Rent A Pal Movie Review

 

 Watch trailer here.

Rent-A-Pal is a 2020 thriller directed by Jon Stevenson and starring Wil Wheaton and Brian Landis Folkins.

 The movie begins in 1990 with a man called David(Folkins), who is looking through dating videos. He looks at various women. He lives with his mother, who is old and ill. He is her carer. The company that supplies the dating videos are called Video Rendezvous. David is hoping for a match but there is none. He is told that he should record a new video to get more interest. David isn't very confident with women and it shows when he records his video. He discovers a video called Rent A Pal and he is intrigued. He takes it home with him. He decides to watch it. There is a guy on it called Andy(Wheaton) and he wants to be pals with David. David doesn't know what to think about it and he stops it but it comes back on again. Andy talks to David about his life. David begins to reply.

David gets a call from Video Rendezvous telling him that he has gotten some interest from a girl. It turns out to be a mistake and David is very upset over it. He goes back to Andy and they talk about what happened. Andy tells him stories about things that happened to him. They interact more. David starts to play it constantly. They play games and they swap stories. They become real friends. David ends up masturbating to Andy's sex stories. He gets caught by his mother. He goes mad and he has a fight with her. She is very upset. Andy laughs. Video Rendezvous calls and tells David that he has a match. Her name is Lisa(Amy Rutledge). They agree to meet for a date. They do and they get along very well. She likes David and he likes her. He is happy. He goes to tell Andy about it. Andy isn't very happy. He tells David that he won't have time to talk to him anymore.

David feels guilty about leaving Andy and he decides that he isn't going to see Lisa. His mother goes missing and he panics. Lisa shows up and she helps him find his mother. They bring her home and David invites her in. They chat and they kiss. The TV comes on and Andy comes on screen. He isn't happy. Lisa asks David about it. David gets mad at her and she leaves. The next day, she calls him and she wants to talk. He cuts her off. He discovers that Andy is missing. The video has gone. His mother has cut it up. He hits her and leaves her on the floor while he goes to Video Rendezvous to get another. Andy comes back up on the screen. He tells David that he doesn't need his mother. Andy pushes her down the stairs and leaves her there. Andy tells David that he is there for him. He is playing on all of the TV's in the house.Lisa shows up and sees what he has done to his mother. He tries to kill her, but she stabs him and escapes. He stumbles to the basement and Andy talks to him. He tells him that he has to say goodbye as David dies.

This is a weird film. I did like the premise, though. I thought that the idea of the sinister video was interesting. This was a tad slow in places and there wasn't enough suspense in it for me. It wasn't scary or creepy at all, but I suppose this isn't meant to be a horror movie. I think that it could have been a lot better overall. I did enjoy Wil Wheaton as the sinister Andy. He did a good job in this. So, I found it middle of the road and I think that it is an interesting watch, but slow. I will give it a 5/10.

Hack- O- Lantern Movie Review

 

 Trailer here.

Hack -O- Lantern is a 1988 horror movie directed by Jag Mundhra and starring Hy Pike and Gregory Scott Cummins.

The movie begins with grandpa(Pike) coming to visit his grandson, Tommy(Cummins). He brings him a pumpkin for Halloween and he hands him a pendant. Tommy's mother doesn't like grandpa visiting her son. Her husband goes to visit grandpa and warn him to stay away but he ends up seeing a cult and grandpa is part of it. Grandpa kills him. Cut to years later and Tommy is all grown up. He still has the pendant. Grandpa is still around and he tells Tommy that he is going to join his cult tonight. Mother is still not happy but there isn't much she can do about it. She tries to reason with grandpa,but he won't change his mind. There is some sort of weird incest vibe between them.

Tommy's sister is Vera(Carla Baron) and his brother is Roger(Jeff Brown), who happens to be a cop. There is a Halloween party on and Vera is going with her friend, Beth(Patricia Christie). Mother tries to talk to Tommy but he is set on joining grandpa's gang. He has some weird dream about being a band with a woman dancing around and shooting lasers. She dances with Tommy and she sticks a pitchfork through him. Roger talks to mother about Tommy. Beth and Roger meet and they like each other. Roger finds Tommy's Satanic lair. Things are getting out of hand here! An unknown killer is on the prowl and they kill Tommy's gal pal. Vera has a boyfriend called Brian and he and Tommy have a run in. The killer chases Brian and he ends up dead. What is going on in this weird place??

Grandpa and his group have a young girl in their meeting place and they brand her backside with a pentagram. Roger and Beth are getting on really well. Vera and Beth happen to be walking through the cemetery when they come upon Brian's dead body. Vera thinks that Tommy is to blame and she goes looking for him at grandpa's place. She goes there and interrupts the cult's ceremony. Grandpa tells her that she is going to pay for interrupting him. He orders Tommy to kill her, but he won't do it. Grandpa is hopping mad. Vera escapes and gets Beth and they go looking for Roger at the Halloween party. Tommy runs away from grandpa. The killer is at the party and more people die. The cops go to grandpa's barn, but he has hidden all of the cult stuff.

Grandpa shows up at the party and he tries to attack Vera. He is stopped by Roger but he passes his power onto him before he dies. Roger sees the killer and he shoots at them. The killer runs off and goes to the cemetery. It turns out to be mother!!! She is at her husband's grave. Tommy ends up there too and they bond before she dies. The movie ends with Roger becoming the next leader of the cult. What can I say about this film...It was bad. The story was bad, the acting was bad and the ending was bad. I hadn't heard of this one before and I was intrigued by the title, but it did not live up to my expectations at all. It doesn't have enough in it to be a decent Halloween movie. It doesn't have a great story and the kills weren't all that good either. It was just poor overall. Watch at your own peril. I give this a 3/10.

The Legend of Halloween Jack Movie Review

 

 Trailer: https://youtu.be/Hq5oQnJFzy8

The Legend of Halloween Jack is a 2018 horror movie directed by Andrew Jones and starring Colin Holt, Sarah John, Doug Cooper and Lee Bane.

 The movie begins with two people being found dead. A local man called Jack Cain(Bane) is accused of the crime and he is being tried in court. He pleads not guilty. People in the area think that he is a weirdo.The evidence they have was obtained illegally so there is a mistrial and he walks free. The cop who was working on the case is called Frank(Holt) and people blame him. The victim's family want justice. The mayor, Milton Boggs(Cooper), wants justice too. Frank and Milton decide to do something along with locals Johnny(Aaron Jeffcoate) and Joe(Jason Gregg). Jack gets attacked by them and led into a field where a makeshift crucifix is waiting. They dress him as a scarecrow(for some reason) and tie him to the cross. Each of them takes one shot at him. They kill him and agree never to discuss it again.

One year later, Johnny is drunk and he wanders to the spot where they killed Jack Cain. He has a gun and he shoots himself in the head. His blood seeps into Jack's grave and awakens him. The others find out about Johnny. Frank is investigating and he discovers that someone has climbed out of Jack's grave. The group meet to discuss what happened to Johnny. Frank is worried that they will get found out. He goes to visit Johnny's mother and asks about him. Milton and Frank discuss what they did. Frank isn't very happy about it. Halloween Jack kills Joe. Frank is on the case and he realises that someone is out for revenge. Frank buys guns from some guy while Milton visits Johnny's mother and kills her. Halloween Jack ends up killing Milton and his wife.

There is a Halloween party on. It looks kind of deserted and the band are playing the same song over and over. Frank and his partner, Brodie(Jamie Knox) look into Milton's death. Frank tells Brodie about what they did. He is the last one left. He tells Brodie that he thinks that Cain was innocent. Another man confessed to the crime. He tells Brodie to go to the Halloween party and protect Jennifer(John), his daughter. What Frank doesn't know is that Brodie and Jennifer are an item. She is also pregnant. Frank goes to local mystic/weirdo Anton(Ed Zephyr). Anton informs Frank that Jack is back for revenge. He gets power from the souls of the people he kills. Jack was into the occult. Frank kills Anton is a bizarre scene.

Halloween Jack visits the party and starts killing the one or two party goers. The party looks pretty dead already. Brodie shoots Jack and thinks that he is dead. Of course, he isn't. Frank sends Brodie and Jennifer out of the building. The band speed off the stage and the one or two other party people leave. It is Frank vs. Halloween Jack. Frank decides to blow up the old village hall and himself and Jack with it. The movie ends with a news report about the place, which is called Dunwich. One year later, Jennifer is upset about her dad and she is at his grave. There is an unnecessarily long scene about her at the grave. She takes a look at Jack Cain's grave and a hand comes up to grab her. It couldn't be Halloween Jack, could it????

Right. There are so many things that I will say about this film. Firstly, there were a mixture of American accents and British accents. It was hard to know where this was supposed to be set.I did hear something about Sacramento but it is supposedly set in Britain. Some of the scenes were silly. There were some attempts at humour which fell totally flat and a lame story about some guy sticking a pencil into some other guy's backside!! The band seemed to play the same song all of the time at the party, which consisted of a handful of people. It was really deserted but when Halloween Jack showed up, they made it seem like there were loads of people. There was a scene where the cop is buying guns and the dealer was not wearing any t shirt or anything. Just topless. For no reason. It was so silly. Oh yes, and the gun shots in this sounded like some guy with a cap gun. And another thing, why did they dress the guy up as a scarecrow?? It made no sense.There was no explanation as to why they did that. His costume wasn't bad, but everything else about this film was poor. I liked the title, but that's about it. I would say that if you enjoy really bad films, you might like this. It was so silly, it did make me laugh, but be warned. It is pretty brutal and not in a good way. I will give it a 2/10.

Berserker Movie

 

Trailer here

Berserker is a 1987 horror movie directed by Jefferson Richard and starring Greg Dawson and Beth Toussaint.

The movie begins with flashbacks to the tenth century where Viking warriors were around. Cut to modern day and an old couple get lost in the wilderness. They get murdered by something lurking in the bushes. A group of young people are going for a camping trip. They are Josh(Greg Dawson), Larry, Mike, Kristi, Kathy and Shelly(Toussaint). The place they are going is called Rainbow Valley and it was settled by Norwegians years ago. They get stopped by a local cop who informs them that there are animals out in the woods. He is very odd. The owner of the campsite is called Pappy Nyquist(George "Buck" Flower) and he isn't too friendly either. He rents them a spot and warns them to be careful. Larry is reading about the Berserkers. They were warriors and they ate human flesh. He tells the group that they can possess their relatives.

The cop is called Walt and he is Pappy's cousin. They meet and talk about the group of people who are camping. Walt worries about them being out in the wilderness. He decides that he will check on them. Josh has been in Rainbow Valley before and he directs the group to a different spot than they were given by Pappy. Kristi meets some sort of bear in the woods and she gets mauled. Shelley and Mike find a dead body. They run off into the woods and Shelley finds Kristi's dead body. She ends up getting attacked too. She dies. The rest of the group find her and Kristi. Josh tells them that they need to get help. Pappy goes out in his truck to check on them.

Josh manages to get everyone lost. Pappy is out there looking for them. Mike remembers where their cabin is. He and Kathy have to go for help. Josh has to stay with Larry, who has hurt his leg. Mike ad Kathy reach the cabin. Mike takes a motorbike and drives off for help. Josh gets mauled. Larry is stuck and watches as a bear fights the Berserker who has been attacking people. The Berserker runs away. Larry makes his way back to the cabin slowly. Mike meets Walt and tells him what's going on.
Larry reaches the cabin where Kathy is. She runs outside to meet him. The Berserker shows up. Kathy flags Walt down. He sees the Berserker too. He draws his gun but seems reluctant to shoot it but he does. Back up arrives and we discover that Pappy was the Berserker. The movie ends with him waking up.

This film is cheaply made and not the best. There are some scenes that are silly and there isn't very much of the Berserker in this. There is a bear wandering around, which adds to the confusion at times. It could be a lot better but the acting is bad, the kills are so so and the ending isn't great either.
I wanted to see it because I love 80's horror movies, but just be warned that this one is not very good unfortunately. I will give it a 4/10.