DVD Review: Venom

Finally, the unstoppable-killer-movie has returned! It's been years since we've had a decent Jason, Freddy or Michael type of killer grace the screen. I'm happy to say that Venom does a nice job of bringing it back. When an old voodoo woman gets into an accident, Ray, the town's quiet tow truck driver, tries to save her. She tells him to get her suitcase, and when poor old Ray does, he's met with a nasty fate. Ray then is turned into an unstoppable killing machine, filled with the souls of many a bad man. It's up to a group of young people to try and stop him. Plenty of good old fashioned kill scenes, mixed with some fancy editing make this an original bloodfest. The "method of death" is a long forgotten art in Hollywood, but the filmmakers came up with some fun ones here. For a trip down death's memory lane, check out Venom. **** out of *****.

DVD Review: All Souls Day

I picked this one up simply for the fact that Jeffrey Combs is in it. He's long been one of my favorite genre actors and his acting in The Frighteners is one of his greatest performances. Thus, I was excited to see All Souls Day. Well, needless to say, the excitement wore off pretty quickly. It's not one of Combs finer roles and the acting throughout the film is pretty sad. Combs is only in it for the opening segment also, so if you're a fan like me, just know that he's not the main character in the film. The film is about a sleepy Mexican town where many years ago, a greedy landowner led the entire town into the mine where the Queen of the Dead's tomb was found. During the celebration, every townmember except the sheriff, is killed in an explosion. We now jump ahead 53 years later and a young couple gets trapped in the town on the Day of the Dead. It's taken literally in this town since all the people that died in the mine, come out to feast. While it's not the best zombie flick, there's some decent scenes here and there scattered throughout. However, the main character is too much of a pain to listen to for me to recommend this one. This one had potential, but the characters killed it. **1/2 out of *****.