Search - Troma Triple B-Header: Blades/Blood Hook/Zombie Island Massacre on DVD

Wonderfully entertaining, despite itself

The Encyclopedia Tromatica | Fort Worth, TX | 01/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD includes three movie "pick-ups" from Troma, "Blood Hook", "Blades", and "Zombie Island Massacre". Alone, none of these films is among Troma's best, but now that they are all out on a single disc, with a brand new introduction by Lloyd Kaufman, the president of Troma Studios and the mother of the Toxic Avenger, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.The first film in this non-trilogy is "Blades" (1989), a very entertaining and funny tale of a killer lawn mower (!) on a golf course. This I had never seen until getting this DVD, and I was quite surprised by how enjoyable it was. (I am not a fan of golf. Sorry.) This was made by and with many people who's names will be familiar to Troma fans, including John P. Finnegan, Peter Cosimano, Kara Callahan, and Alan Smithee. Directed by Thomas Rondinella."Blood Hook" (1986) is possibly the greatest movie about fishing, or more exactly a sociopathic killer who uses fishing equipment to kill his victims, ever made. This not enough to recommend it, but it is a very good movie, with many interesting characters and events. This movie does tend to get a bit silly at times, but is full of laughs. It stars Lisa Todd, Mark Jacobs, and Christopher Whiting. Directed by Jim Mallon.The weakest of the three is "Zombie Island Massacre" (1983), a very tedious, boring, uninteresting, repetitive film that doesn't employ any actual zombies as actors. This is not much of a horror film, it's more of a mystery, and I do not like mystery movies. It involves a bunch of Americans running afoul of a group of "zombies" while vacationing in the islands. This motion picture is not all bad, though, as it does have some entertainingly gory deaths. It stars Rita Jenrette, Tom Cantrell, and Debbie Ewing. Directed by John T. Carter.The true joy of this DVD, though, is getting to see all of the movies in a single sitting. This easily outweighs any of the shortcomings that the actual movies themselves may have. This is a great way to spend a day off, relaxing while watching a trio of entertaining, low-budget films."

A MUST HAVE !!!!

Ryan J. Nelson | NORTH ST.PAUL , MN | 09/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THIS DVD IS GREAT . BLOOD HOOK IS WORTH THE MONEY IT SELF . HOW CAN YOU GO WRONG WITH A CRAZED KILLER WHO HAS A FISHING POLE AND MUSKIE LURE AND HE IS LOOKING TO CATCH HIM SOME TEENS .

BLADES IS ANOTHER CLASSIC , KILLER LAWNMOWERS AT THERE BEST .

AND ZOMBIE ISLAND MASSACRE IS ANOTHER CULT FAVORITE .

THIS DVD IS WORTH THE MONEY AND IT MAKES A GOOD ADDITION TO ANY HORROR COLLECTION ."

A Tromatic 80's Classic!

Christopher W. Curry | Indianapolis, IN | 11/23/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Blades is a bizarrely entertaining parody of Steven Spielberg's breakthrough feature film Jaws. However, in place of a 25 foot great white shark, we have a multi-bladed diesel powered lawn mower that appears to be operating all on its own (a la Maximum Overdrive). Instead of a beach resort for a setting we have an uppity country club golf course, inhabited by well-to-do, soon-to-be-human-yard-clippings. And by parody I do not mean comedy because Blades is not funny in the ha-ha kind of way. The cast seem to take little notice of the ridiculous premise and carry it through with straightforward, almost matter-of-fact performances. It is a laugh-riot for sure but we're not talking Naked Gun or Scary Movie here. Blades would probably be more at home sitting beside This is Spinal Tap. Just as Tap sends up Heavy Metal and all of its inanities, Blades finds a clever way to poke fun at one of the most accomplished horror films of all time. Not bad. Not bad at all.

This Troma DVD also came with 2 other full-length features: Blood Hook and Zombie Island Massacre making for a fantastic Tromo Triple B-Header!"