Review: "Ravenwolf Towers": Episode 1 "Bad Mary"

Lately, yours truly has been reviewing films for both here and Film-Arcade.net. When I first heard the Full Moon Features was doing “Ravenwolf Towers” as another episodic series for their Full Moon Streaming site and DVD, I came about the idea of trying my hand at episode reviews. So each week for the next three weeks, we will be reviewing the first three episodes of “Ravenwolf Towers”.

The opening episode follows Jake, a person who has recently started as assistant manager at an apartment complex known as “Ravenwolf Tower”. The place features an assortment of unusual people including a mysterious doctor/collector, a vampire hunter, a clown and a family who has rented an entire floor. One day when Jake is fixing a leak in the hotel, he comes in contact with a mysterious beauty who he falls for instantly. Is she the girl of his dreams or will the girl will bring his demise?

After watching the end of the first episode of this series, it gave me that feeling that I want to see where this goes because I’m interested in the story. “Bad Mary” was a good start to “Ravenwolf Towers.

Director Charles Band does a very good job making sure that the first episode has some his trademark weirdness. Whether it was the look of the episode to how the action moves, everything is done so that it hooks you in. The other thing that he does well is to make sure the acting fits the film’s eerie tone. Band makes sure that he gets the performances he needs to make the characters interesting enough that it makes you want to tune into the next episode.

The episode written by Roger Barron does a good job setting up the character for this dark series. I liked how he doesn’t have too much action going on in the first episode. It allows for the introduction or re-introduction of the characters who are part of this series. It something that you want to hook you in like it did for me. The other thing that I liked about the screenplay was the fact that it’s dark and creepy. Whether it’s the situation the main character is in to some of the interiors, it comes off like a David Lynch film as you’re hooked into all the odd happening. It makes the atmosphere stand out which is something that’s needed for a series like this to work.

The first episode also does a good job making you want to continue this series by the way that it ends. Won’t tell you how it ends, but it was something that I didn’t expect and is going to make things interesting.

If this series is like the first episode, then I’m going to be for a fun time as I’m a fan of gothic and weird shows like “Dark Shadows”, “American Horror Story” and “Twin Peaks”. With its creepy tone and an ending that leaves you with questions, it makes me want to check back in to Ravenwolf Towers”.

Review Rating: Four Star

Fright Meter Films Need Your Help to Fully Fund the Christmas Slasher "Stirring"

Fright Meter Films recently send the horror chamber over information for their Kickstarter Campaign for their upcoming film "Stirring". They are looking to raise $13,500 by March 10th, 2016 or the film will not happen. They've have already reached $6,251 of his $13,500 with 9 days left. If they don't reach their goal then the film won't be funded.

Horror icon and Scream Queen Brinke Stevens is set to star in the film alongside Helene Udy who appeared in the classic 1981 slasher My Bloody Valentine and up and coming indie horror actress Kaylee Williams (Model Hunger, The Lashman, Porkchop 3D).

Press Release:

Troy Escamilla, in collaboration with Fright Meter Films, is set to produce his second feature film and bring true holiday terror to the screen in Fall 2018. Titled Stirring and penned by Escamilla, it was inspired by Escamilla's favorite horror film, 1974's Black Christmas and will focus a group of students attending a Christmas party at a sorority house with a sinister past who are stalked by a bloodthirsty killer. Horror icon and Scream Queen Brinke Stevens is set to star in the film alongside Helene Udy who appeared in the classic 1981 slasher My Bloody Valentine and up and coming indie horror actress Kaylee Williams (Model Hunger, The Lashman, Porkchop 3D).

Escamilla has reached $6,251 of his $13,500 with 9 days left, so show your support and remember there are a plethora of great rewards available for backers, including the opportunity to be an extra in the film! Troy Escamilla knows and respects the horror genre. He founded the Fright Meter Awards, which have grown in respect and popularity over the last few years with global backers that make up the over 50 member international Award Committee, including bloggers, writers, directors, producers, actors and fans in the horror genre.

Fright Meter Films first feature, Party Night, was filmed this past June after being successfully funded on Kickstarter. Also written and directed by Escamilla, it wrapped post production last month and has received very positive early reviews from sites such as Dread Central, iHorror, The Horror Sydicate, and PopHorror. Escamilla plans to hit the festival circuit in 2017 with Party Night. He promises Stirring will not disappoint: “Fans of holiday themed horror will enjoy the hell out of it; it’s bigger, bloodier and bolder than Party Night! Fans will recognize winks to Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night and To All a Goodnight, but will also appreciate its own unique style and take on the Christmas themed slasher,”

JOIN THE PARTY & support the film at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1488629688/stirring

Remember: Kickstarter Campaigns are all or nothing.



Pledge now. There are great rewards for backers! Big or small, all pledges are welcomed and all count! Every amount helps us hit the front Kickstarter page! Remember: the money is not contributed now—It will not be paid until the campaign ends and only if the project meets its funding goal! Visit the Kickstarter page even if you can’t pledge. All views help boost our notice!

If you know someone who could contribute and is a fan of the arts and/or horror, tell them about the film and ask them to pledge at Kickstarter.

Let others know—share the Kickstarter campaign page on your social media accounts.

Official Stills for the Upcoming Slasher "Capture Kill Release"

Midnight Releasing recently send the horror chamber stills for their upcoming release "Capture Kill Release". The film stars Jennifer Fraser and Farhang Ghajar.

"Capture Kill Release" hits VOD and DVD only available on Amazon on March 7th.

Press Release:

Midnight Releasing has announced the March 7th Digital HD and MOD premiere of Capture Kill Release. Co-directors Nick McAnulty and Brian Allan Stewart deliver a romantic bloodbath that blends the true horrors of the Barbie and Ken Killers with the tropes of found footage, to stomach-curling effect. Capture Kill Release will be available to rent or own beginning March 7th on iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu, XBox, FlixFling and more.

Capture Kill Release has been a hit with critics and audiences since the world premiere at the Sunscreen Film Festival. The film has screened at genre fests around the world, sending chills through crowds at Shriekfest, Splat!, the Bram Stoker International Film Festival, HorrorQuest, Blood in the Snow, Fright Night Film Fest and many others over the past year.

Leading lady Jennifer Fraser makes her debut in Capture Kill Release as the unhinged wife with awards for Best Newcomer (Blood in the Snow) and Best Actress (Louisville Fright Night, HorrorQuest). HorrorMovies.ca hailed the film, singling out her performance as "utterly compelling" and "pretty much the female Patrick Bateman". Co-directors McAnulty and Stewart took two awards (Shriekfest, HorrorQuest) and two nominations (British Horror Film Festival, Torremolinos) for Best Feature Film, with a Best Actor win for Farhang Ghajar as the devoted yet reluctant husband (HorrorQuest) and Jon Gates (Louisville Fright Night) for his turn as an acquaintance who gets too close to the lovebirds for his own good.

A young married couple documents their descent down the rabbit hole as they seek to fulfill one of their darkest desires: kill a stranger and film it for posterity. Strain and second thoughts pull at their devotion to each other as they carefully plot out a heinous crime for the sake of curiosity. While they may have carefully thought out every small step and detail of getting away with murder, nothing can prepare them with the guilt and the weight of moving on in the aftermath. Shot in a documentary style from the perspective of the couple's camera, the film follows unflinching as they document their moral decay for the sake of "art".

Quiet on the Set with the Horror/Comedy "Attacked on Set"

LC Films recently send the horror chamber information for their upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray combo release "Attacked on Set". The film stars Alicia Clark, Joshua David Evans, Dominic Ryan Gabriel.

Special features on the DVD/Blu-ray includes audio commentary, behind the scenes featurette and interviews.

"Attacked on Set" hits retail on March 21st.

For more information on this film, you can visit the film's official Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/attackedonset

Press Release:

This is more than just a film about a killer on the loose. “ATTACKED ON SET” IS AN EXPERIENCE! It started out with three guys setting out to see how much they could do, with the constrains of a recession and a national economic meltdown. The whole process, from the idea draft to the rewrite on the walls of the office, was completed in six months between producing commercials, music videos and dealing with the wacky schedules of everyone involved. The project was written and directed by Tom Novell (Return of the Skin Eaters -- Director of the year 2011) and includes work by Director of Photography, Joel Warren and, Executive Producer, Forrest Warren.

“Attacked on Set” promises nothing but a hair raising good time. It’s the perfect cult film to watch over and over when you have the need to be squeezed! Laugh at it because it is campy…scream at it because it is scary…it’s meant to purely entertain you.

Synopsis: A group of young, hot new actors and crew move production to a new studio in a remote area of a Midwest town. All of your favorite characters are here! Little did they know but the killer has a score to settle when everyone on set is stranded in the remote studio with a van that has run out of gas and no cell phone service. No one is immune, not even the tree hugger, land developer or news crew covering a nearby construction project infringing on the habitat of an endangered bird species. Just when you catch your breath from steamy on set encounters, you will be gasping for air when the killer picks off the crew one by one and carves up their bodies for his own deviant pleasures. Just when you believe all is lost, the heroics of the local cop changes the plans of the killer (or is he acting alone?). “Attacked on Set” is a horror comedy that is sure to have you squirming in your seat, covering your eyes and laughing out loud. When these girls lay down, things stand up. “Attacked on Set” is a perfect mixture of comedy, gore and campiness with lots of boobs and blood”.

The project was written and directed by Tom Novell (Return of the Skin Eaters -- Director of the year 2011) and includes work by Director of Photography, Joel Warren and Executive Producer, Forrest Warren.

Alterna Comics Unleashes "Lilith Dark" to Comic Shops

Alterna Comic recently send the horror chamber information about the release of their upcoming comic series "Lilith Dark. This will be the first of four issues in the series. The comic is written and illustrated by Charles C. Dowd.

Issue #1 of "Lilith Dark" hits comic shops on May 3rd.

Plot Synopsis: 

Lilith Dark has no time for princess stuff; she’s far too busy fighting giant monsters and capturing unicorns… or at least that’s how she imagines things. But what if these imaginary beasties, creatures, and monsters were actually real? What then? Printed on nostalgic newsprint with a glossy cover!

Arrow Films Brings 4K Restoration of "Donnie Darko" to Theaters

Arrow Films recently send the horror chamber information for the upcoming release of the 4K restoration of Richard Kelly's cult film "Donnie Darko". The cult film stared Jake (Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain, Nocturnal Animals) and Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Honourable Woman", The Dark Knight), Jena Malone (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Neon Demon), the late heartthrob Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost), Drew Barrymore (E.T., "Grey Gardens", "Santa Clarita Diet") Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell (Dances With Wolves, Passion Fish, "Battlestar Galactica") and Katharine Ross (The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Stepford Wives), and television favorite Noah Wyle ("ER", "Falling Skies").

"Donnie Darko" premiere at the Vista in Los Angeles on March 30th, and officially open in Los Angeles at the Cinefamily and in New York at Metrograph on March 31st. The film will also screen in additional cities in April.

Press Release:

Arrow Films has announced the March 31st domestic theatrical debut of the 4K restoration of Richard Kelly's cult hit Donnie Darko. Following a wildly successful re-release in the UK for its fifteenth anniversary, the film will return to theaters in cities across the United States. Fifteen years before "Stranger Things" combined science-fiction, Spielberg-ian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Kelly set the template and the benchmark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko. Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium. The 4K restoration of Donnie Darko will premiere at the Vista in Los Angeles on March 30th, and officially open in Los Angeles at the Cinefamily and in New York at Metrograph on March 31st.

Described by director Richard Kelly as "The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick", Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast: pre-stardom Jake (Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain, Nocturnal Animals) and Maggie Gyllenhaal ("The Honourable Woman", The Dark Knight), Jena Malone (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Neon Demon), the late heartthrob Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing, Ghost), Drew Barrymore (E.T., "Grey Gardens", "Santa Clarita Diet") Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell (Dances With Wolves, Passion Fish, "Battlestar Galactica") and Katharine Ross (The Graduate, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Stepford Wives), and television favorite Noah Wyle ("ER", "Falling Skies") and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran.

The brand-new 4K restoration was produced by Arrow Films from the original camera negatives and supervised and approved by Kelly and cinematographer Steven Poster. The 4K restoration premiered to a packed audience at the National Film Theatre in London on December 17th, 2016, with an introduction by Richard Kelly. A screening of the Director's Cut followed the next day. The re-release opened nationwide in the UK on December 23rd, eventually grossing £70,000.

Both the theatrical cut and the director's cut are being made available to venues via a partnership with Cartilage Films, and locations will vary.

Donnie Darko will also return for weeklong runs in Denver, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and San Francisco on March 31st, and in El Paso and Detroit on April 7.

Special screenings include Jacksonville, Austin, Dallas, Honolulu, Lubbock, Baton Rouge, Sioux Falls, Oklahoma City, Tucson, Durham and Stamford throughout March and April.

NSFW Stills for the Upcoming Slasher "Slasher.com"

MuchoMuchoMucho Productions, Firefly Films and ITN Distribution recently send the horror chamber stills for their latest film "Slasher.com". The film stars Ben Kaplan (ADDicted, Wingman Inc), Morgan Carter, R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Hatchet II), Jewel Shepard (Return of the Living Dead) and Grammy winner Delious Kennedy.

"Slasher.com" hits retail on March 7th.

Press Release:

MuchoMuchoMucho Productions and Firefly Films have uploaded a new trailer and art for their new film Slasher.com. The latest feature from horror director Chip Gubera (Song of the Dead, Academy of Doom), Slasher.com puts a gruesome twist on the perils of modern dating.

Co-written by Gubera and Chelsea Andes, Slasher.com combines the time-honored tradition of young people facing unfathomable horrors in the wilderness with the every day horror of meeting people online. Ben Kaplan (ADDicted, Wingman Inc) and Morgan Carter star as the hapless would-be couple, anchoring a cast supported by R.A. Mihailoff (Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Hatchet II), Jewel Shepard (Return of the Living Dead) and Grammy winner Delious Kennedy.

At a time where online dating could prove fatal, Jack and Kristy decide they're ready meet in person. Aiming for an adventurous first date, they plan a weekend getaway to the woodlands of rural Missouri. While discovering each other, they soon learn of the terrorizing horrors that the forest has in store.

Slasher.com will tour on the festival circuit, screening next at the Bloody Horror International Film Festival in Ottawa and Grindhouse Planet Film Festival in the UK.