cynical_666

I will go on record as stating Fulci has only done 4 movies...the Beyond, City of the Living Dead, House by the Cemetery, and Zombie2....everything else is trash and a poor excuse for cinema. I say this only because CrossClub opens with a dedication to Lucio Fulci...only this film seems to mimic those unmentionable films that Fucli has done. Now don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that this film is trash...rather I am saying it is up there with Bad...bad Fulci...I'm talking Black Cat, House of Clocks, Voices from Beyond...etc. I don't like Fulci and this film follows his lead which leads to my distaste. Further, I see so much independent German Horror that I tend to expect a bit more from releases...particularly on the XT or X-Rated Labels. This film may be a good entry into German Underground if you have not seen any films or only a few imports...it will set the standard of what to expect and test you on what you can tolerate. Basically done on a no Budget premise, the film deals with a satanic sacrifice gone wrong and interrupted by armed troops...the kid to be sacrificed is rescued; grows up and then yep...zombies... The acting and costume is bad...but give them credit they tried and created wardrobes on what they had. Like many of the German films the natural sets and locations are amazing and brilliant; a beautiful background to the horror on the film. The story though like many in the genre is weak...But again..it's not that bad and really is for true fans...if you've seen a lot of the underground films you can skip this one it is nothing new; however, if you are new to the genre this is an easy import to find and is a good example of whats to come your way if you continue on in your search for obscure foreign horror.

I just got the import Midnight Video bootleg/USA Public Domain Release of the film. I must say I've been at this since I was 10 years old...watching horror films...reading Fango...searching for those lost treasures...after years of seeing horror films everything starts to blur and become the same old thing...stories retold, murders recreated..scares duplicated...Basically, you realize that there is not much new or novel out there...ghosts, monsters, zombies...psychos...that's about all. Spyder Labrythn is the first film in years that I can say caught me off guard and drew me in...It is this weird mix of Suspiria and The Beyond...but where The Beyond was stupid...story wise and in presentation...this film was not and where Suspiria dragged in parts of the narrative for the illusion of suspense...Spyder Labrynth doesn't. A beautifully simple tale of a professor sent to Budapest to investigate the lost communication of his colleague only to get drawn into the madness of the town and the secret it's people are protecting. The film is not predictable...the effects are gruesome and amazing and it has this claustrophobic eeriness that has only recently been recaptured by The Descent...A must see for any Horror Fan...it's a shame the film is Public Domain and will never get a decent release...

Blood Angel II...is what it is...and in all honesty how you respond to it will be based on how you responded to I Spit on Your Grave...a link the movie makes obvious it is taking from. If you hated I Spit on Your Grave...You will hate this movie...If you loved I Spit on Your Grave...there's a 50/50 chance of you liking this and that depends on why you liked I Spit on Your Grave. If you liked the brutality and the dirtiness of the film...if you like feeling like a bad person for watching rape and murder...then you might be into this...the only problem is that unlike I spit on Your Grave, Blood Angel pulls its punches...The rape scene is dull and boring and looks more like a mosh pit...the nudity and realism of I Spit on Your Grave is greatly reduced making the scene less horrific and blunting the impact...the revenge scenes are the same...while over the top and gorier than I Spit on Your Grave, it takes away from the feel of real revenge and has the film come across as silly and playful...again not bad if that is your thing. however if you loved I spit on your grave for the aesthetic appeal, symbolism, and underlying feminist drive...a movie about redemption and reclaiming what was taken...you'll hate Blood Angel. There is no aesthetic value...it was shot in the woods on DV and instead of capturing the natural beauty and contrasting it with the ugliness of men like I spit on your Grave...Blood Angel seems to only use the location because of it's connection to I Spit on Your Grave and does little with it to drive the meaning of the film. There is no underlying drive or motivation...it's oh I got raped...I live at home...I watch TV...I saw I spit On Your Grave...Lets kill the men... It skips over the emotional turmoil of the trauma captured by the original. All In all though it is not a bad effort; its just if you are going to try and copy something...one up it...one up it because you saw something the original missed or you have a new angle on it...don't copy for the sake of copying...If it wasn't for I spit on your grave this would have been an great independent/low budget picture...but it does nothing new and loses any artistic value that is seen in these types of films.