Week of Saturday April 21 through Friday, April 27, 2007

First off, let me apologize for the delay. I usually write these on Thursday or Fridays, but I was super busy at work last week, and then got sick and didn't come in on Friday. When I came in on Monday, I couldn't find my notes for this week. Heartsick that I'd miss the first week in over a year, I didn't do anything until today, when I found the notes hiding under my keyboard. So, here is the much delayed entry. Thanx for hanging tough.

Saturday, April 21, 2007
Dead and Deader - 2006

What is this, Star Trek reunion day? First, we have John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox on Enterprise), then it's Armin Shimermar (Quark in Deep Space Nine and Principle Synder in Buffy). Plus, we have Dean Cain, who played Clark Kent in Lois and Clark.

I LOVE all the film references (and NOT all horror). Very nice. The dialogue in this movie is AWESOME! Fun, fun, fun. Plus it gets juicy. And YIKES! that's a silver ball in the mortuary. Shades of Phantasm. And it's got subtitles. Yet another SciFi Channel winner. I'm amazed.

Commentary features writer (Steven Kriozere), producer (Mark A. Altman), and composer ( Joe Kraemer ). Very nice, good background, lots of details without getting dull. These are also the guys who did House of the Dead (they're sorry) and HOTD2, which was much better. "We never met a reference we didn't like". A 16 day shoot with 3 days of prep.

Other other extra is a 33 minute long Making of, which was also subtitled (THANK YOU!). Mostly interviews with cast and crew, while showing behind the scenes.

Gore Goyle 2 - 2007
2 shorts from Brain Damage Films. If you've never seen anything from these folks, then you kinda have to be in the right frame of mind. They're pretty low grade. Of course, if you're in the mood from the bloody mayhem, this is the company to fulfill your desires.

Anywho, we have a pair of shorts here. It's starts with Clean. Which teaches us the important lesson (also featured in Blood Feast) that if you're gonna slaughter someone, in the bathtub's a great place, as it's easiest to clean up. This one has a novel plot with lots of gore.

The second is The Walkers, about some fugitives and police lost in the woods. Less gory, but more engaging.

Other extras include The Big Book of Gore, Bios, Drunk Director's Chat, and Uncle Vicious' (sort of the host who also appears at the beginning and in between, in some pretty sick skits) Farewell.

For fans of Brain Damage Films only.

Sunday, April 22, 2007
Deadlands: The Rising - 2006

A pretty decent zombie flick. Music is good (which is unusual for a $10K movie). Sounds like early Carpenter. Movie ends rather abruptly, like its the first half of a 2 part series.

Extras include a making of featurette, consisting of interviews. It was very short, just like the movie. Also, there's a commentary by the director (Gary Ugarek). A twenty day shoot took 14 months, since everyone "had real jobs". They did a lot of preproduction (which IS unusual for a low budget film). They spent $5400 and hadn't rolled film.

Hawk The Slayer - 1980

This movie is reported to be one of the worst movies ever filmed. It's been on my wishlist ever since I started making one. And there's Jack Palance, which is always a sign of good "badness". And one of my favorite character actors, William Morgan Sheppard (Black/Blank Reg from Max Headroom, the Soul Hunter in Season 1 of B5 & Merrit in Prestige!). This is basically a cheap Krull, with the worst combat scenes EVER! And not a single extra, so rent only.

Monday, April 23, 2007
The Notorious Concubines - 1969

A classic from Something Weird Video that has been in my wishlist for a long time as well. And who would have thought that it's a Japanese movie? Surprise! What is also a surprise is how little the Japanese show'd in 1969. Just bare butts and boobies from the side or far away. Kind of a disappointment for a sexploitation movie. And man, that's a pretty dark ending too.

Violated Paradise - 1963

Part Mondo, mostly documentary. I watched as much as I could. But nothing much happens. Naked women divers is the highlight of the first half hour. But ye gods, all the nudity in the world can't help this snoozefest. I gave up.

Extras include 6 trailers I've never seen from SWV, plus the usual 5 shorts.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Dream Follies - 1954

More SWV fun. This time, its some 50's burlesque. Written by Lenny Bruce! And produced and directed by the legendary bad movie maker Phil Tucker (probably best known for the supremely awful Robot Monster). It's just a cheap excuse for Burlesque, and there's Lenny himself as the guy left in charge. Man, striptease was really sad in the early 50's.

Dreamland Capers - 1956

Here we basically just have a recorded Vaudeville show. Comedians (probably should be in quotes, as it's only occasionally funny), striptease routines (not showing much), and a couple of supposedly risque songs. Overall, can now be seen as a historical record of what people enjoy'd half a century ago.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Malatesta's Carnival of Blood - 1973

A cheapie with the look and feel of Al Adamson's Frankenstein vs Dracula. Lots of wildly rotating camera work, trying for that hallucinogenic look. And yes, that's Hervé Villechaize, best known as Tatoo on Fantasy Island, but beloved to us for Forbidden Zone.

This also reminds me a lot of The Wizard of Gore, because it doesn't quite makes sense, and you're not quite sure just exactly what Malatesta is. And what is up with the ending? WTF?

Only extra is 13 minutes of outtakes that don't look significantly different from what's in the movie.

Thursday, April 26, 2007
Black Christmas - 2006

First off, thank you for including subtitles, Lionsgate. Second off, how cool is it that one of the girls from the original version now plays the house mother in the remake (Andrea Martin!). And one thing you cannot slight it for, it has plenty of gore. And there's Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn from Buffy). And Leigh is Vansen from Space: Above and Beyond (Kristen Cloke).

Man, this is really dark. And very gory. But not nearly as bad as I expected. Just completely different from the original. I mean, it's so different, they could have named it something else, and no one would have said "Hey, this is just a remake of Black Christmas". It's that different.

Extras include deleted scenes (none will be missed), three alternative endings (I liked #1, #2 is not very different, and #3 a variation on #2, but goes on longer), "What Have You Done?" the remaking of Black Christmas. Very, very sad seeing Bob Clark, knowing that he just died last month. Lots of behind the scenes, making of stuff, as well as interviews. Finally, there was "May All Your Christmases Be Black" A filmmaker's journal.

Friday, April 27, 2007
Death Row - 2006

Holy crap! They sure made Stacey Keach look terrible! Jake Busey appears to be a clone of his dad. Nice gore. Danny Trejo as a priest? No way! The final CG was kinda cool.

There were no subtitles, but there was a commentary, featuring writer director Kevin VanHook, Jamie Elle Mann, and Scott Whyte. A very nice blend of behind the scenes, philosophy, and cast interaction.

Again, sorry that this was so late.