Neo-Giallo indie horror-thriller ‘City of Lust’ coming to DVD, VOD on July 1st

On July 1st, Brain Damage Films will release City of Lust (previously titled Yellow), an homage to Italian Giallo horror films from the 1970’s, but set in the present.

Synopsis and background (from press materials):

“Arianna is a young woman who moves to the city to escape a traumatic family life in the suburbs. She works as a cosmetologist and is showing early signs of formaldehyde poisoning. New to the city and lonely, she reaches out to a female sex line operator. They agree to meet and soon begin a volatile relationship. An altercation at work results in Arianna losing her job. Then, people in her life begin to turn up dead. With Arianna’s health, career, and new relationship all disintegrating before her eyes, how much longer can she, and those around her, survive?

“City of Lust is produced by Soft Cage Films, a not-for-profit art organization based out of Chicago. World traveler and Writer/Director David A. Holcombe draws heavily from his serious involvement in both the Chicago film community as well as experimental theater. DVD availability is set to include many retailers and websites including Amazon, as well as rental chains including Family Video. VOD availability will include all major and minor cable/satellite operators and internet platforms. The film uses many unconventional techniques and offers a claustrophobic atmosphere, sharp compositions, and radiant colors.”

Catch the trailer for City of Lust here.

REVIEW: “Excision” (2012)

Even the poster is creepy.

SYNOPSIS: High school oddball Pauline (normally gorgeous Annalynne McCord, nearly unrecognizable here) believes she is destined for greatness as a surgeon. She works toward this goal by reading medical texts, sending away for dissection kits – and practicing on roadkill.

She’s awkward, pimpled, scraggly-haired, and given to wildly inappropriate behavior and comments. So Pauline’s misunderstood by everyone at school, the family priest (John Waters – let that sink in: John Fucking Waters plays a priest), and her entire family, with the exception of younger sister Grace (Modern Family‘s Ariel Winter). Grace is the favored daughter – personable, sweet, outgoing, pretty, and all her sister is not – but suffers from steadily advancing cystic fibrosis.

REVIEW: “Carnival of Souls” (1962)

Try to chill at a creepy abandoned amusement park, and THIS happens. Every. Damned. Time.

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1962
STUDIO: Rhino
MPAA RATING: NR
LENGTH: 78 mins
DVD? (Y/N): Y
BLU-RAY? (Y/N): N
NETFLIX? (Y/N): Y (DVD)
STREAMING/DIGITAL? (Y/N):  Y (Netflix and Amazon; also available in the public domain as a download)

EFFECTS (1-5): 3
SCORE (1-5): 3
OVERALL (1-5): 3

SYNOPSIS: After a traumatic accident of which she is the sole survivor, Mary Henry (Hilligoss), an agnostic woman, takes a job as a church organist in Salt Lake City. En route, she is haunted by a bizarre apparition. It compels her to visit an abandoned lakeside pavilion, beginning an eerie and macabre chain of events. This nearly-forgotten, microscopically-budgeted film has achieved cult – almost mythic – status after it was run on late-night television for years in the 70’s and 80’s.