The third collaboration between Shock-O-Rama Cinema and low-budget stop motion effects man/writer-director Brett Piper, the aptly titled Shock-O-Rama (which it turns out is an ironic coincidence since Piper was using the title years prior to working with the company) is an anthology flick with a twist.

Cult actress Misty Mundae stars a Rebecca Raven, a sarcastic and bitter "Scream Queen" who's first appearance in the film has her about to be murdered by a weed-whacker wielding psycho in her latest low-budget horror movie. Unhappy with the way her career is going, she soon finds the out she's looking for as she ends-up being fired by her sleazy studio head boss (Michael R. Thomas, camping it up as he usually does in various Shock-O-Rama and Seduction Cinema releases). Soon she heads off to a remote house to be alone and while this is happening, Piper's film presents a couple of shorts (which he creatively blends in by having them be videotapes Thomas and his lackey are viewing to try and find a replacement for their ex-starlet).

First up, we have Piper regular Rob Monkiewicz playing jerk-off scrap metal yard owning Callahan who finds himself having to team-up with his ex-girlfriend (who's dropped by to get the money he owes her) after a tiny, and quite disgruntled, alien create crash lands its ship amongst the junkyard. Packed with stop motion aliens and a giant robot in the finale, this is a none-too-serious tale in which Monkiewicz and co-star Caitlin Ross get to have some amusing, and insult filled, banter between them while Piper's effects are extremely well done.

In between the first and second tale the movie switches back to Rebecca's quiet getaway which soon turns for the worse and she's menaced by a comedic zombie that happens to be the past owner of the house and also happened to be brought back by her blood when she cuts herself shaving her legs in the bathtub. It gives Piper another chance to flip the movie on its ear and emulate some of his favourite horror flicks and this segment has a decided Evil Dead mood to it.

Next up, Piper gets to blend in sci-fi with surrealism as he tells the story of a house filled with female dream research patients who are looked after by supposedly caring doctor Julian Wells. As with most movies, Wells is up to no good as she's helping a giant brain creature use the girls' dreams to make it more powerful. While it's not as good as the first two thirds, and it does drag the flick down a little bit, it does contain the movie's skin quotient (why else do you think AJ Khan and Wells star in this segment?) and does have some generally well done nightmare moments involving organ munching and other bizarre things.

And then it all ends where it begins with Thomas realizing that the only starlet he needs, is the one he fired.

Looking to have the biggest budget of all of Shock-O-Rama's in-house produced movies yet, Shock-O-Rama is a fun, affectionate slice of horror nostalgia by Piper. It sports an awesome "old school" credit sequence, there's a rockin' score by Jon Greathouse, and when Mundae (who's pretty hilarious here and proves with this and her Masters Of Horror episode, "Sick Girl", she's a better actor than you might expect) and Piper get the chance to throw out plenty of in-jokes and jabs at their employers it really hums - it's just too bad the second story couldn't have been a little stronger. However, this is still an entertaining time for us veteran genre fans, and there's enough here for you to go away with some sort of smile on your face. (Chris Hartley, 12/4/06)

Directed By: Brett Piper.
Written By: Brett Piper.

Starring: Misty Mundae, AJ Khan, Julian Wells, Rob Monkiewicz.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: While the picture can be a bit soft at times, the transfer here is pretty decent as there's not noticeable grain or dirt (which is a good thing considering they used actual film to shoot this instead of going the DV route).

Extras: We get the usual "Trailer Vault", interviews with Piper and producer Michael Raso, a goofy behind-the-scenes featurette, footage from the New York screening party, a "Q & A" period with Piper from said screening, and a commentary with Piper and Raso that's moderated by David Fine.

Overall it's not a stellar batch of extras, but what's here is generally more than you get with most low-budget movies and it's all done well enough to make it worthwhile.

Visit Shock-O-Rama for more info.