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Saturday, September 25, 2010

MONSTER VIEWER: NOW PLAYING


Now playing on the MONSTER VIEWER is STRANGE PARADISE (1969), a weird and quirky Canadian soap opera that attempted to capitalize on the success of DARK SHADOWS. Never catching on as expected, it ran for 195 installments before its last show in 1970. Watch the first episode of STRANGE PARADISE by clicking on the MONSTER VIEWER tab at the top of this blog. The show's opening title is on the clip below.


Friday, September 24, 2010

KAIJU FRIDAY

KAIJU (怪獣, kaijū) n. Japanese word loosely translated as "strange beast". Often used in English to mean "monster".


From THE MONSTER TIMES #24
 
 





 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

LAS MUNECAS DE MACHETE!

Que muy bonita!






La ninas precioso!











No hay nada mejor que Jessica Alba!



Saturday, September 18, 2010

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED!


DO NOT ADJUST YOUR DRIVE-IN SPEAKER!
THIS IS THE ULTIMATE B-MOVIE FEAST
FROM THE WILD, WILD EAST!

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! is the first detailed examination and celebration of Filipino genre filmmaking – a world where stunt men came cheap, plot was obsolete and the make-up guy was packin’ heat!

 From the early '70s well into the '90s the Philippines was a back-lot for a bevy of renegade B-movie makers and cinema visionaries alike. The country was utilized for its inexpensive labour, exotic locations and distinct lack of rules. A tidal schlock-wave of genre work emerged that somehow managed to capture the raw, chaotic energy of contemporary Filipino culture. These productions (a cavalcade of monster movies, jungle prison movies, blaxploitation and kung fu hybrids) were miraculously made at a time when the country's political situation was repressive at best. But, this was a revolution that even the Marcos dictatorship couldn’t crush!


MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! begins with the partnership of acclaimed local filmmakers Gerry de Leon and Eddie Romero whose gore-drenched BLOOD ISLAND trilogy went straight from jungles of the Pacific to the trash cans of the critics, but in the process found large and enthusiastic drive-in audiences across America.


When legendary maverick producer Roger Corman was introduced to Romero and de Leon he instantly discovered the Philippines was economically suited to low budget filming. Corman quickly set up camp and produced a number of highly successful "Woman In Prison" films starring genre favourites Pam Grier and Sid Haig.


Throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s the appetites of thrill-hungry cinemagoers around the globe continued to be satisfied by prolific local auteurs Cirio H. Santiago (TNT JACKSON) and Bobby A. Suarez (CLEOPATRA WONG) – and in the late 1970’s Francis Ford Coppola re-invigorated a whole new epoch of filmmaking by choosing to shoot the infamously troubled production, APOCALYPSE NOW in the Philippines.


Our journey climaxes in 1981 when this country fights back and reclaims its very own special national identity via the inaugural Manila International Film Festival and accompanying Film Market. Conceived to showcase the Philippine's glorious screen culture, the market's biggest success was FOR Y'UR HEIGHT ONLY, a low budget, home-grown James Bond spoof starring an 83cm primordial dwarf named Weng Weng. The film sold to countless international territories and is now arguably the most well known exemplar of the Filipino genre film abroad.


MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! is everything you ever wanted to know about drive-in filler from Manila! The ultimate insiders' account of genre filmmaking in the Philippines, it boasts a role call of local and international survivors from this period, including many visiting American B-movie starlets who were totally unprepared for this devil-may-care school of filmmaking. Sitting alongside the talking heads are a dazzling array of outrageous film clips from key Philippines-lensed productions. This is the ultimate Filipino femme-fest!


© 2010 Screen Australia, Film Victoria, Filmfest Limited, Screen Queensland Pty Ltd, and Fury Productions Pty Ltd

OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL TRAILER >>>




Friday, September 17, 2010

Thursday, September 16, 2010

MONSTER TOY FEST: REGAN FROM THE EXORCIST

Now available at finer hobby stores and websites across the land is the Regan electronic box set from THE EXORCIST. This creeped-out kit retails for $34.99 and comes complete with 360-degree rotating head and sounds from the movie. MERRRRRRRINNNNN!!!






And, while you're at it, why not add the Regan "Spider Walk" action figure to your collection?



And, since you've seen a couple other bobble-head, here is the Regan "Bed Head" Knocker.




Wednesday, September 15, 2010

MONSTER TOY FEST: THE FLY BOBBLE-HEAD

Scheduled for release on September 20, 2010 is THE FLY bobble-head from Wacky Wobblers. Height is approximately 6 inches tall. Suggested retail price is $12.99.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

MONSTER TOY FEST: MARIA FROM METROPOLIS BOBBLE-HEAD

Due for release on September 20, 2010, is the Maria from METROPOLIS bobble-head from Wacky Wobblers. Height is approximately 6 inches. Suggested retail price is $12.99.

Monday, September 13, 2010

MUNSTERS MONDAY

To kick off a new series in the vein of KAIJU FRIDAY, a fun strip from THE MUNSTERS #13, Gold Key Comics (June, 1967).














Saturday, September 11, 2010

Friday, September 10, 2010

NEW POLAR LIGHTS "GLOW IN THE DARK" MODEL RELEASED



Just released by POLAR LIGHTS is the re-issue of AURORA PLASTICS' HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME plastic model assembly kit. It is a faithful reproduction of the original with "Glow in the Dark" parts. Now available at retail hobby shops and online. Sanctuary!




Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

NEW DVD RELEASES: TWO FROM LARRY BLAMIRE

A tongue-in-cheek jungle adventure shot in Super Skeletorama, director Larry Blamire's sequel to THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA follows Reet Pappin (Frank Dietz) deep into the Amazon in search of a priceless new mineral known as Jerranium 90.Venturing into the green inferno, Reet knows that in order to find the source of Jerranium 90, he will first have to find Dr. Paul Armstrong, a once-brilliant scientist turned cynical alcoholic. Finding Dr. Armstrong won't be easy, so in order to get the job done Reet invites Armstrong's wife Betty and Dr. Roger Fleming along for the mission. Later, it's revealed that Dr. Fleming has come into possession of an item that seems to belong to the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, and the group ventures into the famed Valley of the Monsters, where they encounter a secluded breed of jungle-dwellers who may be able to help them find what they're searching for.





Writer/director Larry Blamire (THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA, TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD) returns to the helm with this parody of 1930s-era old dark house films, presented in glorious black and white, and featuring every character stereotype and story cliché that kitsch fans have come to associate with these estate-bound frighteners. With these two new films from Larry Blamire we can continue to scratch our head and wonder what'll be next from his fevered brain. Personally, I'm left to wonder if he's part Mel Brooks, part Ed Wood, or all Roger Corman! In any event, his movies are fun, entertaining, and making enough for distributors to ask for more. Keep up the good work, Larry! (NOTE: The DVD descriptions are from CDUniverse.com)





'Lost Skeleton' creator Larry Blamire has a bone to pick

Six years ago, the low-budget sci-fi comedy THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA was picked up by Sony, became a darling of the art cinema circuit and made something of a cult hero out of its writer/director/star, Larry Blamire.Today, the highly anticipated sequel, The Lost Skeleton Returns Again, and his spoof of 1930s mystery films, DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, premiere on DVD after short runs at festivals and horror conventions.

Direct to DVD? Despite enthusiastic response at screenings, the major studios no longer seem interested in his brand of "family horror films," Blamire complains.

"Independent films are fighting more than ever for screen time," Blamire says. "Even big stars are going direct to video. Hollywood's focus is to get the blockbuster out, hit it hard and get big numbers fast."

Still, Blamire's brand of deadpan humor — the point is to make sure the audience sees the strings controlling the skeleton — is connecting with older fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the irony-loving Internet generation.

"A former industry titan came to the DARK AND STORMY NIGHT premiere in L.A. and said he couldn't understand how this director he'd never heard of could fill a huge theater with people who greeted him like a rock star," says producer Michael Schlesinger, who helped persuade Sony to pick up the first Skeleton film. "Slowly, surely, the word is getting out there."

"It's likely that people will look back on the films Larry Blamire is making now with an affection similar to what we feel for Roger Corman's early work, which was similarly silly but with undercurrents of sophistication," wrote Tim Lucas, editor of VIDEO WATCHDOG magazine. "I already feel it."

Like Corman's low-cost B-movies of the 1960s, Blamire's films are models of economy. Only DARK AND STORMY NIGHT cost more than $1 million.

Skeleton lampoons science-fiction films of the 1950s, with Blamire playing a malaprop-laden scientist: "The jungle gets into your blood and builds tiny little houses of pain. You better not be there when the rent's due."

His wife, Jennifer Blaire, romps as the leotard-wearing Animala (she's an animal brought to bebop life by aliens), along with a troupe of reliable players.

Included in the cast of DARK AND STORMY NIGHT— "In a house, everyone can hear you scream" — are veterans such as James Karen, Daniel Roebuck and Betty Garrett.

Born in Liverpool, England, Blamire worked in Boston theater and was an illustrator before turning to low-budget films and Internet mini-movies.

"These are kinder, gentler spoofs than what's out there right now," says Blamire. "My films are quirky and weird but still harmless enough to bring the kids.

"If people want to enjoy torture films and such, fine, but why can't we have an alternative?"

- By David Colton, USA TODAY


Spooky retro spoofs are Wood-en, in a good way



By Tom Russo, Globe Correspondent
May 21, 2010

Local playwright/artist/B-movie enthusiast Larry Blamire toted along an eclectic skill set when he relocated to Hollywood a decade ago, and he seemed to pour much of it into his filmmaking debut, “The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra,’’ a microbudgeted spoof of cheesy ’50s sci-fi. Enough people shared Blamire’s passion for Ed Wood movies and “Catwomen of the Moon’’ to earn “Cadavra’’ a studio pickup, a cult following, and the occasional follow-up opportunity, including a pair of 2009 projects alternating screenings at the Coolidge starting today.

Blamire gathers his regular troupe for “The Lost Skeleton Returns Again,’’ a sequel that ups the production values slightly, but keeps that familiar woodenness intact in riffing on the 1960 version of “The Lost World,’’ among others. Semi-coincidentally, there are also more than a few echoes of “Indiana Jones 4’’ in the film’s freewheeling jumbling of jungle adventure, sentient skulls, intelligence agents, and spaceships.

Blamire’s hero scientist, Dr. Paul Armstrong, has a bit of attitude this time, thanks to a two-year stint in the Amazon that’s left him amusingly bitter and boozy. The rare rock deposit that’s the source of his misery brings Paul plenty of company, including a government operative (Frank Dietz) accompanied by Paul’s wife (Fay Masterson), and a crook (Kevin Quinn) whose boss wants to beat the government to the prized resource. Meanwhile, average joe Peter Fleming (Brian Howe of “Gran Torino’’) is compelled to join the hunt by an insidiously nagging supernatural skull he’s inherited — the only remnant of the Lost Skeleton, which played similar mind tricks on Peter’s late twin brother in the original.

The dry-witted, foolish interplay between the characters recalls Zucker brothers standouts like “Airplane!,’’ and Blamire’s script is especially funny when shrugging off sequel improbabilities and catch-up exposition. (She-alien, annoyed: “We waste time explaining things we already know.’’ He-alien: “We waste time acknowledging that we already know these things.’’) The movie struggles to maintain its wryness past the halfway point, though, as the characters’ arrival at the deliberately unconvincing Valley of the Monsters — presented in “Superskeletorama’’ color — marks a shift to broader stuff, like the kitsch-exotic Cantaloupe People. It’s the difference between a deadpan stare and wink-wink-nudge-nudge.

This issue is a bit stickier in “Dark and Stormy Night,’’ Blamire and friends’ manic throwback to mystery-manor pictures of the ’30s. Bantering reporters 8 O’Clock Farraday (Daniel Roebuck, “Lost’’) and Billy Tuesday (Jennifer Blaire, Blamire’s wife) are among the group that gathers for the reading of a wealthy oldster’s will, hosted by the estate’s upper-crusty heir apparent, Burling Famish Jr. (Howe again). Cue thunderclaps, blackouts, murders with nary a witness, a fake-gorilla cameo, and a whole lot of bustle — screwball suspense, if you will. A lot of what we hear sounds like something pieced together with one of those fridge-magnet poetry sets. “I was myself once one of you — an idiot,’’ says resident mystic Mrs. Cupcupboard (Alison Martin) as she prepares to lead the ensemble in a seance. “The frog of uncertainty danced in my hat, too, as they say.’’ It’s a fun line, but also a case of the movie pressing so hard it’s a little exhausting. The patter and performances will grow on you, but only after you’ve built some stamina.


-From THE BOSTON GLOBE