“The Girl With All The Gifts” (2016) – British Zombie Apocalypse Horror/ Action – “Zombies On The Rampage!!” – February 2017 Zombie Film Festival

It’s Valentines Day and what better time to kick off the first of Febuary’s Zombie festival Reviews with a look at the Zombie Apocalypse from the British viewpoint with director Colm McCarthy’s take on the novel by M.R. Carey, “The Girl With All The Gifts”. And… as an added bit of fun, it seems justly appropriate to invite our fellow blogging friend Stephen from Gweilo Ramblings along to share the British perspective on all the zombie hijinks to be had. 😉

Thanks for having me again Miyuki, it’s been way way too long since we have had a crossover, and whilst this might not fit my usually review M.O., I can’t help but think it was a pretty perfect choice.

Our synopsis goes like this: “In the near future, a strange fungus infection has transformed nearly everyone into a thoughtless, flesh-eating monsters called “hungries”. 10 years after the infestation ran amok and nearly destroyed the world, an obsessed scientist, a dedicated teacher, and a military base full of nervous soldiers conduct experiments on a strange group of dangerous children seemingly immune to the worst effects of fungus. But then the base is overrun by the hungry hordes and they are all forced to undertake a journey to seek shelter and possibly save humanity from complete extinction”

Zombie kiddies? Hmmmm? Definitely haven’t seen that very often, eh? It’s always nice to see somebody trying to use our old friends, the zombies, and take them in a new direction. Shake up the preconceptions and find some new ideas, maybe find a way to weave an important message into an otherwise well-worn genre. Neko’s all for that, as long as they don’t neglect all the crazy flesh-eating zombie action we all know and love. Gotta have your priorities… 😉

“Córki Dancingu” aka “The Lure” (2015) – Polish Disco/ Musical Mermaid Horror/ Fantasy

Wooo!! Well.. the month has flown by but before all the lovely mermaids sing their final siren songs and swim back into the murky depths of the deep green sea, we’ve still time for one last Review. So… now it’s time for perhaps the weirdest film of all in our “Frolicking Under The Sea: Mermaid Fantasy Film Festival – August 2016”, the 2015 Polish film fantasy “Córki Dancingu” aka “The Lure”. Get ready Gentle Visitors… I’m thinking this is probably the only Disco musical communist-period piece Horror Fantasy romance film about singing and dancing man-eating mermaid strippers ever made. Yep. Couldn’t pass this one up, not on your lives…

Our synopsis goes like this: “Two teenage Mermaid sisters – Silver and Gold – find themselves in the middle of the world of Warsaw dance parties of the ‘80s, vibrant with music, glittering with neon lights and sparkling sequins. They join the musicians of the “Figs and Dates” club-band and overnight become the sensation of the capital’s nightlife. Immersed in love and budding passions they forget their true nature for a while. But one single broken heart is enough for the situation to slip out of control and lead everyone towards tragedy…”

This is one of those crazy lil’ films that comes along once in a while and makes even this wee Catgirl shake her head and go “WTF…?”. One look at some of the early reviews and I knew I just had to get my Magical Catgirl Powers to working on finding a copy for myself. One quick internet shopping trip to Poland and I managed that very thing… but was all my eager curiosity worth the effort? One way to know for sure… Yep that’s your clue!! Don’t just sit there like a bump on a log…. you know you all wanna hear all about this goofy film. 😉

“Mamula” aka “Killer Mermaid’ (2014) – Serbian Mermaid Horror

Our “Frolicking Under The Sea: Mermaid Fantasy Film Festival – August 2016” continues at full speed!! Now it’s time for some scary mermaid action, Euro-style with a look at 2014’s low budget Serbian mermaid horror film “Mamula” or as it’s know most places, “Killer Mermaid”.

Our synopsis reads as follows: “Two young American women, Kelly and Lucy, go on a Mediterranean vacation for fun and sun with an old college friend from Serbia, Alex. Along the way, they will encounter a mysterious stranger and come to grips with a long held secret that will threaten their very lives when they uncover the watery lair of a man-eating mermaid siren hidden beneath an abandoned military fortress. What was once a carefree adventure soon becomes a deadly fight for survival against an ancient myth come to terrible life.”

Sounds like we have a winner here! Sexy fun in the sun, a deadly serial killer, a deserted Island with an ex-Nazi prison, and a killer mermaid with a taste for human meat… What more could this wee kitten want? Well… OK… maybe some kung-fu, but hey… you can’t always have everything… 😉

“Liza, A Rókatündér” aka “Liza the Fox Fairy” (2015) – Hungarian Fantasy/ Romance

Time for another Review, and this time yours truly scores a surprising lil’ gem from Hungary, the quirky offbeat 2015 Fantasy/ Romance/ Comedy, “Liza, A Rókatündér” aka “Liza the Fox Fairy”.

Our synopsis for it goes sorta like this:“Somewhere in a fanciful alternate 1970s Budapest that never was, a shy, naive, and lonely nurse named Liza lives in a bizarre fantasy world where her only friend is the ghost of a dead 50’s Japanese Pop star named Tomy Tani. Inspired by a steady diet of Japanese romance novels, Liza dreams of one day finding her true love. On her 30th birthday she decides to break out of her shy lonely life to find it at last, but as all her potential suitors die one by one in violently odd and extreme ways, she begins to fear the worst: that perhaps she is cursed and has really become a mythical fox fairy, tragically doomed to remain alone forever!”

Hehehe… as you all know, o’ Gentle Visitors, this wee lady loves her goofy Asian Horror movies… and her weird Turkish ones… and… well… pretty much most all horror movies in general. But honestly… I also like quirky, odd little romantic films too. You know the ones. The ones where it’s not too odd to find a ghost or an alien or even a monster or two thrown in the mix just to spice things up. Those are usually the sorts of films I end up getting all teary and emotional about and usually love most of all. Go figure… I’m just goofy like that.

So… when a crazy little Hungarian movie about curses and Japanese Fox Spirits and romance came along, naturally it was a given that I’d have to track myself down a copy. A little web surfing later and eBay came to the rescue with just such a DVD… even complete with those ever so necessary English subtitles along for the ride. Yay!

So, you wanna hear Neko tell you all about it, do you? Then watcha waitin’ for? 🙂

“[REC] 4: Apocalypse” (2014) – Spanish Zombie Apocalypse/ Horror

April is here (and quickly slipping away from me, it seems…) and it’s time to check back with the Zombie Apocalypse… just to see if it’s creeping up on us or not, mind you… with a look at the recent Region 2 UK release of the Spanish Zombie Apocalypse thriller “[REC] 4: Apocalypse”.

The synopsis reads “Barcelona TV reporter, Angela Vidal, wakes up in a high-security quarantine facility aboard a ship at sea, sole survivor and witness to the horrific events inside the apartment building of the first film. She seems to have only spotty memories of what happened at the end of her ordeal there. But does she secretly remember what happened to her? Is she carrying the virus? Distrust spreads through the freighter while new, even more deadly forms of evil spread even faster among the researchers and crew. Soon that Evil is loose again, but will she survive this new assault or become one of its twisted victims?”

I’ve enjoyed this franchise so far, so it’s nice to get another offering to sate this zombie fan’s need for a little gory fun in the world of the Zombie Apocalypse now that “The Walking Dead” is on its hiatus till fall. Sure… sure.. there’s “IZombie”, but that’s just toooo much of a comedy. Neko wants scary gross zombie fun… 😉

So… will I get it with this one? All signs look promising… so if you wanna know if it’s a gore fest that ought to show up in your DVD player anytime soon, just “Read On” and let a certain crazy movie obsessed Catgirl tell you all about it. 😉

“The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of of the Yik Yak” (1984) – French Adventure/ Sexploitation – “Thrilling Adventures!! March 2015″

So… have any of my Gentle Visitors ever wondered what “Raiders” would be like if you mixed it up with a little vintage Eurosex naughtiness ala “Barbarella”? No? Well, what kind of globe-trotting Catgirl adventuress would I be if I didn’t dig deep in the DVD vault for something a little spicy… a little racy… a wee bit risqué to really show you just how much “Raiders” has influenced films from all around the world. This time out, the 1984 French film “The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak” based on… of all things… an odd little bondage/fetish cartoon series. Yep, I kid you not. 😉

Our synopsis goes like this: “Sweet naive virginal Gwendoline leaves her convent school and arrives in China in a box on a quest to find the fate of her lost father who was last seen searching for a rare butterfly in the legendary “Land of the Yik Yak”. Saved from white slavers and a fate worse than death by her loyal maidservant and a devil-may-care adventurer, soon she is knee-deep in trouble. Along the way she and her companions must face pirates, scoundrels, vicious native tribesmen, poisonous desert windstorms, and a lost race of Amazon warriors guarding a volcanic mountain full of diamonds.”

Hmmmm? Yes… I know… Sounds a bit naughty… (Just the sort of film to tease my sweet Carolyn… and convince her I really am a nutty lil’ dweeb for sure. 😉 ) but it also sounds really campy and way fun too. So for a bit of jungle adventure fun the way only the French could manage it, let’s all kick back and enjoy the fun together shall we? 😉

“Diamonds of Kilimandjaro” (1983) – French Jungle/ Adventure/ Sexploitation – “Thrilling Adventures!! March 2015″

So after our lil’ excursion to Russia and a movie that was actually pretty darn good… how about we jump in the wayback machine to return to the wild euro-trash cinema of the 1980’s for our next “Thrilling Adventures!! March Movie Review Festival” offering here at the ol’ Litterbox and a look at a film reputed to be one of the worst ever made by infamous euro-sleaze director Jess Franco, 1983’s “Diamonds of Kilimandjaro”.

Our synopsis goes like this: “A group of greedy explorers and soldiers of fortune take a safari deep into uncharted Africa to search for the daughter of a dying woman lost years before as a child in a plane crash. That child, Diana, has grown to womanhood as the White Goddess of a tribe of vicious natives guarding the secret of a horde of diamonds worth millions. Will their greed, lust, and murderous plots result in riches or death for them all in the heart of the savage jungle?”

So this time out we get promised two-fisted heroes, a treasure of diamonds, and even a spunky jungle girl to boot! Somehow though… I have the feeling it’s all gonna go spectacularly bad…. 😉 But I’m a big girl now… and suitably warned, I’m ready to experience the horror that is… “Diamonds of Kilimandjaro”.

“Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi” aka “Witching & Bitching” (2013) – Spanish Witchcraft/ Horror/ Comedy

Just when I thought all the witches were hiding this Holiday season and I’d have to rely on doing reviews of older films to fill out things here at the Litterbox, Spain comes to our rescue with the release of 2013’s “Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi” aka “Witching & Bitching” on Region 1 DVD. I’ve known about this one for a while, but given that the original Spanish DVD lacked subtitles, I’d resigned myself to a long search for the subtitles or a release that actually had reliable ones. And you know how those searches can be…. Luckily, somebody must have decided this wee lady needed her Halloween Treats early this year…. 😉

Our synopsis? Well it goes something like this. “When your marriage has you on the brink and your bank account in the red, it’s time to throw all common sense to the wind and rob a “Cash-for-Gold” shop. That hasty ill-conceived decision made by a group of desperate guys leads them into danger as they try to make their getaway to France in a hijacked cab whose route takes them through the impenetrable forests of Basque Country, home to legends of ancient covens and witchery. As fate would have it, they run head-on into a horde of crazed women who hate all men and feed on human flesh. Trapped in their mysterious mansion on the night of the greatest witches Sabbath in a century, our hapless heroes must pull together and win the ultimate “Battle of the Sexes” to save civilization as they know it from the cannibal coven and their ancient Goddess of Evil.”

Slapstick oddball comedy… goofy criminals… vengeful ex-wives… crazy cannibal witches… ancient giant fertility goddesses run amok… a sprinkling of sexy witchy shenanigans… and maybe even some subtle smart comments on the nature and problems of modern “gender relations”. Sounds like we’ve got it all. Wanna know how it all plays out smooshed together? Then ya know what ya gotta do… 😉

“Syvälle Salattu” aka “Body of Water” (2011) -Finnish Horror

Hmmm? Time for another Review, and this time something a wee bit different than my usual Asian flavored films with a trip to scenic Finland for a look at director Joona Tena’s 2011’s psychological horror/ thriller “Syvälle Salattu” aka “Body of Water”.

My synopsis goes like this: “Environmental lawyer Julia Mannerla is tasked with reluctantly returning to her childhood home to help stop hydro-power developers from flooding the town and displacing the residents. Still dealing with her recent divorce, she and her young son Niko soon discover that a local folk legend about a water spirit in the lake is somehow deeply connected to old memories Julia had buried away in the back of her mind from all those years ago… and that the open hostility of the residents might not be the biggest danger they face by returning to Lake Hallow.”

Evil mermaid? Yep… seems to me this one plays on the myths of the Rusalka, mermaid sirens from old Slavic lore that lived in lakes and rivers and often lured the foolish or unwary to a watery doom. Yep. Sounds kinds creepy and fun… Then, of course, this wee lady likes all sorts of ghosts and spirits and odd folklore, and I’m super afraid of the water myself, so I’m certainly thinking this one has the possibility of entertaining me while completely scaring me silly. Want to know how it all plays out? Then you know what you gotta do, o’ Gentle Visitor!! 😉

“The Day of the Triffids” (1963) – British SciFi/ Horror/ Apocalypse

I’m back with more Apocalyptic fun and another Review in our “End of the World As We Know It” movie marathon here at the Litterbox with another nostalgic “Lil’ Kitten Classic” from 1963… the British Sci-fi horror classic, “The Day of the Triffids”. A horrible global epidemic of blindness… a savage worldwide attack by ambulatory carnivorous plants… and civilization crumbles!! Ummmm? Wait a moment? “Killer Plants”? Really? Seriously? Oh yes, indeed, Gentle Visitors…. Add this to your list of possible Doomsday scenarios. The entire human race reduced to nothing more than walking Miracle-Gro for an invasion by hungry walking plants from outer space. 🙂

Our synopsis? How’s this grab you: “On a beautiful clear night in 1963, people all around the world are treated to a once -in-a-lifetime blazing spectacular from deep space… a meteor shower. In London, merchant seaman Bill Masen misses the show as he’s hospitalized with damaged eyes following emergency surgery. The following morning he awakens to find no one answering his bell. He removes the bandages himself and soon realizes that he one of the few people still left with sight as everyone who observed the meteor shower is now blind. Society quickly collapses beneath this unexpected event coupled with the sudden onslaught of the Triffids, flesh eating plants that are now surprisingly ambulatory, spreading  rapidly and devouring the helpless human race.”

Yep…. I know, I know…. it all sounds pretty darn goofy. But… not really any more goofy than the sudden reanimation of the brain munching undead, our old friends, the Zombies. Lil Miyuki saw this one on a Saturday morning “Creature Feature” TV waaaay back in the late 70’s (Or so my vague memories tell me…) and I remember being pretty darn sacred by the whole notion of big killer weeds with poison stingers. Scared enough to still remember it all fondly some 30 odd years later, and that’s saying something… So, if you recall this neat lil’ story too, than how about you “Read On” Gentle Visitor and share some of those feeling with this wee Catgirl? Unlike the Triffids, I promise I won’t bite…. 😉