'Unborn Sins' is a concept that deserved better

Unborn Sins (2005)
Starring: Michelle L. Harris, Sean Contrearas, Jim Barbour, and Paul "PJ" Peneloza
Director: Elliott Eddie
Rating: Three of Ten Stars

A psychic detective (Contrearas) and his partners attempt to stop the deadly rampage of the spirit of an aborted baby (Peneloza) that has been summoned into the world by cultists so it can take revenge on everyone involved it having it aborted, including its would-have-been mother (Harris).

"Unborn Sins" is one of those movies that has an intriguing idea at its heart--what happens to the souls aborted babies?--that deserved a far better execution than the means available to writer/director/producer Eddie Elliot. With decent sound work, decent lighting, better cinematography, better actors, and a script that had been taken through a draft or two more--or perhaps revised by a more experienced writer--this could have been one chilling movie. As it stands, it's a movie that I really wish I could like more than I do, and a movie that I wish could be remade in stronger hands.

Lighting and sound problems aside, the biggest weakness of its film is its running time. There are several scenes that are near-pointless (such as the one where Harris' repulsive boyfriend dances by himself to rap music for what seems like forever, or the basketball game at the park that likewise went on and on and on) and a subplot involving some sort of kidnapping/drug deal that doesn't have anything to do with anything else in the movie, except that the detective agency was somehow involved with that case. If the film had been tightened up from and its running time of nearly two hours shortened to 80 or 90 minutes, I think it might have rated as much as a 4 on its ideas alone.

(The technical problems and the running time aren't the only problems. There's also quite a bit of unintended hilarity in the film, such as when the obnoxious boyfriend is prowling through his apartment trying to look all Gangsta with a gun in each hand, holding them right next to his face. I kept hoping he'd fire, because watching the ejected cartridge smack him in the face would have been very amusing. Similarly, the Big Fight between the heroes and the angry spirit is more ridiculous than suspenseful because everyone starts behaving as if they just escaped from a Kung Fu movie made in 1973. These elements might make the film worthy of inclusion in the line-up for a Bad Movie Night, so long as you keep in mind there will be long stretches of overly padded scenes.)

"Unborn Sins" is one of the most intriguing films I've ever given a low rating to, and I wish I liked it more than I do. As I said at the top, the whole abortion angle is an intriguing jump-off point for a horror film and I wish this had been a more solid film. Therefore, despite its many flaws, I think it might be worth checking out for those who are able to look at low-budget films with kind eyes and forgiving hearts.

"Unborn Sins" is available as part of the inexpensive "Sinister Souls" 6-movie pack, the even-cheaper-by-the-movie "Tomb of Terrors" 50-movie pack, or as a stand-alone DVD. I think you'll find your money better spent if you acquire it along with 5 (or 49!) other low-budget indie movies. I think it's worth seeing, but it's not worth full price.

Its got nothing to get in the way of the violence

Kill the Scream Queen (2004)
Starring: Bill Zebub, Deborah Dutch, Debbie D, and Isabelle Stephen
Director: Bill Zebub
Rating: One of Ten Stars

A sexual psychopath and serial killer turned movie-maker (or movie-maker turned sexual psychopath and serial killer) (Zebub) lures wanna-be actresses to an abandoned bar with the promise of being in his horror movie/snuff-film. He then tortures and rapes them.


That is not only a summary of "Kill the Scream Queen", it is the entire content of the film. There is virtually nothing worthwhile here, unless you want your "torture porn" almost completely free of plot and character development, and with a little more actual porn that you find in the "Hostel" and "Saw" movies.

The very low One Star-rating I'm giving this pointless piece of "filmmaking" is based on the one victim that fights back in a big way. Otherwise, most of the girls here are just so much meat--only two show even the slightest glimmer of acting talent--and the filmmaking and effects are pedestrian in the extreme.

Worse, the film is such an amateur effort that the director can't even keep his continuity straight. In one scene, he rips a girl's panties off so he can rape her, yet when he dumps the body, they're back on and they're intact.

(The only positive things I can say is that the "writer and director" of the film didn't attempt to overreach his $1.25 budget. There's also the "message" that gets delivered via film-maker's monologues directed at his victims... that an emphasis on sex and gore over acting and story is ruining the horror genre.)

I like the high concept of the movie... but I just wish a movie had actually been made with it, instead of a collection of clips with girls taking their clothes off and being menaced and killed with nothing else going on.

Despite title, this movie is demon free

Demon Seduction (aka "Demon Sex") (2005)
Starring: Vesper Almasy, Tuesday Coren, Toby Dammit and Brinke Stevens
Director: Greg Lewolt
Rating: Two of Ten Stars

A cult of women that has kept the secret of aliens who once ruled humanity down through ages is on the verge of recreating those aliens through modern genetic engineering technology and the pregnant friend of an exotic dancer (Almasy).

"Demon Seduction" is a film that could have been very cool. It's got alien conspiracies, evil witch cultists, genetic engineering run wild... it could have been an episode of "The X-Files" on PCP crossed with an issue of "Weekly World News" in its Golden Age brought to glorious life.

Unfortunatley, while all the elements are there, this film is not cool. It's not even fun. Most of its running time is spent on weak and very unerotic sex scenes (which, I suppose makes them very realistic... real sex is boring for anyone but the participants) and static scenes with actors sitting around delivering bad dialogue that's made worse by their bad delivery.

The only things about this film that were remotely decent was an alien skull prop--that was way too cool to just be used for this film; I hope that it found its way into other movies--and some of the CGI effects.

Unless you're really hard up for naked flesh and/or like seeing some blood and gore with your naked women, there is nothing here that's worth your money and time. The ONLY way you should acquire this movie would be as part of the "Tomb of Terrors 50 Movie Pack" (where it's included under the title "Demon Sex"), because you'll be getting 49 other low-budget horror flicks, including the fairly decent "The Traveler", "The Somnambulists", and "Strange Things Happen at Sundown". (You either can or will eventually be able to reviews of most of the films in the collection either here on at the companion blog
Terror Titans.)

You do not want to pay full price for "Demon Seduction" by itself unless, maybe, you're renting it as part of your Netflix selection for a month.

(I feel a bit awkward panning this movie. The summary and title on the Brain Damage Films website sounded so interesting that I begged my way into a screening copy. I wish it had been better, because I would have loved to return the distributor's generosity with a favorable review.)