kannibalcorpsegrinder

Trying to help their relationship, a couple heads to a house in the hills to visit several friends who are keen to start initiating them into an openly free sexual relationship which causes him to be far more hesitant of following through with their ideas which hold a dark agenda.

For the most part, this was a problematic erotic horror effort. Among the best elements here come from the main setup that tries to paint a solid picture of the relationship between the couple at the center of everything. As this starts off with the early sexual issues that emerge involving her wanting and being willing to explore other avenues that he's not as excited to go through despite every other aspect being quite fine, this starts up giving a great avenue to exploit and weasel around for the vampire's benefit. The couple's introduction into the society comes off nicely with his more restrained approach compared to her open-minded acceptance of the free-spirited sex that runs through the group that we get to see from the interactions at the mansion. Given plenty of nudity and open sexual shenanigans on display, it's the best element here. There are some big issues here that bring it down. The biggest factor with this one is the focus on sexual shenanigans at the expense of the horror as it takes so long to get going in that regard that it's possible to forget what type of feature it really is. It spends so much time trying to make him comfortable with the sexually open mindset and get comfortable with the situation or going through inane sexual conversations about performance and tactics that it feels more like an erotic drama rather than a genre effort. The idea is there but it stops being interesting when the only hint that something's wrong are brief eye-flashes showing their crimson status to where it feels like a gag to a punchline rather than a genuine aspect of this one. As there are no traditional aspects of the genre explored here and it could be removed without disrupting the story, it comes off as rather disappointing in that regard. That ties nicely into the other real issue with this one in that there's not much here actually in-depth on the vampire nature of the characters. As we've already noticed the sunlight doesn't bother them, the means of transference is a rather confusing one with the rules not quite explained regarding how they operate. That goes even moreso for how the final twist involving the purpose for everything coming together and getting revealed for them, bringing about a confusing and twisted series of logic that has a very high risk of failure that is immensely difficult to believe has a chance of working. Trying to change it around by not giving off a true vampiric backstory but one that's close enough is a flimsy excuse, making for such weak reasoning that there's barely anything about it that feels natural or realistic. Alongside the weak low-budget feel and approach, there are some big issues here.

Rated Unrated/R: Full Male and Female Nudity, Constant Sex Scenes and conversations, Graphic Language, Violence, and drug use.

Arriving at a run-down motel, a woman prepares for her significant other to appear so they can start a new life together, but as they stay at the motel come to believe that a savage killer from local folklore has taken up residence in the room next door and must try to get away alive.

This was an enjoyable enough effort, but it did have some issues. The biggest factor with this one is the strong setup that provides a great opportunity for this one to go with an intriguing thriller premise throughout. The central premise offering a fine bit of world-building with the backstory on the killer terrorizing the town and going uncaught for years since with them believing that there's a chance he's returned makes for a great setup, much like the resulting storyline about the couple staying at the next-door room. The way they come together with the room being used as a hideout after his fugitive status makes him go on the run and arrive there which sets him off into a panic when everything starts going wrong waiting for a pick-up to get out of the situation as the escalating tension trying to ensure nothing happens to him means that getting involved in the potential murder next door is all handled quite well. Given that this all goes with a strong secondary storyline about the potential killer following the girlfriend to her house as the atmospheric setting and tense stalking give this some great moments. Beyond this, there are some big factors here that come about more from viewers' expectations more than anything. With the setup about the legendary killer supposedly returning from an absence to start up a rampage once again with the setting taking place at the remote motel where the couple going through their own issues at the same time, the potential is there for this to delve into a stalk and slash template knocking off the rest of the motel guests before turning to the remaining couple. Instead, this opts for a thriller route about him trying to evade capture at the location rather than dole out the kind of body count or even slasher setpieces usually associated with the genre and leaves this one with a generally lackluster tone which leaves everything somewhat underwhelming with more focus on these factors that don't lead to the type of content you want. It's what lowers this the most.

Rated Unrated/R: Language and Violence.

Trying to get her life together, a struggling attorney finds the sudden change in behavior of the townsfolk around her to be the cause of an invading substance that affects the victim in unnatural ways, which causes her and several others to find the cause before it affects them.

Overall, this was a fairly solid feature. One of the better elements with this one is the solid first half which doesn't have much in the way of action but does bring about some intriguing ideas for later on. As we get an idea of the kind of life she leads with the struggling attorney role involving the failed case and her conflicting affair with the sheriff complicating her professional relationship while the strained and somewhat antagonistic relationship with her dad living with her creates a striking impression of what's going on. The idea of the change coming about after getting this kind of setup makes for a fine mystery with everything taking place in a manner that goes against their previously established norms and brings about a great turn into the second half investigating this mystery. This mystery becomes quite fun as the revelations come about not just with some impressive action but also the reveals of what's going on. The clues left behind at the crime scenes of each of the strange deaths and how they fit together, from the strange goo, the claims about low-frequency sound waves, and the audio connections made when investigating the incidents themselves, make for a decent mystery looking to bring about the full reveal of the creature at the forefront of the changes taking place in the town. The paranoia about the whole incident and not knowing what's going on until we get the full backstory of the creature's possession and eventual rebirth allows for some impressive practical effects to accomplish this. It all comes together nicely for a lot to like here as there aren't too many issues here even though they're quite detrimental. The main drawback to this one is the confusing ending that doesn't make much sense contextually based on everything that's happened so far. The idea of choosing humanity at that point is somewhat confusing based on the experiences shown so far which makes the idea of subjugating everything feel natural yet the lack of impact it has due to the weak characterizations makes it feel less threatening. That is the other major factor as it tends to rush through things beyond simply setting everything up so it glosses over a lot of big elements that are needed to make it make sense. What the creature is all about, how the process works, and why it's expending this energy to create the replication in the first place so it's all confusing and doesn't make much sense. These are the factors that bring it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.