“Under The Shadow” (2016) – Iranian/ Jordanian Ghost/ Horror

Well… the Christmas Holiday has come and gone but I’ve still a wee bit of free time this week so I thought I might end our month long “dry spell” here at the ol’ Litterbox with a fresh new Review before 2016 disappears into the rear view mirror. This time out? How about an Iranian/Jordanian Ghost story? Yep… betcha’ you haven’t seen too darn many of those, have you o’ Gentle Visitors? 😉

Our synopsis goes like this: “After Shideh’s building is hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, a superstitious neighbor suggests that the missile was cursed and might be carrying malevolent Middle-Eastern spirits. She becomes convinced a supernatural force within the building is attempting to possess her daughter Dorsa, and she has no choice but to confront these forces if she is to save her daughter and herself.”

Yep… it looks like those evil jinn are up to no good again. Sneakin’ about… corrupting souls… working their wicked schemes and generally wreaking havoc. Luckily a certain lil’ Catgirl is all up to speed on those critters thanks to all those Turkish horror goodies I’ve watched. So… I guess the real question is… are they scarier in Iran? Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?

“Meteletsa: Winter of the Dead” aka “Метелица: Зима мертвецов” (2012) – Russian Zombie Horror

Well… I know… it’s been another couple of weeks… (Bad kitty!! Baaaad, bad kitty!!). So that means it’s most definitely time, long overdue, for another review here at the ol’ Litterbox, and this time out, it’s another visit to the grim world of the Zombie Apocalypse, Russian style, with the 2012 film “Meteletsa: Winter of the Dead”. Did somebody say… “Zombies”? Yep… you all know a certain wee Catlady can never get enough of those… 😉

Synopsis? Well, “The Russian Winter is a terrible thing…… especially if it arrives in mid-July. It was the hottest Russian summer on record until a freak snowstorm breaks that heat and heralds the arrival of a flesh-hungry army of the undead. They seem hell bent on destroying a sleepy Russian town and ruining the day of intrepid Moscow TV reporter, Kosta and the sexy rollerblading girl he ran into while running for his life. Now all he has to do is somehow avoid the zombies, get the girl, stop from being shot by her father, and stay away of the sharp end of a mad Russian Orthodox Priest’s axe while still making his deadline!”

This one’s been out for a while now, and it’s another of those odd foreign films that stubbornly avoided falling into my clutches. No DVD… until recently… and then only a Spanish release missing those ever so handy English subtitles I want. But finally it popped up. On steaming video release…. hey… wait a minute that’s new. But… since I’ve got an Amazon account, I’m all set I guess. Wanna know how it all went? Then ya know what ya gotta do, eh, Gentle Visitors? 😉

“Yasmine” (2014) – Brunei Martial Art/ Drama – “Martial Arts Mayhem: Fighting Femmes Festival – 2016”

Time for another installment of our February “Martial Arts Mayhem: Fighting Femmes Festival – 2016”. This time out? Well how about some “female empowerment” from a somewhat unexpected source, the country of Brunei, with a look at director Siti Kamaluddin’s 2014 “Yasmine”.

Our synopsis goes like this: “Living alone with her strict father, Yasmine is a free-spirited girl, sometimes unruly and even rebellious. When her father tells her she’s been refused a school loan and must study far from her friends, at a grim public college, she takes the news very poorly. To top it off, Adi, her old school’s silat prodigy with whom Yasmine is hopelessly in love, now has his eye instead on her rival Dewi, also a practitioner of that same martial art. So she joins the humble silat club at her new college, building a friendship with her teammates Ali and Nadia. Soon she convinces them to join her in signing up for the same intercollegiate silat competition that Dewi and Adi are participating in, with hopes winning Adi’s affections once more. Yasmine is forced to undertake her training in secrecy, because her father harbors an unexplained contempt for the sport and forbids her any involvement with it. As the first round of the competition approaches, Yasmine is driven to excel at all cost, possibly even the loss of her newfound friends. Eventually, her unbridled ambition, her single minded vendetta with Dewi, and her fixation on Adi will soon push Yasmine to learn the secret why her father wants nothing to do with silat.”

Sound a little like “The Karate Kid”? Well… yes… but being a film from Brunei, I was certainly expecting something a wee bit different. Trust me… Brunei is definitely not a place I really associated with “female empowerment”. Nope. So was I surprised or disappointed with what was on hand? Guess you’ll have to “Read On” and find out, won’t you? 😉

“Nieng Arp” (2004) – Cambodian Vampire Horror

Well… weird funk or not, it’s time this wee lady forces herself to get with it and get back to what we do here at the ol’ Litterbox, and that’s reviewing all the goofiest horror movies any other self respecting lady would pass up in a heartbeat. It’s October… and as promised, we’re celebrating Halloween with my annual Halloween Movie Review Festival. This time out… vampire movies, and what better way to start than with my first ever Cambodian horror movie, 2004’s “vampire-witch with flying head” film, “Nieng Arp”?

Our synopsis? Ok… “In the middle of a long night, a young woman and her boyfriend are confronted by a group of gangsters on their way home. The girl is then violently raped and her lover is killed by the brutal action of the cruel gangsters. During her loss of consciousness, she later is possessed by an old vampire witch because the saliva of a witch’s head accidentally fell on her mouth, immediately making her part of the next generation of Arp ghosts. After becoming an Arp, she takes vengeance on the gang that raped her.

A group of students come to her house, discovering her true identity by unlocking several secrets in the basement under her lonely villa. One by one the students are killed by the Arp. However, all of the female students are spared. One male survivor does escape and manages to find a new way to be rid of the evil spirit of Arp and thus save his lover, who happens to be the Arp’s daughter, from inheriting the curse of the Flying Vampire”

Oooohhh!! Sounds like a winner. Right? At least it certainly did waaaay back when I first heard of it about a decade ago. However, Cambodian DVD’s are about as difficult for me to get here in the good ol’ US as they can be, so actually finding this one was a major undertaking. But… as with all things, that just means your Favorite Catgirl has to be patient. If I’m lucky, a film like this eventually finds it’s way into my grasp. Just this month, it finally did, English subtitles and all. So now… if you are curious about just how good Cambodian Horror films might possibly be, then just “Read On” and let this obsessive Catgirl tell you all about it. 😉

“Viy 3D” (2014) aka “Forbidden Empire” – Russian Fantasy/ Horror

Seeing as I’m finally back on track from a looooonnng dry spell, how about we get back to things with a movie that’s been a looooonnng time in making it’s way to my DVD player? Sound good? Well then I guess that means it’s finally time for another trip to the Gothic wilderlands of old Russia and a look at the super late to actually get released, long, long, looonnng delayed, always just out of reach, never thought I’d actually ever see it, Russian remake of the 1967 classic fantasy film, “Viy 3D”.

Our synopsis? OK… OK… it goes sorta along these lines: “Early 18th century. Cartographer Jonathan Green undertakes a scientific voyage from Europe to the East. Having passed through Transylvania and crossed the Carpathian Mountains, he finds himself in a small village lost in impassible woods somewhere in the hinterlands of the Ukraine. Nothing but chance and heavy fog could bring him to this cursed place. People who live here do not resemble any other people which the traveler saw before that. The villagers, having dug a deep moat to fend themselves from the rest of the world, share a naive belief that they could save themselves from evil, failing to understand that evil has made its nest in their souls and is waiting for an opportunity to gush out upon the world.”

Can’t tell you how long this one has teased me from afar. How about since waaaay the heck back around 2005 or so? Yep. This particular film has been kicking around in some fashion or another for well near a decade before finally seeing a release in it’s home country of Russia, let alone any sort of DVD that yours truly could lay her hands on. I had figured that would eventually turn out to be China, Thailand, or maybe Malaysia…. but nope. Just when I’d about forgotten to keep checking around for it, it turns up at my local Walmart under the somewhat goofy and WTF? title, “Forbidden Empire”. Oh well… no passing up a gift of the Movie Fairies… But was it worth the wait to see? One way to know, right? 😉

“Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead” (2014) – Australian Zombie Horror/ Action

Well. May is fast fading away, but if I can rouse my lazy butt, I do believe there’s still time for one or two reviews. 😉 So then… how about some Zombie Apocalypse action from the Land Down Under with the 2014 “Zombies meet Mad Max” mash-up, “Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead”? I’ve a rapidly growing “To Watch” pile teetering precariously on the stand next to our TV just aching to get viewed, but somehow I just knew this one would find it’s way right to the top when it finally arrived from the UK. Your favorite crazy Catlady loves her zombies after all…

Our synopsis? Easy peesie!! :“When a freak cometary shower strikes the Earth releasing toxic contamination that turns everyone around him—including his wife and daughter—into marauding cannibal zombies, everyman mechanic Barry arms himself to the teeth, soups up his car, and hits the road in order to rescue his sister from the hideous experiments of a deranged, disco-dancing mad doctor and his cadre of military goons.”

Flesh eating undead… evil insane villains with an unknown agenda… crazy road raging heroes on a mission of vengeance… and all that “Vrooom!! Vrooom!!” post-apocalyptic car action we all know and love. Sounds pretty darn good to me. (But then my tastes in movies do lean towards the utterly “craptastic” end of the spectrum… 😉 ) What are you waiting for, o’ Gentle Visitors? let’s get right to it then!!

“Treasure of the Amazon” (1985) – Mexican Jungle/ Adventure/ Exploitation – “Thrilling Adventures!! March 2015″

Time to swing by Mexico for a peek at 1985’s Jungle Adventure exploitation classic “Treasure of the Amazon” by Mexican director René Cardona Jr., the latest addition to our March “Thrilling Adventures!!” Movie Review Festival. Deadly jungle action, topless Amazon women, headhunters, poison darts, a sadistic ex-Nazi on a hunt for gold, a river of diamonds full of piranhas and killer crocodiles, and all the other exploitation film goodness you’d expect in a good 80’s “B” movie… 😉

Our synopsis reads: “In the depths of the lush, steamy Amazon jungle, rife with exotic and dangerous wildlife, a group of adventurers embark on a quest to discover a legendary river reportedly filled with diamonds “the size of your eyes” as well as precious jewels and gold, and in the process finds itself enveloped in incomprehensible barbarism. At the mercy of this mysterious jungle labyrinth, the treasure hunters are forced into fierce battles with vicious ruthless headhunters, ferocious alligators, piranhas, a tribe of topless female warriors, and, equally disturbing, the greed of their own colleagues, raising the question “Which is more treacherous, the greed of man or the perils of the jungle?”

Yep… a steamy impenetrable jungle… a treasure… deadly dangers… and perilous adventure. Sounds like this one fits our bill. Throw in some topless Amazon women and a nasty Nazi fugitive and I’m thinking they are really shooting to cover all the bases… Hehehe!! But seeing is believing, so let’s get to it then, shall we o’ Gentle Visitors?

“Sky Pirates” (1986) – Australian Adventure/ Fantasy – “Thrilling Adventures!! March 2015″

Whew!! Our whirlwind globe-trotting March “Thrilling Adventures!!” Movie Review Festival continues with a quick layover in Australia for a look at 1986’s “Raiders” spunky Aussie wanabee “Sky Pirates” (or “Dakota Harris” as it’s known in German releases). 😉

Synopsis anybody? 😉 “WW2 Australia, August 1945. Flight Lieutenant Dakota Harris is called upon to fly a classified mission in an American DC-3 transport from a secret Australian airbase to Washington DC. On board is an American General and archeologist Reverend Mitchell along with one-third of an ancient stone tablet. The plane gets caught in a mysterious electrical storm and crash-lands in a sea, filled with long-lost ships. Rescued and brought back to Australia, Dakota finds himself court-martialed due to a false testimony by his co-pilot Squadron Leader Savage. Dakota escapes and gets help from Mitchell’s beautiful and feisty daughter Melanie. Together they set out to stop the evil Savage, who is after the 3 pieces of the stone tablet and their enormous power when combined together. A power which can be used for good… or for evil.”

World War 2… ancient astronauts… lost civilizations… the eerie heads of Easter Island… the powers of alien antimatter… daring aerial action… two-fisted wise cracking hero… and a pretty female sidekick. Yep. This sounds about right. So what the heck are we waiting for? Adventure awaits!! 🙂

“Skalolazka and the Last of the Seventh Cradle” (2007) aka “Скалолазка и последний из седьмой колыбели” – Russian Action/ Adventure – “Thrilling Adventures!! March 2015″

So.. our “Thrilling Adventures!!” March 2015 Movie Review Festival is officially underway, and in the spirit of all Globe-Trotting Adventurers, we head waaaay waaaay to the other side of Terra Incognito. Well… Russia actually… for our first cinematic adventure gem. It’s 2007’s “Tomb Raider” wannabe “Skalolazka and the Last of the Seventh Cradle”. Neko’s been on the prowl for this one for quite a while. Russian film can be remarkably stubborn when it comes to getting any kind of English friendly DVD release, and this one is no exception. In fact… the only release outside of the Russian Region 5 unsubtitled one is… weirdly enough… a French Region 2 that came with no subtitles at all… and no Russian audio language track either! Yep. It was a straight “dubbed into French” release that was about as worthless for this wee kitten as you might get. D’ohh!!

Synopsis? Sketchy at best, but here goes: “An exciting story about incredible adventures of Alena Ovchinnikova a female rock climber, expert in ancient languages ​​who comes into possession of an ancient artifact of enormous unknown power and by the fate’s will, becomes the savior of human civilization.”

Yep. It took a bit of prowling about to locate some Russian subtitles… in Cyrillic script… that yours truly could work her obsessive Catgirl magic upon to give me some reasonably workable English translated ones to make watching this one possible. Whew!! Yep… my lovely “dorogaya” thinks I’m crazy… and maybe she’s right. 😉 The only way you’ll know for certain is to “Read On” o’ Gentle Visitors and see for yourself…

“Más Negro Que La Noche” (2014) – Mexican Ghost/ Horror Remake

Brrrrr!!! The weather hereabouts is simply atrocious these last few weeks! Thank goodness your Favorite Catgirl can still escape the frigid miserable cold with a warm and cuddly evening on the couch snuggled under a wooly blankie with my dearest Carolyn and my kitty and enjoy some chills of a whole different sort. This time out? How about another virtual trip “South of the Border” with a look at the recently released Mexican remake of director Carlos Enrique Taboada’s 1975 horror classic “Más Negro Que La Noche” aka “Darker Than The Night”.

Our synopsis? “Greta is a beautiful young woman whose eccentric aunt Ofelia passes away leaving her a large, once opulent mansion. When Greta moves in with her friends she discovers that as a stipulation of the will, she must take care of her aunt’s prized black cat, Beker. The new residents take charge of the mansion, throwing wild parties and enjoying a fun-filled summer until they lose track of Beker – who drowns in the mansion’s pool. What was about to be the best summer of their lives quickly turns into a spine-chilling fight for their lives as eerie events from the past return to haunt them and it seems none of them is safe from Ofelia’s ghostly wrath.”

Old haunted mansion… creepy black cat… vengeful spirits from beyond the grave… Oh yes… Definitely sounds like a pretty close remake of the original, which your Favorite Catgirl watched some time back, but will this one be as creepy and neat as the original classic? Only one way to find out, o’ Gentle Visitors… 🙂