The Green Inferno

Ah, Al Festa, how do I begin.... Fatal Frames was heralded as a late 90's return of the Italian Giallo, a genre of film I have long loved, shot in Rome, with FX by American guru Steve Johnson and a cast that included Donald Pleasence, David Warbeck and Angus Scrimm it seemed to good to be true... And it was.
Apparently shot with filters picked up from a bag of sweets, Fatal Frames looks like the worst of DTV garbage, Festa's career in music videos shows painfully and even the exposition scenes are bathed in dry ice and unnatural light. Co-Producer and star Stefania Stella imagines herself to be a singer, she isn't. She imagines herself attractive, she isn't, the one thing she has got is the ability to pull a face that is the complete opposite of the emotion she is trying to convey which would be fine is she didn't command the screen with her stilted delivery and unnecessary close-ups, her over sized mannish lips seemingly sucking the life out of every cast member within a ten mile radius. Other than a cast of men with ponytails, only David Warbeck makes an impression going so over the top he almost makes up for the lack of enthusiasm from any one else. The great Donald Pleasence makes his swansong here, hurriedly written out following his untimely demise, Festa goes the Ed Wood route and puts someone in a Donald mask (!!!!) making a phone call about having to return for Halloween, cue Carpenter music (sadly, I'm not joking). Then there's the ending, a climax of such wonderous stupidity it either makes up for the two hours of tripe you've sat through or finally makes you comatose. Traditional film reviewing fails to translate the wonder of Fatal Frames, I urge you to pick up the Synapse DVD it's worth it for the Festa and Stefania-tastic extras, both of them enthusing about their project as if they had made Citizen Kane.
After all that I feel I should be generous, Festa's score to this overblown trash fest is actually quite good, with some nice themes that unfortunately don't fit the scenes he chooses to use them in. I can't be as sympathetic to Stefania's songs, I suppose they have some novelty value... maybe.

Track Listing:

1. Eternal City (Vocal) (04:32)
2. Fatal Frames (04:13)
3. Rome's Arrival: This Is Stefania (02:30)
4. Roman Spellbounds (01:05)
5. St. Angelo's Run (02:47)
6. Candles In The Night (04:34)
7. The Seance (01:47)
8. Black Colosseum (Tamara's Death) (02:09)
9. Professor Robinson Arrives (01:39)
10. The Best Memory (Love Theme From Fatal Frames) (03:52)
11. Trevi In Rosso (Videokiller Attacks) (03:58)
12. Candles In The Night (Nightmare Reprise) (08:08)
13. Valenti Investigates (02:42)
14. Final Nightstorm (Revelations) (04:17)
15. Alibi '96 (05:45)
16. Desert Flower (05:09)
17. Pensiero Stupendo (Dance Mix) (07:16)
18. Eternal City (Instrumental) (04:26)
Fatal Frames

With an obvious love of Mad Max and Escape From New York, Neil Marshall's Doomsday is hardly ever going to win awards for originality, but by god is it a rocking good time, medieval castles, cannibalistic punks, a killer virus, a hero with a detachable camera eye and a hell for leather car chase set to the tones of Franklie Goes To Hollywood! Tyler Bates cool score mixes up a rousing orchestral sound with some nice Carpenteresque synth grooves.

Track Listing:
1. Dog Eat Dog (03:11)
Adam and The Ants
2. Two Tribes (Carnage Mix) (07:56)
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
3. Prologue (01:22)
4. Exodus (04:59)
5. Boat (03:06)
6. Piss & Vinegar (01:25)
7. Block 41 (03:26)
8. It's Medieval Out There (03:20)
9. Hospital Battle (02:30)
10. Strung Up (04:43)
11. Sinclair Slips Free (01:19)
12. Sword Fight (01:26)
13. Train Escape (02:36)
14. Train to Kane (03:14)
15. Tolamon (01:29)
16. Captured (01:19)
17. Prime Suicide (01:59)
18. Same Shit Different Era (03:52)
19. Slayer (02:39)
20. Finish Her Off! (01:29)
21. Bentley Escape (03:32)
22. Headless Love (02:38)
23. The Can Can (00:41)
Ariel Rechtshaid

If You're Hungry, Have A Piece Of Your Friend

Happy Halloween Everyone! For you today I offer the J.R Bookwalter soundtrack to his own living dead opus The Dead Next Door, a no budget splatter fest from the 80's produced by a certain Sam Raimi (under the pseudonym The Master Cylinder) and featuring some dubbing work from Bruce Campbell, The Dead Next Door is a fan movie with a little more (not much) money to splash around, it's hardly ground breaking stuff and some of the performances are appalling, but I really can't hate a movie that has a Zombie singing the Star Spangled Banner! Added a couple of bonus songs for ya too. Enjoy whatever tricks or treats you have planned for the evening and remember: It's Halloween, everyone is entitled to at least one good scare!

Track Listing:
1 Prologue 2:23
2 Main Titles 2:54
3 Farmhouse 4:29
4 Virginia To D.C 3:08
5 D.C To Akron 1:49
6 Bow House 3:17
7 Vincent Freaks Out 4:45
8 It's A Damned Cult 2:40
9 Car Ghouls / Setup For Danger 4:02
10 Escape From The Bow House 5:13
11 Altar Room Chase 1:36
12 The Dead Walk 5:03
13 Pursuit Of The Dead 2:47
14 Trapped Like A Rat 2:01
15 Epilogue 1:27
16 Left For Dead (Instrumental) 4:18
Bonus Tracks
17. The Answer - Joy Circuit
18. The Dead Next Door - Argus
19. The Dead Next Door 2000 - Three Miles Out

Where Do You Run When They're Everywhere?

Intended as a comeback for the late great Lucio Fulci, the Dario Argento produced Wax Mask was eventually directed by Sergio Stivaletti following Fulci's untimely passing. Whilst the final product is no masterpiece it is a watchable, sometimes grisly horror film that benefits from a lush, romantic horror score by Maurizio Abeni that just demands to be played loud. Enjoy!

Track Listing:
1. The Beginning (Paris 1900: The Slaughter) (03:10)
2. Main Title: Wax Mask (02:01)
3. The Bet (06:58)
4. Introducing Sonia, Boris, Andrea And Alex (03:30)
5. Pulcinela's Theatre And The Capture (03:36)
6. Sonia And Boris (01:32)
7. Little Anna (03:24)
8. After The Nightmare (03:40)
9. Sonia And Alex (01:54)
10. Tale Of The Slaughter (01:37)
11. Love And Fear (01:35)
12. Georgina's Appointment And Torture (06:22)
13. Discovery Of The Past (03:29)
14. Sonia And Andrea In The Museum (01:22)
15. Sonia's Fear And Tears (05:38)
16. The Lie And The Suspect (03:35)
17. The Hidden Passage (The Masks) (04:47)
18. Sonia's Torture And Rescue (04:54)
19. The Fire (03:55)
20. Resolution And Finale (02:01)
Supplementary Material 21 - 24
21. Shivers (00:58)
22. Sonia's Theme (00:47)
23. Casina Valadier (01:37)
24. Wax Figures' Secret (Electronic Cue) (03:56)

Wax Mask

Had a heads up the other day about a deleted file, so here is the link to the newly uploaded album to Watch Me When I Kill.

Il Gatto Dagli Occhi Di Giada