"BIKINI JONES & THE TEMPLE OF EROS" and "D.C. SNIPER" -- Coming to DVD in March

Infinity Entertainment Group in Association With Retromedia Entertainment Proudly Presents "Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros"

Erotic Adventure Comedy Whips Onto DVD March 2nd

LOS ANGELES - March 1, 2010 - For Immediate Release - Move over, Indiana! Whip into action with the adventure of a lifetime in Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros, swinging onto DVD March 2 from Infinity Entertainment Group.

Dr. Bikini Jones (the luscious Christine Nguyen) is on the hunt for the lost Temple of Eros. Using a golden idol as her guide, she searches the wild land of Moronica, along the way battling man-eating dinosaurs and fending off the sensuously wicked Evilla (2007 Penthouse Pet of the Year Heather Vandeven).

Bikini will do anything to find the sacred temple … and certainly does (much to the delight of her fans)! Co-starring Rebecca Love.

Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 16 x 9 and Dolby Digital. Includes original trailers.

Retromedia Entertainment was launched in 2001 by CEO Fred Olen Ray, a well-known writer, director and producer of films across a broad range of genres. Among his most successful works are the award-winning films Invisible Mom, starring Dee Wallace, and Inner Sanctum, starring Tanya Roberts and Margaux Hemingway, both of which became "The Number One Most Rented" DVD titles in the U.S., according to the RIAA. The latter film earned Ray the Wall Street Journal headline "B Movie Makes A-Movie Money." Ray also directed the award-winning Black Horizon, starring Michael Dudikoff and Ice-T; Armed Response, starring David Carradine; and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, called the "4th Coolest B Movie of All Time" by Maxim magazine.

Bikini Jones and the Temple of Eros
Retromedia/Infinity Entertainment Group
Genre: Erotic Adventure-Comedy
Not Rated
Format: DVD Only
Running Time: Approx. 81 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $14.98
Pre-Order Date: January 26, 2010
Street Date: March 2, 2010
Catalog #: IEG2200
UPC Code: #617742220094

Buy it at Amazon.com


North American Motion Pictures Proudly Presents "D.C. Sniper"


From the Trunk of a Car, They Terrified a Nation--The Inside Story of How Two Real-Life Serial Killers Terrorized Our Nation's Capital, on DVD March 16th

Buy Three DVDs, Receive One Free Blu-ray

"Enemies of the state: Manson, Unabomber, D.C. Sniper."
-- Independent Film Quarterly

LOS ANGELES - March 1, 2010 - For Immediate Release - The infamous, real-life killing spree perpetrated by two mysterious shooters is chillingly dramatized in the horror-thriller D.C. Sniper, on DVD March 16 from North American Motion Pictures (NAMP).

D.C. Sniper takes you back to October 2002 when John Allen Muhammad (Ken Foree, 2004's Dawn of the Dead) and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo (Tory N. Thompson), held Washington D.C. and surrounding areas hostage with a terrifying three-week murder spree.

The deadly duo shot and killed 10 people and wounded three more from the specially rigged trunk of a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan before finally being apprehended, allowing the entire country to breathe a sigh of relief.

During three trials and years of appeals, Muhammad professed his innocence and Malvo (who testified against him) tried to "make amends," but to no avail. Muhammed was executed by lethal injection Nov. 10, 2009 and Malvo, protected by juvenile law, is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole.

The inside story of how two sadistic assassins paralyzed our nation's capital.

D.C. Sniper is presented in full frame with an aspect ratio of 16 x 9 and 2.0 stereo. Special features include stills gallery and closed captioning.

To support the title in the marketplace, NAMP has announced a retail promotion: Buy three DVDs of D.C. Sniper and receive one free Blu-ray disc of the film (Blu-ray available only through this promotional offer).

D.C. Sniper
North American Motion Pictures
Genre: Horror-Thriller
Rated: R
Format: DVD
Running Time: Approx. 92 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $26.98
Order Date: February 9, 2010
Street Date: March 16, 2010
Catalog #: DVD - NAMP 201065
3-DVD/Blu-ray Promo Pack - NAMP 201067
UPC Code: DVD - #812862010659
3-DVD/Blu-ray Promo Pack - #812862010673

Buy it at Amazon.com

"BIKINI JONES & THE TEMPLE OF EROS" and "D.C. SNIPER" -- Coming to DVD in March

"13TEEN" -- Psychological Horror Slays DVD Feb. 16th

North American Motion Pictures Proudly Presents "13teen" -- Teetering on the Razor-Thin Line Between Sanity and Insanity


Buy Three DVDs, Receive One Free Blu-ray

"Seven meets Paranormal Activity." -- Independent Film Quarterly

LOS ANGELES - Feb. 1, 2009 - Three strangers. One killer. Find out who will live and who will die when 13teen slays DVD Feb. 16 from North American Motion Pictures.

Emeryville: population 73,250, including one feared serial killer on the loose who carves the number 13 into his victims' chests.

Sara is home alone on a stormy night when there is a knock at the door. Andrew, a real estate consultant, has stopped by regarding the sale of her house. Problem is, the house isn't for sale. Against her better judgment, she grants Andrew shelter from the rain.

But tension builds as Andrew, talking about his impending custody battle for his daughter, becomes more and more agitated. Sara finds herself in possible peril, until there is another knock at the door. John, a scripture-quoting home security technician, has stopped by to fix a fuse. But he may not be all he seems when a knife is found in his bag.

Cautious cat-and-mouse play ensues as the trio tries to determine just who the true threat is, while a surprise twist leaves you wondering just who it is that really needs to be saved …

13teen is presented in widescreen with an aspect ratio of 16 x 9 and 2.0 stereo. Special features include stills gallery and closed captioning.

To support the title in the marketplace, NAMP has announced a retail promotion: Buy three DVDs of 13teen and receive one free Blu-ray disc of the film (Blu-ray available only through this promotional offer).

13teen
North American Motion Pictures
Genre: Horror
Rated: R
Format: DVD & Blu-Ray
Running Time: Approx. 91 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: DVD - $26.98
3-DVD/Blu-ray Promo Pack - $69.99
Order Date: January 12, 2010
Street Date: February 16, 2010
Catalog #: DVD - NAMP 201053
3-DVD/Blu-ray Promo Pack - NAMP 201055
UPC Code: DVD - #812862010536
3-DVD/Blu-ray Promo Pack - #812862010550

Buy it at Amazon.com

"13TEEN" -- Psychological Horror Slays DVD Feb. 16th

North American Motion Pictures Proudly Presents "The Riverman"

Based on Real-Life Events--It Took a Serial Killer to Catch a Serial Killer


From One of the Producers of Saw II, III & IV and P2
Terror Reigns on DVD Jan. 12th
Buy Three DVDs, Receive One Free Blu-ray

"A&E's two-hour thriller The Riverman netted the cabler its best-ever original movie."
-- Variety

LOS ANGELES - Jan. 1, 2010 -- With nowhere to turn in their frantic search for Seattle's prolific "Green River Killer," authorities enlist serial killer Ted Bundy to profile their prey in The Riverman, coming to DVD Jan. 12 from North American Motion Pictures Entertainment.

Based on real-life events recounted in the best-selling book, The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer (co-written by Robert Keppel, former chief criminal investigator for the attorney general of Washington state), The Riverman recounts Keppel's efforts to track down mass murderer Gary Ridgeway, aka the Green River Killer.

With 10 unsolved murders weighing on his mind, Keppel (Bruce Greenwood, Star Trek, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Déjà Vu) recruits imprisoned serial killer Ted Bundy (Cary Elwes, The Princess Bride, SAW, Alphabet Killer and the upcoming A Christmas Carol) to help find the killer-at-large.

Sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole in 2003, Ridgeway was convicted
of 48 murders, but confessed to 71--and authorities suspect it was actually more than 90.

The Riverman is presented in full frame with an aspect ratio of 16 x 9 (1:78) and 2.0 stereo. Special features include stills gallery and closed captioning.

To support the title in the marketplace, NAMP has announced a retail promotion: Buy three DVDs of The Riverman and receive one free Blu-ray disc of the film (Blu-ray available only through this promotional offer).

Barnholtz Entertainment, Inc. (BEI), founded in 1996, and North American Motion Pictures (NAMP), founded in 2008, produce and distribute theatrical and direct-to-video, feature-length genre films - westerns, horror, action-adventure and comedy - with top-quality production values, superior packaging and star-driven casts. Headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif., BEI and NAMP are helmed by industry veteran Barry Barnholtz. The companies' library of nearly 200 films, produced under the Barnholtz Entertainment banner, includes such stars as Russell Crowe, Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Denzel Washington, Sandra Bullock, Jessica Alba, Hugh Jackman, Richard Gere and Chris Rock, to name a few. According to Rentrak, 19 of the last 20 Barnholtz films distributed on DVD (by Lionsgate Entertainment) were ranked as a top-10 non-theatrical rental title. Two titles reached #1, The Legend of Butch and Sundance (six weeks) and Ed Gein: Butcher of Plainfield.

The Riverman
North American Motion Pictures
Genre: Thriller
Rated: R
Format: DVD & Blu-Ray
Running Time: Approx. 91 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: DVD - $26.98
3-DVD/Blu-ray Promo Pack - $69.99
Order Date: December 8, 2009
Street Date: January 12, 2010

Buy it at Amazon.com

North American Motion Pictures Proudly Presents "The Riverman"

MUTANTS -- movie review by porfle

Not a really awful movie, the low-budget sci-fi thriller MUTANTS (2008) is neither ridiculously funny nor jaw-droppingly stupid enough to be entertaining. It's just exceptionally mundane.

The main gist of the story is that an evil sugar manufacturer has found a way to make the stuff even more addictive than it already is--as addictive as, say, heroin--but the secret additive invented by the company's resident evil Russian scientist, Sergei (Armando Leduc in full "Boris Badanov" mode), has an unfortunate side effect. It turns people into slavering, homicidal mutants, and their condition is highly contagious. So naturally, the company's dastardly CEO orders his underlings to kidnap runaway junkies off the streets for Sergei to experiment on until they get the formula just right. Which is fine with Sergei since he loves to create mutants.

One of the people kidnapped is the son of a broken-down security guard named Griff (Louis Herthum) who is still suffering from the death of his wife. His daughter Erin (Sharon Landry) works for the sugar company and begins getting strange emails that clue her in to her boss' evil doings. When she discovers that her brother is being held, she enlists the aid of Griff and a company strong-arm named Sykes (Tony Senzamici), who's sweet on her. Together they break into Mutant Central and get themselves into a whole heap of trouble.

Much of MUTANTS consists of people sitting in rooms and saying a lot of uninteresting dialogue. This is punctuated by a few meager action scenes in which a runaway junkie gets chased down or a mutant pops out and is subdued. Mainly the title creatures are seen only in their cells until the final minutes, when the good guys are shooting their way out of the facility and mutants spring out of the shadows every few seconds and are cut down. The makeup on most of them consists of some boils and not much else.

Direction, cinematography, and other elements are bland. The lead actors, however, are fairly good. Herthum (Griff) and Senzamici (Sykes) are probably the best of the lot--Herthum even had a small role in THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON--and they resemble each other enough to have played father and son in CARNIVOROUS the same year. Sharon Landry is fairly appealing as Erin. The rest of the cast is unremarkable.

The producers do score some points right off the bat by managing to wrangle Michael Ironside (SCANNERS, STARSHIP TROOPERS) and Steven Bauer (SCARFACE, TRAFFIC) to come in and do some scenes so that their names can be featured prominently in the credits. Bauer, sporting a weirdly nerdish makeup job, almost literally phones his performance in since he's seen mostly via a computer screen as he checks in with Michael Ironside's "Colonel Gauge" character. Ironside plays some kind of special ops guy who's onto the big sugar conspiracy, and in the film's finale he actually gets out of his car and participates in a fight scene with one of the bad guys. If you're a fan of Ironside or Bauer and the sight of their names in the credits gets you all excited, you might want to lower your expectations a bit.

I watched a screener so I can't comment on the final release version from North American Motion Pictures. The picture is 16 x 9 full-screen with stereo audio. Special features should include behind-the-scenes, stills gallery, and closed captioning.

I can't recommend MUTANTS, but I wouldn't urge you to flee from it in mortal terror, either. It just doesn't make much of an impression one way or the other.

Buy it at Amazon.com

MUTANTS -- movie review by porfle

GHOST CAT -- DVD review by porfle

This 2003 Canadian made-for-TV film was originally known as "Mrs. Ashboro's Cat" and has appeared as an Animal Planet original movie. Now, North American Motion Pictures is giving it a Sept. 22 DVD release as the somewhat more intriguingly-titled GHOST CAT, with special emphasis in the ads on Oscar-nominated Ellen Page (HARD CANDY, JUNO, X3) in an early starring role.

At first I thought this was going to be a zany combination of THAT DARN CAT and CASPER, but it's actually a pretty serious movie. Michael Ontkean ("Twin Peaks", "The Rookies") plays Wes Merritt, a recently-widowed writer moving to his deceased wife's New England hometown with his young daughter Natalie (Page). While house-hunting they meet a nice elderly woman named Mrs. Ashboro (Shirley Knight) whose weaselly banker nephew Boyd (Tom Barnett) is trying to get her to sell her house so he can replace the money he's been embezzeling before the bank examiners find out.

Mrs. Ashboro withdraws her savings from the bank with the intention of helping her friend Brenda (Lori Hallier, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, MONTE WALSH) who's being pressured to sell her animal shelter to a crooked land developer named Riker (Nigel Bennett). But soon after stashing the money in her house, Mrs. Ashboro dies suddenly and her loyal cat Margaret expires soon after out of grief. Wes and Natalie move into Mrs. Ashboro's now-vacated house and soon become involved in Brenda's struggle to keep her animal shelter as the increasingly ruthless Boyd and Riker join forces against her. Meanwhile, the good guys discover they have an unexpected ally--the ghost of Mrs. Ashboro's cat, Margaret.

Low-key and thoughtful, GHOST CAT has a subtle charm and warmth that sets it apart from the Disney Channel-type film you might expect. The characters, for the most part, behave in a realistic manner. This is especially true of Wes and Natalie, who still display a wistful melancholy after having lost wife and mother respectively, and Brenda, whose lifelong dream of operating her animal shelter is being wrested away from her. Tom Barnett's "Boyd" comes closest to stepping over the line as the stereotypical villain, but even he has an air of clumsy desperation not unlike that of William H. Macy's "Jerry Lundergaard" in FARGO, which keeps him believable.

I liked Lori Hallier as the "hardware widow" in 2003's MONTE WALSH and her down-to-earth performance here is very good. Ontkean does a nice job as the understanding single dad (who you just know is going to get romantic with Brenda sooner or later), and Ellen Page manages to portray a teenage girl without being flighty or precious or insufferable, which is no small feat. Of course, Shirley Knight is wonderful as Mrs. Ashboro and it's a shame her character disappears so soon. The rest of the cast is up to par, particularly Shawn Roberts as Natalie's budding love interest Kurt, whose troubled past makes him a suspect in some of the vandalism that takes place at the animal shelter.

I can't recall any scenes that are supposed to be out and out funny--in fact, the funniest thing about GHOST CAT is that it could've gotten along as a fairly serious drama without having a ghost cat in it at all. Not that I'd want that, since I'm a cat lover and Margaret is a very sweet and likable character. But she isn't really necessary to the plot at all and exists mainly to either lighten things up or to give the filmmakers an excuse to include some mildly spooky stuff like a seance, or a scene where Natalie is awakened in the middle of the night to find the piano playing itself.

In addition to that, Margaret's other functions are to wake people up when the barn's on fire or to lead them to the hidden stash of money, or to attack the bad guys when they're escaping in their car. And with all of that stuff going on, the last third of the movie manages to build a fair amount of suspense.

Direction by "Road to Avonlea" vet Don McBrearty is good; cinematography has that "Canadian made-for-TV" look. The DVD is 16 x 9 widescreen with 2.0 stereo audio. I watched a screener with no bonus features, but the official disc should include a stills gallery and closed captioning.

GHOST CAT is a fine choice for family viewing since the story is interesting, suspenseful, and heartfelt enough for adults, and since it has a ghost cat in it for the kids. Although they're liable to be disappointed that the movie isn't as kooky or as spooky as they might expect a movie called GHOST CAT to be.

Buy it at Amazon.com

GHOST CAT -- DVD review by porfle

NIGHT STALKER -- DVD review by porfle

A specialist in serial killer films as of late, prolific director Ulli Lommel adds to his screen bios of Son of Sam, the D.C. Sniper, the B.T.K. Killer, the Zodiac Killer, and others with 2007's NIGHTSTALKER, which is being given a new DVD release on Sept. 8 by North American Motion Pictures (under the slightly different title NIGHT STALKER). This weak and ponderous effort makes the recent serial killer films of director Michael Feifer look like "Masterpiece Theater" by comparison.

After a brief flashback of Richard Ramirez as a child witnessing his crazy war-veteran uncle shooting his crabby aunt in the head, the film is virtually plotless. Just about the only other thing that doesn't involve Ramirez skulking around the streets of Los Angeles looking for his next victim is the part where he follows an attractive young woman to a party and is introduced to drugs and Satan worshipping. Her supposed influence on him is manifested by several flashbacks during the murder scenes, consisting of quick closeups of her eyes as she chants "Hail Satan!"

Ramirez hates women, we're told early on, and is intent on putting them in their place. Thus, several of his victims in the movie are bitchy women in the process of bawling out some mousey guy, which seems to set off his "stalker sense" and lead him straight to the scene where he starts blasting away. This is repeated several times ad nauseum during the movie--scenes of couples arguing intercut with shots of Ramirez shuffling down the sidewalk sucking on his ever-present Charms Blow Pop until he arrives on the scene. Bad acting ensues, squibs go off, and star Adolph Cortez is directed to play around with the fake blood that's all over the place while director Lommel fiddles with artsy camera angles and editing.

I've always considered Richard Ramirez to be one of the scariest and most menacing of the famous serial killers, but Cortez plays him like a weaselly high-school dropout looking to score some weed for the big Phish concert. He does a voiceover with a lot of talk about evil and "darkness" and all that stuff, and keeps telling us "God is dead", etc., but there's no real connection between these ominous words and the smirking Richard Grieco wannabe who skulks around endlessly sucking on Blow Pops. Cortez goes through so many bags of Blow Pops during the course of this movie that his stomach lining must have developed an impenetrable candy shell.

Unfortunately, this is just about the only unique trait the character has, so Cortez works those damn things like he was doing a softcore porn tease. Besides that, all the script gives him to do is one walking-around sequence after another topped by yet another splattery bang-bang. After awhile the film becomes mainly a showcase for some decent head-shot squib effects.

NIGHT STALKER has that shot-on-video look and a wildly-inappropriate synth score that often works against the desired effect. The DVD image is 16 x 9 anamorphic widescreen with 2.0 stereo sound. I watched a screener with no extras, but the DVD release is supposed to include a stills gallery and closed captioning.

The film rambles along until the boredom finally ends with Ramirez' capture, which is depicted in a cursory but somewhat accurate manner. Then we're shown the following actual quote: "You don't understand me. You are not expected to. You are not capable of it. I am beyond your experience. I am beyond good and evil." These words are more chilling than anything depicted in NIGHT STALKER. Painting a convincing portrait of Richard Ramirez and giving us an inkling of what it must have been like to live in Los Angeles during his reign of terror or to experience one of his attacks are beyond this film.

Buy it at Amazon.com

NIGHT STALKER -- DVD review by porfle

DRIFTER: HENRY LEE LUCAS -- DVD review by porfle

Director Michael Feifer seems intent on chronicling the lives of every vile, lowlife bastard who comes to mind when you think of the term "serial killer." Now, in addition to "B.T.K.", "Boston Strangler: The Untold Story", "Bundy: A Legacy of Evil", "Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck", and "Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield", comes DRIFTER: HENRY LEE LUCAS (2009), a well-made and fairly engaging account of one of the most notorious killers who ever stalked the countryside.

Most of us know at least the basics of Lucas' story--abused physically and mentally by a sadistic mother, he grew up to be a prolific serial killer who traveled with his equally-demented buddy Ottis Toole and Toole's 12-year-old niece Becky, with whom Henry had a romantic affair. After his capture, he confessed to hundreds of murders but later recanted, making it unclear just how many he was actually guilty of.

The screenplay by Feifer and Wood Dickinson generally sticks pretty closely to the facts. The story of Henry's nightmarish childhood proves most affecting, with Ezra Averill as an 8-year-old Henry and Caia Coley giving a frightening performance as his prostitute mother Viola. In addition to making him watch as she has sex with strange men, the monstrous Viola beats Henry brutally, once putting him into a coma with a wooden board, and also abuses her legless husband. When a teenaged Henry (Nicolas Canel) finally kills Viola in what he claims was self-defense, it's pretty much a fist-in-the-air moment.

We see the adult Henry (Antonio Sabato Jr., "The Bold & The Beautiful") commit the first of his serial murders and his fateful meeting with fellow drifter Ottis Toole, played artlessly but with a lot of energy by "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo"'s Kostas Sommer. (The fact that grungy, homely Lucas and Toole are portrayed by a couple of relatively hunky actors is a little disconcerting.) Kelly Curran is good in her debut role as Becky, whose eventual murder by Henry is shown near the beginning of the film and revisited later.

The very familiar John Diehl of such films as "Jurassic Park III" and "Pearl Harbor" plays Sheriff Larabie, a fictionalized version of the actual sheriff who was accused of using Lucas as a "confession machine" in order to clear up hundreds of unsolved murders. Farino, the skeptical D.A. is portrayed by John Burke, whom I know mainly as the co-host of "Personal FX: The Collectibles Show." While there really isn't much of an ending to Lucas' story, the final scenes with him being interviewed by Farino do tie things up rather well and bring the film to a satisfactory conclusion.

Despite several opportunites to do so, director Feifer refrains from filling the screen with excessive blood and gore. One of the more lurid death scenes has Henry forcing his way into a woman's kitchen, knifing her in the back, and then strangling her from behind as she crawls away. Another sequence features the strangulation of a hitchhiker and Henry's subsequent necrophilic violation of her body. A movie theater patron gets his throat cut for daring to "shush" Henry and Ottis, and there are several knifings.

For the most part, however, the violence is quick and Feifer doesn't linger over it, preferring to concentrate on the story. The only drawback to this is that the sheer horror of Lucas' crimes is rarely adequately conveyed by this matter-of-fact approach. Direction and photography are consistently good, displaying a fair amount of style and imagination that helps keep things interesting even though there's not really that much of a plot.

The film is presented in 16 x 9 anamorphic widescreen with 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo audio. My screener contained no bonus features, but the DVD should include a commentary with Feifer and Sabato, stills gallery, and Spanish subtitles.

DRIFTER: HENRY LEE LUCAS does a pretty good job of showing us, in effect, "How to Make a Monster." The scenes of Lucas' childhood are harrowing and sad, yet Antonio Sabato Jr. manages to convey the idea that there's just something inherently evil about Henry (albeit an infinitely banal evil) regardless of his upbringing. While "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and the lesser-known gem "Confessions of a Serial Killer" remain the last word on the subject as far as I'm concerned, Michael Feifer's version of the story is both visually interesting and perhaps somewhat closer to the real facts than its predecessors.

Buy it at Amazon.com

DRIFTER: HENRY LEE LUCAS -- DVD review by porfle

GHOST MONTH -- DVD review by porfle

Don't forget to mark your calendars, kids, because GHOST MONTH is about to roll around and you're in big trouble if you don't follow the rules. Rule number 1 is: don't whistle. Rule number 2: if a ghost whispers your name, don't turn around, because if you do then that makes the ghost pull one of those Asian-horror-movie jump scares that may seriously freak you out. And rule number 3 is: uh, something about not stepping in the pile of ash left from the burnt offerings to the ghosts. Like just about everything else, it tends to anger them.

I, myself, would add a fourth rule, which is: if you go to work as a housekeeper for a mysterious Chinese woman and her creepy aunt and you find out that their house contains an open gateway to Hell that has malevolent ghosts pouring out if it, you might want to consider finding another job.

The idiot who not only can't take a ghostly hint but manages to break all the rules in nothing flat is Alyssa, played by likable actress Marina Resa. Alyssa gets more interesting as the movie goes along, but at first the most exciting things she does are smiling real nice and neatly tucking her hair behind her ears. I have to admire Alyssa's calm demeanor--in one scene she'll have an intensely frightening ghostly experience, and in the next scene she's whistling cheerfully through her housework again. The ghosts often scare her into passing out, and Mrs. Wu and her aunt find her lying on the floor. This becomes such a frequent occurrence that Miss Wu finding Alyssa passed out cold on the floor almost becomes a household routine.

The main reason Alyssa keeps on working at Ghost Central is that she's being stalked by a scary former boyfriend, Jacob (Jerod Edington), so working for Miss Wu (Shirley To) in her beautiful Southwest-style mansion in the middle of the Nevada desert is a perfect hiding place. Until he tracks her down, that is, giving Alyssa even more to worry about than jack-in-the-box ghosts flying at her at an alarming rate. Miss Wu's enigmatic neighbor Blake (Rick Irvin), who knows more than he's telling about the disappearance of her previous housekeeper, is another concern.

What makes GHOST MONTH different from the standard cheapo scare flick, besides being well-directed and having some superb cinematography and locations, is that writer-director Danny Draven is trying his best to give us some of the same jolts that we get from Asian horror cinema. And for much of the film, he does this quite well. The movie has some really scary ghosts in it, appearing suddenly along with the usual loud musical stings and making us jump. Even when we expect it, such as the times Alyssa opens a door and we just know something will be behind it when she closes it again, these ghosts can still give us a real fright. I like the fact that this is achieved mainly through clever directing rather than tricky editing.

The biggest drawback to the film, in my opinion, is a tiresomely persistent musical score. Occasional silence can be an effective tool in this sort of film, and having non-stop music telling us what to feel at every turn is distracting. As for DVD extras, I watched a screener that didn't have any but I can list them--behind-the-scenes footage, a cast commentary track with Marina Resa, Shirley To, and Rick Irvin, an "Origins of Ghost Month" featurette, an interview with director Draven, bloopers, still gallery, and closed captioning. The film is presented in 16 x 9 anamorphic widescreen with 2.0 stereo sound. The closing credits look particularly cool.

Having Miss Wu and her aunt constantly praying and making burnt offerings to ward off the ghosts gives Draven a chance to introduce some familiar Asian elements, such as people being wrapped up in yards of long, black ghost hair. Revenge is a motivating factor for these restless spirits, and some of the characters get what's coming to them in interesting ways (one of which is a treat for Poe fans). Unfortunately, the story starts to run out of steam, as well as logic, towards the end and there's perhaps one climax too many. But for the most part I found GHOST MONTH to be a worthy effort that held my attention and managed to generate a respectable amount of bloodcurdling shocks. And it's nice to see someone create an original Asian-style ghost story instead of just knocking off another remake of one.

Buy it at Amazon.com

GHOST MONTH -- DVD review by porfle

B.T.K. -- DVD review by porfle

The same tall, imposing figure, dressed in coveralls, relentlessly stalking his next hapless victim--Kane Hodder remains as intimidating a screen presence now as he did as Jason Voorhees in the FRIDAY THE 13TH films. But there's no hockey mask here, only the face of a normal, everyday guy. Yet there's something about it that isn't quite right, something a little off...just enough to give you the creeps. Because this isn't the face of a mindless killing machine. It's the guy next door.

Which is one of the reasons B.T.K. (2008) is so effective. Hodder plays Dennis L. Rader, a devoted husband and father of two grown daughters, a man active in his church, a man with a fairly responsible position--he's what's called a "compliance officer", which means he gets to wear an official-looking uniform and drive around his sleepy Kansas town in a white van, looking for infractions of various city ordinances. Rader takes this job seriously, perhaps a bit too seriously, to the point of being anally obsessive and at times downright hostile toward people who let their poodles run loose or don't keep their lawns trimmed (he actually measures the grass). Not only does this feed his voracious ego and help bolster his feelings of inadequacy, but it also gives him an opportunity to scope out potential victims--the women who will be his next targets for home invasion and brutal murder.

B.T.K. isn't your usual colorfully-inane slasher flick for teenagers to hoot and throw popcorn at. It's closer to the somber, uncomfortably realistic feel of HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, although Dennis isn't quite the remote, solitary cold fish that Henry was. He revels in his family life and his community and church activities, as long as he has brutal murder as a release valve for his pent-up rage and an outlet for his sexual frustrations. Hodder is great at portraying the two sides of Dennis--he's all smiles and banal cordiality until the little psycho-dial in his head inches into the red and he starts turning into a monster. And with his hulking physique, bull neck, and big, powerful hands, he's someone you wouldn't want coming after you.

Writer-director Michael Feifer doesn't go in for the flashy, elaborate kills that require the services of guys like Tom Savini or the inventiveness of Rube Goldberg. The real thing is scary enough when presented in a realistic way, as he does here. The performances in B.T.K. are generally good (Hodder himself is excellent) and natural enough that we feel for these everyday people whom Dennis strangles, stomps to death, smothers with plastic bags, or simply shoots in the head. The fear we all feel of having a vicious killer stalking us in our own homes is vividly portrayed. Feifer uses a hand-held camera to good effect and deftly stages the terror sequences so that they're both unnerving and emotionally disturbing. Direction and editing are above average throughout. Not every scene works, of course, and some of the later ones with Rader's family discovering the truth about him as police investigators move in are less than successful.

As the film goes on, we're taken deeper and deeper into Dennis' whacked-out mind while also getting disquieting glimpses from the victims' POV as well. One rather shocking scene shows him tracking down and getting revenge on a hooker who ran out on him earlier in the film--he decorates the wall with her husband's brains and begins to strangle her, which we see through her eyes as her vision dims, then returns, over and over again as Dennis sadistically brings her to the point of death several times before the kill. Then, he suddenly sees his own daughter in her place and freaks out. His mental state becomes even more unstable later on until ultimately we're just as unsure as he is of what's real and what isn't. Which leads to one of the film's most disturbing moments--a final twist that ends the story on a disorienting, dispiriting note.

Picture and sound quality are good--the DVD image is 16 x 9 widescreen with 5.1 surround audio. My screener contained no extras but the final release should boast a commentary track featuring director Feifer and Kane Hodder, a stills gallery, trailers, and Spanish subtitles.

B.T.K. (the title stands for "bind, torture, kill" after the infamous B.T.K. Killer, who inspired this fictional account) isn't a "fun" movie by any means. But it is often harrowing, disturbing, and effective. Mainly because the killer isn't a faceless automaton in a mask, or a grossly disfigured monster, but just some guy you might pass by on the street. Or glimpse out of the corner of your eye while sitting at home alone at night, right before he whips the plastic bag over your head.

B.T.K. -- DVD review by porfle

GHOSTS OF GOLDFIELD -- DVD review by porfle

I didn't like the film version of THE SHINING, so any horror movie about ghosts in a big old hotel is going to have to outdo Kubrick in order to win me over. (Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration.) And like the little engine that could, GHOSTS OF GOLDFIELD (2009) huffs and puffs its little heart out trying to do just that. But despite the best efforts of all involved, it never really builds up much steam.

Julie (Marnette Patterson of "Charmed") is a psych major who's doing a thesis on ghosts, so she rounds up some college friends to help her shoot a film inside the haunted Goldfield Hotel, situated in a ghost town in the middle of the Nevada desert. The main reason the place is haunted is because long ago, the rich bastard who built it tortured his mistress Elizabeth (Ashly Rae) to death in one of the rooms after finding out she was cheating on him with the hotel's bartender. He also tossed the couple's illegitimate baby down a mine shaft (what a sweet guy!), so now Elizabeth's ghost roams the corridors wailing "Where's my baby?" (And no, dingos are not involved.)

There's some other stuff mentioned about the hotel being a portal between the worlds of the living and the dead, but nothing much ever comes of this. And the fact that Elizabeth (who resembles Juliette Lewis after a bad weekend) seems to be the only ghost in the whole place for much of the movie really cuts down on the haunt factor. First-time director Ed Winfield displays little skill at building suspense or putting together effective scare sequences, while the cast seem unable to convincingly convey extreme emotions when necessary. Even their casual banter often seems awkwardly improvised, though much of the blame for this is probably due to the writers not giving them much to work with.

Besides Julie, there's her straitlaced boyfriend Dean (Scott Whyte), nice-guy cameraman Chad (TWILIGHT's Kellan Lutz), obligatory jackass Mike (Richie Chance), who stays drunk most of the time and likes to jump out and scare people, and Keri (Mandy Amano), the whiner who's constantly griping about being hungry or tired when she isn't swiping stuff from the hotel to sell on eBay. You know your cast isn't too impressive when the best performance comes from "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who plays Elizabeth's secret lover Jackson Smith (in flashback) with something resembling two strips of beef jerky glued to his jowls to represent old-timey sideburns.

As expected, members of the group begin to wander off by themselves down dark, spooky corridors as soon as they enter the hotel. Director Winfield relies heavily on shots of mysterious figures flitting past the camera, clutching hands, and other familiar stuff to keep us on edge. The ghostly image of Elizabeth wandering around with her blazing red eyes, flowing white gown, and crazed expression are somewhat effective at times. Late in the story we begin to get a few gory kill scenes, but nothing very elaborate. Also as expected, nobody is able to get a signal on their cell phones! It's inevitable nowadays that horror movies must deal with this issue, and lately it seems more and more as though scriptwriters are simply saying "Screw it--the cell phones don't work."

The DVD is in 16x9 widescreen with 2.0 stereo sound. Direction and photography are average at best, and at times not very good. I viewed a screener with the movie only, but the release version promises a director's commentary, stills gallery, and trailers.

During the story, Julie begins to have visions of herself in the hotel during a past life, and her possible connection with Elizabeth's tragic demise leads to a downbeat and somewhat surprising finale that sends the movie off on a high note. GHOSTS OF GOLDFIELD is an okay time-waster if you're not in a very demanding mood; otherwise, chances are you'll find it more tame and tedious than scary.

GHOSTS OF GOLDFIELD -- DVD review by porfle