BloodRiver Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I know, it's been a while since I've written one of these gore-soaked missives, but the upside to that is ... we have a lot to talk about! And since I wrote this during a lazy Sunday (happy belated holidays, btw) I figure it's time to break out the candy-coated bullet points! Let's start out with a freaky fistful of upcoming DVD releases:

Currently strewn across shelves are Donkey Punch and Vinyan, two festival-heavy horror films that couldn't possibly be more different. One's about venal young jerks, and the other is about heartbroken (but stupid) parents. Really bad things happen to all of them.

This Tuesday we're getting the old-school-style monster movie Splinter, which is really quite good. If you like prickly monsters, that is. On the same day ... whoa. It looks like someone actually bothered to exhume flicks like Repossessed, Slaughter High, and My Best Friend Is a Vampire. That sound you just heard was my Netflix queue getting fatter.

Come the 21st we get J.T. Petty's The Burrowers, which played (and played well) at last year's Fantastic Fest, and Robert Hall's Laid to Rest, which is sort of like a non-snarky slasher throwback with a hint of Phantasm-style weirdness. Couldn't find a stranger double feature than these two, believe me.

And mark your calendars, gore-lovers, for April 28, because that's when Martyrs finally hits R1 DVD. According to the UK poster, Scoot Weinberg says it "makes Saw look like Sesame Street," which is one of the most shameless blurbs I've ever heard. Even if the guy is correct, brilliant, and really handsome. (Trust me, this is one rough horror movie.) Also on this Tuesday we'll get the unofficial Donnie Darko sequel, and a movie starring Amber Benson called One-Eyed Monster. I leave the jokes to you fine folks.

Most horror geeks know Brian Yuzna as a frequent Stuart Gordon collaborator who helped to bring us Re-Animator, From Beyond, and the underrated Dolls. Younger gene freaks would also know Mr. Y from his numerous Filmax productions, which include Dagon, Rottweiler, and (of course) Beyond Re-Animator. But now, according to Big V, Brian is about to deliver a trio of 3-D horror flicks. The first will be a giant monster movie called Amphibious, the second will be Brett Leonard's Necronauts, and the third will be Richard Stanley's Cold Blooded. Now, I call this news all sorts of interesting because A) Stanley doesn't direct many films, B) Leonard has never directed a good film, and C) they're all 3-D horror movies! With monsters!

Questions: Does Danny Boyle want to direct 28 Months Later? Maybe. Will next year's Friday the 13th Part 3 DVD come in 3-D? Sure looks like it. Want to see the trailer for Adam Mason's Blood River? Sure why not. How about the first fifteen minutes of the goooory Left for Dead? Absolutely. Did you dig Shrooms? Here's the director's new one. So is Baghead a horror movie or not? Find out via DVD.

And I'd like to throw in one more plug for Maurice Devereaux's End of the Line, which is only available through Canadian retailers who stock Anchor Bay products. It's a nifty little chiller about a religious apocalypse that strikes just as some poor folks are heading home on the subway. Plus the DVD is stocked with supplemental goodies like a commentary, deleted scenes, and some footage from the flick's screening at the Fantasia Film Festival.

So between My Bloody Valentine, Piranha, and Scar (remember that one?) all on the way and all in 3-D -- and with all these also on the way -- I ask you this: Is 3-D here to stay this time? The first 3-D boom was well before my time, but I actually lived through the era of Amityville 3-D, Jaws 3-D, and (dear lord) Treasure of the Four Crowns. So I'm cautious.