Film Review: OOGA BOOGA (2013)

Charles Band directs the Full Moon Features production Ooga Booga (2013) which takes on police brutality and racism head on.  True to most Full Moon films, this film is overly blatant with its handling of controversial subject matters which is most of the charm of the studio’s most famous and entertaining films.  Ooga Booga is the story of Devin (Wade F. Wilson) who is given a doll dubbed the Ooga Booga from a co-worker trying to break into the action figure/doll toy line.  While at a convenience store he watches some Meth Heads rob and kill the store owner.  Devin comes out of hiding when the Meth Heads are gone and tries to save the store owner by calling the police. 

When the police arrive, Officer White (Gregory Niebel) accuses Devin of the murder due to the fact that he is racist and needs a “black guy” to take the fall.  Officer White kills Devin in front of his partner and it all becomes “case closed” due to the fact that the Judge over the case (Stacy Keach) is also a racist.  Unbeknownst to them all, Devin’s spirit enters the Ooga Booga doll and he seeks out revenge for his death.  With the help of Donna (Ciarra Carter), Devin’s girlfriend, the Ooga Booga doll will cut a path of death from the Meth Heads up to the Judge until everyone responsible is held accountable.

If you are a fan of Full Moon Features then there will be a lot to like about the film as it follows the same path as most of their most well-known films.  For those not familiar with the Full Moon aesthetics then this will probably be seen as a complete and utter mess.  The Full Moon empire has crafted a unique style and genre of films for the B-movie fan and if you know that going in then their films can be quite entertaining in their absurdity.  This film is no different than their Head of the Family, Puppet Master, or Gindgerdead Man franchises.

Graphic Novel Review: FULL MOON PRESENTS: SUBSPECIES

The Vampire Radu returns in an all-new story in Action Lab Comics’ Full Moon Presents: Subspecies.  Taking place right after the events of the cult favorite Full Moon Entertainment franchise Subspecies, this new series finds Michelle (a former college student whose friends had all been killed in the films and herself turned into a vampire by Radu) working as a nighttime nurse in a hospital under the name of Shelly.  After having killed Radu four times, she’s trying to put her life back in order by helping people and living off the Bloodstone (a stone that can feed her bloodlust so that she doesn’t have to feed off real people to survive).  Then one night, Radu returns but it’s not quite the Radu she remembers.  It appears that the essence of Radu has been split into five separate vampires who all seek the Bloodstone.  Now Michelle has to find a way to defeat not one but five of her worse nightmares.

This story is written by Cullen Bunn & Jimmyz with art by Daniel J. Logan.  This story fits more in line with fans of the films and less about trying to bring on new fans but for readers familiar with the films this story gets straight into the action and carnage without a lot of (unnecessary) set up and exposition.  Bunn & Jimmyz fills the story with tons of references to the films and Logan’s style of art is perfect for the story as he knows how to bring out the menace and savagery of this vampire story.

The graphic novel is filled with extras but the most interesting are snippets from the actual script used and the steps to the final artwork.  This will interest readers with interest in the process of how the comic was crafted.

Film Review: KILLJOY (2000)

Killjoy (2000) is one of many of the Full Moon Entertainment films that for some reason has many sequels (and they keep making more) despite the fact that the first film is not all that good of a film.  Written by Carl Washington and directed by Craig Ross, Jr. the story of Killjoy is nothing original.  Jamal (Lee Marks) is a misunderstood young man who is picked on and beat up by the neighborhood gangster Lorenzo (William L. Johnson) because he’s in love with his girlfriend.  Lorenzo isn’t one to sit back and let Jamal punk him out so one night he and his thugs decide to teach Jamal a lesion only the lesson is fatal for Jamal.  Unbeknownst to Lorenzo, Jamal will have the last laugh as he has conjured up the spirit of Killjoy who intends to enact revenge on everyone who has hurt Jamal. 

Now, this is a plot that’s been used more often in horror films than I can name - among them The Toxic Avenger (1984), Prom Night (1980), The Burning (1981), and many, many more.  So, in the year 2000 this is a tired old story.  The only saving grace for the film is that is an almost all African American cast (very rare for horror films).  Unfortunately, the cast is saddled with a very cliché script and very “domestic” direction.  There is no flare for the film.  This isn’t all that surprising as the ‘00s were not a good time for Full Moon as most of their output of films looked cheap with bad visual FX and little to no fight choreography.  This film is locked into very few locations which limits the amount of camera set ups which seem repetitive by the half-way mark.

There are a few moments that will appease fans of Full Moon’s “low expectation” audience which is the fact that the film is filled with bad jokes but at least they’re delivered with flare by the entertaining Killjoy which is probably what has allowed the franchise to live as long as it has.  I don’t really recommend this film unless you are a die-hard Full Moon fan then you might actually think it’s better than most of the films the company produced during the ‘00s.

Film Review: SEEDPEOPLE (1992)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of the most influential sci-fi films in history (having had no less than three remakes thus far made) so it’s no surprise that filmmaker Charles Band would conceptualize something as bizarre as Seedpeople (1992).  Band came up with the story but it is written by Jackson Barr and directed by Pete Manooglan. 

The citizens of the sleepy town of Comet Valley are slowly changing.  It seems that plant-like aliens have started to invade the population and only a handful of outsiders can stop the invasion.  If you’ve seen any variation of Body Snatchers then you know what you’re in for with this film.  If you’re familiar with Charles Band films then you REALLY know what you’re in for.  The film includes mediocre story (yet campy and fun at times), barely passable acting, and ludicrous monsters that are in no way scary.

Instead, the film relies mostly on the over the top comedy and for the most part it succeeds.  Sometimes the film “borrows” too much from other films leaving you wanting something more original and the mediocre monster and makeup effects don’t help.  This being said, you can always do worst with a Charles Band film than Seedpeople.

Film Review: SIDESHOW (2000)

Nothing is more terrifying than a carnival full of fantastic sideshow freaks and oddities as audiences will discover in Sideshow (2000).  A group of high school students visit a traveling carnival and revel at the freaks contained within but when they receive a cryptic message of their future from a fortune teller their paths become intricately linked to the carnival whose darker secrets lie just below the surface. 

Abbot Graves (Phil Fondacaro) is the carnival ring leader who controls the fate of the high school students who disappear one by one becoming permanent parts of the freakish sideshow where their wildest desires become deadly nightmares.  

Written by Benjamin Carr and directed by Fred Olen Ray this is a fun and entertaining indie film that may lack the overt gore and horror of other films but makes up for it with its charm and Fondacaro who steals every scene he’s in.  Fondacaro is given a lot of room to explore his devilish character and the special makeup effects are effective.

Sideshow doesn’t break any new grounds as a horror film but it is an entertaining ride that you won’t soon forget and will have you wanting to buy a backstage pass to see the freaks once again.

Film Review: HEAD OF THE FAMILY (1996)

The clan of Full Moon Entertainment’s Head of the Family (1996) is very much the same as Tobe Hooper’s Sawyer Clan of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre…only more “PC”.  Myron is the literally the “head” of his family as he is one of a quintuplet that each share the same brain but have different bodies.  Myron (the brains), Otis (the brawn and muscle), Wheeler (the eyes, ears, and smell), and Ernestina (beauty with the body) like to abduct strangers for their own personal experimentation and fun.  When local sleaze Lance (Blake Adams) secretly watches the family in action he decides to capitalize on the family’s misfortune by blackmailing them to make the husband of his mistress Lorretta  (Jacqueline Lovell) disappear. 

Myron doesn’t like being blackmailed and used and will do everything in his power to bring Blake down.  Like the Sawyer clan Myron’s clan each have their own strengths and weaknesses that are used to great effect in the film.  Myron plays a mental chess game with Blake to see who can out smart whom; he uses Ernestina to seduce men at their weakest moments; Wheeler is used to spy on Blake and get information with his super skins and Otis is the muscle that forces himself upon others (he is the Leatherface of the group).  They live in complete obscurity from the rest of the town but instead of cannibals they experiment on the people they abduct.

The film is actually better than expected as the film is anchored by the performances of Adams and Lovell  who have great chemistry with one another for a couple having an affair and Adams and J.W. Perra (as Myron) have equally great chemistry in their scenes.  The makeup effect are great and the film is better than most of the average Full Moon films.  The film also has a whit to it missing from these types of films that are aware of themselves giving it a charm that makes it worth seeking out if you haven’t already seen it.

Film Review: DEMONIC TOYS 2: PERSONAL DEMONS (2010)

The films that come out of the Full Moon Entertainment vault may not be cinematic masterpieces but they are some of the most fun and entertaining films which is exactly what comes in Demonic Toys 2: Personal Demons (2010).  Coming off of the better than expected original this film has a lot to live up to.  Fortunately, for the majority of Full Moon sequels they don’t have to be as good if not better than the original, they just need to be entertaining. 

In this film two of the demonic toys (Baby Oopsie Daisy and Jack in the Box) find their way in the hands of an antiques collector who takes the dolls into a castle in which a cursed doll resides (and which the collector wants to add to his collection).  This cursed doll comes to life and instills some of its own life essence into the demonic dolls and then all hell breaks loose as the demonic toys try to teach their new friend the art of torture and death by killing everyone they come into contact with.  What’s a little fun between demonically possessed dolls especially in a Full Moon film?

Now the film has nothing new in the way of story as written & directed by William Butler but it is quite full and has plenty of kills to entertain horror fans.  Most of the fun, as in all the Demonic Toys films, comes from the toys themselves especially Baby Oopsie Daisy who is given the best one-liners (as in all the various Demonic Toys films and spin-offs).  Next to the Puppet Master series this franchise is the most entertaining in terms of having the most outrageous story and fun from killer dolls.

People not familiar with the Full Moon films may not find the humor and joy in this film (or any other one in their vault) but it has enough going for it to keep audiences amused…at least for a little while.