Shudder Day: The Ugly Stepsister (2025)

This one was recommended to me by a friend on Facebook.
It has been nominated for an Oscar.

Is this Norwegian Film a dark horse pick?

Are you a fan of Wicked?  
You like the idea of a famous Fairy Tale told from a different perspective?

Well, this one focuses on Elvira, who becomes the Stepsister to...

Agnes, the 'pretty' girl.

They are related when one's Mom marries the other's Dad...who immediately dies.

I'm also 2 for 3 on Shudder Films with old dudes dropping dead in the beginning.

As the Story goes, the Prince is going to hold a Ball to find a wife.

Elvira loves him and the dead Dad gave them massive debt, so the Mom risks it all on archaic plastic surgery.

This is considered to be a Comedy?

The poor Elvira is now going through physical and mental hell to reach the beauty standards of the day.

Joy.

She manages to get close to her goal of meeting the Prince and possibly marrying him.

That said, will she lose herself in the process?

Will she give up everything to achieve beauty and to marry a guy she doesn't actually know?

Will her Stepsister win him instead?

How bleak will this get?

To find out, stream it now.

A Film that really speaks to what some people will do for beauty.

This is obviously not a new Topic, but definitely one more talked about with The Substance's release.  This is not really the same Film, but touches upon the same ideas.

As noted, this is a twist on a Fairy Tale you should all know and told from a new perspective.  In this regard, it totally works.

The traditional Ugly Stepsister is just a cruel young lady who gets what she deserves.
This one is a 'real' person who is twisted by her Mother and turned into something spiritually ugly.

To warn you, this one is FULL of Body Horror.  It's not the Cronenbergian kind where humans become bugs or grow extra limbs.
It is just full of real, horrific things that people used to/sometimes still do to themselves to achieve a certain ideal.

If you have a strong stomach and can accept the slower pacing, this is a true delight.

A Film that is at times bleak, at times strange and quite usually dark.  If you're into twisted Fairy Tales and Body Horror, your ship has arrived!

Shudder Day: The Found Footage Phenomenon (2021)

 A Genre that I have a real love/hate relationship.

All bad Movies are bad (obviously), but the Found Footage ones always find more ways to be annoying.

Here are all of them I've covered so far (the List will, of course, include this one too).

The Documentary talks about the Origin of the Horror Subgenre, talking about early Films and how they were influenced.

They thankfully credit such Films as Peeping Tom (below) and others that I'd genuinely not heard of.

Throughout the Film, you hear from various Directors and a few people that study Films.

This means that you hear plenty from guys like this before you eventually learn what Film he made.

They obviously spend lots of time talking about The Blair Witch Project.

If you're not familiar with it, this is informative.

They eventually talk about later ones in the Genre- like REC- and how they were made.

If you like this kind of Behind the Scenes talk, it is nice.

If you don't need every Found Footage Film Director to tell you how clever they are, it is less nice.

No disrespect to Andre Ovredal, of course.

Trollhunter rules.

We hear many times from this lady, who is pretty informative.

She has a French Poster for The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (and no, I didn't need to Google that), so I do like her.

In closing, if you don't know all of the minutia and history of these Films, this is a good watch.

The End.

A pretty enjoyable Documentary, even if it repeats itself a bit.

In fairness, the Film is made up of a couple dozen interviews taken at completely different times.  

I guess they couldn't be bothered to cut out the THIRD Director make the same point.

Joking aside, they got a great number of interesting people to talk about their Films, from Ovredal to Ruggero Deodato to Eduardo Sanchez.

More love for Ghostwatch- yes, please!

I love that they cover the History of the Genre (going back to the 1960s) and the realities of the World that inspired it.  Again- a very informative Film.

My final gripe- they gloss over all of the bad Found Footage Films, somehow not mentioning Area 407 (which this picture appears on if you Google it)...

A very enjoyable and fact-filled Documentary.  Just know that it makes the same points a few times too many throughout the runtime.

International Streaming Standard: Troll (2022)

 As someone whose parents use his Netflix Account more than he does, I owed it to myself to clear at least one Film out of my Queue.

A Foreign Creature Feature that reminds me of an underrated Found Footage Movie?
You fit the bill!

Before this gets a Sequel this Year, let me finally check out...

The Film begins by introducing us to a young lady and her Dad.

He tells her folk tales about how the Mountains used to be Trolls.

Aw.

20 years later, she's a Paleontologist working on a dig.

Elsewhere, a mining expedition ends in a big explosion and she ends up working the case.

What does she find?

Well, the Title is kind of a giveaway, no?

It turns out to be a Troll and it broke loose when they dug too far into the mountain.

Without a body to prove it, she's...still pretty sure about things.

She goes to get her Father, who has not done well in the last 2 Decades.

He's living alone in the Mountains, has a Ted Kasinski beard and meets people with a shotgun in hand.

They discover that, yep, a Troll is on the loose.

What does the Military do?

Try to destroy it- duh!

As you can guess, it doesn't work.

Otherwise, the Movie would be less than an hour long!

They have to try a few different things as the truth about the Troll is eventually revealed.

To find out what happens, stream it now.

A strong creature feature that had something really great- heart.

This Film gives you everything you're hoping for.

Strong Characters.
A cool Creature.
A solid Plot.
Big moments.

The Plot and Characters really shine as they get little hints of depth that make them feel real.  Likewise, the Plot helps everyone look better here.

Our Heroine is still kind and caring, even if there's a giant 'monster.'

At worst, I'll say that you'll probably guess some of the Plot beats, as the Film plays a bit into some cliches and conventions.

That said, they are conventions because they work, right?

If you haven't yet, check this one out.  There's sure to be more coming...

A Foreign Film that is sure to impress international audiences.  It never breaks the mold, but, hey, it's a nice mold, after all.

Shudder Day: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

 Like most Americans, I really liked Andre Ovredal after Trollhunter.

I've enjoyed other Films by him, so let's see this 2016 one too.

The Police find a crazy crime Scene!

The House is full of bodies.

There's no clear motive and nobody seemed to have broken in.

On top of that, they find an unidentified body half buried in the basement.

Said body is sent to the Father-Son duo of  Morticians, who seek to identify the woman and find a cause of death.

The Sheriff needs answers by morning- since he has none now!

They do their best, but find all sorts of strange things about the body...

They find strange things about the inside of her as they go through the autopsy.

They also find strange things ON the inside of her.

The duo start to see things, especially the Son.

Can they solve the mystery of the strange body before time runs out?

What about when they lose power...or gain a massive fire?

To find out, stream it now.

A real creepy Film that definitely delivers when the credits roll!

The Film is one with a unique premise.
How can the 'killer' in your Film already be a dead body?

That's the hook here and I won't SPOIL the details.  Believe me- it is hard.

What's not hard is to praise our Leads.  Brian Cox is great when he's not selling McDonalds and Emile Hirsch holds his own.  He doesn't get enough credit.

Is it because he was in Speed Racer?  Probably.

If you're a fan of big, fun and gory Horror, this won't be your thing.  It has some gore, but is far more about building and simmering tension.  

The moments really work when you get them, but you don't get them all of the time.

Autopsy is a really good Film with a unique feel and it is definitely worth a look if you're still in the dark about it like I was.

Just maybe avoid the more SPOILER-y alternate Titles and Posters.

A freaky Film with a neat hook.  The Pacing and Tone won't be for everyone, but I was a fan.

Remake This: Insomnia (2002)

 Nolan has his Oscar(s) finally.  Let's see what he was up to before he really broke big with Batman.

In this case, it is the Remake of the Norwegian Film Insomnia from 2002.
Confusingly, I've read that he wrote the Script, but also that he didn't.  I guess he incepted it?!?

Can this compare to the original Film (seen here)?

It has two Oscar Winners- Al Pacino, Robin Wiliams- in the Lead Roles and a one-time Oscar Winner- Hillary Swank- in a Supporting Role.
She would, of course, win another Oscar just 2 years later.

Does this one hold up to his now-current scrutiny?  Let's find out...

An L.A. Cop (Pacino) is sent to Alaska to help them with a crime.
His Partner- D.B. Sweeney- comes too and they work with a young Cop- Swank- who sort of idolizes him.

The case is simple enough...or so it seems.

Pacino is distracted by issues at home with IA (Internal Affairs) who are questioning how he worked his past cases.

Sweeney says that he plans to testify against him.

They set up a sting operation to catch the killer, but things don't go smoothly.

To be fair, they brought 'Davis' from Corner Gas (no joke- it's the same Actor) along!

The killer gets away in the fog and a shooting occurs.

Pacino fires at what he thinks is the killer...but it is actually Sweeney.

Ouch!

He keeps this a secret from the other Cops- blaming it on the killer.

As such, he begins to suffer from insomnia.
This is not helped by the 24-hour sun there.

He gets very odd and aggressive with the case, even going so far as to harass Katherine Isabelle- the victim's friend- in the process.

By the way, her presence and 'Davis'' make it clear that this one was shot in Canada (if there were any doubts).

As it turns out, the killer- Williams- saw the shooting go down and basically blackmails Pacino for info on the case.

It's like Strangers on a Train...but it is a Ferry.

Williams leads the Police to think that the abusive Boyfriend is the killer by way of planting evidence.

Pacino is not happy to let him do that, finally realizing how corrupt he's been.

Mind you, this is after he shot a dead dog (FYI it was not dead in the Original) to fake a ballistics test on the bullet in his dead partner.

He tries to take Williams in, but he's in no condition to take down anyone.

Swank also ends up there- having proven that Pacino shot his partner- and seems to scare Williams off- for the moment.

She understandably doesn't trust either man.

Pacino manages to get the drop on Williams and kill him, but is shot in the process.

He makes sure that Swank doesn't get rid of the evidence against him (like in the Original).

Oddly, the Version where he dies is technically the 'Happy Ending.'

A good Film, no question about it.  Both Versions are good, to be fair.

This Version is thankfully not a 1-to-1 Remake, with different Shots, tweaking of the Plot and a different location. 
It isn't like Cold Pursuit, which was basically the same Film as In Order of Disappearance that was just moved to a new location and with very, VERY minor tweaks.

Fun Fact- Stellan Skarsgard was in BOTH Original Films!

There are many ways you can nitpick this Film- for instance, the Cop uses cold water on blood, but he should know that warm water is better- but does that get you anywhere?

Everyone is really good here.  Pacino is vulnerable here, Swank is sincere, Williams is menacing and Nolan's direction is strong here.  Hell, even other people here- like Maura Tierney, Isabelle and Sweeney- are good here.

I will say that the Film is very bleak, even with changes made for the U.S. Version.  

All in all, the Film is quite good and it is clear that Nolan had bigger things to do in the world of Cinema.

I'm Going To Tell My Kids That This is 'The Matrix.'

Next up, a big shift to an Animated Film.  

With all of the obsession on both sides about the Superman Film in production, let's look at a 2013 Version.  Stay tuned...

Tubi Thursday; Christmas Blood (aka Juleblod) {2017}

 A Christmas Film from out of America.  Something that is Foreign must be better, right?

Right?!?

In a (very) Cold Open, a man dressed as Santa (eventually) kills a little girl and her Father.

Kids aren't off limits?  

Well, that...won't factor into the Story at all later. 
Oh.

In Norway, it isn't Show Don't Tell.

A bunch of pop up text tells us that they caught the killer and he was shot in the head, but survived...somehow.

He was locked up in an Asylum for 25 years.

Vis ikke fortell!!!

The actual Plot drags for a long-ass time.  Here's what happens...

A bunch of ladies go to a mostly-empty Town on Christmas Vacation.
Meanwhile, a Cop who looks like Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception (if you really squint) is on the case.

He eventually recruits the Cop from the Opening/Original Killings, who's now a drunk.  Ha? 

A pair of Cops are killed.  

They are never spoken of again.

After a long, long time, the killer finally begins to randomly kill the group of young people and their Tinder Dates.  Don't ask.

Is there a moral?
Is there a proper ending?

Nei.

Can I refund this for Store Credit?  I'll even take Kohl's Cash!

Christmas Blood was a long, dull Film that would randomly feature a bit of gruesome blood and guts.  

If you want to slog through an average of 10 minutes of bickering, techno music and filler to get to the moments, this is for you!

I didn't care about these Characters.
The Film is just vicious and cruel to its Characters.

They even do cliches and make them worse.  

As an example, we get the 'Mortician Eats While Showing the Body to the Cop' Cliche.  Only this time, he drops some of his food on the body, scoops it up with his hand and eats it.

Gross.

To be nice, they have some good splatter effects.  It's just too bad it is in THIS Film and not a good one.

Feel free to check this one out after my warning, but just know that this face is waiting for you if you do...

I almost want to apologize to the cheaper, sleazier Films I've covered from America.  Almost- they still sucked.

4,200th Post Celebration!: The Top 19 Worst Films of Mondo Bizarro- 2009 to 2019!

This is the big one!

I went through my listings of the Worst Films of Previous Years to cherry pick the best of the worst.  So many bad Films to choose from!

I can't guarantee that every Year will be represented in the final List, but they definitely got some contenders.

Dishonorable Mentions:  Uli Lommel's Black Dahlia, We Are the Strange, Offspring,  Beware! Children At Play, The New York Centerfold Massacre, Pocahauntus AND Dating A Zombie

19. The Fat Spy: A Film so bad that I kept it at home just to keep it out of circulation.  I realize how little that helps, but I did it all the same.

It's an unfunny Comedy with bad Acting and it looks cheap.  Bad Comedies are usually the worst things in the World.  It's hard to imagine that Jane Mansfield did this, but somehow thought Hillbillys in a Haunted House was too bad.

18. The Skeleton Key 2- 667- Neighbor of the Beast: Will I ever go back to try and finish this?  It has to be a Worst of the Worst one, maybe.

I tried watching the Film, but it gave you no setup for its weird nonsense.  I remember a Genie.  Lots of POV Exposition.  It gets so pointlessly META while explaining nothing that I haven't touched it for 10 years!

For comparison, I have rewatched the #3 pick (to compare the Cuts) and the #2 pick (with Rifftrax).

17. Revenge of the Living Dead Girls: A knock off of something that wasn't actually that great- joy.

This is a faux Sequel to a French Horror Film.  That one involved a woman dying, but coming back when exposed to chemicals and killing people.  It inspired a Rob Zombie song.

This one has 3 ladies dying from drinking poisoned milk and killing people.  On the plus side, it does hold historical importance as MY first Project Terrible Review.

16. The Human Race: A terrible Film and a bad pun- almost worth it!

This bizarre Film has an interesting (in theory) premise- run a race or die!  It gets really dumb and morose with it, of course, ruining the whole thing.  That's even before giant Angels (or something) show up...maybe.

15. Roar: If the ranking was based on how bad it was to shoot the Film, this would be #1.

A wrong-headed, right-hearted man wanted to show you that we could live and interact with jungle cats.  As such, he made a Movie where his FAMILY was surrounded by these Apex Predators at all times.  Many people were wounded, his Stepdaughter needed plastic surgery and Jan De Bont (yes, the guy from Twister) was scalped.

It's not even a very good Film regardless of this.

14. The Twilight Series: Low hanging fruit.

On one hand, I could have made this just a Dishonorable Mention.  On the other hand, I watched all of the Films (out at the time) for Project Terrible and the other guy never did his Films.  As such, I suffered alone for no reason.

13. Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning: A Film so bad I also made Bob watch it.  I'm a good friend.

This is actually the 6th Film in a Series (which explains why the Plot is confusing), but the only one on DVD.  It is a Parody of Star Trek and Babylon 5.

The Effects are mostly bad, but the Plot and Characters are just irredeemable, so why bother watching?

12. Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire: The combo of Bad Comedy and sad performance by Actor who could do better.

In 1952, Bela Lugosi went to London to play Dracula again.  The Play bombed and he was now 'stuck' in England.  To pay for his trip home, he agreed to be the bad guy in this Film, wherein he'd riff on Dracula and his role in The Phantom Creeps.

He's fine in this.  The Lead in Drag- clearly inspiring Tyler Perry- is awful and nothing else is good either.

11. Homoti: Project Terrible continues to live up to its name!

This is one of the many E.T. knockoffs, but also one of the worst.  It is the 2nd Turkish E.T Film to boot!  Its suit is terrible, its Plot is boring and it just kind of sucks.

Bonus- the YouTube upload only has Subtitles for the first 10 minutes.

10. Hobgoblins 2: The Sequel to a Film I'm paying to see in a Theater for the first time ever.

Whenever I get to see Rifftrax do Hobgoblins, it will be better than this.  The Writer/Director is back due to 'every other Gremlins rip-off getting Sequels,' so we all get to suffer.

It's mostly a confusing rehash with slight updates- online dating in place of phone sex lines- and even less humor.  On the plus side, I got to tell the Director on Facebook that I would willingly pay to get his Hobgoblins 3 Script and keep it from being made.  Good times.

9. Astro-Zombies M3 and M4: I at least had company to suffer through these.

Decades after the original Astro Zombies, the late Ted V. Mikels came back for Mark of the Astro-Zombies.  He got enough money/interest/moxie to make 2 more.

As Bob can attest, they are both confusing, sometimes boring messes of Films that call back to even more obscure stuff like The Doll Squad.

8. Live Freaky, Die Freaky: This was abusing Sharon Tate's legacy before it was cool!

This Dark Comedy is a claymation nightmare about the Sharon Tate/La Bianca Murders.  You're supposed to laugh at this?  They make Tate look awful here and I don't know why.  It's tasteless and just not funny.

7. Psycho Shark: I suffer for you (and my own stupidity).

I thought that this would be trashy fun.  The premise is that a bunch of Busty Models from Japan come up against a giant shark.  Dumb, stupid fun.

The Movie is just them chatting, watching footage and laying around until the last 5 minutes.  It is the longest 65 minutes of your life!

6. Mummy Maniac: A terrible tease and a terrible Film.

Another Project Terrible Film and this one manages to make you think it is going to be something else.  A killer mummy?!?  Nope- a boring, chubby guy who kills women in his storage locker over and over again...and wraps the bodies up in toilet paper.

My Review is the same shots over and over again...but they are from different parts in the Film!

5. Carl J. Sukenick's Alien Beasts: It is hardly a Movie, so it just barely escapes the upper spots.

If you wanted to see what would happen if someone with friends and alot of Meth tried to make a Spy Film, this is it.  It has long pauses, long still frames, constant cuts to an old man named Abe 'watching the monitors' and more nonsense.

The drunk ramblings of a homeless man who just huffed a bag of paint to boot would be better than this!

4. The Time Machine (I Bought At A Yard Sale): Worst of the Worst was founded for this!

I had heard about this awful mess and didn't want to suffer alone.  Thanks, Bob.

Found for free on YouTube (to serve as their Resume), this Film has amazingly-bad everything.  A guy time travels...once and then finds a space ship.  The Film actually has him FORGET that he has a Time Machine!

You probably couldn't make something this bad if you tried (and people have!).

3. Good-Bye, Uncle Tom/Addio Zio Tom: I feel like I keep picking on this one...and with good reason.

Important recap- the 2 Directors of Mondo Cane (and more) were called Racists who made Fake Documentaries.  To silence their Critics, they made...a Fake Documentary about them seeing the Antebellum South.  Wait, what?!?

I got crap from a guy for covering the wrong cut, but whichever one you see, it is bad.  It is long, awful and bad.

2. Roller Gator: Why must I hurt myself so?!?

I heard about this Film in a Review of another Film. I thought- a Film about a talking/rapping purple Alligator puppet- hilarious!

The actual Film is shot on a handi-cam  (with visible shutter) and features CONSTANT GUITAR MUSIC over the whole Film.  It could be a fun train wreck of a Film if you didn't want to deafen yourself to escape the pain.

1. Actium Maximus- War of the Alien Dinosaurs: There's no topping this, right?

This one-and-done Film was seemingly-released by Troma as a joke to punish its Director.  He had clear visions for a big, futuristic world of wonder and horror.  He also only had like $20 and not enough friends to help.

It is long, bizarre and meandering.  As a final bonus, it ends on Sequel Bait!  Noooooooo!!!!

Here's to better Films from 2020 on. 

Not likely though, is it?