Evan (Daniel David Diamond) is an itinerant DJ heading towards 40, reflecting on his vapid lifestyle “all these fake arsed people in this piece of shit club”, while sabotaging his career.

He’s staying in a mysterious hotel/clinic, difficult to know which, with his day consisting of club, gym, vege wrap, repeat. Dr Verde (Daniel Faraldo) meanwhile, (same building, different floor) is a Freudian fatherly Portugese psychiatrist, keeping the patients/guests in drugs, and being very attentive to Evan. Eve Woodhouse (Lindsey Neves), trainee psychiatrist and librarian suddenly appears, filling Evan in on the sordid potential of pharmaceutical companies and the Illuminati, while providing him with books about medicated puppets and Carl Jung.

Further confusion comes when Evan phones home to speak with his mother, who is almost unreally lolling around the sun-soaked pool, sipping mocktails with the rest of the family. Evan’s troubles become apparent as he recounts his recurrent nightmares. The big question is, what happened 14 years ago?

“Write what you know. Make the scary movie that scares you. The only thing that anyone wants to read is what haunts your soul.” Inspired by this, sometime DJ Jimmie Gonzalez embarked on making The Red Man, his debut feature film. He has successfully written, directed and edited a perplexing film, screened at a few festivals and collected some awards along the way.

Gonzalez has created a maze of a building, complete with sliding bookshelves, secret files, hidden tunnels, torture rooms and a prison, all underneath a sleek façade. Perhaps this is the film’s metaphor? I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Following the 2011 ‘comedy’ Goon: The Last of the Enforcers its only right that someone eventually made a documentary about the real enforcers of hockey, and that’s exactly what Brett Harvey has done with Ice Guardians. Ice Guardians is a pertinent documentary about the trials and tribulations of this often debated and controversial sporting figures. Watch as they cause destruction and violence on the ice, all in the name  of protection.

Not knowing an awful lot about Ice Hockey, despite enjoying  it thoroughly at the Olympics every four years, Ice Guardians appeared a little WORD at first glance, but Brett Harvey has done a fine job of giving the viewer enough build up and context that any layman of hockey can  enjoy this documentary. Using a combination of ex players, hockey fans and experts we’re given a full understanding of  the role of the enforcer but their importance in the sport. Incredibly interesting and fun Ice Guardians only suffers from being very very one sided in that it doesn’t really analyse the role of  enforcer as much as defend it but is rescued with fantastic editing and brilliantly interesting characters throughout.

The  timing of the music, historic shots and video footage all work together to create an enjoyable and at  the same time  eye  opening documentary on the world of  ice hockey and the often lambasted and mocked enforcer.Go on…have a watch!

By Toby Howell.

Tri is one of this year’s biggest surprises. You know when you watch a film that unknowingly packs a punch and you get that feeling of astonishment and glee? Well say hello to Tri. From the outside it looks like one of those straight to DVD releases, which lacks any kind of originality. This, is only partly true. What Tri lacks in creativity, it makes up for in characterisation. The film focuses on Natalie, played by the addictively watchable Jensen Jacobs, who decides along with her friend to sign up and train for a triathlon. What makes Tri so likeable is the ease to feel at home and relate to the characters. Each character has a flaw, each character uses the triathlon as a way to defeat their flaw, to overcome adversity. The movie confidently brandishes out music that truly complaints the flow and arch of the film, not only this, but the cinematography is mouth-watering with the characters displayed in immaculate backdrops with stunning slow-mo sequences which really capture your attention.

One of the biggest achievements of the project is the acting, even though there are no big names on the cast list, they earn your respect on screen. The film deals with dark themes and its actors hold their ground superbly well with some of the most emotional monologues I’ve seen all year. There were times where I had to sit back and question whether my eyes were going to water, it may be wise to have a tissue nearby.

To date with 49 reviews, Tri sits with an incredible 9.5 rating on IDMB, a score that really shouldn’t be overlooked. This film really does pack a motivational punch, even if you think you’ve seen it all before. The genuine nature and the personality of the characters blind you from your doubts and enable you to enjoy what is unfolding before your eyes. Due to a limited release, catch it now – you won’t regret it – Tri it.

By Last Caress.

Today, I am reviewing a pair of budget titles distributed here in the UK by Brighton-based budget title specialists Safecracker Pictures. With a back catalogue of pictures such as Nazi Zombie Death Tales (2012), Easy Rider: The Ride Back (2012) and Venom (2011), you do at least get a fairly good idea of what you’re getting into from the off: If the titles of those movies appeal, the movies themselves likely will too. Shall we crack on?

God of Vampires (Fitz, 2010)

Made over six years-worth of free weekends and days off, God of Vampires tells of a contract killer, Frank Ng (Dharma Lim), who lands the contract of his life when he’s asked to off a triad mob boss for a million dollars. Alas, it turns out that the mob boss he’s supposed to off happens to be Kiang Shi, the “God of Vampires”, who not only refuses to be a good boy and die, but also curses Frank causing everyone close to Frank to die.

This is a terribly frustrating one, this. The concept of God of Vampires is both interesting and original, two adjectives so rarely attached to vampire pictures anymore. The opening scene is intended to paint Frank Ng as a Leon-level hitman, and setting this protagonist against rarely-seen-on-screen Chinese vampires (much more zombie/vampire hybrids, subservient to a master vampire with a vastly different set of “rules” under which they exist than that of their more familiar European counterparts) is, I think, a terrific idea. On top of this, God of Vampires wants to set its stall out as being as gory as fuck to boot. And it is, it’s all of these things, except… ah, it’s just not. It can’t escape it’s micro-budget, and at every level its cheap production values let it down. Scenes of dramatic dialogue get lost behind the score. Actors seem uncertain as to whether they should play it straight or ham it up; either way, they’re rarely up to the task. The tone veers ‘twixt that of a Hellraiser movie and that of a Robert Rodriguez Shoot ’em Up. And it has to be said that Safecracker’s blocky, non-anamorphic presentation doesn’t help the picture in any way, shape or form. It’s like watching a pre-broadband YouTube clip in a big black box.

Look: If you’re a fan of vampire pics I’m going to recommend you give God of Vampires at least a look, despite my misgivings. It is a freshly original piece of writing, that’s for sure. For my money, this is exactly the sort of film Hollywood should be remaking instead of the classics which didn’t need a remake in the first place. Because of the woeful production values, I’d also say that those of you looking for a treat on a “Bad Movie” night might find something here as well. Anyone else can swerve this one with confidence.

Wolf Town (Reiné, 2011)

College student Kyle (Levi Fiehler) wants to date Jess (Alicia Ziegler) but is too timid to ask her. She’s a history and anthropology major though, so he concocts a trip with her to the deserted former gold mining town of Paradise as a school research project. He takes his friend Ben (Max Adler) with him to act as a wing-man but, oh noes! Jess has brought her boyfriend Rob (Josh Kelly)! Who foresaw that happening? Anyway, what the audience knows thanks to a cold opening set a hundred years or so earlier but the quartet of students don’t know is that Paradise was overrun by a pack of killer wolves who appear to have held the town right up until the present day, however chronically unlikely that may sound. And I guess the pack haven’t enjoyed a good meal since the 1890s either since they’re plenty keen on wolfing down these four (“Wolfing” down, brilliant).

Wolf Town is almost the opposite of God of Vampires: Where God of Vampires was an intriguing idea executed poorly, Wolf Town is a competently-made piece – the wolf-centric sequences notwithstanding – featuring four likeable protagonists, but with a dull and badly-scripted central conceit. What sort of “school project” is this supposed to be? What was Kyle’s further plan upon conning Jess to go out into the middle of nowhere with him and his mate (they didn’t know the boyfriend would tag along)? How was Kyle close enough to Jess for long enough that he could both foster an obsession with her and talk her into taking a research trip with him, but didn’t know she was dating anyone? How has this historical resource of Paradise been discovered and publicized as such whilst all this time being populated by man-eating wolves for literally over a century? I guess none of this matters once we’re into the main thrust of the picture – vicious wolves lay siege to these poor buggers – but then the picture is beset by its other big problem: The aforementioned wolf-centric sequences, which involve lots of close-ups and jump cuts to imply that “stuff” is happening when, really, all that does is disorient the viewer and pull us out of the moment. At least Wolf Town fares better than God of Vampires in its treatment by Safecracker, presented in proper widescreen with a slightly better standard-definition encoding.

If you were to catch Wolf Town late at night on SyFy or Movies4Men or The Horror Channel or somewhere you may find a mild enough distraction for eighty minutes or so but I can’t imagine that too many people who actively sought it out could have been anything other than disappointed.

God of Vampires and Wolf Town are out now. Check out Safecracker Pictures’ site here.