All Souls Day: Dia de los Muertos

Okay..the Sci Fi channel saw fit to get rid of MST3K, Thriller, and a host of actually well made programs, only to replace them with putrid crap called "made for Sci-Fi" movies. Seriously, has even one of them been watchable? Ed Wood made better horror movies. Low budgets, and bad acting abound. This feces of a movie is poorly directed, poorly written, and incredibly boring. I could have produced better special effects in my basement. Compared to "Sci Fi Channel" movies, "Lifetime" movies, as horrible as they are, are Emmy winners. Yes, as much as they suck, I'd rather watch Melissa Gilbert and Meredith Baxter Birney movies than anything that's "made for Sci- Fi". Not that the Sci Fi channel is a total loss, at least they still air the "Twilight Zone" and "Kolchak". (Now, if they'd just quit trying to make movies, and bring back Night Gallery)

I have to be honest. I only watched this because of Danny Trejo. I would watch paint dry if he was the one painting. He only has a small part of the film, even though he was the primary star.

For a zombie film, it was a disappointment.

There were several beauties in the film like Nichole Hiltz, Laura Harring, Marisa Ramirez, and Ellie Cornell. Unfortunately, we didn't get any titillation as we would expect in a B horror film.

The zombie action was pretty lame for the most part. There was very little blood except at the end. I would have expected more. It just seemed that it was basically a story about revenge.

Vargas (Danny Trejo) sells out the people of the town he's a despot of when he lets them all get blown up in exchange for immortality. Fast forward 50 years and we find a family complete with sexy slutty daughter and asshole son who stops at the aforementioned town to check into a inn after a long day of traveling only to never check out. Fast forward yet another 50 years, and we're introduced to another couple who's car brakes down so they have to stay at the same inn To say that this film is disjointed is putting it mildly. To say the only actors worth anything at all (Trejo, Jeffrey Combs) are all underused in this movie, is a travesty. Writer Mark Altman sandwiched this film in between House of the Dead and House of the dead 2, and if that, my friends, doesn't say everything about what to expect from this movie, I don't know what else to say. You know what? I may have not liked Director Kasten's previous "the Attic Expeditions", but that film, as bad as it may be, still runs circles around this one.

My Grade: D

Eye Candy: Danielle Burgio and Mircea Monroe provide the T&A, while Marisa Ramirez only shows her breasts

OK so the only reason I even considered seeing this film was because I discovered Ellie Cornell was in it. I love her in Halloween 4 and 5 and than she took a very long break and came back with a very monotone performance in ultra trashy camp fest House of the dead. So I fgured she was in it and could ensure the film some laughs. Sadly, she's only in the first ten minutes though. but the film manages to be unintentionally funny on it's own and in some respects just not that bad. Besides the fact that the characters are dumb as doornails the film features a decent premise, an attractive cast and some good makeup. The direction is pretty bad, but the cinematography and score are surprisingly confident. A young couple on the way to a family gathering get into a small accident in a small town in Mexico. They become stranded there when they find a tortured young woman and their car won't start. they are instructed to stay at the town's hotel for the night while the day of the dead celebration commences. yada-yada- yada. Their friends come and the dead come to life. Nothing to original with a decent crypt- esquire twist. But You've gotta love the hammy dialogue and acting especially between the women in this film, or the old woman with a crazy axe. For the film's biggest laugh check out the blonde girl's escape from the house. Pure camp here people, love it or hate. It is what it is.

I saw this movie at the hole in the Head horror Festival and thought it was cool. The writer and the director came and talked after and said that they were making a different zombie movie - like from before Romero and that is definitely what it is. There are a bunch of good scares, nice action and the acting is good and the zombies are really cool but the best part is that it is in Mexico and that all the spookieness comes from that. Also there is a mystery going on in the town from when it started that the couple who get trapped there have to figure out to leave - which is well done and not lame or phony.

The makeup is good and there's also some naked girls all painted up to be killed in a ritual. Danny Trayo is excellent as the bad guy and he does a real exorcist scene that stole the movie.