Week of Sunday Oct 22 through Saturday Oct 28

Sunday, Oct 22, 2006
House of Blood – 2006 – aka Chain Reaction (Germany)

Directed by Olaf Ittenback, director of Premuto and Le6ion of the Dead. This is an interesting variation on the “mutants in the woods” movie. Sort of a Dusk to Dawn meets Children of the Corn. Escaped cons wind up in a cabin in the woods with a cult of hillbillies. The cons think they’re tough. The cultists have a secret that makes the cons wrong. Also, there’s this interesting Déjà vu subplot that makes the whole thing pretty cool.

No subs or commentary. Only extra is a making of showing the crew readying special effects.

Monday – Tuesday October 23-24, 2006
Frankenhooker - 1990

This is an absolute classic. Funny, freaky, and well done. Everything director Henelotter does (Brain Damage, Basket Case I, II &III) is excellent. It is kinda funny how the parents disappear after 30 minutes, never to be seen again. Kinda makes you wonder why they were put in in the first place.

Commentary by Henenlotter and some special effects guy. Here we learn that this and Basket Case 2 were shot back to back for $3M, over a 6 week shoot. Then there are lots of interviews and behind the scenes featurettes. The best was Jennifer Delora’s. She is GREAT!

Wednesday October 25, 2006
13 Seconds – 2003

My first thought when watching this was, “WTF is up with the audio?” Well, listening to the commentary reveals that this entire picture was post-sounded. Why ANYONE would do that today I have no idea. But it sure is distracting.

After 15 minutes, I still had no idea what was going on. In fact, I kept wondering up until the final minutes. And the title didn’t make any damn sense until the final scene. This was a pretty novel idea, but you sure had to exercise patience to get the payoff.

The commentary was only fair. The writer/director/main actor talks incessantly, with just the occasional comment thrown in by the 3 other people who are with him. We do learn that this was a 12 month shoot. Obviously, this was a weekend project done with zero budget. Still, it was better than you might expect.

Thursday October 26, 2006
Voodoo Moon – 2005

This movie has Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia from Buffy and Angel) and Jeffery Combs. That alone should recommend this movie to you. This was the first directorial effort for Kevin Van Hook. However, he has serious creds as a visual effects supervisor (I, Robot, Daredevil). Another interesting, novel concept of a man and sister, who both have special gifts after seeing an entire town wiped out by a demon. The demon possesses lots of people, and the brother has dedicated his life to fighting evil. Cool special effects, and an excellent ending.

Damn it, too small a part for Jeffery AGAIN. Well, at least he has a good line at the end, and it’s a different part. And hey, I know that voice. That’s Kim Hawthorne! Theo on Jeremiah.

No subs, but there is a commentary by writer/director/editor Kevin Von Hook. It’s fair, but slow. About what you’d expect from a solo commentary. Several other extras, including a making of (mostly interviews), creating the world of featurette (special effects, too short), and deleted scenes.

Friday, October 27, 2006
Night of the Living Dead – 1990

Remake by Tom Savini starts off with the most famous line from the original. With Bill Mosley as the brother. Holy crap, Barbara is Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander in Babylon 5). Holy shit, and Ben is Tony Todd (Candyman, and a million movies I’ve watched recently).

Barbara gets her act together much better in this version. Overall, this was a pretty good remake. Not nearly as bloody or gory as I expected.

And we’ve got subs and a commentary by Tom Savini himself. The commentary is pretty good for a solo commentary. Savini talks about how the movie was cut up for the rating board. Only other extra was a very short Making Of featurette.

Saturday, October 28, 2006
Halloween Party
No movie tonight.