fx, lotsa gore and ALL the 80s charm this film is totally ripe for the pickin’ to receive a totally def blu ray release from whatever label wants to rule the school of lost but bad ass 1980s horror cult classics!







Trapped on VHS: THE KISS (1988) is Sizzling “Sensual” Terror in the ‘BURBS!

Today we’re talkin’ forgotten surburban horror straight from the 1980s, in particular THE KISS from 1988! This cool little Canadian horror film just doesn’t get enough respect and it’s got a lot going for it. Starring the iconic Meredith Salenger as a grieving teen who’s got to protect her family and neighborhood from her evil demonic Aunt Felice – who’s hellbent on seducing her dad, murdering her friends and passing down an ancient curse! As an 80s kid this one was a real treat to have on VHS! That being said I’ve got my fingers crossed this one will soon get the respect it deserves from cult horror fans by way of fancy new blu!

Hong Hong’s Most Outrageous 90s Kung Fu Horror Sex Comedy?!

The most bizarre genre mash up of all time comes straight out of Hong Kong where we see Lam Ching Ying AKA “Mr. Vampire” embark on one of his wildest adventures of his whole damn career as an ass kicking ghostbuster! The Wizard’s Curse from 1992 is a film that you will blow your undies right off your heiny and get you in the mood for love and supernatural martial arts mayhem! One of my favorite Hong Kong horror comedies of all time gets sexy and needs a blu ray badly!! Check this bonkers highly under-seen gem out!!

Washed Up Comic Dork on The Latest FANTASTIC FOUR Trailer & Modern ADD Streaming Content!

Today we take a closer look at “dumbed down on purpose” streaming content, the upcoming ‘FANTASTIC FOUR: First Steps’ film & the state of the MCU & modern comic books from the perspective of an old WASHED UP Marvel Comics collector! All from my bedroom! PLUS more ideas on where the MCU should go if they wanna get the approval of us old nerds of the 1980s who collected comic books and were picked on for it when it WASN’T COOL!

WEREWOLVES (2024): My FAVORITE Horror Flick of the YEAR?!

Hey I’m back again with a brand spankin’ new review of the creature feature extravaganza ‘WEREWOLVES’ in theaters right now! Are you a fan of films like The Howling, Dog Soldiers, Full Eclipse or even Predator: 2?! If so I think you’re probably gonna dig ‘Werewolves’ just as much as I did! Practical werewolves brought to you by hands on fx mastermind Alec Gillis who worked on ‘Aliens’ (among so many others) and directed by Steven C. Miller who did a sweet flick called ;The Aggression Scale’ from 2012 I’m a BIG fan of too! check it out!

HP Lovecraft Inspiration!! The New HELLBOY Film & the 90s NECRONOMICON!!

I’ve been in a bit HP Lovecraft land as of late, watching some pretty cool old and new stuff inspired by the iconic horror writer. As a HUGE fan of the Hellboy comic books as well as the Guillermo del Toro films, (which I do really love but never felt like a true representation go the source material) I was indeed totally skeptical of the latest film. Hellboy: The Crooked Man arrived on the scene and didn’t garner much attention, however I recently gave it a shot and surprisingly here’s my review in one of my latest YouTube vids:

 

Then I delved deep on Halloween into possibly the BEST horror anthology of the 1990s-NECRONOMICON which like the Hellboy stuff was more than inspired by Lovecraft but based on three of his stories and the result were quite impressive check that out right here:

SUBURBAN COMMANDO (1991) is the GREATEST Hulk Hogan Film EVER?!

Greetings to all you lilted Hulkamaniacs!! We’ve got a brand new episode of Universal Dork on YouTube up now & today we’re covering 1991 Sci-Fi action comedy family friendly-ish cult classic starring Hulk Hogan, Christopher Lloyd, The Undertaker and Shelley Duvall: muthafukin’ SUBURBAN COMMANDO!!!

We just knew  that you didn’t get enough of Hulk Hogan’s sexy-ass bod with the last episode of NO HOLDS BARRED (1989) so we decided to go even deeper into Hogan’s Movie career with this awesome under appreciated buddy comedy. You get some slapstick comedy, some intergalactic space battles, mime abuse, a pretty rad looking alien monster for Hogan to fight as well as a debatable brawl with The Undertaker and so much more! Check it out right HERE:

Movie Melt Podcast: 1994’s Ridiculous Sexy Sea Monster Monster Flick-CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS!

Hey are you a fan of bizarre Italian movies filmed in Florida? How about 90’s creature features where sex crazed fish monsters chase a bunch of moronic party animals around a yacht lost at sea? Well on the latest episode of the MOVIE MELT Podcast we cover a ridiculous monster movie made the insanely genius mind of Alvaro Passeri, a practical effects wizard who also crafted the incredibly weird Christmas fantasy ‘Fantastic Games’ that I reviewed right here.

Well this one has been a fave of mine actually since the red envelope dvd days of Netflix, Creatures From The Abyss AKA Plankton is a totally bonkers flick with some of the most jaw dropping character dialogue you’re likely to see from that era anytime soon. It’s also got some crazy ass monster action and totally disgusting practical fx sequences that make this a stand out sci-fi creature feature.

So there’s tons more in this episode we discuss-lots a cool movies you just got to be checking out, especially if you’re a fan of weird stuff like the movie do a deep dive on! So check out the latest episode for a wild voyage out at sea with a crew of the biggest morons to hit the silver screen in Creatures From The Abyss! HERE IS THE EPISODE!

‘HERE FOR BLOOD’ Movie Review: Amateur Wrestler vs Amateur Evil Cult!

I rented ‘HERE FOR BLOOD‘ the other night,  a brand new horror action comedy that has quite an original concept: wannabe pro wrestler vs amateur evil cult, a home invasion battle to the death! Finding a fun and original horror film these days is getting more difficult but this one was a pleasant surprise.

A new film from Daniel Turres (Fresh Meat, Terry’s Car Gets Stolen) goes into what I would like to say is 90s “Full Moon” territory! Add in a dash of Dee Snider from Twisted Sister and you’ve got yourself a pretty wild and crazy fast-paced little comedy on your hands-check out my review on the new U-Dork YouTube channel: 

 

THE PRIMEVILS: Charles Band REVIVES the Lost 90’s Stop-Motion Creature Feature!

I’ve been thinking lately about the way movies used to be made, full of cool special fx that weren’t an obscene bloated smorgasbord of shiny mind numbing digital fluff. I miss me some hands on practical work like stop motion animation and God dammit I think Charles Band (Full Moon/Empire) is reviving that genre of movie making with the upcoming release of THE PRIMEVILS!! Check out the magic on screen here in this latest trailer:

Newly revived from a project that’s apparently had its roots in the late 1970s but officially beginning production back in 1994, it was sadly left incomplete after director and fx wizard David Allen became ill and passed away in 1999. 

Allen was a connoisseur and master of stop motion and practical effects, working on many projects in the Charles Band Full Moon/Empire Films universe. Apparently serious work was picked back up in 2018 by one of Allen’s protégés Chris Endicott and the movie has now been completed, finishing the storyline and adding new effects to complete the original footage to make a cohesive film that honors the vision of Allen’s original idea. The stop-motion fx work here is beautiful and this whole project looks to really be something truly special at least so far visually.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this trailer (except that it looked fucking rad) when I saw it for the first time a few days ago. I actually wondered if maybe someone had really brought back to this modern world of bloated digital effects a totally brand new movie packed with new old school stop-motion animation.  I guess that essentially what its is, but even better yet we get a glimpse back to a lost 90s movie and something that looks like a breath of fresh air in 2024. I had to mention this incredible looking movie here and I just can’t wait to see it on the big screen hopefully sometime in 2024. Fingers crossed this one is as fun and fresh as the trailer makes it look! Here’s another cool clip: