There had been plans to make a sequel to The Lost Boys since that movie opened and original director Joel Schumacher had wanted to do a sequel called The Lost Girls before the announcement of this film, one he had nothing to do with and thought was a bad call.

Hans Rodionoff originally wrote a script about surfing werewolves called The Tribe which was turned down by studios — including Warner Bros. —  because it was pretty much The Lost Boys. Then there was an idea…what if it was the sequel and they made werewolves into vampires.

Corey Feldma, who came back to play Edgar Frog, told MTV “Warner Bros. has further developed the script — they brought on a great writer, Hans Rodionoff, who came up with a great story line. In the script, as it is today, I am one of the leads. My involvement is very close to what my involvement was in the first one. So I’m pretty much scattered throughout. Edgar was always an outcast, but here his close-knit family have drifted apart. They’ve had a major problem, and because of that problem, Edgar today is working alone. The film is about him trying to still carry the torch as it were, without the aid and assistance of his partners. That leaves him in an even lonelier and even more delicate place than he was in the first film being the outsider that he already was.”

I really want to see the movie that he was talking about.

After watching some surfing vampires kill old man vampire Tom Savini, we meet former pro surfger Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink, who would be in another direct to video sequel, American Pie Presents: Band Camp) and his sister Nicole (Autumn Reeser) have movied to Luna Bay to live in the home of their aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose). Chris wants to surf again, so he reaches out to a surfboard shaper — Edgar Frog — and then meets Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland, who is, you know, Keifer’s half brother) and gets all wrapped up in the world of Billabong bloodsuckers.

Nicole gets turned, Edgar helps out and many vampires die horribly. The end, however, give you what you want, as you learn that Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) is now a powerful vampire. Or maybe in the other version, you see Sam warn Edgar that his vampire brother Alan (Jamison Newlander) is coming to kill him.

Shockingly, the credits for this movie use The Hold Steady’s “Knuckles,” which kind of freaked me out, because my love for that song is in direct inverse to this movie.

Director P.J. Pesce also was behind another direct to video sequel, Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball.

Man, Tubi is filled with the work of John Russo, including these two docs:

Monster Make-Ups With Dick Smith (1989): Dick Smith is the godfather of monster make-up and best known for his work on Little Big Man, The Godfather, The Exorcist, House of Dark Shadows, Taxi Driver, Scanners and Death Becomes Her. He was an early pioneer of combining make-up with on-set “practical” special effects to make movie magic. This video, however, is just him doing simple make-up on a willing subject, giving him vampire fangs and then going absolutely wild and making him into a monster. While Smith’s work is dynamic, he’s soft-spoken and this video will show you technique but if you’re watching it as entertainment, you won’t get much. That said, it’s intriguing for horror movie fans. You can watch this on Tubi.

Horror Effects with Tom Savini (2008): Not released until 2008 but probably shot sometime in the 90s, this is less learning the techniques of Savini and more he and John Russo taking a trip down memory lane, talking about the movies they had worked on together and new films that Savini is just starting on like Two Evil Eyes, so yeah, this was around 1990 or so.

When it was shot, this would be the only way that you could see Heartstopper and I’m so glad they left the scene in where Tom keeps doing sets in his home gym while his wife begs him to put a baby in her.

This was directed by Paul McCollough, who shot The Winners, There’s Always Vanilla, The Booby Hatch, FleshEater and Midnight, as well as edited The Booby Hatch, FleshEater, Midnight, The Majorettes and Heartstopper. He also composed the music for remake of Night of the Living Dead, Legion of the Night and Santa Claws.

Russo is a total carny and you know, I kind of love that. I’ve given him money for posters covered in coffee stains and don’t feel bad at all about it.

You can watch this on Tubi.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Utopia, Abramorama and Portobello Electric have partnered to release the remastered documentary, Anvil! The Story of Anvil for a special one-night engagement in 200 theaters nationally on September 27th with select extended theatrical runs through October at National Circuits including AMC and Regal Cinemas. The rerelease is timed to the film’s 13th year anniversary and features remastered picture and sound, as well as a new exclusive epilogue interview, only available in theaters, with director Sacha Gervasi and Anvil’s Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner moderated by former MTV host Matt Pinfield. The documentary will be available for digital pre-order on iTunes and Vudu starting September 27. 

This first ran on September 22, 2020.

Super Rock ’84 in Japan was a touring rock festival that had Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Scorpions, Michael Schenker Group and Anvil playing. Of these bands, Anvil had the least success, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. At the time of this movie, Steve “Lips” Kudlow is working for a catering company and Robb Reiner is in construction. Their real lives are in constant juxtaposition with what being a rock star promised them, which is the story of this film.

Sacha Gervasi wrote the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal, but two decades before, he had been a roadie for Anvil. Who knew that someday he’d make the movie about them that would let the world know they existed, as well win an Independent Spirit Award and an Emmy?

It seems like every time the band gets close to their dreams, things go wrong. It always makes me think, when I wonder what it would have been like to be a rock star instead of having a day job, exactly how it would all turn out. This movie is a sobering reminder that not everyone makes it. Until, well, they do.

I kind of love the moment where Kudlow and Reiner nearly kill a promoter for not paying them. I had a similar moment happen when I first started in pro wrestling. A promoter wanted to pay us in checks and I didn’t know any better. That’s when I learned to always get paid in cash. A vet taught me that, as he grabbed that promoter, shoved a revolver in his face and demanded that the two of us get our money right now. I was kind of shocked by it all, but it was nice to drive home with actual cash, even if a man’s life had to be put in jeopardy. I remembered all of that when I watched this.

The American (2010): Based on the 1990 novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth, The American finds George Clooney playing Jack, a gunsmith and contract killer, who is also known as Edward when he gets spotted, a fact that he finds him killing his lover Ingrid (Irina Björklund) to keep from being found out.

He leaves for Castelvecchio, a small town in the mountains of Abruzzo, where he begins a relationship with two women: a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) and Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), who asks him to build a special rifle. Yet at every turn, others are hunting him.

Jack/Edward regrets his life and killing Ingrid, so he confesses to Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and tries to imagine a world where he can be with Clara, all while Mathilde readies to use the gun he made to kill him.

With allusions to the films of Leone and Don’t Look Now, director Anton Corbijn and writer Rowan Joffé have created an intriguing film with no real heroes.

Leatherheads (2008): Directed by star George Clooney from a script by Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, Leatherheads is about the start of American football. Clooney plays Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly, the captain of the Duluth Bulldogs, who is trying to save his team and football as a whole as it struggles to catch on He convinces war hero and college football star Carter “the Bullet” Rutherford (John Krasinski) to the team. He’s a combination of University of Illinois football star Harold “Red” Grange, who signed to a contract with the Chicago Bears the day after his last football game and Alvin York, the controversial Medal of Honor winner whose fame led to Sergeant York, the Gary Cooper movie.

The team and the league succeed as a result of this, but when reporter Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger) learns the truth, she feels duty bound to report it. The entire world doesn’t believe her until Dodge plays a prank — much like Clooney in real life — and gets Carter to speak the truth.

This movie speaks to the truth of media heroism, how football became an organized and reputable — well, somewhat — sport and the men that played the game. It’s also really well done.

You can get the Mill Creek George Clooney Double Feature of The American and Leatherheads from Deep Discount.

Meteors have hit the Earth, but everything worked out. Well, it did until giant ants that sleep inside the planets core are awakened and make their way to the surface. Or maybe they were all in blocks of ice and needed thawed out. Despite a long spoken introduction even this movie isn’t all that sure.

A rich industrialist brings in bug expert John Caine (Mel Novak) to check out the giant insect they’ve captured, but he’s rich and therefore bad and tries to kill our protagonist just as ants begin attacking all over the world. Luckily, John’s daughter Audrey (Tina-Desiree Berg) is able to help the military battle those monstrous picnic ruiners.

If you’ve a fan of bad CGI, tones shifting between gore and a child movie, characters that you actively hope will die, bad editing and a story that never even tries to make sense, you may find something here.

Director and writer Carribou Seto is actually David Huey, who made a whole bunch of movies with Gary Daniels in the 1990s. You know, the dude from the live action Fist of the North Star.

This is on YouTube but I don’t even want to share the link because if you’re like me, hearing how bad it is will make you watch it.

Furie! The Ace of Spades! Twilight! Sergeant Liberty! Dave!

They’re The Crusaders, a hero human team out to protect the world from evil and their movie looks like a comic’s pages being flipped. I liked the effect, even if it’s distracting at times, and the movie felt like watching a night of the old RPG Champions.

Director Robb Wolford has only made this movie, but I’d really like to see what else he can do. This has a lot of storylines going on but really has the look and aura of a 70s Marvel book.

It’s not perfect and overreaches past its budget, but it has heart. This is made by people who love comics and not commerce. With bad guys like The Seven Heads of the Beast (Zuromachi, Death Rattle, Countess Bathory, The Gorgon, Uncle Smiley, Dr. Omega and Speedtrip) and The Moguls of Doom (Warlock, Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Dr. Psycho, Captain Slaughter, The Masked Crusher, The Ogre and The Proletariat), as well as a plan to kill thousands on Christmas Eve, this is a high stakes superhero movie no matter what the cost to make it may have been.

So how about the next issue?

You can watch this on Tubi.

Ray Stevenson has done a great job of playing two of my favorite characters — The Punisher and Firefly — in two not-so-good movies, which is kind of sad. At least Marvel threw him something of a bone by having him play Volstagg in the Thor movies. But hey — he’s done well for himself. I just wish they’d made a better Punisher movie for him to be in.

Neither director Jonathan Hensleigh or star Thomas Jane — who said “What I won’t do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don’t believe in. I’ve always loved the Marvel guys, and wish them well. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to search for a film that one day might stand with all those films that the fans have asked me to watch.” — would return for this film. I mean, at one point, Walter Hill was going to be involved, but lack of a good script was one of the main reasons why Jane — who would come back to play Castle in a short called The Punisher: Dirty Laundry — walked away.

Director Lexi Alexander, a former soccer hooligan, World Karate Association world champion and United States Marine Corps close combat trainer, tried. She had famous battles with Lionsgate, who produced the film in the days before Marvel making all of their own films. She’d later say, “Marvel was an equal partner, but unfortunately when there were creative decision conflicts, Marvel would let Lionsgate be the tie breaker. I always regretted that I made a Marvel movie this way, because 99% of their notes were much better than the studios and I was more in tune with them.” There were rumors that she was taken off the film, which she denies, but she didn’t get final cut.

Roger Ebert referred to the film by saying “The Punisher: War Zone is one of the best-made bad movies I’ve seen” and it’s been reeavluated since its release, but this is the lowest grossing Marvel film — I don’t know if they count the earlier Captain America — making even less than Elektra and Howard the Duck.

I mean, I love Jigsaw. I love the Punisher. This feels like it wants to be something other than a story from the comics and when those flipping acrobats show up? Yeah, I’m good. Not every bad movie can be reclaimed.