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HORROR 101: THE A-LIST OF HORROR FILMS AND MONSTER MOVIES VOL 1
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HOME - INTRO - REVIEWS - FEATURES - MYSPACE - BLOG - STAFF - CONTACT HORROR 101: THE A-LIST OF HORROR FILMS AND MONSTER MOVIES VOL 1
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THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES Vincent Price has always been one of my favorite actors, and the Dr. Phibes movies have always been high on my list of favorite Price movies. I was always enjoyed the way that while he was the 'bad' guy, we were still cheering for him. Phibes is of the best anti-heroes in the cinema. The story is about Dr. Phibes, who sets out to take revenge on the people he holds responsible for the death of his wife, each in a gruesome way, taken from one of the biblical curses. Filled with some very dark humor, Price is excellent as the demented Dr. Phibes. The film also stars Joseph Cotton, Hugh Griffith, and Terry-Thomas in a great little role. This has recently been released on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment. The film is presented in a widescreen version (1.85:1 ratio) and is great quality. The only extras on the DVD is the original theatrical trailer. It is a shame that they couldn't get the director, Robert Fuest, to do an audio commentary for both this film and it's sequel. But the lack of extras is about the only thing I could complain about. The SRP for this is only $14.95! How could one go wrong with this great film for only $15! This is a highly recommended DVD for any collection. (1993) This is one foreign film that will NEVER get an American remake. Why you ask? Simply because it’s about handicapped terrorist kidnapping and murdering the rich, the beautiful, and the famous. I think the ratings board might have a problem with that one. Not to mention all of the protest groups out there just waiting for something like this to pounce on. And even more so that their emblem is that of a figure in a wheelchair with a gun. Accion Mutante is the name of a group of terrorist that target the attractive wealthy citizens in this futuristic dark comedy from director Álex de la Iglesia. The members of Accion Mutante comprise of all sorts of handicapped misfits, that don’t seem to have a brain between them. Now that their leader, Ramon, has been released from prison, they hope to get back to having better results in their terrorist escapades. Ramon has the plan to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy baker mogul, at her wedding. But once the kidnapping is a success (well…sort of), the real terror begins! The futuristic world that de la Iglesia creates is not a pretty one. The rich are the super upperclass, while the rest of the world lives in poverty and fifth. The TV news is used in a similar manner to how it was shown in the ROBOCOP films. There’s not problem with showing people being beaten by the police or even shot. There are tons of strange and wacky characters throughout this movie. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, he introduces someone even stranger than the last. A special nod to Spanish cult star Santiago Segura and his family of complete nutters. This was director de la Iglesia first real movie, and showed even at a young age his sense of style and humor. His humor is dark, silly, and at times reminds me of Month Python. Some of the scenes are way over the top, with blood flying everywhere. But the humor, no matter how dark and twisted, is still there. Another highlight of this film is the look of it, in a production design aspect. This film was a low budget film. But the expansive set designs they came up with were incredible. The design of their spaceship is incredible. Not the fancy, clean & bright spaceships like in most sci-fi movies. But theirs is dirty, slimy, and amazes you that it can even fly. Not to mention that the crew would be smart enough to fly it. I can remember first seeing this movie on a bootleg video tape. The quality was good, but still grainy. It was the only version of the film that had subtitles. But even with the lesser quality, I fell in love with the movie. Director Álex de la Iglesia has one twisted sense of humor. There has been other DVD releases of this movie, but no official ones that had English subtitles. Until now. Metrodome has released this in its uncut 2.35:1 widescreen format, in a region 2 PAL DVD. And it looks incredible. But not only does it have subtitles, there is also a great making of featurette that was made during filming. This is almost a half hour long and covers many different aspects of the making of the film. Since this was filmed during filming, you get a lot of ‘on-the-set’ footage while they were actually rehearsing and filming the movie. They also talk about the production design, the costumes, make up, and just about everything else. The director is on camera quite a bit talking about the film. This feature also has English subtitles, and is a great extra for a movie that is 15 years old. If you are a fan of wacky and dark sci-fi movies, then you need to pick this up. And even if you’re a horror fan that doesn’t care for sci-fi, there is enough blood in here to keep you happy. Not to mention that it’s simply a great story, and a great movie. It’s well worth checking out, since you will NEVER see something like this coming out of Hollywood. You can pick this disc up from our friends at Xploited Cinema. But I wouldn’t wait too long, since I think a lot of fans have been waiting for this one to come out. Just click on the banner below to get to their site. (2007) “In sin, he found salvation.” I have never been a big fan of documentaries on true life crime and serial killers. Maybe a little history of Jack the Ripper might peak my interests every now and then, but I’ve never really delved into too much detail. Maybe since it is real, and not the fiction or alternate reality we succumb to while watching a movie, it makes it more disturbing and even harder to just walk away from. A couple of years ago, I got a chance to see this documentary by John Borowski on H.H. Holmes, the first real American serial killer. While again, this wasn’t my particular forte, I watched it anyway. I was not only drawn into the history of this psychotic and amazed at the things he had done back in the late 1800’s, but also the style that Borowski told the tale of this demented person. From using grainy black and white re-enactments, it gave an interesting look and feel to this already dark story. So when I heard that Borowski’s latest documentary was one the notorious Albert Fish, I was excited to see if he could use this style once again. I knew a little about Fish and his work, enough to know that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know more detail. And after watching this documentary, I was in shock. I thought I’d heard enough about Gein, Gacy, and the others to prepare myself for the atrocities of Mr. Fish. I was wrong. After viewing this 86 minute documentary, I have to say that this was one of the most disturbing films that I’ve seen. The film is really not visually graphic at all, but the things that Fish did to others, not to mention himself, that is simply and utterly horrifying. Hearing Fish’s own words from a confession letter to the mother of one of his victims, a 10-year old girl, is something that I will never forget. This actual letter is in the possession of artist and Odditorium owner Joe Coleman, who is interviewed in this documentary. I would have thought that someone collecting such items is either a sick-minded person, or is doing it for the exploitation aspect of it. But Coleman talks with great authority on the subject and actually makes some very good points as to why people need to remember Albert Fish. And that he was, after all, still a human being. No matter what most would think of him after what he did. There is still much to be learned. Also interviewed in the documentary is renowned true-crime author Katherine Ramsland, who gives us some pretty good insight into this sick mind of Mr. Fish. Though, I couldn't help but notice on her bookshelf behind her, there was a copy of one of those Idiot's Guides to Criminal Investigations or something like that. The documentary goes into great detail on Fish’s life, including him being raised in an orphanage, where he was abused with multiple beatings. After awhile, he started to enjoy them. So even at a young age, we start to see where his strange tastes started. We follow Fish from there throughout his life, during his marriage and raising a family. All the time, leading this double life of a sadist, masochist, murderer, deviant, and cannibal. For someone who is looking for a fun “horror movie” to enjoy, I would avoid this one. But if you want an excellent, yet frightening look into the mind of one that I would call the most demented humans in history, then I think you will find this film fascinating and also very unforgettable. The DVD comes with interviews with the director, the Murder Metal Band Macabre, Nico Claux, the vampire of Paris, as well as the history of the electric chair, deleted scenes and outtakes, trailers, productions stills, and more. For more information about this film, go to the official website: www.albertfish.com or the official site of the director: http://www.johnborowski.com (1977) Even if you didn’t know that this film’s budget was around $4000, it is still amazing on just how entertaining, not to mention how well made, this film is. This is the first film from the East Coast King of Low Budget Filmmaking, Don Dohler. Made in Baltimore in 1976, Dohler used the help of friends, family, and other people who had interests in filmmaking that he had met up while publishing a small press magazine called CINEMAGIC. This magazine was a guide for people who wanted to get started in making their own films. So while Dohler and company didn’t have a lot of money, they had something more important. They had the desire and talent to put out a movie that would be entertaining…and maybe even make some money for them. Hell, it even made the cover of Famous Monsters, issue #143. I guess that would be a good sign, don’t you think? Granted, some of the acting isn’t the highest of quality. But for a film of this budget, it still is pretty good. I’ve seen a lot worse in some major films coming from Hollywood. The actors do very well in giving that feeling of a small town, where everybody knows everybody. And when something happens to one of the locals, the word spreads quickly. The actor playing the mayor, Richard Dyszel, is also know as Count Gore DeVol, a horror host in the 70s’& 80’s in the Washington area. And of course you have George Stover, a Dohler regular who is still showing up in his movies. As well as Don Leifert, who was also the title character in Dohler's FIEND. The basic plot is about an alien spaceship that crashes out in the woods outside of a small town. The alien crew was carrying some different alien species to their home planet, but somehow crashed on Earth. These three, very different looking aliens, start to attack the locals. A strange guy from the local observatory shows up saying that he can help. But he seems to be hiding something more. One of my favorite parts of the movie is the makeup designs for the alien creatures. This is a great example of what can be done when the ambition and desire is more important than the money. The guys who came up with, and sometimes even acting in their own makeup suits, created some really original and cool looking creatures. One creature stands about eight feet tall, using leg extensions that are covered in the makeup. The result is a really cool looking monster; very reminiscent of something from Harryhausen, but today probably would have probably been a CGI effect. The DVD was put out by Retro Media, which can be picked up at a great low price. This is most likely the reason for the quality of the prints. Don’t be looking for any re-mastered prints, with Dolby Digital Surround Sound on one of these discs. And to be honest, if you did, I think it might take away some of the look and feel of these types of movies. While the quality is pretty much the same as video quality, it’s still very much watchable. And as stated before, for the low price, you can’t really beat it. Hell, an original pre-record of this movie is probably going for more on eBay then what this disc costs. The extra features on the disc contains a blooper and out-take reel, which is extremely entertaining. There is also a still gallery, highlighting the Dohler regular George Stover. Then there is also a never seen before stop-motion animation sequence that was never used for the final print of the film. (1959) THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE has always been a favorite of mine. I'm sure the one of the main reasons is due to the wonderful (if not completely drunken) job that Lon Chaney Jr. did in this film. And some of the makeup is a bit silly looking. But none the less, to me it's still entertaining. The story is basically told in a flashback setting. Beverly Garland plays a newlywed wife who's husband runs off as their leaving for their honeymoon. After spending some time searching for her missing husband, she finally comes to an old plantation down south, which was an address that her husband had used before they were married. But when she gets there, nobody seems to have heard of him. But something just doesn't seem right there. Chaney Jr. plays the hook-handed handyman called Manon. He's hated the 'gators' since they took off one of his hands. So there's nothing much more enjoyable for him than to shoot at the gators or even run over them with his truck, all the while either laughing or screaming at them. The more snooping around that Garland does, she discovers a hidden secret about her husband. He had been in a terrible accident while in the military. But he seemed to make an incredible recovery once he got home. But she discovers the secret experiments that have been going, which have not been totally successful. Yea, but make up is a little rubbery in some cases, but I still think it was one hell of a idea to put an alligator shaped head on that of a human body. Or even the makeup of some of the transitions, where it the face look more like a grill marks than reptile skin. But even with these flaws, if you enjoy sci-fi / horror films of the 50's and 60's, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one as much as I do. With a great cast, some great unintentional humor, and some interesting makeup, I couldn't recommend this film enough. This used to be a hard movie to find in decent quality. Yea, AMC (which stands for Alot More Commercials) would play it, but I don't watch that channel anymore. But then 20th Century Fox released in on DVD in a beautiful widescreen (2.35:1) edition. Granted, whoever writes the box copy for them obviously didn't know that much about the movie since his synopsis was wrong, but why am I not surprised. But none the less, at least they put out a damn nice looking print. So that makes up for it. "THEY'RE COLOSSAL! THEY'RE HUNGRY! AND THEY'RE COMING THIS WAY! HERE'S THE MOST GIGANTIC ASSORTMENT OF OVERSIZED BEASTS, BEHEMOTHS, DINOSAURS AND INDESCRIBABLE SPACE CREATURES EVER TO OVERWHELM YOUR VIDEO SCREAM!" All Day Entertainment have come up with another DVD filled with trailers from our favorite classic monster movies. Following the release of their other two trailer DVDs (THE HORROR OF HAMMER and TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN), ALL MONSTERS ATTACK! features over 50 trailers from all the classic giant monster movies like GODZILLA, RODAN, and MOTHRA to the giant bug and animals to even a 50 foot pissed off woman! For fans of trailers, and even better fans of these great movies, this is a very entertaining disc. I only wish I would have had this for my Halloween party a few weeks ago. But at least it will come in handy for next year's party. There are a couple trailers that are pretty worn out, but for the most part, all the trailers are still highly watch-able. And besides, with these types of films, you don't want the crystal clear images that DVD is known for. It kind of takes the fun out of them. But there's more here than just the trailers. As usual, All Day Entertainment adds a couple of other features. There are two making of featurettes. The first one is for the 1975 film THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, and the second one is from the 1958 film THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. For LAND, the camera goes behind the scenes talking to the crew and discussing how the film came about. For the SINBAD featurette, they discuss the new techniques in film special effects that allow Sinbad to fight a skeleton warrior or a giant Cyclops fighting a giant lizard. Then at last, there is a Atomic safety short film called OPERATION PLUMBOB (1954) and an award winning student cartoon from 1992 called MEGA-MORPHOSIS. So this is another great title for your collection. It's great for parties where you can just let it play trailer after trailer. With a running time of 2 hours, there's plenty of entertainment value for everybody. When watching this disc for review, my son was there the whole time, almost being as entertained as I was. Of course, now he has a small list of films that he wants to see after seeing the trailer. And who said those trailers don't work... (2005) A college couple get stranded in a small village, south of the border, interrupting some sort of celebration. They almost run over some people during a parade, and causing them to drop a coffin carrying a bound naked girl. Sounds like a party, right? But once they try to find help at the local police, they start to figure out that something is amiss in this little village. Coming up with an original idea for a zombie movie is pretty tough to do these days. And in ALL SOULS DAY, they come pretty close. This isn't your normal zombie movie, which even the characters play into that genre, not knowing if they are going to turn into a zombie once they've been biting. Most of the cast does a pretty decent job, with some genre veterans lending their talents. The most notably is Jeffrey Combs, playing a father from the segment in the 1950's. You also have David Keith, playing the sheriff of the small village. And then we have Danny Trejo as the main mucho grande leader of the village in the opening scene that takes place back in the early 1900's. All of these roles are little more than bit parts, but they do a nice job in what little they have to do. Laura Harring does have a little bit bigger role here and also does an good job giving the film a little bit bigger feel to it. But I don't think I ever wanted to see a character die more than the main lead here, played by Travis Wester. He was about annoying as you could get. Whether or not that character was written that way, or if that was Wester bringing him to life, he was pushing the movie into the lines of deciding if I wanted to finish watching it or not. Thankfully, the rest of the cast isn't that bad. It was really nice to see a different kind of zombie here. This isn't your rotting flesh, Italian looking zombies, but more what a corpse that rises out of the dirt after 200 years might look like. The makeup team from Almost Human did an excellent job in creating these undead. They give us a little different approach to a genre that's been done to....death. Sorry, had to do it. The DVD has been recently release by Anchor Bay and is a pretty packed-full disc. There are 3 different featurettes. The first one is a general one about the making of the film, talking to the producers, writer, director and most of the major cast. The second one is about the special effects. This was very interesting, showing some work on one of the lesser known effects houses, but one that is still doing some wonderful work. The last featurette is about the stunt work for the film. There is also an audio commentary by director Kasten and producer / writer Altman. Rounding out the extras are deleted and extended scenes, trailer, storyboard gallery, and the screenplay on DVD-ROM. All in all, the extras are pretty good, and pretty informative on the making of lower budgeted films. We enjoyed them. While this is not the greatest zombie movie, it is by no means the worst. The spirit and passion for the genre is there and Kasten and crew do an okay job here with this project. I guess I need to check out some more of Kasten's work to judge him better. ALONE WITH HER When the film starts, we are immediately immersed into the world of voyeurism, since the whole movie is shown through video & surveillance cameras. We are introduced to "Doug", who seems to like to watch people though a camera. And then he starts constantly watching, or really stalking, a young woman named Amy. After picking up some mini-video cameras, he breaks into her apartment one night when she isn't there and installs several of these little cameras in different rooms, including the bedroom and bathroom. And after Doug learns more and more about Amy, he "accidentally" meets her at a coffee shop. He then starts to build a relationship with her, since they have so much in common. This is where movie has it's effectiveness. The fact that these little cameras are available to anyone and seemed to be pretty easy to install, it does make one wonder if anybody could be watching them....right now....and have no clue. Think about it. In the bathroom. In the bedroom. If dwelled upon enough, it could make you crazy. When I first read about this film, where everything we see is the POV from some hidden surveillance cameras, I was thinking something along the lines of BLAIR WITCH. Which didn't make me happy. But I was very surprised and impressed on just how well done this film is. At first, it's a little strange "watching" the characters from the camera's viewpoint. But then the story and characters are strong enough that we are drawn into what is going on, and even sometimes forget that we are watching through these hidden cameras. Yes, there are certain scenes where we can't help but become the voyeur. And that can be a little uncomfortable at times. Colin Hanks does a good job as the very shy and psychotic stalker, Doug. Watching him watching Amy, we can see that Doug has some issues. A lot of them, in fact. But like any good stalker, he deals with anything that gets in his way of getting what he wants. I also give a lot of credit to Ana Claudia Talancón, who plays Amy. She draws us into her character so much that we care about her. So when we are seeing what Doug is doing, that is where the real terror comes in. If the character of Amy was some bubble-headed co-ed, we could care less about what might happen. But by bringing the audience to feel and care about her character, that makes the terror even more terrifying. That is something that a lot of horror films today seemed to forget about. This was the second film from director Eric Nicholas, who also wrote the film. It was a very unique idea of filming this movie. But since it's all about stalkers, it's a great way to show the audience just what could be going on.
AN
AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON This film has always been one of my favorites. Here was a film that was not only very funny, but also dealt out some serious horror as well. There were some unbelievable makeup effects, the likes that had never been seen before. This movie had already been released on dvd, but I hadn’t been too impressed with the transfer. So when news of a new Special Edition came out, like many others, I was pretty excited. And coming from Universal, it looked like they were going to deliver one hell of a special edition. Well the quality isn’t what I had expected from a special edition, especially coming from a big studio, but I didn’t think it was that bad. I think it could have been much nicer. Why they didn’t put in the little extra work just baffles me. The extras consist of a 5-minute featurette about the making of the film that was made during the original filming. There is also a new interview with John Landis about the film. The documentary / interview on Rick Baker which, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting parts of all the extras. You get to see some of the wolf transformation sequences that were not used in the movie, as well as the way the wolf was able to walk. There is also a segment where they are casting David Naughton’s hand, going through pretty much the whole process from beginning to end. The dvd also has 3 minutes of outtakes, but unfortunately with no sound. There’s a section where you can see the storyboards while watching parts of the movie, which is pretty interesting seeing how close to their original plans they came. It also has production notes, a photo montage, cast and crew bios. The audio commentary did have some interesting information, but not enough to fill the length of the movie. There were often times when Naughton and Dunne stopped talking completely, obviously getting caught up in the movie. I think it would have been much better to have included Landis and Baker at least on a different audio track, or have them all together, which would of definitely filled any gaps in the commentary. So I guess really the only disappointment with this disc is what it could have been. Even with all these extras, I’m sure Baker or somebody had more behind the scene footage. Plus, if they got Naughton and Dunne to do audio commentary, want not film some new interviews with them, and maybe even find some of the other cast as well. But none the less, this film is a classic and is an essential disc to have. (1973) This was kind of a different film for Amicus. Not only was it not an anthology film, but it was a period piece. Usually Amicus' films were set in modern day, except maybe I, MONSTER. So this was something new for them. But once again, when you have a great story, a first-rate director, and an exceptional all-star cast, it's really hard to go wrong. The original title for the film was THE BRIDE OF FENGRIFFEN, which was based on the book Fengriffen, and is your classic gothic tale of a ghostly haunting and revengeful curses. But it seems that producer Max Rosenberg decided that his title would be a better one, much to the dismay of just about everyone. Including me. But don't let this cheesy exploitation title fool you. Here you have a great little gothic supernatural movie. Charles Fengriffen, played by Ian Oglivy, brings his new bride, played by the beautiful Stephanie Beacham, to his ancestral mansion home. This location used for this mansion just happens to be Oakley Court, which use to be own by Hammer and was seen in countless of their films. But immediately upon arrival, strange things start to happen to the bride. She starts to see a strange eyeless man, who's missing one hand. We also see the missing hand wandering around the house. We learn that there seems to have been a curse laid on the Fengriffen family after Charles grandfather, played to the hilt by Herbert Lom, shows the locals his power over the peasants. The film does a great job of bringing a sense of dread to the new bride. Since she is the main point of the curse, the whole movies focuses one her and her torment. We learn the history of the curse as she does. While this poor woman goes through hell, and we feel the torment and terror she feels. And as we realize the extent and purpose of the curse, it only gets worse. I think without Steaphanie Beacham's excellent performance, a lot of the terror would have been lost. But with her pretty much carrying the film, she captures the audiences empathy, and we feel the same overcoming and unstoppable terror that she does. Like a lot of Amicus' films, this is a who's who of British horror. Of course, right off the top, you have Peter Cushing as the doctor who is trying to help the troubled bride. But then you have the likes of Patrick Magee, Guy Rolfe, and Herbert Lom just adding to the mix. Lom really shows us his evil side here, and is just awesome. And with Roy Ward Baker directing, he does a great job putting this movie together, as always. As we said, when you bring talented people behind and in front of the camera, it's really hard to mess up. And this is no exception. And to make it even better, they have a great script, with a good old fashion supernatural ghost revenge story. Once again, it all goes back to the talent. This movie was originally released on DVD by Image Entertainment. The only extra on that disc was that it had an audio commentary by Ian Oglivy. But now with this new release by Dark Sky Films, not only do you get that same commentary, but you also get another one with director Roy Ward Baker and Stephanie Beacham. As we mentioned in our ASYLUM review, it's great that these commentaries are able to document and archive a lot of personal history of the making of these films. Since they were made almost 35 years ago, this stuff need to be of permanent record for us horror fans. Plus, the quality of the print is very nice, sharp and clear. A much improvement over the image release. This print was mastered in High Definition from a 35mm vault material. The disc also has the usual, like bios, still gallery, and trailers. Congrats to Dark Sky Films for another fine release. (1970) “A tense thriller…” TEN YEARS OF TERROR After reading the above book, there were a few features that I put added or put higher up on my To-Find list. FRIGHT was one of those, which had just come on DVD, so I picked up that right away. As I said in my review of that film, I enjoyed it quite a bit. So after reading the great review for FRIGHT, and being a fan of both director Fuest and star Pamela Franklyn, I set out to find it as well. Low and behold, it also had just recently released on DVD. And in even more of a rarity, I watched the film the very same night I received the disc in the mail. I guess since I enjoyed FRIGHT so much, I was expecting the same with this one. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the exactly the case. The story is simple. Two young girls are on holiday in France, bicycling their way through the small towns on the back roads. They have an argument on whether they should take a break or keep moving and Franklyn decides to move on by herself. Once she gets to the next town, she waits for her friend to catch up with her. She never does. When she goes back to the spot where she left her friend, she is gone. Then of course, to add to the mystery, there is the guy that has been following them since the last few towns. For the most part, the film is a pretty good thriller. The only problem that I had is that it is so obviously who the red herring is since the filmmakers really go out of their way to point the blame in their direction. Plus, they seemed to spend more than half the film doing this, which gets real old after a while, and even slows down the film. But once you get past that, they do give you quite a few other suspects to ponder upon who might be the real person behind the missing girl. I guess you could say that this is kind of the opposite of the movie FRIGHT. In that film, the psycho and the young girl and trapped together inside a house. Most of the film takes place in there, making it seem a little claustrophobic. But in DARKNESS, the setting is the French countryside, with big open spaces, and long winding roads. It almost takes away any sense of danger. But on the other hand, I guess it could also translate into being in the middle of nowhere with a psycho, and miles away from any help. If that’s what they were going for, I just didn’t feel it. The small cast does a good job, but it seems the supporting cast shines more than the main characters. Each one of them trying to raise your suspicions, thinking that they might have some deep, dark secret. So overall, it’s not a bad film, but I had just expected much more. For fans of British films of the 70’s, you might want to seek this one out. But for those others, I think you might be better off traveling down another road. Anchor Bay’s release comes with audio commentary by the director Fuest and co-writer / co-producer Brian Clemens. It also comes with a trailer and radio spots.
ANGUISH
The Eyes Of The City Will Be Ours.
This twisted little film is one
of those highly underrated classics. I had never bothered with this when it hit
video many years ago. With Rubinstein’s face plastered all over it, I figured
it was some low-budget piece of crap that was trying to tie into the POLTERGEIST
market. But after it came out on DVD, and after hearing some good things about
it, I decided to give it a try. It was worth it.
If you haven’t heard about this movie before, you probably shouldn’t read past
this paragraph. And I also wouldn’t recommend looking it up in any film guides,
since most of them give away an interesting part of the film. Hell, don’t even
read the back of the video or DVD. But you should seek this film out and give
it 90 minutes of your time. Don’t expect a normal film.
* * * S P O
I L E R S * * *
After about 20 minutes into the movie, you realize that it’s just that, a movie
that other people are watching in a darken theater. The film is called THE
MOMMY as is about Rubinstein and her son Lerner, both of which are a little
un-hinged. Through some type of telepathic powers, she sends her son out to
kill people, and steal their eyes. She thinks that people are out to get them.
She also thinks that her son is a great eye surgeon, when really he’s just an
orderly. There are several points to this movie that made me enjoy it so much. First of all, the plot of the movie, the real movie that is, is very simple. Some nutcase gets a little to into a movie called THE MOMMY and starts shooting people up. There’s no real explanation as to why he’s doing it. That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t matter why, he just is. And these poor people are all caught up into it. During
the course of the film, what is happening on the scene in THE MOMMY starts to
happen in the “real life” part of the movie. Lerner ends up at a movie theater
and starts to kill people there. That’s when the killer shows up in the real
theater. The way that the same thing is happening almost together is a really
interesting concept, and is played off really well. Another particular part that I liked, that may just be from the DVD, but during one scene where THE MOMMY is playing, you can hear the two main girls talking back and forth. With the surround sound, it comes from behind you, making it feel like you’re in the theater.
For the gore fans out there, there are several gruesome scenes with eyeballs and
the removal of them. There’s even a brief eye surgery scene that had me
twitching for a bit. The “twist” ending, where the movie THE MOMMY and reality cross, I wouldn’t consider your typical twist ending, like some would say. Up until that point, there is nothing supernatural about this film. But at the end, you start to wonder if that is what happened to the guy who started shooting up the theater in the first place. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is looking for something different, and enjoys those strange and weird little films.
ANATOMY Imagine this. You wake up to a bright light shining in your eyes. You can barely move your head. The more you regain consciousness, you realize that you are on an operating table...and you are being disected. This German film is a great little thriller. From the look of the box art, and the basic plot of the movie, one would think that it’s just another gore flick from Germany. But that’s not the case here. The film does have its gore, but nowhere what I was expecting from the look of the box art. Not to say that what is in there won’t disturb you. If you are one of those people who are a little frightened of doctors and surgery may get a little nervous watching this one. A young med student is accepted into a famous medical school that specializes in anatomy. But once she gets there, she uncovers a secret society that performs experiments on people…while they’re still alive. As she digs deeper and learns more and more, she puts herself in grave danger of becoming an experiment herself. This film really caught me by surprise at how well done it is. The makeup effects team really had their hands full on this film. It’s one thing to throw some latex and blood together for a simple gore effect, but they had to build medical “invisible” persons, so you can see the different layers of muscle, veins, and all sorts of gruesome stuff. They are done incredibly well. The Special Edition DVD was released by Columbia Pictures, and is presented in a widescreen version at 2.35:1. The audio can be in either English, German, or French, with either French or English subtitles. It also has audio commentary by the director, which is in German, but does have subtitles. The DVD also features some deleted scenes, a music video, and two different “making-of” featurettes, one on the film, and one on the make up effects. It also has talent files, theatrical trailers, and storyboard comparisons. This film is highly recommended to anyone who likes the horror genre, but also anyone who enjoys really good medical thrillers. But be warned, if you have a doctor phobia, you may get a little nervous.
ANGEL OF THE NIGHT This Danish film was riginally made in 1998, but not released in the states until 1999, by Fangoria under their video label. This was the third film that was released on video by Fangoria. The first two titles were I, ZOMBIE and LADY OF THE LAKE. They have been picking up these foreign films and releasing them over here on the Fangoria video label. Normally that wouldn’t be a bad thing. But the reviews of the first two films didn’t exactly make me want to run out and rent them. But when ANGEL came out, I did hear some reviews that said that it was pretty gory. So after coming across a used pre-record, I decided I’d give it a try. All I can say is that I’m glad I didn’t try to watch all three of these movies. Yes, there is a little bit of gore, but there’s more blood than anything else. The acting looked like something out of a high school play, only worse. They try to incorporate a couple of different genre styles here, including some John Woo-double fisted gun shooting, but it really doesn’t work. The story was going in so many directions that it was very confusing and you really didn’t know who was who. The main vampire seemed to be played by quite a few different people, which made it even more confusing. Don’t get me wrong, I not one of those people who have to have everything spelled out for me. But there has to be some sort of continuing plot here. And of course, the dubbing is one of the worse I’ve seen. It’s right up there with THE WAX MASK. So in short, I would avoid this movie, unless you are either a die-hard vampire fan, or just a glutton for punishment. In either case, there are way too many movies that are a better waste of your 90 minutes. (2006) As any good show-going genre fan knows, horror conventions are a great place to pick up free stuff like posters, CDs, buttons, etc. Every so often, someone will roll through the dealer room handing out freebies and because we’re suckers for swag, we’ll take pretty much anything that gets handed out. Such was the case at Flashback Weekend this past July, where I just happened to be at the right place at the right time when copies of what looked to be a softcore porn DVD were being distributed gratis. Looking down, I could see that, next to bubblehead bleach blonde porn star Gina Lynn prominently placed on the front cover in next-to-nothing lingerie, the flick was entitled ASSMONSTER, then subtitled in tiny little letters: The Making of a Horror Movie. I’m guessing that most anyone who ended up with a copy that day laughed at the title, made a few jokes with their pals, and then tossed it in their bag o’ loot, never to be watched. At least, such was the case for me. However, fate eventually intervened and rescued one-man film studio (and creator of metal fan-mag, The Grimoire of Exalted Deeds) Bill Zebub’s recent effort from obscurity. Every November, a group of online horror fans and I engage in the obscenely masochistic activity known as “The Turkey Challenge,” where the point is to watch as many bad movies as one can in the space of one month. Thirty days has November, and there are plenty of cinematic gobblers out there to take in – Heck, Kitley and I spend the entire year talking about what we’re going to trot out for his annual day-after-Thanksgiving Turkey Day Celebration. So it was that last week, as I perused my shelves for the next assault on the eyeballs and brain, I came across the long-ignored DVD sleeve emblazoned with Ms. Lynn’s prominently displayed derrière. Checking IMDb for its eligibility (films have to rank at 4.0 or lower to qualify as a legitimate turkey), I found that it was sitting at a suitably disrespectful rating of 1.6 which meant that A) it certainly fit the criteria, and B) this was probably going to really, really suck. I braced myself for the worst and prayed that the 96 minutes would go quickly. To my surprise, I actually liked the damn thing. In fact, I liked it so much that I promptly called Kitley on the phone and asked him to let me review it for the Krypt. His response? “Hey, better you than me.” Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not what anyone would call a legitimately “good” movie. From the second the shiny silver disc starts playing, you get an idea of what you’re in for. Zebub’s name is all over the opening credits: Writer, producer, director, editor, cinematographer and even playing the lead character…named Bill. To further set the DIY mood, said credits take place over a haphazardly framed game of frisbee played by two bikini-clad, not-quite-ready-for-Maxim ladies while unintelligible death metal plays. However, once the “plot” kicks in, things improve considerably – in content if not in actual filmmaking skill. Yes, this is absolutely a no-budget effort, where one gets the impression that less time was taken in setting up the shot than most productions put into choosing the lunch menu. But there is real heart and humor on display, as well as firsthand knowledge of the indie film scene and the cast of basement-dwelling yo-yo’s that occupy it. You see, the story revolves around three friends trying to cash in by shooting a bad T&A horror film to sell direct to fans at an upcoming horror convention. Sound like art imitating life? Well, Zebub knows of which he speaks, having been the creative engine behind such inglorious – but brilliantly titled – flicks like THE WORST HORROR MOVIE EVER MADE, KILL THE SCREAM QUEEN, and (forgive him, Lord) JESUS CHRIST: SERIAL RAPIST. While utterly raunchy and sophomoric, ASSMONSTER retains a spirit of innocence and enthusiasm throughout and it is this quality that allows Zebub to shine where the majority of his mean-spirited, gore-spraying brethren fall short. (In fact, there is absolutely no blood spilled on camera at any point…nor is there any monster to speak of. But what it lacks in heaving hemoglobin, it more than makes up for in flaunted female flesh.) Rather than trying to work outside of his presumably miniscule budget, the New Jersey-based auteur celebrates his plight by putting it right up onscreen. I imagine that countless freshman efforts really have been shot with a borrowed camcorder, with a clueless, never-shot-a-film-before friend performing camera duties (the scene of Bill watching “dailies” is priceless). I’m convinced that any nascent exploitation filmmaker has encountered jealousy from their girlfriend over the fact that he’s been looking at naked women all day long. And how many low-budget films have we seen that feature a bunch of no-names in the cast, with one or two “headliners” to dress up the credits? Here, it’s the aforementioned Ms. Lynn and Cannibal Corpse frontman George “CorpseGrinder” Fisher. The authenticity – and the good-natured manner in which it is shared – lets us know that Zebub is laughing with, rather than at, his low budget compadres and in turn, this allows us to laugh with, rather than at, the film itself. It’s a splendid feat of audience ingratiation. Now, there are certainly times where the seat-of-your-pants style wears out its welcome – Zebub himself is the biggest offender in several of the obviously improvised scenes, riffing and getting silly while his scene partner stands and stares. But on the whole, the cast is solid, the writing is brisk and often hilarious, and more than anything, there is a spirit of fun and bawdy energy that drives the picture (the “fart into the cell phone” gag had me howling), making it one of the more pleasant surprises I’ve encountered in quite a while. While there is regrettably no commentary track, the hysterical blooper reel washes things down nicely. In reading other online reviews, there have been favorable comparisons made between ASSMONSTER and Kevin Smith’s early films, and these allusions are not unwarranted. In his no-budget navel-gazing, Zebub has found a tiny diamond amidst the belly-lint. While certainly not for those high of mind and moral, there is a lot to like here. If you’re not lucky enough to score a free copy at the next convention, you can visit www.billzebub.com or its sister site www.thegrimoire.com, where the film is available (and reasonably priced) on DVD or via download. Review by Aaron “Dr AC” Christensen
ASTRO ZOMBIES I knew of Ted V. Mikels for many years. But I had never seen one of his films, other than trailers and in documentaries. My appreciation of him developed after I had the chance to meet him at the Cinema Wasteland convention. The appreciation grew even more after watching him on the Independent Strange Film Show. Pretty strange having never seen any of his movies, huh? I picked up the DVD of ASTRO ZOMBIES since it would be a great introduction to his work. Image Entertainment released the film on DVD, featuring footage that had been cut from the video releases. The film is a mixture of science fiction and horror, with some crime drama mixed to make it even more interesting. John Carradine plays a scientist who was thrown out of the space program because he was using un-ethical methods. He is trying to create a synthetic man that could be used in the space program. But other countries want his research. Tura Satana plays a “dragon lady” spy who is after it, and will stop at nothing to get it. Meanwhile, the CIA is also looking for good doctor. John Carradine plays his role as if he was hoping for an Oscar. With each line of dialog, he explains exactly what he’s doing, using lots of long, technical words, with each machine and technique to his mute, hunchbacked assistant, who looks like he’d have trouble tying his shoes. Carradine uses the props and machines like he knows exactly what he's doing. It's also fun to try and figure out just what the machines actually were made of. I'm pretty sure the "cryogentic" tank was once one of those freezer used to display meats at a supermarket. But I could be wrong. The rest of the cast fills out the movie with some interesting performances. Wendell Corey is one of the heads of the CIA, and looks like he’s been taking a few too many of those 3-drink lunches. This was Corey’s last film before he passed away. Tura Satana is great as the sexy spy who doesn't take shit from nobody. I had always figured that this was one of those cheesy shlock-fests that would be a terrible waste of time. So I never bothered with it, and many films like it. But then I started to realize the real gold behind these extra low budget films. Low budget (or no-budget in some cases) doesn’t mean low quality. Especially when you have talented people in front of the camera, and more importantly behind the camera. This film was made for under $40,000. Granted, that was back in the late 60’s, but that is still a pretty amazing price tag. Of course, the sad thing is that Mikels himself never made a dime off the picture. He was the director, producer, co-writer, editor, and even supplied the equipment. I know I’d be pretty pissed off about that. The DVD is great quality. There are a few glitches from the film print, but those are very minor. The print is very clean and clear. It’s so clear that during the “night” sequences, you can see the character’s shadows. Unfortunately, the DVD only comes with a theatrical trailer. It would have been so cool to have audio commentary by Mikels himself. They could of even gotten Tura Satana as well. Somebody please explain to me why that didn’t happen? With a SRP of around $20, this is one DVD that should be in everyone’s collection. It’s one of those titles that can be watched multiple times and still be enjoyed with each watching. (1972) In the 70's, there was really only one company that was giving Hammer Studios some competition in the horror genre. And that was Amicus Pictures. While they did make your standard horror films, they were mainly known for their anthology films. They started in the middle 60's, working a lot with horror writer Robert Bloch, adapting his stories into films. ASYLUM was one of them. A lot of Bloch's stories were adapted into both the anthology films and the full length pictures as well. When you're starting with quality stories, it's hard not to produce a good film. Like Hammer, Amicus always had a great cast in their films. And not just the standard horror icons like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (though both of them worked quite a bit for Amicus), but also people like Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Denholm Elliot, and many more. So with a great cast, and great stories, and such talented directors as Roy Ward Baker and Freddie Francis, it was pretty tough not to come away from these films entertained. ASYLUM is one of their anthologies that was made after the huge success of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, which was made that same year. In this film, the wrap around story deals with a young psychiatrist who is arriving at the Dunmoor Asylum for the Incurably Insane to apply for a job there. But upon his arrival, he is told that the director, a Dr. Starr, the asylum has joined the patients after having a mental breakdown. Dr. Rutherford, played wonderfully by Patrick Magee, tells the young doctor that if he can distinguish which of the patients is actually Dr. Starr, he will get the job. So with each of the four patients that he interviews, we get to hear their stories. The first one deals with a woman who is having an affair with a married man, which leads to murder. The second one deals with a poor tailor who accepts a job from a strange man that wants to purchase a suit made with a very special material. The third one deals with a young woman who is accused of murder, but she swears it was done by her friend. And the last one is about a doctor who says he can transfer his soul to a little doll that he has constructed. Between the stories from Bloch, and the great direction from Roy Ward Baker, this is a fun film. Being a big fan of British horror, it's really hard for me not to enjoy this film, or really anything that Amicus produced. This movie was originally released on DVD by Image Entertainment. But there was no extras on that disc, just the movie. Then there was a box set, The Amicus Collection, put out in the UK as a Region 2 PAL DVD set, which featured this movie, among others. That release had audio commentary by director Roy Ward Baker and cameraman Neil Binney, as well as a featurette on Amicus Pictures, called "Inside the Fear Factory'. Lucky enough for you fans that still never got a region free player, now you can get those same features on this new release from Dark Sky Films. Of course, the fact that they films have been mastered in High Definition from 35mm vault material doesn't hurt either....You also get trailers, cast and crew bios, still gallery, and liner notes. The commentary, hosted by British Horror expert Marcus Hearn, covers a wide variety of subjects during the film. From the amazing crew they had, to the actual shooting of the film. Hearn does a great job as moderator. Any time there's a lull in the conversation, he is there with some questions or comments about the film. The featurette gives us some interviews, including Max J. Rosenberg, who was one half of Amicus, along with Milton Subotsky. This featurette was made in 2003, and Rosenberg, who's memory is still very sharp, passed away the next year, in 2004. It's kind of funny how Rosenberg talks like he was the one doing all the working between him and Subotsky. But when they talked to directors Freddie Francis, who did many pictures for Amicus, and Roy Ward Baker, they both make comments about never seeing Rosenberg on the set. One of the great things about this release is that it is giving permanent record to the comments from these filmmakers. Remember, these films were made over 30 years ago. So to have the opportunity to have some of the creators of the film, like the director and cameraman, talk about the film and the making of it, is something that should be treasured. Because these great filmmakers will not be with us too much longer. So if you are a fan of the horror from across the pond, you will probably already be familiar with this film, and then will want it for your collection as well. If you're not familiar with Amicus, this would be a great way to be introduced to them. You won't regret it.
ATTACK OF THE BEAST CREATURES This movie was rented from one of the local video stores simply because of the title and the box art. If you haven’t done that yourself, then you are missing out on some damn fine cinema. Not a lot, mind you, but some. The general story of the film is about boatload of survivors from a sinking cruise ship in the 1920’s. Why is it set in the 20’s? Who knows, since it really has no baring on the rest of the movie. But, back to the story. After drifting for several days (?) in the ocean, they end up on this deserted island. While exploring the island searching for food and water, they come across the inhabitants of the island, who happened to be the creatures from the title. They spend the rest of the movie trying to get off the island, to avoid these monsters. The whole duration of the movie is only about two days, but it does make it seem quite longer. The characters are about as generic as you can get. We have the main hero, who is the levelheaded one, always with the ideas. Then we have the old grouch of a troublemaker, who is always arguing with the ideas and decisions. He’s the kind of guy who you are going to cheer when they die. Then we also have some classic dialog. While picking some berries for food, one of the ladies is bitten by ‘something’, enough to put a nice gash on her hand. She jumps backs and screams. "Are you okay", one of the other survivors asks? "Oh I’m fine", she says and goes back to picking berries. During one of their rest periods while trudging through the woods, one of the guys asks the old grouch about himself. He grouch says that he was taking his wife to England for an operation, but she didn’t make it off the ship. The other survivor tells him, "I hope things work out for you." But the best part of the movie is the creatures themselves. These little guys look like second cousins to the Zuni Fetish Doll from TRILOGY OF TERROR. These creatures stand about 6-8 inches tall, have big blank white eyes, and big mouths with lots of teeth. The only movement they do is their jaws moving up and down. When they run, their little arms swing back and forth. But other than that, they just stand there. It’s hilarious. They travel in huge packs, and the couple of times when the attack the group, I was on the floor laughing. Just imagine 5 or 6 actors with a half dozen of these dolls attached to them on various parts of their body, and the actors twisting and screaming. Classic cinema at it’s finest. This film was obviously done on a very small budget, with the acting pretty much what they paid for. But they at least went through the trouble for making a shit-load of these creatures, and even a couple of pretty bloody / gory sequences including when one of the passengers stumbles onto an acid pool, thinking it’s drinkable water. Goodbye face. If you enjoy those classic bad movies, this one is right up your alley.
AUDITION Japanese cinema has always been able to just come way out of left field and blow me away, such as the first time watching ENTRAILS OF A VIRGIN, EVIL DEAD TRAP, or any of the Guinea Pig movies. Whether it’s from their incredible style, cinematography, or their over-the-top gore, they’re always memorable. AUDITION is no different. The basic story is about a middle-aged widower, who after many years since the death of his wife, decides it’s time to look for a new one. With the help of his friend, they set up an audition for a fake TV show, when they are really holding auditions for his future wife. When he comes across a mysterious young woman, he knows that she’s the one. The film starts out a little slow paced. It takes a little time to get going, as he's trying to figure out a way to ask her out for real, instead of under the pretense of the fake TV show. But the farther he falls in love with her, we start to realize something wrong about the young woman. Once you get past this first part, it swirls into a twisted and very disturbing film. There are some very disturbing stuff in this film, folks. If you are the squeamish type, you might want to avoid this one. It has some images that linger long after the film is over. The ending sequence makes the hobbling scene in MISERY look like child’s play. It's one scene that is hard to forget, and is one of the those scenes that will always be brought up when discussing this film. (1988) This possibly could have been made to jump on the Freddy bandwagon, since it came out right after NIGHTMARE 3, which seemed to be the peak of Freddy-mania. You have a burned-up killer, back from the dead terrorizing people....yea, might be. They even get one of the stars from NIGHTMARE 3 to star in this one as well. But for whatever reasons it was made, I remember not really caring for it when it first came out in the theaters, back in 1988. And up until we watched this recent DVD release, we had not seen it since. So we tried to forget anything that we remembered from long ago, and kept a fresh and more well-rounded approach when we popped it in our DVD player. Let's start off by saying that 1/2 of this movie is really, really good. Okay, maybe just a 1/3. The film starts off when some footage of the 70's, of some of the members of Unity Field, a cult/commune of a some free loving hippies. Their leader, played by Richard Lynch, preaches that death is just another state of existence. And in one of the more disturbing and horrifying sequences of the movie is the flashback sequence when Lynch is 'anointing" the members with gasoline. And then as they all sit and stare at him with loving eyes, he strikes a match. The young Cynthia somehow survives the fire and goes into a coma that lasts 13 years. When she finally does wakes up in present day, now being played by Jennifer Rubin, she finds herself at a mental hospital. Since all her relatives are gone and the doctors figure she might not be able to adapt to the modern world. Bruce Abbott, of RE-ANIMATOR fame plays one of the younger doctors trying to help Jennifer Rubin's character. Both Abbott and Rubin do a good job with their characters. Rubin still comes across as a flower child, still thinking in terms of 'love and peace', even though the world has drastically changed in the 13 years that she's been in a coma. As she tries to adapt to her new surroundings, and having to deal with the other nutcases that she is being lumped in with, she starts seeing Lynch. Sometimes he is his normally looking self, and other times he is the severely burned-to-a-crisp look. He tells her that she was suppose to die with them in the fire, and it's not too late to join them. If only they would have just stuck with that idea, this might have been a really good movie. But here is where the other 2/3 of the movie ends up being, really, really bad. Which is a real shame, since the scenes with Rubin and Lynch are pretty good. But it's the other patients that really what brings this movie down. You do get to see E.G. Daily in one of her early roles, but I did keep seeing Tommy Pickles when she'd talk. Dean Cameron, who had a short stint of fame back in the late 80's, it probably causes the most damage in this movie. His character should have been completely written out of this story. It does nothing but bring the horror element of this movie to a screeching halt every time he comes on the screen, seeming to try and make this into more of an 80's comedy. Pretty harsh? Maybe. But I just feel that this movie could have been much more. So you have to blame someone, right? Richard Lynch, who has always been a favorite of mine, does his usual great job here. But he's not playing the typical heavy here, since when he is onscreen, he speaks of love and devotion. Okay, so maybe he's covered in bloody burn makeup, but it's still love. But seriously, he's playing something quite different than the usual monster coming back from the dead. And I thought that was a pretty unique idea, especially for this time period. I really didn't care for the subplot that is going on, though it does explain what really is happening. I think if they spent more time on the main relationship between Rubin and Lynch's characters, and take the film into a different direction, it could have been a much more memorable film. The DVD does come with audio commentary by the director, but only has a few small featurettes, which were made at the time of filming. So nothing new as far as retrospectives or anything. (1987) Why is this film pure amazement? Is it because it was the first real film to come from the mind of Peter Jackson? Or is it because what started out as a 20-minute short, after four years of weekend shooting and dedication, became a full length feature? Or is it even just that it’s one hell of an entertaining movie! The answer to that I would say would be all of them. The tools that Jackson and company had to work with, but yet still able to create this incredible cult classic, is simply pure amazement. Whether it was the guns that Jackson made from scratch, baking the latex masks in his mom’s oven, making a miniature of a old house to blow a hole in it, or even just getting your friends to give up their weekends for four years to make a movie, now that is incredible. Then you add the fact that it’s one hell of a movie, that just makes it even better. Jackson has shown us that he has one hell of a sense of humor, and loves the over the top gore. And in BAD TASTE, we get both of them and more. This review really isn’t about the movie, since hopefully everyone reading this has already seen this movie, if not already have it in the collection. But this review is for the special edition DVD of BAD TASTE that has recently came out. Already have that 2-disc (so-called) special edition from Anchor Bay? You know, the one that has that second disc that only has a 20 minute documentary on it? Well if you do, you should either use it for a coaster or just throw it away, and get this newer and rightly called Special Edition DVD. Okay, I do have to say right away that it is a import title and that you do need a region free player to play it. And once again, if you don’t have one of those, that should be at the top of your list. This release is PAL region 4 disc. If you needed an excuse to get one of those players, this disc is the perfect one. But here’s what you get for a small investment. You get to hear from the people directly involved in the making this movie, right next to Peter Jackson, the Boys! Pete O’Herne, Terry Potter, Mike Minett, and Craig Smith star in the movie, along with Jackson. They also did countless other jobs behind the camera, played (and died as) countless aliens, and stayed with Jackson for four years helping him make this project come to life. These four do an audio commentary for the film that is a riot. You will hear some great stories from these guys about the making of the film. As many times that I’ve seen this movie, there were still points that I never caught while watching the film. It's one of the most entertaining audio commentaries that I've listened to. But that’s not it. You also get interviews with the boys, along with an audio interview with Michelle Scullion, who did the music for the film. As well as an TV-News piece that was done on the boys, talking to them about BAD TASTE, and working with Peter Jackson. I’m assuming this was done shortly after Jackson won the Oscar for LOTR. AND….there’s also a slide show that is narrated by Peter Jackson himself. This was actually taped at a convention years ago, but was never available before in anything other than terrible quality. So that’s pretty cool too. Of course, you also get the movie. So if you are a fan of the movie, you really should seek this disc out. It is well worth the money, even if you do have that other release. And no matter how big of a fan of this film you are, I guarantee you will learn something about the movie that you didn’t know.
Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's KICHIKU DAI ENKAI (BANQUET OF THE BEASTS) began its life as a $60,000 student film that eventually screened at several film festivals. At its core, this is a political film that follows a group of Japanese activists whose leader is locked up but demands via a letter that his girlfriend Masami be the group’s short-term director (never a good idea). Masami is quite sadistic and anyone who doesn’t follow her order (or accept her sexual advances) ends up as fodder. Naturally, the group succumbs to the various pressures and eventually spirals out of control, resulting in a graphic series of confrontations in the film’s last half. Featuring more than a few moments of outrageous violence, KICHIKU DAI ENKAI is a bizarre film that never really surmounts its student film roots. It is an interesting study on game theory and paranoia but, to be quite honest, this reviewer found the film to be a complete bore. Artsmagic has peppered their DVD release with multiple quotes about the film’s graphic bloodshed, possibly hoping to pull in the gorehound crowd. There are several supremely violent scenes, but one must endure a series of boring sessions of socio-political babble and childish infighting. To the film’s credit, it is nicely shot, well edited and incorporates some discordant stock footage to create an effective mood. Regardless of what I thought of the film proper, Artsmagic should be praised for giving such loving attention to a smaller film. Their 2-disc set is overflowing with extras. Disc one contains the main feature. The film is presented full screen (it was shot on 16mm) in Japanese with easy to read English subtitles. The second disc contains a bevy of extras. There is a video introduction of the film by Midnight Eye’s Tom Mes. One of the things I have enjoyed so much about Artsmagic’s series of Japanese film releases is the involvement of Mes. He is extremely knowledgeable and relays a wealth of information. Next up is the “Making of Kichiku,” a documentary that gets into the behind-the-scenes stuff. It is always interesting to see stuff like this, especially the creation of the film’s graphic special effects. Following that is a short documentary entitled “Reaction to Kichiku.” This one presents thoughts on the finished film by several of the people who worked on it. Amazingly, Artsmagic also presents interviews with the many of the film principles including the film’s director Kazuyoshi Kumahiki, actors Tomohiko Zaizen, Shunsuke Sawada, Shigeku Bokuda and Kentaro Ogiso and the cinematographer Kiyoaki Hashimoto. In addition to all that, there is a theatrical trailer and filmographies. All in all, a stacked special edition DVD release for this film. Review by Will Wilson (1960) I picked this up at one of the Cinema Wasteland shows. Since it was only $10, my thinking was for that price it how could you go wrong. Besides, I’ve always enjoyed these low budget monster films from the 60’s. I had figured it would be another Corman-type quickie. This was the first film for director Monte Hellman, and was written by Corman regular Charles Griffith, who had written NOT OF THIS EARTH, BUCKET OF BLOOD, ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, not to mention DEATH RACE 2000. Filmed in South Dakota, the story is about a group of people that come up to a ski resort to rob the local bank. They set a bomb to go off in one of the caves in the area, to give them a diversion while they rob the bank. Everything seems to be working fine. But the explosion lets loose a hideous creature that feeds on blood. And to make it worse, it follows the robbers out to the mountains where they are hiding out. I think what sets this a little bit apart from the rest of the films of this type is that there’s a pretty good story here. It’s not just a basic story wrapped around a monster on the loose…okay, so it is. But the actors and the story seemed to make it a little more than that. I found the creature a lot more enjoyable, and really done quite well for the budget and time it was made. It didn’t look like a lot of the rubber monsters that were coming out at the time, or at least not as bad as the others. They seemed to go for something a little different, and I think they accomplished just that. If you are a fan of these 60’s monster movies, then you definitely don’t want to miss out on this one. Synapse Films did a great job with the DVD. (1974) The plot of this film is kind of a twist between a mystery who-dunnit film and a horror film. After an opening scene which comes close to a remake of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, we find a group of people who have been invited to a huge estate of a wealthy hunter. He claims that one of his guests is a werewolf. And he intends to identify the individual, then and hunt and kill the beast. So the question throughout the movie is who is the werewolf. At the beginning of the film, we are told that we are to gather our own clues, and at the end of the film, there will be a "Werewolf Break", before the guilty party is discovered. We had seen this movie years ago on video, and always remembered it not being too good. After viewing the newly released DVD from Dark Sky Films, we discovered that it's not as bad as we remembered and really doesn't deserve the bad rap that it usually gets. Okay, the werewolf in the film is simple pathetic. It is simply a dog wearing a fur coat. It's about as threatening looking as Lassie on a bad hair day. But that is about the only thing here that really lets the viewer down. And on the other hand of the spectrum, you have a wonderful cast. Anything with Peter Cushing in it is worth watching at least once. Cushing plays Dr. Lungren, who specializes in the study of lycanthrope...werewolves. And as always, gives a great performance. But joining him is Charles Gray, who most probably recognize him as the narrator from THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. Here, he gives another wonderful performance, though I did keep having ROCKY HORROR flashbacks every now and then. Anton Diffring is in the cast, and not playing the heavy, as he usually tends to. Instead he is charge of the video surveillance equipment for the compound. And let's not forget Michael Gambon, who was most recently seen in the remake of THE OMEN, not to mention taking over Richard Harris role in the Harry Potter movies. And then there's Calvin Lockhart, as the host of the party. One could say that Lockhart is slightly over-acting a tad bit here.....slightly. It's almost most as if he thinks he's reading Shakespeare! But even though he does go overboard a little, I did enjoy his performance none the less, even if it was for more humorous ones. But while looking up his filmography, I was shocked to find out that he also played King Willie in PREDATOR 2. The minute I read that, I could immediately see him in that role. Once again, he had a very distinct vocal presence in the movie, just like in BEAST. So over all, this is not one of Amicus' better releases. But as a fan of British films, and that of Peter Cushing's, it really is essential viewing, if only for those reasons alone. The "Werewolf Break" at the end of the film was the idea of producer Max Rosenberg, much to the dismay of director Paul Annett. But in a nostalgic way, it's kind of amusing. It does remind you of the good old days of William Castle and all his gimmicks. This new release contains audio commentary by director Paul Annett, in which he does a wonderful job reminiscing about the film and working with these great actors. There is also an interview with Annett as well, although the same stories are told during the commentary. The disc also features the regular features such as trailers, cast and crew bios, and lineal notes, where Annett pays a nice tribute to Peter Cushing. So if you are a Cushing fan, and a fan of British horror, you will probably want this in your collection. If you're not, you may want to check out some of the other Amicus films to get a idea on how good they were. And then come back to this one. (1970) This is the last of the famous Blood Island trilogy, and is a direct sequel to MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND, starting right where the last one left off. While on the boat leaving the island, it seems that our favorite chlorophyll-blooded monster had stowed away. It comes out and starts attacking the crew members, causing a fire to start. The boat blows up, with star John Ashley being thrown overboard. After a recovering in the hospital, Ashley decides to return to Blood Island to once again, find out what's going on there. As a horror film, I feel this is the weakest of the three films. The monster is really only featured in the beginning of the film, but with the best makeup yet in the series. Then for the rest of the film creature has been decapitated, with it's body strapped to table and it's head setting on another table, with wires hooked up to both keeping both parts alive. The rest of the film is almost an adventure type movie, or as Sam Sherman mentions on the commentary, a "James Bond-type of film". Don't know where he gets that idea from, but it's definitely a little bit more action than the previous two films. Ashley arrives on the island with his newest female companion. This time out it is a newspaper reporter, played by Celeste Yarnall, who wants a story about what Ashley is looking for. But shortly after they do arrive, she is kidnapped by some thugs, lead by returning Bruno Punzalan, who is still working for Dr. Lorca. So for the rest of the movie, Ashley and some friends track down the girl, and finally coming up against the evil Dr. Lorca once again. This time, Lorca is played by Eddie Garcia, and features severe burn scars on one side of his face from the fire at the end of the last movie. Of course, he is still doing research and experiments on humans. Now it seems that he is trying to transplant a human head onto the body of the creature from last movie. Of course, it's not too easy to get volunteers for that kind of operation. While the film does have it's moments, it seemed a little slow going for me. Plus I really wanted that monster to be running around some more, tearing apart the locals! Instead, we got thugs dragging Yarnall through the jungles with Ashley and company right on their tails. I think maybe they were trying to go for a different type of movie here. But with the success of the last two films, why tamper with it? Much like the other two discs in the trilogy, the quality for most of the film is really nice. Very clear, and some great color. But there are a couple of sequences where the scenes are very dark, hiding most of the background. I'm sure these were some day-for-night scenes, and maybe even taken from some poor quality sources, but the difference between these scenes and the rest of the film are quite noticeable. But that really is the only complaint about the disc that I have. The rest of the extras are pretty much the same as the other two. It has about an hours worth of commentary from Sam Sherman, who continues the story of Hemisphere Pictures and his connections with it. There are also the trailers which are the same, except this disc has a trailer for HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS for some reason. There is a Blood Island still gallery, but for some reason has quite a few stills that don't belong to any of the Blood Island movies, such as some shots from NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES. There is also the Eddie Romero interview that is on the other discs as well. But one new extra is a 9 minute interview with star Celeste Yarnell by Sam Sherman. She talks very fondly of the movie and her experiences, while some of there were not too good at the time. But it is nice to hear that she is not embarrassed or has any regrets about doing the film. There is also some lost footage of the creature wondering around the jungle that was suppose to be shown during the opening credits, but was cut. All in all, it's still worth the cost of the disc. Besides, if you have the first two, which I would highly recommend, then you have to get this one to fill out the trilogy. Come on, what kind of a collector are you, anyway?
BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT Yes, it’s another fine film by the team of John Ashley and Eddie Romero. Sometimes referred to the last entry in the BLOOD ISLAND series, (BRIDES OF THE BEASTS - 1968, MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND - 1969, and BEAST OF BLOOD - 1970), but really has nothing to do with the series. In those earlier films, there was John Ashley battling the mad doctor and the monster. In BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT, Ashley is the monster. Near death, Ashley sells his soul to the Devil. In return he possesses different people bringing out that person’s evil side. After years of doing this, Ashley starts to get tired of it and wants out. Especially when he really starts to fall in love with the wife of the new person he has become. But to make matters worse, the Devil throws in added feature. Any time that Ashley has any good feelings, like love or compassion, he turns into this hideous creature who goes on a rampage (like all Philippine monsters do) and kills a bunch of people. While I didn’t think it was as good as some of the BLOOD ISLAND movies, it’s still pretty damn entertaining. There’s a great scene when Ashley wakes up after a night of some brutal murders as the monster, with dried blood all over his shirt. He just casually walks down the public street, with all this blood! Must be a common thing over there. Some people may need an acquired taste for something like this, or any of the Romero / Ashley films, especially when watching their version of the Dr. Moreau story in their film TWILIGHT PEOPLE. But if you’re into that kind of cheese, this are highly recommended. You will be entertained. (1983) One of the best things about this recent DVD release is that we can finally see just what the hell the monster looks like! The old Thorn/EMI video prints were so dark, you couldn't see shit. But now, this new DVD lets us see the monster in all it's glory....wait, I did say that was a good thing, right? Okay, so this isn't the greatest 80's cheesy monster movie. But it's not the worst. Close, though. You have to remember that this was back in the day when all you needed was a gooey and bloody monster with big teeth that was chasing people. Throw in a few townspeople to get chomped and you're good to go. And this is pretty much follows that exact formula. Martin Landau is one of the highlights in this film. As he always did, whether it be in major films or these low budget ones, he gave it his all. He always comes across as a real person. Sometimes crazy, as in ALONE IN THE DARK or WITHOUT WARNING, but he's always giving a great performance. And even in this low budget flick, he's playing it for an Oscar. He plays a scientist that has been brought in to prove that there is no harmful contamination to the water by dumping nuclear waste in it. Remember folks, this is the early 80's, when we were stupid. The lead "actor" is actually the producer Bill Osco, who also just happens to be married to the director. Soo....who slept with who to get that job? Actually, it looks like they couldn't find another lead actor for the role so Osco jumped in. Not sure on just how good of a producer he was, but his talents definitely didn't lie in the acting field. I was kind of hoping that that big one-eyed bugger would get a hold of him at the end. It is funny though, since in the movie, he's listed as Rexx Coltrane. But on the DVD box, it lists "William Osco as Rexx Coltrane". I guess they figured everybody knew it anyway. While in typical 80's fashion, we don't see the monster until the end. But when we do, it's a mass of oozing blood and goo and big teeth, with one big eyeball starring us down. It kind of looks like a distant cousin to our buddy the Deadly Spawn, though we never get a really good look at it and it's usually only in closeups. I'm sure the make up budget on this was pennies and the blood and goo covered up a lot of sins. But we thought it was pretty cool none the less. It really looks like Kong and Osco just wanted to make a monster movie and threw together a few ideas and things and then shot the movie. There are attacks from the monster's tentacles out of nowhere, and then their gone. At one point, Martin Landau is attacked in the backseat of a car, where you can obviously see the hand of the effects guy operating it...or more likely whipping Landau with the tentacle. But then they throw in this weird dream sequence, when the Osco and Landau on a small plane that is getting attacked by this monster. And just when Landau is pulled from the plane, we see co-star Ruth Buzzi with bloody eyes fly by on a broom stick?!?!? You got me, folks. As we said early, Shriek Show has done a great job cleaning up this movie and making it not so dark. Plus the quality of the print is also pretty good. The only extras on the disc are some trailers for this movie and some other Shriek Show titles. There are also some production stills from the movie as well. So if you're really in the mood for a cheesy 80's monster film, and can't find one, then you might enjoy this one. But don't expect much, and then you might be entertained. (2007) I can't tell you how we dread getting these low budget back-yard movies from young filmmakers. While we applaud their enthusiasm, most of the time, they are terribly made, with no talent in front of the camera, behind the camera, or even somewhat close to the camera. And they can be just painful to sit through. So you can understand our complete shock to get a copy of John Pata's BETTER OFF UNDEAD and find it pretty damn entertaining. And it was made in Wisconsin, no less!
The film is just shy of a half hour but is paced pretty well. The characters seem real, along with the dialog, even the toilet humor. It seems to fit. Three buddies are hanging out, waiting for another friend to show up. But they decide to take off and go get some coffee. During all of these, it seems that there is an outbreak of zombies. No explanation given, or really needed for that matter. Maybe if this was a feature length film we would need something. But here, it works just fine. The makeup effects, also handled by the director Pata are simple, but effective. Even the gut-munching scenes are done with zeal and of young horror fans. Meaning...they deliver the goods. You have several victims getting their intestines pulled and ripped out, countless bite and chomps, and plenty of the red stuff squirting about.
After that last low budget film that we reviews, HOUSE OF CARNAGE, it was a great thrill to see that we can still have hope for this sub-genre. Great job to John Pata and the rest of his cast and crew.
BEYOND THE DARKNESS This is probably one of Joe D’Amato’s more notorious films. The subject matter, necrophilia, and what the young man does to the women he comes across is extremely brutal. From ripping out finger nails, biting them in the throat, and even disposing of their bodies by burning or acid baths, it’s all here. BEYOND THE DARKNESS had been released on video here in the states under the title BURIED ALIVE by Thriller Video. Yes, that version was cut, but the only scene missing was one at a disco. None of the gore or nudity was cut from this print. But…yes, it was still cut. Well now, for the first time, it has been released uncut in the states by Shriek Show on DVD. Kieran Canter plays a young man who is obsessed with his girlfriend who is dying. Once she dies, he digs up her body and takes her home. He stuffs her like a taxidermist would do, to keep her looking young and beautiful. But apparently, she’s not enough for him, so he picks up women and brings them back home. But when he tries to share his bed with new girlfriend and his dead one, things don’t go as well as he hoped. His housekeeper, which seems pretty twisted in her own right, helps him with his deeds. Shriek Show’s disc looks really nice, blowing away any previous release of the film in the states. The DVD features an interview with Cinzia Monreale, who plays the dead girlfriend and her sister. She obviously didn’t have any problem with being completely naked through the first half of the movie. Monreale had also worked with Lucio Fulci in THE BEYOND, playing the blind Emily. There is also an interview and commentary with the art director, Donatella Donati (or assistant director according to him). who talks of working with D'Amato. This is a good one to start with in your not familiar with D’Amato’s work. There is quite a bit of nudity and gore. If you like this one, you’re pretty much home free with the rest of his work…maybe. Plus it does have a great score by Goblin. In any case, for fans of Italian horror, this really should be part of the collection. Granted, it won’t be one that I’ll be pulling out that many times, but at least I know it’s in there when someone asks to see something really sleazy. I’ll be covered. (1974) Director Assonitis was good at finding a hit, and making his own version. He did it thing with JAWS, turning it into TENTACLES, and continuing the saga of those little killer fish by giving us PIRANHA 2: THE SPAWNING. But I say this in high regards. His movies may not have been original, I've always found them entertaining. Probably his most popular one was his twist on THE EXORCIST, CHI SEI?, best known in the states as BEYOND THE DOOR. It was released in the UK under the title THE DEVIL WITHIN HER. Here we have his take on the whole possession theme. Now while I will say that there are a lot of similarities with the Friedkin film, this is also very different movie. The storyline is completely different here. Yes, it deals with possession. Yes, you have the spinning heads, the vomit, and things flying around. But we have a pregnant woman possessed here. And it's not about battling with a priest, but to simply have her soul, and have her give birth to the demonic spawn she is carrying. Doesn't sound like THE EXORCIST, does it? But because of all the other possession attributes, it's called a rip-off. Okay...fine. But even so, I still find it an enjoyable film. Released in Italian in November of 1974, about a year after the Friedkin film. But it wasn't released here in the states until July of 1975. But even after a year and a half, Warner Bros. didn't like the similarities with it and their film and caused some legal action. But me, like most I think, remember this film when it was shown on TV. That's where I first seen it, and even on regular TV, it scared the crap out of me. Juliet Mills plays the lead, and she does a incredible job here. Once she becomes possessed, it's amazing the transformation she goes through. With her wide eyes, and high, cackling laugh, Mills becomes one scary lady. And I'm sure the vomit drool oozing out of her mouth helps as well. But then there are more simple things that are still disturbing. Like when she's walking down the street and sees a banana peel laying on the sidewalk, picks it up and then starts eating it. The makeup is pretty simple, but still very effective. Plus there are some pretty cool visual effects, with one in particular that I really enjoyed. At one point during the possession, you see a head shot of Mills. One side of her face is peaceful and staring straight ahead. But on the other side of her face, one eye is moving around. So you have this great and simple effect with one eye starring straight at you and the other wandering about. It gives off a very creep image. |
When we were at the recent Flashback show,
the young director Pata was there pimping his movie. He seemed like a
nice, down-to-earth kind of guy, so we asked him more about his movie. He
told us it was done basically for fun and that everyone had a great time making
it. So we offered up our services and said we'd be happy to review it.
And now here we are.
Even though the movie is
only 29 minutes long, don't let that put you off from spending the $10 on it.
The DVD is packed full of extras. There is a making of documentary that is
as long as the film. Just about everyone involved in the picture gets to
talk to the camera and give their thoughts on the project. Sure, there is
a bit of goofing around, but face people, these guys did this for the sheer fun
of it. There is also some on the set footage, getting ready for takes and
makeup effect scenes. The disc also comes with 4 different audio
commentaries! You also get a gag reel, trailer, and much more. For
only $10, that is a steal. If you are interested in ordering the DVD, you
can place your order through their MySpace page:
