Vore/Gore © TetroVideo

    Well here we are with yet another soon to be released gem from the disturbed folks at TetroVideo. To be released early this year Vore/Gore. This is an anthology type film featuring 9 shorts from 9 directors. The titles and directors of the segments are as follows:

“Mouth” by Mikel Balerdi

“Sweet as Honey” by Emanuele Marchetto

“Finger Licking Good” by Lorenzo Dante Zanoni

“Please, not in My Mouth” by Poison Rouge

“Italian Ladies Do It Better” by Irene Jones Baruffetti

“Infernal Gluttony 2” by Patrick Fortin

“Yummy Fur” by White Gardenia (Daniel Valient & Cherokee Nevin)

“Stretching” by Domiziano Cristopharo

“The Egg” by Dario Almerighi

It has a runtime of 1hr 27mins. And there is a lot packed into that runtime. With a project with so many different directors it can be an artistic overload. One thing you will certainly not be during a viewing of this is bored on any level. 

    ''Vorarephilia, or vore for short, is an uncommon paraphilia characterized by the erotic desire to be consumed by, or to personally consume another person or creature.'' That is what all these shorts are based around. Each short takes a very different view of vorarephilia. Now I have never heard of this particular fetish, so this entire sitting was somewhat of a culture shock for me. I was more or less speechless after most of the shorts. Partly due to confusion and partly due to how well these are executed for the most part.

    There are several familiar names associated with this project. Ranging from Larva Mental to The Catcall Trilogy to XXX: Dark Web and several other notable films. All bring their A games to this project. Every segment is an unflinching view of Vorarephilia. Each segment is very much a product of it's respective director. During Infernal Gluttony 2 you know your watching a Patrick Fortin segment. Yummy Fur feels like you are watching a segment from XXX: Dark Web. I love that each director stands out in and of itself. Like i said earlier, with so many different people on the same project the overall subject matter can get lost and become a bit messy in the story aspect of it. That problem is not present here thankfully. 

    A few segments stand out to me personally. 'Yummy Fur', 'Italian Ladies Do It Better' and 'Please Not in My Mouth' are very well done. Great gore, great look at the paraphilia, good acting and camera work all around. However my personal favorite is 'Stretching'. A far more toned down segment in terms of gore and shock value but certainly ramped up in the showing the mind or someone consumed (LOL) by this fetish. I loved the atmosphere of it and the actor did a wonderful job of making me wonder about his well being with no dialogue. 

    This was a cool little experimental project that I personally feel is a great way to find your next favorite director. Wonderful showcase of the talent that is out there. Make sure to keep an eye out for the release through TetroVideo. Trust me. I'm Some Guy.

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.