karmicboom B-movies typically come in two categories: Unwatchable Garbage and Entertaining Garbage. This one falls in the latter category. It's got the goods: Over-the-top action and violence, snappy corny dialogue, fun performances, and a darkly humorous tone. Aside from a couple of scenes that drag on a little too long, It's quickly paced. Once things get going, they keep going, so it never really feels boring.

julian kennedy At first this direct to video (I am assuming) zombie/conspiracy/western seems to have a lot going for it. I have a great B-movie cast from Wings Hauser (In full alcoholic meltdown. The actor mind you, not the character. He had to be bailed out during shooting after putting his brother in law's head through some drywall). Bo Hopkins in full southern drawl mode. (Playing a drifter/sheriff no less). George Kennedy in his Police Squad finest. That guy who is always in those Bruce Willis films who plays a silent albino (Brion James). And finally, we have Kimberly Beck (Guest star of every TV show from 1978 to 1986) who plays cleavage with a side of Mom jeans. The movie has some decent action with some many exploding cars one would think it is some sort of poorly thought out promotion for President Obama's Cash for Clunkers. It also has a decent Maximum overdrive/ The Happening vibe as the townsfolk go crazy from drinking poisoned water (Including… gasp…. coffee.) Alas the film is let down from some horrible pacing and direction especially in the second half as it really starts to wear out its welcome. The film also seems to be very light on the gore/nudity for the genre Seeming more like an A-team episode with lots of swearing.I watched the Rifftrax version (So perhaps it was edited?) and I found the boys a touch disappointing on this one. Do you remember when they riffed Laserblast on MST3K and told that Monday Night Football joke about fifty times? Yeah, they do that here with a microwaved croissant joke that goes over about as well. Outside of soggy pastries, their comments are often spot on but even they have trouble keeping the excitement going as the film drifts into Red Zone Cuba pacing in the second half. A fun romp for a while but don't be surprised if everyone is snoring on the couch before the credits roll.

Comeuppance Reviews When a mysterious man simply known as "The Albino" (James) decides the best place to try an experiment putting toxins in the water supply is the small town of Canyonland, Utah, all hell breaks loose. Normally-friendly citizens wig out, get extremely violent, and bleed green blood. All this is unbeknownst to entertainment lawyer Ken Griffiths (Wings) and his wife Cheri (Beck), who are traveling through the town in their RV. They stop to pick up the loner Reilly (Hopkins) and when they see the chaos in Canyonland, they decide to fight back. Aiding them is Sheriff Hanks (Kennedy). Will our heroes be able to put an end to the insanity? The first thing you'll notice about Nightmare at Noon is its killer cast. It's pretty much a B-movie dream come true. However, we weren't totally convinced that it was being used to its full potential. Wings' personality should have shone through more, Kennedy is barely involved, and there isn't a lot of meat to Hopkins' laconic tough-guy. Neal Wheeler as Charley, the first victim, is reminiscent of the notorious cover for the Super Nintendo game "Phalanx". Brion James says literally nothing, but is somewhat intriguing as the main villain (backed up by his goons labeled APE, or, the "Agency for the Protection of the Environment"). He mainly looks through binoculars for most of his screen time. If you've ever wanted to know what it would be like if Johnny or Edgar Winter created small-town zombies in a Western setting that spew Nickelodeon-style Gak, here you go.What director Mastorakis seemed to be aiming for is evident right in the title. "Nightmare" representing the horror aspect of the film, seemingly influenced by I Drink Your Blood (1970) and The Crazies (1973), as well as any number of zombie films, and "At Noon", representing the Western movie aspect. In fact, the characters even pass a movie marquee showing that High Noon (1952) is playing, and the final chase is taken from innumerable Western films.A hybrid of this type is a worthy idea, but honestly it needed more blood, gore and nudity to rise to the level of an exploitation classic. It does have plenty of action movie-style thrills such as car blow-ups, stunts and much shooting, but it's hard to say if it all exactly fits. A lot of the elements were there, but not all. It's clear here that the golden 80's were ending, and the less-edgy 90's was on the horizon.

Bezenby This is another one of those 'townspeople infected by toxins' films along the lines of The Crazies, Nightmare City and Mutant. Especially Mutant, as if this film also has Wings Hauser and Bo Hopkins in it.Bo, once again, is playing a cop, and Wings, as you can probably imagine, is playing a moron. Both of them end up in an isolated town which has, very covertly, had its water supply contaminated as some kind of government experiment by an albino Brion James and his cohorts. Anybody that drinks that water goes berserk and starts attacking everybody else. Much hilarity ensues.Bo and Wings, and George Kennedy, and probably some other folks I've forgotten about, find themselves up against an ever growing army of crazy folks running around beating each other up or shooting each other. Wings' wife also gets infected, leading to a scene which calls for the great man to 'emote'. I was rolling around on the floor laughing.This is pure B-movie hokum, but an extremely enjoyable one for all that. I think this may be down to the director being the same guy who made the infamous Island of Death, probably one of the most offensive (and funny) films I've ever watched. He might be making trash, but he's a technically competent director.Highly recommended for folks who love a good b-movie. It slides a bit at the end when it suddenly turns into a western, but it's a fun journey all the same.Look out for the motorcycle explosion scene - so over the top I didn't stop laughing for about ten minutes.