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Edward D. Wood, Jr. put himself out there in every way possible. He was the author of hundreds of beautifully sleazy novels, including KILLER IN DRAG and SEX, SHROUDS, AND CASKETS. He was a pall-bearer at Bela Lugosi's funeral. Wood fought in the Pacific Ocean theater during World War II while wearing a bra and panties under his uniform. Basically, there will never be another hero like Ed Wood. And there will never be another movie like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Fueled by Wood’s unstoppable optimism, creative energy, and sense of wonder, PLAN 9 is the most surreal and individualistic sci-fi-horror experience of the 1950s. Watching this movie is like stepping into a serene Hollywood netherworld, one where Bela Lugosi, Criswell, Vampira, and Tor Johnson preside over an alt-Earth where it’s always midnight, the crickets never stop chirping, and people live in cemeteries instead of houses. At the end of the movie, Criswell asks: "Can you prove that it didn't happen?" Let's hope we never do.

We love this movie with all of the power in this galaxy and any other. And we're so happy that the Blu-ray release—our latest as an OCN/Vinegar Syndrome partner label—went up for pre-order today.

If the B-52s collaborated with Negativland on an alt-Earth version of STAR TREK, it would feel a lot like SUROH: ALIEN HITCHHIKER—a mixed media hallucination from filmmaker Patrick McGuinn. The story follows Paul (Peter Gingerich), a skeptic who embarks on a spiritual, emotional, and s*xual metamorphosis with an extraterrestrial named Suroh. Awash in LSD-tinged visuals and a pulsing acid-house soundtrack, this is a beautiful synthesis of experimental video art and queer exploration.

Unavailable on home video for decades, SUROH lands with a saucer-full of extras, including bonus feature DESERT SPIRITS and McGuinn's short films—all restored from original 16mm film elements.

Get the Blu-ray here:
vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/bleeding-skull/products/suroh-alien-hitchhiker

High school sucks. Being the new kid is hard. It’s hard to fit in. Stand up to your bullies. Don’t dive into a pool with no water. These are the lessons taught in MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH. But the movie also teaches things I never learned: Don’t pitch a tent under a boulder. A back of a van can look just like a living room. Guys don’t need the top five buttons on their shirts. As a bullied kid named David exacts his revenge on the jocks and upends the social balance of his toxic high school, MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH delivers exactly what the title promises. The film escalates methodically, devolves into a controlled madness, and neatly ends with the most perfect ballad ever sung by a low-budget Neil Diamond impersonator. (Annie Choi)

Four stars for the audacity. Late Italian sleaze merchant Bruno Mattei forged a career out of copyright infringement with movies like CRUEL JAWS. That still doesn't explain how Mattei managed to release his own sequel to THE TERMINATOR a full year before James Cameron's TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY was made. But it does explain that life is beautiful. In TERMINATOR II (aka SHOCKING DARK), a group of assassins called Megaforce fight aliens under the canals of Venice. The aliens look like a combination of Man-Thing and the beasties from BREEDERS, which is to say, they look incredible. Soon enough, The Terminator shows up and battles Sarah Conner for the fate of the galaxy. It should come as no surprise that the script was written by Claudio Fragasso (TROLL 2). It should also come as no surprise that this movie is also known as ALIENS 2. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

MURDER IN A BLUE WORLD (aka CLOCKWORK TERROR) is an unexceptional Spanish exploitation film. Or, it would be an unexceptional Spanish exploitation film, if not for the meta-enhanced pilfering from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. But this isn’t A CLOCKWORK ORANGE with a fourth of the budget and even less potency. Instead, it’s the dream that Kubrick’s film might incite in your subconsciousness after taking a gummy. Everything’s a bit warped, a bit different, not exactly how you it. Tangents and free association take hold over reality. That’s what makes this film so fascinating—just the fact that it exists, that someone had the guts to produce and release it so quickly after A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and do so with grace. As a narrative, this movie is a padded-out bore. But as a conversation piece, it’s a bizarre pop-culture paradox that begs you to watch. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

On the road between POLTERGEIST and LEPRECHAUN 3, there is . . . VACATION OF TERROR II: DIABOLICAL BIRTHDAY! Pop singer Tatiana performs a song called “Chicos!” at her sister’s Halloween-themed birthday party, even though it’s the middle of summer. This compels a repulsive Cabbage Patch Kid to transform into a raging demon-troll that’s on a quest to regain stolen coins from the ladies’ dad. Produced by the same team as DON’T PANIC, VACATION OF TERROR II is joyously strange Mexican horror movie that’s jam-packed with lo-fi practical effects, a Troll throwing fireballs, and a COCKTAIL poster with Tom Cruise on it. In case you were wondering, this superior sequel has nothing to do with the first movie—just like TROLL 2. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Welcome to Long Island's answer to RE-ANIMATOR.

Today is the day that THE SOULTANGLER—our latest Blu-ray release as an OCN/Vinegar Syndrome label—went up for pre-order! Our love for this movie is deep and unending. From releasing the VHS in partnership with Mondo back in 2014 (the first-ever legitimate home video release in North America) to touring with it at screenings around the country, THE SOULTANGLER is throughly entwined in Bleeding Skull's DNA. Now, we're ecstatic to unleash the definitive home video release of this body horror miracle.

THE SOULTANGLER tells the story of Dr. Anton Lupesky, a rabid genius who develops a drug that allows s to inhabit corpses . . . and embark on gore-soaked murder-sprees. Shot on 16mm in basements and garages by director Pat Bishow on Long Island, this is body horror bliss that's filled with dreamlike imagery, wanton dismemberment, and an earnest devotion to storytelling in the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft. 

Featuring a new preservation of the movie, director Pat Bishow's exceptional director's cut, and a mad laboratory full of extras (including a previously unreleased feature film from Bishow plus much, much more), now is the time to get your soul tangled, chopped, and splatted.

Get the Blu-ray here:
vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/bleeding-skull/products/the-soultangler

A late-1970s H.G. Lewis heir, DRIVE-IN MASSACRE pinches a few particulars from THE ZODIAC KILLER (true! crime!) and CARNIVAL OF BLOOD (people arguing) to forge its own identity. But due to the drowsy pacing, you have to alter your mindset to fully enjoy it. My idealization of this movie is more intriguing than what it actually offers. In a sense, that’s what makes it so endearing to me. The movie doesn’t fully deliver, but there’s always a chance that it might. So every few years, I start thinking about DRIVE-IN MASSACRE. I think about dangerous samurai swords, rubber severed heads, and twinkling synthesizers, all beneath the midnight glow of a ratty drive-in movie screen. I want to go to that place. So I watch DRIVE-IN MASSACRE again. And I’m there. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

those Coors Light commercials that listed things we allegedly love: “Pom-poms and short skirts/fans who won’t quit…and TWINS!” The ads always featured bros high-fiving because who doesn’t love TWINS? And while Coors Light is the Yoo-hoo of beers, I it that they are onto something. Two really is better than one. Case in point: DEADLY TRIGGER, which stars Audry and Judy Landers, who are TWINS. It’s a Shakespearean tragedy of love, death, Hawaiian shirts, disco, Doublemint-flavored revenge, and also TWINS. There’s also an epic chase that involves cars, motorcycles, a train, a tractor, and not one, but two helicopters. This movie is worth watching twice. (Annie Choi)

Happy birthday, Aylmer! BRAIN DAMAGE was released on this day in 1988 and I'm forever grateful. After making horror history with BASKET CASE and FRANKENHOOKER, the incomparable Frank Henenlotter unleashed the ultimate Grimm’s Fairy Tale for adults. This slimy slice-of-NYC-life follows a poor schmo who is addicted to a drug called Aylmer. But unlike heroin or cocaine, Aylmer is a mutant penis monster who needs human brains to survive. BRAIN DAMAGE is hilarious, unsettling, and jam-packed with bad taste gags that would make John Waters blush. May the well of brain juice never run dry. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

What if SUNSET BOULEVARD and STREET TRASH had a baby? Actor Lynn Roman (Bobbie Bresee, GHOULIES) is fed up with Hollywood. Continually rejected for roles because of her age, Lynn does what any self-respecting thespian would do in this situation—she injects an extraterrestrial drug and transforms into a revengeful insect-o-zoid. A ion project for Bresee that was shot in her real-life home, EVIL SPAWN is filled with wild practical effects, campy hysterics, and over-the-top sleaze. But it’s also a fascinating low budget statement on the horrors of ageism and the dark corners of Hollywood . . . this includes a scene where a mutant rat eats a man’s face. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

This movie opens with forty-three seconds of basement exotica and slime monsters hanging out in a motel parking lot. Sold! A precursor for everything from THE TOXIC AVENGER to THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN, THE SLIME PEOPLE is a fog-soaked snapshot of 1960s paranoia with one foot in the garage and one foot in a new galaxy. Producer Joseph Robertson (THE CRAWLING HAND, THE LOVE FEAST, Ed Wood's drag confidant) and actor-director Robert Hutton (his only directing credit) concocted a cyclical, end-of-the-world saga that focuses on oozing sewer creatures that terrorize people in the back alleys of Hollywood. Beautiful nonsense. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

The GUINEA PIG series is more or less torture-porn with accomplished effects, but devoid of depth and joy. The exception is GUINEA PIG 5: MERMAID IN THE MANHOLE. An artist discovers the titular mermaid in the titular manhole and as he paints her portrait, she begins to decompose. Her scales melt off and her skin dissolves into bubbling bursts of color and gore. She is dying but his art is thriving. You can practically smell the decaying fish smell that emanates from her rotting corpse. It’s a descent into madness and gore and we get to bear witness. (Annie Choi)

Who will survive the final exam?! After working as a production assistant on SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, filmmaker Carol Frank was given carte blanche by Roger Corman to make her own slasher movie. And that’s how we ended up with SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE, the most unique—and misunderstood—slasher of 1986. Like SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE before it, this movie inverts the traditional gender expectations of 1980s slashers while doubling as a photocopy of HALLOWEEN. But thanks to the dreamy photography (and dreamier dream sequences), a focus on women’s perspectives, and the greatest cameo by a Smurfs piñata in motion picture history, SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE ends up feeling like a cozy blanket that was stitched together by the spirits of HALLOWEEN, BEACHES, and SAVED BY THE BELL. This is also known as paradise. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

With upsetting movies like EATEN ALIVE and CANNIBAL FEROX, the late Umberto Lenzi established himself as filmmaker who didn't care about people's feelings. That's probably why GHOSTHOUSE—Lenzi's bid in the coked-out, anything-goes 1980s Italian horror sweepstakes—was released as EVIL DEAD III in Italy. A skull-faced apparition! Pretty okay gore! A DANG CLOWN DOLL! GHOSTHOUSE should be a great time, but flimsy characters, bland direction, and a 105-minute runtime keep it from getting there. This movie needed some of the strange magic that Rossella Drudi and Claudio Fragasso conjured in TROLL 2, ZOMBIE IV, and yes, EVIL DEAD V. Without it, this is just another sleepy almost-banger from late-80s Italy.

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba.

Originally a XXX film shot by the director of DEEP THROAT that starred Sandra “LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT” Peabody, LEGACY OF SATAN was shorn of its sex scenes by rogue distributor Bryanston and released as a traditional horror movie. But it’s much more than that. Blessed with a soul-shaking Moog synthesizer soundtrack (“Electronic Rhythms Created by Arlon Ober and Mel Zelniker”), this is beautiful lo-fi hypnosis and the greatest horror soap opera that you’ve never seen. There’s no glue to hold the 68-minute movie together and it tends to drag towards the end. But that’s okay. The mishmash of awkward eroticism, over-the-top emoting, and inadvertent art-horror techniques yields a transcendent experience. And those SYNTHS! The Ober-Zelniker hit machine knew its way around a Moog Rogue, but not really. I wouldn’t have it any other way. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

The first thing you need to know about HELLSPAWN is that it’s based on a true story, though "some material was dramatized." The second thing you need to know is that HELLSPAWN is about a half-ape, half-Satan monster with severe daddy issues who vows to kill everyone in his family. Still, even Hellspawn can’t save HELLSPAWN from boring oblivion. The film does have many of the Polonia trademarks—DIY gore, thick Pennsylvanian accents, stills that sub in for exterior shots, and tube socks—but it doesn’t quite land. It’s outlandish, but not outlandish enough. It’s gory, but not gory enough. It’s surprising at times, but not surprising enough. The problem with HELLSPAWN, then, is that it’s just not enough.

Read the full review by Annie Choi.

Today is the day that CANNIBAL ORGY AND THE FILMS OF J.T. IV—our latest Blu-ray release as an OCN/Vinegar Syndrome label—went up for pre-order. We became obsessed with J.T. IV (aka John Henry Timmis IV) after discovering his D.I.Y. glam-punk music through a series of vinyl reissues from Drag City. Now, we're excited and honored to share Timmis's films with you.

"I came up with the idea to change my name to Frankenstein, spreading the rumor to the media that I had been horribly disfigured in a terrible car accident and that my face was burned beyond recognition. I would wear a bondage mask . . . at all times, never revealing my true identity."—J.T. IV, 1980

Shot on Super 8 film and edited on decaying VHS tapes in Chicago from 1977-85, the experimental horror movies of late musician and filmmaker J.T. IV feel like an unholy alliance between David Bowie and Charles Manson. CANNIBAL ORGY AND THE FILMS OF J.T. IV is an historical archive that collects Timmis's collage-like films for the first time on home video. This includes CANNIBAL ORGY—a Satanic panic ode to BLOOD FEAST, Lucio Fulci, and stoned glam rock. It does not include THE CURE FOR INSOMNIA, Timmis's 85-hour movie that holds the Guinness World Record for the longest film ever made. Although he mainly identified as straight, J.T. IV was refreshingly open about his same-sex relationships in his autobiography FROM THE INSIDE, making these works exciting discoveries in the realm of alternative and underground cinema.

Get the Blu-ray here:
vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage-partner-labels/products/cannibal-orgy-and-the-films-of-j-t-iv

Science has never met fiction like this. In 1974, Japan's Tsuburaya Productions (ULTRAMAN) released twenty-six episodes of a TV show called SARU NO GUNDAN. Much like the Turkish "interpretations" of movies like RAMBO and JAWS, SARU NO GUNDAN re-imagined an American blockbuster as something that was more digestible for its country's culture. In this case, it was PLANET OF THE APES. SARU NO GUNDAN told the coherent story of a time-traveling family who were trapped in a future that was ruled by apes. In 1987, TV producer Sandy Frank discovered SARU NO GUNDAN and said, "This is great! But it would be even better if I cut all twenty-six episodes into one movie, dubbed the whole thing in my bathroom, and called it TIME OF THE APES!" And so he did. TIME OF THE APES is an illogical black hole of madness, jam-packed with psychedelic visuals, deranged dubbing, and ape soldiers who drive rainbow-colored vans. It has UFOs and a child-ape named "Pepe" who wears corduroys. I love that this is a real thing that exists. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

There can never be enough horror films about pregnancy, the ultimate body horror experience. ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE BROOD, PREVENGE, THE SUCKLING, the list goes on and on. But only one emerges as our favorite lo-fi body horror movie ever directed by one of the most successful gay porn filmmakers of all time. Tim Kincaid took pearl-clutching exploitation, roaring violence, and gushing practical effects and lovingly nurtured them into a writhing alien baby with gnashing teeth. He’s the father we’ve always wanted and deserved. Let’s also appreciate Teresa Farley’s lead turn as the doctor investigating these extraordinarily violent pregnancies. It was a rarity to see a strong Black lead in a low-budget Eighties horror film, and her performance delivers, just like the final show-stopping monster set piece. (Annie Choi)

Now, more than any other timeline in the history of the planet, we need joyous lost media like this. Hope there are 5000 more of these in Coralie Fargeat's closet.

THE IRON ROSE is a divergence for Jean Rollin. And much like the later ZOMBIE LAKE, it should be celebrated. Though soaked in desolation, this film abandons Rollin's comfort zone—there are no vampires and the sex is softened. In their place, the director finds a fresh preoccupation: the romance of death. Traditional horror elements are thrown out the window, as two people run around, make love, fight, scream at each other, and try to escape from a graveyard for 85 minutes. THE IRON ROSE has an intelligence and poignancy that encourages a shift from strict mood-piece to beautifully layered trash-art experience. No matter how many times I watch it, there's still more to uncover. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

This isn’t just another low-budget film created by some friends with a camera and a bong. FROSTBITER is a carefully planned production where people did the homework and took it seriously. They studied the work of Ray Harryhausen to create their own miniature sets, Claymation beasts, and stop-motion animations. They modeled the photography and monster effects in THE EVIL DEAD to bring the dead to life. For everything else, they learned from the Italian horror masters. The crowning achievement in FROSTBITER is the Wendigo, who stomps, chomps, and chews innocent and not-so-innocent victims. The film expertly moves back and forth between the stop-motion animation and the panicking characters, creating a perfect little world of fatal destruction. Also, you'll never look at chili the same way again.

Read the full review by Annie Choi.

STREET TRASH is overstuffed with offensive language, racial slurs, homophobic insults, and misogynistic characters. It is in no way aligned with today’s sensibilities, or with any sensibility at all. The saving grace of this movie is the incredible practical effects created by Jennifer Aspinall. The explosive, body-dissolving horror drips in neon slime and gushes in all the colors of the rainbow. Faces melt, heads explode, and gaping wounds spout a fountain of Technicolor. It is rare to see a woman helm special effects on a film from the 1980s (or even today, for that matter), and these effects absolutely dazzle. It is no surprise that Aspinall went on to win a ton of statues, including an Emmy. We can’t excuse STREET TRASH or any other movie for their gross ignorance or problematic creators, but we can honor and respect the contributions of key artists that make the films sing. (Annie Choi)

NIGHT CRAWLERS is a simple SOV horror movie that is complemented by many montages of everyday life in the Polonia household. Plus a cameo by their cat. What could be better? Mark’s family unpacks boxes and sets up knickknacks over a trance beat and shredding guitar licks. Mark and Todd chat for five minutes while making their way through a crawl space with green and pink neon lights. Mark has a drink with a co-worker in a place called Schooners Pub, which is actually a wet bar in someone’s basement. Every so often, the giant bug beasties attack through the magic of Video Toaster effects and people cough up blood. At the end of the movie, Mark finds a UFO. It looks like a cutscene from a Nintendo 64 game. This movie will please approximately 3% of the planet’s population. This means you!

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba.

There’s this thing that Boomers do where they emphasize—at length—how something was done before computers. Like, fine, we get it, you guys had it so hard. As irritating as that is, I understand the point. Once upon a time, in the days of yore, before Peter Jackson had a computer, he created a film stuffed with jaw-dropping, squishy, explosive practical effects that are still unmatched today. BAD TASTE deploys a metric ton of goop and gore, and its incredible make-up effects are among the greatest of all time. It’s a genuine spectacle and a rip-roaring ride through hungry aliens, Bugs Bunny sight gags, monstrous transformations, and a punch bowl filled with vomit. After Jackson got a laptop, he was never the same again. (Annie Choi)

NOSFERATU IN BRASIL serves the same purpose as Jonas Mekas's WALDEN: DIARIES, NOTES & SKETCHES. Both are examples of someone living and documenting their experiences with a Super 8 camera. But where Mekas captured a surreal first performance by The Velvet Underground on film, Ivan Cardosa (a protege of José Mojica Marins aka Coffin Joe) captured Nosferatu sipping a drink out of a coconut while wearing striped underpants. This movie contains no deeper meanings—it's just 27 minutes of abstract, horror-themed imagery. This is a lazy movie, made by stoned hippies who were fascinated with capturing something—anything—with a camera. Despite all of this, I can’t the last time that something so pointless made me feel so content. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Just sharing this to commemorate the day that DISEMBODIED—our first 4K UHD release and fifth overall as an OCN/Vinegar Syndrome partner label—went up for pre-order. We first discovered this lovely body horror acid trip while writing our second book, BLEEDING SKULL! A 1990s TRASH-HORROR ODYSSEY, and it instantly became an all-time favorite. We're ecstatic to release a new 4K restoration of the original, uncut version of DISEMBODIED on disc for the first time ever—complete with a science lab full of extras and multiple versions of the film.

Get the 4K UHD + Blu-ray combo here:
vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage-partner-labels/products/disembodied

A blatant middle finger to humanity, THE GHASTLY ONES is a 72-minute blast of damaged no-fi dementia from legendary queer filmmaker Andy Milligan. The Crenshaw sisters are on a mission to claim an inheritance . . . despite the protests of a bloodthirsty killer wearing a black hood. Death by saw! Death by pitchfork! Death by straight sex! Filled with Milligan’s patented blend of DIY costumes, creaky Staten Island locales, and spastic handheld photography, this somber, proto-slasher soap opera is not the filmmaker's most ruthless or explicit movie—but it’s by far his most accessible. A true weirdo classic. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Shot with a camcorder somewhere in , this two-and-a-half-story, Christmas-themed horror anthology could’ve been conceived on the back of a 9th-grader’s geometry homework. The tone of this movie is lucid and innocent, like David “The Rock” Nelson on a Euro-horror vacation. And unlike other European SOV horror movies that were made by teenagers, there’s no angst or sense of rebellion. Director Richard J. Thompson wasn’t obsessed with genital mutilation (GOBLET OF GORE) or smoking weed (THE BUTCHER). But he was obsessed with playing triumphant Casio synth-pop while people walk up a staircase or battle a vampire named Santa Claus. Thompson was also into vectorized video effects, cheap gore, and meta-enhanced references to some of his favorite things, such as the fake horror movie that he made up called TRASHMAN: THE NUKE VAMPIRE.

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba:
bleedingskull.com/night-of-vampyrmania-1993/

This movie has a credit that reads, “Christopher Ray As The Bio-Monster.” What the credit fails to mention is that Christopher Ray was an eight-year-old child. BIOHAZARD is the only beastoid jam in history to cast a grade-schooler as its monster antagonist. But even better, this slime-machine successfully mashes the spirit of 1950s alien rampage non-epics like ROBOT MONSTER with the neon-sleaze of 1980s slashers like GRADUATION DAY. What this means is that you can expect a stoned combination of psychic scientists, drunken hobos, weird gore, weird(er) sex, questionable jeep explosions, and an old guy yelling at people. Plus a wise-ass “loose cannon” soldier who says: “This is almost a spiritual experience.” I couldn’t agree more. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

FEEDERS 2: SLAY BELLS has all the genuinely entertaining hallmarks of a Polonia production—reused footage from other movies, reused actors from other movies, impenetrable accents, and of course, stills standing in for exterior shots. I really don’t understand why they do that, but I do understand that I love it. The DIY alien puppets provide endless entertainment, as does Alan’s grouchy, foul-mouthed boss. He berates Alan and forces him to work on Christmas Eve. This is how the Polonia Brothers celebrate Christmas. There’s warmth, joy, ambition, a bit of confusion, and surprise. There’s also one dead cat. Polonia powa!

Read the full review by Annie Choi:
bleedingskull.com/feeders-2-slay-bells-1998/

This is the irrational, workout-themed "NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET meets PSYCHO" rip-off that you’ve been waiting your whole life to see. Michael owns the Star Body Health Spa. It’s a very futuristic place, because “the computer runs the spa.” Star Body is plagued by an unseen supernatural force, which causes graphic gore, full-frontal nudity, and leotards to erupt in flames. A guy’s face falls off while making out with a woman. Another guy gets ripped apart by a workout machine. A lady BLOWS UP while staring at a mirror. There are still 40 minutes left. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

A “tribe” of cartoonish riffraff shakes down an aerobics studio. What’s a high-impact cardio instructor to do? The answer is HIGH KICKS, a glorious trash-action film that features aerobics, karate (pronounced “ka-rah-tay” exactly once), lovemaking on a boat, and an unhealthy number of montages. HIGH KICKS  is one part vigilante movie and five parts karate-aerobics workout video. At its heart, the movie is about empowerment, teamwork, revenge, and the importance of cardiovascular health. This is the only film that has four karate choreographers, several stunt choreographers, an aerobics choreographer, and a Karobics (karate + aerobics) choreographer in its credits. Writer/director Ruta K. Aras may be the only woman filmmaker to take the classic rape revenge story and turn it into a HIIT class. Time to get in shape. (Annie Choi)

Of the two dozen W.A.V.E. tapes that I’ve semi-watched, VAMPIRE BRIDES is the one that most closely resembles a movie. Like every other early W.A.V.E. production, it’s still defined by dank basements, Gary Whitson’s brown plaid couch, a surprisingly chaste approach to sex, and music that sounds like New Edition as interpreted by Frankenstein’s monster. The photography and editing are slightly more proficient than what you’d see in David “The Rock” Nelson’s THE DEVIL ANT. Everything else is caught in a droning vortex of drama, boredom, and madness. But what really sets VAMPIRE BRIDES apart is that it feels less like a fetish loop and more like an extraterrestrial soap opera.

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba:
bleedingskull.com/vampire-brides-1994/

Filmed during the dead of winter in New York for $3000 ($2200 of which went towards amphetamines for director Roger Watkins), THE LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET is a transgressive, vile, and haunting snapshot of post-Manson malaise in America. And there will never be anything else like it. The movie follows Terry Hawkins (Watkins), an adult filmmaker who takes revenge against sleazy producers by forcing them to star in elaborate snuff films. Dreamlike and experimental, LAST HOUSE feels like an avant garde cousin to THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE and a precursor to the 2000s “New French Extremity” wave. But before you brave the blizzard, be warned: this is pure exploitation. The movie contains slaughterhouse footage, a sequence with blackface, and graphic sex and violence. THE LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET will never not feel dangerous. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Doris Wishman was a boon to humankind. And A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER is her gospel, a photocopy of contemporary horror hits (THE AMITYILLE HORROR, HALLOWEEN) transmutated into a collage of psychic damage. Vikki Kent (adult star Samantha Fox) returns home after a stint in a mental institution. From there, the movie pretty much forges a genre of its own. Fists punch through chests. Negative ghosts interrupt make-out sessions. Wailing guitar solos overlap with mid-century library music. As the movie continues, pacing becomes more uneven. Established rules of structure and narrative are left behind. It's as if the dreamy abyss slowly engulfs us until there's no escape. A NIGHT TO DISMEMBER s TETSUO: THE IRON MAN, SLEEPAWAY CAMP, and THE LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET as a foundational horror film that eternally haunts my psyche. To quote Anton LaVey, a movie like this is "a beast that should be exercised, not exorcised." (Joseph A. Ziemba)

El Griego is a world famous ventriloquist who has fallen on hard times. Namely, he’s locked in a psychic warzone with his fire-breathing, goop-vomiting, sword-wielding clown puppets. With nowhere to turn, El Griego forces his young daughter to pose as a clown puppet. Whoops! A jaw-dropping discovery from Mexico’s prolific direct-to-VHS era, AL FILO DEL TERROR is an hallucinogenic nightmare that lands somewhere between THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS MOVIE, a soap opera, and a self-help tape on how not to raise a child. As expected, this movie contains a lot of screaming and crying. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

One-third of the 100-minute runtime of MARK OF THE DEVIL 666: THE MORALIST is devoted to documenting the day-to-day activities of a video store called Galaxy Video in Portage, Wisconsin. But this isn’t a documentary. It’s a Halloween-set, SOV slasher with an identity crisis. And an editing crisis. And an unknown crisis that involves multi-layering the movie’s soundtrack at random with pocket-goth synth jams, thrash-metal wankery, dad-country snoozefests, and riot grrrl angst-blasts (“Don’t wake the baby, step on its fuckin’ head!”). This movie is a bloated, unyielding mess that rolls over you with the precision of a tank being driven by a gorilla. I would never be bored while watching a gorilla drive a tank. That’s probably why I was (almost) never bored while watching this movie.

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba:
bleedingskull.com/mark-of-the-devil-666-the-moralist-1995/

THE CHILDREN might be aging out due to its stoned pace and anemic energy, but I'll always love it. After exposure to toxic waste, killer kids with black fingernails wipe out a small rural town named Ravensback. And they do it with hugs—radioactive, skin-melting hugs. Simple, uncluttered, and careless in all the right places, THE CHILDREN is the type of modest trash-horror that is often idealized, but rarely actualized. No effort is made to convey relatable emotions or experiences, and there’s no heaviness to sort through. This is where high camp meets taboo violence and we all win. Also: don’t miss the ending, which involves a samurai sword. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Todd Cook does not make movies for you. He does not make movies for me. He makes movies for himself. At one point he also made movies for his wife, Lisa, but they are now divorced. So really, Todd Cook writes, directs, produces, shoots, and edits film after film after film just for himself. HORRORSCOPE is a three-story anthology from Todd Cook where nothing happens, save for the occasional killing (one involves a ventriloquist dummy). The movie is fascinating and entertaining, but it requires patience, generosity, low expectations, and a love of cats.

Read the full review by Annie Choi:
bleedingskull.com/horrorscope-1994/

Do you like mercenaries? Do you like aerobics? Do you like them both at the same time? Of course you do. THE BOUNTY HUNTERS is about a pair of Vietnam vets who track a serial killer across the Canadian border. But there’s so much more—namely a lusty, blood-thirsty photographer and the lusty, busty women who quench his thirst. This film is a deliciously sleazy ride with hip-thrusting cardio workouts, brazen nudity, and plenty of sucker punches to the stomach. There’s also a giant scene where people literally play with fire and you absolutely worry about their safety. (Obviously, this was not a union production). While THE BOUNTY HUNTERS is light on action and heavy on talk and even heavier on petting, the film is still a joy to behold and experience. (Annie Choi)

If you’ve never seen a slasher, CAMP BLOOD would probably be your new favorite movie. Shot with a consumer-grade camcorder and in need of major de-interlacing, the movie delivers on no-fi mood, bloodshed, and semi-fun. It’s surprisingly straightforward and the tone is more I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER than SCREAM. Director Brad Sykes (THE PACT) and producer David Serling (THINGS II, HIGH KICKS) weren’t being ironic when they decided to make a movie about a killer clown who stabs someone in the penis with a machete. That’s something to celebrate.

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba:
bleedingskull.com/camp-blood-1999/

Nobody wore a pair of tights like Vincent Price. With THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, Price and director Roger Corman solidified a creative blood pact over the works of Edgar Allan Poe that will never be sured. In this second—and strongest—of seven collaborations, Price plays Prince Prospero, a loveable rat bastard who finds that his castle has become a refuge for peasants that are damned by a plague called the Red Death. Of course, this can only lead to torture, murder, and mod superstar Jane Asher running rampant through gorgeous sets that look like they escaped from Mario Bava’s darkest nightmares. THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH cuddles us with an intense wickedness while providing a backdrop for Price to scold, scoff, and gouge his way through one of the most unstoppable performances of his career. And the best part? They do it all for Satan. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Humans were not involved in the making of SCIENCE CRAZED. The actors seem like they just learned how to talk or have never seen or heard other people talk before. In every scene, one actor very, very slowly says something and the other actor pauses for a very, very long time before responding very, very slowly. The reaction shots last an eternity, as if the actors are performing in slow motion. The pause between lines of dialogue feels as if you’ve been underwater for too long—a sense of panic seeps in and you wonder, am I going to drown in this silence? Then you drown. The stilted performances give the film a surreal sheen and pushes it away from horror and toward Dadaist performance art.

Read the full review by Annie Choi:
bleedingskull.com/science-crazed-1991/

In his book SHOCK VALUE, John Waters summed it up perfectly: “I first saw Blood Feast at my local drive-in. When I saw teenage couples hopping from their cars to vomit, I knew I had found a movie after my own heart.“ After the nudie cutie trend had run its course, director Herschell Gordon Lewis, producer David F. Friedman, and (uncredited) writer Allison Downe decided that there was only one way to go—SPLATTER!! Erupting with pop-art brain-bludgeonings and pitch-black gallows humor, BLOOD FEAST is a cinematic riot that paved the way for everything from Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD to Peter Jackson’s DEAD ALIVE. A forever favorite and then some. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Yvette Hoffman and Guy Crawford have produced and directed a polished, mid-fi sportsball horror film. While it doesn’t reach the heights of FATAL GAMES, GRADUATION DAY, BLOOD GAMES, and other sporty horror films, THE CATCHER does exactly what you think it does, and it does it perfectly fine. There are twists, a bit of gore, and some fun, exploitive kills. It lulls, but it’s clearly more entertaining than watching a game of baseball.

Read the full review by Annie Choi:
bleedingskull.com/the-catcher-1998/

Basement-horror hero Todd Sheets built his career on sincerity. That’s irable, but it doesn’t always equal entertainment for an audience. Luckily, GOBLIN is less like ZOMBIE BLOODBATH and more like DEAD THINGS. It’s still droning and disorganized, but it could only have escaped from Todd Sheets's brain, and with his particular set of idiosyncrasies. Other people were making movies in their basements during the 1990s. No one else was making a movie that featured a goblin puncturing someone’s eyeball with a power drill, let alone one that was dedicated to Jesus Christ. The last thing we see in this movie is text. It reads: “Say NO to drugs! Get high on horror!"

Read the full review by Joseph A. Ziemba:
bleedingskull.com/goblin-1993/

If you’ve spent your life searching for the most impossibly grotesque 20th century monster next to the turkey-headed killer in BLOOD FREAK, the search is over. In THE BRAINIAC, a reincarnated baron appears in mid-century Mexico City to destroy the ancestors of his enemies . . . by sucking out their brains. Literally. An unforgettable combination of artful gothic mood and outrageous camp, BRAINIAC is not of this Earth on a number of levels. But that feeling is mostly due to the presence of the title creature—a hairy wererat who wears a dinner tuxedo and uses his three-foot-long tongue to eat the brains of victims. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH is my favorite toxic-beastie-crust-punk-high-school-art-barf celebration. Introducing the STD panic of David Cronenberg’s RABID to a 1980s neon-slime playing field, this is the rare horror-comedy that filters dozens of random ideas into a unifying whole—all thanks to the pure intentions and electric energy of the filmmakers. CLASS OF NUKE ‘EM HIGH is easily Troma’s second greatest contribution to our planet after THE TOXIC AVENGER. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

Pick up our home video releases here.

• Blonde Death
• Deep Night
• The Other Dimension
• Way Bad Stone
• In Memorium
• Disembodied
• Cannibal Orgy
• Nightmare City
• The Soultangler
• Suroh: Alien Hitchhiker

Over 1000 ways to renew your faith in humanity.

• 13 Ghosts
• 20 Million Miles to Earth
• 555
• 5 Dark Souls
• 5 Dark Souls, Part II: Roots of Evil
• Aatank
• Aatma
• The Abomination
• Abracadabra
• Absurd

...plus 1063 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A dirty dozen of our favorite lo-fi body horror films that ooze, gush, spray, implode, and explode. Read the full article here.

1. Tetsuo: The Iron Man
2. Basket Case
3. Bad Taste
4. Premutos: The Fallen Angel
5. Shivers
6. Disembodied
7. Street Trash
8. Slime City
9. Breeders
10. Meatball Machine

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A chronological list of every film we released on home video in partnership with Mondo (2014-17) and the American Genre Film Archive (2018-22).

• Cards of Death
• The Soultangler
• Run Coyote Run
• Night Feeder
• Scary Tales
• Blonde Death
• Heavy Metal Massacre
• Jungle Trap
• Ninja Zombie
• Blood Lake

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Every movie included on our annual EXQUISITES: FILMS OF THE YEAR lists since 2005. Updated every December.

Read this year's article:
bleedingskull.com/exquisites-2023-films-of-the-year/

• 1974: The Possession of Altair
• .357 Magnum
• The Abomination
• Acne
• A.I. Mama
• American Commando Ninja
• Bad Magic
• Beasties
• The Beauties and the Beast
• Beware! The Vanishing Family

...plus 143 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Alternative vibes for cardigan and puffy coat season.

• Alice, Sweet Alice
• The Alien Factor
• American Psycho
• Amityville II: The Possession
• Antibirth
• Asylum of Satan
• Black Snow
• The Blackcoat's Daughter
• Blast of Silence
• The Bleeder

...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Every short film featured in SHORTS THAT TORE OUR HEADS OFF—an ongoing series of articles exploring underseen short films from all centuries. The only criteria for inclusion is that each one has to . . . well, tear our heads off.

Read the full articles:
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-1/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-2/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-3/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-4/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-5/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-6/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-7/
bleedingskull.com/shorts-that-tore-our-heads-off-volume-8/

• The Diane Linkletter Story
• The Occult: X Factor or Fraud?
• Night Crew
• Living Dolls
• Twilight Journey
• Hands of Justice
• Haunted Indiana
• Zyzak Is King
• Possibly in Michigan
• Say No to Drugs

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Alternative vibes for the Halloween season.

• 1974: The Possession of Altair
• Abby
• Alucarda
• American Movie
• At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul
• Beyond the Black Rainbow
• Bloodstream
• The Boogey Man
• Born of the Wind
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

...plus 89 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Every film is a travelogue. From Douglas Sirk’s Technicolor melodramas to Doris Wishman’s paperback gutter-noirs, all movies are mini-vacations that enable us to escape the real world and revitalize our souls. But out of the billions of movies in existence, very few allow us to step off the planet and reach a new plane of consciousness. Thankfully, 50 of those films are gathered here. This list honors our favorite shot-on-video (SOV) mind warps from all realities and centuries. Over the years, people have used “SOV” to describe any movie that was made for the price of a used car or released direct-to-VHS, even if it was shot on film. So, let’s be clear: this list is pure. We’ve only included genre films that were actually shot and edited on tape. This means you won’t find movies that were shot on Super 8 or 16mm and edited on tape (THINGS, TRUTH OR DARE?: A CRITICAL MADNESS, respectively). But you will find gore-soaked wizard battles, senior citizen auteurs, and enough Karobics (karate + aerobics) montages to last a lifetime. These films are outsider miracles that erupted from the depths to subvert reality and destroy expectations. Each and every movie on this list belongs in a museum. But until that happens, prepare to step off the planet . . . and hopefully never return.

Read the full article:
bleedingskull.com/bleeding-skull-50-the-best-shot-on-video-films/

1. Blonde Death
2. Sledgehammer
3. Suffer, Little Children
4. Tales from the Quadead Zone
5. Hallucinations
6. UFO Abduction
7. Boardinghouse
8. High Kicks
9. Blood Brothers
10. Possibly in Michigan

...plus 39 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Every movie reviewed in our second book, BLEEDING SKULL! A 1990s TRASH-HORROR ODYSSEY (Fantagraphics, 2021). Buy a copy here!

Not on Letterboxd:
THE DEAD MATTER (Edward Douglas, 1996)
KNIGHT BEAT (Santo Marotta, 1997)
THE PARANORMAL (Todd Norris, 1998)
TALES OF THE DAMNED (Paul Roberts, 1998)
TERROR ON THE WIND (Brooks T. Adcock, 1998)
TORTURED OBSESSION (Kelli Lidell, 1992)
UNEARTHLY HARVEST (John Swanson, 1998)
VIDEO SHORTS VOLUME 1 (David “The Rock” Nelson, 1991)
VIDEO SHORTS VOLUME 2 (David “The Rock” Nelson, 1992)
WIMP (Mark Allen Brown, 1994)
WIMP UNLEASHED (Mark Allen Brown, 1997)

• 5 Dark Souls
• 5 Dark Souls, Part II: Roots of Evil
• Addicted to Murder
• The Alien Agenda: Endangered Species
• The Alien Agenda: Out of the Darkness
• The Alien Agenda: Under the Skin
• Alien Beasts
• Alien Platoon
• The Antichrist
• Asylum of Terror

...plus 219 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In MIDNIGHT MOVIES, authors J. Hoberman and Jonathan Rosenbaum describe underground movies as “redolent of danger, secrecy, subversion, resistance, and liberation; not to mention perversity, alienation, and even madness.”

They didn’t know it, but they were also defining Something Weird.

Founded by the late Mike Vraney in 1990, Something Weird changed our lives. Vraney—along with spouse and collaborator Lisa Petrucci, filmmaker Frank Henenlotter, and dozens of heroic weirdos behind the scenes—rescued, preserved, and shared an entire subset of cinema history through the Something Weird Video imprint. Without their hard work, the cinematic legacies Doris Wishman, Donn Davison, and David F. Friedman would have been forgotten or destroyed. Life would be much less happier. And perverted.

We could write 60,000 words gushing over our love and appreciation of Something Weird, but that still wouldn’t be enough. The identity of Bleeding Skull! owes as much to Something Weird’s horror catalog as it does to 1980s triumphs like HALLUCINATIONS and TALES FROM THE QUADEAD ZONE. So to show our appreciation, we’ve compiled this list of our 50 favorite horror movies from Something Weird’s mammoth history. Haunted swamps! Bible-thumping murder! Bigfoot sex! It’s all here to astound, inspire, and guillotine your skull.

Something Weird continues to change our lives. Through home video collaborations with AGFA, Severin Films, and others, and new vinyl and book releases, boss Lisa Petrucci is making sure that Mike Vraney’s legacy will continue to inspire (and disturb) many generations to come.

We love you, Something Weird. Never change.

Read the full article here:
bleedingskull.com/bleeding-skull-50-the-best-something-weird-horror-films2/

1. The Wizard of Gore
2. Basket Case
3. Dracula (The Dirty Old Man)
4. Ship of the Monsters
5. Blood Feast
6. Blood Freak
7. Psyched by the 4D Witch (A Tale of Demonology)
8. She Freak
9. This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
10. Indecent Desires

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All of the movies featured in the article "GRAYSCALE GOTHICS: A Celebration of Haunted Love in Black and White."

Read the full article by Joseph A. Ziemba:
bleedingskull.com/grayscale-gothics-a-celebration-of-haunted-love-in-black-and-white/

• The Fall of the House of Usher
• Mahal
• Daughter of Dr. Jekyll
• Night of the Ghouls
• Tormented
• Flaming Creatures
• The Curse of the Living Corpse
• The Sweet Sound of Death
• Thundercrack!
• Lilith's Awakening

These aren’t movies -- they’re altered states of consciousness from the VHS depths. Use only as directed, as side effects may include body numbness, loss of memory, and extreme happiness.

• Alien Beasts
• Attack of the Killer Refrigerator
• Beyond Dream's Door
• Black Devil Doll from Hell
• Boardinghouse
• Blood Orgy of the Leather Girls
• Bloodstream
• Bloody Mansion Death
• The Bounty Hunters
• Day of the Reaper

...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Every movie reviewed in our first book, BLEEDING SKULL! A 1980s TRASH-HORROR ODYSSEY (Headpress, 2013). Grab a copy here.

• 555
• The Abomination
• On the Edge of Terror
• American Nightmare
• Appointment with Fear
• Attack of the Beast Creatures
• Attack of the Killer Refrigerator
• Birds of Prey
• Beauty Queen Butcher
• Berserker

...plus 259 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Cocaine. The Eighties wouldn’t have happened without it. This was the sleazy, frenetic era of 24-hour parties, teased hair, trashy lingerie, and false metal. It was a time when filmmakers picked up cameras to translate their coke-fueled visions to the screen, without irony, self-awareness, or even experience. The Eighties gave us some of the most iconic horror films to come out of studios, but it also gave us an endless treasure of amateur work that often eclipsed their big-budget brothers. And that’s what this list is all about. The DIY ethos and sincerity of films like Hallucinations, Slumber Party Massacre, and Tales from the Quadead Zone proved how much you could do with so little. The goopy homemade effects of Basket Case, Slime City, and Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare showed that you didn’t need a several million dollars to bring bloodthirsty beasties to life. The Bleeding Skull! team brings you our 50 favorite trash-horror films from the 1980s. These movies changed our lives. They will thrill, amuse, disgust, and terrify you, and they’ll give you a deep appreciation for aerobics, possessed cats, and killers in copper masks. Also cocaine. It’s not cranberry sauce, but it is Garbage Day! Please enjoy.

Read the full article here:
bleedingskull.com/bleeding-skull-50-the-best-trash-horror-films-of-the-1980s/

1. A Night to Dismember
2. The Last Slumber Party
3. Sleepaway Camp
4. Tales from the Quadead Zone
5. Pieces
6. Basket Case
7. Things
8. Burial Ground
9. The Long Island Cannibal Massacre
10. Hallucinations

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These minimal, lo-fi synthesizer scores kill us so hard that we want to be reborn inside the trash-horror movies that created them.

• The Alien Factor
• The Antwerp Killer
• Attack of the Beast Creatures
• Lisa, Lisa
• Black Devil Doll from Hell
• Blood Orgy of the She-Devils
• Blood Rage
• Blood Song
• The Boogey Man
• Burial Ground

...plus 27 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.