Jersey Justice - reviewed - Justice is served!!

Jersey Justice

Directed and written by: John Charles Hunt

reviewed by Heather Henshaw

Not very often do I put in a movie that ventures from horror, in this case I did venture away from the genre. So what happens when a woman losses everything? What would you do if you lost your son and your husband all in a short time? The justice system has failed most of the community well at least the outcast group of the social system. This movie to me is a throwback revenge flick that takes us on not only one woman’s struggle but others as well. It shows people do have a breaking point at times in their life and can honestly stand up and say enough is enough.

This movie starts off with a happy Christian family who has strong beliefs the son just got a new job with a bigwig company as a business contractor. Derick O'Bannon (Justin Paul Kahn) the son after getting the job as a contractor goes to Iraq for the company. Tom is kidnaped and held for ransom. The mother Polly O'Bannon (Blanche Baker) tries to plea with W.W. Tolliver (Bo Svenson) to pay the ransom to get her son back. W.W. being the scum boss of the corporation makes up a few tall tales about the son quitting. So of course the company has no obligation to the son being held hostage since he “quit” his job. A grief stricken mother and father now left to try to put their life back together; they are contacted about retrieving their son’s belongings and asked to come get them. When they arrive, they are greeted by a couple of WW henchmen who, before turning over the possessions, want to set the record straight about their son’s death. Realizing these were the same men who followed them earlier, the O’Bannons leave the meeting with the intent of going to the press about what’s just happened.

While the O’Bannons were in the meeting not too far from them was an assassination gone wrong. While Carlo (T.J. Glenn) and Robbo (Eoin O'Shea) where fleeing their failed assassination Jack O’Bannon the father got in the way of these two thugs only to pay the price with his life. Polly just witnessing her husband’s death right after losing her son and she is mentally broken. Who wouldn’t be after that? Polly has lost all sense of reasonable thinking due to the traumatic events over the short period of time. A witness saw Polly and told the investigators Detective Vic Bell (Jerry Lyden) and Agent Paul Lane (Christopher Mann) who now franticly scramble to locate Polly in fear for her life that the mobsters will soon hunt her. The authorities have had the media post her pic all over the news and finally pick up her trail, they start to track her but Polly as well is on the right track of her own hunt in process. Polly now knowing the killers and more info than the thugs can assume she knows, her hunt begins for the actual face to face meeting. Polly is not the only one who wants revenge. Her story has touched the hearts of other locals who befriend Polly and have her back on bringing these thugs down that have been running the town. There is also a whole sub plot with the mafia but I do not want to go into that story you shall get no spoilers from me!

As I have said I am not one who ventures to far from horror; I am a blood, guts, and gore kind of girl. This film was a 70’s toss back to revenge movies with many sub plots and story lines, it was a good attempt but a lot of the time it lost me or just dropped off. It was however a good film and could have done so much more if it would have been a little more organized on the story plots. It also could have used maybe just a little more blood there was such a minimal amount if really any at all. There were a few parts that have stuck with me mainly this one scene where she torments Carlo’s girlfriend with a knife and threatens to make her ugly if she does not give up information. I just really wish the story would have been more on point with the sub plots and that is my BIG gripe about this movie.

When it comes to the acting in Jersey Justice I am split down the middle. You have your acting that is eh well your typical indie scene acting and then you have others like Jerry Lyden who I have always seemed to like when I come across his work. My favorite in this movie hands down was Ed McCool who played Finny the local drunk. He was fun to follow and somehow always managed to get out of trouble. Ed plays the role so well and I just wanted to adopt him and take him to every bar I go to he is that amazing to me in this movie. I think Blanche Baker could have carried her role a little better. I was hoping to see more fear shed into the hearts of the enemy but it was a bland performance on that aspect. If you wild a knife in someone’s face you would not be so calm or monotone about getting info out of your victim that is how the performance came off to me. Other than small bits like that the acting was really good.

In the end this movie is defiantly worth the watch. Time to time it is nice to stray from horror granted you may be left with a question here or there in this movie. I just wish we knew what the big secret WW was hiding this whole time. Other than that give this film a watch it’s a fun little movie that has its great moments. I quote it time to time if that says anything. Only fairly good films deserve to be quoted. I give them kudos for the effort and time put in this movie. It was well done other than the multiple plots that made me actually think.

 

http://www.jerseyjusticethemovie.com/index.html

About Heather Henshaw -  I absolutely love, live and breathe horror.  I talk what I love and back what I say. I also write for a site called Cinema Head Cheese http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out as well. I just want to say many thanks to everyone for backing horror and the people who bring us the films. If it was not for you guys we would not write or enjoy the genre. We have become a family that I am proud to be a part of. Keep on being spooky y'all…Contact me at teufelskind@ymail.com

Jingles the Clown review - Are you scared of a little ole' Clown?

Jingles the Clown

Directed and Written by Tommy Brunswick

Reviewed by : Heather Henshaw

If you love to scare the crap out of your friends with a movie about a psychotic killer clown who just won’t die then this film is for you! If you have a deadly fear of crazy ass psychopathic clowns, well then, you’re out of luck. Lots of people take the risk of making horror movies about clown’s killer clowns to be specific. It is not an easy thing to pull off in the genre. The most people can do is take a swing at it and hope the hit it just right unfortunately most fail but hey it’s worth a watch half of the time.

Mr. Jingles was a child entertainer who turned into a murderous serial killer clown. He would take his victims to his house to torture them and then murder them. Well, one day, he took Angela and her family back to this house. One by one, Angela is forced to watch her family slaughtered. Luckily for her, the police come just in time to shoot the mad clown down before he can kill the poor little girl. Using magic movie stuff, it is now years later and the Jingles places is said to be haunted by the spirit of Mr. Jingles. He still murders any unsuspecting poor soul that heads that way. With the legend getting bigger, a show based on paranormal activity goes to the house. Being greedy, they want to boost ratings. What’s the surefire way to boost those ratings? They get Angela to join them. That may boost ratings but is your life worth it? The crew will soon find out if it was once they start to get picked off one by one.  He tortures their sanity and tests their trust to each other. They have to find a way to kill him before he kills them. But how do you kill a spirit? Specifically, a spirit that looks like a clown?

For me, killer clown movies are hard to pull off. I have only ever liked two and it seems the list will remain: 100 Tears and Killer Clowns from Outer Space. The Brunswicks took on a difficult horror movie topic; I mean, those are big shoes to fill (no pun intended). They did well for what it was. I also give them props on having a supernatural twist to the film; not many killer slasher clown films have that. It had a good few kills to it as well. There were a lot of head kills, clocking in at least three or four. Don’t get me wrong, I love head kills; I am always up for decaps and pez dispensers. I felt some of the deaths were repeated, though. At least two of them I sat back on and thought, “Didn’t I see this earlier in the movie.”

We all know that B-movies do not have the best acting so we tend to cut a little slack on that area. This was fairly bad. Not so much on Mr. Jingles (John Anton) but more so on the rest of the cast. Mr. Jingles was just down right crazy! John pulled off the feel of a guy who truly went psycho. Just the crazy laughs and demented looks he does throughout the movie. It says a lot about roles he can pull off. The other actors in this movie were not impressive, between the over acting by April Canning who plays Angela and the people who are the team of paranormal investigators. Oh wait! I am sensing something as well! It’s… hold on, it’s coming… oops, sorry that’s just the after effects of bad acting. That was my impression of the acting in this movie. None of it was remotely even close to attempted acting. I really really try to give breaks to the indie scene but some are just hard to do.

This film was also dark. I don’t mean dark as in sinister but as in many scenes were lost due to lack of good lighting. For example, there is one scene were an “actor” gets burned to death and Mr. Jingles shows up. Well, figuratively. The scene is so dark, you can’t really see him… it’s just a black blob in front of the man burning. I think so much more could have been done with the film, or maybe it was and we just couldn’t see it. Most of this movie you wish you were there at least your eyes would be adjusted to the dark so you could enjoy it. I was just really disappointed in that aspect of the movie.

In the end, this film was a good effort and I would really like to see them give another go at it and it is definitely leagues better than some of their earlier work (like Biker Zombies from Detroit). Not awful, but nothing to write home about either. Like I said, if you want to scare your friends who are absolutely terrified of clowns then pop this baby in!

About Heather Henshaw -  I absolutely love, live and breathe horror.  I talk what I love and back what I say. I also write for a site called Cinema Head Cheese http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out as well. I just want to say many thanks to everyone for backing horror and the people who bring us the films. If it was not for you guys we would not write or enjoy the genre. We have become a family that I am proud to be a part of. Keep on being spooky y'all…Contact me at teufelskind@ymail.com

Special Interview with the Creators and Star of Long Pigs - a MUST read!!

A Special Interview with the Creators and Star from Long Pigs!

by: Heather Henshaw

A while back I came across a film by the name of Long Pigs not to be mixed up with a different film called Long Pig. I had befriended Chris and later Anthony we talked for some time before I actually got a copy of the film. Finally I got a copy and put it in. I fell in love with the film I mean I just dropped dead over how well it was done. So I got to chatting with the guys Director Chris Power and Anthony Alviano (both very great guys) here are some stuff we have chatted about. Sit back have a bowl of stew and read what these guys have to say: 

LNHH: The name of your film is called Long Pigs can you tell us a little about that term and how you ended up naming you’re film that?

Chris Power: “Long Pig” is the culinary term for the human corpse, which depending on where you do your research has a couple different origins – but if you were cooking with human you wouldn’t say, “people stew” but rather “long pig stew”. Basically we’re all long pigs!

LNHH: How did you choose your cast? Anthony does an amazing job. He seems like he did not even have to really act; he just had to be himself. How did you ever get someone to play Lucy at that?

CP: Well Nathan and I knew we were writing the movie for Anthony, which was an artistic bonus – so we played to his characteristics. Finding the rest of the (non-union) cast was much more difficult. Elisa Moolecherry did our casting and spent literally months seeing thousands of actors – which is the boring secret to casting I think: You gotta keep seeing people until you find the right actor – don’t just hire your friends.

Anthony Alviano: Chris and Nathan told me they thought of me specifically in the role which was flattering, and I think I understood exactly what they where going for in terms of the character playing with the audience’s idea of reality. I always thought the most interesting thing about the idea was to make it as naturalistic as possible, so I thought I should just play the part like your next-door neighbor. I really did want people to question whether it was fictional movie or a real documentary.

CP: Finding someone to play Lucy (played by Barb Walsh) was a bit of a nightmare due to the demands of the character. Casting came down to two women each amazing in their own way – ultimately our first choice ended up dislocating her knee and Barb stepped in. After she was convinced we weren’t making a porno she was a real trooper. 

LNHH: How did you guys meet each other and go from there on this film?

AA: I’ve known Chris (Power) since high school and was in one of his early shorts – later on they were going to do another short when the idea Long Pigs came up.

CP: Anthony was ahead of me in high school so we never really hung out that much, but he was clearly one of the “stars” of our high school drama department, which put on a major show each year. So when we met I was playing four one-minute parts while Anthony was in every scene getting huge laughs. When I ran my very first 16mm film through a bolex, I asked Anthony to appear and of course he did an awesome job.

LNHH: There was a scene in Long Pigs that was a fairly uncomfortable one for Anthony; how did you deal with the scene of Barbara Walsh (Lucy the Prostitute)? I know she had to hang upside down at least three times naked for it.

AA:  I was far more concerned with Barb than anything else, A lot of my sweatyness and rapid breathing in that scene comes from me really wanting it to be over with as quickly as possible. It comes off like I’m excited.

CP: Yeah that was not a wonderful shooting experience, but Barb pulled us through and was the hero of that scene for sure. It’s tough asking someone to do something you’d never ever do yourself… like hand upside down bare-ass naked.

LNHH: Anthony being a role of a serial killer did you do any research and was there a specific killer you based McAlistar after?

  

AA: I did do research on numerous serial killers but the character wasn’t based on any one historical person.

CP: We had a giant binder of research but it certainly wasn’t our “bible” – all proper kudos for the creation of that character goes to Anthony.

LNHH: I know the budget was not all that big but how did you pull it off? The FX were simply amazing.

CP: I tell our sad but epic SFX tale a lot:

SFX part 1: We initially went with a SFX supervisor who was more inexperienced, but assured us he was up to the task of creating our “Lucy body”. After avoiding showing us the results until we were on set, we were horrified to be presented a wrinkled, totally unusable piece that looked more like a giant baked ham – total cost/waste $4000.

SFX part 2: After that fiasco we contacted a prominent female SFX supervisor in the city who took the script and agreed to a scheduled meeting. We showed up early for the meeting in the middle of the afternoon to find their SFX shop completely closed – nobody home - no answer from any phone number. We only found out by chance many months later that the owner of the shop had read the script for Long Pigs and deemed it “so horrible it should never be produced”.

SFX part 3: Finally we found Chris Bridges! (Cue the angel’s chorus!!!) Not only is he the most talented man we’ve ever met in the industry but also he’s also the nicest! Chris and Tony Labatt delivered in spades for this film under the worst physical and financial circumstances. We could speak forever about this genius - who literally saved our film.

LNHH: I do want to talk about the FX on your film for a moment. You had Chris Bridges who has done many big films such as 300, Silent Hill, saw 3 and many other great films, how did you guys get him to agree to Long Pigs?

CP: We begged and cried! Here’s the story from the man himself:

Chris Bridges (special effects): One day Tony came in and mentioned that one of his friends was on a small film and that they were having problems with some effects they had hired out and could we maybe talk with the Directors. We did meet with Chris and Nathan - they even brought us the body the other effects guy made in hopes that maybe it could be salvaged. They made it clear they did not have much money left over from the original build, and I think I felt a little sorry for them, I mean the body they brought in looked like a baked ham. And so Tony and I agreed to help and remake the body - as cheaply as we could. The thing I liked about these guys is they didn’t try to hustle me with promises of getting paid on their next five films or anything. They were desperate and honest.

LNHH: With such a small crew how well did the filming go? Was there any horror story’s per say or did things go smooth during the making?

CP: Oh yeah, it was totally smooth sailing – no bumps at all – every day was like a trip to the beach… and if you believe that I just got an email from a Nigerian Prince who needs your help to clear his trust fund. 

AA: – actually I can’t really think of anything that bad…

CP: How about the rotten meat?

AA: Oh right…

CP: lol

AA: Well, all the meat that we used for the effects was actually stored in the same freezer you see in the scene... but somewhere along the line it stopped working, and we’d forgotten to take the meat out. Before long you could really smell the stench of death down there.

LNHH: The fact that this is a horror movie do you guys like to watch horror movies or just prefer to make them and act in them?

 CP: I’ve always been a fan – I think we love horror movies the same way little kids scream with delight as they go down the slide - even though they might be scared the first time. Three movies that messed with my head as a kid in particular: “The Thing” (1982), “Poltergeist”, and the original “Nightmare on Elm Street”. My old sketchbooks from that age are filled with gory scenes from those movies – my poor mom must’ve been worried...

AA: I’m not specifically a horror fan but I’ve always enjoyed the genre. From an actor’s point of view it definitely “fun” to work in horror, and it’s not like I’m up for any Johnny Depp roles or anything. Horror embraces actors who don’t have “leading man” looks.

LNHH: You guys have had an amazing amount of success on this film how was the first showing for you guys?

 CP: Well the success is still yet to come I hope – financially anyhow. How was our world premiere you ask? Well, we got off the plane for our “World Premiere” to find us incorrectly listed in the main festival program for 10:00 AM instead of PM! We rallied our spirits and the four of us hustled our asses off handing out postcards with the correct time for over a week, and when the night of the premiere finally came around we were delighted to see a huge line up at the theater! Our efforts paid off!!!

(Insert slo-mo high fives over “Rocky” music)

Unfortunately that theater was also premiering 300 on the same night. We played to about 53 people including our parents – I distinctly remember a fellow filmmaker from New York who fell asleep and snored like a chainsaw with his head back and mouth wide open – good times…

Another festival had a packed house full of people laughing and loving the movie – with 10 minutes to go the film suddenly stops and begins to rewind… The projectionist gets the film back to the same place – it stops again. Basically the guy who had transferred the festival’s program tape had fallen asleep and not seen that the tape ran out before Long Pigs finished, With no other playable format the lights just came up and the crowd was apologetically asked to leave.

LNHH: What is in store for Long Pigs and both you and Anthony?

  

CP: Hopefully Long Pigs 2! And of course, scores of wild groupies for Anthony!

AA: Yeah!

LNHH: Any last words for our readers?

AA: Thanks and keep sending in those recipes!

CP: I never thought in a million years we’d see Long Pigs being accepted by the horror community like it has been – so thank goodness for horror fans and thanks for the interest! Huge thanks to Late Night at the Horror Hotel for all their support!! Check these guys out!

To Read the Review of Long Pigs done by, both John cannon and Rob Dimension - Click Here!!!

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I recommend the DVD experience just for Anthony’s commentary from prison! - Amazon:

Watch Long Pigs on Netflix

About Heather Henshaw -  I absolutely love, live and breathe horror.  I talk what I love and back what I say. I also write for a site called Cinema Head Cheese http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/ if you want to check it out as well. I just want to say many thanks to everyone for backing horror and the people who bring us the films. If it was not for you guys we would not write or enjoy the genre. We have become a family that I am proud to be a part of. Keep on being spooky y'all…Contact me at teufelskind@ymail.com