We’ve gone down the DUST rabbit hole once before — as part of last year’s Scarecrow Video of Seattle’s Psychotronic October Scarecrow Challenge of watching 31 movies in 31 days. For the 24th day of the challenge, the theme was “Short Attention Span Theatre: Watch Some Shorts or Anthology Things.” And I chose to meet the challenge with a pair of short films from DUST: a You Tube-based, social media portal that features science fiction shorts from emerging filmmakers obsessed with aliens, robots, space exploration, technology, and the human experience in space.
During my last year’s DUST excursion, I felt moved to the point of wanting to review two of the many wonderful films on the DUST platform — and chose to review Colin West’s Plastic Pink Flamingos and Marko Slavanic’s Skyborn. This year, I was wowed by the writing and directing, narrative-fiction debut of Ben Griffin, a filmmaker who earned his bones in the music video field with the likes of Demi Lovato, Imagine Dragons, Machine Gun Kelly, and Metallica* (2019’s Metallica & San Francisco Symphony). (We previously reviewed A Clear Shot, the latest feature film by Nick Leisure, himself a writer-director who rose up through the music video field ranks.)
Lewis Tan (Shatterstar in Deadpool 2; Gaius Chau on AMC’s Into The Badlands; Lu Xin Lee in Netflix’s Wu Assassins) is Ji, a modified human and commanding General in a military unit protecting the mechanized exo-planet Nilo. His artificial life on his artificial home world is perfect — yet, he hungers to learn of his human roots.
Against orders and abandoning his post, Ji sets off for Earth and comes to discover it’s not the wasteland he and his people were told. Upon arrival, he meets an Earth woman (Eva De Dominici, of the upcoming Bruce Willis sci-fi actioner Cosmic Sin and TV’s Hawaii Five-O) and falls in love. You’ll also recognized Peter Adrian Sudarso (Marvin Shih and Preston Tien in the respective Power Rangers‘ spinoff series HyperForce and Ninja Steel) as Ji’s commanding officer who ventures to Earth to return him to Nilo.
Ben Griffin’s debut is the epitome of skilled filmmaking at its finest, complete with a top-notch, imaginative script flowing in perfect harmony with a solid cast and stunning special effects: a highly recommended watch that’s worthy of expansion into a feature-length film. The last time I was this enraptured with an action-oriented short film, was Brando Benetton’s top notch college thesis project, Nightfire. Which proves my ongoing point: it doesn’t have to be long to be good: it’s in the content, not the length.
You can learn more about the works of San Francisco’s Ben Griffin and his Prime Zero Productions at their official website, Facebook and You Tube pages. After completing a successful film festival run, Ji is now available at DUST You Tube as of July 30, 2020.
* We previously reviewed Metallica’s support of Spencer Susser in 2010’s Hesher (Will somebody please back Spencer and let him make another feature film, will yah? Hesher is so good.)
Disclaimer: We were not sent a screener or received a review request for this short. We discovered it on our own and truly enjoyed the work.
About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes for B&S About Moviesand publishes on Medium.
Lost in pain and loneliness, Scott (Daved Wilkins) calls the suicide prevention hotline one night yet accidentally reaches Beth (Sarah Booth), who works as a janitor at a local community college.
It’s a story that may have been told before, but never like this. That’s because the entire film was made as two continuous shots, with two crews filming simultaneously in different parts of a city to create one movie. Think of it as One Cut of the Dead meets Wicked, Wicked, as Last Call employs split-screens to tell both of its stories at the same time.
To match the action unfolding on the screen in real-time, composed Adrian Ellis also had musicians play the entire soundtrack while watching the film from start to finish. It adds a really great touch to a movie that has a lot going for it.
Gavin Michael Booth, who directed this, is also a writer, producer, cinematographer and editor. His other project that I know of is The Scarehouse, which I am going to track down and see if it’s as well-made as this movie.
You can learn more about the movie at its official site. We were sent a copy by its PR film, which doesn’t impact our review, but we appreciated getting to watch such an interesting new take on what could have been a familiar story.
I grew up in a small town — not in Florida, but in Pennsylvania — and mudding was also a big thing for so many people. I remember coming home one Thanksgiving from college and took multiple trucks out into the freezing woods, chasing one another until we flipped and were submerged in the chilly, muddy waters. After walking a mile back to the road with icy filth clinging to every pore, I thought, “I have no interest in ever doing that again.”
Matthew Burns has raised his family amongst the monster trucks. There’s a scene in the beginning of the film that’s astounding, as they show images of his daughters growing up, almost always covered in mud.
There’s a tendency in the intelligent left — and I’m sure both sides of the aisle — to write off rural and redneck Americans. Or, more often, make fun of their ways and even worse, co-opt them for pop culture.
Instead, I invite you to watch this film free of any prejudices. That said, some of the moments, like the Redneck Yacht Club and the way women are treated as objects, are difficult to watch through any lens. There’s also a moment where one interview subject suggests that if we all stopped talking about racism, it would go away. Sadly, this is a statement I have heard echoed so many times.
In the shadow of the happiest place on Earth, this is the life that exists around the clean facades, a world where the “theys” and “people in power” are constantly taking songs off the radio and pushing their agenda on the little man.
As the mudholes close in this film and a way of life changes, I sit here meditating on how the world is going to keep changing and not for the better. I really try and stay away from politics, but I’m kind of upset this morning about a negative email interaction with a director. This movie has made me think of the small people caught up in the gears of the bullet point media coverage from both sides as I think of these mudders, out and trying to find a new place in the woods and stuck watching videos of their old trucks and thinking, “Where did the good old days go?”
Have you ever wondered when things are so bad that for some, this period of time will be their good old days?
The long and short of it is that there’s mud and smoke and fireworks that draw you into this film, but the real story is the human drama of Matthew’s family falling apart and his life getting sadder as all he does is work, scrapping and taking the garbage of people a level above him in caste and trying to get all the money that he can from it. This film is awash in tragedy and pathos and regrets when on the surface it only feels like it’s going to be about good old boys tearing it up.
This movie may make you happy. Or angry. Or just sad. But that said, it does what a movie should. It makes you think.
You can learn more at the official site. It will be playing virtual theaters this month.
DISCLAIMER: We were sent this review by its PR company. We appreciate them sharing it with us.
“Documentaries are boring. Who wants to watch a bunch of talking heads bragging about themselves?” —Eric, purveyor of film quality and all things Sein(feld)suck.
And to a degree, I agree with my running-bud Eric: unless you have an interest in the subject matter at hand. As someone who’s spent his life in radio broadcasting and enamored with the craft of filmmaking, I’ve watched more than my fair share documentaries on the subjects of broadcasting and radio personalities, and film with its related actors and directors. And, even in person, those creative individuals can push self-aggrandizing into the new limits of boredom.
Don’t believe me?
The Snack Bar is Open! Free Dove Bars if you buy a hotdog. Darn freezer’s broke again!
Go to a party or any social gathering. Find yourself an actor or director. And I am not talking about running into a well-rounded, educated fellow like Werner Herzog with whom you can have a meaningful conversation about anything from soup to nuts. I am talking about the (always) one-the-way-up-and-after-one-film-they-think-they’re-Elvis types. But since this is in reference to film: Steven Spielberg. And actors are worse than directors. Christian Bale and Klaus Kinski earned the right to set-rant. You, Mr. DeMille and Ms. Desmond, do not.
Don’t believe me?
Watch The Disaster Artist, the (excellent) dramedy about the making of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room. There’s a telling scene in the film where actor Greg Sestero confides his career frustrations to a fellow thespian—and all the other actor can do is drone on and on about how great his career is going. And as someone with lots of “under the tent” experience in holding areas, I’ve seen and heard it all, ad nauseam. Sestero tells it true.
And screenwriters? Well, I’ll spare you that paragraph, but here’s the equation: Director ego x Actor oneselfness = the greatest screenwriter in the world, aka “Listen to me, for I am the lord god of all scribes surveyed.”
And heaven forbid if you don’t like that up-and-coming Elvis-Spielberg’s latest entry to their no-one-has-ever-heard-of-or-seen oeuvre, aka a celluloid nobody and never will be: be prepared for the bowels of hell to rip open and for the lathes of heaven to crash into the fiery abyss and scorch to embers. Yeah, sometimes (almost always) the auteur is just another egomaniacal Billy Walsh (know your Entourage trivia) who blesses you with the distinct privilege of viewing their master(shite)piece—just because it received a set of “Official Selection” leaves from some obscure, off-the-circuit, emo-haughty film festival that won’t be in business next year and mainstream Hollywood doesn’t acknowledge because, well, Hollywood is already full up with more talented haughties than yourself. But thanks for asking! We’ll be looking for that star on the walk of fame, DeMille.
But even the established directors can be a handful, as evidenced in The Man You Love to Hate (1979), about the uncompromising director of silent films, Erich von Stroheim (acted inSunset Boulevard). There’s Luchino Visconti (1999), about the iconic neorealist behind (the incredible, must watches) The Leopard, Death in Venice and Ludwig. There’s Felini: I’m a Born Liar (2002), Carl Th. Dreyer: My Métier (1995), about the director behind the seminal vampire flick, 1932’s Vampyr, and Pier Paolo Pasolini: A Film Maker’s Life (1971). And you can go on and on . . . with docs about Robert Altman, a couple regarding Woody Allen and Roman Polanksi, along with Orson Wells, Howard Hawks, Bergman, Kurosawa, Kurbick, and even producer Robert Evans. The documentary Easy Riders, Raging Bulls examines the industry and careers of ‘60s “bulls” Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper, Peter Bogdanovich, and Sam Peckinpah. And, speaking of Werner Herzog: Burden of Dreams (1982) follows the German (deserving of the noun spoken in the same sentence as his name) auteur as he deals with difficult actors, bad weather and getting a boat over a mountain during Fitzcarraldo.
But this is B&S About Movies . . . and you know us crazy, frolicking lads in the wilds of Allegheny County. We’ve got to go just a little bit deeper into the films—the realm of documentaries about directors. You may not know them. You may know them and hate them. But you know what: they don’t care. They, with a Kurt Vonnegut tenacity, just keep on creating. And that’s cool with me.
Image available across multiple sites; source unknown
Movie 1: The Insufferable Groo (2018)
At the time of the filming of this documentary by Scott Christopherson, Provo, Utah, resident Steven Groo’s resume encompassed 166 films—after its release, his resume grew to 200 films. A lesser documentarian would most likely—as so many internet warriors—slag Groo’s ultra-low-budget tales. Instead—what makes this film so lovely and tragic at the same time—is that Christopherson focuses on Groo’s determination to tell his stories. While Groo can be admittedly abrasive, his tenacity paid off with the patronages of actor Jack Black and director Jared Hess of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre fame. And Jack Black starred in Goo’s Unexpected Race (2018). In the end, you root for Groo.
You can watch The Insufferable Groo as a free-with-ads stream on TubiTv. You can also watch Unexpected Race on the platform, as well. Since Groo participated in its making and approves of the film, you can still find this document out in the Internet ethers. The same can’t be said for our next feature. . . .
Movie 2: Neil Breen Movie Magic (2020)
When Tommy Wiseau’s name drops, the name of ultra-independent filmmaker Neil Breen follows. And if you’re a hardcore fan of ultra-low budget films, Cybela Clare—with her equally incompetent-to-obsessive films about humanity, animals, and aliens rife with awful CGI set design—name drops after Breen’s. To say Breen is a film cult icon is an understatement. Plug Breen’s name into You Tube or Google and you’ll discover the rabid fandom of his works. His films couldn’t be more polarizing: they’re either IMDb-rated as 1-star or 10-star . . . although it’s obvious the 10-starrers are pure parody-sarcasm, at best.
Anyways . . . a licensed architect by trade who made his money in real estate, Breen self-financed/produced, directed and starred in his debut feature, Double Down (2005). As of 2018, he completed five films and has since launched pre-production on his sixth film: Cade: The Tortured Crossing (2023).
You may love ‘em. You may hate ‘em. You may say they suck—and they ultimately do—but courtesy of an underground fan base cultivated via social media, Breen’s films—in a Wiseauian twist—have been picked up by arthouse theatres and film festivals around the world.
Sadly, you can no longer watch Neil Breen Movie Magic on You Tube. Yeah, it seems ol’ Neil can’t take criticism: the film wasn’t favorable to his works, so he’s since had the film pulled; however, to Neil’s credit: it did use his intellectual property without his approval.
So, as any narcissist would: Breen released his own documentary in response: Neil Breen’s 5 Film Retrospective, in May 2020. As with Neil Breen’s Movie Magic: it is another must-watch for Breen fans. You can watch Breen’s insights on himself on You Tube.
Needless to say: The trailers for Neil’s movies are as bloated as his films . . . so strap in for a 9-minute trailer to Neil’s self aggrandizing documentary. A nine-minute trailer? I guess it’s justified, considering the movie itself is five-hours long. For reals.
Don’t worry. Neil’s not offended. He’s gone on record to say he doesn’t read his reviews (but had Movie Magic pulled, so . . . okay) a few which this Las Vegas Weekly article features.
Intermission!
Back to the show!
Movie 3: Will Work for Views: The Lo-Fi Life of Weird Paul (2019)
Say what you will about Pittsburgh You Tube star Weird Paul—but the dude has 34,000-plus subscribers. People love him. You can’t help but dig him and his unique brand of retro-‘80s video productions, which he’s been posting since signing onto You Tube on Feb 4, 2007. I’ve been a fan of Paul’s ever since. And so should you. He’d make Kurt Vonnegut proud.
You can watch Will Work for Views as a free-with-ads stream on TubiTV.
Movie 4: Overnight (2003)
It amazes me that for as many people that have watched Boondock Saints—and quote the film, wear the t-shirts, and even have Boondock Saints “double gun” lamps on their end tables in their media room—have no knowledge of this documentary shot by writer-director Troy Duffy’s former friends.
You may have heard the stories about Duffy’s meteoric rise and even quicker fall, but here’s your chance to see it all up close and personal. Even if you aren’t a fan of documentaries or have not the need-to-know about what goes on behind a camera, you’ll be fascinated by this document that tells us the story of a (film and music) career that might have been. For bless the “Holy Fool.”
You can watch Overnight as a free with-ads-stream on TubiTv. Unlike Breen: Since Duffy authorized the cameras filming his every move during the making of his film, he couldn’t stop this film from being seen.
“Documentaries suck and are made by people who can’t make a real movie. I’d rather sit through a TBS Seinsuck marathon.” —Eric
Indeed, Eric. Indeed.
Like I always say: Friends and film, huh? But chicks and film is (always) worse. (A woman who digs Klaus Kinski and knows Paul Naschy’s works is out there, somewhere! I can hope.)
Again, in the eyes of the many: documentaries just aren’t their canister of celluloid. Yes, documentaries—if you’re not into the subject at hand—can be as pedestrian as a CBS-TV 48 Hours segment or as bone-dust dry as a PBS-TV chronicle. But that’s not the case with these four heartfelt, well-made documents of their equally talented, intriguing subjects—each who make Vonnegut proud.
Hey, Eric, be sure to check out all of the films reviewed during our “Documentary Week” feature.
“Fuck off, R.D!” —Eric
About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes for B&S About Movies.
“Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.” — Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States
As we’ve said — many times — in our reviews of new films in the streaming realms: casting is what makes us hit the big red streaming button. And Immortal, from the competent co-writing and directing teams of Tom Colley and Jon Dabach, and Danny Isaacs and Rob Marqolies, is no exception.
Regardless of how big or small the part of the superfluous-or-pivotal Eric Roberts-kind (the recently reviewed The Evil Inside Her), all we need to know is that we’re getting a dose of the actors we care about: Tony Todd (of Candyman fame), the great Dylan Baker (excellent in the recently reviewed Nightfire), and Mario Van Peebles (nailing it in the recently reviewed A Clear Shot). That acting trio-de jour is in support of a cast that features a grown up Neal Schweiber from Freaks and Geeks (Samm Levine, a solid actor in Eric Roberts-mode with an already 120-credit strong resume) and Vanessa Lengies (Sugar Motta from TV’s Glee), along with Agnes Bruckner (effectively transformed herself into Kris Kardashian in The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson) and she’s-everywhere actress Robin Bartlett (gal-pal Debbie Buchman on TV’s Mad About You, along with effective support roles in Shutter Island and Lean on Me).
Immortal gets right into the what-the-hell-where-is-this-going story in fewer than 15 minutes: We have a quote about man’s immortality by Abraham Lincoln. We have slutty school girls heading to class in strappy-spiked heels (only happens in “movie” high schools, natch), creepy-lech track coaches, dorky, kindly-lech teachers clad in short-sleeve plaid shirts, and a blonde track star’s kidnapping-by-poisoned dart.
So what in the hell does a zip-tied girl with a sack over her head have to do with the 16th president of the United States? Oh, no. . . . Not another undisclosed killer via camouflage and combat boots. . . .
“Jinkies!” Shaggy! It’s the kindly, self-professed “normal old guy” Dylan Baker citing Lord of the Flies as his reasoning for kidnapping high school girls. And what’s ol’ Mr. Shagis’s kink: he likes to hunt people in the cellphone-dead, deep neck of the booby-trapped woods that he refers to as “The Labyrinth.”
Okay, so what’s all this have to do with President Lincoln and immortality? Turns out the tweaked literary and history buff Mr. Shagis has discovered the secrets of immortality—sowe think. And instead of sharing his secret with the world, lo’ Shags has decided to shed all of his inhibitions and indulge in his dark desires. . . .
And what we think is going to be another low-budget retread of The Hunt (aka American Hunt) with Dylan Baker’s character kidnapping and hunting people as a deranged savior of the wayward, well, you’d be wrong (although, you can’t get enough Dylan Baker, so we’d stream that film). What we have here is a modernized, anthology throwback to the twisty Amicus films of old as unscrupulous people face brutal deaths—and are revived as a form of punishment from an unseen-beyond force. This is a world where the one you think is evil, is not . . . and the “pure in heart,” is evil.
Kudos to teams Colley-Dabach and Isaacs-Marqolies scoring their named-cast of actors; for if this low-budgeter had gone with an unknown cast-for-cost, we would have ended up with just another run-of-the-mill horror-streamer with a cast of dedicated-but-strained performances buoyed by Roberts-styled walk-on-the-box credits to inspire us stream the movie. However, the cast-mix of solid commodities, character actor undercards, and unknowns is effective—with Baker and Todd owning (but, of course) their ulterior-motive driven characters.
The only caveat is that regardless of Tony Todd’s voice-over driving the trailer, he is not a Candyman-styled protagonist in a wraparound story jelling the tales as he deals out the supernatural comeuppance Peter Cushing-style. But that’s a good thing, because that’s what we were expecting. And in today’s world of so many accessible movies—especially in a COVID lockdown—we need the unexpected in our movies to keep our minds sharp.
All in all, Immortal is a smart, insightful (drama, not horror) script by Jon Dabach with nicely-done anthology segments buoyed by solid cinematography from Tom Colley, who has worked on a bevy of reality TV series and streaming series. So the skill set is there. And you’ll do alright by hitting the big red streaming button.
MOVIE SIGN! Siskel and Ebert in the house!
Doh! Every now and then, Sam and I, through scheduling snafus and our giddy, celluloid drunkenness over our recent “Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “Fast and Furious” Weeks, and our upcoming “Wolfman,” “Dracula,” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll II” Weeks . . . plus our annual November tribute to another Mill Creek 50-films box set (this year: Sci-Fi Invasion), we sometimes review the same, new indie release — twice (Doh, again! Check out our unplanned, B&S-cum-S&E review of Dollhouse).
And just to be clear: I’m the “Siskel” and Sam is the “Ebert.” Yeah, that aisle seat ain’t big enough for the both of us. And, Samuel, no more cracks about me being “Gypsy” and you and Bill Van Ryn are Tom Servo and Crow. That’s not cool — even if you are the Chief Cook and Bottlewasher of B&S and I am just the dumpster pad and grease pit scrubber ’round ‘ere.
Sam’s Take:
Written, directed and produced by Rob Margolies (although IMDB lists three other directors and a different writer), this anthology follows the lives of several people who suddenly discover that they can’t die.
Chelsea (Lindsay Mushett, Blue Bloods) is a high school track star who confesses abuse by a teacher too late. Gary and Vanessa (Agnes Bruckner, who was Kris Jenner in The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpsonand Anna Nicole in the 2013 Anna Nicole cable film) are a couple who figure that death can solve their money woes. Ted (Tony Todd!) has to deal with euthanizing his wife Mary. Warren (Freaks and Geeks) discovers new gifts after he dies. And hey — is that Mario Van Peebles I see? It is!
This is an interesting way to approach an anthology film. It’s more drama than horror, but you still may discover something interesting in it.
Currently rolling out on the festival circuit, Immortal will premiere as a DVD and VOD in September via Stonecutter Films and Different Duck Films through Wild Eye Releasing.
Disclaimer: We were provided a screener by the film’s P.R firm. That has no bearing on our review.
About the Authors: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes for B&S About Movies.Sam Panico is the curator of B&S About Movies.
Jack DiMercurio secretly wants the life — and wife Liz — of his rich friend Andy. They have a reunion with some friends at a cottage on Lake Michigan when a fight breaks out between the two men. Tragedy ensues and somehow, this moment allows Jack to have the life that he always wanted. But is it all he thought it would be?
How much of peoples’ lives do we really know? How much do we grow away from people? And how much do we really need to be jealous of the grass being greener on the other side?
The first fill-length film for director Kevin Del Principe (who co-wrote this with Nikki Brown, who appears in the movie as Kate Green), is an intriguing low budget drama that looks way better than it’s $60,000 reported budget would suggest.
This movie is available on DVD and on demand from Gravitas Ventures. You can learn more on the official site and Facebook page.
“This is a bad place. People aren’t meant to live here.”
Widow’s Point is a supernatural horror adaptation by screenwriter-director Gregory Lamberson of the best-selling book co-written by Richard Chizmar and his son, Billy.
The sorely-missed-from-the-big-screen Craig Sheffer (Yes, of A River Runs Through It . . . but this is B&S About Movies, bud. So we remember Craig for his start in Voyage of the Rock Aliens, as the rich-dick in Some Kind of Wonderful, and Clive Barker’s Nightbreed) stars as Thomas Livingston, a Stephen King-esque writer who spends a self-exiled weekend in a haunted lighthouse to help promote his next book—and where he’s taunted by the Point’s supernatural forces.
Dow on his luck and in desperate need of a new best-seller, he decides to write a book on “true events” that occurred at the Widow’s Point Lighthouse in Harper’s Cover—with the hopes the advanced publicity will generate advanced sales. At that point, things go a little Blair Witch-cum-Poltergeist as Livingston’s assistant, Rosa, along with Andre, a filmmaker, will accompany him to the island to chronicle “the stunt.” Of course, the mysterious lighthouse keeper will take the rental cash, even if it’s a “bad place,” because greed is good. And as far as Livingston is concerned, ghosts and their related curses are just urban legends and fables. And Parker locks the door to the lighthouse. . . .
Before we get to the Poltergeistin’, Livingston’s book research unfolds a series of flashbacks about the house’s history: the suicide of an actress that occurred while the house served as the backdrop for a Hollywood production, an early-1900 father slaughters his family-by-hammer, and a young girl who comes to meet the lighthouse’s ghostly occupant in the woods surrounding the house during a family outing. And as the stories unfold (sort of like an unofficial anthology under Sheffer’s whiskey-soaked, wraparound story-cum-voice narration), things get to ‘giestin’ for him, Rosa, and Andre, as they come to discover the urban legends of the lighthouse are true—and that they’re about to become the next chapter in the lighthouse’s never-ending tale. . . .
Gregory Lamberson has come a long, long way since his deliciously weird ’80s VHS renter Slime City (1988)—an amazing career-trajectory growth that reminds of William Riead’s late ’80s work on the Dirty Harry-cum-Chuck Norris actioner Scorpion (1986) culminating with his biographical passion project, The Letters (2014), which explored the life of Mother Teresa.
Lamberson’s adaptation of the family Chizmar tale commands a novel-analogous—courtesy of Livingston’s voice over as he researches-writes—slow burn unraveling a fear that turns to dread for the characters. You’re not watching a movie: you’ve just curled up with an engrossing, good book for the evening. Not many films can pull that “feeling” off.
Remember how you felt when you watched Frank Darabont’s spot-on adaptations of Stephen’s King’s The Mist and The Green Mile? That’s the level of quality Lamberson has brought to the big screen in this, his eighth feature film writing-directing credit. And while Sheffer may have fallen off our radar (younger fans will know him from his from nine-year run as Keith Scott on TV’s One Tree Hill), it’s great to see him again in a mainstream feature film, showing us why we became fans of his work in the first place. Here’s to hoping Craig Sheffer’s Oscar-caliber work in Widow’s Point will propel him out his recent work as a TV series guest star and direct-to-video leading man back to carrying quality films, such as The River Runs Through It and Nightbreed, all those years ago.
Widow’s Point will appear in the U.S. marketplace as a DVD and VOD stream on September 1 through Europe’s Devilworks Films and brought to America by 101 Films.
Disclaimer: We were provided a screener by the film’s P.R firm. That has no bearing on our review.
About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes for B&S About Movies.
New Hampshire’s Brett Piper is a self-made screenwriter, director, and special effects artist who shoots most of his films in Pennsylvania, most notably in the western and northwestern counties of Cambria and Tioga County. He’s also a self-professed purveyor of “schlock” who eschews modern CGI for “old school” special effects, such as matte paintings, miniatures, and stop-motion animation.
And we, the staff of B&S About Movies, love Piper for it: For if Piper had been around during the regional era of Drive-in exploitation, we’d be warmed by the crackle of a speaker hanging on our car window. We’d rent every one of his VHS ditties from the ‘80s home video shelves, warmed by the cathode ray tube’s glow.
Piper’s resume is extensive, there’s a lot to watch: he’s directed 18 films, wrote 19, and created special effects for 22 films—for his own films as well as the films of his frequent brothers-in-arms collaborator, Mark Polonia (Empire of the Apes).
So if you’re nostalgic for the works of Ray Harryhausen, but burnt out on repeat viewings of that stop-motion master’s works; if you’re burnt out on today’s green-motion tracking and After Effects computer-animated extravaganzas; if you want aliens cast well-made masks and full-body suits and actors emoting alongside in-camera effects, then the films of Brett Piper are just what the VOD streaming doctor ordered.
Movie 1: Queen Crab (2015)
We’ll start off our Friday Brett Piper festival with my favorite of his films: one with best character development, acting, and special effects—and one that we have not yet reviewed at B&S About Movies. While there’s a soupçon of Ray Harryhausen in the crab pot (ugh, sorry!), this is a full-on Bert I. Gordon homage to his (very loose) 1976 H.G Wells adaptation of Food of the Gods (with an honorable mention to the Robert Lansing-starring Island Claw from 1980).
What causes the crab to go “gigantic”? A little girl brings home Pee-wee, a baby pet crab from the lake behind her house—and feeds it grapes infused with her daddy-scientist’s plant growth hormone. After her parents die in a freak lab explosion and she’s adopted by her uncle-sheriff, Melissa grows up into a tough-as-nails teenager, aka Queen Crab, who serves as protector to Pee-wee and her clan of babies—complete with a psychic link. Shotguns n’ rednecks, tanks n’ planes (well, one of each) ensues as the misunderstood crustacean who, like King Kong before her, didn’t ask for any of this sci-fi ruckus.
And speaking of misunderstood: There’s poor little Melissa, stuck in the middle of the sticks of Crabbe County with no friends and parents that constantly bicker and ignore her. She’s practically a latchkey kid with only a crab as her friend. So, do we root for the crab? Damn straight. Kick ass, Pee-wee, for Melissa is Queen in this neck of the Pennsylvanian countryside.
When a TV producer’s (Piper acting-mainstay, ‘80s metal drummer-cum-actor Steve Diasparra; also of Amityville Death House, Amityville Exorcism, and Amityville Island*) career disintegrates on live TV when his report on a legendary backwoods demon haunting Pennsylvania’s Pine Creek Gorge is exposed as a fraud, he’s hell bent on redemption. When he convinces a cable TV mogul to back his quest, Mickey O’Hara heads back into the swamps with a sexy TV personality. Only, this time, there’s no need to “fake it” as the gooey, tentacled Muckman shows up—and he’s not only got the love jones for film crew member Billie Mulligan, Mucky’s brought along a tentacle sidekick of the Queen Crab variety.
Just a good ‘ol fashioned, campy monster romp from the analog days of old.
You can watch this as a free-with-ads stream on TubiTV.
The snack bar is open . . .Intermission!
Thank you, Vinegar Syndrome for honoring the works of Brett Piper! Now back to the show!
Have you ever wondered what would happen if Bert I. Gordon produced a Ray Harryhausen-directed mockbuster of Independence Day? Well, wonder no more with Brett Piper’s most recent, eighteenth and best-produced film of his resume. And, bonus: we also get a throwback to all of our beloved ‘80s Italian apocalypse flicks** in the bargin!
Blake is the resident Trash-cum-Parsifal (known your ‘80s apoc heroes!) who teams with Kay, a radiant, supermodel bow-hunter, to help a crusty elder scientist discover the key to save the Earth from the invading alien hoards and their otherworldly “hunting dogs” in the form of giant, stout lizards.
A fun, something fresh and new watch filled with the nostalgia that we love in our films.
You can watch Outpost Earth as a with-ads-stream on You Tube.
We confessed our perpetual love for this debut feature film from Brett Piper during our two-week December Star Wars blowout*ˣ in commemoration of the release of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.
Pipers’s Star Wars-inspired take-off of Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island—by way of Ray Harryhausen’s classic 1961 film of the same name—concerns a “wretched hive of scum and villainy” band of mercenaries crash landing on an uncharted planet after a space battle. Adopting a jungle girl into their fold, they battle prehistoric snails and dragons as they make their way into a final showdown with the planet’s ancient ruler: a super-intelligent computer ˣ*.
The bottom line: Brett Piper overflows with that same Tommy Wiseau-heart (The Room) and John Howard-tenacity (Spine) as he gives us a special, endearing quality with his films that’s absent from most—if not all—major studio offerings.
So strap on the popcorn bucket and ice up the Dr. Pepper and Doc Brown back to the Drive-In ‘70s with one of the greats of the retro-cinema. Keep ’em coming, Brett. We love ’em!
* We went nuts on Amityville and all of its sequels, rip-offs, and sidequels, etc. back in February with our “Exploring: Amityville” featurette. Uh, Sam? You’re the resident Amityville authority in this neck of Allegheny County. Time to get crackin’ on the newest, latest entry in the series: Amityville Island . . . and Amityville Hex, Witches of Amityville Academy, Amityville 1974, and Amityville Vibrator.
** Be sure to join us for our two-part September blowout as we explored the Italian and Philippine apocalypse of the ‘80s with our “Atomic Dust Bin” featurettes.
ˣ* Sentient computers? Don’t forget to visit with four of sci-fi’s most-infamous artificial brains with our “Drive-In Friday: Computers Taking Over the World” featurette that posted on July 17th.
About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes forB&S About Movies.
Sarah has no mother and unlike other kids her age is only focused on school, college, her future career and the financial markets. Her babysitter Nellie is carefree and happy to be alive, just excited to see where life takes her. Sarah’s Wall Street father pays her to join her for the summer and life changes for both of them.
Paul Check wrote, produced, directed and stars — as Sarah’s father — in this film. He worked on Wall Street in Mortgage-Backed Securities as a quantitative modeler, strategist, analyst, risk manager and portfolio manager, so all of the financials in this movie are probably really well-researched. And he made this a family affair by having his daughter Marie play the lead role, Sarah. She has great chemistry with Tinuke Adetunji, who plays Nellie, possibly because she really was babysat by her when she was younger.
Rounded Corners has been playing at select theaters. If you want to know more, check out the official site and official Facebook page.
Alex Bourne is a British filmmaker that indie-horror fans and streamers have spent time with before, courtesy of his multi-nominated-winning debut feature film The House of Screaming Death (2017), which served as his homage to the British Gothic Horror anthologies of the ‘60s and ‘70s. His welcomed return to the streaming-verse is this homage to American ‘80s slashers — with a touch of Italian giallo — about a legendary, deranged serial killer known as “Clownface” (British stuntman Philip John Bailey) terrorizing a small town.
As with the past “urban legends” surrounding ‘80s slashers: no one speaks of Clownface, as the deaths and disappearance by his hand are written off as run-of-mill disappearances, disenchanted runaways, and accidents. Yes, the townsfolk scoff at and chase off anyone who comes to town asking questions.
The story starts a year after the abduction of Zoe, with her friend, Jenna, teaming up with Owen, a survivor of a Clownface attack ten years earlier. Both are convinced that, not only is Clownface real, but Zoe is alive and held captive — as Clownface searches for the “perfect flesh” to construct real-life masks to cover his disfigured face.
While Clownface wants to be a British Halloween and is affable in its homages, what it lacks in Carpenter-finesse or Argento-tact is effectively compensated by well-executed in-camera effects (and a very creepy mask) and the cinematography is sharp and solid above the usual horror-streaming norms. So what we end up with is more like Tobe Hooper’s slasher cop-in, The Funhouse, which was a well-done film that’s respected in some quarters, but certainly not revered as an ’80s “slasher classic.”
As with most unknown, new-to-thespin’ actors in these streamers, the acting is a bit strained in spots; they’re not great, but not awful either. But kudos to Bourne for his killer going the Leatherface-route and making his mask from victims, as opposed to just painting on a crazy clown face (like the recent, lot-of-fun Clown Fear) or wearing a crazy-clown Halloween mask (like The Funhouse).
And Clownface brings on the rock ‘n’ roll with the ’80s-esque appropriate song “Video Nasty”* by Lesbian Bed Death as its theme song; the band briefly appears in the film — with one of its members meeting a graphic end courtesy of Clownface. And you know how we dig being turned onto new, indie tuneage via an indie film. Clownface is a worthy streamer, indeed.
Clownface hits streaming platforms on August 18 courtesy of Wild Eye Releasing. *And be sure to join us for our three part series of reviews of the films released during the early 1980’s U.K. video scare “Exploring: Video Nasties.” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).
Disclaimer: We were provided a screener by the film’s P.R firm. That has no bearing on our review.
About the Author: You can learn more about the writings of R.D Francis on Facebook.He also writes for B&S About Moviesand publishes on Medium.
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