The best thing about being caught up on all my movie watching is that I get to dig deeper into some of the horror on Prime, which is like browsing the racks of unknown horrors in the video store back in the day; you’re bound to find the good, the bad, and the ugly…and devour all of it. This time around it’s a zombie flick, an indie demon action flick, and a teen comedy.
THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD (2018)
In the age of zomburnout, this one is derivative of many recent zombie films—man wakes up to find he must survive all alone in a zombie apocalypse. The fact that the guy here is stuck in an apartment building makes me immediately think of films like Rammbock and Darkest Day.
There are some zombie suspense/action scenes sprinkled throughout, but most of our time is killed watching the guy kill time while attempting to stay sane.
He jams on drums to thrash metal, he jogs around the building’s hallways, he talks to a zombie stuck in an elevator like it’s his buddy, he does target practice with zombies out a window, he has nightmares!
All these cliché situations bring nothing new to the table, but for me it was worth watching The Night Eats the World because of an awesome scene involving the zombies infiltrating the building, the main guy getting trapped on the elevator, and the crazy action he takes to get out of the building. If only everything that came before the end were as thrilling and unique.
DEMON MOTHER (aka The Shriven) (2010)
It’s low budget with flashy indie style and practical effects and makeup (yay!), so Demon Mother immediately gets bonus points with me.
It’s also melodramatic and cheesy with plenty of nudity and gore as various demons and demon hunters have a turf battle in an urban setting. Heap on more bonus points.
I was oddly entertained by this one because it really knows what it’s going for. I liked the initial premise. A guy having nightmares about turning into a monster and killing women during sex begins to suspect he’s responsible for a rash of murders around town.
Then he meets a seductive woman who lures him into the world of life as a demon. She’s a fricking awesome demon babe. As threats come at them from every angle (aka: every alley), the guy’s girlfriend vows to save him from the clutches of the demon underworld.
It is what it is, so either you just go with it and enjoy the cheap erotic action horror insanity, or you avoid it completely. Personally, it made me want to see more movies from director Max Dementor (as if his name alone isn’t reason enough).
TEEN LUST (2014)
If you visit Boys, Bears & Scares on a fairly regular basis, you know I’m a sucker for the teen sex & satan comedy genre (Killer Pad, Succubus: Hell-Bent, etc.).
If Jason Biggs fucked Once Bitten in its pie hole, the result would be Teen Lust. A high school virgin and his best buddy are part of a Satanic cult but decide to bail when they find out he’s about to be sacrificed to stop the second coming of Jesus!
Yep, it’s one of those “kids on the run from baddies” flix, with plenty of sexual hijinx along the way as the boys try to figure out how to pop the virgin’s cherry so he’ll be of no use to the cult.
It’s straightforward, silly fun with a totally likable cast of kids and some light humor, much of it raunchy. I would have welcomed even more raunch, because what’s it offers is right up my (back) alley. After all, nothing warms the heart more than a guy willing to serve up his ass to his buddy if that’s the only way to help him out of his predicament before it’s too late…
Yep, it’s definitely one for the die, gay guy, die! page.
Plus, the cast of adults is awesome, including cutie bear John Dore, horror queens Emmanuelle Vaugier (Charlie’s girl Mia on Two and a Half Men) and Kristin Bauer van Straten (vampire diva Pam on True Blood), and Cary Elwes of Saw.
