Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - Dead Road

Dead Road is a web series that takes place two years after the zombie apocalypse has broken out. It mainly follows two survivors of the terror on there quest to find more survivors. Created by Corrado Gadaleta, this web series is made on almost no budget at all and is free to watch. The episodes are short (only four to eight minutes each) but in each of these short time frames, wee see how well thought out each story is. The acting isn't too bad and the writing is pretty good for a little web series. Even with such a low budget, the zombies look pretty good and the episodes are overall entertaining to watch. You can just tell that Gadaleta loves and knows his horror. I love watching little low budget gems online like this because the people who make them don't do it for the money, fame, or attention, they do it because they love horror and it shows throughout each episode. So if you have just a few minutes to spare today, check out Dead Road. In fact, watch the first episode right here right now! Then head over to Deadroad.net to view the rest!

Dead Road Episode 1 from CORRADO on Vimeo.

Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - The Bloody Ape (Screener Review)

A carnival barker foolishly releases his 400 pound gorilla, who goes bananas on a rampage pf raw rape and boffo butchery - leaving the low rent population of Long Island either sexually violated, slaughtered, or both!

I'm love the throwback grainy style of shooting and the grindhouse shock value, but it suffered from the same downfall I've seen in so many low budget indie productions, the first half of the film is dull. There was so much unnecessarily long dialog and it took forever to get into the film. But when the action finally started, it was shocking and really got into the 70's grindhouse style. Hot naked women, blood and gore, bestiality between an ape and his victim, yeah this film has em all (just not in the first half)! The film itself was well shot and the acting was mediocre at best but it added to the 70's grindhouse feel in a strange way. The whole film is somewhat of a depraved, disturbed version of Edgar Allen Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue. Even with the dull opening, if you give the film time to get into the good parts, it's a great and shocking ode to 70's trash. So check it out HERE!

Dollar Bin Film - "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla"

Two goofy entertainers meet a mad scientist on a jungle island.

I got this film a while back from Bill over at Radiation-Scarred Reviews and have been saying I'll review it for the longest time...well here it is! I loved this film. It's just so funny and entertaining that you can't not enjoy yourself while watching it! Bela Lugosi is brilliantly funny as the wacky mad doctor who wants to find the link between man and ape by experimenting on the new visitors to the island. Charlita plays the beautiful Nona, who keeps distracting the doc with her beauty and charm, and makes him very jealous of Duke, played by Duke Mitchell. Sammy Petrillo's imitation of Jerry Lewis had me rolling on the floor it was so spot on! (Lewis actually threatened to sued him for breach of copyright, yeah it was that good!). The reason I loved this movie so much is it never took itself seriously and Bela Lugosi looked as if he really enjoyed acting every minute of this film. Plus, if you know anything about the pair of Duke and Sammy and their live stand-up performances they used to do, you'll adore it even more. It's a well made, well written, and pretty well acted horror comedy that will keep you laughing and hooked for the whole ride. It is genuinely funny and lighthearted and I think that if you give it a view, you'll fall in love too.

A Zombie's Anatomy: What You Need to know to Survive

Today for my First Zombie Awareness Month post, I wanna go over the basics of the zombie's inner working so you know what to expect when facing one of theses man eating creatures face to face.

1.) Muscular System: A zombie is a person who has died and been reanimated, therefore there muscles will not get stronger, hence there are no fast zombies in real life, just the movies. They are decaying just like the rest of him, so you can use speed to your advantage.

2.) Respiratory System: Again a zombie is dead, so it does not need to stop for a breather when the horde is moving in on you. He can go on forever with his mission to get your brains as long as he hasn't decayed to much so when on the move, pace yourself. It would really blow if the reason you got ate was because you were out of breath!

3.) Digestive System: The dead cannot digest food, but because of the zombie virus, the hunger pains never stop. A zombie will eat until his stomach bursts open...and if enough of his body hasn't been destroyed by that, he'll keep eating till you kill it. They don't need nutrition, so you'll be eaten whether you love salads or twinkies.

4.)Skeletal System: The bones of a zombie really don't get weak because of death. It takes thousands of years for a mummy's bones to turn to dust, so don't expect a broken bone to affect a zombie's course straight to your tasty brain.

5.) Nervous System: This is the most important system of them all. The virus that turns the dead into flesh eating monsters rely on the brain. It infects it and brings it back to life, even though the rest of the body is dead. It has only the most basic of functions and craves food constantly. Since it is the only part of a zombie that is actually working, this is where you must get it. Shoot them in the head, decapitate them, just whatever you do, destroy the brain!

These are the basics of what you'll need to know when the shit hits the fan. Learn it. Study it. And learn how to aim toward the head!

It's Zombie Awareness Month, Are You Ready?

May is the official Zombie Awareness Month. It's the time to get educated and get prepared for the imminent zombie apocalypse. It is headed by the Zombie Research Society, and organization dedicated to researching and reporting on the zombie epidemic. But not only are the reporting the facts this month, but everyday on there official blog, they'll be having some killer sweet giveaways for all the readers! So head over to the blog, check out the awesomeness, and don't forget to sport your gray ribbons in support of Zombie Awareness Month!
Here on DBH, I'll be doing a few zombie related posts getting you prepared, educated, and hopefully entertained enough that you absorb enough of the crucial information about these flesh eating creatures so that when the come, you'll be as ready as you can be. So stay tuned this month, the first Zombie post will be tomorrow!

Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper

Enter The "Play Till You Drop" Contest!

Dreamcatcher Inc. has giving Dollar Bin Horror three copies (yes three!!!) of their killer new game for the Xbox 360, Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper, for the readers of DBH to win (that's a $40 value, free)! Here's a game description:

A murderous mystery masterpiece featuring the greatest sleuth and infamous killer!

A horrible series of murders are uncovered in the eastern district of London and the police have no serious leads. Take on the role of master sleuth Sherlock Holmes as you venture into the dark, grim streets of London searching for the macabre trail of… Jack the Ripper. During this terrifying adventure, Sherlock will attempt to shed some light on the mystery that shrouds the identity and motive of the infamous killer.

FEATURES

• From the award-winning developers of Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened
• Scour eerie environments and interrogate mysterious suspects
• Search carefully for clues in first-person, or zoom-out to third-person and observe the incredible surroundings
• An original system that allows you to piece together individual crimes and test your hypothesis as the investigation unfolds

The contest will run from now through May 17th (2 weeks) and the winners will be announced that Friday (May 21).
To enter, I wanna see your artsy side! It can be a drawing, photoshop, painting, photography, a costume, something along those lines. The only catch? It has to be about Sherlock Holmes and/or Jack the Ripper! The three most unique, interesting, or funny artworks will win a free video game!
There are two ways to submit your pics:
1. Send an email to RhonnyReaper@yahoo.com with the title "Sherlock Ripper Contest Entry" with your art attached (please remember to title your emails or they may get lost!).
2. Post the picture on the DBH Facebook page with the caption "Sherlock Ripper Contest Entry"
One entry per person, multiples will be disqualified! If you are entering through Facebook you must be a fan to enter.

To check the game out, head HERE for more info! Good luck!

Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper

Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - Carthage & The Stitcher (Screener Reviews)

The reason I'm reviewing these two films together is because they go together. Carthage is a short film that was later turned into the feature length film The Stitcher, both of wich are from Next Money Horror Films.

Carthage:

When Ted and Stacy travel to the town of Carthage to find out if there is any truth to the legend of a bloody murderer known as Mr. Buttons, they soon discover that small towns have their own way of keeping secrets.

Carthage is an entertaining low budget short film that has a unique and interesting story to tell. It was based on a true story of a serial killer from the 1800's who would keep the buttons of his victims as trophies. But the story in the film isn't that simple. The killer in this film likes to sew the buttons to himself due to events from his insane childhood (I don't wanna give the whole story away). I will say that the short is well made and does a great job of capturing a believable horror atmosphere in such a short time. The only thing I didn't like was the look of the killer in the short, it was a bit cheap looking but It's super low budget so I understand. This takes use to the feature length film that would come out of this short....

The Stitcher:


Something strange is happening in this eerie backwoods town. Inspired by true events, a group of friends must survive the weekend in order to escape the terror that is beyond their imagination. This blood curdling story is a shock a minute horror rush.... You’ve been warned!

This film left me a bit more mixed than the short did. The first half of the film was more comical that scary. It was full of weed and alcohol humor, which in some films works, but I felt this film would have been better off without it. It took away from the atmosphere of the film. The first half had a few scatter murders throughout it, but I felt it took a bit too long to get into the real action of the film. The second half of the film though was great! The acting is definitely better the second half, the action picks up immensely, and the small twists in the film were exciting and fun for a horror fan to watch. Plus, the killer gets a killer face lift from the short film (he looks friggin cool!) The gore was effective and some of it was really good for such a low budget film. The bonus features on the dvd are pretty cool too. The behind the scenes feature shows how the whole film was made with pretty much two women as the whole crew (how they did it boggles my mind, I would have gone nuts!) and includes some great music videos (this film has amazing music by indie band Radio Radio, my new musical obsession thanks to this film). Overall, I liked it but I wished the action picked up sooner. I think it's worth a look and makes me want to see what else Next Monkey Horror has to offer!