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Bill’s Bizarre Bijou: SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY (1965)

Posted in 2011, B-Movies, Bill's Bizarre Bijou, Drive-in Movies, DVD Review, Grindhouse, Strange Cinema with tags , , , , on August 10, 2011 by knifefighter

Bill’s Bizarre Bijou

William D. Carl

This Week’s Feature Presentation:

SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY (1965)

Welcome to Bill’s Bizarre Bijou, where you’ll discover the strangest films ever made.  If there are alien women with too much eye-shadow and miniskirts, if papier-mâché monsters are involved, if your local drive-in insisted this be the last show in their dusk till dawn extravaganza, or if it’s just plain unclassifiable—then I’ve seen it and probably loved it.   Now, I’m here to share these little gems with you so you too can stare in disbelief at your television with your mouth dangling open.  Trust me, with these flicks, you won’t believe your eyes.

This week we’re watching a wonderfully demented sex-noir from 1965, SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY.  Boy howdy, this one starts with a bang!  A blonde with a bouffant screams and practically spits at the camera, “Why I ever left Paul for you, I’ll never know.  You degenerate!  You’ll pay.”  A voice shouts, “I’m warning you Marla…”  The blonde moves into the driveway, where someone puts a car in gear and promptly runs her down.  Cue the credits running over footage from the film we’re about to witness and beautiful lush music.  Lush music suddenly transforms into wild jazz over footage of go-go dancers (this jarring shift in tone will be indicative of the movie we’re about to see).  Wonder of wonders, the director is also the choreographer – Eber Lobato, and the movie stars his wife Nelida Lobato.  And the cameraman was Ray Dennis Steckler, director of such ignominious features as THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES (1964), THE THRILL KILLERS (1964), and RAT PFINK A BOO BOO (1966)

Back to our sordid tale – a handsome Adonis is arrested by the coppers while an older man watches.  Marla is body-bagged and we are suddenly in a lawyer’s office and a whole new film stock.  They speak to Paul Williams, the husband not the star of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974).  “This case has everything.  A beautiful girl, a rich husband, a little punk who kills her with two witnesses, and still there is a chance for a real good defense.”  They speak about justice and how this “sort of thing” should be exposed so the public can see it all.  Cue flashbacks:

Boring schmuck and airplane magnate Paul Williams is seduced by statuesque Marla during a modeling session in front of one of his aircraft.  After a whirlwind romance, they’re married, but before the bouquet lands, Marla’s stepping out with the always shirtless, achingly handsome David (Nic Navarro, star of 1963’s HOOTENANY HOOT) .  What follows are several actually erotic love scenes on the beach, including a hot number with the pair rolling in the crashing surf during a thunderstorm, ala 1953’s FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (only Deborah Kerr never lost her bikini top!).  During their dalliances, an older man, Christian, keeps appearing to make snide comments, and when we cut back to the DA, we hear him explain that Christian is the case and the star witness.  Meanwhile, while chump of the year Paul plays golf and Christian lurks a bit, Marla frolics in a bubble bath and along the beach, tossing in just enough nudity to attain an ‘adults-only’ rating.

FROM HERE TO ETERNITY...this ain't!

Back in the lawyer’s office, the arguments and hateful dialogue continue.  “Marla was a crummy little tramp.”  “I can bring in a creep from Los Angeles that’ll prove Jesus Christ was a manic depressive.  Great, we’ll get him the chair.”  They even refer to our heroine as “Miss Slutsy Wutsy.”

After more flashbacks involving a rocking band and several table dancing scenes, Marla cheats, Christian lurks, and the hotel lifeguard teaches Paul how to swim so he can surprise his wife later.  And boy is it a surprise!  Marla tries to kill Paul by taking him out in a boat and pushing him overboard.  Little did she realize, her schnook husband would end up saving her when she’s struck on the head by the capsized vessel.

And it all comes back to Christian Deval, played by the film’s writer Alan J, Smith.  A self-loathing homosexual entangled with several of the film’s characters, this flick predates THE BOYS IN THE BAND (1970) in more ways than one.  Viewed through the lens of the mid-sixties, the film has a very dated, yet advanced-for-the-time philosophy on bisexuality, homosexuality and mental illness.  Gays are both to be pitied and reviled, yet the film shows them in a somewhat sympathetic light.

SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY appears to be an unfinished movie by Eber Lobato, including all the flashback scenes.  The scenes in the lawyer’s office were directed by Howard Veit, and they complete the story, even if in a different kind of film stock.  But  both segments contain similar hateful dialogue, crisp black and white photography, and, with the exception of William Turner as Paul (a crummy actor in every scene), pretty good acting.  I especially like the conniving Nelida Lobato, whose every move is feral and seductive.  Originally a dancer and singer from Argentina, Nelida really pulls off the femme fatale role.  It’s too bad she never really acted again.  Then again, nearly everyone in the movie or behind the camera never worked again.  SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY has fallen into the pit of disappearing movies.

Love, lust...and a volleyball.

And it’s too bad, because the script is pretty terrific, full of wickedly sly innuendos and noir-ish winks.  See the following examples:

1.

“It’s open and shut.”

“So’s a mousetrap.  Doesn’t mean you catch a mouse every time it shuts.”

“But even if it misses, it makes a hell of a noise.”

2.

“So, she’s a tramp.  That’s no reason to kill her.”

3.

“When last we saw the Virgin Queen, she was making love to my client on the beach.”

4.

“Paul Williams was aware his wife was athletic.”

“I don’t think he was aware of the breadth of her definition of athletics.”

5.

“That punk’s nothing but a male whore.”

6.

“As a lover you’re a mockery, and as a man you’re a cripple!”

A terrifically devious and deviant film-noir, SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY is a fabulous little movie that could’ve been a minor hit,  but ended up an “adults-only”obscurity.  The bit of nudity and the sexually-oriented material kept it hidden.  Now, it should be rediscovered and given its due.  I give it three and a half sexually-confused volleyball players out of four.

You can get a copy of SCREAM OF THE BUTTERFLY from Something Weird Video in a download or as the second feature on a DVD with DAY OF THE NIGHTMARE (also from 1965).

© Copyright 2011 by William D. Carl

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Suburban Grindhouse Memories: INSEMINOID (1982)

Posted in 1980s Horror, 2011, Aliens, Drive-in Movies, Gore!, Grindhouse, Monsters, Nick Cato Reviews, Suburban Grindhouse Memories with tags , , , , on July 28, 2011 by knifefighter

SUBURBAN GRINDHOUSE MEMORIES
The Unborn Alien Avenger!
By Nick Cato

INSEMINOID? HORROR PLANET? Make up your minds already!

 

FANGORIA magazine had been running articles (and graphic stills) about an ALIEN-like gore-fest titled INSEMINOID.  Week after week, we gorehounds of the early 80s anticipated this potential gem’s release, and had all but given up when a film titled HORROR PLANET was unleashed in late 1982.  It turns out INSEMINOID had been re-titled (and as much as I LOVE the original title, perhaps HORROR PLANET was a bit more marketable?).  Either way, the (now defunct) Fox Twin Cinema was packed to the gills on opening night, with horny teenagers and underage patrons waiting for their long-awaited dose of otherworldly splatter.

It turns out the only similarity between this and ALIEN (1979) was in the alien impregnating someone.  In this case, a group of scientists are exploring the underworld of one of Jupiter’s moons (Why? I still have no idea—just go with it), when they happen to unleash a strange creature who forcefully does the intergalactic mambo with one of the prettier female scientists (hey—even monsters go for the hotties!).  Her pregnancy accelerates at an unearthly pace and her fellow explorers (in no certain terms) begin to look at her and her coming child as lab rats.  Unfortunately for these cosmonauts, whatever’s growing inside her is requiring human blood.  What follows is pure exploitation genius: Our pregnant heroine (Sandy, played by Judy Geeson—trust me, you’ve seen her in tons of TV shows) begins to protect herself and her unborn by slaughtering the rest of the cast, turning HORROR PLANET into one of the first intergalactic slasher movies I can think of.  And MAN does the sauce flow…

If you can overlook the horrendous acting and dialogue (if memory serves me, nearly every line was openly mocked at the screening I attended), HORROR PLANET is a decently made British flick with tons of brain-dead splatter fun in store for your viewing (or is that ‘spewing?’) pleasure: one guy’s stomach is blown apart with a laser gun as some poor woman is sliced to shreds with a pair of scissors, and another is eaten alive, in a genuinely savage scene of space-age cannibalism.  When Sandy finally gives birth, it turns out she was carrying twin humanoid creatures that come out of the womb with more goop and vomit-inducing green glop than even Linda Blair could’ve handled.  I haven’t seen the film since this fine evening around November of 1982, so I don’t know how much I’d enjoy this today…but at the time, I was in splatter/sleaze heaven.  And apparently, so was the crowd.  This is the first time I can remember the audience cheering during the kill sequences—a few years before this became the norm at FRIDAY THE 13th sequels (I believe FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 4 started this ritual—which—in my opinion—began to cheapen the feel and affect of most horror films).

If you’re a scifi fan, you’ll probably laugh at the primitive special effects, especially the base of command center (which looks like it was constructed on a really cheap set—or in someone’s basement!), and as mentioned, this is more of a gore film than a serious ALIEN wanna-be.

HORROR PLANET is worth a DVD viewing (I believe it was finally released under the INSEMINOID title), if, for nothing else, to show you how much fun and in-your-face these early gore-epics could be.

One thing’s for sure: you won’t have half as much fun with any other low-budget space monster film released since (and there’s simply NO WAY this would receive an R rating today).

-END-

© Copyright 2011 by Nick Cato

Sandy (Judy Geeson) takes matters into her own mouth in HORROR PLANET.

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Transmissions to Earth: THREE ON A MEATHOOK (1973)

Posted in 1970s Movies, 2011, 70s Horror, Campy Movies, Cannibalism, Family Secrets, Gore!, Grindhouse, LL Soares Reviews, Low Budget Movies, Madness, Psychos, Trasmissions to Earth, Weird Movies with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on June 29, 2011 by knifefighter

TRANSMISSIONS TO EARTH: THREE ON A MEATHOOK (1973)
By L.L. Soares

"No Admittance During the Last Ten Minutes of This Movie"

Poor Billy Townsend. He’s just a young guy who wants to find a girlfriend and have a normal life. But his Dad won’t let him.

There are low-budget films, but 1973’s THREE ON A MEATHOOK looks so low-budget at times that it looks like someone’s home movies. Despite this, it’s still able to tell a story (a quality not all horror movies today can boast) and I have to admit, it’s downright funny at times (although unintentionally so).

The movie begins like a hundred other horror movies from the 70s. Four girls go to an island for a fun weekend, and their car breaks down in the middle of the woods, and night is falling. A kid in a truck named Billy (James Pickett) happens by and tells them he can’t fix their car, but they’re welcome to come stay at his house overnight until the local garage opens up in the morning. A crack of thunder convinces the girls to take him up on his offer. Besides, he’s a cute young guy. What harm can there be in staying at his house?

When they get to Billy’s house, the boy’s father (Charles Kissinger) demands that he “get upstairs” where the man lectures his son about “You know what happens when you’re around girls!” And Billy denying it and saying it’s not true.

"Not for the Bloody Mary for Lunch Bunch!"

The girls settle into their rooms and Billy brings a blanket and a pillow out to the shed outside. And then, something awful happens. Someone kills all the girls! The sexy blonde, taking a bath, gets stabbed. The other three girls get blown away by a shotgun. The next morning, Pa yells at Billy about “Look what you done!” but Billy has no memory of doing anything. As far as he knows, he was out in the shed, sleeping peacefully. But he goes inside and sees the horrible ways the girls were murdered and he’s dumbfounded by it all.

“You go into town and get some supplies, go see a movie, and I’ll take care of things here,” Pa says, assuring poor Billy that everything is going to be all right.

Billy goes to town, where he sees THE GRADUATE (1967) and then goes to a bar where he sits alone and drinks a lot. Then we see over 10 minutes of a band called American Xpress playing cheesy 70s rock onstage with occasional quick flashes back to Billy drinking.

A waitress named Sherry (Sherry Steiner) takes pity on him and asks what’s bothering him. He won’t tell her, but it’s obvious he’s a troubled lad. When he drinks too much and almost gets hauled away to the drunk tank by the police, Sherry takes him back to her place instead. He wakes up naked and asks her if they “did it,” but she assures him they didn’t. They spend the rest of the day together, and Billy thinks he’s falling in love.

He tells her about his farm and Sherry asks if she can come visit him the following Sunday. “I’ve never been on a farm before.” Billy says yes and then goes back home.

Okay, here’s where the questions start. Billy just brought four girls home and they were killed horribly. And this girl he likes asks to come over a week later and he says “Yeah, okay!” What’s up with that? You’d think he would be terrified to bring any more girls home, especially ones he likes. Is this kid an idiot?

Pa Townshend isn’t too happy to hear there are more visitors coming, and he tries to talk Billy out of it, but Billy won’t hear of it. During the week, Billy does his chores, and sometimes Pa goes into a shed he has padlocked (Billy never goes in there). Pa also is a “good cook” according to Billy and makes some very tasty “veal” dish.

Sherry comes out to visit the following Sunday. She brings her friend Becky (Madelyn Buzzard) with her. The three of them play in the cornfield and when Sherry and Billy get some time alone, they really seem to be falling for each other. Of course, something horrible happens that night, and the “secret” of the Townsend farm is revealed.

Only someone with a single-digit I.Q. wouldn’t see where this one was going early on. It’s pretty clear who the killer is from the get-go. And his reason for killing is pretty goofy. The ending to this one will at least make you laugh out loud.

With really fake-looking gore effects and mostly bad acting (there are even a few instances where the screen just goes blank for no reason), THREE ON THE MEATHOOK has one of those great grindhouse titles that is better than the actual movie. This one was written and directed by William Girdler, who went on to make such camp classics as the demonic-possession flick, ABBY (1974), the JAWS-on-land horror rip-off GRIZZLY (1976) and the goofy movie version of Graham Masterton’s Native American spirit-possession story, THE MANITOU (1978), all of which are worthy of being reviewed for this column at some point. He even directed the great Pam Grier in 1975′s  SHEBA, BABY!

"Don't Lose Your Head!" An example of the cutting-edge effects in 1973's THREE ON A MEATHOOK!

THREE ON A MEATHOOK is one of those movies that is so bad, you’ll be glad you saw it. Now let’s have some of that meat Pa’s been cooking. I hear it’s very tasting stuff.

© Copyright 2011 by L.L. Soares

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Transmissions to Earth: THE BLACK ROOM (1984)

Posted in 1980s Horror, 2011, 80s Horror, Drive-in Movies, Grindhouse, Horror, Indie Horror, Kinky Killers, LL Soares Reviews, Psychos, Trasmissions to Earth with tags , , , , , , , on June 16, 2011 by knifefighter

Transmissions to Earth: THE BLACK ROOM (1984)
Movie Review by L.L. Soares

Another horror flick from the early 1980s. However, this is a kinky one.

A couple find they’re love life isn’t what it used to be (thanks mostly to two bratty kids who keep interrupting them), so husband Larry (Jimmy Stathis) decides to find some fun elsewhere. He finds an ad in the paper for a room to rent for only $200 a month at a “hilltop mansion” and checks it out. We’re not talking an apartment here. This room is clearly for one purpose only. It’s dark, with candles everywhere and glowing, white, geometrical tables. And lots of pillow all over the floor. Larry is immediately impressed and pays for a month’s rent in advance.

He then starts bringing lovers back there. Like college student Lisa (Charlie Young), and a hooker he pays for two hours’ time. Later on, at home, Larry tells his wife Robin (Clara Perryman) all about the room and his sexual escapades, telling her it’s all fantasy. She buys it, and these stories he starts telling her seem to be perking up their love life too. So everyone’s happy for a while.

The room, however, has two very strange landlords, handsome Jason (Stephen Knight) and his exotic-looking sister, Bridget (Cassandra Gava), who take a lot of interest in their new tenant’s activities. There’s a two-way mirror so they can watch Larry have sex with the girls he brings back with him, and Jason even takes tons of photographs (this is before the days when home video cameras were commonplace – besides, Jason is an “artiste”). But that’s not all. Not only do they spy and take pictures, they also occasionally take one of Larry’s girls’ for their own purposes, when circumstances allow them to do so without getting caught. And just what do they do with these girls? Well, it turns out Jason is pretty sick. He has some kind of blood disease where he needs transfusions often. It used to be once a month, but now he needs new blood twice a week. So they’ve got a machine set up in a downstairs room and use their abducted victims to provide poor Jason with fresh blood supplies. Of course, Larry knows nothing about this extracurricular activity.

Larry seems to be comfortable around his creepy landlords. At one point, when college girl Lisa can’t make it to a rendezvous, Bridget even offers to fill in herself and has a wild afternoon with Larry where they both get done up in body paint and play “Matador and Bull” in the black room (while Jason watches and takes picture of course).

So everything goes smoothly until Robin realizes that Larry’s “black room stories” are real. She finds the newspaper ad for the room and the keys in Larry’s car, and has an irresistible urge to check it out. When Jason finds her in the room, he tells her everything and even offers to let her watch Larry in action. When she is confronted with reality—she watches as Larry brings Lisa and her boyfriend Terry (Christopher McDonald) to the room; Terry says he just wants to watch and take notes for a psychology paper, but who knows what those three are up to in that darkened room—it hits her like a ton of bricks. This isn’t just a story, Larry is really cheating on her! At first she is completely devastated, until a seemingly sympathetic Jason talks her into considering another course of action. If Larry can have sex with strangers here, so can she, and that would mean twice as many victims to provide Jason with fresh blood!

Things get even more bizarre after that, as both Larry and Robin become aware of what’s going on, and have to look at their marriage in a completely different light. Meanwhile, Jason seems to need more and more blood, and Bridget does her best to keep the transfusion machine going.

There’s even an early role for future scream queen Linnea Quigley in this one, as Milly the babysitter.

Co-directed with lots of atmosphere by Elly Kenner and Norman Thaddeus Vane (Vane also wrote the screenplay), THE BLACK ROOM has good performances and a suitable sleazy tone. As you delve deeper into these characters’ lives, they become more and more fascinating. From Bridget getting attached to Larry (it looks like she and Jason never leave the house and see the outside world) to Robin’s disillusionment (the character changes before our very eyes in response to what she sees), this movie is a completely different animal from the usual 1980s horror movies that featured killers with knives and unlucky teenagers. THE BLACK ROOM is that rare horror film that actually deals with adults and adult matters. And for that reason, I recommend you check it out.

-END-

© Copyright 2011 by L.L. Soares

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BLACK SHAMPOO!

Posted in 1970s Movies, 2011, Blaxploitation, Chainsaws!, Exploitation Films, Grindhouse, Soft-core, Suburban Grindhouse Memories, The Mob, VIOLENCE! with tags , , , , , , , on June 9, 2011 by knifefighter

SUBURBAN GRINDHOUSE MEMORIES: Modern Memories
Hair Salons and Chainsaws!
By Nick Cato

Brooklyn’s “reRun Gastropub Theater” was the setting on Wednesday, June 1st for a screening of the 1976 blaxploitation classic, BLACK SHAMPOO. The reRun Theater is a fun little indie cinema, located in the back of a trendy restaurant. Its stadium-styled seating is made up of 60 seats ripped from mini vans (!), and a full bar with snacks are located right alongside them. A 12-foot screen features digitally projected, locally made films as well as independent features from around the world (so, if you’re ever in NYC I strongly suggest a visit). Back in January, I had the pleasure of viewing Alejandro Jodorowsky’s SANTA SANGRE (1989) here, and the picture and sound were phenomenal.

The BLACK SHAMPOO screening was actually part of author Mike White’s book tour (his collection of pieces from his long-running fanzine, “Cashiers du Cinemart,” has been compiled in a hefty volume titled IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY [2010 Bear Manor Media]—and although I’m only halfway through it I can HIGHLY recommend it to any serious film geek). Mike has a large section dedicated to the film BLACK SHAMPOO (his all-time favorite movie), featuring commentary and interviews with a few of the films’ stars, as well as director Greydon Clark (who is responsible for countless 70s/80s exploitation classics, such as SATAN’S CHEERLEADERS (1977), WITHOUT WARNING (1980) and the infamous arcade sex comedy, JOY STICKS (1983)). While Mike did a brief intro for the film and a reading/book signing afterwards, it was the film that was the highlight of the evening.

This was my first screening of BLACK SHAMPOO, and as a life-long fan of the blaxploitation genre, I can safely say you’ll be hard pressed to find a more entertaining, funny, violent and downright FUNKY film. While the first 20 minutes play out like a really bad 70s porn film (complete with some of the coolest music ever to grace this type of feature), BLACK SHAMPOO soon turns into a hybrid love/gangster/revenge story complete with everything we psychotronic film fans love about these types of films: stereotypical black men and women and stereotypical gay hairdressers that would probably cause a protest were they done this way today; a party sequence that’s so out of place it almost gives the film a surreal edge; insane violence that includes chainsaw mayhem, pool cue mayhem and a mob-orchestrated curling-iron anal rape shakedown (you read that correctly); deplorable acting; and so much more, it’s hard to remember half of what went down after just one viewing.

The film centers around Mr. Jonathan, the owner of “Mr. Jonathan’s” hair salon on the Sunset Strip. His reputation as the ultimate ladies man has caused an endless line of women to book appointments for his “services.” And while he’s in the private back room “shampooing” his clients, the front of the place features women having their hair done by Mr. Jonathan’s staff, which includes Artie and Richard, two gay hairdressers who are done so over the top you can’t help but laugh every second they’re on the screen (fans of “classic dialogue” would do well to keep a pad and pen on hand during the entire film).

Mr. Jonathan gets so much action he actually begins to find shagging a real chore (even when two seemingly underage rich white girls seduce him during a house call…only to get their butts whipped by their mom’s belt for stealing her appointment [in a sequence that brings the “roughie” films of the early 70s to mind]. The mother then goes on to shag Mr. Jonathan as the two girls watch from the pool!).

After all this opening soft-core madness, BLACK SHAMPOO gets down to business. It seems the new black secretary at the salon has actually run away from her white mob “boyfriend,” who has kept her in his mansion as a modern day sex slave. When Mr. Jonathan catches wind of this, he takes his new receptionist, Brenda, out on a date and the two quickly fall in love. When the mob finds out Brenda’s whereabouts, they come down to the salon and trash the place (after kicking Artie’s poor little white ass in one of the most unconvincing “fight” scenes ever filmed). Brenda’s ex-boyfriend turns out to be underworld kingpin Mr. Wilson (an amazingly non-stereotypical name for a gangster), who is now on a mission to get Brenda back. He employs three of the goofiest goons ever to grace a trash film (Maddux, appropriately nick-named “Schumck;” an unnamed, tall black guy who looks like he played for the Knicks in the mid-70s; and a hysterical chauffer who has a few scene-stealing lines and actions).

Feeling guilty over the beating Artie took (which left him in a neck brace) and the trashing of the salon, Brenda goes back to the mob’s mansion. Mr. Jonathan—by way of a mob “invite”—takes a trip to the mansion so Mr. Wilson can explain that Brenda’s now back where she belongs—and Brenda seems happy about it. Confused and pissed off, Mr. Jonathan heads out to his cabin in the woods to get his head together—and Brenda eventually meets him there with Mr. Wilson’s top secret book of money laundering information. Before long, the mob catches wind of this, and we’re all set for a bloody-good showdown in the woods.

BLACK SHAMPOO is unlike any blaxploitation film out there, mainly due to the character of Mr. Jonathan. He’s not a cop or pimp ala SHAFT (1971) and DOLEMITE (1975), just a heterosexual hairdresser who happens to be quite handy with a chainsaw and pool cue. And while his onscreen persona is actually quite boring (John Daniels has the acting skills of a parking meter), for some strange reason the audience revels in his booty-shaggin, belly-slashing schtick.

I mean, come on folks: what other film features a chainsaw-wielding black hairdresser dishing it out to the mob after laying pipe on half of Hollywood? Mr. Jonathan just may be the COOLEST blaxploitation character of all time (I’ll let you all know if this holds up to repeated viewings as good as DOLEMITE, the granddaddy of all blaxploitation films). Also, major kudos for a sonically-funky soundtrack that will stay in your head long after the film concludes.

I also recommend watching BLACK SHAMPOO with an audience of like-minded fans: while I’m sure I would have loved this had I watched it alone on DVD, I’m not sure how many non-fans of this subgenre will be won over by it.

But I still say give it a shot. Until next time, I’m off to the salon . . .

© Copyright 2011 by Nick Cato

NOTE: For more about Mike White and his book IMPOSSIBLY FUNKY, check out his site: http://impossiblefunky.blogspot.com/

 

Mr. Jonathan (John Daniels) is seduced by two rich white girls, Meg (Kelly Beau) and Peg (Marl Pero) in BLACK SHAMPOO.

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Suburban Grindhouse Memories: THE MUTILIATOR (1985)

Posted in 1980s Horror, 2011, 80s Horror, Gore!, Grindhouse, Nick Cato Reviews, Psychos, Serial Killer flicks, Slasher Movies, Sleaze, VIOLENCE! with tags , , , , , , on May 26, 2011 by knifefighter

Suburban Grindhouse Memories Presents:
By Sword, By Pick, By Axe, BYE BYE!
By Nick Cato

When you were a sophomore in high school, and a horror fan, sophomoric horror films were always a sure-fire hit.  The bluntly titled THE MUTILATOR (1985) was no exception.

The audience didn’t know what to make of the opening sequence, where a young kid accidentally shoots his mother (through the kitchen wall) while he polishes his dad’s hunting rifles as part of a birthday present.  Despite his good intentions, his father comes home to find his wife bleeding to death and his son standing there with a rifle.  The kid manages to run away after his old man lays a beating on him, but the kid sneaks back and spies his father having a birthday drink with the mother’s corpse.  Call me sick, but I laughed so loud at the absurdity of this scene a friend of mine elbowed my side, causing half of my valuable popcorn to fall onto the sticky floor.

Shot under the working title FALL BREAK, I’m assuming director Buddy Cooper changed the title when he realized his generic slasher film sounded too much like a generic teenage T&A beach movie.  Either way, THE MUTILATOR’s “plot” jumps ahead to the aforementioned kid now grown up, hanging with his friends, when he gets a phone call from his father.  Seems his old man wants his son (who he hasn’t spoken to in years) to help him shut down his isolated condo for the winter…and of course his son’s bored friends egg him on to do it (figuring they’ll use the place to party while they’re there).

It doesn’t take long for the body count to begin, and being we know who the killer is three minutes into the film, there are no surprises, no tension, and absolutely NO scares.

But what THE MUTILATOR does have going for it (if you’re a slasher film completist, anyway) are classic 80s gore sequences, including a guy gutted via outboard motor, some poor girl having a fishing gaff shoved into her crotch, plus various decapitations and amputations via axe, pick, and nearly anything else this kid’s crazed old man could get his hands on.

While I don’t know how this holds up on home video (I’ve only seen it once upon it’s initial 1985 theatrical release), THE MUTILATOR—for a film with such little suspense—managed to have the crowd screaming and cheering for more inventive (and graphic) kill scenes.  Thinking back on it now, I’m sure if there were any psychiatrists in the audience they must’ve thought we had all flipped our lids.  But at the time, this was a bloody good time for any high school horror fan.

(SPOILER ALERT!) ***

If any film had an ending that’s nearly as silly, twisted, and ridiculous as PIECES (1982), it’s the conclusion to THE MUTILATOR.  After our slasher is cut in half at the waist (!), he manages to hack a policeman’s leg off with his handy axe, even though his guts are strewn all over the dirt floor.  We all laughed.  Some booed.  But in 1985, the blood-hungry crowd still left my local suburban grindhouse oddly satisfied.

Director Buddy Cooper (who I met at a 1989 Fangoria convention in NYC) didn’t set out to break any new ground, and in fact his directing is nothing to write home about (the film also suffers from some horrendous lighting and acting).  But what Buddy did was create a fun, gory slasher film that audiences were craving at the time…and while THE MUTILATOR is forgettable (except for the ending), I’m glad to have seen it in it’s prime.  (There’s an “extreme uncut version” DVD available…but without a cheering, shouting, giggling audience, a home viewing can’t be half as fun…)

-END-

© Copyright 2011 by Nick Cato

 

It’s hard keeping your head on straight (or at all!) in THE MUTILATOR (1985)

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CKF on the Edge: HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Posted in 2011, CKF On the Edge, Dark Comedies, Extreme Movies, Gore!, Grindhouse, LL Soares Reviews, Vigilantes, VIOLENCE! with tags , , , , , , , on May 24, 2011 by knifefighter

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (2011)
Movie review by L.L. Soares

When Rutger Hauer first appears, riding a train car into town, in HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, you have no idea how much of a wild ride you’re in for. Unless you know the movie’s backstory. Back in 2007, the Quentin Tarantino/Robert Rodriguez team-up flick GRINDHOUSE was making the rounds, bringing back the movie double-feature and the spirit of the 1970s grindhouses. Part of the package was a bunch of fake trailers for totally insane movies. The funny thing is, some of these have been made into actual films. The first was Rodriguez’s MACHETE (2010). Now, we’ve got HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. If you don’t remember seeing that particular trailer when you saw GRINDHOUSE, it’s because the trailer only played in the Canadian version. But it’s been a Youtube  sensation since.

The beginning has a real 1970s vibe, from the music to the time-worn weariness of Hauer’s face in that boxcar. But that changes fast. I was kind of hoping for a homage to 70s vigilante flicks like DEATH WISH (1974) and WALKING TALL (1973), but HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN has more in common with those over-the-top Troma films of the 80s. In a way, I was sad to see it get so bizarre and unreal so quickly, in another way, it never stopped being a fun flick. And a big part of that is Hauer’s performance. You can tell this is a man who used to be an A-list actor, since fallen on hard times, just like that Hobo.

So Rutger Hauer walks into town, and finds himself in the middle of hell. The first person he sees is a guy filming bum fights, offering Hauer a ten dollar bill to join in. People openly brutalize other people in the streets, and the proceedings are lorded over by the town kingpin, Drake, who turns all this carnage into a kind of reality show. When someone crosses him, he puts a manhole cover around their necks, drops them into an open sewer, and then decapitates them using a barbed wire noose and the fender of a speeding car or motorcycle. His thug sons hold guns on the onlookers, demanding they applaud  the goings-on.

This sounds awful grim on paper (or on a computer screen), but it’s played so over-the-top that it’s downright cartoony (is that Troma honcho Lloyd Kaufman I see among the bystanders?), and that’s kind of what saves this film from being a complete downer.

The Hobo is one of the witnesses to “The Drake Show” and he is horrified by the utter anarchy that surrounds him. This is even worse than the Wild West. Anyone can die at any time, and many do. The majority of the populace are so horrified, they don’t lift a finger to stop things, and most of the police force are on Drake’s payroll.

The Hobo has a dream. He is going to buy a lawnmower at a local pawn shop. He is going to start his own business and stop traveling the rails. He is going to settle down and make a home for himself. What the hell is this guy thinking? This is not the kind of place where you settle down!

After being brutalized himself, and saving the life of a prostitute, who almost becomes another casualty at the hands of Drake’s son Slick (the other son, Ivan, is a complete idiot muscleboy who gets high on hurting people), the Hobo decides to fight back. Instead of that lawn-mower, he buys a shotgun on the wall for the same price. And then he goes about using it.

He starts to make news. He’s single-handedly starting to clean up this hellhole. One man begins to make a difference. Drake is so infuriated he first declares it open season on homeless people, hoping to get rid of the Hobo, then he hires a couple of metal-clad killers who call themselves The Plague to finish things (they look like two low-rent Iron Man wannabes).

The performances are actually pretty good for this kind of thing. I already sang the praises of Hauer, who is pretty much the main reason HOBO exists. Throughout this movie, I found myself wondering why we don’t see him more in big budget Hollywood pictures. He’s certainly good enough.

Brian Downey as the evil Drake is a force of nature. This is a role that is pretty one-dimensionally evil, and could be annoying, but Downey is just terrific. He pretty much steals every scene he’s in, and is a lot of fun, in his own psychotic way. A movie villain can make or break a movie like this, and Downey does his part to make HOBO work.

Molly Dunsworth, as the hooker Abby, is also pretty good. She’s the one Hauer’s hobo decides to protect, and while their relationship isn’t really a romantic one, she makes you believe that Hauer would be so concerned about her welfare. And when the going gets tough, she’s not afraid to help with the fighting.

Director Jason Eisener (with a script he wrote with John Davies and Rob Cotterill), took a simple concept, originally meant to be a joke, and turned it into an entertaining feature film. It’s not a great work of art, but it’s not meant to be. It’s a lot of gore and violence and vengeance, and we’ve seen this kind of thing before, but somehow, it works, in the same way that over-the-top gore cartoons that have been coming out of Japan lately, like TOKYO GORE POLICE and MACHINE GIRL (both from 2008) work. Live-action cartoons where anything can happen, and the camera lens gets splashed with blood a few times along the way.

If you’re into this kind of thing, then you’ll dig HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN. It’s like eating your dessert before dinner, but don’t expect it to have much in the way of nutrients. If this sounds pretty awful to you, then just avoid it. It’s not meant for you, anyway.

Me, I give it three knives.

© Copyright 2011 by L.L. Soares

Note: HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN has been playing some film festivals around the country and is currently available on cable OnDemand in some cities. I’m not sure if it will get an actual theatrical release or if it will go straight to DVD.


Rutger Hauer is mad as hell in HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN.

LL Soares gives HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN – 3 knives

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Suburban Grindhouse Memories: JUST BEFORE DAWN

Posted in 2011, 80s Horror, Grindhouse, Nick Cato Reviews, Psychos, Serial Killer flicks, Slasher Movies, Suburban Grindhouse Memories with tags , , , , , , , on April 21, 2011 by knifefighter

SUBURBAN GRINDHOUSE MEMORIES
Two Machetes are Better than One!
By Nick Cato

On a brisk Friday afternoon in early 1982, an ad for a film titled JUST BEFORE DAWN caught my eye in the local newspaper. But what caused major interest in me was who the director was: Jeff Lieberman, who had directed the killer-worm epic, SQUIRM (1976), which I must’ve seen twenty-five times on TV during my childhood (and years later I finally found a DVD of his seldom-seen 1978 acid-slasher epic, BLUE SUNSHINE). I was geeked-out happy when I arrived at the (now defunct!) Fox Twin Cinema to see this new film by the director of that wonderful worm epic that helped me waste so many hours of my youth in front of the boob tube.

The legendary George Kennedy stars as a park ranger who warns a group of five future-victims not to go camping in the direction they’re headed (yes, I hear you yawning, but remember this was 1982 and every-other horror film released during this time had the same plot). As they get closer to the mountain they plan to camp on, they’re warned a second time by a crazed old man that there’s demons running around the hills (yet another staple of 80s slasher films). One of the campers is there to look over some property he has inherited, so the warnings mean nothing to him (can you say “mis-take?”).

When their RV can go no further, our victims—err—campers decide to hike the rest of the way up the mountain (I don’t know about you, but if I inherited land this remote I’d just give it to the locals). Before long our friends start getting picked off one by one, and unlike many slasher films of the time, Lieberman’s direction works: once camp is set, there’s (nearly) non-stop suspense and a sense of impending doom that has seldom been seen in a B-movie outside of the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974). Like HELL NIGHT (1981), DAWN relies more on scares than gore, and it works quite well.

Perhaps the best thing about JUST BEFORE DAWN are the killers: they’re backwoods, inbred-psycho hillbilly twin brothers (!), each one over-sized and truly menacing (one of them giggles each time he kills, yet unlike the wise-cracking post-Freddy slashers to come, his evil laugh actually adds to the tension). And let’s face it: the reason we go to see slasher films are for the kill/gore scenes, and while DAWN isn’t overly graphic, it’s still as brutal as they come: there’s a machete to the groin, one poor guy gets a fist shoved down his throat (part of a truly unique ending kill-technique), and one sequence where a female camper tries to hide atop a tree as one of the killers chops it down.

Despite taking half its running time for the goodness to begin, JUST BEFORE DAWN then kicks into high gear and never lets up. Lieberman doesn’t let his budget hinder the cinematography, which fans of the film agree looks much more professional than most slasher films (although much of the acting is nothing to write home about).

Like a cross between DELIVERANCE (1972) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977), JUST BEFORE DAWN is a gem of a backwoods horror flick that’s much more entertaining than the recent WRONG TURN films. Many of the night scenes are shot a bit TOO dark for my taste, but it’s worth squinting through for the great pay-off ending (that oddly horror fans have been split on since the films’ release).

As much of a “survival” film as a horror film, JUST BEFORE DAWN was a real treat, even during these early years of the slasher film uprising. There are a couple of DVD editions available today, one from the always reliable folks at Shriek Show.

It must’ve been a blast seeing it in a redneck theater…

© Copyright 2011 by Nick Cato

REASON ONE why it's never wise to skinny-dip in a slasher film...

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THE “GODFATHER OF GORE” FINALLY GETS HIS DUE

Posted in 1960s Horror, 2011, B-Movies, Classic Films, Documentary, Drive-in Movies, Exploitation Films, Extreme Movies, Gore!, Grindhouse, Herschell Gordon Lewis Films, Horror DVDs, Low Budget Movies, Nick Cato Reviews, Psychos, Slasher Movies, Sleaze, Suburban Grindhouse Memories with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2011 by knifefighter

SUBURBAN GRINDHOUSE MEMORIES: MODERN MEMORIES
“THE GODFATHER FINALLY GETS HIS DUE”
By Nick Cato

After recently viewing the documentary AMERICAN GRINDHOUSE, where exploitation director H.G. Lewis has a brief (but memorable) appearance, my appetite was set for more from the “Wizard of Gore.”  Directors Jimmy Maslon and Frank Henenlotter do a phenomenal job of satisfying that appetite with HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE, a 106-minute look at the life and career of a man who is both worshipped and loathed in horror film circles.

There’s a lot of time spent on Herschell’s pre-gore films, which were mainly nudie movies.  Herschell’s old partner, David Friedman (who passed away this past February of 2011) shares some hysterical stories of what they went through when they got into the nudie film market, and confesses they were coming in on the heels of what Russ Meyer was doing at the same time.  But where Meyer shot his women in an innocent, almost artistic way, Lewis and Friedman always featured their women in ways that could more easily be taken as something more than a tame peepshow (and hence a precursor to their coming extreme horror films).  And the duo’s explanations of how nudies (as well as all independent films) were distributed back in the early 60s will give modern filmmakers a whole new appreciation for what Lewis had to go through to sell his product.

For those fascinated with the evolution of the “splatter” film, it’s simply amazing how Lewis came up with BLOOD FEAST (1963).  He and Friedman had wondered to themselves, “What is something that NO ONE else is doing right now?” (in the world of exploitation films).  They had been in Florida staying at a hotel with an Egyptian theme, and before long they started writing/shooting BLOOD FEAST on the fly.  Fans of the film will be glued to the screen when star Mal Arnold (who plays the film’s killer, Fuad Ramses) is interviewed (there’s even footage of some early nudie films he had done for Lewis), and when Lewis speaks of the difficulties they had working with Playboy Playmate Connie Mason, who had zero acting abilities and refused to do a nude scene despite being a Playboy centerfold.  There’s also much about actor William Kerwin, who plays BLOOD FEAST’s main detective (and starred in many other Lewis films) and was also  Lewis’s “do everything else” guy on several projects.  Kerwin died in 1989, and his presence as a commentator would surely have added to this film.

The success of BLOOD FEAST (despite horrendous reviews—some critics are interviewed) made Lewis and Friedman a lot of money, and set them on a course they never thought would catch on.

If you’re a fan of  Lewis’s second gore film, 2000 MANIACS (1964), you’re in for a treat.  Directors Maslon and Henenlotter cut footage from the original film’s opening sequence with new footage of Lewis and Friedman re-visiting the small Florida town where they shot MANIACS, making it look like the original cast is welcoming them back to town.  They visit the hotel and some rooms where the film takes place, and there are interviews with some of the cast (including and adult Vincent Santo, who played young Jimmy in the film).  Lewis says 2000 MANIACS is his personal favorite film, the one he wishes he’d be remembered for, although he knows BLOOD FEAST will forever hold that title.  There are also some great stories of what went on with some of the gore effects, and a near-fatal accident Lewis almost had while filming the infamous boulder-drop sequence.

One of the funniest interviews comes from director Frank Henenlotter.  He claims one of his favorite scenes in any movie—ever—is in  Lewis’s COLOR ME BLOOD RED (1965).  And when you see the scene he’s speaking about, you’ll laugh as hard as the audience I saw this with did.  Henelotter’s commentary is always interesting, as are memories shared by director John Waters (who shows off his rare novelizations of two Lewis films) and the legendary Joe Bob Briggs.  Former Playboy photographer Bunny Yeager shares some great stories and explains why she refused  Lewis’s offer to star as Connie Mason’s mother in BLOOD FEAST.

Being a huge fan of  Lewis’s 1970 epic THE WIZARD OF GORE, I was happy to see plenty of interview time with its star, Ray Sager.  Every time he imitates Herschell the crowd cracked up, and his story of a blooper he caused on the set of  Lewis’s JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT (1968) is priceless.

Every one of  Lewis’s gore films get coverage (there’s even a lot of time spent on A TASTE OF BLOOD (1967),  Lewis’s attempt at a modern Dracula film), and gorehounds will be happy to know they show all the blood and guts in all their karo-syrupy glory.  An audience favorite seemed to be stories told about THE GRUESOME TWOSOME (1967), as well as the dual nipple-slicing scene from THE GORE GORE GIRLS (1972).

While I would’ve liked to have heard a bit about some of the director’s more obscure titles (such as 1969′s LINDA AND ABILENE), Lewis does spend some time explaining what caused him to “shoot” a kiddie feature in 1967 titled THE MAGICAL LAND OF MOTHER GOOSE (and it’s a doozie!).  There’s also no mention of BLOOD FEAST 2 (2002) or THE UH-OH SHOW (2009), two recent films directed by Lewis (which I found odd), although they do go a bit into his post-film career as a money-marketing expert.

There’s also a genuine treat IN the film itself:  Henenlotter and Maslon managed to get footage of a film Lewis never finished titled AN EYE FOR AN EYE, and pieced it together as a mini-movie (which stars BLOOD FEAST alumni William Kerwin).  It’s a supernatural-type thriller and actually seemed to be of higher quality than most of  Lewis’s other films.

I’m not sure how interesting THE GODFATHER OF GORE will be to the average horror film fan; surely the history of BLOOD FEAST and  Lewis’s early gore films should have respect from any genre fan, but it’s no secret that the majority of horror fans find  Lewis’s work too bad to watch and too cheap to even mention.  But love it or hate it, BLOOD FEAST started something (and yes, I know a film from Japan released in 1960 has recently been claiming the title as the world’s first gore film—but I’m willing to bet it’s not a quarter as entertaining—or gory—as  Lewis’s epic . . . and it didn’t inspire the slasher films to come in the 70s and 80s).

Packed with more gore and nudity than any documentary I can think of, THE GODFATHER OF GORE is almost like watching a “Greatest Hits” list of  Lewis’s films, so I’m hoping newcomers will be enticed to go back and check out these precursors to FRIDAY THE 13th (1980) and HALLOWEEN (1978), and the haters may see what a great guy (if not the greatest director) Herschell Gordon Lewis was (and still is).

Even though I’ve been a fan of Lewis since reading about him in the fourth issue of FANGORIA Magazine way back when, have read three books about him, and have met and spoke with him and David Friedman, I still learned some things about him in this wonderfully entertaining and educational tribute that any horror fan interested in the roots of modern horror cinema would be crazy to miss.

(The film is dedicated to the late Daniel Krogh, who filmed a few of Herschell’s later films and co-wrote the first book about him titled THE AMAZING HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS AND HIS WORLD OF EXPLOITATION FILMS [1983 Fantaco] ).

© Copyright 2011 by Nick Cato

Lewis and Friedman discuss BLOOD FEAST in THE GODFATHER OF GORE


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Goodbye, David F. Friedman

Posted in 2011, Drive-in Movies, Exploitation Films, Grindhouse, Horror, Obituaries and Appreciations with tags , , , , , , , on February 15, 2011 by knifefighter

Legendary film producer David F. Friedman died today. Mr. Friedman produced lots of horror, sexpoloitation and B-movies, mostly in the 1960s and 70s, including many of director Herschell Gordon Lewis’s early films – especially Lewis’s classic “blood trilogy” of BLOOD FEAST (1963), TWO THOUSAND MANIACS (1964) and COLOR ME BLOOD RED (1965). For those who don’t know by now, BLOOD FEAST is a movie milestone, since it is considered to be the first gore film.

Like a lot of his contemporaries, Friedman started out producing “nudie films” when the reign of Hollywood studios came to an end in the 60s and independent cinema first began. These include such titles as THE ADVENTURES OF LUCKY PIERRE (1961) and GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BARES (1963), both also by Lewis early in his career. Mr. Friedman’s most recent credit was as executive producer of the film 2001 MANIACS: FIELD OF SCREAMS (2010)

He was 87 and died of heart failure in Anniston, Alabama.

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