Inferno In Diretta (1986) aka Cut And Run

3 / 5 July '10
Tagline: The one story you won't be seeing on the 6 o'clock news!
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Written by: Cesare Frugoni, Dardano Sacchetti
Actors include: Lisa Blount, Leonard Mann, Willie Aames
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror
Length: 90 minutes
Banned: Finland

Review:
Well in some way this is a sequel to Cannibal Holocaust, or at least it's very similar and from the same director. This isn't nearly as good as Holocaust, though I suppose it's nicely filmed. The plot is about a news team who suspect a member of Jonestown has survived and is hiding out in the jungle. Also they intend to hunt for the son of a TV Producer who has been lost in the jungle for quite a while and it has a cocaine smuggling plot too. The missing son is hilariously played by Willie Aames (Buddy from Charles In Charge) who is ridiculous when trying to act, it's almost sad to watch. This does have a lot of violence in it though nothing as extreme as in Holocaust, it does have a rather high body count I suppose (though I could have done with less poison dart death). One perk this does have is actor Michael Berryman (the creepy dude from The Hills Have Eyes) as a violent savage which is kind of neat. It's okay I guess when you add everything up but it certainly could have been much better.

Availability:  On DVD

Deadly Blessing (1981)

3 / 5 Mar '10
Tagline: A gruesome secret, protected for generations, rises to give its...
Directed by: Wes Craven
Written by: Glenn M. Benest, Matthew Barr
Actors include: Maren Jensen, Sharon Stone, Jeff East
Genre: Horror
Length: 100 minutes
Banned: Norway, Finland

Review:
Certainly not one of Wes Craven's finer pictures yet not his worst either, this at least has an unusual subject manner. It's got something to do with a sect of extreme Amish called the Hittites who believe technology is so evil that it's pretty much being in cahoots with the Devil himself. We meet up with a fellow who appears to have abandoned his Amish heritage for a beautiful wife, he's still a farmer only he has a tractor that the nearby Hittites seem to hate. When the fellow is mysteriously murdered by his own tractor things go from bad to worse. The young widow invites some friends over to help her after the death (one of which is the beautiful Sharon Stone in one of her earliest roles) only they all end up in peril. See spiders and snakes seem to be trying to kill the beautiful young ladies but could the Hittites be responsible or is it something more sinister? It's kinda neat that Michael Berryman turns up as a creepy Hittite, and well if you want to gaze upon beautiful Women this film should keep you busy. The resolve is beyond stupid, it really doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense and it's very unsatisfying I thought. This could have been worse but it could have been so much better, especially since it does have a rather unique concept.

Availability:  This is available on PAL DVD only currently