But before I start, I have a couple comments. First of all, I’ve never seen a truly bad movie at this festival. Sure, there were some I didn’t care for, but the quality is consistently excellent in the films chosen. Secondly, I was very tired the day I went. This definitely affected my experience of the features, since they were obviously longer.

Worm

UK | Directed by Ray Vernava | 11min

Very weird, very cool! It’s a surrreal fantasy horror piece . . . or something like that. This one is hard to explain, but well worth the watch. Watch the trailer.

Dead Friends

Canada | Directed by Stephen Martin | 11min

An original tale, for sure. I didn’t care for the makeup, but it involves a zombie (always a plus in my book) and some fun humor. Watch the trailer.

The Corridor

Canada | Directed by Evan Kelly | 99min

My first feature-length film of the day was a good one. It was a strange supernatural tale that for some reason kept reminding me of The Shining. But I kept falling asleep during this one — I’m not sure whether it was the movie, or my severe lack of sleep that caused this. I think I needed to pay more attention than I did to really get this movie. Watch the trailer.

Bad Moon Rising

Australia | Directed by Scott Hamilton | 8min

Awesome werewolf short, complete with a sweet transformation scene that reminded me of An American Werewolf in London. You gotta watch this 1-minute excerpt.

St. Christophorus: Roadkill

Germany | Directed by Gregor Erler | 26min

A faced-paced thriller about a guy who endures an extreme amount of pain after witnessing an accident on the road. I loved this one. Check out the official website, where you can watch the trailer (among other things).

Donner Pass

USA | Directed by Elise Robertson | 86min

I love a good cannibal movie, and this made me happy. It’s all based on the Donner Party, and the legends surrounding it. Great production value: acting, violence and gore effects were wonderful. Watch the trailer.

Mea Maxima Culpa

Canada | Directed by Eric Spoeth | 25min

Black and white and based on Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, this short was very enjoyable. Good acting, and good expansion on the original story. Watch the trailer.

Augenblicke

Germany | Directed by Martin Bargiel | 19min

I think I was too tired for this one, as it was really surreal, having to do with blurring the edges of the real and the imagined. Too much for my tired mind to wrap around. I’m sure it was good. Watch the trailer.

The Black Box

USA | Directed by Jason Balas | 81min

I think I was so confused after Augenblicke that the disorientation spilled over into this movie. I guess it’s a post-apocalyptic, futuristic kind of thing, but I really have no idea. I need to try to watch this one again. Watch the trailer, and look for links on that page for other trailers for this movie.

The Living Want Me Dead

USA | Directed by Bill Palmer | 23min

This was my favorite short of the whole day! A man subjects himself to scientific tests for money, and consequently develops a condition in which he gives off a pheromone that causes people to turn into bloodthirsty killers. Brilliant and extremely enjoyable. Bravo! Watch the first scene and sneak peek.

The Millennium Bug

USA | Directed by Kenneth Cran | 98min

My favorite feature of the day! I was pleasantly surprised by this, as I had no idea what it was about. It’s New Years Eve 1999, and a family is headed into the mountains for a holiday getaway. They encounter inbred hillbillies, a cryptozoologist and an enormous creature that surfaces once every thousand years. All practical effects (“No CGI” was actually the movie’s mantra), which was pulled off masterfully. I liked this movie so much that I went out and bought it on DVD immediately, getting to meet the director. What a way to end the day! Go to the official website to watch the trailer and order your own DVD.

It’s an imaginative title, I know. On August 1, 2011, the UK will see the DVD release of Cowboys & Zombies, previously released here in the States under the title of The Dead and the Damned.

I was excited about this. The combination of zombies and the Western genre has been pretty successful, with games like Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare and books like Eric S. Brown’s How the West Went to Hell. I had high hopes for this independent effort, written and directed by Rene Perez and starring David Lockhart, Camille Montgomery, Rick Mora, and Robert Amstler.

The movie opens with a pretty decent gunfight, but really drops off from there. A bounty hunter is strapped for cash, and goes after a notorious Indian who is wanted for rape and murder. The citizens of the old Western town find a strange glowing-green meteorite and open it up, releasing CG radiation and turning them all into angry, fast zombies. And you can pretty much figure out where it goes from there.

My two biggest problems with this were the lack of originality — there’s really no guesswork here — and the dragging plot. I thought of Creepshow as soon as I saw the meteorite sequence — the Stephen King meteorite segment. And there are just so many traveling sequences. You see a lot of walking around. I almost fell asleep during the drawn-out, actionless dialogue scene between the bounty hunter and the Indian.

Not to mention the blatant CG that plagues the film. I already mentioned the radiation being computer-generated, but a lot of the blood is unquestionably CG and sticks out badly.

I might as well add that I had a problem with the lead actor as well — David Lockhart has the bounty hunter. He comes across as neither rugged nor tough, and his soft, high-pitched voice doesn’t help.

But I will say that I enjoyed the look of the zombies. I loved the sequence inside the house when the blind zombie is stalking the girl. The makeup was done very well, and the scene was pretty well done, even if there were some things about it that didn’t make much sense.

Yeah, I was disappointed by this one. Lots of promise, with little delivery. I give it a 3/10.

This movie has a very Saw vibe. Four women wake up in an underground cell, remembering nothing. They are drugged and subjected to a series of horrifying experiments. On top of this, the women are visited one at a time by the killer Surgeon, who cuts a number into each woman’s skin — the exact time that he’s coming back to kill them. The movie takes a number of unexpected twists and turns, leading to an ending that is truly surprising.

I have to say that I’m amazed at what the filmmakers did with a very low budget, especially in the effects department. There is lots of blood and gore, the vast majority of it being practical (not CG). I only saw a couple quick CG enhancements to the effects, and they did not detract from the scene at all. It all plays into the psychological nature of the movie — they’re messing with the actors’ (and the viewers’) heads, leaving everyone to try to figure out what is really going on.

It’s also very good on a technical level. A lot of careful attention was paid to camera placement and movement, and stylized, creative lighting was utilized to the fullest extent. It’s all edited together very well — even though it’s a longer movie, the pacing is very good and never left me bored or over-stimulated.

The acting is pretty much what you’d expect from a micro-budget film. A couple of the characters are done well, while most are mediocre at best. But they weren’t helped by the fact that there wasn’t much character development — I really didn’t care for any of them that much. Most of the movie is focused on the psychological horror of the situation, not on growing deeper with the characters.

A few specific problems I had:

• I just didn’t get the killer Surgeon. Why was he there? Several things didn’t make much sense to me.
• After the experiments and subsequent questioning, the women were given the chance to ask the doctor one question. Why didn’t they ask what was going on? They never thought of that until the end.
• The main character was awfully calm upon discovering the Lovecraftian tentacle bug monster. She was even clearheaded enough to use the creature to her advantage. I think that any normal person would have crapped their pants and collapsed in a sobbing heap. Or maybe that would just be me.

All in all, this was a very interesting movie to watch. It’s a Saw-like psychological horror film, lacking the fine polish of a big-budget film, but still delivering some nice gore and unexpected twists.

Thanks to my friends at Organic Marketing for sending this!

Edmund Fizgerald Porter, Great Lakes Brewing

The first thing that flashed through my mind was my bone-crunching version of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which I had put a lot of work into a couple weeks ago. Finding this beer is clearly more than a coincidence. However, being that I wasn’t quite sure what a porter was, I almost passed it up. The label promised a taste that is “smoky, robust, dark and bittersweet.” After a few minutes of deliberation, I finally decided to give it a try. It was $8.49 for a sixer, which is relatively reasonable at Wegman’s.

It turns out that porters are pretty heavy. Not quite like a stout, but still very dark and rich. The description on the bottle is accurate, with the warmness of chocolate and coffee in the forefront. I’m surprised that it’s only 5.8% ABV, as I’m used to darker beers being stronger. On the initial sip, I wasn’t too sure I’d be able to drink more than one or two, the taste was so rich. Not bad by any means, but very full. Well, let me tell you this: it’s not all that hard to drink more than a couple. In fact, it gets easier and easier.

It turns out that Cleveland has managed to do something right, as that is where Great Lakes Brewing is located.

And it turns out that I officially like porters (so far). It’s not a party beer, but rather one to sit down and enjoy with a good hearty dinner — or on a sinking vessel on Lake Superior. I recommend it!

I love this book. It’s a comprehensive, entertaining guide for zombie fighting, written in a military style. In this well-organized and well-written manual, Ma covers everything you need to know about fighting the living dead, complete with helpful illustrations and “Combat Reports” — interviews and accounts of encounters with zombies. It’s a great blend of straightforward instruction and short storytelling.

The first section covers the facts about zombies: what they are, what they aren’t, and how they function. I was particularly thrilled with the first misconception discussed: that zombies can run.

Next, the focus is turned to those fighting the zombies. Physical fitness, health and wellness are discussed in terms of zombie combat, so that those confronting the living dead can prepare as much as possible. A lot of time is spent on weapons of all kinds — traditional battle weapons, swords, knives, blades, clubs, etc. — as well as weapons that can be found in certain settings: the farm, the garage, the kitchen, and more.

Ma brings it all together with the final section, Combat Strategies and Techniques. Your chances of success in a skirmish with the undead will soar as all kinds of techniques and situations are covered.

“For those who have never encountered a walking cadaver, the techniques described in this section may seem vicious, brutal, perhaps even excessive and gratuitous.”

Of course, the humor is implicit. The straightforward, deadpan delivery of the manual and conversational tones of the Combat Reports are inherently funny when the subject is zombies.

It’s a great read. Roger Ma’s zombie knowledge is unparallelled, and I can only hope to have him at my side during the next zombie outbreak. Go buy The Zombie Combat Manual right now.

Rating: 10/10

Bled White web site

The movie takes place after the zombie apocalypse has struck, and what’s left of society is reordering itself to deal with the flesh-hungry “zombies.” People are doing whatever it takes to survive, and we follow several plot lines that intertwine. We follow two hit men, a family, and a couple running a hotel. The scenes aren’t necessarily chronological, creating a darker kind of Pulp Fiction feel. Things happen at the beginning of the movie that don’t quite make sense until it’s connected to something else later on.

The filmmakers explore some interesting territory and have come up with some original ideas — a big plus in my book. We see the conflict between those who believe in “killing” the zombies and those who want to them” live” in hopes of a cure being discovered. Themes of cannibalism, cheating, and survival vs. killing are also in the mix.

The characters are pretty nicely developed, and the actors perform much better than I was hoping for. Some are excellent (the lead hit men), some are mediocre, but none are bad.

On a technical level, they did a great job with a low budget. The whole movie is high-contrast, allowing for a lot of lights and shadows. They managed to film the whole thing during the winter, something not often seen in zombie movies. It works really well. Overall, the shot selection and cinematography were well done. The suspense they’ve created is wonderful. The editing and pacing, along with the good score and sound effects, make for great atmosphere.

Now for the zombies. Even though they run, they look good: pale with lots of blood and light blue cloudy eyes. The makeup is good — they must have spent a fortune in blue contacts. Nothing looked fake. However, the zombies growl and roar and sound demonic — a little too over-the-top for me. This could have been just as scary (probably scarier) with slow zombies.

The effects were good, and they kept it mostly practical. They used some digital effects — fire, gunshot flares, clouds going over the moon, etc. — but they don’t overindulge in digital effects like a lot of low-budget movies tend to do.

All in all, this is a very good low-budget movie — fun and gory. Also a breath of fresh air in the over-saturated zombie movie market.

Rating: 7/10

But then things went weird for the band. Creative differences began to show through on Digimortal, the followup to Obsolete. It wasn’t a great album, and the band seemed to be in limbo for a while. Madman guitarist Dino Cazares left the band after a falling-out with vocalist Burton C. Bell. Bassist Christian Olde Wolbers switched to guitar, Byron Stroud (from Strapping Young Lad) took over on bass, and Raymond Herrera remained on drums.

They released Archetype — which I love. A few years later came Transgression, which was lukewarm (although I’d still listen to that over Digimortal any day). I figured they were still growing with the rearranged lineup, although they were pulling away from the element of death metal and getting awful pop-sounding on some tracks (like that U2 cover?!).

Then they kind of wandered away from each other. Christian and Herrera began playing in Arkaea, and Burton decided to reform Fear Factory with Dino back on guitar, Gene Hoglan (from Strapping Young Lad) on drums, and Byron remaining on bass. Controversy abounds, and you can read all the (supposed) details on the Wikipedia page.

While I love Fear Factory, I became disinterested in them. All the bickering and problems kind of turned me off. I’m not fully convinced that I like Burton or Dino. I like the Strapping Young Lad guys, Christian and Raymond.

Which brings me back to my original statement: I was hesitant to pick up their February 2010 release, Mechanize.

And to be honest, this is about what you would expect from a Fear Factory album. Dino has come up with some really cool riffs, and the mega-robot-drummer Hoglan adds larger-than-life heaviness to the mix. Burton adds some welcome growls this time around, but his vocals aren’t anything you haven’t heard before. He maintains his ability to do death metal screams and melodic singing within the same song, which ain’t easy.

While this is an album I’ll probably listen to fairly regularly, it’s really nothing new in the realm of Fear Factory. At times I feel like I’m listening to Demanufacture or Obsolete. I’m fairly certain that the purpose of this album was to re-establish cred with an increasingly disillusioned fan base.

Innovation it isn’t. However, it’s an enjoyable album that FF fans will appreciate. Hopefully, Mechanize is a stepping stone to further growth and creativity in the band.

Rating: 7/10

Why? They were each $19.99.

The teenage guy behind the counter wasn’t impressed by what I was buying. “Something to keep you busy,” he dully remarked as he bagged them.

I knew neither of these games were big hits — they both received pretty lukewarm reviews. But something pulled me toward these games. Today, let me tell you about Prototype.

This is an amazing game. You’re an shapeshifting anti-hero given free reign in New York City. You can consume people and steal their memories and appearance. Your powers include super jumps, super strength, super speed, and a vast array of weapons (like the giant claws seen above). As you go through the city slaughtering the police and military, you earn more experience, which rewards you with more powers and stronger abilities.

Sure, there’s some kind of story that goes along with it. But it’s so much fun to terrorize the good citizens of New York, that I really don’t care about actually doing the missions. I’m not ignoring them completely — you have to complete missions to gain more abilities and powers — but I spend an enormous amount of time between missions bringing death and destruction to the city.

My only real complaint is that there’s not much variation in the scenery or the people throughout the city. The playable map is very large, but everything pretty much looks the same.

I love this game. It’s a steal right now for twenty bucks — go get it.

Okay, enough history lessons — let’s get to the plot. By the way, the 3D version of Creature from the Black Lagoon is amazing if you can find it. It does have great underwater effects! A large explosion is seen as a narrator gives a short speech on earth. The film then shows a beach with strange footprints coming out of the water. The waves slowly wash over them, leaving the viewer the obvious question: what was it?

Meanwhile, scientists are digging into a wall of dirt and rock, uncovering an odd-looking skeletal hand. Later that night, two men are wakened in their tent by a monstrous shadow. The thing tears down the tent, slashes one man with a sharp claw, and kills both of them. The skeletal claw is sent to a lab so it can be determined what species it is from. Dr. Carl Maia, who discovered the hand, assembles a crew of scientists to find more fossils in the “black lagoon.” Among the crew are Dr. David Reed, Kay Laurence, Dr. Mark Williams and Dr. Edwin Thompson. They board the boat, the “Rita,” driven by Lucas, who tells them a tale of “gill-man,” a legendary creature who, millions of years ago, may have been a throwback to the human and amphibious race — a cross-breed, if you will. It is then we get our first glimpse of the creature, coming up from the lagoon to grab a large bird and pull it down to the deep lagoon.

It soon becomes apparent that the legend is real and two battles begin. One is for the capture of the creature for study purposes, or to let it stay in its natural environment. Second is the ever-famous battle for the love of a woman (Kay), which was common in these types of films. In a brilliant scene, Kay goes for a swim in the lagoon. The creature sees her and has never witnessed such beauty before, swimming inches away from her, slightly grazing her leg, wondering what she is. Kay panics and gets out of the water. The gill-man then begins his pursue of Kay by jumping onto the boat and causing chaos.

Eventually it is decided that the scientists will use rotenone (a drug that is used to capture fish). Then they put the creature in a cage, but unfortunately it doesn’t hold the beast for long. The creature breaks out and seriously injures Dr Thompson. Lucas thinks it’s time to leave the cursed lagoon, but cannot, because the creature has blocked off the only exit with giant logs. Williams decides to go underwater to try to remove the debris, but is confronted by the gill-man and is killed. Using the rotenone on the creature gives Dr. Reed enough time to remove the barricade created by the gill-man. Later that night, the gill-man comes on board, kidnapping Kay and taking her to his cave somewhere within the lagoon. Yes, its’ like King Kong underwater, but I’m fine with that! The rest of the team manages to find the gill-man’s subterranean lair, and after a brief fight the creature is shot and falls into the darkest depths of the lagoon.

This is without a doubt my favorite Universal monster film, and seeing it in the 3D form (the way it was introduced to American audiences) was amazing, especially the underwater shots! Ben Chapman, who played the creature, would have to hold his breath for over a minute in some scenes.

On a scale from 1-10, Creature from the Black Lagoon is a perfect 10! If you should happen to want to buy the movie, I would recommend the legacy collection. It comes with all three creature films, several documentaries, anda lot of other photos, trailers, etc. You can get it at Amazon.com for around $20 — a steal in my book.

Well, that’s it for this time around. Once again, thanks to Corey for allowing me to continue reviewing some of the drive-in classics! See you at the drive-ins! This is Misfit boy and I’m out!

So here is the plot. “For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action,” narrates the voice at the start of the film. A volcano erupts on a distant island and causes tremors across the North Pole, causing a giant glacier to crack and collapse, revealing our giant menace (yes, a giant insect in the North Pole — don’t ask, I don’t know either). OK, insert even more stock footage, and finally 15 or 16 minutes into the picture the film finally starts. On a small military station manned by two men, a distant buzzing sound is heard before the roof collapses on top of them. Meanwhile, Colonel Joe Parkman is worried that something is wrong with the station, so he sends out a search team. When they arrive they find the station is destroyed. A giant claw falls on top of them, nearly crushing the two searchers (he he, giant claw)! They take it back to the lab for investigation. After more [YAWN] chattering they finally figure out what it is! Yeah. They send out a plane to see if they can find it after it appears on the radar, and the plane never comes back. Surprise [insert more boring dialogue] and then the mantis finally strikes! OK, as if the poor Eskimos don’t have enough to deal with — polar bears, living in ice, gamera at one point (never vacation in the north pole) — the mantis attacks and the Eskimos flee.

The giant claw, as I referred to earlier, is actually a hook from the mantises giant pinchers. MORE DRAMA THAN THE MIDNIGHT PODCAST!!! Sorry Corey. Here comes the giant puppet! The mantis shows itself eventually right outside the base of Red Eagle One, as it’s referred to. Seeking a warmer climate, the mantis moves towards the USA. OK, enough already, the mantis tours Washington and New York, where it is rammed by Parkman and bails out of the plane at the last second — that was close! In the end, the mantis is trapped in a highway tunnel under the streets of New York!

Spoiler alert!! The mantis hides in the tunnels of New York, wounded and dying. Then the military comes in to gas the creature. The end.

On a scale from 1-10 I would give this a 4, BUT the MST3K version would be a 9! Go figure. Thanks Corey, and I’ll see you at the drive-ins for Creature from the Black Lagoon! This is misfit boy and I’m out!

http://dr-pus.podomatic.com/entry/2010-03-20T20_13_04-07_00

A Little Dead Podcast » A Little Comic Book Update (for 03 March 2010)
My friends at A Little Dead Podcast asked me to review the 4-issue release of The Crazies, and I had a great time doing so.

Dead Lantern Splattercast » The 3rd Annual Splatcademy Awards
This was fun, as I gave a highly slanderous presentation for Best Director.

These were some of my favorites. Radiation played a big role in these films, along with atomic test sites. Now there is a documentary out there narrated by Billy Mummy called Attack of the 50 ft. Monster Mania — it’s an amazing doc. That goes through the years of giant bug and monster films.

Universal Pictures didn’t release this film on DVD until 2006. I, on the other hand, bought a laser disc transfer at a horror convention for $20 (pirates that sell copied movies should have their Achilles tendon cut and forced to run a marathon). But anyway, the actor that stars in this film is one of my all-time favorite actors, Mr. John Agar. He was in films such as The Mole People, Revenge of the Creature, The Brain from Planet Arous, and King Kong (1976) (he had a cameo as a city official), among many others.

Now, back in the 50’s, these types of films were popping up at drive-ins all across the country. Kids couldn’t get enough of them! I think the only bugs that were never made into monster movies were dung beetles and horse flies. I mean, Hollywood was pumping these films out left and right.

So here is the plot:

A man staggers through the Arizona desert until he collapses, and we see his face is deformed beyond recognition. The reason: 2 scientists have injected themselves with a growth serum that makes food grow twice its normal size for the growing number of people in the world. This experiment is being conducted by Professor Deemer a recluse who has decided to try his serum on lab animals (guinea pigs, lab mice, rabbits, and a TARANTULA). The animals are growing at an alarming rate. As he is working on his experiments, Paul (his other assistant) enters the room with a mangled face that only a mother could love, and injects Deemer with the serum. A fight ensues and a fire breaks out. Glass starts to shatter and the 3-foot tarantula escapes while Deemer puts out the fire. Deemer buries Paul in the desert and must find a replacement. Local authorities find the first assistant (Eric) and conclude that the cause of death is acromegaly,a rare disease. They ask Deemer if they can conduct an autopsy, and he declines. Dr. Matt Hastings (played by Agar) is upset by this, as the sheriff decided Deemer knows more about it than Matt. The next day Deemer invites a new assistant, Stephanie Clayton (or Steve as she is referred to), to work with him.

Meanwhile, the tarantula is loose and attacks a herd of horses. A car accident is discovered and the victims were devoured. Matt finds a pool of liquid by the remains and confirms it’s insect venom. As the film moves on, Matt and Steve begin a relationship as the tarantula is causing a deadly rampage across Arizona (the two drunks that get eaten by the tarantula is a classic 50’s death scene). Back at the lab, Steve has growing concerns about Deemer, who is beginning to deform also. He finally tells Matt and Steve what is going on and that the tarantula escaped.

Then, one evening as Steve is getting ready for bed, the tarantula (now the size of a house) is staring at her through the window! The tarantula destroys the house killing deemer but Matt shows up in time to save Steve. The tarantula moves into the small town and attacks. Machine guns and dynamite are ineffective, so it’s time to call the military.

SPOILER ALERT!

The military sends in fighter planes to drop napalm on the giant beast, and guess who the jet squadron leader is? Why, it’s none other than Mr. Gran Torino himself, Clint Eastwood! The napalm burns the tarantula and destroys it at the end, right before it enters the town.

I loved this film, and I would have to give it at least an 8 out of 10 for pure fun and enjoyment. If you like this one, you should also try Earth vs. the Spider — the MST3K version is hilarious!

Well that’s it for Tarantula! See you next time at the drive-ins! This is misfit boy and I’m out!

Here’s the plot:

Mitch MacAfee (played by Jeff Morrow, who stared in such epic films as The Creature Walks Among Us, Kronos, and This Island Earth — he came back to the horror genre in 1971 for Octaman) is running radar tests while flying his plane when he spots a UFO. Nothing shows up on the radar screen but the military sends out a squadron of jets to investigate. Nothing is found. When Mitch returns to base, army officials are furious with him. Eventually they start to take him seriously after planes start to disappear.

The reason: a bird, “a bird as big as a battleship,” has been devouring plane after plane and their crews. This giant bird is from outer space and is even equipped with a force shield! Now it’s up to Mitch, his mathematician girlfriend, and the military to stop the winged horror! Mitch finds the bird’s giant egg and shoots it full of holes. This enrages the creature and it heads right towards New York City. Mitch and some scientists create some sort of anti-matter ray gun to stop the menace. In case anyone has yet to see this film, I wont give away the ending — BUT I will say it’s nothing short of hilarious. At one point in the film, the Giant Claw destroys major buildings in New York.

It’s a film worth watching. Many horror hosts of the 70’s would play this film quite a bit. And the bird itself looks like Warner Bros. cartoon character Beaky Buzzard. Yes, it looks that bad, but I would give it a 5 out of 10 for bad one-liners and even a space ship can be seen in the distance (stock footage from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers was even used!). Give it a watch — after all, it’s not a long film, and who wouldn’t wanna see one of the worst monster films ever made??!!

Well, see ya next time at the drive-ins! This is misfit boy and I’m out!

Days of the Drive-Ins

The drive in days are long gone (well most of them anyway). I used to love going on the weekend to see some of my favorite horror films. Unfortunately not many were shown at the nearest one by me. I always wondered how great it would be to raise some money & show a “movie madness” night. Imagine going to see Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead at the drive-in! Or even older horror films from the 50’s. well, those are the films I will be talking about. We’re going back in time when CGI had no definition. Special effects consisted of wires, puppets, and of course cheap makeup. But to me, those were the best.

I’m so nostalgic a person (I know this sounds dumb) I would take a drive-in DVD I have with a bunch of promos that they would show in the good old days, and I would splice it together with some of my favorite b-movies, take my equipment outside and watch some movies under the stars with my favorite beer. Sounds like a waste of time but it still gave me that feeling of being there. Anyway, I asked some people in the ages of 50-65 what their favorite horror films were at the drive-ins. NOTLD always came up, and everyone and their mother have reviewed it already. But I have found some good ones and some not so good ones that still have a place in my heart.

So with that, here are some of the films that were mentioned to me that I will re-watch and review.

THE GIANT CLAW
TARANTULA
THE DEADLY MANTIS
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (in 3-D)
THE GIANT BEHEMOTH
GODZILLA

And possibly some others. As always a special thanks goes out to Corey for allowing me to do this. See you at the driveiins!!

misfitboy

But I really had no idea what I would be subjecting myself to. This movie was so bad that I couldn’t finish it, despite the fact that we get 2 kills in the first 5 minutes. I’ll give this a very generous 1/10.

And while you’re there, check out all the other great stuff Melzer has to offer. It’s well worth your time.

http://jamesmelzer.net/2010/02/unleashed-ep-12-peter-clines/

A LONG, LONG, TIME AGO… IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY . . . George A. Romero and George Lucas intertwined like a bastardized Siamese twin. (Well, not really but if they did) the result would be STAR WARS – DEATH TROOPERS.

First off, I am a fan of the original Star Wars films but I have to admit, I was not a big enough fan to read all the books that followed the first 3 films. I first heard about this book on the Midnight Podcast and to be honest it didn’t really peak my interest much (big mistake on my part.) I read some reviews and a lot of people were saying “Oh, it’s not Star Wars, it’s too violent and gory for this type of book. Now that peaked my interest. So I was fortunate to stumble across the audio book. I was NOT disappointed! Zombies and Star Wars? I’m on board!

No Luke Skywalker or jedis in this book — as a matter of fact the only original characters in this book are Han Solo and his faithful sidekick Chewbacca. There are references to Darth Vader from time to time but that’s about it. My thoughts on that: “Who cares?” This book is a classic horror novel that peaks your interest around chapter 8, grips your ears and does not let go until the end! Anyway, the story.

2 teenage brothers, a female doctor, 2 smugglers and a sadistic imperial guard are on board the “Purge,” a prison vessel carrying the scum of the galaxy. It has thruster problems and is in need of desperate repairs. Out in space not far away is an abandoned star destroyer. A group is formed to board the vessel for much-needed parts for immediate repairs. There is no sign of life on board. While searching the vessel one soldier sees something on board but never gets the chance to tell anyone about it. Eventually on their return to the Purge it becomes clear that there was something on board, a deadly virus that the empire had been working on for some time that wiped out the entire crew of the destroyer. On their return to the purge, some of the men start coughing and become ill. Within hours the virus spreads throughout the ship infecting all species on board. Now, there is a slow build of characters at the beginning but that’s to be expected. Only a few are immune to the virus, and soon guards and prisoners start dying off quickly. The 2 teenage brothers are in a cell and are released by a guard who feels sorry for them due to their age. He dies shortly after. Dead bodies litter the ship, and it’s described in gruesome fashion at times. Eventually the bodies disappear. But not for long. The brothers make it to solitary confinement where they meet Han and Chewie. At this point death is just the beginning. The dead soldiers and prisoners come back to life hungry for flesh. And the battle for survival begins.

Now I don’t want to give too much away and ruin such a well-written story. But I will say the zombies in the book are like the ones in Land of the Dead. Eventually they start to learn, as in using weapons, climbing, etc. Don’t let this turn you off in any way! It really works for the book. Now my only problem with it is the end is a little weak, but when the dead eat people, it is described if full gory detail.

I really enjoyed this book. If you can find the audio book, it’s packed with great sound effects, ships soaring through space, blasters, etc. I would recommend the audio book with high ratings. It helps to picture a film inside your head and almost makes you feel like you’re on board with the survivors! So if I were to rate this from 1 to 10 I would have to give it a high 8. Thanks to Corey goes out (as always) for letting me ramble about one more little gem I came across. This is misfit boy and I’m out!

The film follows a “common” Japanese man. A film crew is conducting a series of interviews as he goes about his normal daily activities. He’s struggling to make rent, separated from his wife, and only gets to see his daughter once a month. He’s somber and contemplative.

Oh yeah — he also tends to grow into a 50-foot mutated version of himself to fight off enormous invading monsters, protecting his fellow citizens from the monster threat.

The film catches the “King of Pain,” as he is nicknamed, on a sort of downward spiral. He comes from a long line of this kind of fighters — his father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc., were all giant monster fighters. In the past decades, they were highly respected, achieving fame and fortune as protectors. However, he has come to be shunned by the Japanese, and can’t seem to do anything right. It’s obvious that he’s depressed, and the desire to continue fighting is lost by the end, in which he slips into a weird delirium fueled by alcohol and disillusionment.

This movie is mostly done in the style of a reality/documentary film, but the fighting scenes are all cinematic. Apparently, his fights are televised, and the sponsors are paying the Big Man’s salary. Of course, all the monsters (including the giant King of Pain himself) are all done using CG — not with rubber suits, like I expected. Well, until the end, anyhow.

The CG worked for me. This may be surprising to you, being that I’m generally turned off by CG. The reason is that it wasn’t trying to pass computer-generated animation as real. The filmmakers didn’t attempt to combine live shots with CG. It gave a real fantasy quality to the fighting scenes.

Even more importantly is that this is a spoof. It’s making fun of traditional giant monster movies, exploring the element of the common man dealing with giant monsters. It’s yet another reason why the CG works — it’s not serious at all, despite the fact that there are some serious moments in the film (depression, divorce, etc.).

The monsters are highly original. The screeching, elastic monster with a combover. The monster whose single giant eye is attached via a very long umbilical cord. The passive monster who does nothing except block traffic and emit strange smells. I loved them all!

Some short-attention-span viewers of Big Man Japan will be driven crazy by the pacing. It’s slow and thoughtful, characteristic of a lot of Asian films. Moments are drawn out in a poetic way, leaving the viewer to dwell on the implications of the scene. The viewer is encouraged to drawn his/her own conclusions — it’s not all spelled out for you. The story of the Big Man is pieced together throughout the entire film, which is another point that may frustrate some. Things that seem confusing or unclear are often resolved later in the film. The key word here is patience, and a lot of people may not have it.

It’s rated PG-13, which is pretty stiff. I would let extremely young children watch this, as there is no foul language, nudity, or violence. Maybe a couple small trickles of blood, and a good bit of fighting. I guess the only problem that very young children would have in viewing this is that it’s subtitled.

I really liked Big Man Japan. What a great film. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it goes deeper than a lot of other movies. It’s saying something about modern societies that love nothing more than to praise and lift up heroes and celebrities, only to delight in dragging them back down to the depths of loathing and scandal.

If you get the chance, pick this one up. I give it an 8/10.

It’s about junior high school-age youth whose parents have moved them into a planned community (subdivision) in the middle of nowhere. With nothing to do, and with their parents obsessed with their careers and attracting buyers to the community, the kids are left with nothing to do. Their only entertainment is a private recreation center. When the bored kids drink, take drugs, and engage in crime, the parents and police neglectfully point their fingers at the youth. They’re just a bunch of bad kids, right?

That kid on the left is Matt Dillon. Seriously.

In their quest for making money in their new planned community, the parents and law enforcement are leaving nothing for the youth to become involved in. Naturally, they’re going to do destructive things if they’re bored and neglected. And the kids revolt, locking their parents and police in the school during a what-are-we-going-to-do-about-these-bad-kids meeting. Destruction ensues.

If you get a chance, watch this movie. Brilliance.