Trent Haaga Movies
- 2008
Inspired by actual events, director Ash Baron Cohen and screenwriter Trent Haaga's black comedy tells the tale of two elderly con artists whose nefarious acts of fraud are far from grandmotherly. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Ditching school on a lark in favor of downing beers and raising hell at an abandoned mental hospital, two high school kids from the wrong side of the tracks make a horrifying discovery that will test their morals and serve as the catalyst for a dangerous battle of wills. Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and JT (Noah Segan) are the kind of kids more likely to be caught smoking in the boy's room than studying in the library, so when they skip out of class to explore a crumbling mental hospital it seems like just another days of mischief and mayhem. What seemed to be business as usual becomes anything but, however, when the two boys break through a rusted door leading to a dark boiler room and discover a naked woman tied to a gurney and covered in plastic. Since the door to the boiler room was rusted shut it seems unlikely that any living soul has inhabited the space for years, yet when the body shows signs of life JT immediately suggests that he and his pal should have a little lewd fun with their helpless captive. But while Rickie may be somewhat reckless, his moral compass still points in the right direction and he wants nothing to do with such sordid affairs. Later, when word of Rickie and JT's discovery gets out, tensions flare as events take a darkly disturbing turn. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, (more)
- 2008
Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis star in Poor Things, a black comedy that centers on a ring of aging con women. Rosario Dawson co-stars in the Trent Haaga-scripted laugher. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, (more)
Inspired by the bizarre Black Dahlia murder case, The Devil's Muse tells the tale of a beautiful young actress who's cast to play the tragic victim in an upcoming film, and whose nightmares gradually fuse with her desires as she delves ever deeper into the script. The moment Lisa Small (Kristen Kerr) is cast as the Black Dahlia, her reality is transformed into a mysterious dream world in which nothing is as it initially appears. The 60th anniversary of the high-profile Hollywood murder is fast drawing near, and somewhere on the streets of Los Angeles lurks a killer who's collecting and killing women in order to commemorate the grim fate of the Black Dahlia. Meanwhile, Lisa does her best to prepare for the role by becoming better acquainted with the screenplay. But with each turn of the page, Lisa comes two steps closer to discovering the truth behind the murder that continues to baffle investigators to this very day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kristen Kerr, Gidget Gein, (more)
A simple burglary spirals violently out of control when two professional thieves break into a Hollywood Hills mansion in search of riches, and instead find a man who has been bound and gagged imprisoned in the massive estate. Upon making their grim discovery, the morally conflicted pair makes a series of poor decisions that leads to a bloody battle for survival against a killer with no conscience and no remorse. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Kolodziej, Gerald Emerick, (more)
The dead have returned to feast on the flesh of the living, and as a media blackout has left the general public blissfully unaware of the apocalyptic happenings, a television anchorwoman struggles to reveal the truth in director Richard Griffin and screenwriter Trent Haaga's gut-munching zombie chiller. When the government learns that the Lazarus virus is reanimating the deceased and instilling them with an insatiable appetite for human flesh, their answer to the problem is to simply cover it up. Determined to warn the public about the undead menace, Channel Five's lead anchorwoman enlists the aid of a top cameraman and unhinged military guard to rip the lid off of the story and reveal the government's elaborate ruse. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2004
A man who has just lost his wife and his job is forced to help the very supervisor who just laid him off when the pair is pursued by a satanic serial killer seeking to unlock they key to immortality by making his final sacrifice. Cody has just lost everything, and he's got his former supervisor Allison to thank for his current lot in life. Unfortunately for both parties, things are about to get infinitely worse. One night, while speeding down a lonely mountain road that cuts through a purportedly haunted forest, Allison's car breaks down. Desperate, the frightened woman accepts a ride from an outwardly benevolent traveler who is soon revealed to be notorious rapist and serial killer Samuel Parks. A satanic madman who has devoted his entire life to pleasing his dark lord, Parks longs to achieve immortality. If all goes according to plan, Allison will be Parks' final sacrifice, and he cycle will be completed. But Allison is a fighter, and just as Parks is preparing to deal the death blow Cody shows up to save the day. Now, as Cody and Allison attempt to elude a determined killer in the darkened woods, it quickly becomes apparent that there is no escape. Nobly, Cody confronts the madman in order to allow Allison time to flee. A formidable fighter, Cody effortlessly dispatches Parks and sets out to find Allison just the killer's blood begins to mix with the soil, sparking a profoundly disturbing transformation. Facing off against a serial killer who is only human is one thing, but what is one to do when they are trapped in a darkened forest with a supernatural killer that's infinitely more terrifying than any mortal man? ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erica Doering, Philippe Kane, (more)
Trent Haaga and Brandy Little star as married couple Charles and Deborah in this gory horror film from writer/director John Keeyes. While appearing to be an average, mild-mannered American husband and wife, behind closed doors Charles and Deborah are a malicious serial-killing duo, a gruesome fact that their unsuspecting neighbors find out a bit too late. But after hacking up local strangers, the pair's marital bond begins to weaken, and before long, Charles and Deborah are each looking to the other for their next victim. Released straight-to-video in 2004, Suburban Nightmare also stars Hayden Tweedie. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brandy Little, Trent Haaga, (more)
Initially conceived as a sequel to David DeCoteau's amusing Prison of the Dead (2000), this straight-to-video horror film was written by minor cult actor Trent Haaga. The story line posits a new reality-based television series along the lines of Fear Factor in which five attractive models must spend the night in a haunted asylum for a million-dollar prize. There's a greedy producer who sets booby-traps for the girls along the way, not knowing that there is a real presence in the hospital -- the ghost of an evil millionaire who had kidnapped several young women years before, hoping to force them to marry him. The contestants make confessions to the cameras strategically placed within, only to have their deepest fears used against them by the malevolent ghost. Joe Estevez shows up as well, adding a small bit of name value to a cast including Debra Mayer, Tanya Dempsey, and Stacey Scowley. This was one of several collaborations between B-movie moguls J.R. Bookwalter and Charles Band, concluding with Dead & Rotting the same year. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debra Mayer, Tanya Dempsey, (more)
- 2002
- Add Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil to QueueAdd Killjoy 2: Deliverance from Evil to top of Queue
Director Tammi Sutton's superior sequel to Craig Ross' dismal urban clown shocker Killjoy marks both an improvement over the original (on one-fifth of the budget) and the introduction of almost a completely new character, as Trent Haaga's portrayal of the titular bogeymen rises head and shoulders above that of Angel Vargas in the first film. A pair of juvenile detention officers and their streetwise charges head for the wilderness as part of an Outward Bound-type program, only to run into horror and death. Genre enthusiasts will recall the same set-up being used in Tony Randel's 1994 mutant-bug film Ticks, but it still seems fresh here due to both the subject matter and the relative paucity of horror films dealing with ethnic urban youths in the intervening years (the cast is almost exclusively African-American). After a shooting death and conflicts with the obligatory redneck (Sutton), the kids hole up in the home of an elderly voodoo practitioner (Rhonda Claerbaut), only to be menaced by Killjoy. Cult favorite Debbie Rochon co-stars in this entertaining horror film, which was extensively re-edited prior to release by executive producer J.R. Bookwalter to tighten up what he felt was a rather slow initial cut. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Makeup effects specialist David P. Barton's directorial debut is this fairly atmospheric straight-to-video horror film about three jokers who accidentally kill the son of a witch named Abigail (cult favorite Debbie Rochon). As might be expected, the witch unleashes her vengeance on them, first seducing the trio and then using their own devilish offspring to destroy them. There are some memorable images of rotting, scythe-wielding zombies shuffling through the misty woods which is reminiscent of The Fog (1979), the expected gory violence, and appearances from genre regulars Trent Haaga, Jeff Dylan Graham, and Tom Hoover (Polymorph) to keep things lively. This was the final collaboration between J.R. Bookwalter's low-budget horror factory at Tempe Entertainment and Charles Band's slightly more upscale Full Moon Pictures. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 2000
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New Jersey's leading mutant superhero (unless Jon Bon Jovi counts) rises from the sludge to defend truth, justice, and radioactive waste once again in the third sequel to the 1985 cult sensation The Toxic Avenger. There's trouble brewing in the sleepy town of Tromaville when the Diaper Mafia, a group of inept but dangerous criminals, attempt an armed takeover of Tromaville's School for the Very Special for reasons best not contemplated. With the students held hostage, the Toxic Avenger (David Mattey) is called in to save the day, but a freak accident (as if there were any other kind in this movie) leads to an accident that creates an evil mirror version of Tromaville called Amortville; what's worse, heroic Toxie finds himself trapped in Amortville, while Tromaville is cursed with his wicked counterpart, Noxie. Can Toxie make it back to Tromaville and vanquish the villainous Noxie? Will the Diaper Mafia emerge triumphant? And who knew that the Supreme Being was a foul-mouthed dwarf? Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV boasts one of Troma Team Pictures' typically eccentric supporting casts, including Corey Feldman, Ron Jeremy, Lisa Gaye, Hugh M. Hefner, Al Goldstein, Taylor Mead, Debbie Rochon, and Hank the Angry Dwarf. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Mattey, Heidi S. Jursen, (more)
Troma Team Pictures, the company that brought you such classics as The Toxic Avenger, When Nature Calls and Class Of Nuke 'Em High, takes a look inside the making of a "typical" Troma release with Terror Firmer, directed and co-written by Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, who also appears as the director of the film-within-the film. Here, Kaufman (whose character is blind, which would explain a lot about Troma's product) and his crew are making a willfully sleazy horror flick, complete with monsters, gore, gratuitous nudity and loud rock 'n' roll, when a serial killer appears who doesn't happen to be in the script. Terror Firmer is based in part on Kaufman's 1998 book about his career with Troma, All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger, and includes a plug for the upcoming Jane Austen's Schlock and Schlockability (possibly a follow-up to 1996's Shakespeare variant Tromeo and Juliet). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Keenan, Alyce LaTourelle, (more)
