The brainchild of Ohio-born filmmaker Henrique Couto, Faces of Schlock started its life back in 2005 as a series of independently released efforts on his own Freak Productions label. Intended as a tongue-in-cheek anthology series in the same vein as Tales from the Crypt school, Schlock makes its return for this collection of four shorts introduced by Slutpira (Izzie Harlow) who's just your basic low-cut dress, fake fang wearing cable access hostess that has issues with the cheap smoke machines and intrusive fake lightning during her monologues.

First up is "Blood Witch" (dir. Andrew Shearer) which starts off as a homage to old gothic Hammer productions as two men who are convinced a local witch will turn them into sodomites hunt her down, poke out her eyes, and kill her. Fast forward to modern day where a mean-spirited Goth girl has had quite enough of her bitchy, straightedge roommate. Using a spell book she summons our undead witch to do her bidding and mayhem ensues as anyone who pisses her off meets a gory end.

As the kick-off story this isn't a bad start as it's a simple story done decently enough only given a harsh edge by Shearer (which is quite evident by a bloody masturbation moment). It also has its humourous side with an amusing exterminator character that is constantly proclaiming "bug man" while snooping around the house and stealing panties.

"Mike Wuz Here" (dir. Justin Channell) is next and if you've seen either of Channell's past efforts (Raising the Stakes, Die and Let Live) then you'll know to expect the brand of witty sarcasm and pop culture riffs the ICW crew have shown a great knack for. Derek (Josh Lively) has just been hired to manage a rundown movie theatre, which is haunted by the spirit of former employee Mike. Derek is a tiny bit racist against ghosts and even though everyone else treats Mike like a normal, if dead, person; Derek wants him gone. This leads to him being possessed and knocking-off everyone else in the cinema.

My personal favourite, "Mike" works mostly because of its light tone and various jokes tossed in for movie buffs (they're showing "Step Up 3: Tokyo Drift") and Channell gets the usual droll performances out of IWC regulars Lively and Zane Crosby. Plus, it was just a lot of fun.

After a random shower scene to break up the proceedings, we get "One Foot in the Grave" (dir. Chris LaMartina) that starts with a dirty gypsy woman hoping to track down a virgin's foot for a potion only to find out that after burying an axe in the back of a dude's head he's in a wheelchair. Into the picture comes a ballerina who ends up losing her foot at the hands of her inept doctor. Taking its cue from such films as The Hand and Evil Dead II, our detached foot is soon up to no good - while our gypsy wants it for her own uses.

What's most amazing about LaMartina's tale is just how many foot related puns he was able to come up with. This just adds to the purposely cheesy tone and there's just something to be said about a stop-motion rubbery foot that goes in through a victim's butt only to go come out of their mouth.

Lastly is "Slay Ride" (dir. Couto) which wants to be a throwback to 80s slasher movies and proves that by opening with a lengthy shower scene before our naked girl is killed. Indie favourite Ruby LaRocca plays "Trash", a rebellious teen who we first see piercing her own nipples in her bedroom. Because she's been behaving so badly, she's left by herself at Christmas. The nerdy Debbie (Sandy Behre) drops by to help study and they're soon are being stalked by a psycho.

Even though this is the weakest entry, it's still watchable just to see LaRocca actually do a flick that doesn't require her to do various softcore lesbian scenes. Behre is also enjoyable in her role and Couto shows-up as a mentally challenged handyman. Then comes that "what the Hell?" finale and Santa Claus sporting a star tree topper as a throwing weapon.

Going for a 80s aesthetic, Faces of Schlock is an entertaining 106 minutes and you get the feeling the cast and crew's involved were having a good time putting it together. It's this infectious feeling that carries over to the viewer. There's better performances than expected (Harlow is especially great as our hostess), a lot of winking references and humour, and each of the four directors bring their own style and flavour to the proceedings. If you enjoy absurd anthology flicks then you should definitely check this one out - I, for one, am completely open to seeing more Schlock in the future! (Chris Hartley, 8/22/10)

Directed By: Andrew Shearer, Justin Channell, Chris LaMartina, Henrique Couto.
Written By: Shearer, Channell, Zane Crosby, Joshua Lively, Jimmy George, LaMartina.

Starring: Ruby LaRocca, Monica Puller, Josh Lively, George Stover.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: For the budgets involved you can`t expect perfection but what`s on display here is clean and decent looking with only a few moments of pixelation to speak of.

Extras: Touted as the "Boobs and Blood Edition" there's a lot of bonus material to check out here. Couto and producer Jeff Turner provide a commentary during the wraparound segments while each individual story has their own track - it's a cool idea and make for boisterous listening.

There's also a trailer, a music video by Jasper the Colossal dubbed a "Schlock Rock Video", 4 episodes of Couto's crudely drawn but amusing animated web series "Drawing a Blank", a collection of behind-the-scenes and outtakes from the various stories, footage from Cinema Wasteland 2009, and footage taken from the film's worl premiere in MOrgantown, WI.

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