Nightmare Symphony © TetroVideo

      

    Nightmare Symphony is an upcoming giallo horror movie from directors Domiziano Cristopharo (House of Flesh Mannequins, Red Krokodil) and Daniele Trani. Produced by Ulkurzu and HH Kosova and written by Antonio Tentori (Nightmare Concert, Dracula 3D), the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD by TetroVideo in 2021.

      Nightmare Symphony is an homage to Lucio Fulci’s Nightmare Concert/A Cat in the Brain, in which the director appears playing himself, a tortured horror filmmaker haunted by his own bloody horror film visions.

       In Nightmare Symphony, the filmmaker at the center of the story is played by Lady in White director Frank Laloggia. Domiziano Cristopharo’s movie focuses on a horror director who is struggling to complete his movie, while a series of gruesome murders happen all around him. Eventually he will be forced to face his worst and scariest nightmares.

      The movie also stars Antonella Salvucci (The Torturer), Antonio Tentori, Poison Rouge (AGP:Sacrifice), Pietro Cinieri, Irene Baruffetti, Edi Hasan Lushi, Halil Budakova and Merita Budakova (Virus: Extreme Contamination). The soundtrack is by Antony Coia (House of Flesh Mannequins) and includes the original main theme by Fabio Frizzi (City of the Living Dead, The Beyond).The practical effects are by Jacopo Tomassini (The Obsessed).

    This is probably the best call back to giallos of the 70's and 80's I have ever came across. If I didnt know better I would have thought this was a lost Lucio Fulci film. This is everything that a giallo should be! Terrific characters, wonderful story,  the fucking atmosphere!!! It even has a killer with a peacock head mask, a wonderful love letter to the craziness that is Italian murder mystery films. I had a great time with this one. Trying to figure out who the killer is, who was going to get offed next, who was going to accuse who next and why. Thrown in some familiar faces with some great talent and BAM. You get Nightmare Symphony. 

    Also, lets face it, giallos are a product of Italy. So who better to do it than an Italian? Domiziano took his love of the genre and put forth one hell of an effort here. I feel he accomplished what he set out to do. So many great tense scenes and a wonderful musical score to boot. This is certainly going to scratch that giallo itch for anyone who is looking for a giallo that hasn't been seen or talked about to death. There are so many great names attached to this project that you'll be hard pressed to find anything coming up soon to comapre it to. 

    Nightmare Symphony is slated to be released later this year through TetroVideo. If you love murder mysteries and peacock headed killers and boobs, than you want to see this. Trust me, I'm Some Guy.

Who Is Ben Gaudet? Interview and review of Rebirth

     Some of you might be familiar with this super young buck from Canada. He made a pretty big splash with Blew. A short that can hang up there with some of the far more known titles. He has been putting in some serious work over the past year or so. So today I would like to help get his work a little bit more attention. So lets check out his most recent short Rebirth!

    

    Rebirth with a run time of 32 mins and stars Ben as all the characters. The synopsis from the back of the DVD  pretty much tells you everything you need to know. A serial killer takes his life one day, a few years later a guy decides to bring the killer on back to the land of the living. And as one could imagine, chaos ensues. Im quite impressed with Ben's ability to do everything involved at such a young age and do it as well as some other decent indie filmmakers twice his age. There are somethings that plague this production, mainly audio and looking at the camera. However they are very forgivable given the fact that a kid under the age of 15 did EVERYTHING! The end of the movies gives up all that gory goodness than Ben is a fan of. Gallons of squirting blood, a decapitation and so on and so forth.

      While Rebirth isn't as good as Blew in the storytelling department, he is showing his improvement with all other aspects of filming. He showed us he can do a good story in previous projects so I have complete faith that his end products will get better and better overall with each film he does. 

      While Rebirth on DVD was a very limited run of 15 and is OOP, fear not. Most of his projects, including Blew and Rebirth, are all available to view free of monies on his YouTube channel. The link to it will follow the interview I was able to do with Ben. Just keep scrolling ya doofus.

An Interview With Ben Gaudet

Some Guy:

So let's start with the glaring fact that you're pretty young. How old are you?

Ben:

I’m 14

Some Guy:

Jesus lol when I was 14 i was glued to the couch. How long have you been actively filming?

Ben:

I started filming movies when I was 8 in 2014, but I actually got serious about it when I shot blew a year ago.

Some Guy:

You more or less were born with a camera in your hand huh? Lol. Blew is where I and I imagine most of the rest of us became aware of you. Where did the idea for Blew come from? That's a subject most younger folks aren't really too aware of, so im curious where that idea was born from.

Ben:

I’m actually not quite sure where the idea came from, I really wanted to try to make another gore film so I started brainstorming ideas. I really wanted to make a movie about the downfall of a persons sanity due to drugs, because I had just found out about the film Requiem For a Dream, an was really blown away by it, I had never seen anything like it, the editing style and just the darkness of the movie. So I kind of thought of a plot that somewhat resembles it, but with lots of gore.

Some Guy:

I love the fact that you're a gorehound at such a young age lol it's also nice to have a filmmaker looking at films that have been out for so long with a fresh set of eyes. When you say 'I had just found out about Requiem For A Dream...' That's not a sentence people my age are used to hearing lol. I love that you are still able to get the rush of creativity from films that the majority of us have long since but aside from a creative stand point. That being said it shows that you really love the older grindhouse style horror movies. Where did your enjoyment of those spawn from?

Ben:

I got into horror when I was around 4, with the Friday the 13th franchise. Then later I started watching stuff like the burning, which I really liked the gore in. After that I found out about the video nasties and Italian horror, after that I found out about shot on video horror films, with the first film I saw being Mark and John Polonia’s classic Splatter Farm. After that I got into under ground splatter and German gore.

Some Guy:

German Gore is certainly the where the gold is. You do most everything there is to do in the film making process. Are there certain parts that really irritate you? Or for the most part do you find you enjoy doing it all?

Ben:

I think that filming by myself is pretty easy for the most part, but I think I would like to have a crew because that way I could get better shots and make it easier for me to pump the blood and film at the same time. But, I think I do enjoy being by myself, for example, not having to worry about when my actors and crew are available, and not having to write a script most of the time.

Some Guy:

Right? Being a one man show has its pros and cons for sure. When figuring out your effects for the first time did you find it as easy as you had hoped or where there alot of problems you found along the way? I've always been interested in SFX but it always seemed so time consuming to me.

Ben:

Special effects have had many problems on the set of my films. For example, the scene in blew where the kid cuts his own leg off was exposed to have lots of squirting blood, but it was so cold the blood in the tubing froze. I’ve never done molds yet, and I don’t know how to do them, and from what I’ve seen, they look like there pretty time consuming.

Some Guy:

Being from Canada I can imagine that sometimes the cold can really throw a wrench into the damn works. So lets talk about Rebirth. When did the idea for that come about?

Ben:

Tantrum by James bell, I watched that movie and wanted to make something similar with more of a slasher theme.

Some Guy:

James Bell is a name that I hear constantly from folks when it comes to their inspiration. It's certainly no surprise that his films rubbed off on you lol. How long of a process was it from idea to when it was ready for release?

Ben:

About maybe two to three weeks, because I had to gather the materials (dvd-rs and empty packages to ship them in) and I had to print the artwork

Some Guy:

Overall how do you feel this project turned out? Was there anything you wish you had worked on more?

Ben:

Yup, the sound mixing and the sound effects, and maybe a bit on the plot as well.

Some Guy:

Do you ever find yourself worrying too much on one particular part of the process? Or do you just tend to move on at a certain point?

Ben:

I definitely worry about little things in the movie, and some things I don’t even notice until I’ve completely finished the film.

Some Guy:

Is this something you plan on turning into a career at some point? Or do you think that would take alot of the fun out of it? Or is that even something on your mind at this point?

Ben:

It’s not really on my mind at the moment, I think I would love to go to a film school, or at least take film classes in college or university or something.

Some Guy:

Well I for one certainly look forward to what you can do with your talent in the coming years. How do your friends and family react to your stuff?

Ben:

For the most part they like it, my parents don’t like me making big messes with fake blood around the house, and my friends like it too, I really hope they can act in one of my films soon.

Some Guy:

Tell your parents I said it was fine. I got a face they can trust lol. Have you written anything with your friends in mind? Or do you have anything planned for the near future?

Ben:

I’m actually starting production on my next film within the next few weeks, and I have another idea planned which incorporates my friends.

Some Guy:

Anything you can tell us about your next project?

Ben:

I can tell you that it’s probably going to be my goriest film ever, and it’s going to have better production quality.

Some Guy:

I love hearing that! So one last question, lots of us define a certain decade as being the golden age of horror. My age group tends to look fondly on the 80s. My younger brothers say 90s/ early 2000s. How about you? What decade do you feel did horror the best?

Ben:

Probably the 80s to the early 2000s, tons of classic horror films where made in that time span, pretty much all of my favorites were made during that time.

There you have it folks. Check out all his shorts on the BrokenVHS - YouTube channel, you wont be dissapointed. Trust me, I'm Some Guy.

    

Mother Noose Presents: Once Upon A Nightmare © A Buck Short Productions

    

 Like Tales From The Crypt? Than this film will be right up your alley. Mother Noose Presents: Once Upon A Nightmare is an upcoming anthology movie from A Buck Short Productions. It has a runtime of  1hr and 45mins and has Erin Brown also known as Misty Mundane. It's directed by Dan Beck, Eric E. Poe and Richard Tanner.

    This is a really fun horror anthology that is far more light hearted than most things I review, and to be honest it was a nice change of pace. The wrap around story is about a nasty witch, Mother Noose, who is trying to bring back her dead lover by telling twisted stories to a poor fellow who she has trapped in her lair. The opening credit scenes harken to little red riding hood, oh and there is a wolf with a hotdog dick, ya know, if you're into that kind of thing. Followed by a Hansel Gretel type story, to be honest that one was kind of reaching for that reference. Cinderella and the devil. Pinocchio. Ect. Ect. While the stories themselves are well know, I do like how they made each segment stand out with their own personal twists and takes on the stories.

    I do have an issue with the drastic changes in sound quality that are present throughout the film. However the acting was far above par for an indie release. There are a few gory parts that i was pleased with. I do wish that it was a bit more darker with its sense of humor and the overall ending to the wrap around story I felt could have been done differently. With that being said, if you're looking for a legitimately fun take on some well known fairy tales than you need look no further than Mother Noose Presents: Once Upon A Nightmare. Nothing too extreme but still dark enough to keep even the most hardened horror fan watching the screen. Don't miss out on this when it is released from A Buck Short Productions. Trust Me. I'm Some Guy.

The House With 100 Eyes -Some Guy's Quickie-

 

        The House With 100 Eyes is a found footage horror movie that follows a husband and wife as they try to make snuff film history with a triple feature killing along with promises of bonus content like interviews and commentary. This is a little talked about hidden gem in the sub genre of found footage. Its not plagued by the usual problems that most of the unsuccessful found footage movies have. Things such as poor pacing, poor acting, poor sound and camera work. This movie has none of those. It actually has several tense moments and some great kills and gore. With that and a solid ending to boot, I think this movie just got lost in the flood of found footage movies in the early/mid 2010's. Which is sad because it forces solid titles to the bottom of the barrel, guilty by association if you will. So today as a little gift from me for being late with the Vore/Gore review, I want to take a quick look at The House With 100 Eyes.

    Married couple Ed and Susan make snuff films. Pretty basic story line, but they wanna make a splash with their 'Studio Red' company. Ed wants to make their next film like a big budget DVD release complete with behind the scenes stuff, commentary with them, interviews with the actors. I mean the dude has some big plans. They have set up cameras all through the house to get every angle possible for their magnums opus. They want to do the world's first triple feature, three kills in one go. This isn't their first film they've made as evident by the videos Ed watches and has laying around, along with the basement room with torture chair and all. Oh, also there is some girl who had all her limbs hacked off that they keep in a large pet cage. So there's that.

    After some searching for their 'stars' for a while they get their victims. This is when shit gets crazy. First girl is degraded and is fed her fat that Ed cuts from her, has her hand nailed to the chair. Just all kinds of crazy shit. All well done the entire time. Second victim is the wife's. She like poison. And this kill might be one of the most creepy deaths I've ever seen. With the convulsions and the amount of blood pouring from him is just disturbing as all fuck.

    Then Ed makes the mistake of showing his wife the films he has been making on his own. She gets upset by him cheating on her and sits for awhile contemplating. Meanwhile Ed goes to get the third victim who eventually gets the upper hand. She takes Ed down and runs. Susan eventually comes to Ed and tries to help only to have victim 3 come back to finish the job on Ed. She is then stalked in the house by Susan. Lights go out. Gun goes off. Singing starts. Credits roll.

    An overall solid movie. The characters are great and the effects are memorable. It sucks that this isnt more known and talked about. A rare find in a genre that is littered with garbage. This one is currently on Tubi for free so check it out. Trust me. I'm Some Guy. 

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.