Be Kind, Rewind: The VHS Reviews ~ Hunter's Blood (1986)

"Out There, No One Hears You Scream"

Synopsis: Our story follows the father/son team of Mason and David Rand (Clu Gulager and Samuel Bottoms) as they head out to the Arkansas wilderness to do a little hunting with a few friends. After one of the hunters makes a wise crack to a waitress at a local bar, an altercation occurs with a group of backwoods inbreds (who of course don't take too kindly to city folk). The city boys win the fight, but not the war and the hunters soon become the hunted as their peaceful vacation turns into a fight for their lives.

My Thoughts: If we learn anything from this movie, it's that Clu Gulager ("Return of the Living Dead", "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2") is a bonafide badass. He basically plays the Burt Reynolds role from "Deliverance" (the film that this movie borrows the most from), but he does it like only Clu Gulager can. He's one cool motherf#%ker. The rest of the acting is average at best, besides a couple pretty good performances from Sam Bottoms (“Apocalypse Now”, "The Outlaw Josey Wales”) and the always creepy Billy Drago ("Vamp", "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.") who plays 'Snake', perhaps the craziest of all the rednecks.

The director (Robert C. Hughes, "Memorial Valley Massacre", "Zadar! Cow From Hell") does a great job in that he never tries to pretend that this is anything more than what it is ...a hillbilly exploitation movie. Because of that, the audience could just shut off their brains, sit back and enjoy a movie that could have just as easily been called, 'Attack of the Killer Rednecks'.

This movie has just the right amounts of action and cheesiness to make a good 80's exploitation movie. It's also probably a bit more of a slasher film than most of the other films of it's kind. I would say it's a cross between "Deliverance" and "Wrong Turn". It could've used some nudity and a little more gore, but I always seem to say that. Overall, "Hunter's Blood" makes for a fun hour and a half.

* note: This is Billy Bob Thorton's first role. The only problem is, if you blink you'll probably miss him.

My Rating: 8 / 10







Okay, maybe we've already seen this story a hundred times before, but I just can't help it ...I love me some crazy rednecks. This one's definitely worth a watch. Unfortunately, it still hasn't been officially released on DVD in the U.S., so VHS or bootlegs seem to be your only options (not that I condone the buying or selling of bootlegs). A used VHS copy will run you about $12 on amazon.com. I've also seen it up on youtube now and again.

"click here to see the trailer"

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Mother's Day (2010)

"Don't Misbehave..."

Synopsis: After a bank robbery gone wrong, three brothers head for home, hoping their Mother (Rebecca De Mornay) can provide them with a getaway. The youngest brother, Johnny (Matt O'Leary), has been shot, and their back-stabbing former partner has gotten away with all the cash. But when the brothers get home, they find that all their stuff is gone and Mother is nowhere to be found: She lost the house months ago in a foreclosure. The new owners, Beth and Daniel Sohapi (Jaime King and Frank Grillo), and their guests, gathered for an ill-timed birthday party, become the brothers' unwitting hostages. Not long after, Mother arrives, along with the boys' sister Lydia (Deborah Ann Woll), and it soon becomes clear that Mother will do absolutely anything to protect her children. In one terrifying evening she brilliantly takes control of the situation and masterminds her sons' escape from the law. Sides will be taken, secrets revealed, and sins punished as the hostages struggle to make it through the night alive.

My Thoughts: Anyone who has been lucky enough to have discovered the b-movie masterpiece that is "Mother's Day" will tell you that they love it as much for it's absurdity than they do for it's violence and gore. So how does Darren Bousman's ("Saw 2-4", "Repo! The Genetic Opera") updated version compare to it's predecessor, even without nearly as much of the original's silliness and WTF moments? Well, pretty damn good actually.

The cast is incredible, especially Rebecca DeMornay as Mother. I gotta be honest, when I heard that she was chosen for this role all I could do was shake my head. I'll be the first one to say, she fuckin' nailed it. She's definitely a lot more demented than I gave her credit for, but I'm sorry I still can't get those "Risky Business" thoughts outta my head. Also, there's nothin' wrong with seeing Jaime King or Briana Evigan in another horror flick. But seriously, all of the acting was way better than I would have expected.

Darren Bousman did an amazing job telling the story with a good pace and never lost my attention (which is pretty easy to do). The kills and even some of the non-kills were pretty creative and really brutal. I mean, who doesn't wanna see a shotgun blast to the head ...so thumbs up on the gore. I think making this movie on an 11 million dollar budget is remarkable, especially with this cast. If they had to cut corners during production it certainly didn't show up on screen.

My Rating: 9 / 10




The 2010 version replaces all of the original's Troma weirdness with a more involved script, an experienced horror director and a great cast. You would think that taking out 90% of what made the original "Mother's Day" what it is would squash any chances of making this movie a worthy remake. I guess most of the time that would be true, but believe me this is an exception. They don't make'em much better, so when you get the chance, See it, Buy it!

BTW ...is it me or does anyone else wonder why everybody cheats on Jaime King in horror flicks. I just don't get it???

"click here to see the trailer"