Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Monday, October 22, 2018

DVD Review: Shadow Stalkers: 10 Terrifying Features

Mill Creek Ent., R/Not Rated; 15 hrs; $14.98

With Halloween just over a week away, there's no better time than now to start watching a few scary flicks!

If you're a horror fan on a budget, then I would recommend looking for a Mill Creek Entertainment collection, like this year's Shadow Stalkers, which features 10 horror flicks on a 3-disc set.

The 10 movies titles are:

Out Of The Dark (1989)

Happy Birthday To Me (1981)

Eyes On Laura Mars (1978)

Bloody Pit Of Horror (1965)

Don't Answer The Phone (1980)

Nightmare In Wax (1969)

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1973)

Funeral Home (1980)

Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

Drive-In Massacre (1974)

Out Of The Dark (R; 90 minutes) was directed by Michael Schroeder and starred Karen Black, Bud Cort, Divine (final role), and Lynn Danielson. The plot centers around a phone-sex service workers in Los Angeles who are being stalked and murdered by a serial killer wearing a clown mask.

Happy Birthday To Me (R; 111 minutes) was directed by J. Lee Thompson and starred Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane, Sharon Acker, Frances Hyland, Tracey Bregman, and Lisa Langlois. The plot centers around Virginia Wainwright, a high school senior who suffers from blackouts. During the blackouts, her friends are murdered by an unknown psychopath. And all of this is occurring near Virginia's 18 birthday.

Eyes Of Laura Mars (R; 104 minutes) was directed by Irvin Kershner, written by John Carpenter & David Zealg Goodman, and starred Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, René Auberjonois, and Raúl Juliá. Dunaway plays Laura Mars, a photographer who stylizes in urban violence. Out of nowhere, she begins seeing real-time events through the eyes of a serial killer.

Don't Answer The Phone (R; 95 minutes) was directed by Robert Hammer and starred James Westmoreland, Denise Galik, and Nicholas Worth. The plot involves a radio talk show's patients being murdered by a madman.

Nightmare In Wax (R; 95 minutes) was directed by Bud Townsend and starred Cameron Mitchell, Anne Helm, and Scott Brady. The plot involves a disfigured ex make-up artist, Vincent Renard (played by Mitchell), taking his revenge on a studio's film stars by turning them into wax figures. (It's too similar to House of Wax.)

Bloody Pit Of Horror (Not Rated; 74 minutes) was directed by Domenico Massimo Pupillo and starred Mickey Hargitay, Walter Bigari, Luisa Baratto, and Ralph Zucker. The plot involves a group of photographers and models breaking into a castle to take a few photos, but they end up running into the owner, who is a demented executioner.

Silent Night, Bloody Night (Not Rated; 82 minutes) was directed by Theodore Gershuny and starred Patrick O'Neal and John Carradine. The plot involves a man trying to sell his grandfather's mansion, which was once an asylum, but the mayor and the townfolk insists that nobody should ever live there. Things get really weird when a serial killer escapes from a nearby institution.

Funeral Home (R; 93 minutes) was directed by William Fruet and starred Lesleh Donaldson, Kay Hawtrey, Jack Van Evera, Alf Humphreys, and Harvey Atkin. The plot involves a teenager being sent to live with her grandmother to help her convert an old funeral home into a bed-and-breakfast. Well, that's until a serious of murders occur, which leads the teen to undercover a startling family secret.

Don't Open Till Christmas (R; 87 minutes) was directed by Edmund Purdom and starred Edmund Purdom and Belinda Mayne. The plot centers around a masked psychopath stalking and killing anyone who is dressed as Santa Claus.

Drive-In Massacre (R; 74 minutes) was directed and starred John F. Goff , Steve Vincent, and Douglas Gudbye. The plot involves an unseen assailant who brutally murders couples at a drive-in theater.

Blu-ray Review: Flora

Billy Burgess Blu-ray , movie

Mill Creek Ent., NOT RATED; 100 minutes; Amazon

Now available on Blu-ray + Digital from Mill Creek Entertainment is 2017's science fiction horror film Flora. Written and directed by Sasha Louis Vukovic, the film stars Teresa Marie Doran, Sari Mercer, Miles G. Jackson, and Caleb Noel.

The low-budget film has been an "Official Selection" in over 10 International Film Festivals.

Flora centers around a group of Ivy League botanists students going on a months-long expedition in a forest. Soon after their arrival, they learn that their professor has disappeared, leaving them with the choice of staying or leaving to get help.

To make a somewhat long story short, the students have no choice but to stay at their camp. It seems there's a deadly organism growing in the forest and if you eat it or breathe it in, you'll quickly die.

The students must either work together to find a cure or find a way to escape the horrors of the forest.

Special Features include:

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Commentary with Sasha Louis Vukovic, Teresa Marie Doran, and Dan Lin

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Billy Burgess #IMWAYR ,

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

What am I currently reading?

I just finished reading Return to Fear Street: You May Now Kill The Bride earlier this morning, which my review will be posted sometime today. Next, I'll be reading Return to Fear Street: The Wrong Girl by R.L. Stine. My review for it will be posted tomorrow.

America Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell is more of a passion read. I'm currently on page 26 (Chapter Two). I'm reading it one chapter at a time or one chapter per week.

What am I reading next?

13 Days of Halloween: Campfire by Shawn Sarles

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

Jimmy Patterson; 296 pages; Amazon

Does you remember the Point Horror young adult books that were published in the late 1980s and throughout the early 1990s?

Well, I stumbled upon the Point Horror book shortly after I started reading the Goosebumps franchise in 1992! While a few of the books got lost over the years, I still have a pretty decent size collection. Once in awhile, I will find a Point Horror title at a thrift store and add it to my collection.

The young adult horror novel Campfire by Shawn Sarles was released during the summer through Jimmy Patterson (Little, Brown, and Company). Let me just say this book was a difficult for me to find. I looked at three Walmart stores and a Barnes & Noble store and none of them had the book in stock. I ended up ordering it!

I can't put my finger on it, but Campfire's art cover looks very familiar. I could of sworn I've seen a similar cover on an old Point Horror novel. Does anyone else agree with me?

Campfire is a fictional slasher tale with three separate short stories included in it - "Beware When The Fair Comes To Town," "Red Raven," and "The Mountain People." No, the book isn't an anthology.

The plot centers around sixteen-year-old Maddie Daveport, her family, her best friend Chelsea, and a few friends going on a camping trip in the mountains. To kill off the time during the nights, they gather around the campfire and tell scary stories (the three stories I have already mentioned about).

"They say that stories told under a full moon come true," Caleb said.

To make a long story short, let's just say one of the stories becomes real. Now Maddie, her family, and friends are being hunted down one by one, and they must find a way to survive.

Sunday Post: October 21, 2018

Billy Burgess Sunday Post ,

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Morning, Everyone!

My Current Reads

For the rest of the month, I will be reading a book per day. No, this isn't a personal challenge. I'm slightly behind on my 13 Days of Halloween posts, so I'm having to read the books a day before they're supposed to be published. Is it stressful? Surprisingly, no, it's not stressful at all, though reading nearly 1,200 pages in three days has put a little strain on my eyes. Nevertheless, I'm going to push through it and finish the event on time.

Today, I'm reading Return to Fear Street: You May Now Kill The Bride by R.L. Stine. The book has been out for a few months and I've been holding back my urge to read it, just so I can feature it during my Halloween event.

Tomorrow, I will be reading Return to Fear Street: Wrong Girl by R.L. Stine. Tuesday, I will be reading Echoes in the Walls by V.C. Andrews. Wednesday, I will be reading Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel. Thursday, I will be reading the anthology Scream and Scream Again!. Friday, I will be reading Monsterland Reanimated by Michael Okon. And on Saturday, I will be reading The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs.

Update: I'm now on page 26 of the nonfiction book "American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell" by Deborah Solomon. WHOOPEE! I read one chapter!

Last Week's Reviews

Blood Communion by Anne Rice (book)
Hunting Prince Dracula by Keri Maniscalco (book)

Escaping From Houdini by Keri Maniscalco (book)

Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture No Postage Necessary (music)

Down a Dark Hall (Blu-ray)

The Resident: The Complete Season One (DVD)

In The Mail

Books

I had received a press release earlier this month about the upcoming anthology 18 Wheels of Science Fiction edited by Eric Miller. While I don't read very much science fiction, the premise intrigued me, so I request to review the book, which arrived in the mail on Friday. I'll probably be posting my review on November 4th, which is when the book is being released.

FYI: I have an uncle named Eric Miller, so the editor's name caught my attention right away.

Music Albums

13 Days of Halloween: Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

Jimmy Patterson; 440 pages; Amazon

Reading 900 pages in two days can put a bit of strain on a reader's eyes, but nevertheless, I have pushed through it and "Voila!"

Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco is the third novel in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, though it should be called the Audrey Rose series instead. Stalking Jack the Ripper was the title of the first book, followed by Hunting Prince Dracula, which I just reviewed yesterday. Since Jack the Ripper was only in the first novel, why would the series be named after the first book? Yes, I'm nitpicking!

Anyway, the ending of Hunting Prince Dracula had Audrey Rose Wadsworth, her love interest Thomas Cresswell, and her chaperone Mrs. Harvey being detoured from returning to London in favor of America. Since this is set 1889, the only way of traveling to the United States is by sea, and in their case, they're traveling aboard the luxurious RMS Eturia.

You would think traveling on an ocean liner would be relaxing, especially after catching two serial killers in a row, but that isn't the case for Audrey Rose and Thomas, who are once again tossed into a murder mystery when a young woman is murdered. The duo must use their forensic skills to hunt down the murderer.

Music Review: Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture No Postage Necessary

Billy Burgess music ,

Satya Records; 41 mins 51 secs; Amazon

Available now from Satya Records is Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture No Postage Necessary, the first soundtrack singer/songwriter/composer Charleene Closshey, who composed, orchestrated and recorded the film’s musical piano-based orchestral score.

No Postage Necessary was the first movie to released via the Blockchain, which allowed customers to stream the film using cryptocurrency. The movie was released to select theaters and VOD over the summer. It was released to Blu-ray and DVD earlier this month.

Produced by award-winning songwriter, engineer and producer Brent Maher, the album features a duet between Closshey and George Blagden (who costars in the film) on the song "Til I Loved You." "Give Me Your Heart" features a duet between Closshey and Irish singer/songwriter Gareth Dunlop.

The tracks/songs on the album include: