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Recent Posts
- Hell on Earth (Elite / MVD Visual)
- Bobby Collins – Telling it Like it is (Uproar)
- Panchrysia – Massa Damnata
- Transmorphers (The Asylum)
- Transmorphers: Fall of Man (The Asylum)
- War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (The Asylum)
- Invasion of the Pod People (The Asylum)
- Death Racers (The Asylum)
- MVD Visual Entertainment Update
- Deadly Spawn: Millennium Edition (Elite/MVD Visual)
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Posts by :
Hell on Earth (Elite / MVD Visual)
February 16th, 2012
From cult classic Deadly Spawn producer is unleashed Hell on Earth. Though the budget restraints are more evident here in “Hell” than back when the “Deadly were “Spawned”, HELL ON EARTH possesses, for every dent in budgetary armor, at least an equal extra portion of fun quotient. That’s right, as much low budget slickness “The Deadly Spawn” mustered back in the day – and it was a considerable mustering, I can attest – HELL ON EARTH is twice the blast for your buck – and for the producers’ bucks’ too, I bet. Just as “Deadly Spawn” had a layering of concepts at work, even if it isn’t arthouse material, being both a retro film – an homage to vintage monsters – and a quintessentially 80s gore-or and guffaws flick, so too does HELL ON EARTH manage multiple intents. Besides being a very personal throwback – the producer of a cult classic returning to monster mania – HELL ON EARTH manages to simultaneously capture both the flavor of classic direct-to-video cult fare of the VHS 80s and the feel of contemporary wink-wink-nudge-nudge indie horror camp fests. Read the rest of this entry “
Bobby Collins – Telling it Like it is (Uproar)
February 16th, 2012
At first, Bobby Collins comes off as vulgar and crass. Not that I’m opposed to vulgarity. I’m a huge fan of Bill Hicks’ eloquent vulgarity and Doug Stanhope’s satirical knife of words. But Collins just comes off brash up front. And the impression remains. But his sense of humor – he’s genuinely funny and has a charismatic personality that gets you on his side – snaps you right up about a nanosecond after you settle on his only apparent off-puttingness. In the end, he’s likeable. And terribly funny. He puts his New York mien to good work; he’s definitely a true New Yorker and it colors his humor. It’s part of his distinction and appeal. I was cracking up throughout. And when you’re done laughing, there’s bonus interview material. Plus, please take notice of the insert that comes with the DVD inviting donations for a non-profit, nobody paid and nobody pays Zeno Mountain Farm, which reaches out to connect those with and without disabilities. Visit zenomountainfarm.org.
Transmorphers (The Asylum)
February 16th, 2012
TRANSMORPHERS is the titular spawn of “Transformers” but the film has as much in common with the man-vs.-machine post-apoc elements of the “Terminator” franchise. There’s also a passing resemblance to “The Matrix.” The difference between the ‘bots in those last two franchises and the ones in “Transmorphers”, of course, is that the robots trans … morph. The humans live in a big underground city rendered in CGI, as are the shapeshifting ‘bots – as you’d expect. You know, when “Transformers” first hit the big screen back in the 80s, they had to do it as an animated film. Now, with CGI technology, stuff like this can go live action. While TRANSMORPHERS may not have the level of realism, FX-wise, that its Michael Bay-made big brother, but where it tops Bay’s flicks is in attitude. TRANSMORPHERS is a delightful dose of B-movie bounce, driven by an admirable earnestness. Besides the robots that have a nasty habit of turning into tanky cannon things, there are internal schisms afoot amongst the humans, leading to the thawing out of a rogue sentenced to cryofreeze and a helluva catfight among the tough-as-nails female soldiers. There are also a couple of – shock! – revelations, one about the ‘bots and one about one of the core characters. There’s also a lesbian married relationship depicted in the film, and it’s handled matter-of-factly – no soapbox or subtext intended – which is the attitude one would expect in an enlightened future. And that’s something you sure won’t see in Michael Bay’s shape-changing robot pictures.
Transmorphers: Fall of Man (The Asylum)
February 16th, 2012
I liked TRANSMORPHERS: FALL OF MAN even more than the original. I dug seeing the morphing ‘bots go rampaging through present-time Earth. I love disaster movies and this one definitely added that component to the franchise. TRANSMORPHERS: FALL OF MAN, obviously – since it’s set in the now, is a prequel to the original TRANSMORPHERS. This is about the ‘bots first big invasion; it’s about how they laid waste to civilization and how the humans who were able to band together were give no options but to flee underground. But the living underground and fighting ‘bots stuff is for the first TRANSMORPHERS. This is the second one, FALL OF MAN, and this is about the brave humans above ground who fought back as best they could. Happily, TRANSMORPHERS: FALL OF MAN expands the repertoire of robots, even the traditional style shapeshifting robot – is it weird that one can speak of traditional shapeshifting robots? – makes an appearance, with an SUV surprising its human opponents by turning into a robot. I gotta say, this robot design, despite the less-flashy-than-Michael-Bay CGI (which is neato regardless), is more appealing than the clusterfuck of metal shards the ‘bots look like in the “Transformers” series. The automobile ‘bottage in TRANSMORPHERS: FALL OF MAN looks more like the kinds of toy car-to-robot toys I played with when I was a kid. At any rate, TRANSMORPHERS: FALL OF MAN rocks because I get CGI robots and disaster movie carnage. w00t!!!
War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (The Asylum)
February 16th, 2012
No, this isn’t a sequel to the continuity-challenged Spielberg actioner (which was still fun). This is a follow-up to The Asylum’s own adaptation of “H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds”, which starred Asylum regular C. Thomas Howell. In WAR OF THE WORLDS 2: THE NEXT WAVE, Howell returns in his role from the original and also takes over duties in the director’s chair. A modified version of the unique tripod machines from the original is put to good use here, and we get an oogy peek inside them, where we discover that while the outside of the tripod may look like machinery, the inside definitely has some organic stuff. Cyborg technology in the tripods? Whatever the case, it’s icky – especially when you’ve got a bunch of humans with stuff covering their faces and very organic looking tube-proboscis thingies stuck in their mouths. Yuck. Like the first “War of the Worlds”, The Asylum aims for an emotionally dark approach and it serves to add some drama to the violent sci-fi action. C. Thomas Howell turns in a nice performance – he never fails to exude sincerity and credibility – and handles the helming of the film well, too. It’s a cool expansion of the WAR OF THE WORLDS universe as envisioned by The Asylum.
Invasion of the Pod People (The Asylum)
February 16th, 2012
The whole alien-spawned doppelganger motif has been done a number of times. Robert Heinlein’s brilliant novel “The Puppet Masters” was made into a decent movie, and Jack Finney’s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” has been cinematically interpreted at least times officially that I’m aware of: There is the original from the 50s, full of its McCarthy paranoia; the turn-your-blood-to-ice 70s rendition with Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy; Abel Ferrara’s interesting interpretation in the 90s, dubbed simply “Body Snatchers”; and most recently as “Invasion”, a confused muddle that even Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman were unable to salvage. It wasn’t complete ass, but it was pretty bad. Anyway, while INVASION OF THE POD PEOPLE doesn’t achieve the blood-curdling cold boil of the 70s version nor horrorific intensity of Ferrara’s vision, but it nonetheless stands as one of the more entertaining variants of this kind of story. Among all the films listed, Finney adaptations and Heinlein-gone-silver-screen, as well, INVASION OF THE POD PEOPLE lands in the top three, I think. It develops an edge of paranoia – I can’t compare it to the paranoiac original, that being the one Finney adaptation I’ve not seen – and actually delivers some characters one can give a shit about. And, as I’ve mentioned before, The Asylum likes to add its own tweak to the ideas it uses, and the plant thing – you’ll see what I mean – employed in POD PEOPLE is pretty weird and therefore welcome, since this is sci-fi/horror.
Death Racers (The Asylum)
February 16th, 2012
While no similar film can top Paul Bartel’s “Death Race 2000,” a brilliant and bloody satirical Roger Corman exploiter about a lethal car race of the future in which points are racked up by running down innocents with wildly tricked out cars, there have still been some good follow-ups to the original. Both its official remake, “Death Race”, and its prequel, “Death Race 2,” lacked the subversive, satirical edge of “2000″ – except for some broad strokes, such as the Robocopish media – but were gritty, violent and entertaining nonetheless. But perhaps the most unique revisiting is The Asylum’s DEATH RACERS, which borrows more from the remakes than the original. It isn’t any more subtle than either of the modern “Death Race” movies, but it’s low-budget gore produces more glee in the horror hound than the carnage of those latter two big-budgeters. In fact, in this way, it’s closer to Corman’s picture. But it’s also a very contemporary flick and its sense of style is quirky, to say the least. Let me just point out that the cast includes WWE’s Raven and none other than the Insane Clown Posse, playing themselves, no less! DEATH RACERS is an enthusiastic fusion of sci-fi, action and horror-style violence (one things obliquely of Troma), not to mention sick humor. Throw in the weirdly decorated cars – check out the man-eating ice cream truck ICP is driving! – and you’ve got a modern kitsch classic.
MVD Visual Entertainment Update
February 16th, 2012
For lovers of heartfelt foreign cinema comes a pair of films from MVD Visual, DAVID & KAMAL, with distribution partners Eleven Arts and Seminal Films, and CAST ME IF YOU CAN, with Eleven Arts, Seminal Films and IMEC. The U.S.-Israeli film DAVID & KAMAL explores a number of relationship dynamics to dig into the lives and characters of two young boys who hail from very different backgrounds but who have very much in common. The film navigates the intricacies of a tale that is a colorful, multi-cultural tapestry. Both Kamal and David find themselves inside cultures beyond their own. The boys, both nine-years-old, are in Jerusalem. One, Kamal, lives there, while Jewish-American David is visiting a father upon whom he has not set eyes in years. For years, he’s lived with his mother in the States. Each child has something of importance in his life, something which fills his sense of purpose. Read the rest of this entry “
Deadly Spawn: Millennium Edition (Elite/MVD Visual)
February 16th, 2012THE DEADLY SPAWN is totally the classic camp monster flick transferred to the 80s. Hard to believe a little flick like this made it through to 2012 to have a Millennium Edition release on Blu-Ray from one of horror’s primo labels, Elite, and one of the indie world’s busiest distros, MVD. Just like it’s hard to believe a kid could take on THE DEADLY SPAWN, the titular beasts of this monster mash. OK, so it’s not so hard to believe on either count. THE DEADLY SPAWN might have been an indie underdog but it’s got tons of heart, plenty of gore and a shit-eating-grin-wide sense of fun. And the central kid character here is the perfect little badass in his own right to take on the big, toothy, multiplying spawn from fuckin’ space, with their claws and tentacles and such. The monster – as explained on the Blu-Ray insert’s mini-article by the producer – is a mix of ideas, which find fruitful cohesion in the ghastly but groovy monstrosity that sets about eating up a bunch of folks. Read the rest of this entry “
Taylor Swift: American Beauty (MVD Visual)
February 16th, 2012
MVD Visual has become a prolific source of engaging and informative music documentaries. Comprehensive and full of vital stats and interesting trivia about their subjects, MVD’s pop and rock docs and demonstrate consistency and the ability to garner interest from even a viewer who has no particular interest in the artist in question. (Even better if it IS an artist of whom the viewer is a fan!) One of MVD’s latest releases dives into the world of one of arguably the favorite princess of country music. For that matter, Taylor Swift’s music doubtless holds sway beyond the confines of country fandom. Read the rest of this entry “