Phil's Halloween Horrors Marathon, Day 12: Phil reviews MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD (2011) DVD from Michael Perez Entertainment-October 12, 2012

MORE BRAINS! DVD Cover (2012)

MORE BRAINS: A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD
Starring: Thom Mathews, Beverly Randolph, Jewel Shepard, John Philbin, Brian Peck, Linnea Quigley, Miguel A. Nunez, Jr., James Karen, Clu Gulager, Don Calfa, Allan Trautman, Stacey Q.
Narrated by Brian Peck
Written by Christian Sellers, Gary Smart, Thommy Hutson (additional material)
Produced by Thommy Hutson
Executive produced by Beverly Randolph and Michael Perez
Directed by Bill Philputt
Released by Michael Perez Entertainment

Welcome to Day Twelve of Phil's Halloween Horrors Marathon! Today's review will focus on a documentary about one of the greatest zombie films of all time! But I'm getting a head of myself, so let me back track first. On August 15, 1985, Orion Pictures released RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD, written and directed by Dan O'Bannon. With its blend of horror, humor, gore, and slapstick, the film became a cult classic that still to this day is loved and revered among horror fans and critics alike. Now 26 years after the film's release, director Bill Philputt and writers Gary Smart and Christian Sellers pay tribute to O'Bannon's film with their in-depth, informative, and highly entertaining film MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD.

Narrated by Brian Peck (who portrayed Scuz in the original film), the film chronicles the step by step process of the making of this legendary cult classic. From the pre-production nightmare that consisted of the legal battle between John Russo and George Romero over the rights to the film's title, original director Tobe Hooper backing out of the project and O'Bannon taking over even though he never directed a film before. Some of the issues that arose during the production of the film were the firing of special effects artist Bill Munns, the spats between the cast and O'Bannon, and the grueling 14 hour night shoots over the next 6 weeks took it's toll on the entire cast and crew. After filming was completed, the executives declared it "one notch above pornography." The film was finally released a year after it was finished and grossed over $14 million during its theatrical run.

Philputt left no stone unturned when making this film. It also helped the writers Smart and Sellers wrote the book The Complete History of The Return of the Living Dead, to which the documentary is based on. Philputt was able to get 25 members of the original cast and crew to conduct on-camera interviews, including Clu Gulager (Burt), James Karen (Frank), Don Calfa (Ernie), Beverly Randolf (Tina), Thom Mathews (Freddy), Jewel Shepard (Casey), Linnea Quigley (Trash), and Peck too, just to name a few. With these individuals sharing some hilarious, interesting, personal stories and memories, Philputt crafted an amazing film and really pulled together some fascinating facts for fans about this cult classic.

The special features on this DVD are just outstanding! First there's THE WON'T STAY DEAD: A LOOK AT RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART II: a half hour documentary on the making of the sequel and includes interviews with Michael Kenworthy (Jesse), Suzanne Snyder (Brenda), and Karen, Mathews, and Speck just to name a few. LOVE BEYOND THE GRAVE: A LOOK AT THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD PART 3: another short documentary chronicling the making of Part 3, including interviews with director Brian Yuzna, screenwriter John Penney, special effects make-up artist Steve Johnson, and actor Trevor Edmond (Curt). Resurrected Settings: The Filming Locations Today: both Speck and  Randolf host this very cool short showing us the actual filming locations as they are today, Stacey Q Live! An Exclusive "Tonight" music video, documentary deleted scenes, THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD told in 3 minutes, trailers for both MORE BRAINS! and NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY, and A Conversation with Dan O'Bannon: The Final Interview: the last on-camera interview O'Bannon gave before his untimely passing from Crohn's Disease on December 17, 2009.

My conclusion is this: MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD is a highly recommended documentary that belongs on every horror fans collection. In fact here's a real treat for all you creatures of the night: watch the original film and this documentary as a double feature! That would be the best way for you to honor the legacy of Dan O'Bannon! Go out and buy this DVD today! 5 out of 5 stars!

MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD DVD can be purchased at your local retailer or you can purchase a copy on the film's website at www.getmorebrains.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the screaming!

Phil reviews MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD for The Midnight Horror Sinema Show-January 14, 2012

Hello there my horror fanatics! Over on The Midnight Horror Sinema Show I just finished my review of MORE BRAINS! A RETURN TO THE LIVING DEAD. This informative and interesting documentary tells the making of stories of the making of the 1985 cult classic THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Director Bill Philputt and writers Gary Smart and Christian Sellers give us some great on-camera interviews with original cast and crew member, including Clu Gulager (Burt), James Karen (Frank), Don Calfa (Ernie), Beverly Randolf (Tina), Thom Mathews (Freddy), Jewel Shepard (Casey), Linnea Quigley (Trash), and the film's narrator Brian Peck. So click here to read my review, and don't forget to sign up to my follow my horrific blog!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil's Horror Watch, Day 27: Phil watches RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1986)-October 27, 2011

Here it is folks: Day 27 of my horror movie marathon! I took another trip back to the 80's (hey, there were a lot of great horror films from that era) and picked out another great zombie film that stayed to the conventions of the genre, while adding its own spin to the mix. So if you haven't seen RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD yet, you are missing out on a splatter zombie film classic!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1985)

The film's about two dim-witted medical supply warehouse employees Frank and Freddy (James Karen and Thom Mathews respectively) who accidentally release a deadly gas from a government drum into the air, which the vapors causes the dead in the nearby cemetery to rise up and feed on the brains of the living!

Also appearing in the film are Clu Gilager, Don Calfa, Beverly Randolf, and legendary 80's scream queens Linnea Quigley and Jewel Shepard. The film's soundtrack boasts some the best punk bands from that era, such as The Cramps, T.S.O.L., The Damned, 45 Grave and others.

The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon, who got his start when he and iconic director John Carpenter collaborated on his student film DARK STAR (which O'Brannon wrote and starred in). He then went on to write the screenplay for ALIEN (1979) and DEAD AND BURIED (1981). Originally O'Bannon was hired to write the script and horror director Tobe Hooper was set to direct the film. But when Hopper backed out of the project to make LIFEFORCE (which O'Bannon wrote as well) producers Tom Fox and John Russo offered O'Bannon the job as director. He accepted on the one condition that he could totally rewrite the film so that it differed from George Romero's zombie films. The film is more "splatstick" style morbid humor and eccentric dialogue. While the first half of the film is comedic, the second half is pure horror.

Another note worthy fact: Long before the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake and 28 DAYS LATER, the film boasts of having the image of FAST running zombies. Another one of O'Bannon's twists to the rewrite. The fast zombies were a total surprise to audiences who were use to the slow moving undead in Romero's films. Another fun aspect to the film is the combination of the old time actors (Karen, Gilager, and Calfa) blending perfectly with the young, inexperienced actors of the film. You have this great contrast of young and old in the film, which gives the film a great universal appeal.

Upon completion, the studio Orion Pictures deemed the film "unreleasable" and supposedly re-cut the film, then quietly released the film to theaters. However, audiences reacted positively to the film, and as a result, has become a huge cut classic. The film spawned four, count 'em, four sequels! But those films don't even come close to the original.

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is a gory, scary, funny, and entertaining horror film that deserves to be part of everybody's film library. The film is the lasting legacy of Dan O'Bannon, who passed away from Crohn's Disease on December 17, 2009. So a big "Thank You" to Mr. O'Bannon for giving us this film to enjoy for the past twenty-six years!! You did good my friend!!

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is currently available on both Blu-Ray and DVD. To purchase a copy, visit your local retailer, or visit the Amazon website at www.amazon.com

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!

Phil attends the MIDNITES FOR MANIACS: COLONIZING 'R' US triple feature at the Castro Theatre-Sept. 17, 2011

Once again I traveled up to the City by the Bay (San Francisco to you folks who don't live there) and attended the awesome Midnites for Manic series, hosted by the great Jesse Hawthorne Ficks. Tonight's theme was "Colonizing 'R' Us" and featured three films that showcased this perfectly. So ladies and gentlemen, let the show begin!

Theatrical Movie Poster (1986)

The first film of the night was ALIENS (1986), directed by James Cameron and starring Sigorney Weaver as Ripley. The planet from the first ALIEN film has been colonized, but communication has been lost. As a result, a group of military soldiers, along with Ripley, must travel there to find out what happened to the people there. The only lead they have is a lone survivor named Newt (Carrie Henn). Also joining on the mission is Bill Paxton (Pvt. Hudson), Jenette Goldstein (Pvt. Vaaquez), Paul Reiser (Carter Burke), Lance Henriksen (Bishop), and Michael Biehn (Cpl. Dwayne Hicks).

The film is just about as close to perfection as a film can get. Cameron's directing is flawless, and he would go on to direct other hit films such as TERMINATOR 2 (1991), TRUE LIES (1994), and the two highest grossing films of all time: TITANIC (1997) and AVATAR (2009). The film was released on July 18, 1986.

Theatrical Movie Poster (1997)

The second film for the night was the modern classic STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997). The film stars Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico), Denise Richards (Carmen Ibanez), Dina Meyer (Dizzy Flores), Neil Patrick Harris (Carl Jenkins), Jake Busey (Ace Levy), and Michael Ironside (Jean Rasczak). The film's about the human race trying to survive from eradication from an invasion of giant, mutant insects. With the plot sounds like a AIP B-Movie flick, there's more going on here than meets the eye. Director Paul Verhoeven has helmed other classics such as ROBOCOP (1987), TOTAL RECALL (1990), and BASIC INSTINCT (1992), but with this film, Verhoeven satires on war, patriotism, propaganda, and perverted idealism of the Utopian American dream.

Ficks commented that the film is on par with Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film classic DR. STRANGELOVE, which also commented on the same topics. To be honest, Ficks has a valid point here. If you disagree, watch these films back to back and be surprised by the similarities. The film was released by Tri-Star/Touchstone Pictures on November 7, 1997.

Theatrical Movie Poster (1974)

The third and final film of the night was a film that I have never seen, but knew about it. DARK STAR (1974) was John Carpenter's student film that, believe it or not, was actually released to theaters! How amazing is that! How many student films do you know that was theatrically released? Not too many. The film's about the four-man crew of the Dark Star (Brian Narelle, Dan O'Bannon, Cal Kuniholm, and Dre Pahich) whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in galaxies that are planned to be colonized.

This low-budget film got Carpenter's career going. Soon after he was directing films such as ASSAULT OF PRECINCT 13 (1976) and the most influential horror film of all time HALLOWEEN (1978). While the film only lasted for 83 minutes, Ficks screened several trailers of Carpenter's other films afterwards: THE FOG, STARMAN, HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH, THE THING, CHRISTINE, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, VAMPIRES, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, ESCAPE FROM L.A., and GHOSTS OF MARS.

Another fantastic Midnites for Maniacs show! If you have never been to one of these events, you are missing out my friends. The next showing is on October 7th, so mark it on you caleder! To view upcoming shows, visit the website http://www.midnitesformaniacs.com/

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!