Halloween Treats

Oh my... what a few months of indolence and industry will do to a blog's output... Now I'm also faced with the option of making cosmetic changes to attract new readers like flies to... well, you know. That will not happen until sometime in the midst of holiday season, I think. Until then, I bring you news of Good Things:

The KC Creepfest is the weekend of Oct. 28-29 and one of the main events will be the first public screening of Patrick Rea's second feature (a 'test-screening' and NOT an official premiere, so I gather), Saturday evening, with a Q & A with the filmmaker. So come on down, if you have the chance to... this has been building some buzz for quite some time, and I think that a lot of people are pretty anxious to finally see it.

Another Halloween treat is THE SLASHER KINGS, a multimedia show from the brain of playwright Ron Simonian. A rock Supergroup comprised of the most notorious horror film characters... that's sort of bringing to life the twisted urban legend of Charlie Manson auditioning for The Monkees - and WINNING A ROLE. The show debuts Oct. 27 and runs through Nov. 6, so if you don't make it by Halloween, you'll still have a chance. The show is preceded by an introductory short film, which I'm proud to say I had a part in its production - hopefully, I'll be seeing this on the weekend and will report back.

I'd also like to call your attention to two more things....

 Casey Scott has been a good friend since meeting her on location in Ohio for the film 5 YEARS [aka THE HIDDEN] back in 2000. Since then, I've slowly discovered The Cult of Casey, which has been in existence since her album CREEP CITY. It's been difficult to find some her output (Diva Machina, Red Venus Love Army), but not completely impossible. Now she's getting ready to record a new album, GLORIE INCOGNITI, and like most artists who're working outside the corporate structure, she could use YOUR support. Hence, an IndieGoGo campaign to do just that - If you'd like to find out more, or to donate, just click on the widget, which will take you to the project page and give you all the info you need.

BTW, I did the editing on the promo video, which gives you a little taste of Casey.





 Actor Blake Robbins (who you've probably seen in OZ, THE OFFICE, the Hanes sock commericial, THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN and RUBBER to name a few projects) is prepping for his feature film debut, THE SUBLIME AND THE BEAUTIFUL, to be shot in Lawrence, Kansas during the winter. Blake is a wonderful talent; please check out the Kickstarter page and if it sounds like something you'd like to see, take advantage of one of the options offered.

Usually, I'd be posting reviews of films seen, especially since I always try to find obscure gems during The Witching Season. For recent film reviews, take a look at 366 Underground, my recurring gig over at 366 Weird Movies. Reviews will gradually get back here, in dribs and drabs, and as far as Halloween viewing goes - STOP WATCHING TORTURE PORN AND SHITTY REMAKES OF FILMS THAT DIDN'T NEED THEM!!

Don't you wish every Movie Theater was like The Alamo?

Best. PSA. EVER!!!






Remember The Alamo...

It's FilmFest Time!!

Happy New Year, everyone! Yes, I know that it's just a tad late, but you know how these things are.  Personal turmoil and all that comes along with it -- The Good News is that everyone made it through surgery and they're recuperating nicely. The Christmas Miracle of December transmorgrified into January's Fresh Hell, as Christmas Miracles sometimes do.

With Spring, comes FilmFest to Kansas City - excuse me - The AMC Kansas City FilmFest, as the official titling goes. That kicks off this Wednesday, April 6 through April 10.

Here's a two-part interview with founder Fred Andrews, who provides some history, from when it started as The Kansas City Filmmaker's Jubilee to its current incarnation as FilmFest. This was intended for an article last year about the festival, but the publication it was intended for no longer exists... so, not one to waste material, it became the latest from Cheap Bastard Filmworks.







My personal picks are:


WED.
Togetherness Supreme
Rainbow Town
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
Anatomy of Vince Gauaraldi

THURS.
Andy Anderson Shorts/Detention
Seminar: Art Direction for the Indie Filmmaker

FRI.
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
Brotherhood

SAT.
Au Pair, Kansas
Homecoming
Pruitt-Igoe Myth
Seminars: The Big Idea


And I recommend any and all of the shorts programs.

You can find trailers for some films, as well as information about tickets and a link to a downloadable program on the FilmFest site.

Disclosure: I did work on AU PAIR, KS, and the FilmFest is the place where it will be making its world premiere, then on to festivals in Minnesota and Oklahoma.

... 'Tis the Season

Christmas just seems to creep up on one closer and closer each year. I try to tune out most of the hype to keep something special about it to me; it works with varying degrees of success. Whether one believes it's the birthday of a deity or the usurpation of a pagan holiday tamed into a spiritual holiday, then warped into a celebration of the REAL God of Our Worship - namely Money and the Goods That It Buys - there is something special about the time of year... it's mainly up to YOU how special it is.

Thus endeth the sermon.


A Christmas miracle of sorts has occurred; namely regular employment - or at least the start of it. As usual, it's of low character and substance, but as long as I can fake it long enough, then things will be alright... right? It may put a crimp into the other activities I was doing, but it's not like those were making any money, eh? And money is indeed the lifeblood of most anything one wants to do these days. So, we'll see how it goes.

Another Christmas tradition - in Britain, anyway - is the telling of scary tales around the season. Just look at A CHRISTMAS CAROL... and it was a tradition in Britain in the 70's to broadcast such tales, usually adaptations of stories by M.R. James (look it up). A collection of those tales got passed around under the heading of A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS. DVDs of these shows appeared in the UK and though they're mostly out of print now, some enterprising souls put the collection out there, along with a couple of fairly recent attempts to revive the tradition, and the show that kicked it off, a late 60's adaptation of the James story, "Whistle and I'll Come To You."

Most of the shows are deliberately paced, and there's no gore to speak of. The emphasis is on atmosphere and a growing sense of unease. Those who like their horror to be slambang and bloody will be disappointed at the lack of body parts strewn about, along with boring things such as character interaction. But then, British horror has never been all about goosh and gore; it's more on how the Uncanny intrudes upon the Familiar, and turns understanding of one's world upside down...
Not a bad thing to be reminded of, in my view.  Putting the 'scare' in Christmas seems to be spreading - Santa in the European tradition, has long been a figure much more complex than the jolly fat man pushing consumerism in America, and two new films from Europe, RARE EXPORTS and SINT (Saint) are ready to ride that wave... it's only a matter of time before Krampus gets his own horror film.

They're certainly better than END OF THE LINE, a film that I heard a little about a few years ago, then it dropped from sight, until finding it recently.



It's not a bad film... in fact, its central premise is a pretty good one. However, for me, it's somewhat too fatally flawed to give it a total pass, and you can probably spot those in the trailer (which really gives too much away about the picture).  It could lose its first 25 minutes or so with no detrimental effect to the picture... some of that is unnecessary shock/jump effects and background that really doesn't add anything pertinent, except stripping any ambiguity away...

And even though your effects guys are pretty good - know when too much is TOO MUCH.

It sounds like I'm down on this film... I'm more irked that with so much it had going for it, it got hobbled by some bad decisions. It is worth looking for, though.

Way better was the local library getting in its copy of AMERICA LOST AND FOUND: THE BBS STORY, which in its DVD incarnation is in several discs, which the library decided to carve up and circulate as separate packages. THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS was saved for me, along with the one I really wanted - HEAD!

In Widescreen, with commentary from all The Monkees, and with some very tasty extras, including a recent interview with Rafelson, an overview of BBS, some trailers including one I hadn't seen before, and a good photo gallery.

God Bless Us... Everyone!

PUNK SIDE STORY - When Broadway and Punk Rock had a one night stand...


Schlong, an East Bay Punk band, had a reputation for twisted covers... such as their TUMOURS ep, a cover of Fleetwood Mac's RUMOURS album. But their crowning achievement was PUNK SIDE STORY, a complete re-do of the WEST SIDE STORY album, with drunken punks taking the place of rival gangs.
You can read about the story of its making here - and judge for yourself by the following samples.


jet song




maria




america




tonight




gee officer krupke




I feel pretty




somewhere

"When Dino die, everybody cry," - R.I.P. Dino De Laurentiis


Dino De Laurentiis is dead, alas. Yes, the name has a certain infamy among cineastes - but let's be honest here - yes, he produced a lot of crap, but most of it was highly entertaining crap. He also produced a lot of good films, and helped a lot of directors get a leg up - David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Michael Cimino, Richard Fleischer, amongst a very long list.

And most of those films are die-hard favorites of most audiences out there.

The Bible




Danger Diabolik




Barbarella



Serpico



3 Days of the Condor



Mandingo



Drum



Buffalo Bill and the Indians




The White Buffalo



Conan The Barbarian



The Dead Zone



Dune



Maximum Overdrive



Blue Velvet



Flash Gordon



We will never see his like again in this world - and woe is us.

Happy Halloween with The Club Foot Orchestra


Excerpts from silent film horror classics, that could be grouped in the Horror genre, scored by Club Foot (composer Richard Mariott and company).

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari




Nosferatu







The Hands of Orlac




Pandora's Box




If you're lucky enough to be in the Bay Area on November 14, Club Foot returns to SF for a live performance at the Castro Theater.