Reviews by DebbieDPhilly

***Minor Spoilers***

WOW!! Paranormal Captivity tells the story of Sarah. She loses her husband, her home and most of her money. That forces her to move in with her creepy old Uncle. A psychotic debt collector is after her and she's being stalked. Is it by ghosts or a crazy funeral director?

There are three story lines in Paranormal Captivity that are all related to the unfortunate Sarah (Caitlyn Fletcher). Sarah and Thomas the debt collector (Roberto Lombardi), Sarah and the funeral director (Edward X. Young) and Sarah and the ghosts/Uncle Steven (Samuel L.M. Cole).

The three stories seem unrelated, but intersect at the end of the film where there is a big plot twist and reveal! It's all very well thought out and leads the viewer in one direction only to take a left turn at the end! Great stuff!

Other notable performances are Jason Vail as Gary, Suzi Lorraine as Samantha, Linnea Sage as Kelly and Jerry Ross as William. Each of these supporting characters drive the story along and add to the lead characters.

The ghost effects are done really well and the makeup and blood effects are all practical. No CGI!

Highly recommended!

The 2011 film that started it all for the Krueger: Tales from Elm Street series!

After opening with Krueger (Roberto Lombardi) taunting a victim, the scene changes to Freddy handcuffed in an interrogation room. Lt. Thompson (Shawn Parr) arrives and tries to coax Freddy into confessing. Something Freddy would NEVER do! Eventually, Freddy gets the upper hand and Thompson loses his cool and is dragged out of the room as Freddy continues to taunt him!

The film looks a bit grainy (I assume by design), but the acting is amazing and fits neatly into the canon of the original series. Amazingly, I don't see Englund and Saxon when I watch this. I see two actors giving such a believable performance that all I see is Krueger and Thompson.

Apparently, the Krueger series is so influential now that there are fan films of this fan series! That "Confessions" movie borrows heavily from these films and even has their Freddy say "pretty please" right before a detective is dragged out of the room! They also copy shots of Krueger in a park, a kid on a swing, Freddy slinking along a wall and more.

Not to mention there's an "author" who posted excerpts from his "original" Elm Street prequel book (Razor's Edge?) on Facebook recently that lifts dialogue not only from the original series, but from Blinky Productions Krueger series!

I guess Chris and Roberto should be flattered. After all, they did it first...

At the outset, 'Turned' seems to have been conceived as sort of a return to form for the vampire film after the 'Twilight' series with it's tagline of "Vampires don't sparkle, they BURN!".

But 'Turned' is so much more. It has all the action and drama you'd want from a vampire hunter film, but it dials up the comedy with little quips and one liners. It also uses clichés in a way that is refreshingly not cliché! The key is that the actors play the gags and clichés very seriously which makes them all the more funny and exciting at the same time.

Jack (Josh Rothman) and Padre (Roberto Lombardi) lead a team of vampire slayers and are the only survivors of an ambush by vampire leader Monty (Christian Chase). But while Padre gets away, Jack has been bitten by Monty and now has one day before he becomes a vampire himself!

After returning to a safe house, Jack tells Padre of his dilemma and both decide to take down Monty and his crew before Jack is turned.

Other notable performances are by Athena Brensberger ("Heather"), Mackenzie Medwin ("Ruby") and genre star Seregon O'Dassey ("Jewel")

Along with the comedy and action, there are a few heartfelt scenes that really show the versatility of the actors involved. Chris R. Notarile also shines with fantastic writing, a great blend of practical and digital effects, amazing locations and beautiful cinematography.

I would love a full feature film of Turned that includes a bit of back story and a bit of what happens after this short ends!

***Spoilers***

Now on the fifth installment of the Krueger series, The Legend of Elm Street brings the story full circle and picks up ten years after the events of The Slasher from Elm Street, as well as the day after the interrogation in A Tale from Elm Street.

The film opens with Freddy Krueger (Roberto Lombardi) and his lawyer (Christian Chase) on the steps of the police station addressing the media upon Freddy's release. Lombardi plays it sympathetic until the very end when he flashes an evil glance at the cameras! Incidently, this is the same location from the 1984 Wes Craven film!

Freddy then retreats to his boiler room where he breaks down over the loss of his wife and daughter. The angry parents of Springwood show up and seal the fate of their children by burning Freddy to death in a stunning fire gag scene. In the afterlife, Freddy is then visited by Phantom Selista (from Notarile's "Phantom Faye" series!) who gives Freddy his glove which begins his transformation into the dream demon. Way better than those floating amoeba things in the original series, plus it's fun that Selista is introduced into Krueger!

We then fade into Mikey's mother, Mary (Jessica Buda) in a session with her therapist, Dr. Johnson (Shannon McDermott), who both participated in the burning of Freddy. The doctor hypnotizes Mary and she falls asleep...

What follows in pure magic! After seeing her son Mikey in the park with Freddy, she tries to stop his abduction only to confront a now horribly burnt Krueger who taunts her. Mary then unwittingly gives Freddy his revenge plan (which I won't spoil here) before attacking her in her dream.

This is by far the best film in the series with an incredible script, wonderful cinematography, special effects and fantastic direction by Chris R. Notarile. I especially appreciated the original take on the makeup and that a mask of Robert Englund was not used!

Jessica Buda, Shannon McDermott and Christian Chase all shine in their respective roles and I believed their performances. High praise!

If there was ever any doubt who should carry on the Krueger role, that doubt has now been erased. Roberto Lombardi is brilliant as Freddy and brings his own style to the role both in and out of the makeup. New Line Cinema should be breaking Mr. Lombardi's door down trying to get him cast in their new Elm Street reboot!

***SPOILERS***
Fans have been craving Freddy Krueger based movies since "Freddy vs Jason", but fans were mostly unhappy with the 2010 remake starring Jackie Earle Haley.

Then in 2011 a short film called "Krueger (A Tale from Elm Street)" was released by Chris R. Notarile/Blinky Productions starring Roberto Lombardi as Freddy Krueger. That was followed in 2011 by the hugely successful film "The Nightmare Ends on Halloween II". Fans of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series all over the world were ecstatic! Finally, a film maker and actor were worthy of continuing the series! Then in 2013 the film, "Krueger (Another Tale from Elm Street)", was released to even greater acclaim - even making some of the "top" lists of 2013.

Massive publicity demanded a third film and in 2014 "Krueger (A Walk Through Elm Street)" proves that Chris and Roberto are indeed worthy successors to Wes Craven and Robert Englund!

The film gives us a glimpse into the way Freddy's mind works and how he hides in plain sight while plotting the abduction of Springwood's children. There are scenes of Freddy walking through Springwood playing friendly neighbor on one hand and stalking/abducting a child (Jacob Flowers) on the other with a narrative by Freddy over those scenes. This is mixed together with a chance encounter with a very pregnant Marge Thompson (Vera Vanguard) who explains she thinks she's having a girl that they will name Nancy... The film is perfect in every way!

I have heard that these short films are taken from scenes in a full feature film script. All I can say is if anyone can do a prequel film justice it's these guys! HOLLYWOOD: Give us Chris and Roberto NOW!

*Minor Spoilers*

Back in the summer of 2011, Chris R. Notarile and Roberto Lombardi released a brilliant prequel film based on the original "Nightmare on Elm Street" series called "Krueger (A Tale from Elm Street). It received high praise around the world from fans and critics alike and received very positive reviews.

Fans have been asking for more ever since and finally we get what we asked for! Many fans, myself included, have always wanted to see just how Freddy lured his victims while he was alive and we have been writing to Chris and Roberto for almost two years to show us!

Well, the wait is over!
Roberto Lombardi once again portrays Freddy Krueger in two ways. Oily and manipulative while luring Suzy. Pure evil when he's got her in his lair. AMAZING! Chris R. Notarile steps up his game with a fantastic script and cinematography that is breathtakingly beautiful! The whole film makes you both uncomfortable and frightened! Just like a Freddy film should be!

No other Freddy fan films come close to being this good and stay true to the originals. No matter what you may have heard, Notarile and Lombardi are the prequel originators! HELLO, Hollywood! Are you listening?

My only complaint? It was just over 6 minutes long and I want more! But, from what I've heard these two short films are part of a much larger script. Here's hoping!

***Minor Spoilers*** Leave it to Chris R. Notarile to take the western genre and give it a twist! It's no secret that I am a huge Blinky fan, but recently Chris' films have become more than just action or horror. They have become stories with a moral or a message along with his trademark heroes and anti heroes.

"American Lawless" is the story of Luke (Shawn Parr), the former leader of agroup of freedom fighting bank robbers, who leaves his outlaw life behind when he meets Rose (Kasey Williams) and sends his former cohorts to jail.

After getting out of prison, new leader Quinn (Roberto Lombardi), Marko (Hector De La Rosa) and Vince (Nick Grock) exact revenge and abduct Rose leaving Luke beaten and bloody.

Without giving too much away, the first half of the film concentrates on establishing Luke and Quinn's reasons for turning on each other. Things really get interesting when Luke arrives at the gangs hideout.

There is a fantastic fight scene between Parr and De La Rosa and an effective gun fight between Parr and Grock that will make any Blinky fan happy! But the real surprises are in the confrontation between Lombardi and Parr. The scene is emotional and sad with a great twist at the end.

Kudos to the cast... Parr for playing Luke with not just bravado, but sensitivity toward his former friends. Lombardi plays Quinn as ruthless, but also as deeply hurt by the betrayal. De La Rosa plays Marko as the ultimate outlaw. Grock plays Vince as the "in over his head" flunkee and Williams plays Rose as anything but a damsel in distress. Rounding out the cast is Mike Fass who plays Han as a hapless victim of circumstance.

Notarile's cinematography is grade A here with beautifully shot night scenes, interesting interiors, perfect camera angles and special effects that enhance without overshadowing.

One of the best Blinky Productions films!

Being a true fan of independent films, I have been a major fan of Chris R. Notarile and his talented group of actors for quite some time.

Whatever themes Chris tackles in his films, be it horror or superhero fan films or his own amazing original work, I have always been entertained! Since mid 2011 I have noticed a bit of a change in Chris' work and it's for the better. The trailers for "Stand Off" and "American Lawless" hinted at more personal stories being told while retaining his signature action film sequences. These films required actors that were talented enough to portray the emotional depth of the characters.

That brings me to "Choice". We are introduced to a struggling actress (Kerri Miller) who is at the end of her emotional rope. Literally ready to end it all when she is visited by an apparition or manifestation that calls herself Choice (Mandy Evans) and she has to choose the direction that her life and legacy will take in a matter of moments.

Both women absolutely own their characters and flawlessly portray them. The best compliment I can give is that I didn't see Kerri and Mandy. I saw the Actress and Choice. You can feel despair at the start and then the weight of the decision the Actress must make. The cool indifference and subtle sarcasm of Choice is chilling right up until the Actress decides to live and she caringly says "good choice". Brilliant.

Chris shot the film in both color and black and white and gave the whole encounter with Choice a dreamlike quality that was perfect. The special effects and makeup accent the film, but never overshadow it. The beautiful song by Hypodive at the end is also notable.

I'm happy to report that with "Choice" Mr. Notarile has evolved as a filmmaker and proved that not only can he do justice to Snake Plissken, Freddy Krueger and The Dollman, but that he can produce dramatic work full of layers and emotion.

"Choice" is not a one time effort. See "Host", "Roses", "Spilt" and the aforementioned "American Lawless" for proof!

For an early effort made at the start of his career in 2004, Chris R. Notarile managed to make an enjoyable, interesting and well made short film called "The Nightmare Ends on Halloween". The fact that it was shot on home video is further proof of how good it was and showed promise of the talented filmmaker that Notarile would become.

The only drawback to the original film was that, at that time, a suitable pool of good actors wasn't available to Mr. Notarile.

Fast forward seven years and the sequel "The Nightmare Ends on Halloween II" not only outshines, but buries the first film. The evidence is the fact that the ending of the original film has been completely re shot for Part II and then leads directly into the battle! Compare the two versions of this scene. It's obvious Part II is far superior! The first thing you notice is how professional everything is. Superior lighting, camera work, editing and direction. The story is less talk and all action from the start! Action fans will love the fight scenes and horror fans will appreciate Notarile's attention to detail both in characters and story.

Regarding the acting - OMG what an improvement! Hector De La Rosa, Anthony Palmisano, Josh Rothman and Jerry Todisco don't even have dialogue, but they totally nail the essence of Jason, Michael and Leatherface. Kevin Lennon completely embodies Pinhead (with fantastic Pinhead voice by Notarile) and Roberto Lombardi is absolutely perfect as Freddy Krueger! Lombardi plays Freddy more as a homage instead of flat out copying Robert Englund, while portraying the character his way! This film and "Krueger (A Tale from Elm Street) are proof that Notarile and Lombardi can handle this material and the fans seem to agree!

***SPOILIERS***

I'm serious! I don't understand the jealous hatred some "reviewers" post about this film. I guess it's true. Those who can't do, BASH! Speaking of "bash", METHODIC has the distinction of being the very first "basher" film!

Anyway, sure there's a similarity to HALLOWEEN, but director Chris .R. Notarile freely admits his love of that film and that METHODIC was originally intended as a reboot / remake of the John Carpenter classic.

All that aside, METHODIC starts out on failiar ground with a small boy who kills his parents, but quickly developes into it's own interesting and original story where we learn that the entity known as "The Dollman" is more like a virus than a spirit so anyone can't become The Dollman. This theme is explored more in the short sequel METHODIC 1.5 and that film shows where the storyline is going and it has nothing to do with HALLOWEEN !!

As for the acting, Brandon Slagle, Niki Notarile, Tony Dadika and Stephen Muzzonigro completely nail their roles and the supporting cast is equally as good with standouts being Daniel Werzinger, Rachael Robbins and Roberto Lombardi (who's storyline features heavily in METHODIC 1.5 and the upcoming METHODIC II).

Visually, METHODIC is stark and disturbing in all the right places and the music really enhances the visuals. Pick this up if you like old school horror with a good story. If you're into body count movies about drunk teens, pass on this!