Monthly Archives: June 2022

The Righteous (2021)

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This first feature from director-actor-writer Mark O’Brien (Ready or Not) is about Frederic (Henry Czerny) a grieving man already struggling with his faith who decides to help an injured Aaron Smith (O’Brien) when the man knocks on his door and claims to be lost in the woods.

Frederic and his wife Ethel (Mimi Kuzyk) invite the man to stay, but Frederic soon begins to doubt why the man is there and the stories he tells. In fact, he could be there to test everything that Frederic — a one-time priest before he got married — knows. He’s already endured the tragic loss of his daughter. What can be next?

Filmed in striking black and white by cinematographer Scott McClellan, this movie is either a man of lapsed faith against the very human past sins made flesh or a home invasion movie. It could be both. As Aaron starts putting his feet up on the table, reading the brochure on the dead child’s funeral expenses, asking some very personal questions and perhaps getting too close to Ethel, this film proves itself to be a long simmering and suspenseful effort that isn’t afraid to its time, nor worried about a small cast. After all, there’s so much talent here.

The Righteous is available on digital and on the ARROW player. Visit ARROW to start your 30-day free trial. Subscriptions are available for $4.99 monthly or $49.99 yearly. ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.

Interview with The Cannon Film Guide author Austin Trunick part 3

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As we start part three of my discussion with The Cannon Film Guide Volume I and The Cannon Film Guide Volume II author Austin Trunick, we’re at the end of discussing Cannon’s attempts at making movies with Marvel.

B&S: I want a Joe Zito Spider-Man.

Austin: I wish he had done more for Cannon.

B&S: Well, Red Scorpion feels like a spiritual Cannon movie. And it has Savini effects!

Austin: He did Invasion U.S.A. with Zito too. He also did John Savage’s burned-up hand on Maria’s Lovers.

B&S: It’s not a far drive from Bloomfield to Brownsville.

Austin: And of course, he did Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for Cannon.

B&S: I love that Tobe Hooper did three movies for Cannon. He had a good experience there, right?

Austin: Yeah, I mean, up until the end, I would say it was good for Tobe and Cannon. But both sides soured pretty hard by the end. He did speak nicely of them afterward so maybe it wasn’t too bad.

He got to make Lifeforce. Basically a Hammer-style movie with gore, nudity, a large budget and an incredibly long shoot for Cannon. And so many people worked on that, between Nick Maley, John Dykstra, Dan O’Bannon on the script. It would be really hard to ask for me.

Unfortunately, with Invaders from Mars, which he was excited about, that’s another project where he got pressured a lot by Cannon toward the end, because he was going over budget and over schedule and Cannon rarely allowed that in any of their movies. He got away with it there. And they also wanted it to be scarier.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was a movie that Tobe initially didn’t want to direct but they couldn’t get any directors approved that he wanted. They finally needed someone to shoot it fast because they have already pre-sold it and promised to theaters, so Tobe ended up jumping in to take it over. They made that movie ridiculously fast and Cannon did not get it.

I mean, I don’t think anybody got the Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel they expected.

You can see in the trailers and print ads that Cannon was selling it as a continuation of the original movie and they didn’t get that. (laughs)

It’s such a fun movie, but you can tell that they were just horrified seeing the footage. They sent Newt Arnold, who directed Bloodsport, as kind of a company man to finish the movie if they had to fire Tobe and keep it on schedule.

That made a lot of ill will between Tobe and his crew with Cannon. Who was Cannon to send one of their goons to take the movie out of their hands?

Does a promo photo get any better?

B&S: That’s not the first time Tobe had issues, like he was fired from The Dark and there’s this big period between Eaten Alive and The Funhouse where projects kept falling to pieces.

Austin: I did get some great Tobe Hooper stories in the second volume. You definitely get the sense that he was somebody who like to shoot stuff over and over and over again until it was right. He loved to play around a lot on the set which is the opposite of Cannon. They wanted stuff to be on time and on budget.

B&S: I always have felt that Hooper would have been a better regional filmmaker, closer to George Romero. Other than getting stuck in what he called the horror ghetto, Romero made the right path for himself. Staying around Pittsburgh — and Canada at the end of his career — he was able to control and have his crew that he trusted.

Meanwhile, Tobe went to Hollywood and he’d often call people out — like Wayne Bell — to Hollywood from Texas because he didn’t trust anyone. Maybe he got overwhelmed by the system.

But Romero and Hooper both made their Citizen Kane with their first film. Romero took a few decades, but he eclipsed it. Hooper didn’t.

That’s a lot to live up to, much less working for Cannon.

Austin: I think Cannon in the end was just kind of disappointed that Lifeforce wasn’t this giant film. You know, the next Star Wars or at least 2001: A Space Odyssey.

For them, they gave Tobe Hooper all the time in the world to really do this stuff. And it’s a very unique movie.

But those movies maybe don’t have the gonzo magic of shooting in this filthy smelly cabin in the middle of Texas. It was visionary magic maybe because of the limited resources.

Invaders from Mars is the one that I like the least. I love the alien designs and things like that, but of his three Cannon movies, it’s probably my least favorite. It’s the least successful just because it was one where I think he would have wanted more time. He was not around for the post-production at all.

B&S: Strange Invaders is a similar failure.

Austin: A lot of these directors who were kids in the 50s and saw a lot of these science fiction films, probably on TV in the 60s, and fell in love with them. So you have a whole generation of directors who suddenly wanted to make that sort of movie. And audiences didn’t want to see it.

B&S: John Carpenter’s The Thing is a classic now but was hated when it came out.

When it comes to Tobe Hooper’s Cannon movies, my wife said, “These movies failed because only people like you love them. They were for you. And there weren’t enough people like you to make them successful.”

She also said that Chainsaw 2  is the most unrelenting gross movie. Not because of the gore, which it has, but because every scene is covered in decay and filth.

Austin: The carnival lair is so incredible. That’s something I asked people who worked on the film about, because they got local art students to fill that place out because they filled out this gigantic set — the inside of the Austin American Statesman’s old printing facilities — in the middle of a June heatwave with animal parts from a slaughterhouse.

When I spoke with Bill Moseley and Bill Johnson, they both talked about how this place kind was just so hot — 120 degrees — with all the lighting and equipment and just having all this meat in there that’s still rotting. They can still remember how disgusting it was.

A lot of the crew got sick. Everyone except for Bill Mosley!

There was a rumor going around that it was because they used actual skeletons, the kind that came from medical schools in India.

B&S: Savini said every movie used the same place, so maybe every movie is cursed.

Austin: Today, a place once filled with rotten carcasses, the Sawyer house from the first movie, is a bed and breakfast.

B&S: Speaking of Star Wars, Cannon sold Masters of the Universe as the Star Wars of the 80s.

Austin: That movie went through so many problems and changes but even when they got to the TV spots with audience reactions, there’s a kid saying, “This is as good as Star Wars.” And they use that in their national campaign for the movie. But I think that’s Cannon and unfortunately, they didn’t come anywhere near being Star Wars.

B&S: No one making it wanted to make a toy movie. They made a Jack Kirby movie. Then why pay for the rights?

Austin: Yeah, I mean, I remember feeling disappointed as a kid. I wondered, where are all the characters? Where’s Orko?

He-Man had been a phenomena but by the time Cannon made it, it was nearly dead. Mattel thought it would save the toy line but they only made a few figures from it. Edward R. Pressman had been trying to make it for years and by the time it happened, it was too late.

B&S: It feels like Cannon was decades ahead of the streaming model of just constantly making content.

Austin: Cannon took more chances. I’m paraphrasing Roger Ebert here, but he had commended Cannon for taking more chances than really any other studio in the 80s. And to their credit, they could do that because they were very good at pre-selling the movies.

In the next part of this interview, we discuss the tall tales of Cannon and if they’re true, false or if that even matters.

Las viboras cambian de piel (1974)

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Vipers Shed Their Skin is also known as Guns and Guts and it’s not an Italian western. It’s a Mexican one, directed by René Cardona Jr. (Tintorera…Tiger Shark, Night of 1000 Cats), and stars Jorge Rivero (Operation 67, Conquest) as El Pistolero, a killer who wants to finish one last job before he settles down with Chiquita (former vedette Zulma Faiad).

He’s joined by Esposo Abandonado, which means abandoned husband (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) and Prisionero Escapado, which means escaped prisoner (Rogelio Guerra) to hunt down a sheriff (Quintin Bulnes) who is hiding in a monastery.

The end of this movie is totally The Wild Bunch. To get there, you get a guy getting shot in the neck and bleeding everywhere and tons of female nudity, but the movie meanders on the way.

You can watch this on Tubi.

Quién sabe? (1966)

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With a title that translates as Who Knows?, this was renamed A Bullet for the General when it was released in the U.S. It’s the first Italian western to seriously deal with the Mexican revolution, which is credited to screenwriter Franco Solinas, a confirmed Marxist, who shared screenplay duties with Salvatore Laurani. It was directed by Damiano Damiani, who was no stranger to movies with political commentary, except for the movie he’s best known for in the U.S., Amityville II: The Possession.

Gian Maria Volonté plays El Chuncho Muños, who is considered the hero — I guess — of this film, who attacks a train and adds American Bill “Niño” Tate (played by Lou Castel with William Berger providing his voice). The foreigner manipulates Chuncho throughout and is present for the deaths of nearly all of his men as well as the death of his brother El Santo (Klaus Kinski, not the masked luchador, but man, Klaus Kinski and Santo in a movie is something I want to see).

It has Martine Beswick in the cast, an actress whose career ranges from Thunderball and Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde to The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood, Trancers II and so much more.

There’s also an urban legend that Damiani got so fed up with the hijinks of Gian Maria Volontè and Kinski that he beat them and whipped them on the set until they finally behaved.

The first Zapata western — one that deals with the Mexican revolution — this movie ends with money being thrown and the poor being told to buy dynamite instead of bread. The idealism of revolution is forever co-opted by greed and this movie shoves your face in it and laughs, because even a movie made nearly sixty years ago understands the same issues we’re dealing with today, ones that will never go away. Friendship means nothing, ideals mean nothing, only gold. Anyone, everyone will be sold out and left for dead.

You can watch this on Tubi.

Tubi picks (week 7 — guest writer Dustin Fallon)

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dustin Fallon is the man behind Horror and Sons as well as a regular guest on the Drive-In Asylum Double Feature. It’s exciting to see what films ge recommends to watch!

Howdy, film fiends! Below are a list of 10 films currently available to watch right now on Tubi. I chose not to use the word “recommendations” in this intro as I do not actually recommend watching all of them. Hell, I don’t even like a couple of them. Let’s get to it!

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) – D: Sidney Lanfield – LINK

This early adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous tale was not the first to grace the silver screen, and some might argue that it may not even be the best, but fans of both Doyle’s work and classic film mysteries would probably be doing themselves a disservice by not giving this version a watch.

Basil Rathbone stars as the legendary Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as his partner-in-crime (solving), Dr. Watson, who are hired to protect a young heir whose descendants have all met tragic ends, allegedly at the jaws of a mythical hound that stalks the moors surrounding the family’s Devonshire estate. Holmes plays something of a secondary role this time (with Rathbone also receiving second-billing on the film) as the sleuth disappears for a sizable portion of the tale. Also, look for a young John Carradine in a smaller role as the family’s suspicious servant.

2. One Body Too Many (1944) – D: Frank McDonald – LINK

The family and associates of a recently deceased millionaire, one with a strong interest in astronomy, gather at the man’s mansion for the reading of his will, but quickly learn that they will be forced to stay there until the completion of construction on a glass-domed vault which will serve as the man’s final resting place, at which time the will shall be opened and read. This proves to be a challenge as they all dislike each other almost as much as the deceased man disliked them. However, leaving the estate will be considered a forfeiture of their share of the inheritance, while any attempt to have the man buried will result in a reversal of the will, with those who would have originally received the smallest sum now receiving the largest, and vice versa.

Enter ill-timed life insurance agent Albert Tuttle (Jack Haley, best known as The Wizard of Oz‘s “Tin Man”) who finds himself somewhat unwillingly and unwittingly thrust into the increasingly bizarre and sinister events taking place at the mansion. Horror icon Bela Lugosi co-stars as the deceased man’s butler, who spends the entire film seemingly attempting to kill off all of the houseguests with poisoned coffee. Fay Helm of Universal’s The Wolf Man and Plan 9 from Outer Space‘s Lyle Talbot also appear.

This film tends to be one of the lesser-mentioned entries from Lugosi’s career, which is a shame as it’s a highly entertaining comedic “whodunit?” with enough murder and mayhem to keep it from ever becoming dull. Highly recommended.

3. Monster on the Campus (1958) – D: Jack Arnold – LINK

The director of science fiction classics such as Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came From Outer Space returns with a tale of a professor (Arthur Franz – Flight to Mars, Invaders from Mars) who turns into a murderous Neanderthal-like creature after being exposed to the blood of a prehistoric fish that he has exposed to gamma radiation. While I do admit a bias in considering nearly all of Universal’s ’50s-era monster films to be among the best ever produced, what helps Monster stand out is the violent and brutal nature in which the creature dispatches his victims, including one unfortunate female associate of the professor’s who is ripped to shreds before being strung up in a tree by her hair!!

Black Lagoon‘s Whit Bissel and a young Troy Donahue co-star, as do a few other Universal regulars from that era. Prolific stuntman Eddie Parker steps in as the professor’s monstrous form.

4. Track of the Vampire (1966) – D: Jack Hill, Stephanie Rothman – LINK

Roger Corman once co-produced a Yugoslavia “spy” thriller entitled “Operation: Titian”. It sucked so badly that Corman never released it. He later purchased a script for a horror film entitled Portrait in Terror, which he let Hill direct, but which also used quite a bit of footage from “Operation: Titian”. It also sucked and was unreleased. As Corman was determined to recoup some of his losses from both of these disasters, he brought in Rothman to shoot some additional scenes (changing the plot to now be about a vampire). The finished product was released to theaters in 1966 as Blood Bath and, my apologies to what fans the film may have, still sucked. At some later point in time, Corman added even more footage in order to make the film a suitable length for television distribution, where it aired under the new title of Track of the Vampire. Surprise… it still sucks.

Whatever you choose to call the film, it’s a discombobulated mish-mash of dissonant ideas and themes loosely held together by shoddy editing, massive gaps in continuation, and radically uneven performances. So, why did it make this list? Simply because Corman’s determination to make a buck by piling shit on top of shit on top of shit on top of shit is both undeniably admirable and unabashedly shameful at the same time.

As if things weren’t confusing enough, a re-edited “Operation: Titian” was distributed to television in 1968 as Portrait in Terror. God bless you, Roger!

5. Mysteries of the Gods (1977) – D: Harald Reinl, Charles Romine – LINK

Based on the works of author Erich von Däniken, this “documentary” explores the concepts of “ancient astronauts” and their alleged influence on the history of mankind. While the film attempts to present its ideas and concepts as proven facts, many of von Däniken’s theories have since been disproven or generally dismissed as total bullshit. All that said, the film and the propositions that it puts forth are still pretty fascinating and intriguing, although there is more focus on the evolution of the world’s many cultures and civilizations than there is on the modern-era phenomena of unidentified flying objects. While clearly not for all audiences, those interested in ufology may still want to give it a watch, even if what is presented should be taken with a grain of salt.

While the American theatrical release of the film featured William Shatner as a host and narrator, his presence is nowhere to be found in the version featured on Tubi… even if their listing for the film does credit him as appearing.

6. Funland (1987) – D: Michael A. Simpson – LINK

When a mob family kills a theme park owner and takes over operations, the mentally unhinged clown mascot, Bruce Burger (David L. Lander, Laverne & Shirley‘s “Squiggy”), seeks revenge, also taking aim at his replacement (Lane Davies, “Mason Capwell” of TV’s Santa Barbara) in the process. While this may sound like the premise for a psychological thriller, Funland is actually a seriously deranged black humored comedy from writers Bonnie and Terry Turner. If those names sound familiar, that’s because the married duo would go on to write for Saturday Night Live, penning the screenplays for Tommy Boy, 1993’s Coneheads film, and both Wayne’s World films. The duo would also go on to create highly successful sitcoms 3rd Rock From The Sun and That ’70s Show.

There’s much more going on in this film than what I alluded to in the previous paragraph, but trying to mention even half of it would increase the size of this article tri-fold. Released directly to video, I can’t help but feel that this film would be considered more of a “cult classic” had it been released just a few years later. Instead, it’s a generally forgotten “gem” with some whacked-out, occasionally offensive moments (in particular, one racially based sight gag that would never float in a modern-day film) that deserves a second chance at life. To Kill A Mockingbird‘s William Windom, Police Academy‘s Bruce Mahler (who horror fans will remember from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), and the late Jan Hooks (SNL, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure) co-star, as do a few other faces you may recognize.

7. Project: Metalbeast (1995) – D: Alessandro De Gaetano – LINK

If, back in 1990, you would have told 13/14-year-old me about a movie that featured Kane Hodder as a metallic werewolf, I most assuredly would have spent every weekend at my local video stores, hounding them repeatedly to ensure that they brought in a VHS copy so that I could rent it the second it arrived. Unfortunately, Project: Metalbeast was not released until 1995, and by that point my 18/19 year-old-self was much more preoccupied with other interests… namely sex and weed.

The film undoubtedly does not live up to my pre-pubescent expectations (or my modern-day ones, for that matter), featuring far too much dialog and not enough monster carnage. While the opening sequence sets things off on the right foot and showcases some decent creature design, the final manifestation of our creature doesn’t appear until late in the film and looks more like a chromed-out Sonic the Hedgehog that took more HGH than Mark McGwire than it does a werewolf. That said, the film is far from what I would call “awful” and features a rather fun, hammy performance from Barry Bostwick as the corrupt Colonel in charge of the project.

8. The Dead Hate the Living (2000) – D: Dave Parker – LINK

The cast and crew of a low-budget horror film find what appears to be a highly ornate coffin in the boiler room of the abandoned hospital in which they are filming and decide to make it part of their film. You know, even if there is a fairly fresh corpse inside of it. Little do they know that the dead man is actually a necromancer and the coffin a doorway to a world of evil dead (or undead) humanoids.

This production from Charles Band’s Full Moon Features came a few years after the company lost its distribution deal with Paramount, which (as long time and/or former fans will readily tell you) was when the budgets and quality of their films started taking a steady nosedive into the crapper. While the company still has a few fans of the generally puppet-rampant shit that they have released over the last 2+ decades, The Dead Hate the Living may be the last Full Moon film with any “heart” (although I do admit to enjoying The GingerDead Man II)… and I don’t mean the kind ripped from someone’s chest.

The film does feature occasionally hokey special effects and more than a couple uneven performances, but still serves as a sincere tribute to horror fandom. There are quite a few references to other horror films and directors that hardcore genre fans should appreciate, and I’m not talking about the mainstream-friendly “nods” that one might find in the Scream franchise. The late Matt McGrory (House of 1,000 Corpses) and Sharknado series director, Anthony C. Ferrante, appear in smaller roles.

9. Alien Implant (2017) – D: Daniel Falicki – LINK

The traumatized survivor of an alien abduction takes to a reclusive life in the wilderness, where she begins luring out and hunting down the aliens that experimented on her. This ultra low-budget science fiction flick features some truly unimpressive alien costumes, but stands out from the pack of similar themed films due to a surprisingly strong performance from its lead actress (in a film with minimal cast), as well as a fairly unique approach to its topic.

I covered this film on my own site in late 2021, and while I can’t say that it doesn’t have its share of flaws, it definitely made an impression on me with its individuality. Like most of the films that I’ve included on this list, it’s clearly not one that will win over or impress all audiences, but if you are interested in learning more, here’s the link to my site’s review. Alien Implant (2017) – Movie Review

10. Amityville Island (2020) – D: Mark Polonia – LINK

Truth be told, I didn’t even watch this movie. I watched the trailer and decided that I had seen more than enough. In fact, I wouldn’t dare recommend that others watch it either. So, why did a film that looks this wretched make this list? To teach a somewhat motivational lesson to those who dream of making their own film one day. That lesson? You might not be able to make a great film, or even a good one… but ANYONE can make an Amityville flick. Hell, it doesn’t even have to relate to the original Amityville Horror tale in the slightest, so long as you use the word “Amityville” somewhere in the script.

Fun fact: Another 12 low-budget Amityville films have been released in the time it took me to write this entry.

Junesploitation 2022: Ticks (1993)

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June 15: Junesploitation’s topic of the day — as suggested by F This Movie— is bugs! We’re excited to tackle a different genre every day, so check back and see what’s next.

Tony Randel made Hellbound: Hellraiser II and I always hunted down his direct to video movies as a result. Like Amityville 1992: It’s About Time and Fist of the North Star. Ticks is another example, a movie with a cast packed with genre favorites — Seth Green, Clint Howard — and recognizable faces — Alfonso Ribeiro, Peter Scolari, Ami Dolenz — in a movie about exactly what you think it’s about. Ticks.

Jarvis Tanner (Howard) has been growing a super strain of marijuana that has mutated the local population of ticks, just in time for a camp for bad teens starts up, which includes Tyler Burns (Green), Darrel “Panic” Lumley (Ribeiro), Dee Dee Davenport (Dolenz), Rome Hernandez (Ray Oriel) and Kelly Mishimoto (Dina Dayrit) who are guided by Holly Lambert (Rosalind Allen) and Charles Danson (Scolari), who has brought along his daughter Melissa (Virginya Keehne).

If you’re an animal fan, well…perhaps this is not the movie for you, as a hamster and a dog get infected by the ticks and immediately die, which leads to Riberio getting a dramatic speech about just what his dog meant. The rest of the film has ticks burrow deep into human beings and cause no small level of calamity.

Personally, I hate ticks. Remember that lyme disease comes from them. Darryl Hall, of Hall and Oates, nearly died from the lyme disease he got from a tick that he claims came from a deer and as a result, he hates deer. Like, the dude violently hates deer.

This was written by Brent V. Friedman, who created the TV show Dark Skies and wrote Hollywood Hot Tubs 2: Educating Crystal, Syngenor, American Cyborg: Steel Warrior, Pet Store and has worked on a few of the Halo and Call of Duty games. Speaking of video games, he also wrote Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

Also, this day is supposed to be about bugs and ticks are actually arachnids like spiders and scorpions. So I apologize that this is not truly a bug movie. I should have watched those ants brutalize Joan Collins.

You can watch this on Tubi.

Cult Epics Signs New Distribution Deal with MVD and Announces Their Upcoming 2022 Releases

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Have I ever mentioned how much I love Sylvia Kristel? If you’re reading this site, you probably do too. Here’s some good news from Cult Epics and MVD.

Cult Epics and MVD Entertainment Group are pleased to announce a new distribution deal for the Cult Epics catalog and future releases, effective June 1, 2022.
Cult Epics was founded by Nico B in 1991 and has released films by directors such as Walerian Borowczyk, Fernando Arrabal, Radley Metzger, Tinto Brass, Agusti Villaronga, Jorg Buttgereit, Pim de la Parra, Nouchka van Brakel, etc., as well as the iconic Bettie Page and, more recently, Sylvia Kristel.
Cult Epics has an exciting upcoming release schedule with several music-related films, starting with Naked Over the Fence (1973), featuring Sylvia Kristel on blu ray August 23, which will include a bonus CD of the soundtrack by cult composer Ruud Bos with Sylvia Kristel on vocals on the track “Hey, A Letter Came Today,” bundled with the first 1000 blu ray copies (courtesy of Universal Music).
The schedule continues with Just Jaeckin’s The Last Romantic Lover (1978) on October 25. Jaeckin discovered Sylvia Kristel and cast her for the role of Emmanuelle after Naked Over the Fence. The Last Romantic Lover is his personal favorite of the films he directed, and stars Dayle Haddon (Madame Claude) and has a music score by Pierre Bachelet (Emmanuelle).
Following that on November 22, with rights courtesy of the Estate of Gainsbourg, Cult Epics will release the soundtrack of Madame Claude by Serge Gainsbourg, featuring Jane Birkin on vocals, and will reissue the blu ray in a limited edition of 1000 copies, bundled with a bonus CD of the long-out-of-print score.
All titles will be available on blu ray and DVD. All new releases have been scanned in 4K and have additional bonus features.

SYNAPSE BLU RAY RELEASE: The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (1974)

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This originally was on the site on February 4, 2018. It’s back because Synapse has two great new releases of the film that you need to get.

There’s a standard 1080p blu ray with tons of extras, including an exclusive new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative, a new 5.1 English stereo surround remix made exclusively for the Synapse Films release, two audio commentaries featuring authors and film scholars Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Bruce Holecheck, a restoration of the true original English language theatrical mono mix, a 90-minute documentary on director Jorge Grau, two features about Giannetto De Rossi, the theatrical trailer, TV spots and radio spots, and newly translated removable English SDH subtitles.

You can also grab the limited edition steelbook, which has all of those features plus liner notes booklet featuring writing from Spanish film scholar Dr. Nicholas Schlegel, an exclusive CD soundtrack of the haunting original score by Giuliano Sorgini and a mini-poster of Wes Benscoter’s amazing steelbook artwork.

Click on the links above to order these releases from Synapse Films.

No matter what title you watch this movie under —  from the original Spanish title, No Profanar el Sueño de los Muertos (Don’t Disturb the Sleep of the Dead) or alternates like Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, The Living Dead, Breakfast at Manchester Morgue and Don’t Open the Window — it’s an intriguing slice of early 70’s shock. At once a portrait of the young, hip and now generation and a zombie film, Jorge Grau’s film features scenes that still freak people out over forty years later.

I first learned of this film from the Electric Wizard song “Wizard in Black,” as a sample of the Inspector arguing with George starts the song.

George (Ray Lovelock, Murder Rock) runs an antique shop in Manchester and decides to go work on a house with some friends. At a gas station, Edna (Cristina Galbó, What Have You Done to Solange?) hits his motorcycle with her car, so she agrees to give him a ride. On the way to see Edna’s sister, they hit a dead end. George finds a short cut that takes them past an experimental insect killing machine in the fields. It uses ultrasonic radiation and is supposed to be safer than DDT. Meanwhile, a mysterious man attacks Edna.

That night, Edna’s sister Katie and her husband Martin (Jóse Lifante, Dr. Death from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) argue. Martin goes to take photographs while the same man who attacked Edna menaces Katie. Martin tries to save her, but is killed just as Edna and George arrive.

They go to the police to report the death, but the police sergeant thinks Katie was the killer. They all decide to stay at the Old Owl Hotel, as George gets the photos developed that Martin was taking to see what was really happening.

Meanwhile, Katie has gone insane and is hospitalized. For some reason, newborn babies are biting people with murderous intent — something which is not followed up on in this movie.

The developed photos show a homeless man, who later returns to trap our heroes in a crypt and bring back to life numerous bodies simply by touching their eyes with his bloody fingers. George and Edna cut their way out of the ground itself to escape, but only Edna makes it out, as the zombies won’t let go of George. A police officer named Craig, who has been following them, saves them but the zombies give chase. He soon discovers his gun has no effect as they overwhelm him and rip him apart, eating his vital organs.

As the zombies trap George and Edna all over again, they throw an oil lamp at the horde, which saves them. They decide to split up. Edna will inform the police and George will destroy the machine. Unbeknownst to them, the police — and more specifically, the inspector (Arthur Kennedy, The Antichrist) — think that they are Manson-like Satanic killers and have issued an order to shoot to kill.

Edna is nearly killed by her brother-in-law in zombie form, but is saved again by George, who drops her off at a gas station. He’s then caught by the police, who take him and Martin’s body to the hospital and switch the machine on again. The zombies — now including Katie — come to life, killing everyone in their path and menacing a sedated Edna.

Sadly, George is too late. Edna is a zombie and pushes him into a room where the police inspector shoots him four times, killing him. He even claims that he wishes that George would come to life again just so he could kill him one more time.

He gets his wish, as an undead form of George comes for him, but now, bullets cannot stop him. And in the field, the machine keeps working.

I’m in pure love with this movie. From the way it depicts the blight of early 70’s England to the way the cops treat our heroes to the downbeat ending, it’s everything that is perfect about horror movies. And the close in the hospital is packed with shocking gore that will truly stay with you. No matter what title you see this as, make sure to see it.

TUBI ORIGINAL: Crushed (2022)

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Kate (Bebe Wood) is a romantic high schooler not above wishing that she could have sex immediately. She also has a huge crush on Jason (Nicholas Alexander Chavez), who may not be worth it, and is losing her friendship with her best friend who now has a boyfriend. It’s their last trip before graduating and if you’ve been on one of those bus trips, you know exactly what’s going to happen.

This is a post-American Pie teen movie and doesn’t spare the grossness, with a shocking vomit scene and anally-induced drugs, including someone shotgunning weed smoke into another person’s mouth by farting. So, you know, when you think you’ve seen it all…you haven’t.

The morals of the film are obvious and I liked how Kate reflected on high school closure at the end, just as much as how much I didn’t like the coda that basically had her surrounded by vapid club girls and acting just as dumb as them, showing if anything she regressed from the strength and intelligence that she showed throughout the movie. It feels incredibly hollow.

Director Niki Koss started as an actress and has made this movie and Night Night. This was written by Heidi Lux, who also acts and this was her first full-length movie.

There are some genuine laughs in it and I loved the very brief time that Bailey Stender was in this movie. Outside of my very major issue with the film’s bookend, it’s nice to see teen movies with kids who look like kids and not twentysomething teenagers. There’s a fun heart in this and I look forward to what Koss and Lux do next.

You can watch this on Tubi.

Isolated (2022)

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Also known as O9en Up, this was directed by Tyler Lee Allen and written by Michael Ferree. It’s all about Nell (KateLynn E. Newberry), who has just woken up trapped inside of a room with no memory of who she is or even how she got there.

There’s also a man next door to Nell in the same situation. While she doesn’t trust him, their conversations lead to her realizing not only who but what she is.

Also featuring Lanny Joon and David Solomon Abrams, this film is a claustrophobic one, keeping its characters confined for most of the movie. The footage outside the prison looks great as does the cell scenes, which says to me this team got the most out of its budget and delivered a movie that looks way better than what they spent.

Isolated is available on DVD and on demand from Uncork’d Entertainment,