Piglet

Let us for a moment travel back in time to the magical year of 2003. This was the year when Welsh rock band Stereophonics released their third studio album You Gotta Go There To Come Back ( that incudes their huge hit single Maybe Tomorrow ) and American rock metal band Limp Bizkit released their third album Results May Vary, an album that´s very different from their previous records ( perhaps a reason why this album have divided a lot of fans ). 2003 was also the year when iconic action actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was inaugated as Governor of California while one of the biggest movie releases this year was without a doubt director Peter Jackson´s film The Lords Of The Rings: The Return Of The King ( an epic final chapter in The Lords Of The Rings trilogy ). 2003 was my 4th year working in health care and i had already managed to try many different jobs at different health care homes. I can´t talk about the patients themselves but i remember going with a patient to a film he really wanted to see and that was the animated Disneytoon studios film Piglet´s Big Movie. At that time i didn´t really watch a lot of animated movies in my pesonal life, unless it was MANGA films or something similar. So for me to see an animated film in cinema such as Piglet´s Big Movie was definetely unusual. I have seen animated cartoons of Winnie The Pooh as a child so i was familiar with the character known as Piglet. So how was this film you might ask? For an animated family movie i would say it´s watchable, there are some positive details i feel this film manage to capture both the imagination of the world of Winnie The Pooh while also teaching some important things for children. I have not watched this film since i saw it in cinema back in 2003 but i have come across the Winnie The Pooh universe ever since they created the low budget slasher films Winnie The Pooh Blood And Honey ( where the sequel is so far the best ). It seems that this has become a trend in modern days to make horror films of well known children book characters. I don´t mind films such as this as long as they make fun horror films. So here we are with a film called Piglet, clearly inspired by the pig character from Winnie The Pooh and thrown into a slasher film. Is this far better than i expected or is Piglet a perfect example why some low budget horror films shouldn´t be made at all?

On Kate´s ( Alina Desmond ) 21st birthday camping trip, her friends encounter Piglet ( Alexander Butler ), a monstrous human-pig hybrid who brutally murders one of them. They uncover Piglet´s origin and Kate must confront her past to survive the relentless killer.

I understand what the low budget slasher Piglet was trying to do, spin the Winnie The Pooh universe around and put focus on the character of Piglet into a horror tale. It could have been a fun idea if they actually made an effort to make the idea work. Unfortunately, this film is a perfect example when you are not creative enough and basically make a film just to make money from a well known character. Right from an early start in this film i could feel how little effort they made to make this a fun slasher film. Remember last year when i reviewed a low budget slasher film called The Mouse Trap and mentioned how awful that film was? Piglet is not as awful as that particular film but this is still a really bad slasher film. Just the fact that they didn´t even try and make a cooler looking killer mask than the mask we see in this film of Piglet just shows that they are only interested cashing in on the product. Ok so i will mention two positive details compared to The Mouse Trap, in this film you at least get to see some bloody kills so that´s at least positive. If you are going to make a slasher film at least show some bloody body attacks if you are going to make me happy, so we do get some scenes of this in Piglet. I also find the home of Piglet to be kind of fun, it looks like a Redneck nest that´s never been cleaned for a thousand years. But that´s where the positive ends for me regarding the positive details of the film Piglet. What we are left with is in the end is a slasher film that doesn´t have anything interesting to bring to the table in this genre. The acting in general is terrible, the plot is not something you really care about and the character of Piglet is in my opinion wasted in this film, they really should have tried to do an interesting background story of him. Director Andrea M. Catinella ( director of the low budget horror film Island Of The Dolls 2 ) should have put in a lot more effort to make Piglet a fun slasher film, because there is a fun idea incuding Piglet as a killer. It´s such a shame he didn´t do much more to make this a B movie gem and now we are only left with a slasher film that will most likely be forgotten. If you want to watch a more fun slasher film watch Winnie The Pooh Blood And Honey 2, that film actually did entertain me compared to Piglet.

Rating: D

Werewolves

On my several journeys to Scotland i have some really lovely memories. Not only of the wonderful hospitality the Scottish people welcomed me to their homes but the amazing Scottish highlands especially how beautiful it was to experience the incredible landscape. I remember on my second journey to Scotland i woke up one night at the Bed And Breakfast hotel we stayed at up near the Scottish highlands and i stepped outside to get some fresh air. It must have been around 3 a.m. and the moon was shining bright. It was while i was standing there i looked over to the other side of the road where a local pub was closed. I couldn´t see the pub sign letters completely but it was clearly a very old fashioned sign. It reminded me of a pub sign in legendary director John Landis 1981 classic horror comedy film An American Werewolf In London, when the American men visits a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb. Not that it was called something similar but the shape of the sign was similar and was made out of wood. Standing there with such a bright moon i instantly thought about werewolves, how could i not after seeing that pub sign up in the Scottish highlands? Most horror fans know the classic horror comedy An American Werewolf In London and there are other werewolf classics such as Dog Soldiers ( you should own a blu ray release of this film from distribution company Second Sight Films ). When it comes to werewolf films there is both some good releases worth checking out, but there are some terrible werewolves films as well. Who remember the awful 1995 film Howling: New Moon Rising ( the 7th film in this franchise ) ?. One specific title i can recommend though that is worth watching in the werewolf category is the 2014 horror film Late Phases from director Adrian Garcia Bogliano. A blind war veteran is forced to survive against a werewolf while he is prepared to kill the beast. Late Phases is a simple werewolf film but have an interesting plot and the fact that the main character is blind makes this film more interesting. Worth renting on VOD or picking up on a physical copy. Speaking of werewolves late last year was the release of the horror action film known as Werewolves that looked like a fun tribute to B movies of my childhood. I decided to rent the film on VOD since i am a fan of action actor Frank Grillo and i was curious to see him in a horror film. Is this a must see this spring or is Werewolves more terrible than i ever would have imagined?

One year ago, during the supermoon, humans transformed into werewolves who came in contact with moonlight. In response, humans are preparing for another supermoon event, barricading their homes with weapons and self-defense traps. Whatever you do, make sure you are locked inside and do not come in contact with the moonlight.

I might as well be honest and say that Werewolves is a film that is clearly made for B movie lovers, and if you are not a fan of B movies then this is definetely not for you. However, if you love old school monster films we used to get on VHS back in the day at rental stores then you are going to have fun with this fim. This is basically like a mixed combination of The Purge and the Underworld franchise, where werewolves is the main enemy. There are several details to appreciate about Werewolves so let´s start talking about what i appreciate most. The fact that anyone can turn into a werewolf just looking at the full moon is a pretty cool concept, since this is supposed to be a supermoon that only comes out one specific night. I also like the idea that society prepare themselves like this is something similar to a purge night, and try to block doors and windows not to get the moonlight shining in and keep the werewolves outside. When it comes to the characters we have a mixed bag here but the main character Wesley ( played by action actor Frank Grillo ) is a great lead character for this film. He is tough, not afraid to risk his own life while he is worried about his dead brother´s wife and their daughter. Frank Grillo proves once more that he knows exactly how to handle action scenes and it´s fun watching him battling werewolves with actress Katrina Law as the character Dr. Amy. Nice to see legendary actor Lou Diamond Phillips in here even though i wish he had more screen time. The action scenes may not be the greatest i have seen but i think Werewolves manage to balance both horror and action together in a positive way. The werewolves look cool enough to enjoy if you are a werewolf fan. On the negative side i would probably say that this film could have been more brutal, with more brutal body attacks where bodies are ripped apart. Other than that i had fun with Werewolves for being a throwback to action horror films of the 80´s and 90´s. Director Steven C. Miller ( director of the great 2012 Christmas horror film Silent Night ) clearly had fun making Werewolves and he show that by giving us a tasteful B movie treat filled with tasty details. If you want a pizza night with cold beer at home and don´t know what to watch, Werewolves should be the perfect choice for a VOD rental evening.

Rating: DDD