I asked the awesome Heather to list the five most ridiculous death scenes in her movie memory, and she did a hell of a job. My personal favorite is #4 from Wes Craven’s Deadly Friend. Check out the article below and keep an eye out for my list of my favorite ridiculous deaths to be posted next Friday. Enjoy!!!

For a horror fan like myself who adores the over-the-top, campy, hilarious side of the genre, this was a very difficult list to narrow down. Ultimately, my choices are based not only on how laughable the scene is, but also how implausible, original, and well executed it is.

5. Street Trash (1987, J. Michael Muro) – “Toilet meltdown”

Certainly not the only grotesque melting scene in cinema history, but definitely one of the most unique. Not only do we have a liquor that melts people but more specifically it turns hobos into fluorescently-colored piles of goo. In this famous scene, the first unfortunate bum to imbibe “Viper” melts into a dirty, abandoned toilet. The rubbery face that emerges from the bowl at the end is the peak of this scene’s ridiculousness. And it gets bonus ridiculous points for all the unnecessary Raimi-esque camera movements. Street Trash is chock full of colorful (har har) moments like this one, so if you haven’t already seen it, do so immediately.

4.Deadly Friend (1986, Wes Craven) – “Deadly basketball”

Two years after A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven made this corny little gem about a killer Kristy Swanson. If you never watch this movie, okay, I don’t blame you. But everybody should watch the basketball scene at least once. Actually, you won’t be able to stop at just once. Yes, it’s the cheesy, gory equivalent of a Lay’s potato chip. Watch, and behold the deadliest basketball ever. Bonus ridiculous points for Anne Ramsey (or as you know her, “that mean old woman from Goonies”) and her very premature scream.

3.Hausu (1977, Nobuhiko Obayashi) – “Piano food”

This whole damn movie is ridiculous, but if I have to narrow down one amazingly crazy death scene – and the lampshade scene is a close second – I have to give it to death-by-piano. As if the concept of being devoured by a piano isn’t ridiculous enough, this entire scene is off-the-charts absurd. There are goldfish, cats, lightening, and my personal favorite, a dancing skeleton. I love how the piano eats the girl’s fingers first, which amuses her, but when it eats her hand, oh no, that’s too much. And just when you think this can’t get any weirder…well, I won’t spoil it.

2.Dead Alive/Braindead (1992, Peter Jackson)

Choosing just one ridiculous death scene from this movie is like picking a favorite child. Everything about this movie is over-the-top and wonderful. The clip provided here includes ten must-see minutes from the film’s ending. My choice for most awesomely ridiculous death arrives at 4:20 where Rita bites it. Herein, two tiny arms sprout from each side of her head and proceed to rip her face open to reveal a giggling zombie baby, who then walks her corpse around like a puppet. Is Peter Jackson making a twisted metaphor of child birth? Who knows what goes on in that sick brain. Can you believe they let this guy make Lord of the Rings? I love it.

1.Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991, Lam Ngai Kai)

Here is another movie that is beginning-to-end ridiculous in the best possible way. The titular character destroys his enemies in increasingly outlandish, gory ways. He punches a hole in someone’s stomach, shatters hands with his fist, and literally punches a guy’s jaw off his face. But my favorite death scene comes when Ricky fights Oscar, the prison warden’s beloved fighter. First, Ricky knocks his eyeball out with a light slap. Oscar, ashamed and beaten, harakiri’s himself but before dying decides to strangle Ricky with his intestines. Amazing. The fatal blow isn’t quite as awesome, but a sweet Sonny Chiba reference all the same. Riki-Oh took #1 on my list for packing an impressive amount of ridiculousness into 91 minutes. This is one film I will never, ever tire of watching.

The genre of zombedy has been beaten to virtual undeath. (Sorry had to be done) With the impending release of Zombieland (which I’m still lukewarm on) it’s nice to see someone taking a stab at spoofing another genre staple – vampires. Writer/Director Faye Jackson’s Strigoi is the story of Vlad, a good boy, who investigates a mysterious death in his grandfather’s village that raises questions about land ownership in the community. The trail points to ex-communist bully Constantin Tirescu and his wife, but when Vlad confronts them, he discovers that the richest landowners in the village have become real bloodsuckers. That makes two bloodsucking comedies I’m looking forward to this year! The other being the french Teeth of the Night (Vampire Party). Strigoi has no release date as of yet, but we’ll keep you posted. Until then, check out the trailer below and the films official site here.

E online spoke to David Arquette today and he had this to say about the on again, off again Scream sequel:
We are going to be doing Scream 4. Kevin Williamson is writing the script at this moment, and hopefully Wes Craven is going to direct.
Neve Campbell publicly stated she doesn’t want anything to do with another Scream. Is it even possible for Williamson to draft a fourth installment without Campbell reprising her role as Sydney Prescott, and even if Craven came back to direct, would it be any good? The real question is does anyone care? I say the answer is no. This is a colossal waste of time. I would honestly rather see a sequel to Arquette’s Eight Legged Freaks. Now that idea has promise. What say you?

1. The Haunting in Connecticut
After a family is forced to relocate for their son’s health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, which turns out to be a former mortuary.

What’s good about it:
Zero. There is not a single shred of originality, entertainment value, or style in this film. It’s like an episode of Full House, but with ghosts.
On the upside there are no Olsen twins!

What’s bad about it:
See the above statement.

Bottom Line:
Director Peter Cornwell vomits this celluloid waste on to the screen with, what seems like, zero regard for the genre of horror. Avoid at all costs.

2. The Horsemen
A recently widowed detective still grieving over his wife’s death discovers a shocking connection between himself and the suspects in a serial killing spree linked to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

What’s good about it:
Strong performances by Dennis Quaid and Ziyi Zhang. Zhang is particularly creepy (and hot) as Kristen. Director Jonas Akerland has a strong visual style that keeps the Horsmen afloat for most of its duration, and the film’s gore is very well done.

Bottom Line:
Wait for cable. Horsemen will pass for slight entertainment for fans of the genre, but its cliched characters and ending will leave most of you disappointed.

Blu-Ray Releases of Note

1. The Towering Inferno

At the opening party of a collosal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.

Absolutely one of the best disaster films ever made! Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Paul Newman, Susan Blakely, Richard, Chamberlin, Fred Astaire, and Robert Wagner! You can’t really go wrong! This film is a must own.

This BD contains a plethora of special features. The full list follows:
Commentary by F.X. Feeney, film historian
Scene-specific commentary by Mike Vezina, special effects director on ‘X3′
Scene-specific commentary by Branko Racki, stunt coordinator on ‘The Day After Tomorrow’
32 extended and deleted scenes
Alternate opening sequence
10 featurettes:
Inside the Tower: We Remember
Innovating Tower: The SPFX of an Inferno
The Art of Towering
Irwin Allen: The Great Producer
Directing the Inferno
Putting out Fire
Walking on Fire
Still the World’s Tallest Building
The Write Stirling Silliphant
AMC Backstory: The Towering Inferno
Six storyboard comparisons
Vintage promotional materials:
NATO presentation reel
Two original 1974 featurettes
Irwin Allen 1977 interview
Trailer farm:
‘The Towering Inferno’ teaser
‘The Towering Inferno’ trailer
‘The Poseidon Adventure’ trailer
Interactive galleries:
American Cinematographer article
‘The Towering Inferno’ and how it was filmed
Photographing the dramatic sequences for ‘The Towering Inferno’
“Action Unit” lives up to its name while shooting ‘The Towering Inferno’
Stills galleries:
Shot compositions
Publicity
Behind the scenes
Conceptual sketches
Costumes

2.Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon / Curse of the Golden Flower / House of Flying Daggers Box Set

The Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Blu-ray will feature the following bonus materials:

Three visually arresting martial arts epics in one blu-ray box set. I just wish that they offered a bit more in the way of special features. I’ll likely wait until they are released separately with all the extras these films deserve. You should do the same.

Audio commentary with Ang Lee and James Schamus
A Conversation with Michelle Yeoh
Unleashing the Dragons: Making Of Featurette
Photo Gallery

The Curse of the Golden Flower Blu-ray will feature the following bonus materials:

Los Angeles Premiere Featurette
Secrets Within: Making Of Featurette

The House of Flying Daggers Blu-ray will feature the following bonus materials:

Storyboards
Creating the Visual Effects Featurette

3. Death Trance


Living in an undisclosed time and location, a master samurai known as Grave is on the constant lookout for a battle worth his energy. He finds this fight in a quest for a coffin from the Tougan Temple, a journey that puts a young woman from the temple grounds on Grave’s path.

I’m not sure how well this will turn out in HD, but I’m willing to give it a shot. While Death Trance is not a great film it certainly is visually stunning. I haven’t been able to find any specs or extra features information online so if you’ve bought the disc or have a link to the info drop me a line.

Jason Eisener, who gave us the hilarious faux exploitation trailer Hobo With a Shotgun, is back with the obnoxiously over the top and downright hysterical Treevenge! Treevenge made rounds at a number of festivals garnering guffaws and critical acclaim, and now it’s here for your NSFW viewing pleasure. Thanks to the good folks at Twitch for hosting this absolutely amazing film. A word of warning: If you are adverse to gore, have a weak stomach, or are easily offended stay clear. Otherwise enjoy the absolutely silly, splattery goodness below. Remember it’s NSFW.

Most of us know John Carpenter for giving us classic films like The Thing and Halloween, among others, but 1987′s Prince of Darkness remains one of his often overlooked films. Prince is the second film in what Carpenter calls his apocalypse trilogy which also includes The Thing and and In the Mouth of Madness. The story revolves around a research team that, with the help of a priest, must study a canister stored in an abandoned church. The canister is full of a strange liquid that may be Satan himself. While conducting the research odd things begin to happen and the team finds themselves trapped inside the church surrounded by a mass of zombies. Over the course of the night they must fight against dark forces for the fate of the world. The cast is full of Carpenter regulars including Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, and Donald Pleasence. Also present is Jameson Parker, best known for his role as A.J. Simon in “Simon and Simon“, and Alice Cooper as one of the zombies. The film is definitely a hodgepodge of ideas and theories that end up a bit of a muddled mess, but Carpenter’s atmosphere and pacing keep this film afloat making it a very creepy experience. The film’s effects are a bit dated. Particularly the scene in which the character of Frank Wyndham warns the trapped research crew to “pray for death” as he opens his coat to reveal a swarm of beetles. Ultimately, the film’s successes are greater than its failures and it remains a film that is certainly worth watching especially for fans of horror.

Film flaws and other oddities:
1. We see the new moon very close to the sun (though showing far too much crescent for such a small angle). A few scenes later, Brian Marsh is looking at a full moon, then a few more scenes later, we see the new moon again near the sun. That night, we see the full moon again.
2. The scene in which Donald Pleasence’s Priest character throws the axe at the mirror we never see him pick up the axe.
3. The student radiologist Susan Cabot says she has been “carbon dating the corrosion on the lid” of the cylinder, and “we’re talking about 7 million years”. Carbon dating is used to determine the age of materials, usually organic, containing carbon, not metal corrosion substances, and is only useful for about 60,000 years.
4. The theme of science and religion working together is an odd one for John Carpenter to explore as he is devout atheist.
5. Executive Producer Shep Gordon is also Alice Cooper’s manager. Cooper recorded a song for the film that can briefly be heard through Etchinson’s headphones but it was not actually released until nearly 2 years later.
6. Cooper’s character impales Etchinson with a device usually used in his stage show.

Taxidermia is Gyorgy Palfi’s grotesque tale of three generations of men, including an obese speed eater, an embalmer of gigantic cats, and a man who shoots fire out of his penis. Seriously. Do I even need to say anything else? This austrian flick has garnered positive buzz after hitting a slew of festivals over the last 3 years, and will get a limited stateside release on July 17th. I’m crossing my fingers we see it here in DC. What do you think? Anyone else want to see this?

Zombies? Check. Guns and ammunition? Check. Gallons of blood? Double check. Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rochner’s The Horde is described as an end of the world battle between, cops, gangsters and zombies. So kinda like Assault on Precinct 13, but in a wearhouse full of the undead. Heather highlighted this in her most anticipated horror films of this year which you can check out here. I was pretty much sold before, but after watching this trailer count me all in. The Horde releases in France this September and I’m sure an stateside release won’t be far behind. Check out that gallons of blood in the trailer below.



Don’t forget to check out Heather’s blog here.

1.Knowing

In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule but one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead. Fifty years later, Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts every major disaster of the past 50 years. As John further unravels the document’s chilling secrets, he realizes the document foretells three additional events—the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve John and his son.

What’s good about it
The special effects…maybe.

What’s bad about it
Where do I begin? This movie was almost too painful to finish. The films mixed religious overtones were ridiculous and confusing, and the ending may induce riotous laughter. What happened to director Alex Proyas?! He did Dark City! And The Crow! I tried to forgive him for I, Robot. But seriously this film should be filed under Atrocity. I would rather welcome a documentary on Nicholas Cage’s ever changing locks. Now that would be entertaining.

Bottom line
Do I really need to say it again?

2.The Unborn

In this supernatural thriller, Casey, (Odette Yustman) is plagued with nightmares and a demonic force that haunts her during her waking hours. Her only hope to break the debilitating curse is spiritual advisor Sednik, played by Gary Oldman.

What’s good about it:
Not a damn thing. Unborn offers absolutely nothing new to the genre. Director David S. Goyer leeches from far superior source material and defecates all over it. Thanks Mr. Goyer.

What’s bad about it
Not even the presence of the mighty Gary Oldman can save this complete waste of celluloid. There is nothing of any value to see here.

Bottom Line
Don’t rent it. Don’t buy it. Avert your eyes at all costs.

3. Push

Director Paul McGuigan spins this sci-fi action tale about a group of super powered paranormal operatives. A telekinetic “mover” (Chris Evans) teams up with a future seeing “watcher” (Dakota Fanning) to steal a billion dollar secret. But to outrun the government agents after them they must enlist the help of a mind controlling “pusher” played by Camilla Belle.

What’s good about it
Director Paul McGuigan proves that he can put together some good action sequences, and most of the cast turns in credible, if sometimes hammy, performances.

What’s bad about it
Chris Evans. Does anyone else feel like he’s a second rate Ryan Reynolds? The script does a decent job of explaining the universe that these supernatural beings live in, but ultimately it’s too convoluted and the characters are too thinly drawn.

Bottom line
Rent it if you’re in the mood for brainless action science fiction, but don’t expect too much.

Put your wankers away boys. This trailer might be red band, but in my opinion it’s pretty tame. Check out the trailer for Diablo Cody’s (Juno) newest effort Jennifer’s Body. Starring Megan Fox, Adam Brody, Johnny Simmons, Amanda Seyfried, Amy Sedaris, and J.K. Simmons. Jennifer’s Body releases Sept. 18.