Larva Mental © TetroVideo

    TetroVideo reached out to me last week to see if I would be interested in reviewing one of their titles. Well of course I was. TetroVideo has put out some extremely haunting films in the past. So you can imagine my excitement when I received my screener and found out I had been given the task of reviewing Larva Mental. Now I am not familiar with this one bit. This is me going in blind more or less because aside from a few teaser posts on Facebook, I know nothing about this other than the few screen grabs that were shared. I do, however, know of Mikel Balerdi a little bit through his Instagram and Facebook page. So I know that I am in for a blood filled, terrifying mind fuck. I also know that this movie will end up staying with me for a long time, such as most TetroVideo releases do. Their releases tend to frighten beyond the physical. Most of their releases mentally scar you. So are you excited to forever ruin your psyche? In the immortal words of Tanner James, I know I am, lets do it.

    The movie has a rough runtime of 61 mins. Its in, I believe, Spanish and my copy has no subtitles. Now while there is very little dialogue in the film, there are a few times where i feel they would be very helpful, mainly with the note that the female character writes. This is a mainly visual storytelling experience though. It's a graphic tale of loss, sadness and ultimately a beautifully downer ending. The director is widely known for extreme body performances, and its on display in this film. Fans of outsider art will definitely want to check this out, Mikel mixes real body performance with practical special effects and 99% of the time I can not tell what's real and what's effects. Its glorious, it's seamless, it's hauntingly disgusting. More than anything though it's very sad. I found myself really feeling sorry for Mikel's character. He obviously is unable to cope with the loss he endures in the film, that being the loss of the female character after she discovers a video of the lead playing around with a metal crucifix in a pig mask, its part due to drug use and part just madness. With a mixture of shame, drugs and rage at himself, he descends deeper into his world of self mutilation and horrifyingly disturbing hallucinations. The man's inability to deal with his loss, or his choice to feel the loss in such a visceral way, leads to his ultimate undoing and he is last seen laying next to our decomposed female character after having overdosed on drugs and a deep all consuming regretful sadness.

    Now while i sit here and say this is a sad story, don't get me wrong. This is brutal to sit through. I found myself trying to follow the sad story line of loss so as to not focus so much on the self mutilation our male lead does to himself. There is plenty onscreen for the fans of cock mutilation, self cutting and other forms of body performances to keep you glued to the screen. However, there is a lot more to this film than just a gross out or 'what-the-fuck-did-I-just-watch' factor. Its a real emotional journey that made me ask myself, if put in a similar position of loss would I punish myself or would my demons make me punish myself?

    The score is wonderful. Really sets the melancholy mood that is present during the films runtime. There is nothing that takes you out of the overwhelming sense of dread and nervous sadness that is tangible in this film. This is a great character study of a depraved person who is unaware of what exactly his world can do to people he cares for.

    TetroVideo, as I said at the start of this, puts out some projects that will stick with you for a long time. This is certainly one of them. Visually and mentally disturbing, Larva Mental is a film that will have you wondering what escaping your reality truly costs. Be on the look out for the release date of this from TetroVideo and don't be shy about checking out all their other releases. Trust me. I'm Some Guy.

Circus Of The Dead © Bloody Bill Productions/Bell Cow Films Ltd.

 

    Papa Corn loves you. Welcome to the scariest show on earth. Billy Pon's Circus Of The Dead. This recently had a release through Dread Central with lots of bonus goodies for you to enjoy. The movie stars the wonderfully disturbing Bill Oberst Jr, Parrish Randall and Chanel Ryan. We get the SFX by the famous Oddtopsy FX crew. The unrated Blu-ray, which I have and we'll be talking about today, has a runtime of 105 mins. 

    This is so unlike any 'killer clown' movie I've ever seen. Nothing supernatural, just real life insanity. I feel that clowns in horror have very rarely accomplished being either completely terrifying or intimidating. Not an issue here because Papa Corn and his crew of god damn psychopaths are both. Bill Oberst Jr. shows just how good he is at playing a nut job. All the acting throughout is great but Bill's is the standout performance. Thats certainly what makes this film stand out above the crowd in that aspect.

    Well on to the show! The movie starts us off with a little taste of just how fucked these clowns are in their heads. We see them torturing someone whos face the have painted up to look like a clown. After a bit of cutting and pasting, the clowns are called out in to the ring. We see that this is a real traveling circus and there are several people in attendance. Unbeknownst to the crowd, the clown thats getting beat to a fucking pulp in front of them is actually being beaten for real. That seems to be the way they operate. We are introduced to Donald and his wife and two daughters. The circus has a raffle and the clowns rig it so that Don's family wins since Papa Corn has taken a liking to his wife. Don gets tricked into giving them his address, claiming it to be because of tax reasons. This first bit of the movie really gives you an idea how cunning and deviant the head clown really is. It's part of what makes him so dangerous, he isn't stupid by any means. He can plan and execute. Next we get to see how fucking crazy Papa Corn is while he watches Don's wife cheat on him with her lover boy. Clowns break in. Madness ensues. Lady loses her head. Kids get taken. All really intense and fast. Now that the clowns have kidnapped the family and eventually get Don, the real fun begins.

    Papa Corn lets Don know that his wife is dead but his children are with 'The Babysitter' and if he wants to see them again he is going to come along with them on a fucking crazy bat shit insane murder spree. This is were the meat of the film lies. Its basically a murder montage in which we see the clowns murdering folks and start making Don participate against his will. All with the promise of being able to see his children again. And when i say they dabble in a bit of everything, i mean everything. There is everything from shooting to a fetus death scene. The effects are great. The body parts laying all over the clown's living quarters look wonderfully gross. The random kills are really fun to watch go down, this movie is nothing if not very entertaining for all the right reasons.

    This whole time the police have been looking for Don believing him to have killed his wife and taken his kids. They however remain several steps behind the clowns the entire time. We find out through the police that the clowns have been eating people as well. Right after this we see Don waking up in a car with his children dead in the back seat. Papa Corn wins. Its a very dreadful end for a man who has gone through everything he has gone through. I mean he did all that shit that had to mentally and moraly destroy him only to have his kids killed anyway and for people to now believe that he killed his wife and children.

    We are left on the note of Papa Corn in the mirror preparing for the next show. This is a crazy ride with lots of fun to be had and such a downer ending. It seamlessly bounces between comedy and horror without ever taking you out of the mood. Billy did a wonderful job with this outing. This is a true gem in the scary clown genre that is littered with sub-par movies. It is a refreshing view in that regard and honestly makes me hopeful for future clown movies. Oh and also makes me super excited to see what else Bill Oberst Jr. has in store for us in future projects.

    This movie is readily and easily available online and a must own for horror lovers. Trust me. I'm Some Guy.

First Look At Catcall The Complete Collection © Goriest Production

    The Canadian Splatter King, Patrick Fortin, the mad genius behind Goriest Production, sent me his latest project that he is currently working on. Catcall. All 5 Catcall shorts have been joined in one massive and gory collection. While this is currently being worked on and not finished I cant give a real release date. I can however direct you to the Goriest Production Facebook page. There you can contact them and find everything Goriest Production has to offer. 

    Catcall is a series of short gore flicks made by Patrick Fortin. They range from 7 to 11 minutes roughly. The first installment won The Gore Addict award at the 2020 Hardcore Horror Fest. Goriest Production certainly lives up to it's name with these shorts. If I had to give the simplest explanation of what the Catcall shorts are, it would certainly be 'gory and over the top'. This newest project puts all 5 Catcall shorts into one wet and oddly empowering experience. And yes, this is something you experience, not just simply watch. The shorts are in French and my advance has no subtitles so this will be for most, like it was for me, a visual journey. Also with that being said a lot of story I am forced to just assume or speculate to. However I get the feeling that the story is not the important part of these shorts. These are a gorehound's treasure trove of messy delights. The Catcall shorts are notorious for their gore effects. They are extremely well done for the most part. There are, like in all indie films, several slips ups throughout such as visible blood tubes, actors laughing, nonsensical cuts. Nothing that ruined the viewing at all mind you, its just little things that need worked on in the future.

    The story as it were, is one we don't often see. A female lead that takes charge. I cant really say the lead is a villain. Its sort of like I Spit On Your Grave. However no man ever gets so far as to actually rape our lead. She is simply sick of being viewed as a piece of meat. Sick to death of it actually. So when dudes start coming on to her, she simply fucking ERADICATES them. I mean it, She pulls out intenstines, gouges eyes, rips guys to literal pieces with a hook, tears flesh off of heads, burns body parts. This woman is clearly done being hit on. I really like this story line. I found myself rooting for her more so for taking action than just so I can see people ripped apart. The effects are going to be what keeps most of us glued to the screen. They are simply sickeningly beautiful. Really every shot is beautiful. Patrick really has an artistic eye behind the camera. He chooses angles and locations that absolutely work and are very pleasing to view. With the unseen footage, its really more of the same. Blood, guts, more blood and random yoga poses. Really the only true complaint I have about this is the green blood that is used around, I believe, the 3rd Catcall segment. It really takes me out of the mayhem to see one person pouring green blood for no discernable reason. Looks great, however why such a drastic change? Also the newest addition to the saga has our lead retreating from someone. Why? She has had zero god damn fear up until that point, but maybe it is meant to be a prequal of sorts? The language barrier keeps me from knowing for sure why she runs, so that might be a mute point.

    The editing  is great. Patrick has put this together wonderfully. If I didn't know this was a collection, I would have simply thought this was always intended to be released as a full feature. It is certainly strong enough in every aspect to be just that. It has a solid story, even though if it was flushed out more I think it would be much stronger. Great effects. The sound is wonderful as is the score. This is a very well done project that Patrick is working on. If you are a gorehound this is a release that you for sure are going to want to grab when it becomes available. 

    Overall this is going to be a really well put together collection. This is certainly something fans of the series of shorts or fans of the scene are going to enjoy fucking thoroughly. Get pumped for this one folks. A brutal fucking bloody tale of female empowerment all lovingly put together in one complete release. Now while this particular release is not yet ready, there are more releases from this label so make sure to keep an eye out for more details on this and all the other products that Goriest Production have to offer. Trust me. I'm Some Guy.

Kindness Of Strangers © Dead Vision Productions / Interview With Lucky Cerruti

    Today we are talking about the movie that put Dead Vision Productions to the front of the line of indie horror production houses. Kindness Of Strangers. The movie stars Ava Kostia, Eddie McCole, Leslie Dame and Lonnie Ford. And we are once again blessed with effects by James Bell of Very Fine Crap Videos. It has a run time of 34 minutes. It has a DVD release that is available at the Dead Vision Productions webstore. It also had a limited run of 10 units on VHS which are now OOP. So unless you're one of the lucky 10, like I am, the VHS release will be very hard to come by for awhile. However, like I said, the DVD is available at their webstore.

    Kindness Of Strangers is the release that really got people talking about DVP. I had actually found out about this film and Dead Vision as a whole when Cover Your Corpse did a Kindness Of Strangers shirt. The design was so bad ass that i sought out the film and blindly bought the movie. And the rest is fucking history. I proudly own and display a complete Dead Vision Productions collection. Cover Your Corpse also has done a limited shirt for FREAK as well as several other underground and indie horror movie designs. Head on over to Cover Your Corpse to see what all they have to offer. I mean, come on, look at this fucking shirt.

    Well on to the first part of this little thrill ride. Let us talk about my third favorite movie of all time, KINDNESS OF STRANGERS. Right away that trademark atmosphere sets in. We see a girl crawling down a driveway only to be revealed that she is only half the lady she once was. BAM. Opening scene done. Right away Lucky lets you know that shit is going to go down. We are then introduced to our main characters John and Sarah who are about to get married and are looking for a place to stay while they house hunt in a new town. They find a place through an app and meet Gail. Nothing really raises any flags until they meet a real estate agent, or maybe she is a wedding planner I don't know for sure and it's not really important what she does for a living, who upon hearing who they are staying with lets us know quiet subtly that something isn't exactly right with ol' Gail.

    Cut to the couple back at Gail's house sitting down for dinner. A conversation takes place in which Gail is asked about her husband and child, whom Gail failed to mention to our enduring couple and they only found out about them through the real estate lady. She gives her explanations and the couple seems satisfied with the given answers. Now while the soon to be newly weds are asleep in their room in Gail's house, someone tried opening their door. John gets awoken by it but finds no one. Time for a midnight pee when the bathroom bulb goes out. John heads down to the basement for a replacement bulb and meets Mack, Gail's 'dead' husband as well as Ollie, her 'dead' son. Mack is balls to the wall bonkers. Intimidating as hell. This is one of my favorite villians in indie cinema. 

    Sarah wakes up and goes looking for John when she is met by Ollie on the stairs. She runs and runs into Gail who tries to calm her down and takes her to the basement to look for John. Where she is greeted by the 2 looney tunes ass dudes that already have her fiancé tied up. 

    The rest of the movie is a gorehound's dream. Guts. Brains. Blood. Eyes. Its all here. I don't wanna give the ending of the story away. There is somewhat of a little twist in the tale that I got a big kick out of the first time I viewed it and I'd hate to take that away from anyone. The movie does end strongly though with both gore and dread.

    I love this short outing from Lucky. I don't really have any complaints on this one. The acting is great. The story and camera work are good. The effects are the only thing that really brings this down. And its really only one effect. The eyes of Ollie. For whatever reason they bug me and kind of take me out of the mood for just a hot second. Sound and editing were good. Everything. Good. This is certainly a must have for any fan of the scene. And as you will all see Dead Vision have came a very long way in their films in a very short time. Head on over to Dead Vision Productions and grab a copy of this on DVD or if you so wish, you can get it on VOD as well.

Trust me. I'm Some Guy.

        

         AN INTERVIEW WITH LUCKY CERRUTI

   

    I am certainly lucky enough to be able to call Lucky Cerruti a friend. Shortly after I purchased my first order from the DVP webstore I began searching around for their release of Keepsake. Lucky saw I was looking for it and reached out to me. Dude gave me his personal copy of the short. Didn't know me from Adam and still did such a cool and generous thing. That should tell you a little bit about Lucky. A genuine good dude. He was kind enough to take some time for a little interview with me about his film Kindness Of Strangers and even a little peek behind the curtain of Dead Vision Productions.

Some Guy: Alright. First off because it is by far the most pressing question of the start of 2021. Fuck, Marry, Kill. Betty White. Bea Arthur. Paris Hilton. GO!

Lucky: Damn. I take these pretty seriously so this is tough...but I'd have say I'd fuck Betty, marry Bea, and kill Paris.

Some Guy: That is the only correct answer honestly. Fucking power move marrying Bea. Now to the meat of this shit. How did the idea for Kindness Of Strangers come about?

Lucky: I had the idea long before I made the movie. Me and my girlfriend at the time were on a trip somewhere and we stayed at an Air BnB, which was the first time I had done that. It really freaked me out. I mean we had a fucking key to this stranger's house!! And I remember saying how this would be a murderer's dream. It's like a victim delivery service to your own house. So when Dead Vision formed and we started discussing ideas for our first real production. I threw that idea out and wrote a treatment and went from there!

Some Guy: I like that, a victim delivery service. So this idea came from real life. Is that where you try to find your ideas? Real life instead of stories and myths?

Lucky: Well I don't get very many good ideas so I take them wherever they come from. But I absolutely think real life has plenty of inspiration for horror flicks. I take a lot from things that freak me out. I have a few scripts that haven't been made yet that are super personal and drawn from real life. So yeah I guess I do take a lot from real life. But I also just made a monster in the woods movie so who the fuck knows.

Some Guy: The fact that you have unfilmed scripts makes my soul very happy. With this being DVP's first real project, what did you find to be the most difficult aspect out of the whole thing?

Lucky: Oh man we'd be here for hours if I listed all the most difficult things. There was exactly ZERO film experience between everyone who worked on that movie so it was such a huge learning curve for all of us. How to organize a shooting schedule, how important artificial light is, how easy it is to fuck up sound, how not to rush and make sure you get what you need, it goes on and on. Everything was difficult but that's a lot of what I like about this whole thing. It's like a visual journal of me learning how to make movies. As soon as we wrapped, I couldn't wait to do it again and fix all the stuff I fucked up.

Some Guy: So you're telling me not a one of you knuckleheads knew what the fuck and still managed to put out that solid of a debut? That is really impressive. Makes the end product that much more awesome. So would you say the best part about your first outing was just the fact that it made you that much more excited to get started on the next project?

Lucky:I mean "solid" is debatable but yeah we had no clue what we were doing. Unless you count those few shorts we did before it (which I don't really) But I think that was part of the fun. It was exciting to be so new at something but going in for it anyway. And I think the best part of it was that we actually did it. We shot it in 2 and a half days which is absolutely insane. We packed way too much in to not enough time, but again we didn't know any better. But once we got it all together in a rough assembly we were so pumped that we actually made something that was somewhat cohesive. So it was the reassurance that it can be done mixed with all the bullshit we learned along the way that was (and still is) the best part for me.

Some Guy: Best way to learn is to just get your hands dirty that's for damn sure. So am I to understand you come from a theater background of sorts?

Lucky: I sure do. I was in my first professional theater production when I was 10. That was the first time I ever got paid to do something I would have done for free. I’ve been a theater actor longer than I’ve been anything else. And I’m super thankful for it because I have access to a ton of great actors I’ve worked with. When we were casting KoS I had great friends I could call that I knew could deliver.

Some Guy: Do you feel that coming from that background helped out with the total chaos that was your first film shoot?

Lucky: Well I definitely think it helped when it came to writing it. I know how a script is structured and how dialogue is written because I’ve read so many. And it helps knowing your actors so you
can play to their strengths. So yeah I think it definitely helped. And continues to help.

Some Guy: It shows that you have a great pool of talent to draw from. One thing I really feels makes you stand out is the quality of your actors. I kind of notice some similarities between the KoS story and FREAK story. Mainly the son of the family being what they are. Now Artie is clearly a more fleshed out 'freak' but was he more flushed out because of KoS? Where there whispers of the Crenshaw child when KoS was being filmed?

Lucky: Well I’m glad that comes across. The acting has always been an important factor to me and what I want to make. And it’s funny you mention that because I definitely feel that my movies exist
in the same universe. I thought that maybe the town that Arthur Crenshaw is from is the same town that the KoS takes place in. I want to continue to drop little hints to that in all the movies I make. And as far as whispers of Arthur, I’ve always wanted to make a creature feature/slasher but I didn’t get too far into specifics until it was time to make another movie.

Some Guy: Fuck yes! A Dead Vision universe. That is the coolest god damn thing I have ever heard. I love the thought that it could all stem from that town. Really interesting. So KoS was nominated for an award at some point correct?

Lucky: It was! We were nominated for Best Picture and for Best Actress for Ava Kostia at the Hardcore Horror Fest! It’s crazy that anyone even saw that movie so to be nominated for any kind of awards is insane to me.

Some Guy: It really speaks to the talent that you have and the talent you can see in others. I loved Ava's role. She for sure played her part wonderfully. And it speaks to the care you put into your product. So I know you're working on something for the Marcus Koch anthology but is there anything else you can share about what is in store for Dead Vision Productions for 2021?

Lucky: I appreciate you saying that. It really means a lot to me. And yeah Marcus asked me to be a part of Symbolicus which is absolutely insane. That’ll be coming out soon hopefully! I’m also in preproduction on another short that I shoot this month. Then right into the next feature, which I’m really excited about. It’ll be my true entry into the “extreme” subgenre. Then next winter we start work on...a sequel...it’ll be a busy year!

Some Guy: As a massive extreme cinema fan myself I cant tell you the amount of shivers I got from that statement. Sequel you say? I'm all in for the preorder on all that shit for sure! Sounds like it is going to be a good year for you man. Well thank you for taking some time for this. Its always cool hearing about how things came about and what they lead to. So one last question. Just real fast out of a cannon: Favorite comedy group of all fucking time?

Lucky: Sequel indeed. Let’s just say...Arthur Crenshaw lives. And yeah dude thanks for your time! You’ve always been so unbelievably supportive and it means everything to me. Favorite comedy group...that’s a good one. I’ll have to say The State. The State rules

Some Guy: Ooooooo…. Sorry. The Kids In The Hall was what I was looking for. There is only The Kids In The Hall. Trust me. I'm Some Guy.

Well there you have it folks. Straight from the man himself. I'd like to leave you with my Dead Vision Productions collection as of 1/2/2021. Bow down fuckers.