Exploitation Nation

Matt Brassfield is a friend of mine that makes no budget shot on video movies.  HERE is the link to his website. He also reviews DVD’s on there and is a general troublemaker in the underground arena. Below are his picks for the best and wort of 2008.

1.) Rambo – Any one who really knows me knows that Sly Stallone is one of my favorite directors, writers, actors of all time, And with this new installment to the Rambo franchise he locks in the number one spot. This film shows an aging John Rambo doing what he does best saving the good guys and slaughtering the bad, but wait there is more to it than just that! It takes a look at a real sick problem of genocide in Berma, and when Rambo kicks into gear to save some christians who have came to help, you find yourself cheering for him all the bloody way!  Really this is a must see film.

2.) Incredible Hulk -  The Green Power House of Rage is back in all his destruction glory. This is a re-launch to the Hulk franchise and it pays more respect to the original TV show then the pervious film. With Edward Norton playing Bruce Banner and Tim Roth playing Emil Blonsky who later turns into The Abomination, whom else could you ask for in this cast? Plus it gets down to what you want to see a giant green man fighting the army and a super villain and breaking shit all around. I just Hope Universal gets there heads on straight and decide to make another.

3.) Iron Man – First thing to be said is the same thing everyone who has seen this Marvel movie has said, Robert Downey Jr. was amazing as Tony Stark. The action in this film was stunning in nature and well done, the acting was top of the line and the twist at the end made you want to come back for more. The Iron Man suit looked great both in CGI and in body suit. Well written and acted film indeed.

4.) Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – Big Budget action with a SCI-FI twist. Indy is back to save the day from the soviets that are trying to use the crystal skull to get world domination. The action is fun and over the top and it was great to see Ford as Indy again. Sure there was some cheese parts and things that will make your eyes roll but what do you want from a Lucas and Spielberg team up. Over all a fun ride.

5.) X-Files: I want to Believe – Not just another Scully and Mulder looking for Aliens film this time it has a sweet Frankenstein feel. After years of no X-Files the cast returns to the silver screen to deliver a creepy down beat film. People are going missing in a small town and a former priest claims he can see what is happing to the victims, with this strange case the F.B.I calls in Mulder and Scully both whom are wanted for crimes that were committed in the final episode. But when things come to light is this Priest the real deal and who is killing these people and leaving chopped up bodies all over the countryside. Even if it did not do well at the box office this film is worth the watch.

6.) Mother of Tears  - I was really losing faith in Dario Argento with such recent duds like The Card Player and Jenifer under his belt, but I felt better after watching Mother of Tears the third in his Mothers series. The film is not perfect but its fun and over the top. Asia Argento is stunning and is the lead in this film about a powerful witch who is causing chaos in the world, and a daughter of a good witch (Asia) must stop her to save society and herself. Sure the monkey who follows and torments her is funny and lame, but what makes up for that is the extreme gore that takes you back to the golden age of the 80’s Italian Horror.

7.) Punisher Warzone – Frank Castle is back and out for more mob blood. But this time he might have meet his mach in the form of the crazed Jigsaw. Wow what a over the top comic film, its packed with so much violence and the red stuff it almost gave Rambo a run for its money in the gore department. Even though people and critics will have you think this film was horrible I found myself having fun watching it. The Punisher is bad ass and yet loving when need be and Jigsaw is the perfect amount of cheese and crazy. Not the best comic book film but not a horrible one either.

8.) The Strangers – Slow Passed and seems like it might should have been a short, The Strangers is a creepy look at a couple who live out in the boonies and are tormented by a trio of killers who are playing a game of cat and mouse. The acting is good the atmosphere is creepy and the plot feels true to life. The only down fall is the tacked on ending.

9.) Outpost 31 – Dusty Austin is the future of Independent Horror and with this short film he showcases how talented he is. This is about Outpost 31 were a handful of Government workers hide out from the zombie invasion that has taken over the world, but when things go sour it’s up to a brother and sister team to save the world. Wonderfully directed and with quick witty dialogue this is a must watch for Horror fans.

10.) Return to Sleepaway Camp – I have been a fan of the Sleepaway camp films for a long time and was hyped to see this fourth film in the series. And it’s one of the funniest films I have ever seen! I am not sure if its supposed to be but I found myself in tears over the bad acting, horrible special effects and some of the worst one liners I have ever heard. The plot has some fat kid whom none of the other campers like being picked on and finds himself being looked at when murders start running wild in the camp. Again if you want a good laugh check this film out. Oh yeah “Your Ass Stinks”!

11.) The Wizard of Gore – A remake of Hershel Gordon Lewis’s cult film of the same name has to be close to making my top 10 for multiple reasons. First is that the Wizard himself is played by one of my favorite actors Crispin Glover, who does a wonderful job playing a crazed mind warping killer. Second is that the storyline is twisted and keeps you wondering what is going on and does not loose you with its odd ball turns. And third is that the Suicide Girls are the victims of his blood soaked show. The effects are fun, the story is fun just a good remake for once!

Other 2008 films I viewed that did not make the list of best or worst.

Drillbit Taylor, Never Back Down, Lost Boys 2: The Tribe, Matt and Bruce’s First Time, Next Avengers, Texas Vibrator Massacre, Bark at the Moons Scars, Shutter,

WORST

1.) Cloverfield – Bad Plot, Bad Script is just a few problems I had with this over the top pile of dog poo. A Giant monster destroys New York as a dumb ass and his friends try to get across town to save his true love while his bonehead unfunny friend records the events on a mini-dv camera with the world’s longest running battery. Just think 1999 Godzilla Meets The Blair Witch Project.

2.) April Fools Day – Yet another reason why remakes suck! This film has nothing to do with the original and show cases some of the worst I don’t give a shit about them characters ever. The plot is about rich kids who play a prank that ends up killing a young woman, and sends there lives down the tubes, years later they are haunted by her “spirit” or so they think. The films pay off is as weak as Lama’s javelin throw in Revenge of the nerds.

3.) Prom Night – Remake again makes the worst list. This film is about a young woman who is hunted down by a crazed school teacher who is in love with her and even slaughtered her family years before, the hunt takes place on her special night….her senior prom. The killer is lame and not menacing and take him and the cops out of it and you have an episode of MTV’s show THE HILLS. Skip this pile and just watch the original.

4.) Christmas on Mars – The Rock band the Flaming Lips I am sure had good intentions on this armature sc-fi Christmas film, but it suffers from bad dialogue and bad acting in spots. I mean come on add lib something better then “fuck” every time you forget your lines! Over all this film is to be skipped. I will say the film score is ok.

5.) Batman Gotham Knight – The Animated film that came out before the Dark Knight hit the theatres makes my worst list for lots of reasons. Like the fact each short is bland in story and does not live up to any of the other DC animated films. Plus I am not a fan of the style animation they went for and in fact most look just like the previous story drawn again! DC and WB should be ashamed of themselves and make a better animated Batman film.

6.) The Rock: The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment – WWE’s look at the career and success of Dwayne Johnson. Now I really like watching these wrestling Legend look backs but this one has me puzzled like why is it they don’t even talk to The Rock, its not like he has passed away or is on bad terms with the company. Second is that its almost just another ego stroke for the over rated and over protected Triple H, I mean really do we need that many matches against him? And the worse is how rushed the whole thing feels, I mean the guy next to Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart and Steve Austin helped keep wrestling on the map! Come on WWE make a better DVD about this legends career.

7.) Day of the Dead -  Another horrible remake that has zombies who can crawl walls like Spider-Man!!  Not as bad as Day of The Dead 2, this film follows a group in a small town as they try and survive a zombie invasion.

And that is all from Matt. Look for some more of my friend’s thoughts in the next few days on the end of the year round up.

2008-12-30
23:47:31

So here is my best of the year. What a strange year it has turned out to be. Two of my top films are comedies, one of which is written, directed and STARRING Ben Stiller, whom I normally HATE. The same film also stars Jack Black, who I also normally hate!  I also have two comic book films in the list and only one underground movie (though to be fair I didn’t see that many this year). The worst list was actually easier to make. I stopped at five but could have kept going with no problem. Also over the next few days I have invited some of my friends to write me some of their top ten lists as well and I will be posting them on here too.

On with mine!

10. Reality Bleed Through – Jimmy Creamer aka Screamerclauz to all you East Coast rockers, made this intelligent and visually arresting underground horror/sci-fi drama about the end of the world. It deals with Government take over, religious cults, and the destructive belief in god. The visuals in the film are far beyond most at this level but are outdone by the ideas presented. Sure its rough around the edges. But it is MILES beyond most micro-budget epics.

9. Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay – I liked the first Harold and Kumar movie. It is silly fun with some huge laughs. But this one is another beast altogether. As politically savvy as it is hysterically funny this is one of the most biting satires of the Bush administrations politics ever. This movie takes shots at the over riding racism of the war on terror, the uselessness of current drug laws, and the facade that is The Patriot Act, all within the confines of a raunchy teen comedy.

8. The American Drug War: The Last White Hope – This actually aired on Showtime at the very tail end of 2007 but showed up on DVD in 08 and was widely seen then. It is a harrowing and sobering look at how cocaine and then crack was distributed into America with the aid of the CIA and the US Government and disseminated onto the lower income streets of L.A. This movie names names, gives dates, shows histories and uncovers the facts. Those who like to call this kind of thing conspiracy theory can be directed right here.

7. [REC] – Jaum Baleguero and Pace Plaza’s intense “hand held” horror film is still technically unreleased in the United States, which is a shame because it is one of the scariest films of recent memory. It was a HUGE hit in its native land of Spain and was immediately remade here as Quarantine, which is a shot for shot, moment for moment remake. Naturally the Studio’s are keeping the original off the shelves here. I didn’t bother with the remake because the original is such a potent and harrowing beast. Why dilute it by seeing something inferior?

6. The Strangers – Yet another truly scary horror film that did great business. Then horror fans turned around and took a big old shit on it. It wasn’t scary they cried. It was stupid they said. It made no sense, they whimpered. Did you guys see the same movie? This was tense, well drawn had likable lead characters in a relatable situation, and a climax that just crushed you. Until the coda that felt tacked on anyway. I don’t get modern horror fans. You give them something good and they fall over themselves to trash it as if that makes them feel better. I sometimes think they deserve the other crap they get.

5. The Dark Knight – Most have called this the movie of the year. On a technical level I certainly cannot disagree. Everything is in place. It moves with grace and honor. The performances are pitch perfect, especially Heath Ledger who gives us The Joker that we’ve always dreamed someone would deliver. There’s depth here that the other comic book movies have all lacked. It is undeniably a great movie. But… There is just something that doesn’t quite work for me. The lack of Batman’s conflicted soul, or at least a focus on it, really left me wanting. I felt like the movie around it was an incredible well oiled monster, but the soul of the piece was just a little bit not there. Which keeps it out of my top.

4. The Tracy Fragments – Canadian Bruce McDonald directed this intense, experimental character study of a teenage girl gone over the edge into mental instability when her mentally handicapped little brother has turned up missing. Ellen Page does easily her best work to date, which says a LOT after Hard Candy. She switches from hurt little girl, to hyper sexualized nymph, to schizo on the edge of breakdown, sometimes all at once and sometimes only with just her big brown eyes. She’s amazing, and easily the brightest acting talent of her generation. The movie is told through all split screens, sometimes dozens at once, representing her rapidly disintegrating psyche. The style is totally called for by the story and is hard to deal with at first, but ultimately works FOR the film, and is a landmark use of technology as well.

3. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – I was only lukewarm on the first Hellboy movie. I thought the characters where cool and some of the occult mythology was well done and interesting. But I felt like the studio held Gullermo Del Toro back from really cutting loose. Well, they DIDN’T this time. This movie is simply wonderful, full of imagination, and colorful spectacle but always, ALWAYS, backed by genuine warmth, heart and humanity. Del Toro does something for his creatures that almost no other director does. He genuinely loves them and gives them not only life, but entire worlds to live in. The scene in this movie where they visit the Troll Market is one of those great scenes from a fantasy film that has that rare ability to completely transport you into a complete world. The characters, even the most inconsequential ones, are rich and alive in this movie. There is humor, but never at the expense of said characters. The movie only falters at the end when it presents a climactic wrap up that is something you see coming.

2. Tropic Thunder – Who the hell knew? I never in a million years would have thought that a movie made by and starring Ben Stiller, with Jack Black would be not only so funny, but so good. This is easily the funniest movie of year, with a more laughs per screen time ratio than any movie I can name, but it is to my shock and awe, probably the smartest too. It just savages the Hollywood machine with relentlessness. This would be career suicide in most people’s hands, but Stiller not only pulls it off, he gets the best performances of their careers from Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise, and Jack Black. And Nick Nolte pretty great too.

1. Wall-E – Another shocker for me that my favorite movie of the year would be a Disney movie. I still firmly believe that Disney is the devil. But somehow this incredible Science Fiction critique of corporate consumerism culture got through the cracks. This is subversive filmmaking at the ultimate degree. Robert Anton Wilson would have loved this had his rascally ass lived to see it. This is a lovable, cuddly animated kids film from the biggest studio on the planet that ruthlessly SAVAGES the entire idea of our culture of idiocy, greed and consumerism. The idea that the first 20 minutes of the movie as a silent tone poem that defies all modern film conventions, that takes several huge swipes at Walmart is just huge. It is also a frightening cautionary tale about what we are doing to our planet and ourselves with our reckless trash filled lifestyles. Plus it is a heartwarming love story about loneliness and finding someone. Just about a perfect film in damn near every way.
Honorable Mention:

Return To Sleepaway Camp- When I saw the first Sleepaway Camp as a teenager I remember just sitting there in shock. The movie literally hurt my head. The strange mixture of general bad filmmaking, weird characters, sexual loathing and just fucked up stuff was just unlike anything I had ever seen. I’ve seen lots of stuff since then and it still stood on its own. Robert Hiltzik the original director has unleashed a second blast of anal wind from the Camp, and by god if it doesn’t smell just like the first! I think the man is certifiably insane. There are no other movies like these two. Not the purposefully campy Sleepaway Camp sequels, nor any other slasher movies. These things are from planet bizarre that only Hiltzik lives on. This movie is utterly terrible, and what a way for Isaac Hayes to end his career, but I cannot recommend it enough!

And Now The Worst!

5. Snuff: A Documentary About Killing On Camera - This Delirious piece of Shit was reviewed here on Exploitation Nation in an earlier blog so I don’t need to ramble on too much about why it sucks so bad. Suffice to say that it reveals almost nothing about the topic at hand that any one interested in in the subject wouldn’t already know. Plus it trots out a group of “experts” that are so questionable and annoying that you keep hoping that a snuff film featuring them will pop up at any minute. Dig this fucking trailer with stories featuring details that do NOT appear in the final film.

4. Day of the Dead - I’m no fan of the modern remake of Dawn of the Dead, though many people are. But this piece of crap directed by the talent barren Steve Minor makes that thing look like a masterpiece of terror and wit. Any horror movie starring Mr. Maria Carrey, Nick Cannon is off on the wrong foot anyway, but casting Mena Suvari as a hard ass soldier is just lunacy. Then the filmmakers not only break any rules of zombie films (since when do zombies disintegrate in CGI bursts like in BLADE?) but logic in general when they start crawling on ceilings and shit. This is the kind of movie that actually makes you dumber after you watch it.

3. Lost Boys The Tribe - I’m not one of these horror fans with a nostalgia boner for the original Lost Boys. I liked it when I was fifteen. Then I got older and realized it was pretty dumb and mostly aimed at teenage girls. Though I still like most of the music. Apparently so did the writers of this bomb of a sequel because they based the entire story around that “Cry Little Sister” song. Literally what little story there is this time out is based on the lyrics to that song! This time they gotAngus Sutherland, Kiefer’s younger and far less talented half brother to step into the vampire lead. It’s pretty obvious when he got the half of the Sutherland gene pool the acting talent part was left out. The two Coreys are back, with Feldman looking creepily the exact same as he did twenty years ago as Edgar Frog. Haim shows up in the last scene pulling a Jan Michael Vincent, clearly so stoned they have to prop him up to get the shots done. I could rattle on and one about all the ludicrous shit that is wrong with this movie, but it is still better than the next two on this list…

2. Cloverfield - This is what happens when you have a great trailer sucker people into a theater. I still can’t believe there are people who liked this mess. It is like being stuck at a party with a bunch of assholes you fucking hate for several hours. Who cares about the monster, the mass destruction etc. I hated those annoying, self absorbed, wall street wannabe ass jockeys! I actually had to break the movie into two sittings because I hated the characters so much I gave up on it once. The first half hour of the angsty whining is interminable and makes you want to hurl things at the screen. The kid they had “running” the camera should have been called ” Hey Rob” because that is all he fucking says repeatedly for the whole running time. Over and over and over he is going “Hey Rob! Hey Rob! Hey Rob!” Until you hope someone will smash him in the god damn face. The movie gets marginally better when the monster shows up, but then a whole new layer of stupidity arrives with it. Truly a movie so in love with itself that it is painful to watch.

1. The Love Guru -Just look at that poster for more than a minute. I dare you. If you can do that with out an emergency bowel evacuation, or punching your monitor than you are made of strong stuff or brain damaged. Even the poster evokes rage and feelings of uncomfortableness due to the enlarged ego on display. This is a resoundingly unfunny, painful movie that is almost an attack on the senses. Chronicling everything wrong with this would just be reliving it. I will say I did not choose to watch this, I was forced into it on a challenge. It wasn’t worth it in the end. To show there is some justice in the world this bombed at the box office. So naturally Mike Meyer’s is crawling back to the Austin Powers series to make that suck even more than it already does.

Unfortunately there are important movies I have missed this year that probably would have ended up on my list, such as Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, and The Strange Case of Benjamin Button all of which I want to see but have gotten past me at this point in time. Considering the end of the year is only days away I don’t see me catching up to them in time. So this list will have to suffice.

So watch this space in the next few days for some of my friends lists. It should be interesting reading to see what they have to say. They have eclectic tastes that differ from mine, so it should be interesting.

See you in 2009!

Andy C

Hell Squad (1987?)
D. Kenneth Hartford
MGM Home Video
Full Screen

When the USA is working on a new and improved version of the Neutron bomb the Middle Eastern terrorist organizations take notice. One of the American diplomats in charge of the program has a son who is morally opposed to the creation of the bomb and is pretty vocal about it. Naturally this gets him into a fight with his pops and when angrily storming outside unguarded he is kidnapped by some Wiley unnamed Arabs. Since any kind of action on the part of the United States would be considered political suicide or an act of war the diplomat puts any kind of solution into the hands of his ASSistant, who comes up with possibly the most cockamamy scheme ever. You think Iron Eagle was goofy?

This gooftard decides to round up a troupe of spunky Las Vegas showgirls (I.E. strippers) and put them through a several week crash course assassination training to make them super soldiers. Then send them into the Middle East (looking a lot like L.A.) to grab his boss’s son. And the big boss dude goes for it! They’re out of options, so they have nothing to lose!

So we get a sweet, sweat filled montage of these young ladies in tight shorts and white tank tops firing guns, running through tires and climbing walls. A drill sergeant puts them through their paces and whips them into shape and in no time they are ready to go into battle!

When they get there they check into the hotel and find a bathtub that is big enough to fit all nine of them, so they immediately climb in together for a hot bath, until they get their call for instructions. Then they go blow up some terrorists encampments but no son to speak of. So its back to the bathtub. Rinse lather and repeat. Meanwhile the son is in some dark hole chained up next to a dead guy. The terrorists come in and tell him that because of the Geneva Convention they have to give him food and water and then proceed to dump the water on him and throw the food on the floor. Those EVIL bastards! Always breaking the Geneva convention, does that sound like anyone we know?

Eventually these girls figure out they are being lead around in circles by their tampon strings and get on the stick to finding the homeboy and blow some more shit up that looks a lot like stock footage, before heading back home to crack the case wide open. There is one fairly good stunt sequence of all of them running to get into an actual moving airplane.

The IMDB says this was made in 1987, but I just can’t believe that. I’d be shocked it it was made anywhere after 1978. It just has that feel of the late 70’s no budget potboilers like Policewoman, or Superchick that Crown International put out.  1987 is about a decade too late for that craze. By then the movies coming out to VHS were a LOT slicker than this movie is, or way more low budget (shot on tape). This is pretty low budget but still got some props, costumes, planes, jeeps, guns, and girls to take off their tops. The sight of these girls with fetish army costumes, high boots and machines guns is something to behold. As is the opening scene at which the neutron bomb has been tested and flunkies in banana suits are clearing up the charred remains of the animals they used in the blasts. They are picking up pieces of ropes or collars and saying ” Dude this used to be a dog!” “Oh man This one was a whole elephant. And now its just…gone!” I mean, that’s what a neutron bomb is supposed to do, but it doesn’t make the dialogue any less fucking goofy.

Lastly I am amazed Quinton Tarantino has leaped onto one of his coke feuled bandwagons and put the hot tracks onto remaking this thing. Its the perfect film to do it with. It has action, violence, politics, Beautiful woman who can become empowered as the story goes by. This first film is pretty much bloodless and only a little bit of boobs. But you goof remake it and go for brook and make it dead serious, hard R rated material. If he don’t want to do it, then fucking call me and produce and I will direct it! I KNOW I can make a kick ass movie out of it!

Oh yeah I forgot to mention the guy who gets his face eaten off by a tiger. That was pretty cool.

2008-12-22
02:24:48
ANdy C

Just got this bit of news when I logged on today…

Navarre shuts down BCI Elipse

Corporation looks to reduce costs due to recession

By Susanne Ault — Video Business, 12/17/2008

DEC. 17 | Navarre Corp. is shutting down the primary licensing operations of its in-house label BCI Eclipse in order to reduce costs in the current recession.

As part of this decision, Navarre will be reducing its workforce and writing down assets. Going forward, BCI’s exclusively distributed disc business will be folded into the corporation’s distribution unit. Its BCI brand is not expected to be stamped on future releases. Among former BCI-managed titles now distributed by Navarre Distribution Services is the ongoing Ultimate Fighter mixed martial arts releases.

Retro TV titles, featuring the licensed He-Man and She-Ra series, have been among the label’s more popular titles.

Current BCI president Bob Freese will be in charge of the company restructuring. Its expected that about 10 employees will be losing their jobs with the label’s closure. Navarre did not specify layoffs and did not further comment about executive departures.

Navarre CEO Cary Deacon said that BCI needed adjusting because it has been an unprofitable business for the last two years.

The company did not quantify the number of BCI-related layoffs. But Navarre expects that its fiscal 2009 third-quarter results for the period ending Dec. 31 will include a significant charge due in part to severance costs.

Navarre hopes to complete the restructuring, which is part of the company’s general strategy to lower costs, by the end of January 2009.

“To deal with the effect of the recession, we are moving quickly to decrease expenses in all areas of our business,” said Deacon. “Rapidly changing conditions in the licensing and budget DVD markets during this holiday sales season have prompted us to make more fundamental changes. We continue to be very excited about the DVD content that will now be exclusively sold and marketed through Navarre Distribution Services. These changes will allow us to focus our efforts on growing the sales of the DVD content that is most appealing to our retail customers and consumers.”

BCI was one of the best companies out there and a personal favorite. Many of the reviews here at Exploitation Nation have been of their product and they were one of the few companies I have continued to support ad nausium. They put out the Exploitation Cinema Lines, distributed the Code Red titles (which had an INCREDIBLE line up for the upcoming year), and the Spanish Horror line which had already went under from apathetic buyers (you stupid fuckheads, those Paul Naschy discs wear among the best on the market!).  The Savage Street 2 disc edition was one of the BEST dvd releases of last year, restoring a sleaze classic to pristine condition with tons of extras, putting it into landmark status, and they did great work on lesser titles like Final Exam as well. They also supplied great nostalgia fair like the Dungeons & Dragons and He Man cartoons. But most loved by consumers were the Drive-In sets that you could pick up for around ten bucks. Ten movies, usually about half of them unreleased for a ten spot, almost all from the awesome Crown International library of slimy sleaze and horror. Many letterboxed and a couple even with commentaries. The company was started to have quality issues here latey (see my reviews of the Exploitation Cinema lines) but no other company has been constantly delivering the grindhouse goods at such an affordable price.

This corporate restructuring means that this good shit is now all going to be GONE. The niche programming is out the window in an effort to cater to big business. The mention of the UFC tapes being successful is a sign post of the future. More sports related dvd and no more horror/cult stuff. I mean they FIRED the staff who produced the stuff for Christ’s sake.

I only partially blame the company though. They were at least putting out the product. But if people weren’t buying it then maybe they were forced to make this decision.  And unlike other companies much of their material made it into Best Buy and other Brick and Mortar stores as well as sold at very reasonable price points. No, I largely blame THE FANS. Fans that claim they are horror and cult fans, but pass up this “old stuff” to buy the latest repackaging of the Saw franchise, or something else Hollywood has farted out. The fans that would rather just rent it at Netflix than support a company that is trying to put out something worthwhile. I understand we are all in touch with hard economic times here. But if you can afford to buy a new I-phone every two months, or other new gadgets, then you have some disposable income. Hell, the money fans spend on a new issue of Fangoria every month could have bought a new release from BCI. But the biggest disappointment is the downloaders. I’m guilty too, I bittorrent like everyone else, but I try to keep it to stuff I’m not able to find from anywhere else. It burns me when I see people post whole discs from struggling companies such as Code Red, Synapse or Severin and people swarm over them. These people helped KILL this company.  We’ve fostered a culture that wants something for nothing and has no concept of the outcome. Here is the outcome folks. The company was putting out the great shit you guys were taking and giving away for free? They have stopped now. They FIRED the people responsible for those releases and canceled the future releases. Say thanks guys.

Let’s hope Code Red at least is able to find another distributor to pick them up so they can continue. But in this market place it seems grim.

This is the saddest news for cult fans in a while.

Andy C

The Ruins (2008)
D. Carter Smith
Paramount/Dreamworks
2.35

I missed this ecological based horror flick in the theaters. The trailers didn’t do a lot for me, and it didn’t make much money, therefor didn’t hang around long enough for me to catch it anyway. My mistake as this turned out to be a pretty solid horror flick with some serious squirm inducing scenes. Color me impressed.

The story follows two college couples in Mexico on vacation. They meet a dude who tells them his brother is an archeologist and is excavating some Mayan temple. And that they all can go meet up with him for some “serious culture” before they head back to the states. Since this dude is seriously fuckable the chicks are all for this rather shady sounding trip, and the dudes are just up for adventure. Naturally they get there and cell phone reception is gone (no towers deep in Mexico you see) and they have to hoof it the last few miles to get to the temple. When they arrive they are assaulted by a group of VERY angry Mexicans speaking what appears to be a Mayan dialect. These swarthy badasses are armed. They kill an extra dude they picked up along the way and force the group up on top of the pyramid like temple. Then the badasses take up camp as they grow in number, intending to keep the kids up there.

Up top the kids find the dead body of the archeologist and keep hearing a cell phone from down a deep shaft inside the temple. What they don’t see is that the plant life that covers the entire temple is ALIVE. Not like all plants, but as in active, squirming around and out to eat your ass. While they are trying to figure out a plan, the plants have eaten the corpse of the archeologist leaving the group next on the menu.

The go into more would be spoiling the fun of the movie. Suffice to say it gets wet and messy. Very messy. The vines have a way of crawling into open wounds and winding their way inside of you. The scenes of said vines having to be cut out of a person will have you hiding your eyes. The interpersonal mayhem of the movie will get to you. A little kid is shot point blank, a character has his legs amputated with a rock and a hunting knife, and a session of rather foul self mutilation all are far more graphic and intense that the usual studio fair. While not more bloody than the average Saw movie, its the personalized intensity that really gets to you. You can FEEL this stuff.

Many modern horror films these days make the mistake of presenting us with characters that are annoying and unrelatable. Usually because the actors are these beautiful model types that seem fake. That almost happens here. The main five leads are all of the good looking glamazons and at first feel like the typical Hollywood model types. But they grow on you as the movie roles forward.  The model veneer wears off as they become more filthy, worn down and tore up. The film becomes a survival horror film, and these kids are looking the part as it wears on.  I also like that the lead girl wears glasses and there never is a scene where she loses them and it is a big deal. She just wears glasses. It is a character trait, not a plot device (and she looks hot in them too!).

The movie is far from perfect. There is some lazy plotting and inconsistency throughout, especially involving simple logic of the situation. But the movie moves fast enough to compensate well. Overall this is a bloody good time.

2008-12-17
16:17:23
Andy Copp

Alien Contamination aka Contamination (1980)
D. Luigi Cozzi aka Lewis Coates
Blue Underground
1.85

Some might call Italian director Luigi Cozzi a hack. I’m not so sure I can disagree, but there is a certain amount of charm to his work that is undeniable and very appealing. Whenever he dives in and does a famous Italian rip off he adds enough berserk weirdness to it that it becomes something all its own. Take for example his Star Wars trip, Starcrash, a movie that has nearly everything wrong, from the wonky special effects (who thought it was a good idea to have the stars be different colors like Christmas tree lights?) to miscasting of people like Marjo Gortner as a Space tough guy. But in the end it is a delightful stew of odds and ends (it doesn’t hurt to have Caroline Munroe in a skimpy outfit most of the running time) that is irresistible.

So when Cozzi was assigned a knock off of Alien he attacked it with gusto. His only consignment was that he had to have gory chestbursting scenes and an Alien in the film. So he concocted the bizarre and wonderful film we know and love today as Contamination.

The film tells the story of Alien eggs from Mars that have made their way to Earth. When they get too warm they hatch, well actually burst, sending goo all over any unsuspecting person nearby. But the goo is toxic and causes the people to swell and ultimately explode in great showers of guts and gore. These eggs are first discovered on a freight ship in the New York harbor in boxes of coffee from Columbia. Soon the secret service is called in and with the help of a New York cop they are investigating this extraterrestrial yolks. More people explode as they track it trough the criminal underground and back to a space mission from Mars and then to a coffee factory in Columbia and a conspiracy to enslave the planet!

The final film bares no resemblance to Alien except for the exploding bodies and that there is an alien in the final reel. And what a crazy looking Alien it is! He looks like the martians on The Simpsons (in fact I’m willing to lay money they are based on this guy, the resemblance is too uncanny) with one eye that is clearly made out of a car headlight. That one eye naturally hypnotizes people so it can eat them with its giant uncircumcised penis looking tentacle. Throw in a little espionage (that Cozzi claims was forced upon him by the producers) and a touch of romance and you get typical cozzi weirdness and a whole lot of goofy fun. Also adding to the atmosphere is a great score by Goblin (after the departure of Claudio Simonetti). And watch for genre stalwart Ian Macollach from Zombie who has a hilarious showdown with the female doctor in which she berates him verbally until he bitch slaps her and they naturally have a good laugh about it!

The DVD from Blue Underground looks simply fantastic, with bold colors and no print damage to speak of. It is almost odd to see this movie look so good after years of it looking crappy under the title Alien Contamination on American tape and theaters. The disc offers two interviews with Cozzi where he talks about the making of the film. This may be out of print now, I’m not entirely sure, but it still seems easy enough to come by. And a lot of Blue Underground titles seem to be schedule for Blu Ray in the upcoming year, so maybe (we can hope) this might get that treatment sometime soon.

2008-12-16
05:17:25
Andy Copp

Bettie Page 1923-2008

Cult Icon Bettie Page passed away last night after being on life support since December 2nd from a heart attack. She was 85 yeast old.

Page has become an iconic personality in our culture. She’s beyond just a persona, she is an image that resonates with people everywhere. Here we are over 50 years after she exploded into the world modeling scene with her unique look and charisma and people are still enamored with her. Both men and woman alike are Bettie obsessed and will continue to be.  She is one of the rare people of the 20th century that really honesty can be called a legend.

After a divorce in the later 40’s a young Bettie moved to New York city in 1950. She supported herself as a secretary before falling into the world of modeling. First she did some pin up shots for a New York cop named Jerry Tibbs who was basically a hobbiest. But it was these shots that landed her the attention of the now famous Irving Klaw, bondage photographer extraordinaire. It was with Klaw that Bettie made her first big splash in the underground world of Bondage films and fetish photography. She made many 16mm and 8mm shorts playing both the dominant and victim in the scenarios. But what always stayed the same was Bettie’s look of the dark hair with the straight bangs, the bright red lipstick, and curvaceous body, showed off even more so in the bondage styled outfits. She was decked out in corsets, high heels, stockings, and shoulder length gloves all that naturally highlighted her very feminine look. She was already creating the Bettie Page brand.

She took some acting courses and did some small parts on live TV that never amounted to much.  Her name was still attached as a pin up girl and that is where here future lie. She did a feature film about pin ups and burlesque shows called Striporama that is the only film in which her real voice can be heard. She then did two films with Irving Klaw called Varietease and Teaserama that co featured her with the likes Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm. There is a segment with Tempest Storm and Bettie that is particularly well known that is particularly steamy. Though neither film has any nudity or sex, hence the titles.

Bettie would meet Bunny Yeager one of the world’s most renowned pin up photographers and together they would make the magic that we know and love today. Bunny sent the first pictures of Bettie to Playboy which got her the Playmate of the Month centerfold in 1955, and she was subsequently named Miss Pin up Girl of The World. Her startling good looks made her known as The Dark Angel. She was in hot demand for several more years, shooting with many photographers, and with Yeager. Most of the famous photos that people know of Bettie like the ones of her by the beach, or the leopard skin bikini one are from these shoots.

The Senate Subcomittee on Juvenile Delinqency called her in to their hearings due to a young man dying during a bondage shoot. Though neither of them had anything to do with the shoot, both Bettie and Irving Klaw became embroiled in the court dealings and let it basically put a stop to their careers. Klaw would take up the camera again later. Bettie, on the other, hand found God.

Bettie would devote her life to her Christian beliefs and try to whole heartedly change the world. She stopped being a model altogether, leaving that behind completely. She would go on to remarry several times over and do missionary work in Africa and work with Billy Graham. Her pin up days would just become a distant memory.

That is until the mid 70’s when Pop Art, Pin Ups and Porn would become all the rage. Sexual freedom was on the tips of everyone’s tongue and this raging beauty from the 50’s was all over the place again. Her old photo’s were popping up in bondage magazines that were being sold in newly minted porno shops all over the country. Then a book called A Nostalgic Look At Bettie Page came out in 1976 from Eros Publishing. This helped spark renewed interest in her. Another series of magazines devoted to her S+M and Catfight photos appeared between 1978 and 80. But this was still under the counter material. Bettie was bubbling back to the surface, but not quite the iconic queen we know today. Yet.

That would take Comic Artist Dave Stevens and his book The Rocketeer and painter Olivia. Dave Steven’s modeled his female lead in the comic after Bettie and was very open about it. In interviews he made it very clear who this sexy, spunky heroine was and people caught one. Readers wanted to know who this knock out was. Olivia did several paintings of Bettie that were printed in several magazines that also sent the zeitgeist flowing. And finally a fanzine called The Bettie Pages by Greg Theakston tried to conical everything Bettie. This was early to mid 80’s and suddenly Bettie Page was back. Seemingly everywhere in fact. A whole new generation of people were falling in love with the dark haired vixen who seemed to always have a smile and a wink for the camera. An explosion of merchandising happened practically overnight. Posters, prints, stickers, photos, you name it and it was out there. The problem being that none of the money was filtering back to Bettie who at this point was unaware that she was back on the scene.

During this time away she had continued to do her Christian missionary work, and according to some reports had bouts with depression and mental illness. When she saw that her old self was back in the limelight she refused to do any interviews but did manage to pursue legal avenues to get back the copyright to her unique image so she would be secure for the rest of her life. When asked why she didn’t want to do interviews, she said she wanted people to remember her like she was, for that image to stay alive.

What Bettie Page has come to symbolize to millions is a positive role model for sexual liberation. No matter what position she is in in her photos or films, she is seemingly in control in some way. She ALWAYS seems to be having fun. She is beautiful, spunky and tenacious, controlling every situation easily, or so it seems. But most of all she demystified many avenues of sexuality that had been forbidden before and made them okay. She made it okay to be “The Dark Angel“. You didn’t have to be a blond with a stick figure. You could be interested in a little bondage. And sex could and should be fun. People everywhere connected with that. That smile and wink exuded strength and charisma that said “yep and I’m in control of this room Buster, but I’ll let you play too“.

There have been countless imitations, knock offs, and legions of goth girls who who idolize Bettie and have adopted her look. A few have gotten her attitude as well. Those who seem to have “got it” seem effortlessly sexy, those who don’t seem like they are trying too hard.

There have been several films and DVD’s about Bettie’s Life including the Hollywood attempt
The Notorious Bettie Page from 2005 and the semi underground feature from Nico B. Bettie Page The Dark Angel from 2004 .  Both have some interest to the Page-a-holic but don’t hold a candle to the real thing.

So the divine Bettie Page has finally left this mortal coil, but she did so leaving behind a legacy that rocks our culture. She will continue to bring men to their knees and empower women with her image for many years to come. She made an impact that few can compare to.

Bettie Page Interview- In Her Own Words

2008-12-12
19:52:58
Andy Copp

The Black Panther (1977)
D. Ian Merrick
Unknown
VHS O.O.P

This British lensed True Crime pic is easily one of the most clinical and cold films ever put to celluloid. While not as good, it ranks up there with the German film Angst in cold blooded depiction of crimes.

The Black Panther tells the true tale of one Donald Neilson (formerly Donald Nappey in real life who had changed his name because of the bullying he took over the last name because that is British slang for a diaper) who was responsible for the deaths of several burglary victims and ending with a 17 year old heiress he kidnapped.  This film wasted no time getting to the screen as the case has just wrapped up literally the year before in 1976.

The film opens with Neilson in the woods performing what appears to be survivalist duties. But it turns out to be is his woods bound hideout for a robbery attempt. But this attempt sets the stage for those to come as he bungles it when someone finds him rummaging about and he flees without any of wares. Though back in the woods he does an admirable and thorough job of dismantling his campsite so there is no trace of his presence.

We soon see that he has a wife and teenage daughter that he treats horribly. Commanding them around like he is a drill Sargent in the army and they are his recruits. Even the tiniest infractions are met with his disdain. he spends hours alone in his room pouring over blue prints and photos from the city plotting his next robberies. When he is not doing that he is remembering his time in the war with pictures and warm memories.

But his robberies never go as planned. He dons a black hood and manages to show some skill getting into the places (usually post offices or general stores) but he always has to go that extra step and get keys or what not from people who live attached to the places and ends up facing off with unexpected people. He doesn’t set out to kill anyone, but they meet his shotgun anyway.

The press label the murderer The Black Panther because the surviving family members describe a man in a black hood. When he sees a newspaper article about a teenage heiress who recent was awarded a huge amount of money in the death of her parents. He sets his sights higher for some kidnapping and extortion. He finds a storm tunnel underground that is rarely used and makes that the place where he will store his captive. Unlike his other adventures, this one goes off without a hitch. He gets the girl and gets her into the drain, ties up and she cooperates. his complex plan of leaving notes, having her family makes calls and set up meetings is put into motion. Naturally the family call the police, which is what screws it up and things do not go as planned.

As I stated before this is a cold, calculated movie. It isn’t really a character study as you don’t get much characterization from anyone, especially the lead. This film is much more interested in laying out the facts as they happened. And from what I understand it does so as close to reality as possible.

Donald Sumpter plays the lead role (he can most recently be seen in David Cronenberg’s crime drama Eastern Promises) and is chilling. He plays this guy as a wound spring. Tight, rigid and waiting to blow. But he only blows in small fragments, just long enough to make a mistake and kill someone. Then he heads right back into his shell and is rigid and rock solid again. he’s living some sort of paramilitary superman fantasy that we never are really clued into, but it is clearly there in the performance.

The version of this I saw was from a well worn VHS that I got from a bit torrent site. So I have no idea where it exists. I keep thinking this might be in one of those 50 pack DVD sets, but I may be getting it confused with another film called Day of the Panther.

Andy Copp
2008-12-112
3:52:04

 

Chinese Hercules aka Ma Tou Da Jue Dou (1973)
D. Ta Huang
BCI/Navaro
2.35

“What do we do with these people?”
“We kill them. And dump them.“

That pretty much sums up all of Bolo Yeung’s lines in this early 70’s Kung Fu actionier that is known for staring the muscle bound Chinese action man who starred opposite the great Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon a couple of years prior to this. the only problem is that Bolo is hardly in this movie. He is not even the main villain in Chinese Hercules (that’s the American title!) but a supporting henchman! he doesn’t show up until the halfway point.

Until then we get the story of a skinny martial arts dweeb. We meet him practicing his ass off late at night when the master’s daughter interrupts him. He’s sweating worse than Chris Tucker at a Klan rally. She rather smartly asks him ” you practice, even at night?” She’s pretty smart that girl. They begin to talk and it is clear that he doesn’t like her brother who is also in the martial arts class there. Seems he is some sort of asshole who gives our hero shit.  Since our dude is sweet on this babe they go for a walk and who do they run into? You guessed it, her asshead brother and his cronies. And he aint happy about them being together. And even worse he’s been drinking. Naturally they get into a fight and our hero flips his lid and kills the ninconpoop! So he runs away screaming like a little girl into the night.

Later he is wandering around the beach in a daze all freaked out that he killed a dude, even though the guy was asking for it. So to make up for his sins, he smashes his deadly weapon hands with a huge rock. Flash forward a month and he is in a new town working on the docks carrying bags of rice. He impresses everyone by working extra hard, sometimes carrying two bags at a time (that shit will catch up to him when he gets older!) When a couple of hungry thieves are caught stealing and are being publicly beaten he steps in and buys their punishment with his whole months pay. But the foreman is, you guessed it, an asshole, and decides he must be beaten to pay up for all the shit these kids have stolen in the past too. The other employees try to step in but at the threat of their pay they stand down. Then the owner shows up and all hell breaks loose until our hero is righteously whooped but good.

Turns out that the owner has turned over the port to drug pushers (one guy looks like the Chinese Robert Goulay) who want the unionized workers off the docks so they can take over the port to get their drugs. Suddenly its like Hoffa with Martial Arts. Notice I’ve not mentioned the hero doing any fighting since the beginning of the movie. Cause he hasn’t. he has taken the Ghandi like vow of non-violence because of his guilt ridden conscience. so even when his friends are getting the shit kicked out of them. even once the bad guys bring in Bolo Yeung and he KILLS almost half of the remaining cast, he sticks to his guns. When Bolo is murdering all his friends our hero is hiding out in a shack being all angsty and somehow we are supposed to feel bad for him. when his girlfriend whose brother he killed finds him, even she is wiling to fight the bad guys, and he still doesn’t stand up! This little wastrel doesn’t stand up to the Chinese Hercules until the very final few minutes!

Thankfully the final showdown is pretty good. I was glad to see it wasn’t all just martial arts, as they used things like big rocks, metal barrels, pieces of woods, and that the Robert Goulay pulled his trusted dirty trick of flicking a cigarette butt into the good guy’s eye. I’m a big fan of fights where they pull in shit from all around them and us it. Has anyone seen the movie The Challenge with Scott Glenn from 1982? the final swordfight in that movie is a killer. it takes place in an office building with office furniture staplers and all kinds of shit getting into the mix. Fucking Fantastic!

So anyway Chinese Hercules is the first feature on the double bill in the Exploitation Cinema set from BCI/Navaro with Black Dragon (reviewed a few pages below). Unlike the print used for Black Dragon which was simply a fucking mess, this one is not too bad. It is scratched and splicy in places, but it is letterboxed correctly (the first time this title has been available widescreen to my knowledge, and it needed it!). There is no language options, so all we get is the English dub, but it is clear enough with no drop outs (once again unlike Black Dragon which drops out three or four times). The color on the print is a bit pink and could have used some cleaning up but these Exploitation Cinema releases has pretty much become the bargain basement releases. Which is kinda sad.

The trailers on this disc are Sister Streetfighter, Deadly China Doll, Five Fingers of Death, The Streetfighter, Super Chick, and Horror High which is going to be on the next double feature disc released in December sometime.

2008-12-09
04:07:04
Andy Copp

Beyond the Door aka Chi Sei? aka The Devil Inside Her (on screen title) (1974)
D. Ovidio Assonitis
Code Red DVD
1.85

I dunno about you guys but I’m a sucker for a good possession movie. Just like any other horror fan worth their salt I was scared shitless by The Exorcist at a very impressionable age, throw into that stew being raised Catholic and you get a perfect recipe to be frightened by these morality plays with the devil. After The ExorcistBeyond The Door was such a hit the rest of the world flew into high gear making rip-offs of it, with Spain and Italy being the hot beds of production. is probably the one that has become the most successful and well known over the years. It played neighborhood drive in theaters on double and triple bills well into the early eighties and spawned two in name only sequels (which are actually Mario Bava’s Shock which was named Beyond the Door 2, and Amok Train which was retitled Beyond the Door 3). While it is not the best of The Exorcist knock offs (that prize goes to The Antichrist aka The Tempter) it is still a solid and creepy as hell little movie with some imagery that is hard to shake off. I had many years ago caught the very end of the movie on our local independent UHF TV station at about four am and it creeped me out. I still found it kind of haunting.

The movie opens with a strange, almost non-sequitor scene of a woman on a florescent light pentagram with many faces replacing her own. A man leaves and gets in his car. He loses control and goes off a cliff but it stops mid air and a voice that we have already been told is Satan tells him that he can have his life back if he finds a woman who is about to give birth. Then The story continues with  a woman named Jessica played by Juliet Mills, who is married with two very precocious kids. She discovers she is pregnant again. Her pregnancy is developing at an alarming rate skipping ahead months at a time in just weeks. She also begins to show signs of demonic possession such as spinning head, puking, swearing, kissing her young son on the mouth and apparently biting him while he sleeps. There also seems to be ghosts in the house to as in one very creepy scene the kids piss off the spirits sending their whole room into a frenzy of fling toys, smashing furniture etc. But the creepiest moments are the most quiet such as the rocking chair rocking all by its self as the little boy talks to it. Or when Jessica awakes and looks all around the room with one eye while the other stares ahead perfectly still. Her obligatory head spin is handled really well as her daughter runs in to tell her about the ghosts, and her head slowly spinds to reveal a terrifying rictus grin. The levitation scenes are eerie and effective too.

The problem with Beyond the Door is that int he last third it all becomes pretty muddled and very confusing. The character we saw go off the cliff is a dude named Demitri who apparently sold his soul to the devil and used to date Jessica. He shows up to makes sure the baby is born, but its unclear if he is going to kill it to save himself from dying, or is going to make sure it lives or what. It ultimately seems the devil is just fucking with him anyway you slice it.

The movie has a really strange editing pattern to it as well that adds to the confusion. Sometimes scenes will include quick flashes of things we have already scene in the middle of them for little reasons, or other scenes will play out without dialogue, even though people are speaking. The weirdest though is a scene early on in which the bathroom is shown catching on fire but nothing ever comes of it. we see it catch on fire, but no one ever notices, it is never mentioned, no fire trucks come, and at the end of the movie someone goes into that bathroom and it is fine. Really, really weird.

Outside of the strange editing, the movie is actually pretty well directed. It isn’t super stylish like say an early Argento or Fulci film, but it is solid, with a lot of moving camera that never lets things get boring. The effects are all handled well and convincing too. It is easy to see why this movie held up over the years and remained a drive in favorite.

The new Code Red DVD is great. The print is in nice shape, though the colors are a bit muted, btu I suspect that has a lot to do with the original color palette of the film. There are boatloads of extras with two featurettes, two commentaries, that awesome and scary trailer that used to scare the pants off people, plus the other Code Red trailers. The first 200 of these came with a collectible O card with different artwork.

2008-12-01
06:04:27
Andy Copp