Random Acts of Violence isn't the movie I expected from Jay Baruchel. Best know for comedies like Goon and This Is the End, I anticipated something more comedic and satirical and, while those elements are there, this is a blood-and-guts horror movie through and through. Jesse Williams is the writer of the most popular R-rated comic going. Loosely based on a series of real murders along the I-90, his creation begins to come to chilling life when he, his girlfriend (Jordana Brewster), creative partner (Baruchel) and assistant (Niamh Wilson) drive from Toronto to New York for a comic-book convention. There are elements of satire in Random Acts of Violence. Baruchel and Chabot have something to say about the entertainment industry, fandom and basing art on real-life horrors. But they also pull out all the stops when it comes to the violence. These aren't Jason or Freddy style murders, but killings that feel real. And things boil over into an almost over-the-top finale that wo...

I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't familiar with Rene Perez's Playing with Dolls films going into Cry Havoc, which is actually the fourth film in the franchise. But I had watched Death Kiss, which paired Perez with Charles Bronson look-a-like Robert Bronzi. In fact, he's the reason I checked this film out. Death Kiss wasn't awesome, but it was enjoyable. And I like the idea of someone carrying on the Bronson mantle, as eerie as it gets at times. So having Charles Bronson take on a Jason Voorhees-like slasher intrigued. What would happen? Who would be the victor? What we get in Cry Havoc is a low-budget -- but slickly made -- slasher/action flick. The slasher flick has everything you'd want from such a film: bloody, brutal kills and boobies. The action flick has Charles Bronson... sorry, Robert Bronzi, shooting bad guys. Then the two movies collide at the end. The ending is the only part that really disappointed me. I won't reveal what happens, but I felt a ...

Ah, the slasher genre. You were all the rage during the 80s, and produced more titles than any horror fan can remember. Titles like 1988s Edge of the Axe. Fortunately the ghouls at Arrow Video are up to speed on such things, and will unleash Jose Ramon Larraz's hack-and-slash flick on Blu-ray Jan. 28, in what appears to be a beautiful restoration. That means it's a good movie, right? I said right!?! We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, take a boo at this trailer: There's a boat load of special features. Too many to list here, but they include two audio commentaries, interviews, effects features and more. Excited? Might as well be! Looking forward to getting our collective hands on this one later this month... Source: Arrow Video

Because there aren't enough crazed unstoppable killer movies out there, the folks at Wild Eye Releasing have yet one more to add to the list with Pickaxe. And, if you're thinking it sounds like something you've seen before... you're right! Try this on for size: the survivors of a series of brutal killings in a small town are forced to face the killer once again when a ritual resurrects him from the grave. Yup, sounds like any one of the 80s slashers that came in the wake of Halloween and Friday the 13th. To its credit, Pickaxe does star Phatasm's A. Michael Baldwin and legendary scream queen Tiffany Shepis, so there's that. Now here's the trailer: Pickaxe is directed by Jeremy Sumrall and... holy crap! It's available now on VOD! Source: Wild Eye Releasing

Sometimes familiarity can breed contempt. You've heard the same story over and over, and are tired of it. Sure, maybe there are slight variations, but the storytellers offer nothing new. Jason bored! Then there's the story's that promise one thing, but delivers something different. A good move, right? But, if it's not done well, this can also leave one feeling contemptuous as we didn't get what we wanted. We're a bunch of spoiled babies, really; rarely satisfied with what we're handed on a silver platter. Fortunately, the filmmakers behind the new movie Animal Among Us were able to tease us with a familiar camp-set slasher story, but delivered something completely different in the end. And they pulled it off. Famous for a savage murder 15 years ago, and the central setting for Roland Baumgarner's contentious best seller The MerryMaker Murderer, MerryMaker Camp is officially set to re-open... but something big is still lurking in those woods! ...

It's been a while since I'd seen this classic, so I wondered how well it holds up. And I must say, it holds up quite well! 1978's Halloween is much more of a suspenseful slasher flick than later sequels might suggest. Rather than focus on spectacular kills, the film spends its time building Michael's presence. It feels like he's always somewhere in every camera shot, watching and waiting. Adding to this is good 'ole Doctor Loomis, as played by Donald Pleasance. His cold, frightful monologues help you, the viewer, believe Michael might be more than a man. Of course, as this series would go on, our boy Loomis would remain the highlight of each film. Last, but not least, we have the excellent score. It's simple and effective, creating a tense atmosphere with mostly a piano and synth. It amazes me it only took three days for John Carpenter to compose the music for the whole film. All in all, this movie deserves its classic status. This one is a Good, a...

Some movies are critic proof. I'd hypothesize most horror and action movies, and comedies, fall into that category. And that's because fans go in knowing what they want and, as long as they get it, they're happy. The new slasher pic Trick is one such movie. Director Patrick Lussier, who wrote this with long-time writing partner Todd Farmer, has crafted a violent, gory Halloween-based slasher that is exactly what we want such a film to be; a violent, gory Halloween-based slasher. If you go in wanting anything more than that... well, then I can't help you. Lussier and Farmer made the brilliant My Bloody Valentine 3D and the fun Drive Angry. They wear their sensibilities on their sleeves, and those sensibilities are, for the most part, on display here. Police gun down a masked killer on Halloween night in 2015, but the killer comes back every year to kill again, working his way toward the survivors and cops who shot him. I lost track of the body count after 30 mi...

I gave up on American Horror Story a long, long time ago and, much like The Walking Dead, I didn't understand the hype when I did like it. Hey, a man's entitled to his opinion!

Eye See You, AKA D-Tox, was a notorious movie some 20 years ago, when it was originally supposed to come out. The film had a lot of negative buzz around it. There were reshoots galore. And, despite the presence of superstar Sylvester Stallone, the film sat on a shelf for three years until finally getting a limited theatrical release in 2002. The film was Stallone's last starring role, other than an appearance in a Spy Kids movie, until Rocky Balboa came out in 2006. And that's too bad, as he's quite good in it.

Joe Giannone's Madman is one of countless camp-based slasher pictures that flooded theatres and video stores in the wake of Friday the 13th. The premise was simple back then: a bunch of horny teens at a kids' campground are stalked by a nut in the woods. That's it, that's all. Madman wears this premise with pride, attempting to be nothing more than an excuse for a poorly made up killer to, well, kill the counsellors in gruesome ways. And that he does, strangling them, lopping off their limbs and, at one point, decapitating one victim with a pick-up truck's hood.

The horror genre had fallen into a post-Scream slump when Urban Legend came out. Wes Craven's Scream movies were so popular, every genre filmmaker was trying to cash in on their success. So what we got was a long line of self-aware slasher movies that featured a pretty, young cast of TV stars menaced by a killer. Think the medium after John Carpenter's Halloween came out, and you get the idea. Not a bad thing, as long as you weren't the fifth or sixth carbon copy down the road. Fortunately for Urban Legend, it wasn't.

I have mixed feelings about Jordan Peele's Us, which just opened huge at the box office, not only cementing horror as the current "It" genre, but Peele as a filmmaker to be reckoned with. Many are calling his film a masterpiece, along with using the buzz words "nightmarish" and "Terrifying." Well it certainly is an accomplished and entertaining piece of work, I wouldn't use any of those words to describe Us.

Last weekend there was nothing, but this weekend there's three big releases and one film in limited release that every horror fan needs to check out. And Jason and Shawn are here to tell you all about 'em! For starters, scream queen Jamie Bernadette stars, co-wrote and produced the slasher movie The 6th Friend, and it's been granted a limited theatrical run today. How cool is that? Given the Basement Boys have seen it, and will put the flick on the chopping block, it could be very cool indeed. What'd they think? Stick with us!

I've seen a lot of slasher movies in my time, and understand the formula pretty well. Halloween defined the genre, Friday the 13th took it to new levels, and the Scream franchise added a wink and a nudge. I've seen them all, so it's tough to get me hooked on one. The latest entry in the slasher cannon, Jamie Bernadette's The 6th Friend, attempts to blend elements from all these legendary titles into something new and fresh, and for the most part, this movie succeeds.

What's more fun than a movie about a killer hacking and slashing his way through a group of camp counsellors? How about one where one of said counsellors might be the killer, but he doesn't know for sure? That's the premise behind You Might Be the Killer, a razor sharp, and often comedic, spin on the old killer-in-the-woods trope. Apparently inspired by a Twitter thread that deconstructed the slasher genre, this is a fun way to kill a Friday night, if you'll excuse the pun.

Sequels, especially horror sequels, and especially especially slasher-movie sequels, are usually the first movie repeated. As much as  I love 'em, the Friday the 13th and Halloween parts two through 20 are pretty much just the first movie done again, and again, and again. And, on the surface, that's what Happy Death Day 2U appears to be too. Take Happy Death Day and repeat it. It is Happy Death Day 2 after all.

Given the success of John Carpenter's Halloween and Friday the 13th, the 80s was a hotbed of slasher movies. It can be argued that for a good decade the horror genre was simply made up of crazed/masked killers murdering teens. Many of these films came and went with little fanfare other than poor reviews by mainstream critics. And, as is often the case, several have earned a cult status among fans. Hell Night is one such movie, and it's not a bad one by any standard.

As I sat down to write this, I wondered what the point of yet another review/write up of John Carpenter's seminal movie would be. Writers far more talented, an learned, than I have already said their piece. Film historians and cinephiles have contributed their two bits to this classic film. Do I have anything new to add? Is there more that can said about a movie that made its mark on horror movies -- and cinema in general -- 40 years ago?

It's the last weekend of September, meaning October is just days away, and that can only mean one thing -- Halloween is just around the corner! While Universal and Blumhouse's Halloween sequel/reboot is still a few weeks off, Lionsgate and CBS Films gets a running start at the spooky holiday with the slasher flick Hell Fest this weekend. And Jason and Howie are ready to talk about it and the weekend's other big releases today at 8:40 a.m. on the Radio NL 610 AM Morning Show!

What the hell, Jay!?! Another Drunken Review? The heck is a matter with you? You on vacation or something? As a matter of fact, I am. And it's almost over. Now piss off and let me review (ish) Victor Crowley before I pass out, would yah! Not a question. A statement.