Good evening everybody and Happy Halloween!! Well folks, this is it! The
end of the road. The last day of my horror movie marathon. Hard to
believe it's all over after tonight. So to celebrate this evening's All
Hallow's Eve, I headed on over to the BlueLight Cinemas 5 in Cupertino to watch the film that transformed Halloween,
and the horror genre, forever. Thanks to director John Carpenter, his
low budget film HALLOWEEN became one of the scariest movies ever made, and helped make its villain Michael Myers into a horror icon.
Theatrical Movie Poster (1978)
To be honest, this one of my all-time favorite horror films ever. The
movie helped establish the "rules" for the slasher genre that would come
charging in with the release of FRIDAY THE 13th just two years
later. The film launched Jamie Lee Curtis' film career, and Carpenter
became a legendary director within the horror genre.
The film has been discussed, written, dissected, reassembled, and
worshiped since its release on October 25, 1978. There is nothing I can
say about the film that hasn't already been said. The film can be
classified as a "perfect" film. With Carpenter's beautiful directing,
Curtis' down to earth performance, and thanks to Carpenter's simplistic
soundtrack, there isn't one flaw to be found within the movie. If by
chance you have never seen the film, you really need to see it! In fact,
it is against the law to live your life without seeing this movie!
With this film, my horror movie marathon comes to an end. I've had so
much fun this month, watching all these great films in the theaters and
on DVD and Blu-Ray! There were still so many films that I didn't have
time to watch, but there is always next Halloween. However, I encourage
all of you out there to keep the spirit of Halloween alive all year
round! There are many horror films coming to the big screen, so be sure
to read my blog so you too can check them out at your local theater. I
hope that all the films that I watched this month will inspire you to
view them too. Next month I shall be returning to the Camera Cinemas for
my weekly movie fix, as well as travel back to Niles and the Castro
Theatre too. Thank you all for joining me for Phil's Halloween Horrors Marathon!! Good
night and have a Happy Halloween!!
KILLER KLOWN FROM OUTER SPACE
Starring: Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, John Vernon, Michael Siegel, Peter Licassi, Royal Dano, Chris Titus, Irene Michaels, Karla Sue Krull
Written by Charles Chiodo and Stephen Chiodo
Produced by Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo
Directed by Stephen Chiodo
A Chiodo Brothers Productions
Originally released by Trans World Entertainment
Distributed by MGM
Only two days left people so let's jump in Day Thirty! Throughout the 100+ years of cinema history, clowns have not only made us laugh, they have terrified us. OK let's face it, clowns are scary. They're just so damn scary and creepy and unerving. So when I first saw KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE on VHS back in 1988, I didn't know whether to be scared or laugh! Up until then, I have never seen a movie quite like this before.
So wrap your head around this synopsis: A spaceship - looking like a circus tent - lands in a field near a small town, signaling the attack of deviant, red-nosed, balloon-twisting psychos from another world who plan to annihilate mankind - by turning people into cotton candy! Luckily, the town's teen citizenry decides to fight back and teach the cosmic bozos a lesson. But these klowns are no klutzes, turning popcorn, peanuts and caramel corn into playful - but deadly - weapons of madcap destruction and mayhem!
Theatrical Movie Poster (1988)
Sounds more fun than shoveling elephant shit, huh? Well it is a then some! The Chiodo brothers takes the idea of clowns being eerie and frightening, and fuses it with the common theme of aliens coming down from space; thus giving us aliens that look like clowns. For what it is, the film is actually quite inventive; and while much of the action is clichéd and/or samey, it's the little things that ensure it doesn't get boring.
This was the only film that the Chiodo brothers ever made but they have worked on many other projects in other roles, such as producing and visual effects. One of the locations they used for the film was the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California (which was were THE LOST BOYS was filmed at). The film was released to theaters on May 27, 1988. The filmed went on to earn a total of $43,625,095 worldwide. Not too bad of a return from an estimated $2,000,000 budget.
The MGM Blu-Ray comes loaded with special features: Audio Commentary from the Chiodo brothers, Five Featurettes, Deleted Scenes with Director's Commentary, Bloopers, and the film's original trailer!
KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE is a true original cult classic that will now entertain a whole new generations of genre fans. So next time you and your date are bored and have no idea what to do, bust open a bottle of champagne, light some candles, pop this film in your player and watch the sparks fly! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!! Highly recommended!!
KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE is currently available on Blu-Ray at your local retailer. You can also purchase a copy at the Amazon website at www.amazon.com.
PSYCHO SLEEPOVER
Starring: Rachel Castillo, Felissa Rose, Paul Rust, Emilia Richeson, Ariel Teal Toombs, Frankie Frain, Todd Pritchett, Todd Pritchett
Witten by Kurt Kroeber, Eric Gosselin, Adam Deyoe
Produced by Adam Deyoe, Eric Gosselin, Ryan Martin
Associate produced by Marc L. Fusco, Joshua Klausner, Kurt Kroeber, Chris Watson
Directed by Adam Deyoe and Eric Gosselin
A Pratt Ratt Productions
Distributred by Troma Entertainment
OK everybody these are the last three days of October so let me begin Twenty-Nine! Today's film comes again from Troma Entertainment. As I stated in my FATHER'S DAY and JESSICKA RABID, I am a HUGE Troma fanatic! So for the past 20 years I have spent my free time searching, watching, and collecting every single Troma movie I could find. So for today's review I chose to review a newer release from the House that Toxie built. PSYCHO SLEEPOVER is horror/comedy that perfectly balances the laughter with the bloodshed.
The film's official synopsis: After accidentaly murdering her boyfriend, Debbie Dicky (Rachel Castillo) moves to a new town and meets three girls who invite her to a sleepover. The very same night there is a breakout at the local insane asylum where forty serial killers escape and head over to crash the party.However, the girls at the slumber party might not be as helpless as the killers think.
Theatrical Movie Poster (2008)
Right off the bat I want to inform you all that this was one gory and hilarious movie! The acting was perfect, the blood flowed like the Mississippi, the jokes and gages were funny, the gore was spot on! If you think that this film resembles in any way the crappy Hollywood horror-comedies, then you've got it all wrong.
What makes the film so much fun to watch is that it's such a low budget film, and yet, with its limitations, the film rises to be more than just a cheapo horror/comedy flick. It really tries and the movie is so much fun to watch. Both Deyoe and Gosselin directed the film with fun and energy. Some of the effects are cheesy looking and some of the acting isn't perfect, but you can tell they're all having fun. And that should be the reason you want to make movies.
This Troma release come with some cool extras, including Behind the Scenes, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, Trailer, and Audio Commentary. Now being a Troma release, you also get a funny and entertaining intro by its president and co-creator of THE TOXIC AVENGER Lloyd Kaufman.
PSYCHO SLEEPOVER is one of the best horror/comedies you will ever see! This is one Troma movie that you should really check out! And after you see this, tell all your friends about it! 4 out of 5 stars! Recommended!
PSYCHO SLEEPOVER is currently available on DVD at your local retailer and at the Troma website. To purchase a copy, visit www.troma.com.
THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW
Starring: Kathryn McNeil, Eileen Davidson, Janis Zido, Robin Meloy, Harley Kozak, Jodi Draigie, Ellen Dorsher, Lois Kelso Hunt, Christopher Lawrence, Michael Kuhn, Michael Sergio, Ruth Walsh
Written by Mark Rosman with additional dialogue by Bobby Fine
Produced by John G. Clark, Ed Beyer, Igo Kantor, Mark Rosman
Executive produced by John Ponchock and W. Thomas McMahon
Directed by Mark Rosman
Originally released by Film Ventures International (FVI)
Distributed by Scorpion Releasing
The final days of my horror movie marathon are coming close to an end, so let's get right into Day Twenty-Eight! Today's film comes to us once again from the early 80's. The film is a genre classic. In fact, it's so popular that it was remade in 2009. Today's film is the horror slasher film THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW.
Here is the film's synopsis: Seven sorority sisters, Katey (Katherine McNeil) Morgan (Jodi Draigie), Stevie (Ellen Dorsher), Liz (Janis Zedo), Vicki (Eileen Davidson), Jeanie (Robin Meloy), and Diane (Harley Jane Koazak) pull a prank on their strict house mother, Mrs. Slater, who is known for carrying a sharp walking cane. However it goes horribly awry and she winds up dead. Panicking, the girls try to hide the body, but someone (or something) witnessed the crime and begins to stalk them.
Healmed by first time director Mark Rosman, the movie was filmed on location in Baltimore, Marylland on a budget of just $425,000. Now the film has some good characters - for once we don't have an utterly virginal heroine whose morals are her strength. Instead we have several girls, most of them scared enough by what is happening to follow Vicky, the rebellious and selfish one, and the heroine as the only one who sees that Vicky is actually quite a stupid and uncaring bitch of a character. While it's not overtly gory, the death scenes are great and convincing, there is plenty of suspense and you are always kept hooked.
Theatrical Movie Poster (1983)
The film was released in US theaters on January 21, 1983, and took in $617,661 in its opening weekend. It would go on to gross a whopping $10,604,986! On November 14, 2000, Elite Entertainment released the movie on DVD. Then was re-printed and released again on November 18, 2003. Then it became out of print, but was once again re-released on January 12, 2010 as a special 25 year special anniversary edition. Soon this edition became out of stock as well.
Now this new 2-Disc DVD version comes courtesy from Scorpion Releasing, as part of the label's "Katarina's Nightmare Theatre" series. Special features on Disc One include: Katarina s Nightmare Theater format with our hostess Katarina Leigh Waters or play feature only, Brand New 16x9 (1:78) HD master from the original IN, Brand New audio commentary with Director Mark Rosman moderated by Katarina Leigh Waters, Bonus commentary with Stars Kate McNeil, Eileen Davidson and director Mark Rosman, On camera interview with co-star Harley Jane Kozak, 3 TV spots, Thearical Trailers, Storyboard Comparisons, Photo Gallery, Alternate Ending. The special features on Disc Two include: On camera interview with star Kate McNeil conducted by Katarina Leigh Waters, On camera interview with star Eileen Davidson conducted by Katarina Leigh Waters, On camera interview with Director Mark Rosman conducted by Katarina Leigh Waters, On camera interview with composer Richard Band, and an On camera interview with co-producer Igo Kantor.
THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW is a great 80's horror slasher classic! So do yourself a favor tonight. Make some popcorn, turn off the lights, and have a good time watching this movie! But don't watch it alone,especially on a college campus! 4 1/2 out of 5 stars! Highly Recommended!!
THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW is currently available on DVD from Scorpion Releasing. To purchase a copy for yourself, visit your local retailer or visit their official website at www.scorpionreleasing.com.
Welcome my cinematic thrill seekers to Day Twenty-Seven of my horror movie marathon! This past Saturday night I along my best friend Leslie, her daughter Oceanna, and three of her friends attended the special Halloween screening of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW at the Camera 3 Cinemas in scenic Downtown San Jose! Now usually these midnight rituals are always packed, filled with long time veterans and nubile virgins. But since it's Halloween season, there was a massive line of people, ready to do the Time Warp again! Once again my friends at Barely Legal Productions were there to bring this cult classic to life before our eyes!
I arrived at the Camera 3 around 11pm, and had some very yummy donuts to snack on, courtesy of our good friends at Psycho Donuts located in the theater lobby. About a half hour later Leslie and the gang showed up with their tickets. Now the show had been sold out for weeks, so we were all excited to attend the show! Oceanna also was kind enough to bring along three of her friends, who also just happened to be virgins! Awwww.....we love our virgins here at ROCKY!! I was able to get a hold of a member of the BL cast and branded her friends with the infamous "V" on their cheeks as well as other tasteful words like "Slut" and "Asshole." Yup, these kids had no clue what the night awaited them!
Theatrical Movie Poster (1975)
The tradition of our emcee Nate McHavoc (Riff Raff) calling up all the virgins from audience was taken to a whole new level with this show. Now in my Day Six review, I mentioned that when the virgins were called to the stage, half of the audience went up. Now this was a sold out crowd, and there was even more virgins in the audience. So when Nate called them up, over 75% of the audience came up on stage! It was unbelievable! I have never seen anything like that before! It was an amazing sight to see!
The Barely Legal cast turned in another fantastic performance once again, and the crowd had a blast! I along with my friends continued the party over at the local IHOP down on First Street. There's nothing like having a big plate of French Toast at 4am! This is what makes life worth living for! Also having breakfast were some of the members of Barely Legal. Yup, this IHOP is now the official post-ROCKY hangout spot!
This was such fun-filled night! The cast, the crowd, the film, everything about the night was just perfect! I had the best time and so did my friends! Now if you wish join in on this midnight tradition of fun, you are in luck! Their next show is this coming Saturday, November 3 at midnight. And to make this show even more special, it is Barely Legal's 17th Birthday show! So make sure you come out and attend this momentous event! To learn more about future shows, and how you
can become a cast member, visit their website at http://barelylegal.rhps.org/.
HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE
Starring: Herschell Gordon Lewis, David F. Friedman, Frank Henenlotter, John Waters, Bunny Yeager, Ray Sager, Jerome Eden, Mal Arnold
Produced by Mike Vraney, Jimmy Maslon, Bill Usher, Jack Calvert
Directed by Frank Henenlotter and Jimmy Maslon
Distributed by Something Weird Video
Folks October is quickly winding down so let's talk about Day Twenty-Six of my Halloween Horrors Marathon! Imagine if you will: Demented Southern town folks killing off Northern visitors for revenge. Highway roaming she-devils looking for fun and fights. Nubile nudie cuties parading around in the buff. Bored suburban teenagers looking for kicks. A sadistic cater sacrificing young women to an Egyptian goddess. These depraved, sick, and perverted images are considered to be some of the most important and most iconic images to be captured ever in cinema's rich history. Ranging from the sublime to the subversive, the bloody to the sexy, one man dared to venture where other filmmakers never dreamed of, and as a result, has left us some of the greatest horror and exploitation films ever made. Now Mike Vraney and his company Something Weird Video has paid tribute to this iconic filmmaker with this, their first ever documentary feature film. Directed by Jimmy Maslon and Frank Henenlotter, SWV's HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE shines the spotlight on this beloved and often overlooked pioneer filmmaker and his contributions to the world of cinema.
The documentary chronicles the film career of the man known as "The Godfather of Gore." From his humble beginnings teaching English and Humanities at Mississippi State which he later evolved into the advertisement business. When Lewis bought a half interest into a small, cheap movie studio in Chicago, he started Mid-Continent Films which produced two films: THE PRIMETIME and LIVING VENUS, which was his feature film debut as a director. It was during the making of THE PRIMETIME he met exploitation pioneer David F. Friedman, who helped Lewis distribute LIVING VENUS. With the release of Russ Meyers' THE IMMORAL MR. TEAS, the next film Lewis and Friedman made was the nudie cutie called THE ADVENTURES OF LUCKY PIERRE. After a couple of years making these nudie cuties and nudest camp films, Lewis came up with a completely different idea for a movie. A type of movie that the major movie studios wouldn't or couldn't make, but theater owners could make money at the boxoffice. Thus in the year 1963 BLOOD FEAST was made, and everything would never be the same again.
The other half of the documentary focuses of Lewis' partnership with Friedman as he created what has been called THE BLOOD TRILOGY which consisted of BLOOD FEAST, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS, and COLOR ME BLOOD RED (which takes up most of the middle of the documentary). These films introduced that famous four-letter word now forever associated with horror: GORE. The world of horror would never look the same thanks to Lewis and Friedman. After the completion of THE BLOOD TRILOGY, Lewis parted ways with Friedman and began to make a plethora of films within the exploitation genre such as MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN, JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT, SHE-DEVILS ON WHEELS, and SOMETHING WEIRD (which Vraney named his company after). Soon he returned to the horror genre with A TASTE OF BLOOD, THE WIZARD OF GORE, THE GRUESOME TWOSOME, and THE GORE GORE GIRLS, which was Lewis' swan song. After that film's release, he became one of the leaders in the field of Direct Marketing advertising (Lewis would return to the director's chair with the 2002 sequel BLOOD FEAST 2: ALL YOU CAN EAT).
Icon director Herschell Gordon Lewis
Maslon and Henenlotter really packed the film with some great, informative, and funny interviews from people like John Waters, Joe Bob Briggs, Connie Mason, Mal Arnold, Jim Dennett and others, and by Henenloter himself. All these stories and opinions give the film life and also give praise to Lewis, to which this reviewer thinks is long overdue. These two directors threw everything in this film, including the kitchen sink! Also the on camera interviews with Lewis were just fascinating; detailing how he made a lot of his films, where he shot it, how he got the money, and how he made his gore-soaked films. Another great source of information came from Friedman, who shared his memories of the good 'ol days of exploitation filmmaking. Sadly, this documentary was one the last films he ever appeared in (he'll also be appearing in Henenlotter's upcoming SWV documentary THAT'S SEXPLOITATION). On February 14, 2011 Friedman passed away at the age of 87.
The DVD comes packed with over an hour of deleted scenes (which could almost make up another film!), a rare Lewis short film entitled HOT NIGHT AT THE GO-GO-LOUNGE, a gallery of Lewis exploitation art, and an extensive Lewis trailer reel!
Something Weird Video's HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE is required viewing and a must-own for every single horror fan out there. The film serves as introduction to people who may have never seen any of Lewis' films while simultaneously satisfies his fans with an in depth biography of the man who invented a whole new film genre. 5 out of 5 stars!! Highly recommended!!
HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE is available on the Something Weird Video website. To purchase a copy, please visit www.somethingweird.com
Hello again everybody and welcome to Day Twenty-Five! So this past Thursday night I attended the all new live RiffTrax broadcast of BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR. Some of you may remember that I attended the MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE live broadcast back in August. Now believe it or not, BIRDEMIC was way worse than MANOS!!
So if you don't know what a Rifftrax is, let me you all a quick definition. Rifftrax "are downloadable audio commentaries featuring comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett heckling (or riffing) films in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000, a TV show in which Nelson was the head writer, and later the host. The RiffTrax are sold online and delivered by digital download," according to the website Wikipedia. But all this is just a fancy way of saying, "it's funny as hell!" Now Nelson, Murphy, and Corbett do the occasional live shows from one venue that is broadcast to hundreds of theaters all across the country, courtesy of teaming up with NCM Fathom Events. The closest theater that was participating in the live broadcast was the Century 20 Theaters in Oakridge Mall. So I headed over there to catch this awesome cinematic event!
Before the show, the RiffTrax broadcast had some hilarious jokes put up on the screen to get the audience primed and ready. Then at 8pm, the show began! Coming to us live from a theater in Nashville, Tennessee, the night started off with a side-splitting short entitled NORMAN CHECKS IN, which in a way was kind of a prequel to the short WELCOME BACK, NORMAN that I saw back in August. In the short, our favorite traveling salesman checks in to a hotel that, unfortunately, is bombarded with the annual taxidermy convention, which caused his room to be given to another guest. As a result of this, Norman is given the room from Hell. And of course we cannot forget his wonderful catchphrase, "Ughhhhhhhhhh!" It was hilarious!
Original Promotion Poster (2010)
Then it was time for Mike, Kevin, and Bill to riff our main feature. Now, I would like to right away apologize to all of you people out there who actually BIRDEMIC on purpose. I take this apology very seriously for this one simple reason: the film was made here in the South Bay, Yes, the film was shot all around here: San Jose, San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, all up and down Highway 1, Highway 17, and Highway 101. The movie was made by local filmmaker James Nguyen, who founded Moviehead.com, an online movie theater back in 1998. Then in 2001, he produced and directed the romantic thriller JULIE AND JACK. Then in 2010 BIRDEMIC, was released, which was largely self-financed and produced through Nguyen's Moviehead Pictures company for a budget of less than $10,000. Production began ion 2006 and took about four years to produce. The film soon became known as one of the worst films ever made, which gave it notoriety and a massive cult following. It was picked for distribution by Severin Films and released on Blu-Ray and DVD.
To be honest, I don't know if I can review this film. I have never seen a film this bad before. And I love bad movies! I mean, for crying out loud, I worship these films! I have seen PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE over a hundred times! I've seen THE ROOM! I've seen SPACE THING! Hell, I've even seen JERSEY GIRL!! And I've also seen the full length version of MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE!! But this film...I don't know...what I saw....life doesn't make sense anymore.
Here is the film's official synopsis: A platoon of eagles and vultures attacks the residents of a small town. Many people die. It's not known what caused the flying menace to attack. Two young lovers Rod (Alan Bagh) and Nathalie (Whitney Moore) manage to fight back, but with the death totals rising high will they survive the Birdemic?
Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, & Michael J. Nelson
This film should be shown in all film school classes as to what NOT to make! The film is all around bad! Real bad!! The acting is slightly above a junior high play, the sound is damn awful and you can barely make out what the actors (I use that term very loosely), the directing was way below amateurish, the CGI special effects (again very loosely) was so bad it was ridiculous, the birds in the film were so fake looking it was sad, and it took over 45 minutes for the damn birds to attack! The first half of the film we are forced to watch computer salesman Rod court the very hot supermodel Nathalie. Alan Bagh will go down is cinematic history as one of the worst actors of all times! The man can't even act walking! Thank goodness for Whitney Moore! Out of all the so-called actors in the film, she was the most believable. She looks like a model, and when we see her in her super sexy lingerie, that was the most believable part of the film! As scary as this film sounds, James Nguyen is currently finishing up BIRDEMIC 2: THE RESURRECTION in 3D!!
Yes, the guys had one helluva time ripping this film a new one! Now I now that these guys are professionals and it's their job to make fun of these types of movies, but this one must have been one helluva doozy for them to make fun of. However the guys stepped up to the challenge, and I gotta say that this was their BEST RiffTrax show ever! Mike, Kevin, and Bill never let up once, never fumbled a joke, and they kept the audience in stitches all night! I have never laughed so hard before in my entire night!
This was a great RiffTrax event! I really hope these guys will release
this show on Blu-Ray and DVD soon because I want a copy of this so I can
watch it over and over
again! To purchase RiffTrax downloads of audio commentaries, DVDs, and Blu-Rays, visit their website at www.rifftrax.com. To learn more about Mystery Science Theater 3000, visit their website at www.mst3k.com. To learn about upcoming Fathom Events coming to your town, visit their website at www.fathomevents.com.
