Friday,
September 30: K.K.Kanine
Sam
Fuller's White
Dog (1982) supposedly never got a decent domestic release
due to its "controversial nature". Kristy
McNichol plays and actress who brings home a stray dog.
After an incident on a film set where the animal attacks a black
co-star, it is revealed that Kristy's new pet is a "white
dog" -- trained to attack and kill black people.
Desperate
for help, she takes the dog to an animal training facility run
by everyone's favorite singing snowman, Burl
Ives. Paul
Winfield plays the black trainer who is committed to kicking
the racism out of the vicious beast.
The film
has an interesting multi-part ending and two extremely over-the-top
sequences featuring the escaped "white dog" attacking
and killing black men. In once scene, he leaps into a street
sweeper to rip out the throat of the black driver and succeeds.
The dog leaps to safety as the sweeper careens off the road
and straight through a clothing store before bursting into flames!
Watch for
Paul
Bartel on the film set where the dog makes his first public
attack.
Often referred
to as the "Korean Blade Runner", Natural
City (2003) is a visually stunning sci-fi drama. Though
more action driven than Ridley Scott's classic, the film seems
to almost be set in the same world.
It is the
story of two cops: one is trying to hunt down a renegade combat
android while the other shirks his responsibilities because
he is in love with a female android who is about to be decommissioned.
Somewhere along the way, a sassy rookie prostitute gets caught
in the middle.
It's sounds
like fun and it is a good film, but man is it grim. Desperation
and misery run deep in Natural City and if you're not careful,
it will suck you down with it.
Tuesday,
September 27: Let God Sort 'Em Out
Tonight's
film, The
Earth Dies Screaming (1965), has a plot very similar to
Target
Earth (1954): The earth's population mysteriously drops
dead and a handful of survivors discover that robot alien invaders
are to blame.
In the capable
hands of the great Terence
Fisher, The Earth Dies Screaming is much more interesting
and eerie effort than Target Earth. Adding killer zombies into
the mix doesn't hurt either. Unlike many of the modest budget
sci-fi horror films from this era, "Screaming" has
a couple of genuinely frightening moments, thanks to Fisher.
However,
the film's resolution comes rather quickly and makes the open-ended
ending seem very unsatisfying. This isn't helped by this B-movies
62-minute running time. Just as you're really enjoying the movie,
it's over. As is today’s blog entry.
Sunday,
September 25: More Guilty Pleasures
As is often
the case lately, I'm way behind on this blog thing. So let's
just wrap up the whole weekend all at once:
Friday,
September 23: Although I love both comic book heroes
and vampires, I wasn't particularly interested in seeing Blade:
Trinity (2004). Laree L. has been on my case about watching
it, as he liked it. But I wasn't really biting.
Until he
told me about the vampire Pomeranian.
Why didn't
anyone else mention this to me? Having a HUGE weakness for little
dogs, I finally watched the DVD (which Laree forced on me) and
actually enjoyed the film. It is what it is, and that's good
enough for me.
Saturday,
September 24: Another monster hunter is Bloody
Mallory (2002) from France. The film feels like an anime-influenced
take on Buffy
the Vampire Slayer with a vibe that reminded me of that
Lexx
TV series from a while back. Bloody Mallory is well made and
looks pretty cool.
But despite
having a giant transsexual and an evil Pope as characters, it
just wasn't quite to my taste. The all monsters had that Buffy/
Star Trek: DS9 look that I’m not big on and the humor
just didn't quite hit the mark for me. But I can see how other
people might enjoy it though. You may. Give it a shot.
Sunday,
September 25: Today Larry F, Ti and I were guests at
Fangoria's
Weekend of Horrors, where we did a little ScareFlix
presentation. We answered questions from the audience and showed
trailers for The
Last Winter (2005), The
Roost (2004) and Death
to the Automatons (2005). People really seemed to react
to the scenes from our little robot movie, which pleased me
to no end.
Another
pleasant surprise came later when we were signing autographs
and a guy came up with a Lions Gate poster for The Off Season
that he had brought to the show for Larry and I to sign. He
said that he really liked the movie. See? Not everyone hates
it...
We also
sold a bunch of our new Shocktober
Nights Halloween advent-style calendars. Get yours today!
I spent
a fair amount of time (and money) in the vendors' room and picked
up a couple of DVDs that I watched as soon as I got home. Here’s
the poop on those items:
I mention
manga god Go
Nagai here fairly frequently. Not just because I love his
characters, but because so many of them have made their way
into various animated and live action films and TV shows. Kekko
Kamen (2004) is the latest video incarnation of Nagai's
sexy super heroine. In the past she has starred in anime series
and some live action videos, and now she's back in the flesh
again.
What makes
Kekko Kamen so popular? Well, she is a foxy young lady who fights
crime wearing red boots, a flowing scarf, a sort of lop-eared
wrestling mask and absolutely nothing else. The appeal is obvious.
As in Cutie
Honey (2004) & Maboroshi
Panti (1991), the girl-powered action is goofy and good-natured,
despite the torture-driven plot. Mr. Nagai himself makes an
appearance as the man in the moon when one of our heroines breaks
the fourth wall in order to apologize to their creator for the
bargain basement representations of some of his villainous characters.
Now I have
to admit to having a huge weakness for Full
Moon's Puppet
Master series of films. It's not the films that I like (most
of them are pretty awful) so much as those puppets. They represent
the last gasp of the art of old fashioned creature and miniature
effects that I really enjoy.
Producer
Charles
Band continues his obsession with little things that kill
with Doll
Graveyard (2005). It's the usual deal: super low budget,
wooden acting and a non-existent plot, but the killer dolls
steal the show, as always. I gobbled it up.
Yeah, I
know. Critics have always, and will continue to, tear Band's
films apart. But I'll keep coming back, especially when their
next film comes out -- The
Gingerdead Man (2005) starring Gary
Busey as a killer cookie. Yes, you heard that right: Gary
Busey.
Thursday,
September 22: Dog Boy
To look
at the poster for Romasanta
(2004), you'd think that this was a period monster hunter
film along the lines of Van
Helsing (2004) or Brotherhood
of the Wolf (2001). It's not. In fact, the image on the
one-sheet and the DVD never appears in the movie. No character
in the film ever even dresses like that spooky guy in the hat.
But don't get me started on the shameless dishonesty of film
distributors... No wonder people feel justified in committing
video piracy…
In actuality,
Romasanta is based on the true story of Manuel Blanco Romasanta,
a nineteenth century serial killer who seduced women and killed
people of both sexes, using their body fat to make soap. When
he was put on trial for his crimes, he confessed, but said he
had no control over his actions. The reason being that Romasanta
was his father's ninth son, making him a werewolf.
That's what
this movie's about. Not CGI lycanthropes or folks in 1800's
Europe doing Kung Fu. It's an often disturbing little gothic
piece with some good acting from Julian
Sands. Yeah, that's right -- Julian Sands is pretty good
in this one.
My only
complaint here is a muddled subplot concerning Romasanta's sometime
partner-in-crime. We never really get a good idea of who this
guy is and what part he played in the murderss until the very
end of the movie. But this is a very minor complaint.
Romasanta
is scheduled for a US DVD release in November. Bow-wow.
Sunday,
September 11: Go Figure
In case
this web site hasn’t tipped you off already, let it be
known that I'm a nerd. Shocking, I know. But it runs much deeper
than this love of mine for goofy genre films.
If you've
ever been to my home, you know about my toy collection. Unlike
my tucked-away hordes of movies and comic books, my legions
of action figures have taken over almost every square foot of
our humble abode.
Even just
this morning Laree L and I went to a comic book show where I
bought comics and a set of Universal Monsters action figures
that I have no room for. None. Right now, they're just sitting
in their boxes, waiting for a home on one of my many cluttered
shelves. I have no Idea where I'm going to put them, but that
doesn't matter. I wanted these figures of The Wolfman, Dracula
and Frankenstein and now I've got them.
And I'm
not even that fanatical of a collector. On a 1-10 scale of hard-core
toy nuts, I'm about a 3 or 4. Which leads us to the film I watched
today...
The main
character in Blister
(2000) is easily an 11 on the action figure fanatic scale.
Hideaki
Ito plays a guy who works in a bar and is a prime example
of the ultimate toy collector. Focusing on American action figures,
he never takes his toys out of their "blister pack"
packaging. Incidentally, I do open mine. Toys are meant to be
enjoyed!
His apartment
is filled with packaged action figures, much to the chagrin
of his very understanding live-in girlfriend. While we watch
our hero desperately try to acquire the rarest action figure
in the world, a character called "Hellbanker", we
encounter a few of his associates, also obsessive collectors.
As the story
progresses, we see our heroes lose more and more of the things
that we cherish in life, all because of their obsessive hobbies.
There's nothing wrong with being excited about something you
love, but there is such a thing as having balance in life. This
concept seems to escape all of the collectors here until, in
most cases, it’s too late.
Blister
is a very stylish and kinetic film. There's also an odd little
side plot that takes place in a post apocalyptic future that,
although not as engaging as the lives of the present day characters,
somehow works. I found this film to be extremely appealing,
and not to just my fanboy side.
Saturday,
September 10: God Told Me To
Garuda
(2004) is a giant monster film from Thailand. Although people
tend group this film in with the likes of Rodan
(1956) and other Japanese city-smashers, it really bears
more of a resemblance to U.S. films like Mimic
(1997) and the American version of Godzilla
(1998).
I say this
because the most of the film takes place under ground and the
city's subway system also comes into play. There is also the
creature's size to consider: Garuda isn't anywhere near the
weight class that’s known for crushing buildings, but
he can shred steel and man-meat very effectively.
I love the
way this mythical monster looks. The man-bird form of the Garuda
would fit in very well in a Ray
Harryhausen film. And you know I love Harryhausen...
I also love
Bruce
Campbell. We all do. So, of course I watched the premiere
of the Sci-Fi pictures "original" Man
with the Screaming Brain (2005) which was written, directed
and stars Mr. Campbell.
Yeah, it's
cartoonish, goofy and often corny, as one would expect. Campbell's
buddy Ted
Raimi shamelessly hams it up as a Bulgarian lab assistant,
but works surprisingly well along side Stacy
Keach as a mad doctor. The film is light and far from perfect,
but it's much better than the movies that usually debut on the
Sci-Fi channel. At least it's got a lady killer robot... and
Bruce Campbell.
There's
a comic book adaptaion currently available from Dark
Horse and a DVD on its way from Anchor
Bay on October 4th.
Friday,
September 9: Forget Paris
Sporting
one of the first major roles for Sharon
Tate, Eye
of the Devil (1967), puts the future Manson Family victim
in good company alongside Deborah
Kerr, David
Niven and Donald
Pleasence. Originally titled "13". the film suffered
from a cursed production. Original star Kim Novak was injured
not long before the film was scheduled to wrap. Kerr had to
be brought in to replace her and all of the scenes featuring
Novak had to be re-shot. The film went through several screenwriters
and three directors, the last of which was J.
Lee Thompson.
The plot
is very similar to 1973’s The Wicker Man (which, I know
I to refer to constantly -- sorry) in that an outsider comes
to a small remote village (this time, in France) and finds him/her
at odds with the townspeople's ancient pagan beliefs. This film
is just as atmospheric and odd as TWM at times, but the pagans
here are much darker and more menacing. Instead of the festive
garments worn by the Wicker Man’s characters the residents
of this creepy village wear somber black suits and hooded robes.
Eye of the
Devil's story is also much more complicated –sometimes
too much so -- it's easy to lose track of what's going on. Was
this intentional or a result of the chaos behind-the-scenes?
I'm not sure, but it still doesn't ruin a pretty decent picture
with eerie performances by Pleasence, Tate and a youthful David
Hemmings.
Chained
for Life (1951) was the first starring vehicle for the original
Hilton
Sisters: Daisy and Violet, best known as the Siamese twins
in Tod
Browning's Freaks
(1932).
What happens
to one conjunctive twin when the other commits a murder? How
can one sister be lawfully punished without illegally infringing
on the others rights? That's the question posed here in this
courtroom drama/ full-length flashback sequence padded with
tons of variety show acts.
The film
never gives us a real answer. The sequel, "Torn by a Knife",
was never released.
Monday,
September 5: Brain Food
Unable to
sleep, I decided to watch one of the most beloved of Mexican
cult horrors, The
Brainiac (1962). Directed by genre film auteur Chano
Urueta and released in his own country under its original
title, "El Baron del Terror", it was one of the many
wonders that were repackaged and brought north of the border
by producer K.
Gordon Murray.
A 17th century
warlock is tortured and burned at the stake by members of The
Inquisition. The evil magic-user swears that he will return
in 300 years to avenge himself on his executioners' ancestors.
Sure enough,
the warlock returns in 1961, riding the comet that passed over
the earth on the eve of his death. He beams down from space
in the form of The Brainiac, a bizarre monster that sucks out
the brains of the living.
It's a weird-looking
creature, with suction-cup fingers and a pulsing head. It came
from space -- is it an alien, a demon, or what? How did the
warlock end up in this form? It's never explained and it doesn't
matter. There's not a lot that makes a lick of sense in this
film, which is why it is so enjoyed by so many folks.
All I know
is that the thing grabs people, then his forked tongue comes,
out and the victims die with two puncture wounds in their necks.
Then the Brainiac changes his form to that of a dashing Count,
goes home, and there are the brains sitting in a serving dish
in his mansion. Brains are best enjoyed at room temperature,
eaten with a spoon.
Sunday,
September 4: Book of Blood
Maléfique
(2002) is one of the best horror films I've seen in a while.
It's low key, very well written and with great acting.
It's the
sort of smart and gory story that
Clive Barker used to tell back in the 1980’s: Four
convicts who come into possession of a magic book that may or
not be their ticket out of prison. They just have to figure
out how to use it. Over time, the men's trial and error process
begins to take its toll.
The film
is French and there's the inevitable U.S. remake on its way.
Don't wait for the U.S. version. It's the performances and the
character work by the film's excellent cast that make this jail
cell bound supernatural thriller so special. Maléfique
est magnifique!
Saturday,
September 3: Enjoy All Monsters!
I don't
understand why some people hated Godzilla:
Final Wars (2004) so much. Noah and his buddy Orrin came
over to watch it tonight and we all loved it. It's one of the
most action-packed Godzilla films ever. I understand that there
was some controversy over director Ryuhei
Kitamura's choice to reference the campy films from the
1960's and 70's, but I though he did it very well and showed
a lot of restraint and control. Since Final Wars is Godzilla’s
50th Anniversary event and the last G-movie for at least a few
years, it stands to reason that audiences would want to look
back on elements from all of Godzilla's generations represented.
Almost every
major monster from the Godzilla films (and a few other Toho
movies) show up to fight the Big G here and he's up to the challenge.
Unlike most Godzilla films, the scenes involving us little folk
are action-packed as well. The only disappointment here is that
there's no MechaGodzilla, but you can't have everything.
Godzilla:
Final Wars is supposed to get a domestic DVD release from Sony
later this year. See it.
Friday,
September 2: Digging Graves
I hope that
Mondo
Macbro, one of my favorite video labels, is making a ton
of money from this whole Clonus/The
Island fiasco. I usually scoop up everything that M. M.
puts out, but initially skipped Clonus,
aka The Clonus Horror (1979), as it wasn’t as obscure
or exotic as the company’s usual releases. Like many folks,
curiosity finally got the best of me and I watched the film.
It’s
a fairly average futuristic thriller -- one of those films from
the 70’s that feels as if it were made for television.
The casting of then-TV star Peter
Graves and Dick York clone, Dick
Sargent reinforces this vibe.
My second
film for this evening was Korean director Ki-duk
Kim’s Bad
Guy (2001). It is an extremely well made film about a woman
who is forced into prostitution by a brutal thug. Eventually
the poor gal begins to suffer from some form of Stockholm syndrome
and her relationship with the title character begins to change.
The odd
thing about this film is how beautiful it all looks and sounds,
while it's portraying the most ugly of acts. I highly recommend
Bad Guy, a very dark and haunting movie
A much younger
Peter Graves entered my life later in the evening as I nestled
in with It
Conquered the World (1956). This Roger
Corman outing is perhaps best known for its less-than-terrifying
monster, which never really comes even close to conquering the
world at all.
Lee
Van Cleef gives a performance far beyond anything that this
hokey little jaunt deserves, while Peter Graves is—well,
Peter Graves.
Thursday,
September 1: If I Only Had a Brain...
It's almost
over. My least favorite season of the year is coming to a close
and glorious autumn is on its way!
Another
cause for celebration is the release of the Hammer
Horror Series box set next Tuesday. Even though it features
8 classics crammed onto only two discs, I've been eagerly awaiting
this bargain-priced set from Universal. I got mine today and
couldn't be more excited.
I immediately
popped Night
Creatures (1962), aka Captain Clegg, into the DVD player.
This is an adaptation of the story of Dr. Syn, a freedom fighter
in England who rebelled against the King's over-taxation dressed
at a scarecrow, set during the same time as the American Revolution.
It's a decent
costume drama, not a horror movie. Rather than focusing on the
Scarecrow character (called Dr. Syn's name is changed to Blyss
here for copyright reasons), it focuses on the rebellious smuggler's
leader, a former pirate named Captain Clegg, played by Peter
Cushing. A restrained Oliver
Reed plays the Scarecrow, a fairly minor character.
The really
striking things here are the sequences featuring the Marsh Phantoms.
These are actually townspeople dressed in glowing skeleton costumes,
riding similarly dressed horses. These are bold and frightening
images that allow us to let Universal off the hook for passing
this film off as a Hammer "Horror."
This brings
us to this month's recommendations...
My favorite
adaptation of the Dr. Syn story is The
Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1964), aka Dr. Syn, Alias the
Scarecrow. It's pretty rarely that I recommend a Disney film,
but this movie has enough frightening moments, striking imagery
and of course, the talents of Patrick
McGoohan to give it enough of an edge to be enjoyed by cynical
adults. This has the action that the Hammer film lacks and puts
Dr. Sin at the front of the action. I saw this film projected
during an assembly in grammar school and became enchanted by
this 18th century super hero.
Speaking
of scarecrows....
Somehow
Kakashi
(2001) got lost amongst all of the other Japanese horrors
pouring in over the last few years. This film is a mystery about
a town that believes it can bring its dead back to life in the
bodies of scarecrows. This film is almost like a Japanese Wicker
Man, with amazing atmosphere and sound design. It's a creepy
little movie that you'll enjoy if you are expecting big Ringu-like
scares.
If things
here are a little too tame for you this month, how about some
second-rate 1980's horror? Scarecrows
(1988) is a dark and dated film about a group of crooks
who take refuge in a cornfield where they're not wanted. Living
scarecrows show up to drive them out and mindless, gory fun
ensues.
I have to
get back to that wonderful Hammer DVD set: The real reason to
be excited about this box is the inclusion of the Terrence
Fisher classic, The
Curse of the Werewolf (1961), previously unavailable on
DVD. This is one of the better Hammer Horrors, with strong acting
and a well-written script. I do have to make one small disclaimer:
although the film tells a great story loaded with sordid details,
you don't really get to see the titular monster until the film's
climax
And finally,
September is back-to-school time, so here's another selection
for the kiddies:
Melody
(1971), aka S.W.A.L.K., is the re-teaming of cast member
of Lionel Bart's Oliver!, Mark
Lester and Jack
Wild. Lester plays a schoolboy who falls in love with another
ten-year-old, named Melody. They decide t runaway and get married,
but the adults aren't very understanding. It's up to their friends,
led by the rebellious youth Wild, to overthrow the schoolmasters
so the kids can live their lives. As a kid, I loved this film.
I found the children’s revolt against their teachers truly
inspiring. Nowadays, the kids would come in with shotguns to
settle things, so it's really the story's innocence that make
it so appealing to adults. It also has a great soundtrack led
by a pre-disco Bee Gees.
Don't let all of this G-rated fun get you down. Next month is
October and that means Halloween. Hot as Love will be going
all horror! Instead of starting out the usual five recommendations,
I'll be giving you 31 scary selections for a month of morbid
mayhem. What's more, is I will be watching a minimum of 31 other
film frights over the course of October -- from classics to
obscurities to mainstream hits. It's only a month away...
