Happy 4th of July from Hayes Hudson's House of Horror!!

  I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends, cooking out, swimming, and shooting fireworks!   Why not finish off the day watching the essential 4th of July film, UNCLE SAM!   It's a great, gore-filled celebration of America! 




 Have fun!

Blu-ray Review: GOD TOLD ME TO (1976)

GOD TOLD ME TO
Written & Directed by  Larry Cohen
Distributed by Blue Underground

 I remember seeing this movie years ago, but I really didn't remember too much about it.  I do remember the picture was so grainy, it was hard to watch.   I am happy to report that the great folks over at Blue Underground have released a beautiful version of this film.   GOD TOLD ME TO is now on Blu ray and it looks amazing.   Here is the basic plot from the Blu Underground website:

A rooftop sniper guns down 14 pedestrians on the streets of New York City. A mild-mannered dad takes a shotgun and blows away his wife and children. A cop goes on a sudden shooting spree at the St. Patrick's Day Parade. And each of these unlikely killers makes the same dying confession: "God told me to." Now a repressed Catholic NYPD detective (Tony Lo Bianco of THE HONEYMOON KILLERS and THE FRENCH CONNECTION) must uncover a netherworld of deranged faith, alien insemination and his own unholy connection to a homicidal messiah with a perverse plan for the soul of mankind.

  This is by far one of the strangest films I have ever seen.  I guess being written and directed by Larry Cohen, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to me.   The film feels like two different movies stuck together.  The first half you have what I was expecting, a film about people going crazy and killing other people for what seems to be no real reason whatsoever.  This is one of the scariest films I have seen in a while, not in a ghost, zombie, vampire, or monster sort of way, but scary in the sense that this could happen at any time, and as we've seen as recently as a few weeks ago in Charleston, SC, things like this do happen all the time.   This film was somber reminder that we are never really safe and are never guaranteed another day here on earth.  Our life can be taken at any time at any place by any psycho with a gun.   Ok, this review is getting too deep and depressing, lets now look at the second half of the film.
 
  The second part of this film is like a different film entirely.  The second half now centers on an alien abduction and insemination, virgin births, and our main character seeing a God like vision.  I'll be honest, the second half of the movie downright strange.  It's a good strange, though, one that will definitely keep you entertained.   

   GOD TOLD ME TO is a must see in my opinion.   The film is available now on a beautiful Blu-ray release from Blue Underground and contains the following special features:

*  Audio Commentary with Writer/Producer/Director Larry Cohen
*  Heaven & Hell On Earth - Interview with Star Tony Lo Bianco
*  Bloody Good Times - Interview with Special Effects Artist Steve Neill
*  God Told Me To Bone - New Beverly Q&A with Larry Cohen
*  Lincoln Center Q&A with Larry Cohen
*  Theatrical Trailers
*  TV Spots
*  Poster & Still Gallery


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

Blu-ray Review: MANIAC COP 2

 
MANIAC COP 2
Directed by William Lustig
Written by Larry Cohen
Distributed by Blue Underground

I am a pretty big fan of the first MANIAC COP film.  I hadn't seen it until I reviewed it on this blog a couple of years ago  (see that review here).  So needless to say, I had never seen the two sequels of the film. I have never known too many sequels that matched the original in terms of enjoyment, let along surpass the original, but I really think MANIAC COP 2 managed to do this!  It is at least as good as the original, but I would go as far as to say this one is even better. I enjoyed it more, anyway.  Here is the basic plot of the film from the Blue Underground website:

  The "Maniac Cop" is back from the dead and stalking the streets of New York once more. Officer Matt Cordell was once a hero, but after being framed by corrupt superiors and brutally assaulted in prison, he sets out on a macabre mission of vengeance, teaming up with a vicious serial killer to track down those that wronged him and make them pay... with their lives!

  This was a very cool film with a simple plot, just the maniac cop going around killing people, but it was done so well that you have to give it credit when it comes to the cinematography and general camera work.  That is the one thing that really stuck out for me was the camera work, something that normally goes unnoticed and under appreciated in most films.  There were a couple of car chase scenes that were done remarkably well, leading me to ask myself how there were able to get some of those camera shots.

  I also liked that the maniac cop had some more creative kills in this film, my favorite being when he handcuffs a woman to the steering wheel of a car through the window  (she was standing outside the car), then puts the car in neutral and pushes it down the downhill street!  This was another instance of some great camera work and some great stunt work as you could tell this was actually a performed stunt, not a computer trick or green screened.

  I would encourage you check out MANIAC COP 2, especially if you are a fan of the first film.  MANIAC COP 2 is available now on a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and contains the following
special features:

*  Audio Commentary with Director William Lustig and Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn
*  Back On The Beat - The Making Of MANIAC COP 2
*  Cinefamily Q&A with Director William Lustig
*  Deleted Scene
*  Theatrical Trailers
*  Poster & Still Gallery
*  Isolated Music Track
*  Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack

Blu-ray Review: MANIAC COP (1988)

   

MANIAC COP
Written by Larry Cohen
Directed by William Lustig
Distributed by Synapse Films

  
MANIAC COP is a film I have always known about, but for one reason or another have just never seen.  The premise sounds cool and it stars two of my favorite horror movie actors  (Bruce Campbell and Tom Atkins), but this was just always slipped past me somehow.   If you haven't seen this film either, now is a perfect time now that the fine folks at Synapse Films have released this brand new high-definition transfer of the original unaltered theatrical release version!  If you are not familiar with the film, here is the basic plot courtesty of the Synapse Films website:

Innocent people are brutally killed on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell, TV’s BURN NOTICE and the EVIL DEAD trilogy), finds himself marked as the chief suspect after his wife is murdered. As Lieutenant Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins, DRIVE ANGRY and LETHAL WEAPON) investigates, the death toll rises and he suspects a mysterious police cover-up. This “maniac” cop must be stopped, but it might not be so easy. He seems inhuman, and ready to take on the entire police force, hell-bent on revenge!

I'm not sure why you don't hear more about this film....this film isn't talked about too much, but to me this is a classic slasher flick for sure!  It was at least good enough to garner two sequels and can definitely hold its own when compared with other horror films of the 80's (the greatest decade for horror films in my humble opinion). 

MANIAC COP actually reminded me of a FRIDAY THE 13TH film.  I say that because the killer in this film is a big, hulking man who moves slow and [in the beginning at least] never shows his face.  When we do see his face finally, it is very disfigured and we get a flashback scene to explain why.  Slap a hocky mask on this beastly cop and you could have a FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 8: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN that was actually good!!  HA! 

I loved the fact that this killer was a cop, or at least wore a cop uniform.   Policeman usually are the ones to protect us from the bad guys, so when the main bad guy is a cop, it gives the viewer a real uneasy feeling.  This was noticed right from the start when in the opening scene a lady is mugged by two street hoods.  She gets away and they chase her, but before they can catch her, she spots a policeman in the distance.  She runs to him yelling "Officer! Officer!" and when she gets to him, you can see an instantaneous feeling of safety replace here feeling of panice and dispair.  This feeling of safety and protection is short lived, though, as she sees the officer's face and is lifted off the ground by the neck.  Her neck is snapped and she is tossed aside like a piece of trash.   The thought of someone who is supposed to protect you being the one you have to be aware of is very unsettleing to me.   Another grim aspect of the killer stalking the city being a cop is that all over the city, people now don't trust any of the police officers.  This leads to a very grueling scene in which an innocent cop is shot by a motorist thinking she was about to be attacked by the "maniac cop" on the loose.  

This is a great film and I recommend it for any horror fan.  It was a blas seeing Bruce Campbell in another horror film other than the EVIL DEAD films.    As with all their titles, Synapse Films has released this Blu-ray with tons of awesome special features including the following:

*New 2011 2K HD Restoration of the Original Unaltered Theatrical Release Version
*DTS-HD MA 6.1 Surround / DTS-HD MA 4.0 Surround / DTS HD-MA 2.0 Stereo
*MANIAC COP MEMORIES - Interview with Robert Z'Dar (HD)
*OUT THE WINDOW - Interview with Tom Atkins (HD)
*THREE MINUTES WITH DANNY HICKS Featurette (HD)
*Motion Still Gallery (HD)
*Theatrical Trailer and TV Spots
*Additional Scenes Filmed for Japanese Television
*Spanish Radio Spot


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray


CLICK HERE to visit the official website of Synapse Films