My Review Of Roger Corman’s Forbidden World (1982)

Disclaimer: The image being featured here for this review is only being shared in the purpose of fair use only. All credit solely belongs to the original makers, creators, and owners, and absolutely no infringement is intended of any kind/type at all whatsoever.

If you ever wondered what Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) would be like if it was a cheesy exploitation B-movie produced by the legendary king of B-movies named Roger Corman, then you’re in luck because 1982’s Forbidden World is the cult classic for you that’s totally worth checking out.

Forbidden World’s existence was clearly meant to come off as a low-budget mockbuster imitation of Alien from 1979, in the exact same manner that many sharksploitation features were made after the success & popularity of 1975’s Jaws (or even just imitators of Jaws in general that used a different animal as the main threat overall), and while Forbidden World does give off the first impression of being a sleezy campy copy of Ridley Scott’s Alien, it still somehow manages to ironically be an unintentionally good sci fi horror movie all in thanks due to its charming elements of being able to strongly appeal to fans of cult cinema in an amusing & fun way that is in no way boring whatsoever.

Despite the film’s low-budget, a majority of the special effects in Forbidden World are actually very good as the monster does look threatening enough to be taken seriously as something to be genuinely scared of, and many of the blood & gore scenes are very graphic but in an impressive fashion, which is something I must kindly make very clear before I ever forget to explain in this review is that because of the movie’s moments of bloody violence, and sex & nudity, it’s best to be viewed only if you are 18 years old and above.

The acting is also surprisingly decent considering this is an exploitation B-movie, and while I liked seeing Dawn Dunlap in the film, there were times in which I was kind of annoyed by her screaming & yelling whenever her character was terrified, but it made sense based on the context of the scenes that caused her to react in such a way.

Since Forbidden World is suppose to take place on a outer-worldly planet, the set designs of the film perfectly match that very well since it is science fiction after all, but a downside to that I must nitpick is that the space station the characters primarily are seen in is cheap-looking for the most part as the walls on the hallway are obviously made from egg cartons, and fast food box containers.

The official Region A Blu-Ray release of Forbidden World (1982), put out by Shout Factory through their “Roger Corman’s Cult Classics” line, is a wonderful home video release as the picture quality of the movie is great, and the interviews included in the special features are worth taking a look at also, with there also being a fantastic documentary about the making of the film I truly recommend watching if you want to get this home video release of Roger Corman’s Forbidden World. I actually almost forgot to point out that this Blu-Ray release also contains the unrated director’s cut version simply titled “Mutant”, so that too is worth checking out as well thanks to the awesome release by Shout Factory.

Forbidden World is an honest guilty pleasure of mine that I always find myself watching multiple times, for it does a fantastic job at keeping me entertained by how much of a schlock production it is that imitates 1979’s Alien in a fun style that makes it rightfully deserving of it being a cult classic that has to be seen to be believed.

I’m going to give Roger Corman’s Forbidden World (1982) 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up!

If you would like to do so, please be sure to support me on Patreon as it’ll mean a lot to me, and please do follow me on Pinterest, and Instagram if you are interested in doing so: https://www.patreon.com/EugeneAlejandroThe4th, https://www.pinterest.com/gene98159796/_created/, and https://www.instagram.com/eugenealejandroauthor/

My Review Of Robowar (1988)

Disclaimer: The image being featured here for this review is only being shared in the purpose of fair use only. All credit solely belongs to the original makers, creators, and owners, and absolutely no infringement is intended of any kind/type at all whatsoever.

In the exact same manner, fashion, and style as Shocking Dark released a year later in 1989, Bruno Mattei’s Robowar from 1988 is a mockbuster that this time is a low-budget imitation of the first Predator film from 1987, and it even goes as far as to sprinkle in an idea & concept lifted from the first Robocop movie also from the year 1987 too as well, even if it is minor for Robowar copies elements from Predator the most more so then it does Robocop to be fair (although there’s actually a ton of differences that make Robowar stand-out from those two, even if that really isn’t saying much since it’s a mockbuster of them after all).

Thankfully for this review, I was finally able see Robowar in the USA due to the fact that Severin Films had put it out on home video in 2019 in an official Region Free DVD & Blu-Ray release that is a 4k remaster scan from the original camera negative, and I’ve also been incredibly lucky to have gotten myself a copy of the limited edition Blu-Ray release of the movie on Amazon, which as far as the Blu-Ray release of the film is concerned, the video quality is very impressive to look at considering Robowar most likely had never gotten such a transfer before since it wasn’t available to watch in the United States Of America for such a long time until the year 2019 at last by Severin Films as already mentioned.

Just like Shocking Dark (1989) in that despite it also being a mockbuster made as a complete cash-grab which also rips off other more well-known & popular works of cinema that obviously have higher budgets put into them, Robowar too is yet another so bad its good guilty pleasure (at least in my own humble opinion anyways) from the mindset of Bruno Mattei, that truly is entertaining to sit through despite its imperfections, with one of the major reasons being that the actions scenes in Robowar are amusingly fun to watch, the effects & production values are surprisingly competent even if still not the best things ever put onto film, and the overall soundtrack is general is that of nice 1980s epic cheese that fits the tone well in this movie.

While the characters aren’t particularly all that memorable, the acting is serviceable based on the material all of the actors & actresses are given to work with, and I must mention before I ever forget to do so is that Robowar was filmed in The Philippines in order to be set in a jungle as a means to copy 1987’s Predator, and the cinematography, camera work, and lighting are most definitely top-notch aspects in this mockbuster. The design of the antagonistic threat that is the malfunctioning killer robot may not be the best, but it still isn’t the worst, and it does deliver some unique kill scenes even if it is meant to simply just be a Predator (1987) knock-off.

To wrap up this review, 1988’s Robowar by Bruno Mattei is ironically a spectacular film to watch, all in thanks to the movie’s charm of not taking itself too seriously, and it is worth seeing in order to better understand how the early years of making mockbusters was like in the old days of cinema.

I’m giving Robowar (1988) 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up!

If you would like to do so, please be sure to support me on Patreon as it’ll mean a lot to me, and please do follow me on Pinterest, and Instagram if you are interested in doing so: https://www.patreon.com/EugeneAlejandroThe4th, https://www.pinterest.com/gene98159796/_created/, and https://www.instagram.com/eugenealejandroauthor/

My Review Of Shocking Dark (1989)

Disclaimer: The image being featured here for this review is only being shared in the purpose of fair use only. All credit solely belongs to the original makers, creators, and owners, and absolutely no infringement is intended of any kind/type at all whatsoever.

Before I begin with my review of Shocking Dark (1989), I first want to explain who Bruno Mattei is, and what mockbusters are, because I feel it’ll help in giving context on all that’s needed to know about Shocking Dark, to better help fully understand its existence considering it’s a movie I know not a lot of people are even aware of is even real despite what I will saying for this review of the film. Bruno Mattei was an Italian film-maker known for making a ton of exploitation B-movies (including mockbusters) who sadly passed away in 2007, and a mockbuster is essentially a film that is a low-budget imitator that’s made to jump on the bandwagon in an attempt to make a financial profit off of a much more well-known, and successful movie a mockbuster happens to be imitating (even if it’s solely an imitation of the genre alone that the other film has).

1989’s Shocking Dark, easily without any doubt fits well into the category of it being a mockbuster due to the fact that it heavily copies from both of James Cameron’s Aliens (1986 & 1991 in regards to the “Special Edition” version), and Terminator (1984), to the point that even going as far as to being marketed under the title known simply as “Terminator 2” in it’s original release in Italy as a means to trick audiences thinking it was an actual sequel to the first Terminator, even though it really isn’t (which is kind of ironic seeing how the real official Terminator 2 made by James Cameron would come out in 1991).

As a result of the obvious legal reasons, Brunto Mattei’s Shocking Dark was unable to get an official release in the United States Of America from a copyright concerns point of view, but thankfully in the year 2018, Severin Films was able to finally get it officially distributed and put out in the USA on DVD & Blu-Ray at last with it also being an official Region Free home video release digitally remastered in 2k, and while this movie does heavily copy both Terminator, and Aliens, Shocking Dark is a film that is still (surprisingly) able to be a highly entertaining guilty pleasure from beginning until the end, and I say such without being sarcastic in the slightest.

Shocking Dark really does achieve the impossible in that it’s a mockbuster that manages in being enjoyably cheesy despite all of its poor qualities that range from the mediocre acting, average effects, absurd logic (or the lack of logic thereof if you wanna go as far as to describe it that way), and the blatant lack of originally with the premise, story, plot, and characters since all of it it basically a low-budget version of both Aliens, and Terminator.

The only nitpick I have to say about Shocking Dark is that the creatures the characters encounter are often obscured from the camera which at times makes it impossible to fully see them, and I’m not sure why that is the case. I can only assume it was a budgetary reason, but I strongly doubt that was the main reason. Also, there seems to be a lack of subtitles for when watching the film in a different language based on my knowledge with the Severin Films DVD I have of the movie.

In regards to old-school mockbusters from the 1980s is concerned, Bruno Mattei succeeded in making Shocking Dark one of the greatest ones ever made in the ironic sense at least in that it truly is so bad its good, and the 2k transfer scan in the official DVD release of it by Severin Films is visually appeasing to look at (which does help in the viewing experience of seeing Shocking Dark in all of its schlock-filled glory).

I give Shocking Dark (1989) 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up!

Stay tuned as my very next review after this one is none other but another mockbuster Bruno Mattei made that was released a year earlier than Shocking Dark, which is the 1988 low-budget knock-off of Predator (1987) called “Robowar” (and yes, it very much does exist).

If you would like to do so, please be sure to support me on Patreon as it’ll mean a lot to me, and please do follow me on Pinterest & Instagram if you are interested in doing so: https://www.patreon.com/EugeneAlejandroThe4th, https://www.pinterest.com/gene98159796/_created/, and https://www.instagram.com/eugenealejandroauthor/

My Review Of Black Christmas 1974

Disclaimer: The image being featured here for this review is only being shared in the purpose of fair use only. All credit solely belongs to the original makers, creators, and owners, and absolutely no infringement is intended of any kind/type at all whatsoever.

From director Bob Clark of 1983’s A Christmas Story fame, Black Christmas from 1974 is a Canadian horror movie set during the Christmas holiday that is about a mentally-deranged serial killer who murders a sorority of women one by one. The premise of Black Christmas (1974) takes inspiration from an urban legend that occurred in Montreal Quebec in the specific neighborhood of Westmount during the 1960s known as “The Babysitter And The Man Upstairs”, in which a babysitter was stalked by an unknown individual by receiving a series of disturbing phone calls.

While Black Christmas isn’t exactly the very first film in the Slasher genre as that honor has been attributed to Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic adaptation of Psycho in 1960, Black Christmas is still often regarded as at least one of the most inspirational & influential Slashers of all-time ever made due to its success being the driving force of wanting John Carpenter to make 1978’s Halloween, and I myself can say without a doubt that Bob Clark’s Black Christmas truly deserves that recognition for I very much consider it to be one of the greatest within the genre.

Black Christmas works exceptionally well as a horror film all in thanks to its very haunting atmosphere, strong performances from all the actors & actresses, and a well-executed mysterious ambiguous nature, actions, and motivation of the Slasher villain that works favors in making Black Christmas genuinely scary & terrifying to watch.

The 2k digital remaster scan from the original camera negative on the official Region A Blu-Ray release put out by Shout Factory through their Scream Factory line is a pretty solid quality transfer, but I did notice a very times in which it looked grainy in some scenes, but it still didn’t ruin my experience of seeing Black Christmas, and it is still a very good Blu-Ray I can easily recommend buying considering Shout Factory tends to do a great job with the effort they put into their home video releases as they did include a disclaimer in the beginning of how much they did the best they could when remastering the movie in 2k (which is appreciated).

So now that all is said and done, Black Christmas (1974) is in my opinion, a masterpiece of horror & Slasher genre film-making that perfectly proves how much of a talented director Bob Clark was back in the day, and although it is scary and at times unsettling, 1974’s Black Christmas is still a well-made Christmas movie that needs to be seen at least every December as a way of celebrating the holidays.

I give Black Christmas from 1974 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up!

If you would like to do so, please be sure to support me on Patreon as it’ll mean a lot to me, and please do follow me on Pinterest, and Instagram if you are interested in doing so: https://www.patreon.com/EugeneAlejandroThe4th, https://www.pinterest.com/gene98159796/_created/, and https://www.instagram.com/eugenealejandroauthor/

My Review Of Pieces (1982-1983)

Disclaimer: The image being featured here for this review is only being shared in the purpose of fair use only. All credit solely belongs to the original makers, creators, and owners, and absolutely no infringement is intended of any kind/type at all whatsoever.

Pieces is a Slasher film that was made in collaboration with the United States Of America, Puerto Rico, and Spain, and the movie was originally released under the title known as “The Night Has 1000 Screams” in Spain back in the year 1982, while the best-known title that is “Pieces”, was given for its 1983 release in the USA.

Pieces is about a chainsaw-wielding murderer who kills young women in a college campus by cutting them up in order to make a female human puzzle, and it should be said before moving on with the rest of this review that no one under the age of 18 should view this movie due to the film’s depiction of graphic violence with the amounts of the blood & gore presented and featured, and the moments that show & depict nudity.

Pieces is a truly interesting movie within the Slasher genre of horror films to discuss & talk about as there is actually a massive tone difference between the Spanish version, and the USA version that’ll most likely affect your viewing experience depending on what version you decide to see first before the other.

I watched the 1983 USA version first before I decided to check out the 1982 Spanish version, and I will say with full sincere honesty that all in thanks to its USA release from 1983, Pieces manages to be a fine example of a fun Slasher movie for fans of the overall genre in general (myself included) in the sense that it perfectly fits as a film that can be considered a guilty pleasure so bad its good cult classic primarily because of its amusing tone & nature of being completely random at times without any logical reason, unintentional funny moments sprinkled throughout the story & plot, and the extremely intense bloody kill scenes from the slasher villain.

The Spanish version released in the year 1982 that’s called The Night Has 1000 Screams, still has the brutal slasher scenes present, but I found it to be an average film at best for while I did enjoy listening to the alternative soundtrack that differs greatly from the 1983 USA version, it just felt to me like a much slower, and less entertaining version considering its more serious tone despite the solid Spanish-speaking acting performances (which ironically doesn’t work as the movie shouldn’t be serious based on how the USA version simply titled Pieces is tone-wise with its enjoyable sleazy nature). Also, despite the very few noticeable key differences between the Spanish version, and the USA version I’ve just pointed out in this review, I actually didn’t notice anymore differences between the two releases as both felt the same to me based on my viewing experience of watching them.

I saw Pieces thanks to me getting an official Region Free Blu-Ray release of the film by a home video label called Grindhouse Releasing, and please allow me to mention right now that their release of the movie in HD (high definition) 4k from the original camera negative is absolutely spectacular to look at based on the quality of the video transfer, and the Grindhouse Releasing Blu-Ray release of Pieces contains a fantastic feature-length documentary about the time period in which 42ndStreet in New York City was filled with a ton of grindhouse theaters called 42nd Street Memories, and it features incredible interviews by Joe Dante (Gremlins, and The Howling just to name a few of what he’s made & worked on), Llyod Kaufman of Troma fame, and many more experts who know a lot about grindhouse cinema.

While I can safely give Pieces 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up for this review, The Night Has 1000 Screams (its Spanish release) simply gets a 3/5 Stars from me!

If you would like to do so, please be sure to support me on Patreon as it’ll mean a lot to me, and please do follow me on both Pinterest, and Instagram if you are interested in doing so: https://www.patreon.com/EugeneAlejandroThe4th, https://www.instagram.com/eugenealejandroauthor/, and https://www.pinterest.com/gene98159796/_created/

My Review Of Redneck Zombies (1987)

Disclaimer: The image being featured here for this review is only being shared in the purpose of fair use only. All credit solely belongs to the original makers, creators, and owners, and absolutely no infringement is intended of any kind/type at all whatsoever.

To very quickly explain what this movie is to those unaware of its existence, Redneck Zombies is a 1987 zombie comedy horror film from Troma Entertainment directed by Pericles Lewnes, and it is one of the earliest examples of SOV (shot-on-video) film-making in all of cinema.

It must be made very clear that Redneck Zombies is a very low-budget film that falls into the category of it being a Z-grade movie, but I’m not gonna lie when I say that I honestly very much did enjoy watching Redneck Zombies in the sense of it being so bad its good despite how it was made, and it truly is a very interesting early example worth checking out of how to make a movie in the style of SOV, as there really was passion, hard work, and effort put into it when making this film.

While the overall premise, story, and plot are completely absurd, the acting is very over-the-top, and the practical effects & make-up used to portray the zombies (and gory scenes) can be of very mixed quality as while some of it actually does look pretty solid for a SOV low-budget feature, there are times in which it does look obviously cheap-looking, Redneck Zombies still manages to be entertaining all in thanks to its sense of humor, for it knows how to perfectly embrace its ridiculousness nature considering that it is a comedy after all.

The 2009 20th Anniversary DVD put out by Troma Entertainment (that’s officially Region Free by the way) that I own & have in order for me to have seen Redneck Zombies is a good home video release with some nice extra bonus features, and while the visual quality of the movie itself may not be the best considering the film is shot-on-video, it is still watchable regardless as I didn’t have to adjust any settings on my TV to view it properly. My only nitpick that I must mention is that before the film itself starts, there is a 5 minute introduction by both Llyod Kaufman (one of the founders, and current president & owner of Troma Entertainment), and director of Redneck Zombies Pericles Lewness before the start of the movie that while still very fun to watch, I just humbly felt it wasn’t exactly necessary, and it should’ve been something optional to take a look at as one of the extra features included in the DVD instead.

1987’s Redneck Zombies may not be one of the most definitive (or even essential) cult-classics to ever be made, but it is still a very fun guilty pleasure worth checking out if you are into ultra-cheap, SOV, hilarious, and just ironically fun cinema you can enjoy because of it being so bad its good due to the low-budget & campy charm that is featured in Redneck Zombies.

I’m not holding anything back by giving Redneck Zombies (1987) 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up!

If you would like to do so, please be sure to support me on Patreon as it’ll mean a lot to me, and please do follow me on Pinterest & Instagram if you are interested in doing so: https://www.patreon.com/EugeneAlejandroThe4th, https://www.pinterest.com/gene98159796/_created/, and https://www.instagram.com/eugenealejandroauthor/

Omukade Novella Chapter Release Schedule

Update: My Booksie page for where I’ll be publishing Omukade has just been made. Please click on this link to see it: https://www.booksie.com/users/eugene-alejandro-253916

Starting next month and in this year (November 2018 just to clarify), my novella; Omukade, will finally be published on Booksie.com to read for free. However, each of the 10 chapters will be posted on that site every two days a week. I fully promsie to make sure to inform everybody if I’m unable to upload a certain chapter on a scheduled date. With all of that now out of the way for now, here is the entire schedule for when each chapter of Omukade gets published on Booksie.com.

Omukade Chapter One-11/2/2018

Omukade Chapter Two-11/7/2018

Omukade Chapter Three-11/9/2018

Omukade Chapter Four-11/14/2018

Omukade Chapter Five-11/16/2018

Omukade Chapter Six-11/21/2018

Omukade Chapter Seven-11/23/2018

Omukade Chapter Eight-11/25/2018

Omukade Chapter Nine-11/28/2018

Omukade Chapter Ten-11/30/2018

To quickly re-cap as to what Omukade will be about without going into massive spoilers, this novella is a period piece fantasy horror story very loosely based on the Japanese fairy tale; “My Lord Bag of Rice”. This plot will focus on a specific group of characters who must save the world from a massive threat that could destroy all of humanity.

The reason why I’ve chosen Booksie.com (as well as the read-for-free digital format) to publish this novella of mine is because I personally feel that it would be a very good way to attract a lot of people who are interested in reading my very first work of fictional story literature. Also, my own father was kind enough to edit/revise Omukade for me (which I am very grateful for).

If are also interest in following me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and DeviantArt, please be sure to do so if you’d like. Overall, thank you to everyone who has helped me achieve me this goal of mine before the year 2018 ends. I very much appreciate finally being able to make myself become an Author/Creator/Writer/Storyteller because of the love and support I have recieved from a lot of good people who truly care about me.

Minotaur Movie Review by Eugene Alejandro

Minotaur is a 2006 horror film based on the Greek legend of Theseus and The Minotaur, and it is directed and produced by Jonathan English, and stars Tom Hardy in the leading role. This movie is very much a standard interpretation of the classic myth, but it does add some of newer things to it to keep it different, but I don’t wanna say too much as that would result in me spoiling this film (which is NOT what I want to do for this review.)

While this movie is nothing revolutionary regarding films based on Greek Mythology, it is still very entertaining in its own right thanks to some good elements that help keep it watchable. The acting, pacing, and overall writing are done pretty well, and even though the Minotaur itself isn’t seen too much, the effects used are still very solid as I didn’t mind the way it looked for this film.

My biggest nitpick (even though it is a very small aspect to this movie) is that Theseus in this movie is actually called “Theo”. While I understand that this film is suppose to have its own version of the myth of Theseus and The Minotaur, I still found it very odd that Theseus true name wasn’t used and instead replaced by a very generic one that just sounds out of the place in my opinion.

While 2006’s Minotaur isn’t groundbreaking by any stretch of the means, it is still a very fun horror film to check out and while it isn’t perfect (no movie is with all honesty), there is still a lot of enjoyment to had with this movie for sure.

I give Minotaur (2006) Two Thumbs Up, and 4/5 Stars.

Kill The Minotaur Review by Eugene Alejandro

Kill The Minotaur is a six part comic book mini series published by both Image Comics and Skybound Entertainment, and is written by Chris Pasetto & Christian Cantamessa, and features artwork by Lukas Ketner (pencil and inking work) & Jean-Francois Beaulieu (digital coloring).

Without going into any spoilers, Kill The Minotaur is a re-telling of the classic Greek myth of Theseus and The Minotaur, but adds a lot of newer twist and elements in order to have it stand out from many other re-tellings.

Before I mention all of the positive aspects, I want to point my biggest nit-pick with Kill The Minotaur which is the lettering. Now to clarify what I mean by this is that while the lettering by Clem Robbins is very solid to look at, since Kill The Minotaur takes place in Ancient Greece, I felt that all the characters should’ve had translation notes in their speech bubbles since it would’ve been much more realistic to have them speaking Greek as opposed to English.

Another nit-pick that I just remembered for this review is that while the ending isn’t terrible, it sadly ends up not tying up a lot of loose ends as not much is explained within the overall plot.

Now on to the positives. The most notable (in my opinion) is the artwork as the Ancient Greek setting is represented with great amount of detail as it truly does feel like a story set during that time period. With this being a six issue mini series, the story moves at a very good pace, and since I was able to finish reading it all in one day, that truly is an accomplishment.

So if you are somebody who is interested in reading someone else’s unique take on a well-known Greek Myth, please give Kill The Minotaur a read as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

I give Kill The Minotaur 5/5 Stars, and Two Thumbs Up.

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone this year has a very good Halloween. I greatly apologize that I haven’t been active too much on this WordPress Blog. The reason for my lack of content on this website is because I have been extremely busy and distracted with a lot of College work this month.

Also, I am still in the process of working on my book that I want to post on Booksie. It’s just that a lot in my life has been causing me to take too long in getting it done. Despite all of this, I certainly promise to work very hard the best I can to get the book finally done for all of you to read (I promise there will be updates about it. Just please be patient about it).

Even though I truly do regret not posting any new reviews, essays, articles, etc on the Supreme Writer Studios blog recently because of a lot of stuff that is going for me in reality, I’ll make sure to keep doing the best that I can for myself so that I can someday get this blog going again without having to worry about anything else.

Until then, please enjoy this year’s Halloween. Cheers!