Deadline (1981)

3.5 / 5 July '10
Tagline: His obsession was to create the ultimate horror story... his curse was to live it.
Directed by: Mario Azzopardi
Written by: Mario Azzopardi
Actors include: Stephen Young, Sharon Masters, Marvin Goldhar
Genre: Action, Horror, Thriller, Drama
Length: 85 minutes
Banned: Iceland

Review:
Considering this is a rarely mentioned horror film of the '80s it actually rather entertaining. It revolves around a Stephen King-like author named Steven (how clever) who is a rather large jerk. He ignores his family, friends and other obligations in order to write and before long things get confusing. See the line between fantasy and reality are getting blurred for him, visions from his films are becoming real and he's not sure what end is up anymore. The neatest part of this film are the bizarre and sometimes even disgusting and bloody bits from his movies that appear including cannibalistic Nuns, grandma abuse and many other bizarre things. The further he gets wrapped up in this the more his family falls apart and that is a rather disturbing angle actually. It's a shame that the story wasn't a tad more cohesive and explanatory (particularly when it comes to the ending), but I definitely give it credit for ambition and style. It should please most any '80s horror fan, you'll probably see a thing or two.  Oh and be on the look out for the band [Artist5948] who make quite an impression in this film with their insane performance.

Availability:  Not on DVD

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

Massacre In Dinosaur Valley (1985) aka Stranded In Dinosaur Valley aka Nudo E Selvaggio

2.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Michele Massimo Tarantini
Written by: Michele Massimo Tarantini
Actors include: Michael Sopkiw, Suzane Carvalho, Milton Rodríguez
Genre: Action, Adventure, Horror
Length: 88 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Extremely lackluster and halfassed "cannibal" movie (though there is very little cannibalism. There is however a ton of nudity if that is your thing you might enjoy this? A fellow who acts much like McGuyver wants to go to Dinosaur Valley (which is dangerous what with the cannibals and man eating fish etc) so he manages to catch a plane ride with some models. When the plane crashes down off course they must struggle for survival despite clashing personalities and everything attacking them. They did try a little with blood near the beginning but it became clear that it was nothing more than a jungle porn really as it raged on. It's cheesy but not enough to really be funny, so it is probably one of the least entertaining of it's kind, yet I was still able to sit through it. At least the scenery is nice right? Oh well, another failure but for super big fans of this sort of thing it might be worth a gander.

Availability:  On DVD