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Review by Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com

Who would have thought a simple Grindhouse flick from a few years prior could spawn such as movie? What makes this movie even more fascinating is that it came from a fake trailer during the Grindhouse flick! This movie is basically going old school with hardcore gore and action to the extreme.

Machete was released in stores early 2011 and I recommend it before I even review it! If you like over the top gore, extreme situations, non political correctness, and sheer old school fun this is the movie for you! The exploitative concept was prominent in the 1970s and having it sampled for today is excellent. It’s not really a horror film but the gore hounds surely will love this.

The story is about a Mexican named Machete (Danny Trejo). He is an ex-federale. After a very intense Grindhouse opening sequence, Machete was...

Fans of Machete now can see Robert Rodriguez's brilliantly overdone homage to exploitation flicks on the small screen, and it loses none of its gleefully gory and sexy charm in the translation. The new Machete Blu-ray captures every severed limb, explosion and naked female body part in glorious HD video and superb sound. (If you don't have a Blu-ray player, you can enjoy Machete's brand of heartwarming family entertainment on DVD.)

For an exploitation film, Machete has a surprisingly complex and coherent plot, not that this matters terribly much amid all the mayhem. Set in Austin, south Texas and Mexico, the story follows Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo), an ex-Federale turned immigrant day laborer hired by sinister political operative Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) to assassinate a Texas state senator, John McLaughlin (Robert De Niro).

Meanwhile, immigration agent Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba) stakes out taco truck owner Luz (Michelle Rodriguez...

Why hasn.t Danny Trejo been given a starring role before? No idea, but the easily recognizable actor has been appearing onscreen for a long time. Now Robert Rodriguez gives him star billing and makes him the Mexican Charles Bronson. Viva Trejo! Machete (Danny Trejo) is an ex-Federale badass who was done wrong by drug kingpin Rogelio Torrez (Steven Seagal) south of the border. Years pass and Machete is a migrant worker in Texas trying to outrun his past. His craggy, dour looks don.t often get him work. Michael Booth (Jeff Fahey) offers him a job offer he can.t refuse. because if he does Booth will have his henchman (Shea Whigham) kill him. Booth gives Machete $150,000 to...

There are film-makers working today who don’t even have low budgets to get by on. And forget all about marketing and advertising money because there is none. The wealth of creative talent in this country is almost absurd, but not all of it is centred in the capital: and doesn’t want to be.

Diary of a Bad Lad is a jet-black comedy set in Blackburn, Lancs and features a crazy college lecturer making a documentary on a couple of the town’s criminal figures. With his crew – made up of students – Barry Lick (Jon Williams) is the ringmaster to a circus that, naturally, descends into sordidness, depravity and lots of illegal activity.

Often funny, sometimes disgusting, Diary of a Bad Lad is a no-budget production brimming with creativity, aided by strong performances and very warped humour.

FilmShaft had a word with actor and writer Jonathan Williams about the...