Monster Mag Meltdown: HORRORHOUND #55 Reviewed

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Monster Mag Meltdown: HORRORHOUND #55 Reviewed

Monster Mag Meltdown gets into the guts of HORRORHOUND #55.

Last round, Monster Mag Meltdown fawned over the gloriously monochrome pages that made up the pulpy FILMFAX #141, a long-running retro-horror zine that expertly (and economically) blends in-house brand promotion with fantastic classic horror content. It was a great read, eccentric and even daring; a magazine that knows its audience and yet still manages to defy readers expectations.

To recap, this column comes pre-armed with admiration for any madman or woman who dares publish printed niche film-centric media in this hostile, digitally obsessed marketplace (and yours truly has first-hand knowledge of this world, having served as EIC of FANGORIA, GOREZONE and currently, fledgling cult film journal DELIRIUM) and no matter my thoughts on the content in whatever periodical I peruse, there’s always appreciation…always respect.

Which brings us to HORRORHOUND, the bi-monthly print mag published by Jeremy Sheldon and edited by Nathan Hanneman that, in the 55th issue we’re about to discuss, just celebrated its 10th year in business. Now, I can’t comment on HH’s struggles to make it to stands and I have no idea how profitable an enterprise it is. What I can tell you is that when I was running FANGO, HH is the only mag that made me nervous. Because HH is a fan favorite. They have tapped into the collector’s psychology like no other, with gorgeous, lurid covers, quick blasts of esoteric content and general sense of fun, of the joy of just loving weird cinema. HORRORHOUND never seemed concerned particularly about competing with other mags because they have their own cult, a legion of faithful that spills over from their immensely popular conventions and vice versa. These cats have created a myth and an identity that is distinctly their own. And long may they ride.

Now, let’s take a closer look at HORRORHOUND #55…

As we mentioned, this is indeed the 10th anniversary issue of HH and instead of rolling out a back-slapping selfie party, Hanneman simply mentions the decade-long run on the cover and in his brief editorial and then just moves on with the business of making a quality mag. Said cover is a Vance Kelly salute to the creatures and critters that populate the cinematic world of Guillermo del Toro, who features inside in a lengthy interview about his most recent offering, the hyper-Gothic supernatural romance CRIMSON PEAK. And yet, like (my old haunt) Canadian horror mag RUE MORGUE used to do, HH uses the hook of the new title to really go nuts on a classic, in this case a stem to stern salute to del Toro and Mike Mignola’s HELLBOY franchise. But more on that later…

HORRORHOUND runs only 66 pages, that’s 16 pages less than what I used to try to lock FANGO at, but with a price of $6.99 per issue (as opposed to the $10.99 or more of other mags) HH is a bargain, especially since ads are kept to a minimum. The layout crams a lot of info into its lean spaces, with smaller type and a mass of sidebars on top of sidebars, making it an exciting experience to absorb; your eyeballs just keep jumping around. That said, HH’s art design leaves much to be desired. It’s busy but not a particularly pretty mag. The headers for each feature are, well, they often aren’t even headers, just type tucked to the top left of the page…

There’s also an odd dotted pattern around the columns and photos that made me want to pull out a pair of scissors and cut out coupons. Initially, I found this almost tacky. Then, after spending more time with the mag, I kind of dug it. See, HH almost reads like a catalog. It feels interactive and the impulse to cut and clip sort is sort of appealing. It’s part of the mag’s charm.

Content wise, Jessica Dwyer gets things off to a rollicking start with that aforementioned and expansive del Toro interview chatting about CRIMSON PEAK. I can’t tell if this interview stemmed from a one-on-one talk or a roundtable (I haven’t seen these quotes anywhere else) but either way, the writing is solid, the questions thoughtful and GDT is engaging. A solid read.

Issue #55 is the September/October issue but some of the other more timely editorial isn’t terribly timely. A preview of AMC’s hit series FEAR THE WALKING DEAD is slightly late out of the gate, considering the show ended at the beginning of October. That bid to tap into the contemporary horror zeitgeist continues with features on the kid-flick GOOSEBUMPS and the still-in-release THE VISIT; the latter piece by Trevor Collins offers an absolutely first rate chat with M. Night Shyamalan that made me actually want to run out and see the flick (I missed it during previews) on my own dime. I did and Collins’ piece made me appreciate the experience more.

HH’s review section pays respect to the grassroots community that serves as the mag’s bread and butter and focuses exclusively on indie content. The reviews themselves here are spottily penned, like the critics are afraid to really get critical so as not to offend. Which would be fine if the writing was good. Sadly, outside of writer Freddy Morris’ work, which manages to amuse and offer constructive criticism, there aint much meat here. A suggestion for an ongoing indie spotlight section would be to ditch the review angle and perhaps focus on filmmaker profiles and interviews…

After the expected toy previews and a perfunctory Comic-Con recap (with thumbnail pics too small to register), HORRORHOUND #55 rolls up its red-stained sleeves and really gets down to business. Jason Kretton delivers a brief interview with Mignola that gives way to a massive, 9 page retrospective of HELLBOY, charting the Big Red Guy’s adventures in virtually every known media. Nicely illustrated, this feature is engaging and enlightening.

Following this, Shanna Edwards goes mental, getting into the guts of del Toro’s work by riffing on every film, even ones that didn’t actually make it into production. It’s a thorough piece and a good read.

Cover artist Vance Kelly is spotlighted and interviewed, with a gallery of his wildest works on display. Horror alumni talent agent and HH columnist Sean Clark delivers gold with a fantastic interview with one of metal giant GHOST’s “nameless ghouls” that proves the man knows his stuff. But the real treat for me this round is regular columnist John Kitley’s salute to Mexican horror films, focusing specifically on the works of Rene Cardona. After reading this, I wish to God HH would have put NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES on the cover. I’m not sure who would have bought it, except me. But still…

All in all, it feels like HORRORHOUND is trying to spread their black wings a bit here. 10 years in and they’re looking to grow, attract new eyeballs and maybe speak not only to their own loyal choir, but to new pundits as well. They want to compete with the big dogs, but  I’m not sure if they can or if they should. What HORRORHOUND does well is act like a more-refined 12 year old; raving and screaming about what excites them with style and without an ounce of pretension. Whatever path they choose to go down in their second decade, however, I’m a fan and will keep reading…

Go to the mag’s official site to subscribe.

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Exclusive Interview: Writer/Director Trevor Juras Talks Chilling Canadian horror film THE INTERIOR

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Exclusive Interview: Writer/Director Trevor Juras Talks Chilling Canadian horror film THE INTERIOR

SHOCK’s David Bertrand talks to Canadian filmmaker Trevor Juras about his “lost in the woods” creeper THE INTERIOR.

THE INTERIOR is a quiet, haunting, and beautifully chilling debut feature from Canadian writer/director/producer Trevor Juras and producer Peter Kuplowsky (MANBORG), that eases us in with impeccably odd comedy and balletic lunch room scuffles before sharp-turning into one man’s solitary sojourn through evergreen wilderness and slipping sanity. The film starts with a needle drop rap verse punch into the life of James (Patrick McFadden), a terminally frustrated Toronto ad agency creative who gets an undisclosed medical diagnosis and decides to finally tell off his oblivious twit of a boss, drop his girlfriend and sideline his unlikely rap career dreams to wander the British Columbian coastal mountains for some soul searching. What starts off as a completely different film, an irreverent, mumbling and very funny workplace dystopia – like a Joe Swanberg redux of OFFICE SPACE – shifts very swiftly into James’ immensely paranoiac hike through sleepless hell, as his tent is poked and prodded at night, his supplies and patience dwindling and nerves rattled, as James is stalked, watched and spooked by an enigmatic, spectral man in a red jacket.

Overcoming a tiny budget with a spectacular use of the luscious, lonely, wet west coast surroundings that drip character like BC’s perpetual falling dew, THE INTERIOR is a low-key but very impressive debut that lingers in the imagination and convincingly dredges the real terror of being lost alone in nowhere, your own reality starting to unravel. A horror film more by its mood than content, Juras nonetheless unfurls some of the jumpiest stuck-in-a-tent tension since Bobcat Goldthwait’s found footage Bigfoot spooker WILLOW CREEK, while chipping away at his protagonist’s raw psyche.

Following a successful debut at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal this summer and additional festival screenings across Canada, SHOCK caught up with writer/director Trevor Juras on the eve of THE INTERIOR’s hometown screening at the 10th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival on Monday, October 19th (Canadian election night!). Juras casts some light on his puzzling lost-in-the-woods knock-out sleeper that benefits from being watched in a damp, dark room alone at night without functioning heat or a good sweater.

SHOCK: THE INTERIOR is sharply divided into two clearly distinct segments (by an extremely late opening title card!) – distinct in terms of tone, geography, genre, even the crew… the main story of one man hiking alone could exist without viewing the first act. Likewise, the opening section’s saga of working life frustrations in Toronto and a looming medical diagnosis could certainly play out as a tragi-comic film of its own. What made you decide to jam the two stories together like this with such a hard transition? And how did you make it work so well?

JURAS: Thank you for saying it worked well. The first incarnation of a script called THE INTERIOR took place all in the woods; a couple take a canoe trip into the middle of nowhere, and then after a few days, well, you know… It might as well have been called “The Cliché”. It gradually morphed into what you see now, evolving into more of a character-driven idea. I’m usually bummed by the opening act of a horror film, 20-40 minutes of mundanity we have to suffer through before the good stuff starts. It can be quite necessary, though, so we wanted to provide something different for the audience and try to make it entertaining while really letting you know who James, the protagonist, is, and where his head is at.

To sum up my approach, life in the city to me feels very much like how it’s presented in the film: irony, pettiness, narcissism, often trapped in a room with people you’d rather not spend time with… Being out alone in nature might as well be another planet, or a different life entirely, so it was important to be true to how each setting feels to me, rather than worry about tone or genre continuity. We all feel different depending on where we’re located, so mashing the two together is more natural than most people assume, which I think is the key to why it works. It also gives the audience encouragement to laugh during later parts of the film, which I’m happy to say has been happening at screenings.

SHOCK: The Interior is one of the quieter thrillers I’ve seen in a while, almost up there with ALL IS LOST with Robert Redford alone on his yacht. Can you discuss the use of sound in this film, which, for long sections of its runtime, has zero dialogue, very sparse natural noise, interspersed only with Adam Osinski’s renditions of Chopin on piano and James’ slammin’ raps?

JURAS: When people ask about influences, I’m usually at a loss to remember one, but ALL IS LOST was definitely an influence, together with Gus Van Sant’s GERRY. These two films were lurking around in the back of my mind while making THE INTERIOR. We worked with the simple theory that (near) silence builds tension. When you’re camping and have to pee at 2:00 AM, there’s a big difference between how you feel about it when other campers are still up, versus when everyone is asleep. ‘Quiet’ is one of the most intense features of nature, and we wanted to present it as we were experiencing it ourselves while filming. It keeps you heightened and present.

I believe music must be used very carefully in a film. Often the music reveals too much about a scene, what’s coming and what to expect. It might even try to trick you into feeling something that otherwise isn’t there on the screen. Chopin’s music is so rich and complex, yet somehow manages to be broadly affecting. I don’t want to force the audience’s emotions with music, like a cheap trick. I want the music to give the viewer a sense of what’s happening underneath, and music of great depth can do that. Chopin was also chronically ill throughout his short life, and that to me is everywhere in his music, so of course it fits with our story.

As for the ferociously ill rhymes, it’s so far out of step with the rest of the film and who James appears to be, that my best guess is that deep down James’ dreams were to be a hip hop artist. But I’m not sure–you would have had to ask him that.

SHOCK: This film does an incredible job of staying ambiguous and withholding information, making you want more without feeling cheated – for example, not allowing the audience to hear the audio of the protagonist being told his medical prognosis, or not offering a clear explanation of the man in the red jacket and his bizarre, ghostly behavior. How much do you know that the audience doesn’t, and was it in the editing room that you choose to keep the story fragmentary and elusive?

JURAS: It was quite deliberate, though that becomes most apparent in the editing room, if that makes sense. I would say I know about as much as the audience, maybe slightly more, but only because I’ve seen it so many times and the audience sees it once or twice at the most. If I had any other knowledge I would have put it in the film, otherwise I think you would have felt cheated.

Certain details aren’t addressed, but we’re very forthcoming with who James is at this point in time, how he feels about those who populate his life, etc… You could reveal the man in the red jacket as being this or that, but I think that would kill it. I have my own ideas about who he is and what’s happening, but they’re neither right nor wrong.

SHOCK: Being born and raised in BC myself, I’ve got to ask – why did you set a film (gorgeously, effectively, and elegantly) in British Columbia’s very distinct temperate rain forest of the wet, west coast on Salt Spring Island, yet call the film “The Interior”, which is a very different geographic region of the province? Also, no one in rain-weary BC would ever go hiking for more than a day without a waterproof shell. Like your protagonist, were you new to this part of the country?

JURAS: I wasn’t brand new to that part of the country, but many of the crew were. Much like the protagonist, however, I usually march into nature woefully unprepared. The title “The Interior” actually existed long before I’d even heard of Salt Spring Island or knew that (popular Canadian children’s entertainer) Raffi lived there. It was never meant to refer to “the interior” of BC, and indeed it’s never mentioned where James has escaped to. The downtown Toronto city skyline is distinct, but out in the woods, James could plausibly be in any number of places in the Pacific Northwest.

In the literal sense, the title refers to being within a forest, off the beaten path deep within nature. In the figurative sense, we’re spending time within the interior of James himself. And there’s the added irony that the opening third of the film is all indoors, yet after the title card we’re outside (mostly) for the rest of the film. I like this idea that the more we are out in the open, in nature, the more our inner selves are revealed.

Shooting on Salt Spring Island came about because of a trip I took there the previous year. As soon as I saw it I knew I would shoot the film there if I could. It was a profound and moving experience being there, and it helped me understand this character and story I was crafting. That probably sounds like corny bullshit, but it’s true. The magnitude of the beauty and quiet on Salt Spring changed me as a person, and the influence it had on THE INTERIOR can’t be overstated.

THE INTERIOR screens Monday, October 19th at 9:30 PM at Toronto’s Scotiabank Theatre, as part of the 10th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival.

For more on the film visit the official website HERE..

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John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987)

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John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987)

Being October, I’ve increased my consumption of horror films. Sure, horror movies are fun to watch all year round, but there’s just something about watching a horror film in October that makes it all the more exciting and special. In addition to keeping up with new releases, I’ve also been re-watching some of the classic films I grew up with. John Carpenter’s PRINCE OF DARKNESS was at the top of my list of one to rewatch. The last time I saw this film was around 1997-1998. I was in grad school and living alone in a creepy old house that was converted into a housing unit. It was the perfect atmosphere for this film. Now after watching PRINCE OF DARKNESS in 2015, I can whole-heartedly say that this one of Carpenter’s most criminally underrated and best films!!

Written by Carpenter, under the name Martin Quatermass, PRINCE OF DARKNESS tells the story of a secret society that has served to protect a secret older than time. When the current keeper of the secret dies unexpectedly, the secret is exposed and the church is scrambling to figure out what to do with this new knowledge. A simple key hides a secret so important and devastating that its exposure could destroy the world. Donald Pleasence, simply known here as “Priest,” is tasked with discovering out exactly what the secret is. Underneath a deserted church is a cylinder that contains a mysterious liquid which is in constant motion. The Priest enlists the help of a brilliant and world-renown physicist, Prof. Howard Birack (Victor Wong), to help him decipher what is in the mysterious cylinder. Birack assembles a team of his most brilliant and advanced graduate students in both theoretical and applied physics, as well as from other disciplines like metallurgy, microbiology, a grad student who is an expert in ancient, dead languages, etc.  They all gather together to spend a weekend in the abandoned church and try to figure out exactly what it is they are dealing with.

The script is the perfect blending of old horror tropes, theoretical physics, secret societies, and speculative metaphysics. Carpenter expertly takes all these elements and creates and wholly unique and original script that will grab you from the first frame. I remember seeing this one in the theaters its opening weekend and being scared shitless. I’ve seen this film about nine times since 1987, and every time I see it, I still get creeped out. This film isn’t just about the titular Prince of Darkness but is about the Prince, who is contained in the cylinder, using his influence to summon/bring back HIS father. We learn about this from an old, thick ancient manuscript found in the church. The expert on old religions and ancient, dead languages translates the manuscript and everyone soon realizes that the religions the world has grown up on were lies and bullshit. The true nature of the world and the real reason for religion was to keep this ancient evil contained. It is a fantastic story that exposes a hidden truth that the world just wasn’t ready for–and still isn’t. Throw in a little time travel and an alien threat into the mix, and Carpenter really outdid himself here!!

The cast is fantastic, albeit very 1980s. Pleasence outdoes himself here and makes his Dr. Loomis character from the HALLOWEEN films seem reserved and laid back. Victor Wong’s physics professor is excitable and played perfectly by Wong. He brings the right amount of energy and intelligence to the role. Jameson Parker, who plays Brian, helps Prof. Birack unravel the mystery of the cylinder, and Lisa Blount’s Catherine, who is another brilliant physics student and Brian’s love interest, plays a pivotal role in the uncovering of the mystery–and its future. The liquid contained within the cylinder quite literally has a mind of its own and infects one of the researchers, who in turn spreads the “disease.” When things get bad inside the church, the remaining survivors attempt to escape but are held captive inside the church by a psychotic homeless man, played by rocker, Alice Cooper.

Not your typical, schizo homeless!!

PRINCE OF DARKNESS has lots of scares and a great, atmospheric set, but the success of this film rests solely on the shoulders of Carpenter himself. In the hands of anyone else, PRINCE OF DARKNESS would’ve been a muddled mess. The high concepts  Carpenter deals with here are never confusing and make sense within the world he created. I’m no physicist and have no idea if the principles and concepts Carpenter writes about are accurate or not, and I don’t really care. What he gives us is a really fun, thought-provoking, metaphysical horror film that is scary, intelligent, atmospheric, and SCARY. Even knowing exactly what is going to happen didn’t make this film any less scary. PRINCE OF DARKNESS is one helluva great, effective film that will have you scared of mirrors for weeks to come and is worth checking out this Halloween season!!

You’ll never look at a mirror in the same way after PRINCE OF DARKNESS!!

My Summary:

Director: John Carpenter (& writer, under the name Martin Quatermass)

Plot: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Gore: 6.5 out of 10 skulls

Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains

Reviewed by Scott Shoyer

Stay Bloody!!!

 

Filed under: 1980's, Movie Reviews, New Posting

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Review: John Carpenter’s CHRISTINE on Blu-ray

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Review: John Carpenter’s CHRISTINE on Blu-ray

SHOCK reviews Sony’s re-release of Carpenter classic CHRISTINE on Blu-ray

John Carpenter’s slick adaptation of Stephen King’s urgent boy-and-his-car love story from Hell CHRISTINE earned the auteur the critical and commercial accolades denied him with his previous picture, THE THING (which famously, bombed in ’82 and is now, of course, considered one of the greatest horror films of all time). But strangely today, perhaps due to the property locked hard into King’s brand, CHRISTINE doesn’t often come up in conversations about Carpenter’s best work. But it should.

No doubt SHOCK readers, being the schooled horror and dark fantasy entertainment aficionados that they are, don’t need a terribly heavy-handed reminder about what CHRISTINE is all about , but for the handful of humans that aren’t savvy to the story, here goes:

Like the book on which it was based, the film tells the tale of socially awkward teen Arnie Cunningham (Keith Gordon, five years past his appearance as lovable goofball in JAWS 2 and three years after his techno-nerd hero turn in DRESSED TO KILL) who, after purchasing and restoring a wrecked, red 1958 Plymouth Fury (nicknamed Christine), begins to radically change his behavior, much to the dismay of both his parents and best friend Dennis (John Stockwell). As Arnie falls deeper into a wormhole of automobile-influenced evil, Dennis investigates and discovers the car’s sordid, spectral history of obsession, death and destruction.

Carpenter uses the story to hang some of his most festishized imagery to date, almost pornographically letting his camera fondle CHRISTINE while vintage ‘50’s rock ‘n’ roll bounces around in the background. This is an exercise in pure, menacing style and while the director’s own obsessions cause some of the emotional explorations of the characters to be shoved to the sidelines (as the love interest, Alexandra Paul has almost nothing to do except get angry – and almost choke to death – and the most interesting aspect of the book, Arnie’s relationship to his parents, is only touched on), he fills the screen with some remarkable performances. DERANGED star Roberts Blossom near steals the film as the sinister old junkyard bastard who sells Arnie Christine and later reveals the truth about the phantasmagorical Fury; Robert Prosky (GREMLINS 2) is larger than life as the crass, greasy garage owner Darnell and Willaim Ostrander’s malevolent Buddy Repperton is one of the screen’s most vile thugs. And Gordon (now a successful director) is magnificent in the central performance, even if he doesn’t quite get evil enough; indeed his jump from schlub to stud is so brisk that the psychology of the character’s descent is somewhat fuzzy.

Carpenter directs Gordon after the decimation of Christine.

Sony’s new Blu-ray release is handsomely packaged (love the blue metallic cover) and marks the first time CHRISTINE has been available on Blu since Twilight Time’s limited edition went out of print a few years back. Both the crisp 1080p transfer and the special features are identical to Twilight Time’sl, with many of them ported over from the now 20 year-old DVD release. Key among them is a dynamite commentary with Carpenter and Gordon that is sweet, lively and interesting. No wonder JC opted not to do another commentary; this one is all we need.

CHRISTINE is like a dream-state impression of the book, littered with pulsing music, classic pop tunes and unforgettable imagery. It’s not a perfect Stephen King adaptation by any stretch, but it is a near perfect John Carpenter movie…

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 1 – “FIRST TIME AGAIN”

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TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 1 – “FIRST TIME AGAIN”

SHOCK gives you a spoiler-saturated recap of THE WALKING DEAD’s sixth season premiere.

After the grim finale of Season 5, THE WALKING DEAD Season 6’s premiere episode opens up with a monochromatic recap of Rick’s Deanna-authorized murder of Pete before jamming into a full color, epic visage of a canyon filled with corpses. This flip between a black and white rendered past and a colorful present is the schizoid structure for the duration of the extra-long episode; a bravura creative choice that is handled beautifully by TWD FX kingpin and episode director Greg Nicotero.

As we pan out from the ghoul-filled crevice, we see that Rick is instructing the team – or at least select members of the team, including members of Alexandria and some new faces we haven’t seen before – of their plans to draw the ghouls out. Unfortunately, what was meant to be a “dry run” is scotched when the dead smash their truck-guarded confines (shades of Romero’s DAWN OF THE DEAD), pushing an entire rig off a cliff while other slither between vehicles, scraping off their flesh to the bone (this season seems to be even more dedicated to flipping stomachs than other rounds). The entire set piece is epic in scope and feels like something out of WORLD WAR Z (the book and the film); it’s a stressful opening for what is surely the most stressful show on television.

After the team races off to execute the plan, we slam into the familiar opening with composer Bear McCreary’s now-iconic theme, before returning post-commercial break to the black and white past. With Pete and Reg now dead, the residents of Alexandria in shock and Morgan making a welcome appearance at the camp, we then slide back into the color present, with the team weaving between rows of parked cars, leading a parade of corpses down the road, to fates unknown. Back in the past, Morgan and Rick spend some time together, with Rick amused by his old friend’s newfound martial arts skills and Morgan wary of Rick’s icier, less humane demeanor.

While Eugene is filling in at the wall watch, a trio of Alexandria alumni appear after weeks on the road. Eugene is initially concerned but after some lively banter, he lets the group in. Meanwhile, two graves are being dug, one for Reg and one for the disgraced Pete. Rick refuses to “bury a killer within these walls” and Deanna, still in deep mourning, concurs and orders Pete’s body to be buried in the woods (“let the trees have him”, she says). Meanwhile, Pete’s oldest son Ron watches on the sidelines…

Morgan and Rick take Pete’s body into the forest. Rick suggests they just leave the body there to rot but Morgan reminds Rick of who he is and insists a proper grave be dug. While the two men circle each other, Rick hears a low moaning whispering on the wind and the pair go off to investigate. There, they find the elephantine canyon from the opening, alive with the trapped and rotting dead. Rick understands now why Alexandria has remained safe: the ghouls can’t get to them. But he and Morgan understand that it’s only a matter of time before the canyon fills up and their fortunes collapse. Suddenly, Ron appears with a gaggle of ghouls on his trail. Rick and Morgan decimate the zombies and throw them off the cliff, before sending the seething Ron back to camp.

Back in the present, Daryl slowly drives his new motorcycle down the road in an iconic scene that is like a Messianic EASY RIDER by way of a zombie-centric Pied Piper. It’s a great, iconic sequence with McCreary’s music channeling a primal, percussion-based Jerry Goldsmith.

Glenn and his former antagonist Nicholas form an uneasy alliance at a diner where some noisy ghouls are distracting the herd from following Rick and Darryl down the road to their ruin. Glenn, along with new member Heath, advises Nicholas that they have to break into the diner and silence the zombies immediately. They agree to the plan, only to find the door entombed by a covert steel shutter.

Back in the silver-toned past, Rick tells the residents about the canyon and his dangerous but essential plan to draw the zombies out. The plan is controversial and creates dissent but Deanna silences the naysayers by demanding they listen and follow Rick’s lead.

In the present day, we are treated to Michonne, Rick and Morgan on the other side of a metal partition in which, in a Fulci-esque sequence, the dead slam into the wall like drunken moshers, with some of the ghouls splattering their already withering skulls to smithereens. It’s an awesomely disgusting scene.

Abraham begins to unravel and, in yet another nod to DAWN, starts hot-dogging, psychologically unraveling like Roger before a savvy zom bites his leg. It’s only a matter of time before we lose Abraham, I think…

Meanwhile, Connor, who had previously planned a coup to overthrow Rick, accidentally sabotages the “zombie parade”: when a peek-a-boo ghoul jumps out and bites half his face off. Michonne, Morgan and Rick find him, kill his undead assailant and urge him to stop screaming. When he cannot, Rick drives a knife into the base of his skull. Morgan and Michonne are depressed by this cold act but, as Morgan says and Michonne echoes, “I know the way it is…”

With past and present timelines now aligned, the zombie death parade seems to be working until an ominous horn blasting distracts the ghouls and they exit stage right, running into the woods to find the source of the sound, straight to the gates of Alexandria….

Thanks to Nicotero’s skillful direction, this lengthy, 70 some-odd minute opening was an ambitious, exciting and nerve-jangling start to yet another free-fall into episodic shock.

As to who sounded the death horn…could it be The Wolves? Tune in next week, same bloody bat time, same bloody bat channel.

The post TV Recap: THE WALKING DEAD Season 6, Episode 1 – “FIRST TIME AGAIN” appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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Hellions (2015)

AnythingHorror Central

Hellions (2015)

“Blood for Baby”!!!

What’s better than a Halloween-themed horror film being released during the Halloween season? Having said horror film being made by one of my favorite indie filmmakers, Bruce McDonald. In the horror world, McDonald is most well known for the 2008 film PONTYPOOL, written by Tony Burgess and considered by many to be an “unfilmable film.” Well, McDonald showed the world that with enough talent and vision that anything can be accomplished, and how he is back with HELLIONS, about a high school girl being terrorized on Halloween night by a pack of vicious trick or treaters. Everything I’ve come to expect from McDonald is here, and though the film stumbles in the fourth act, I still found this film to be hugely entertaining.

HELLIONS stars Dora (Chloe Rose), a high school girl who lives in a very sleepy town and who looks as though she is going through all the usual rebellions of a girl her age. Sure actress Rose looks too old to be playing a high schooler, but she brings so much charm and depth to the character that I was willing to overlook the casting choice. As the film opens, we see Dora hanging out with her boyfriend Jace (Luke Bilyk). They are talking about the Halloween party they are planning to attend later that night. It is Halloween and from the looks of it, the town they live in produces a lot of pumpkins. One character even notes that if it wasn’t for Halloween, no one would even know their town existed.

 

Later that day, Dora gets some troubling and distressing news from the doctor, and she tries to figure out how she is going to break the news to Jace and her mother Kate (Rachel Wilson). Just when Dora gets the courage to tell her mother what is going on, Kate tells her she really needs to take Remi (Peter DaCunha)–Dora’s little brother–trick or treating. Dora is all alone in the house, which is in an isolated location, and waits patiently for Jace to come pick her up for the Halloween party. Instead, a spooky kid in a pumpkin costume knocks on the door and Dora shares an intense, creepy moment with him. Then a little while longer, two spooky kids show up at the house. Then three. Then more. This isn’t going to be a good night for Dora as the kids terrorize her and let her know they want something from her and won’t leave until they get it.

Dora is NOT having a very good night!!

The set up and execution of the early scenes of the “kids” laying seige to Dora’s home are excellent. We get the style and substance that I’ve come to expect from McDonald. The kids are extremely creepy and very effective. McDonald also colors his scenes with some very distinct color schemes. At times, the film has a pinkish-red hue, while other times there is a bluish hue and a yellow hue that covers the screen. These colors aren’t just McDonald’s attempt at being “stylish,” but represent the mood of the scenes they are coloring. Towards the end of the film when things are looking bleak for Dora, the film takes on a darkish blue-gray hue and really helps set the mood for what is about to happen.

If this ain’t a mood-setter, I don’t know what is!!

Most of the film is Dora, alone in her home, defending and fighting off the little Hellions. Much of the success of this film rests squarely on the shoulders of actress Chloe Rose (Dora). She is strong, focused, a survivor, and Rose plays the role perfectly. Once you see her performance, you’ll forgive the fact she looks way to old to be playing a high school girl. But I’d rather have a great actress who looks a little older than the character she is playing rather than a younger actress who couldn’t pull off the role. Rose exhibits just the right amount of vulnerability so she doesn’t become a Rambo-esque character, but she also isn’t someone who will ball up into the foetal position and break down into hysterics. Rose did a fantastic job in her role as Dora.

At different times, two other characters come to Dora’s help–or should I say “help.” Dr. Henry (Rossif Sutherland) ends up stopping by Dora’s home and becomes involved in the horrors that are happening. He provides some insight into what he thinks might be going on. Later in the film, the town’s sheriff, Corman (Mr. Liquid Metal himself, Robert Patrick) comes to Dora’s rescue… sort of. He provides much of the explanation as to what is happening and does his best to protect Dora. 

Someone’s feeling a little peckish!!

During the fourth act, HELLIONS takes a detour into some surreal and trippy territory. While these scenes are stylish and beautiful to look at, they unfortunately derail the narrative that was established in the film up to this point. These scenes end up becoming more of a distraction from the main story. This is a shame that the film loses its focus for a little bit because up until this point, McDonald had given us a great story and ‘seige on a house’ plot. The stalk n’ slash scenes are really well done, and the way the mystery unfolds as to why this is happening to Dora was very well done.

If you can get past the surreal interlude, then I think you’re going to enjoy HELLIONS. McDonald is one of those rare filmmakers that delivers on both style and substance and doesn’t sacrifice one for the other. HELLIONS is a really fun Halloween time horror film that is perfect to watch all alone with the lights out. Check this one out.

My Summary:

Director: Bruce McDonald

Plot: 3.5 stars out of 5

Gore: 4.5 out of 10 skulls

Zombie Mayhem: 0 out of 5 brains

Reviewed by Scott Shoyer

Stay Bloody!!!

Filed under: Holiday Horrors, Independent Horror Scene, Movie Reviews, New Horror Releases, New Posting

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Exclusive Interview: 80’s Action Legend Michael Dudikoff talks Cannon Films and NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES

Shock Till You Drop

Exclusive Interview: 80’s Action Legend Michael Dudikoff talks Cannon Films and NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES

Cannon Films legend Michael Dudikoff talks to SHOCK about his career, family and making a comeback in NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES.

Now on DVD and VOD is first-time director and former NASCAR driver Stanton Barrett’s testosterone heavy NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES, a tough-as-nails romp about a muscle-bound troupe of battle-scarred vets facing off against a horde of flesh-eating zombies.

Sure it’s all low-budget hokum, but there’s nothing wrong with low-budget hokum when it’s executed with this much earnestness. This straight-faced approach to shoot-em-up genre fare suited the Go-Go Boys, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of the lamented Cannon Films, remarkably well in the 1980’s and that spirit is alive and well here. In fact, with its steel-jawed leads, urgent score and endless gun battles, NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES indeed feels like a long lost Cannon flick. And the fact that Cannon legend Michael Dudikoff is in it, further hammers that vibe home…

Dudikoff, as most serious scholars of cult 80’s action cinema are well aware, was the golden boy of Cannon, having starred in scores of hit flicks for the studio, including the popular AMERICAN NINJA films, the scrappy AVENGING FORCE and the underrated ‘Nam drama PLATOON LEADER. But really, those credits only scratch the surface in what has been a long, varied and prolific career pretending to be other people in from of an ever vigilant lens.

In NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES, Dudikoff takes a break from kicking-ass to play the rigid Col. Sheer, a roughneck military man whose guidance helps the heroes navigate the zombie apocalypse. For those of us raised on the actor’s presence, it’s comforting to see him back where he belongs, making unpretentious, escapist fantasies for those folks just looking for 90 minutes of fun, fantasy violence and maybe even a dose of morality.

SHOCK caught up with Dudikoff to talk about his work with the now defunct Cannon Films, his return to cinema with NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES and, most poignantly, passing on the wisdom of his beloved father to his own children.

SHOCK: There’s a moment in Mark Hartley’s Cannon Films documentary ELECTRIC BOOGALOO, where you get pretty emotional discussing your feelings about Golan and Globus. It really must have been a wild time back then…

DUDIKOFF: Oh, man, you have no idea. I mean, where would you find such colorful characters today? These guys, well, they did deals on napkins and Menaham Golan, well, he truly was a little boy; he just loved the movie industry and being around that was captivating. He made me want to be part of this crazy business. He inspired me and just being part of the Cannon family was exciting. I never knew what I was going to do until I got the script and then, bang, I was doing it. And man, there were so many things I was told I was going to be; I was going to be SUPERMAN; I was going to be SPIDERMAN. At one point they said they were going to put me together with Charlie Bronson in a picture and that’s what I really wanted to do. That never did happen. But they were working on it…

SHOCK: Looking over your filmography, there is one title that I always grooved on as kid and that’s 1988’s PLATOON LEADER; I saw PLATOON LEADER before I saw PLATOON and I always preferred it. Do fans ever approach you about that picture?

DUDIKOFF: They sure do. That was based on a true story, a book. I loved that movie. We filmed it in South Africa. Playing that role was really exciting because a lot of the actors in that show, well, they really wanted to do some real acting. We all tried to make it better than it was written and we really collaborated. Thinking back on that, gosh, it was an exciting time. A lot of my fans wanted a sequel, in fact and strangely I heard that at one point the military was using it as a recruiting requirement to show to new recruits!

SHOCK: It’s a decent picture. I think any negative critical response wasn’t to the film, but rather the level of graphic violence in the picture which was extreme for its time.

DUDIKOFF: Yeah, I agree and that’s too bad, because war is that way and it is violent and you have to be ready for it. But I loved making PLATOON LEADER…

SHOCK: You’ve worked with so many directors over the years but never a race-car driver turned director. How did your NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES boss measure up?

DUDIKOFF: Trust me, he was totally together. I enjoyed working with Stanton and I just hope he does more work and remembers to call me! You know, I think now we are craving the kind of no-nonsense movies we used to make in the 1980’s. It’s nostalgia, sure, but it’s also the fact that these were good, straight up genre movies. Stanton really wants to make these kind of quality genre movies. He wants to do good work. He’s very serious minded.

SHOCK: You play a grizzled military man in the film. Not a physical role but you are the anchor of the film…

DUDIKOFF: Yes. I based the character, Col. Sheer, on my father. My father was a military man and I tried to channel him, to capture what he represented to me. My dad was a man of no wasted words. He valued strength, integrity. He believed in getting the job done. Don’t quit. Just do it. He taught me to think before you speak. And that’s important. He was something else, let me tell you…

SHOCK: Am I correct in assuming he is no longer with us?

DUDIKOFF: Correct, my father has passed on.

SHOCK: Did he live to see your work during the Cannon years?

DUDIKOFF: Oh, my gosh, you wouldn’t believe how proud he was. See, my father was an artist too. He painted a mural in the house I grew up in and one time, when I came back home from doing AMERICAN NINJA and a few other pictures, on top of the painting on the wall was NINJA and three other movie posters of mine up there. I said ‘Why, dad? Why are you covering you art? You painted that!’ He said ‘Mikey, that is what it’s about. Look at that poster. Look at you and that flag behind you. This is what matters.’ Knowing he was that proud of me, that was the best feeling in the world. Because growing up, I was so very proud of him.

SHOCK: Do you have children of your own?

DUDIKOFF: I do, yes. In fact, recently I was talking to my kids about goals and dreams and telling them how important it is to follow your passions and dreams. My son says ‘Daddy what is your dream?’ I told him that I was an actor and I wanted to keep working and he said ‘But Daddy, when are you doing this? When are you going to follow your dream?’ See, he’s young and he never saw me go to work? So when I got the job to do NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES, he saw me pack my bags and get ready to leave for the job and he met me at the door and he said ‘I’ll miss you daddy,’ and I saw it in his face that he really would miss me. And it was great because my son saw that it wasn’t just talk; he saw I was following my dreams, my passion. That it wasn’t just talk…

SHOCK: Are you enjoying this chapter of your career?

DUDIKOFF: I’ll tell you something. I enjoy every moment of the business. I work hard. I am always willing and wanting to do good work. I’d like to work a little more but I’m here, doors are opening. I’m a fortunate guy and I have lots of versatility in my credits; I’ve tackled every genre and, gosh, these horror films are really big. I’d like to do more. But the point is, if you’re an actor, you just go out and work and do the job right. No ego. Just be humble and enjoy the ride…

The post Exclusive Interview: 80’s Action Legend Michael Dudikoff talks Cannon Films and NAVY SEALS VS. ZOMBIES appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

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