by Britt Hayes

October has been an insane month for horror releases, for obvious reasons. There have been some great titles, and some awesome surprises, but looking at the grand scope for this month’s releases, I find myself underwhelmed. Here we are in our last week, and I think it’s the best yet:

Black Devil Doll

Holy shit.  While the artwork screams blacksploitation in the 70′s, this film came out last year. Just watch the NSFW trailer over on Youtube. Trust me, it will change your fucking life. “He’s a lover! He’s a killer! He’s a muthafuckin’ puppet!” The tagline says it all. The trailer is even better, filled with naked women, guns, blood, profanity, a killer puppet bitch slapping a bunch of ladies. It also sort of reminds me of Franklin, Gob’s puppet from Arrested Development, just with more cursing and bloodshed. Regardless, this is a must see.

Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet

This film is apparently based on the true story of Long Island legend Mary Hatchet – a woman who, in 1978, murdered her family and was subsequently committed. 10 years later, she escaped the mental asylum, killing all in her path, before she was finally shot to death by the police.  In the film, the night Mary died is forever celebrated as “Blood Night”. Many years later, a group of teenagers (including Danielle Harris of Rob Zombie’s Halloween and H2) come together to do what a bunch of idiot kids in horror flicks do best: go look for the scary thing and get killed by it. Blood Night also stars Bill Moseley (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, The Devil’s Rejects), Nate Dushku, and Samantha Facchi. Rent this one first.

Breaking Nikki

I’ve heard some vague mumblings about this across various sites, so it definitely piques my interest. The plot follows a high end call girl who is hired by a man to emulate his ex-wife. Obviously, that sounds dangerous enough already, so it’s only natural that the call girl ends up playing victim to this twisted man’s revenge plot. Breaking Nikki is an Argentinian horror film and has been called extremely violent, and stars Maria Ines Alonso, Oliver Kolker, and Veronica Mari.

The Butcher

The Butcher is a Korean horror film told in POV, and filled to the brim with gore and violence. From the beginning of the film, you’re already thrown into the chaos. A bunch of people who have gone missing are lying dead on a slaughterhouse floor, while nearby, a group of snuff film producers are discussing how they torture their prisoners to death. The French have had the corner on the blood and viscera market for the past couple of years, but with The Butcher, Korea is really stepping up their game.

Fear(s) of the Dark

This is an animated horror anthology from artistic director Etienne Robial, which brings together comic and graphic artists Blutch, Charles Burns (the unsettling and darkly comedic Black Hole), Marie Caillou, Richard McGuire, Pierre di Sciullo, and Lorenzo Mattotti. Fear(s) explores, well, fears through the eyes of some of the greatest comic artists in the world.

Late Fee

A low-budget horror flick from the people who brought you The Hills Run Red. A couple wants to rent the scariest movies they can find for Halloween, so off to the rental store they go, but the store is closing! The couple beg the proprietor to let them rent just a couple of films, and he obliges, only under the condition that the films are returned on time. Well, guess who forgot to turn their movies in on time? The couple soon find out that they must pay the late fee, and it’s not cheap (hint: it’s blood). We recently ran the trailer, which shows a lot of choppy editing and cheap scares. Rent it. Don’t buy it.

Orphan (Blu)

When Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) is orphaned due to a fire that burned down her home and killed her family in Russia, she is adopted by the Coleman family (Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard). But strange things happen when Esther is around. A kid gets pushed off a slide, a nun gets beaten to death at the orphanage. Is Esther as sweet as she seems? Her adopted mother begins to think she’s not. This is the second film within a year where Vera Farmiga has played mother to an evil child. She did quite well in last year’s Joshua, starring alongside my favorite male actor, Sam Rockwell. I found myself a bit confused when Orphan came out earlier this year. Seemed like Farmiga was playing the same role again, but in a more commercial version, and with a girl child. I’ve heard some good and bad things about this movie, but mostly that it’s pleasantly surprising. Marc gave a theatrical review earlier this year.

Stan Helsing (Blu)

The cover art for this film screams Scary Movie to me, and that’s just what it is: another fucking spoof film. I’ve had my fill of spoofs, especially after the repulsive team of Friedberg and Seltzer came into the picture with tripe like Date Movie, Disaster Movie, and Meet the Spartans. Stan Helsing doesn’t feel much more promising, being written and directed by first time director Bo Zenga. Not familiar with the name? He wrote Soul Plane. Yeah, I don’t know that I really need to see Stan Helsing, but I do love Diora Baird (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning), and the girl has been imploring the public, via her Twitter, to please check the movie out this week. So, do the lovely and sweet Ms. Baird a favor and rent this film.

Sauna

I don’t know much about this film at all, but here’s the official synopsis:

“A chilling horror film, Sauna explores the space between Christianity and paganism. The year 1595- a long and brutal war is finally over. Brothers Knut and Erik- who are part of a commission marking the border between Finland and Russia- commit a terrible sin as they leave a young girl to die a horrible death. As the commission crosses the uncharted swamp, the girl returns to haunt them. Weary men find solace from the nameless village and find a sauna- the sauna where all sins are washed away. Seeking forgiveness the brothers step in.”

Honestly, this film sounds like it’s about relaxing in the most awesome baptism pool ever. But I know a thing or two about baptism pools, and that shit never ends well. Read our official theatrical review here

X-Cross

This film is directed by Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale II, Yo-Yo Girl Cop…ah, only in Asia) and follows a serene resort as it’s terrorized by a group of crazy murderous types, led by a mysterious killer with a very large weapon resembling a pair of scissors. I can’t find much other information plot-wise, but anything Asian and batshit crazy with lots of blood sounds good to me. I say rent it.

The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (Blu)

If this title doesn’t ring a bell, you may remember it under the title Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. The 1975 film directed by Jorge Grau, and starring Cristina Galbo, Ray Lovelock, and Arthur Kennedy, focuses on the police chasing two hippie characters suspected of perpetrating a string of Manson family-esque murders. The murders aren’t the doing of the couple, but of the living dead, being brought back to life by chemical pesticides being used by the local farmers. The zombies in the film are insanely creepy, and I can’t wait to check this out on Blu. Worth a buy for tried and true horror fans.

Messiah of Evil: The Second Coming

When the moon drips blood, a bunch of scary shit happens – mainly zombies. A pretty effective little 70′s horror flick, directed by Willard Huyck (Howard the Duck…yeah). The set design in this is just stunning, and while it wasn’t very popular in its day, the film is still pretty decent.

Night of the Creeps (Blu)

This is one hell of a long awaited release. If you buy one release this week, make it this classic. The plot follows a college couple in 1959 who stumble upon a meteor. The boy swallows a space slug that jumps out of the meteor. In 1986, a couple of college freshmen find the frozen corpse of the boy from 1959, and when they thaw it out, he comes back to life and begins infecting other college kids with these sluggy alien brain parasites. It’s a really campy, totally fun film written by Fred Dekker, who also wrote and directed The Monster Squad. BUY IT.

Also released this week: The Asphyx, Born of Fire, Dead Air, Evil Face, God’s Left Hand Devil’s Right Hand, Graveyard Disturbance, I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle, I Can See You, Night of Death.