
This month’s new releases are a mixed bag. Topping the list for me is the 1973 weirdo classic “The Visitor” on the 4th and Larry Fessenden’s “Beneath” on the 25th. The rest seem to be mostly on the cheesier side (not that there’s anything wrong with that…).
Bill Oberst Jr. looks great as always in “Children Of Sorrow” and “Contracted” was well worth a watch, in my opinion.
Posters and trailers for all of them are included, and as always, the title links conveniently lead directly to Amazon, if you decide to take the plunge on any of these films!
See you next month!
March 4 — The Last Days on Mars
Follows the story of an astronaut crew on Mars on the verge of a major breakthrough, having collected rock specimens that reveal microscopic evidence of life. In their last hours on the planet, two astronauts go back to a cavernous valley on the surface of Mars to collect further evidence for their discovery, but a routine excavation turns deadly when one of them falls to his death and his body is taken as a host and re-animated by the very life form they sought to discover.
March 4 — Rabid Love
The story is set in the summer of 1984 and follows Heather Ross and her group of friends just after their graduation from college. We meet the gang on their way to one last weekend at a cabin in the woods where, unknown to Heather, her boyfriend plans to propose. They are treated to rumors of a wild bear that is supposedly killing hikers in the woods but do not head the warnings of the local townspeople. Love triangles bloom as the campers attempt to follow their own individual desires and the appearance of a strange Hunter in the woods complicates things further as people start to disappear… and die. Heather is forced to fight for her own survival and find out who is responsible for the deaths of her friends. Is it the jerk Adam? Her own boyfriend? The sultry Summer? The strange Hunter? Or someone (or something) else?
March 4 — The Visitor (1979)
In this unforgettable assault on reality–fully restored and presented completely uncut theatrically for the first time ever in the U.S.–legendary Hollywood director/actor John Huston (The Maltese Falcon; Treasure of the Sierra Madre) stars as an intergalactic warrior who joins a cosmic Christ figure in battle against a demonic 8-year-old girl and her pet hawk, while the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Multi-dimensional warfare, pre-adolescent profanity and brutal avian attacks combine to transport the viewer to a stat unlike anything they’ve experienced… somewhere between Hell, the darkest reaches of outer space, and Atlanta, GA. THE VISITOR fearlessly fuses elements of The Omen, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Birds, Rosemary’s Baby, The Fury, and even Star Wars, creating the most ambitious of all ’70s psychedelic mindwarps. Its baffling all-star cast includes Shelley Winters (Night of the Hunter), Glenn Ford (Superman), Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Franco Nero (Django) and Sam Peckinpah (director of The Wild Bunch).
Called “The Mount Everest of insane Italian 70s movies” by Mondo Digital, this one is definitely going in my must-see list!
March 4 — Children of Sorrow
Simon Leach is a very sick man. Thriving on despair, pain, and panic, he unites a group of broken and desperate teens and showers them with the love and affection they’re so desperate for. But Simon has a much darker plan for his followers. “Belongingness” can be a terrifying subject. When a young woman embeds herself in the cult looking for answers to her sister’s disappearance, she discovers their dark secret and an even darker secret within herself.
March 11 — In Fear
Tom and Lucy are trapped in a maze of country roads with only their vehicle for protection, terrorized by an unseen tormentor hell-bent on exploiting their worst fears – fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, fear of themselves.
March 11 — Dark House
“Dark House” is a thrilling and horrifying road trip, full of twists and brutal surprises; a suspenseful thriller about a young man and a chilling old house that has survived decades, awaiting the return of its prodigal son… a house that can escalate Nick’s gift to see death before it happens, but holds within its walls the origins of a dark family legacy so horrible it may have already reached out to Nick’s unborn child.
March 14 (On Demand) — Patrick : Evil Awakens
After killing his mother and her lover some years before, Patrick is the comatose patient in room 15 of a remote, private psychiatric clinic run by the secretive Dr. Roget, who treats him as a guinea pig in his bizarre studies of life and death. When Kathy, a nurse who has recently separated from her boyfriend, begins working at the clinic, she is instructed to care for him. She is disturbed by Roget’s treatment of him and somehow feels that Patrick is trying to make a connection with her.
When Kathy realizes that the lifeless murderer can communicate, she is shocked but compelled to prove her theory. Patrick has psychokinetic powers which he uses to talk to Kathy by transferring his thoughts to a computer. As Patrick’s communication becomes stronger, strange and terrifying events begin to occur. Patrick has feelings for Kathy and his affection is about to manifest itself as a deadly, bloody obsession.
March 18 — Contracted
When gorgeous lesbian Samantha has a drunken one night stand with a strange man, she contracts what she thinks is a sexually-transmitted disease. But the truth is far more disturbing. As her horrific condition worsens, her friends begin to fear for her… and themselves. A gory body-horror film in the vein of David Cronenberg, Contracted provides truly gut-wrenching, visceral terror.
I watched this one On Demand a few months ago and gave it a B. See my full review here.
March 18 — Here Comes the Devil
A couple’s son and daughter inexplicably reappear after being lost overnight on a desolate, cave-riddled mountainside. Becoming withdrawn and beginning to exhibit strange behavior, their parents quickly assume something sinister happened to them. But after hearing an ominous local legend, the concerned mother and father begin to realize that their children may have fallen prey to something inhuman and that this dark, unstoppable evil has now returned home with them.
March 18 — Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973)
“Fly the not-so-friendly skies in this frightening tale of survival at 37,000 feet! On a flight from London to Los Angeles, a wealthy architect (Roy Thinnes) and his wife (Jane Merrow) have rented out a jumbo jet’s entire cargo hold to transport a precious artifact — an altar from an ancient abbey. But they’re unaware of its deadly secret. Aboard for the ill-fated trip is William Shatner as a drunken, cynical ex-priest; Buddy Ebsen as an arrogant millionaire; and Chuck Connors as the heroic pilot. Not long after departure, crew and passengers alike face airborne jeopardy and supernatural horror as a demonic entity escapes from the altar, seeking to possess a hapless victim as well as seek revenge on those who would desecrate the sinister deity’s ancient ritual site. Fasten your seatbelts . it’s going to be a terrifying flight!”
March 18 — Tom Holland’s Twisted Tales
Horror legend Tom Holland (Child’s Play, Fright Night) dares you to join him for nine nerve-shredding, totally Twisted Tales. Serving up a mind-bending assortment of the macabre, it’s an anthology fine-tuned to keep you on the edge of your seat. A new drug offers users a glimpse of the future… with beastly consequences. A murderous husband is stalked by his own cell phone. A jilted lover wreaks satanic vengeance. The nightmarish action then leads to worlds haunted by dark magic, demonic possession, vampires, witches and more in this seriously freaky festival of fear. Features favorite genre stars including Danielle Harris (Rob Zombie’s Halloween), William Forsythe (The Devil’s Rejects, Boardwalk Empire), Ray Wise (X-Men: First Class), Sarah Butler (I Spit on Your Grave), A.J. Bowen (Hatchet 2) and more!
March 25 — Conspiracy
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new movie, they have no idea the terrifying peril they will put themselves in. When the man disappears without a trace, the filmmakers begin an obsessive quest to uncover the truth that will lead them to an ancient and dangerous secret society. A meticulously researched thriller based on real conspiracy theories, THE CONSPIRACY blurs the line between fact and fiction, news and propaganda.
March 25 — Beneath
Six high school seniors celebrating with day’s excursion find themselves on rowboat attacked by man-eating fish and must decide who must be sacrificed as they fight their way back to shore.
There we have it!
New releases for March 2014.
What will you be watching?