Tubi Treasures: Late Night Gems (December 2021)

2021 has been an interesting year, to put it mildly. Given the success of October’sTubi Treasures, as well as, the wild and crazy events of the past eleven months, we could not think of a better way to close out the year than with 13 lighthearted, kickass late night flicks streaming for free on Tubi in December.  

To Your Last Death (2019)

According to their website, To Your Last Death crushed the festival circuit taking home 35 awards, making it the #2 most award-winning horror movie of 2020. It didn’t take me long to see why. To Your Last Death is extremely well done. The 2-D animation gives it a gritty vibe that only enhances the effectiveness of the carnage. While graphic at times, this is far from simply animated torture fantasy. To Your Last Death has a strong cast, solid writing, and wonderful twists that enhance the story with each turn; making it one hell of a ride that is a must-watch for fans of cartoons that “formative youths should stay far, far away from.”

Night Watchman (2017)

Much like Hawk & Rev: Vampire Slayers, The Night Watchmen is a classic tale about unprepared and incompetent slackers who become the only line of defense against a horde of bloodsucking vampires. 

However, this one adds a creepy clown to the mix in the form of the beloved Blimpo The Clown. While traveling the world to spread joy to countless children, Blimpo suddenly died in Romania. Being one of Charm City’s Finest, it is only fitting that Blimpo would be properly laid to rest back where it all started in Baltimore. However, instead of going to the mortuary or county morgue, Blimpo is dropped off at a local office building. 

As you can imagine, this doesn’t bode well for the humans working in the office building who are still alive. The end result is a fast-paced horror-comedy worthy of a watch.

Hell and Back (2015) 

In addition to the dynamite cast (Mila Kunis, T.J. Miller, Nick Swardson, Danny McBride, Jennifer Coolidge, Bob Odenkirk, Rob Riggle, Lance Bass, and Susan Sarandon), Hell and Back should be watched, if for no other reason, its fantastic use of stop motion animation. 

It is hard to imagine how difficult this film was to make considering the massive cast of characters, extensive set designs, and ambitious world-building that took place in a fast-paced 96 minutes. Despite the animation being so well-done, Hell and Back may have had too big of a cast. Like so many ensemble comedies, a huge cast of funny characters prevents a true lead character from standing out and inevitably the movie becomes nothing more than a ton of one-liners mashed together without advancing the story or developing characters. 

Despite being loathed by the few critics who took the time to review this one, I still say the animation and juvenile humor are solid enough to give Hell and Back a shot.

Teeth (2007)

Call me old-fashioned, but I am going to give any movie a chance that includes a strong protagonist (Jess Weixler) who possesses the rarest of adaptations imaginable: a set of retractable teeth in her lady bits. 

However, that curiosity will only last for so long before I lose interest. Luckily, Teeth is more than a simple attention-grabbing gimmick. Teeth still manages to maintain a dark sense of humor without devaluing the seriousness of sexual assault. Much like Naomi Alderman’s best-selling book The Power, Teeth imagines a world where a single adaptation has the ability to completely shift the power dynamic between men and women. Just when you think Teeth has lost its way, it manages to end on a satisfying dark, yet optimistic note. 

Deathgasm (2015)

Along with its original heavy metal soundtrack, Deathgasm is a horror-comedy that packs a gory punch. What starts as a basic bullying story, quickly shifts to an all-out battle to save the world from complete destruction when two social outcasts inadvertently release a demon during band practice. 

With an Evil Dead 2 vibe, Deathgasm spews one-liners and severed heads by the bucketful, without derailing the budding romance between Brodie (Milo Cawthorne) and Medina (Kimberly Crossman). In fact, it is their connection that drowns out the chaos of extended heavy metal ballads, gratuitous sex toy bludgeoning, severed spinal cords, and the pending apocalypse. 

Deathgasm is so much fun that it is worth a watch even if you don’t like heavy metal.

Road Head (2020) 

Road Head was so much better than I expected while being nothing at all like what I expected it to be. I went in thinking this one was going to be a campy slasher with the occasional laugh here and there. For the first third, it looked like I was spot on. 

The film opens with Alex (Damian Joseph Quinn) and his boyfriend Bryan (Clayton Farris) driving in a minivan on their way to what was supposed to be a romantic getaway to a small lake in the Mojave Desert. However, they are joined by Bryan’s friend Stephanie who recently went through a difficult breakup with her boyfriend and quickly jumped at the chance to crash their weekend getaway. Once they arrive, they quickly realize what used to be a lake is now desert. Tired and frustrated they start making their way back home when they discover two recently severed heads in their way. 

From there everything changes. What starts out as a slasher becomes an over-the-top cosplay cult movie with a group of outcasts that are equal parts pathetic and sinister. Despite feeling disconnected at times, Road Head is an entertaining and light-hearted low-budget flick worth a try. 

The Complete Hatchet Series: Hatchet (2006), Hatchet ll (2010), Hatchet lll (2013), Victor Crowley (2017) 

The deformed swamp-dwelling Victor Crowley (Kane Hodder) is my new favorite unkillable slasher villain. I came into this entire series within that past year or so and I devoured all four movies in a single night. This campy franchise is Adam Green’s tribute to the ultra gory practical effects from the glory days of slashers. What Green adds is a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor that makes this series so much fun. 

The series also features fantastic actors throughout: Tony Todd, Robert Englund, Perry Shen, Deon Richard, Danielle Harris, R.A. Mihailoff, Tom Holland, Zach Galligan, Caroline Williams, and Felissa Rose. However, it is Hodder that takes this series to a new level. His athleticism in this series is terrifying. He’s not the lumbering brutes of yesteryear, he’s more like an outside linebacker with a hatchet. 

If you love movies with a ton of action, creative kills, gory practical effects, juvenile humor, and a viciously unkillable urban legend then this series is an absolute must-watch. 

Thankskilling 3 (2012)

The joy that comes from watching a turkey take its revenge on meat-eaters makes Thankskilling (2007) is a hipster vegan’s wet dream. Along those lines, a raunchy, freestyle rapping puppet grandmother, a sinister turkey, a sexually enlighted space worm, and a hoard of zombie turkeys makes Thankskilling 3 a stoner hipster vegan’s wet dream. 

I can’t, in good faith, recommend watching this movie. It is too bad. That said,  I’ve watched this one four times already. 

Infinite Santa 8000 (2013)

In the year 8000, the world is a cyborg-run wasteland where everyone, even Santa, has to kill to survive. When Santa’s not slaying villains (see what I did there), he spends his time raising a young cyborg named Martha. One night she is kidnapped by the Easter Bunny. Losing the only robot he cares about Santa launches into a violent quest to save Martha from whatever sinister fate the Easter Bunny has in store for her. 

The result is a gory, action-packed animation that is a faux Christmas movie gem. 

Better Watch Out (2016)

If you have not seen Better Watch Out, I strongly recommend checking it out.

I loved this one. Not only am I a sucker for a solid horror-comedy, but I love a good surprise. Better Watch Out starts out as a classic babysitter slasher flick, but shifts to something much more sinister at the start of the second act. If you are a fan of low-budget horror comedies with a dark sense of humor, then Better Watch Out is tailor-made for you.