NELSON ALGEN LIVE (Olive Films Blu-Ray release December 2020). 88 minutes Not Rated. Region A. $24.95
tinyurl.com/6hafe4o5
I miss theatre. During this pandemic, Broadway, indeed, most theatre, like everything else shut down.
There have been a few musicals that have been shown on the internet that keeps the joy alive (HAMILTON on the Disney Plus Channel) but few stages plays per se. There are Zoom performances that have actors in different parts of the world performing but it is not quite the same as the energy when actors are performing together live.
Therefore, I was incredibly pleased to get this disc of NELSON ALGREN LIVE from Olive Films.
In 2009, the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago premiered NELSON ALGREN LIVE as a staged reading (scripts upon podiums), starring among others Barry Gifford as Algren and Willem Dafoe as both a down and out car dealer “Frankie Machine “(from MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM) and as prize fighter “Blackie Cavanaugh” from a then newly discovered work by Algren, THE LIGHTLESS ROOM.
(Barry Gifford as Algren)
To be honest, I knew extraordinarily little about Algren, save that he had written the classic THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (Doubleday ,1949) that was made into the gritty Frank Sinatra starrer in 1955 that changed a lot of the novel ‘s story.
Nelson Ahlgren Abraham, (March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) wrote his first story in 1933. He stole a typewriter and spent several months in prison, an experience that helped him understand those who were considered outsiders. In 1935, he won the first of three O. Henry Awards for his short tale “The Brother’s House” published in Story Magazine.
(not the issue with Algren’s debut story)
His first novel was unsuccessful (SOMEBODY IN BOOTS, Vanguard,1935) and went out of print. His second novel NEVER COME MORNING, Beasley Books, 1942) won praise by no less than Ernest Hemingway.
His last successful novel, A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (Farrar Straus and Cudahy,1956) was later made into a 1962 Columbia film, as well as inspiring the title of Lou Reed’s 1978 classic song. Algen passed away in Long Island NY in 1981.
Algren’s subjects were like those found in the writings of Charles Bukowski ,in his wonderfully detailed look at people in all walks of life, but especially those on the slide to obscurity. The language at times would not now be considered politically correct but is how the characters portrayed would have spoken.
It is therefore odd that Algren is not better known. The 2009 stage reading by Steppenwolf was a good step in bringing the writer’s work before a new audience. Taking passages from interviews and his stories, one can bask in the wonderfully descriptive writing that can go from sadly tragic (dealing with a young woman dying from drug addiction) to wonderfully humorous observations and comments.
Dafoe is of course the highlight of the evening and brings gusto to his performances as the two characters who he plays. His Irish accented prize fighter captures the sense of one who refuses to stay down.
Directed for the stage by David New, the cinematic record directed by Oscar Bucher intercuts photographs that help illustrate the tales and stories that are being told. The film was released in 2016 by a company called Pacific Film Archive, but this Olive Film Blu Ray release really is the first time that many people would be able to experience it.
The 1080 HD picture and DTS-HD Master Audio sound quality are fine, perfectly capturing the nuances of a live performance and the reactions of the audience. There are also optional English subtitles.
Extras include a teaser clip as well as a trailer. Best of all is a photo essay booklet by Art Shay, actor BarryGifford, and Dan Simon. Indeed, I might suggest you flip through this booklet before watching the film.
An interesting performance that may make you seek out the author’s writings.
Recommended.
-Kevin G Shinnick
If you would like to contribute to SCARLET THE FILM MAGAZINE ,
He Came from the Swamp: The William Grefé Collection [Blu-ray] Region Free 4 discs. 12 hours and 16 minutes. Color. 7 films (1966-1977) and a brand-new documentary (THEY CAME FROM THE SWAMP-THE FILMS OF WILLIAM GREFE produced by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures) plus lots of extras. $99.95 https://www.amazon.com/He-Came-Swamp-William-Collection/dp/B08GVJLKZL
William Grefe does not have the cult following that a lot of independent filmmakers have. Indeed, my knowledge of him was limited to two of his earliest horror films and little else.
This collection from Arrow is a great correction to that for me and other film buffs. In the set are 7 of the director’s works, along with another brilliant full-length documentary by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures on the Grefé’s career.
Seven of his works from the beginning and the end of his career are not included, probably due to rights issues, or perhaps if this set is popular enough, that there will be a second collection?
Drive-in movie theatres have been around since around 1915, but officially began with the first dedicated site for that purpose in Camden, NJ in 1933. In the 1940s, after the way, cars became more of an American way of life, and drive ins began to truly take off. At the same time, the Paramount Act in 1948 caused studios to divest themselves of theatres in a landmark antitrust suit.
This opened the doors for many independents in the 1950s to begin producing films to supply drive ins, as those theatres were looked upon as secondary markets or at least the destination for a film that had run its course financially prior.
American Releasing Corp (which morphed into the more familiar American International Pictures) was one of those that benefitted, aiming for the newly mobile teenage audiences that made drive ins profitable.
Independents would deal with local sub distributors who would handle territories that the country had been broken into. Some of these sub distributors would even make their own ultra-low budget films like the Texas-lensed THE GIANT GILA MONSTER and THE KILLER SHREWS (McLendon-Radio Pictures Distributing Company, both 1959).
In the 1960’s, more maverick filmmakers started to shoot their low budget films around the country, many of them working in Florida. Among the first was H.G. Lewis and his BLOOD FEAST (Box Office Spectaculars, 1963).
William Shatner appeared in Grefe’s IMPULSE(1974)
Another was William Grefé. A Florida native, he began making films in 1963 as well for the local drive- in film circuit. Two racing films (THE CHECKERED FLAG, Motion Picture Investors ,1963 and RACING FEVER, A.A.,1964, the second of which was built around an actual horrible boat accident caught by an amateur photographer) came and went. His third film (and the first in this collection) was a horror film set within the Everglades.
Disc One of this Arrow Blu Ray collection has STING OF DEATH and DEATH CURSE OF TARTU.
STING OF DEATH (Thunderbird,1966)) was an ultra-low budget color (all Grefé’s films were in color, except for THE DEVIL’S SISTER, Thunderbird ,1966) that was intended for the drive-in market. For couples looking for an excuse to make out in the privacy of their cars, this film was a good reason to do so. A humanoid/ jellyfish hybrid (poor Bill Hobart, in a diving outfit slightly altered and a plastic bag over his head which in one scene almost caused him to suffocate to death!) is out killing people in Florida. A group of young people (including Deana Lund, prior to her stint on tv’s LAND OF THE GIANTS, Fox ,1968-70) draw the attention of Egon (John Vella), who is the evil genius who has a machine attached to an actual Portuguese Man of War that allows him to transform into the creature that is killing everyone. Oddly, the film seemed to inspire ZAAT (Clark, 1971) , another Florida lensed man into mutant aquatic monster hybrid film .
Zaat, a STING OF DEATH ripoff?
Needing a second feature, Grefé wrote a quick script, got a team together, and filmed his co-feature in a week.
Deanna Lund
DEATH CURSE OF TARTU (Thunderbird ,1966) was an ultra-low budget color (all Grefé’s films were in color, except for THE DEVIL’S SISTER, Thunderbird ,1966) horror film that got a decent release upon the drive-in circuits, as well as some spots on late night movie channels in syndication. I recall first seeing a black and White picture of Tartu (Bill Hobart, who designed his own makeup, and became one of Grefé’s stock company behind and in front of the camera.) in an early issue of FAMOUS MONSTERS and becoming intrigued by it.
An explorer (Brad Grinter, later to direct Veronica Lake’s sad swan song FLESH FEAST, Viking,1970 & the bizarre killer turkey flick BLOOD FREAK, Sampson ,1972) uncovers a crypt wherein he is confronted by Tartu and killed. A short time later, Sam (Frank Weed, who also handled all the exotic animals that appeared in Grefe’s films) and a group including a Professor, his wife and their students exploring old Indian sites soon are the next to become involved with the Death Curse.
Tartu can transform himself and pops up as various swamp creatures to pick of various members of the party, including a shark (!) before the final showdown. Grefé claimed that he dashed the script out very quickly and it shows. Lots of long passages of nature shots where nothing happens, followed by some brief dialogue then back to padding before something happens for a few seconds. Still, the film had a long life, as director Frank Henenlotter recalled it still playing in the 42nd Street Grindhouses as late as 1976, but how much of receipts reached Grefé is unknown. Actress Mayra Gomez moved to Spain, where she became a bit of staple of Spanish tv in the 1970s.
These two films have quite a cult following, having gotten released on video and DVD by Something Weird video in prints that had gone through the projectors quite a few times, with faded color and scratches.
The Arrow releases have presented the films in such sharpness as to make them look brand new. The colors are vibrant, and the overall pictures are quite sharp. The studio has gone to the original film elements and given us new 2K scans. it is astonishing the care that went into their restoration.
Extras include new intros by the director, as well as running commentaries by Grefe and Henenlotter (the commentaries ported over from the original Something Weird DVD releases). Find out how Neil Sedaka ended up contributing the song “Do the Jellyfish “to STING OF DEATH .
Do the Jellyfish
A new mini doc by filmmaker C Courtney Joyner called BEYOND THE MOVIE-MONSTERS A GO GO! which examines rock n roll monster movies from the 1950s onward, including the AIP Beach Blanket films that added horror stars like Karloff and Price in cameos.
Doug Hobart talks about his experience with running his own spook show in the fascinating THE CURIOUS CASE OF DR. TRABOH: SPOOK SHOW EXTRAORDINAIRE. For those like myself too young to have experienced these, this is a fascinating piece of movie /theatre history and is true ballyhoo (the extras on these discs are all by the film history doc specialists, Daniel Griffith ‘s BALLYHOO MOTION PICTURES, who consistently make some of the best DVD/BLU RAY extras).
Not Dr . Traboh ,but…
Also, on disc one is the some of the original theatrical trailers for STING OF DEATH and DEATH CURSE OF TARTU.
Disc 2 has Grefe’s reaction to the Swinging’ Sixties, THE HOOKED GENERATION (A.A.,1968) and THEPSYCHEDELIC PRIEST (Allied International ,1971).
THE HOOKED GENERATION has three low lifes who want to break into the big time of drug dealing and go full Scarface by killing a bunch of Cubans for their boatload of drugs (it seems while drugs were crimes in Cuba, they had no problem making money off selling them to the Americans), then killing members of the Coast Guard, before having to turn and flee for a final show down between them in the swamps and the police. It is a gritty film with truly unlikeable characters (a rape scene thankfully is not shown).
THE PSYCHEDELIC PRIEST (original title: Electric Shades of Gray) is an interesting film. Grefé on the commentary tells us that producer Stewart (Terry) Merrill wanted to make a film about a priest in the Height Ashbury drug scene. The only problem is he had nothing beyond that idea. Grefé found that it was not a problem, and, with money in hand, began to improvise his film with actor John Darrell (who IMDB seems to feel moved to England and later appeared in several episodes of the Shakespearean series THE WAR OF THE ROSES, BBC 1990-91 !) and mostly a cast pulled off the streets and campuses.
Someone slipped him a Doctor Pepper??
Father John (Darrell) is seen talking to several college students about pot smoking and drugs. They offer him a soda, with him unaware that it is spiked with L.S.D. He goes back to church where he has a bad trip, convincing him to drop out (becoming the embodiment of Timothy Leary’s famous 1966 phrase “Turn on, tune in, drop out”). He decides to take a car and travel the open road, wherein he picks up a young hitchhiker who travels awhile with him. He rebukes her admission of love, which is followed by her death. John also witnesses a racial murder perpetrated by some small-town sheriffs, causing John to spiral downwards into harder drugs.
In the final act, he finds his faith again before the end credits crawl, making one think of those religious scare films so “popular “in the 1960s ,70s and 80s. For example: here is a clip from Rock: It’s Your Decision (1982), wherein a young man finds being denied access to rock n’ roll saves him from…. SATAN. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_aHgKWwAy0 .
However, after finishing the film, producer Merrill got into a fight with the distributor, and so the film ended up shelved for decades, until it was saved by Something Weird Video in 2001.
Both films have been remastered from the best elements available and given a 2K scanning. That said, the films could only be improved so much, especially the 16mm PSYCHEDELIC PRIEST.
Extras include
new introductions to each film by the director
Mike Vraney & Lisa Petrucci
Running commentaries by Grefé and Henenlotter wisely carried over from their old Something Weird releases (the late Mike Varney and his wife Lisa Petrucci saved more films from vanishing forever that they deserve a special Oscar for film preservation, though the movies they preserved would not be nominated for Academy Awards, playing instead in grind houses, drive ins and even in porn theatres).
A new mini documentary by film historian Chris Poggiali called BEYOND THE MOVIE: THAT’S DRUGSPLOITATION! that explores films that would be called counterculture.
Another new mini doc, again by Poggiali, called BEYOND THE MOVIE: THE ULTIMATE ROAD TRIP-which gives you the history behind THE PSYCHEDELIC PRIEST.
BEHIND THE SCENES footage from THE HOOKED GENERATION.
A still gallery from THE HOOKED GENERATION.
DISC 3
• THE NAKED ZOO (1971) This was Grefé’s attempt to cash into the WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (WB,1962) style of thriller (also known as “Hag Horror”, a cruel comment about films where aging Stars and Actresses were forced into material they once may have turned up their noses at). This SUNSET BOULEVARD (Paramount ,1950) type film has Rita Hayworth (GILDA, Columbia, 1946) as Mrs. Golden, who is taking care of her wheelchair bound husband (Ford Rainey, a reliable character actor who appeared on television in various series from 1951 up to 2017!). When a young writer Terry Shaw (Steve Oliver, who appeared the following year in WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS, Fanfare,1971) shows up, the love starved woman’s infatuation leads to seductions and murder. The lovely Fay Spain (HERCULES CONQUERS ATLANTIS, SpA Cinematografica,1961, who died way too young from cancer in 1983) adds a bit of sex appeal.
Fay Spain
Poor Hayworth looks older than her 52 years in this film, due no doubt from a lifetime of abuse both mental, physical, emotional, and financial from her husbands, driving her into alcoholism as well as possibly the first stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Indeed, 2 years later, her scenes in WRATH OF GOD (MGM,1972) had to be shot one line at a time.
MAKO: JAWS OF DEATH (Cannon, 1976) -having had a hit with STANLEY (Crown Int, 1972) Grefé wanted to do another nature gone wild film. He had an idea to use a shark as the main creature but at the time, no one would foot the bill for such a film. Then JAWS (Universal,1975) shattered all box office records, and suddenly everyone wanted a film featuring the finned terrors. Grefé obliged with this film.
Richard Jaeckel (who won an Oscar nom for his role in SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, Universal,1971) is Sonny Stein. During the Vietnam War, he was saved from the enemy by a Mako Shark. Now working as a marine salvager, a shaman gives him a charm to help him have a psychic link between the sharks and himself. Oddly , none of the sharks shown in the film are Mako sharks.
Seeing how people around him treat the sharks, he uses them to extract revenge, including killing an underwater dancer (an attraction totally unique to Florida) when a shark is introduced into her tank.
Also in the film is Harold “Odd Job” Sakata, who had almost really died while filming Grefe’s IMPULSE (Camelot,1974). Here he ends up on the wrong end of a fishhook.
Once again, ARROW gives us a 2K restoration of both films from original film elements. Also new to these releases are brand new audio commentaries by director Grefé.
New intros for each film by Grefé.
An interesting offering is a 92-minute DIRECTOR’S CUT of THE NAKED ZOO, as well as the version released theatrically and altered by the distributors, who added a performance by Canned Heat as well as some nude insert shots, so I guess the Non-Director cut.
A retitled -reissue of THE NAKED ZOO
A new mini doc BEYOND THE MOVIE: THAT’S SHARKSPLOITATION! By film historian Michael Gingold about the spawn of JAWS, including piranhas and alligators.
New to this release: THE AQUAMAID SPEAKS! – An audio interview with Jennifer Bishop, the hapless actress almost bitten by a shark for real in MAKO.
Jennifer Bishop
Another new audio interview: SHARKS, STALKERS, AND SASQUATCH, with Mako writer Robert Morgan, who has spent decades talking about Bigfoot, whom he claims he first saw in 1957.
MAKO-The Super 8 Digest version. For you kiddies, before vcrs, streaming, the internet, this was often the only way to get your hands on a film.
Original trailers
Still and Promo Galleries
DISC 4 WHISKEY MOUNTAIN (1977) is an action thriller film set in the backwoods. A group of young people go into the mountains looking for a stash of old Confederate gear, only to come across a bunch of hillbilly drug dealers who do not take kindly to interlopers. Fast paced with lots of stunts, starring Christopher George (tv’s RAT PATROL, U.A. 1966-68) as well as the indie ecological horror film GRIZZLY (Film Ventures,1976).
THEY CAME FROM THE SWAMP: THE FILMS OF WILLIAM GREFE (2016) -this for me was the highlight of the collection. Daniel Griffith, of Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, has done this 127-minute tribute to William Grefé, highlighting the take any risk but get it on film style of the filmmaker, and indeed, of many indie cinema makers. This is an extended version of this documentary tribute that had been previously been released in a special two-disc DVD edition (the second disc featured WHISKEY MOUNTAIN).
Interviews with Grefé, and many of the surviving cast and crew of his films, as well as filmmakers like FrankHenenlotter (BASKET CASE, Analysis, 1982) and Fred Olen Ray (THE PHANTOM EMPIRE, American Independent Productions 1988). Besides his own films, Grefé worked as a second unit director on major films shot in Florida like LIVE & LET DIE (U.A.,1973) as well as promotional shorts for various companies. It is a fascinating look at D.I.Y. guerilla filmmaking.
Extras on this disc include
2K restoration of WHISKEY MOUNTAIN from original film elements.
Christopher George
New audio commentary by Grefé on WHISKEY MOUNTAIN.
New intro to WHISKEY MOUNTAIN by Grefé.
THE CROWN JEWELS– A new mini documentary about Crown International, who released several of Grefé’s films, like STANLEY (1972).
ON LOCATION: GREFE IN MIAMI– a new archival tour of various locations used by Grefé.
BACARDI AND COKE BONANZA (1981) a short film shot by Grefé about how-well – Bacardi & Coke go together.
WHISKEY MOUNTAIN trailer.
Bonus Exploitation trailer Gallery.
Each of the discs has reversible disc cover sleeves with original artwork
Collectors Booklet with an interview with the director.
The films not in the collection by the way are for the Grefe completists THE CHECKERED FLAG (1963), RACING FEVER (1964), DEVIL’S SISTERS (1966), WILD REBELS (1967), STANLEY (1972), IMPULSE (1974), THE GODMOTHERS (1975).
Universal, it seems ,has not, as previously reported, killed off their DARK UNIVERSE franchise idea. According to Screenrant (https://screenrant.com/dark-universe-monster-movies/ ) producer Holly Goline is still connected to the concept.
Holly Goline had begun as an assistant to actress /director/producer Angelina Jolie ,has worked on films in various capacities until becoming a producer on IN THE LAND OF MILK & HONEY (Sony,2011 ).
So, like the classic monsters of old, there seems to be a spark left in the idea of reviving the collective creatures.
The thing is-should they?? I mean ,are they actually horror films anymore?
The change began with Universal‘s THE MUMMY (1999). Director /writer Stephen Sommers had come to audiences and critical attention with his film DEEP RISING (Hollywood/Disney,1998). That film began as a high seas action adventure story ,with hijackers out to rob a luxury liner, only to end up fighting for their lives against an unleashed monster.
A well written well directed story,with a great cast led by Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, and Kevin J. O’Connor,superb set pieces as well as scares and laughs galore, the film failed to make back it’s estimated $45,000 budget (U.S. box office $11,000) but it did well on home video and cable television .
It was enough to impress Universal so that they hired him to remake THE MUMMY for a new audience. Columbia Pictures had shown in 1992 that an A budget and all star cast could give prestige and financial rewards with their version of BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA . Though uneven in tone (along with some miscasting and overacting ),the movie was a stylish treat that had both scares and a romance that worked in combination . The film made double its production cost in the United States alone, which made Hollywood take notice.
Columbia tried to have lightening strike twice and revive another classic creature with style , and two years later unleashed MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN . Once again an all star cast was gathered to retell the famous tale, but to this day critics and fans are divided upon this production, and the movie only made back half of it’s production budget for it’s American release . It eventually made a profit overseas and with the home video market .
Universal was undeterred ,and realizing that they had their own original creations that were known and marketable, they decided it was time to make their own monster epic.
With a high budget ( $80 million) , THE MUMMY film clicked with both audiences and critics alike , and made $155,247,825 in the U.S. alone upon its original release, and was a strong seller on video .
But it was the beginning of the slide away from being a pure horror film.
The film had a few jump scares but it was more along the line of a thrill ride , Indiana Jones style. The wonderful pairing of Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz gave us a couple we could cheer on as they went through some exciting adventures set during 1925 (three years after Tutankhamen’s grave was discovered,starting the mania in Egyptian artifacts). Add to that a wonderful supporting cast including John Hannah and Kevin J O’Connor as comic companions , Odeth Fehr as Ardeth Bay and Arnold Vosloo as the immortal Imhotep (Bay and Imhotep are the names used by Karloff in the Universal 1932 THE MUMMY ),and one had a real crowd pleaser.
It resulted in THE MUMMY RETURNS (2001),an animated series that ran for 26 episodes between 2001 & 2003 , THE SCORPION KING(2002) (the last two films truly launching the movie career of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson,with THE SCORPION KING being a standalone prequel set in the distant past ) and finally THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR (2008).
Each film moved further and further away from horror into more fantasy tinged adventure stories.
Looking at low budget films from the 70s,80s and 90s, I think that the original HALLOWEEN(Compass,1978) and FRIDAY THE 13TH (Paramount ,1980) were a better template for what a mummy movie could have been. Both figured silent figures who appear invincible and once they decide that you are their target they will not stop until they have killed you, usually in some horrible fashion. Like the slower moving Mummy of the Universal classics , MIchael Myers and Jason both strode purposefully ,never running , to overtake their victims , What these films lacked in gloss they more than made up for in suspense and scares ,something that the Mummy series lost more and more as the series went on.
Stephen Sommers only directed the first two Mummy films (though keeping his hand involved in all of them),prepping instead for an even bigger film . Sommers formed his own production company in 2004 with plans of making an Homeric retelling of the beloved villains.
The result was VAN HELSING (Universal,2004) ,a loud bloated everything but the kitchen sink major misfire. With a more than generous $160 million production budget (as well as an initially big publicity push ) ,the film was critical disaster, and made only $120 million domestically, luckily for the studio making a profit thanks to overseas box office ( worldwide cume : $300,257,475 ), which was also the start of studios looking for overseas markets to make their movies get out of the red.
The film seemed determined to start at 11 (to reference THIS IS SPINAL TAP,Embassy 1984 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc ) and build in shrieking volume. Almost everyone screams their lines (with poor Shuler Hensley ,who had worked with star Hugh Jackman on Broadway in OKLAHOMA!,being the one directed the most to bellow everything https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rev5Z6Dg91A ). The story is a ghoulish goulash has Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman ) as a bounty hunter of monsters for the Roman Catholic church.
He takes on a CGI Mr Hyde and then high tales it to Transylvania ,meets up with fellow monster hunter Anna Valerious (Kate Beckinsdale) and goes after the Frankenstein Monster, the insane Igor (Sommers‘ talisman ,actor KevinJ. O’Connor ),a werewolf who is Anna’s brother (Will Kemp) and Dracula (Richard Roxburgh, who was more frightening in his more semi -comic role for MOULIN ROUGE (Fox,2001))and his undead brides want to hatch a cavern-full of gigantic Alien -like eggs , which are in fact vampires awaiting to be born(Vampires lay eggs??) .
Universal was so sure that they had another hit series on their hands , they kept the sets built in Prague for the film up, which meant they had to keep paying for the land rental use while they remained. Upon the movie’s release, however, they decided that a sequel didn’t seem like a financially sound idea. They also scrapped a planned Transylvania land for the Universal Studios Theme Parks ,as well as a planned Transylvania tv series.
The film failed to work as either an adventure or a horror film, but became a CGI riddled massive video game that seemed to be designed by a ten year old with A.D.D .(a charge which ,to be fair , now seems to describe the majority of theatrical releases lately).
Ten years later, Universal wanted to re- reboot their monsters into the summer blockbuster market . DRACULA UNTOLD (Universal, 2014) was the result. The film basically goes back to the Vlade Tepes legend ,though instead of a annointed sociopathic Prince with a fetish for driving stakes up the hindquarters of his enemies (which included practically everyone), he is transformed into a fierce warrior,loving husband,father and nobleman (Luke Evans )who makes a deal with The Master Vampire (Charles Dance ) for his aid in getting his son back from the Turks who have abducted the boy and about a thousand other youngsters. What he gets ,however, slowly transforms him .
The film is indeed epic in it’s look and design, and handsomely mounted .There is also some very clever sound design and editing which gives the audience a bit of a jump once and awhile. However, as it was planned for a summer market, the film was PG-13 rated, and the scares toned down for a larger target family audience. Done on a $70 million budget , the film only made $56,280,355 domestic , $160,843,925 internationally for a final worldwide tally of $217,124,280 . The film also underwent some reshoots when Universal felt that this film needed to be tied into its just announced idea of their Dark Universe plans.
The Dark Universe franchise was to be Universal‘s answer to the many superhero films whose main power was siphoning the cash out of a willing public . Not having a superhero of their own (did they forget about DARKMAN (1990)?),they looked to the properties which they did have ,and rather than reviving Francis The Talking Mule (which would literally be beating a long dead horse) they turned instead to their creature creations . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfxLdBDr1ww
There had been some talk of Dracula turning up in a future Dark Universe film only to have executives change their mind again, wanting the Dracula in the series to be different from the one portrayed in DRACULA UNTOLD .Talk about too many mad doctors spoiling the creations!
The “official” first release for the Universal Dark Universe turned out to be –THE MUMMY (2017)! A re-boot of the reboot (a re-reboot?)of the character again.
The MUMMY 2017 vs THE MUMMY 1999 -sand bites!
With a $125 million budget (and an advertising budget said to be at least equal to that),THE MUMMY was slammed by critics and fans, taking in only $80,227,895 domestically, but being saved by countries where TomCruise still opens strong ,taking in a final total $409,231,607 . The film is considered to have been a failure,due to various costs attached to the project, with as much as a $95 million dollar final loss .
So, Universal decided it was time to quickly kill the DARK UNIVERSE.Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, who were in charge , left to pursue other projects. By November, 2017 , the idea was considered dead. Only, as I stated in the beginning,rumors of it’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Is it possible to do a proper horror film on a big budget ? The answer is yes. The thing is to convince fans to come out and see them.
A perfect example is the 2010 THE WOLFMAN . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZabAU7ySbmE . That movie was a glossy remake of the 1941 classic . So why didn’t fans like it? A common complaint was that they had seen the story before (but if it had varied from the original ,fans would be crying it varied so much it should not be called THEWOLFMAN ). That the story wasn’t strong ( a bit of tightening perhaps could have been used, but it followed the template fairly closely ). That it wasnt gory enough, that it used CGI,etc. Even professional viewers seem to contradict their own opinion . The Huffington Post review said it had cardboard characters, and yet just a few lines down : “the film spends an obscene amount of time on a twisted father/son dynamic, and not enough time with actual werewolf terror.” So which is it?
The film certainly looked lavish ,and the make up by the great Rick Baker and Dave Elsey won a Best Make-up Oscar.
So where did it go wrong? Benicio de Toro, an avowed fan of the original ,was cast in the lead in 2006 . Andrew KevinWalker,who wrote Tim Burton‘s love letter to Hammer style horror ,SLEEPY HOLLOW (Fox,1999) ,did the screenplay.
Rick Baker , of course, adhered as much as possible to the classic Jack Pierce creation.
Director Mark Romanek was attached to the film on February 8, 2007. Romanek directed powerful music videos like Johnny Cash’s “Hurt “ video in 2003 as well as the disturbing thriller ONE HOUR PHOTO (Fox Searchlight 2002). The budget was set at a reasonable (for such a big production) $85 million. After working on the project for a year, Romanek left the project ,using the “creative differences” comment.
Several directors were interviewed including Brett Ratner (no!) ,Martin Campbell (MASK OF ZORRO, Columbia,1998),James Mangold (the stylish 3:1O TO YUMA remake, Lionsgate, 2007),Joe Johnston (the sadly neglected THE ROCKETEER ,Disney,1991),Frank Darabont (great choice ,a screenwriter of classic horror remakes,as well as directing some of the best Stephen King cinematic adaptations) and Bill Condon ( another superlative choice . A longtime classic horror fan, he made the James Whale biopic GODS & MONSTERS (Lionsgate ,1998) .
Almost a year to the date that Romanek had first signed on, Joe Johnston took over to direct on February 3,2008. Work on the film continued while Johnston brought screenwriter David Self .This was not a good sign to horror fans ,as Self wrote the awful adaptation of THE HAUNTING (Dreamworks,1999) . Still , changing directors early on and bringing in new writers is not unusual.
Not the 1999 THE HAUNTING ! Gahhh!
A month later, filming began in England from March to June ,2008 . Having had only 3 weeks to develop the film,Johnston decided that CGI would help patch over any cracks in the project. Rick Baker expressed his disappointment to that fact, and the increasing use of CGI was the main reason the make up effects ace decided to retire in 2015.
The studio began to meddle around with the film ,trying to make a classic period piece and make it a more action packed movie. Composer Danny Elfman had written his score and left to work on other projects ,and other composers were brought in to bridge the gaps due to retakes and studio demanded edits. The movie ended up losing nearly a half hour of footage ,mostly character scenes. The Blue Ray restores some of these scenes, and it indeed improves the film.
The tinkering went on longer and longer, so the opening date moved from late 2008 to several dates in 2009, only to finally open in February 2010.
The original 1941 was a modest $170,000 budgeted film that ran 70 minutes. The newer version ran 102 minutes (though the director’s cut on BLU RAY runs 119 minutes ). The 2010 version final budget (before advertising costs , ended up totaling $150 million. Mixed reviews and poor word of mouth had the film fail to recoup even it’s production budget ,taking in only $139 million world wide.
However, I think this film needs to be re-evaluated. It is a much better film than it’s original reviews led one to believe. It was also a decent remake of the classic film, and it had one thing that several of the other remakes have had, some decent scares. With the idea of the DARK UNIVERSE project, this film was considered a stand alone one-off.
Look also at Del Toro’s beautiful ghost story CRIMSON PEAK (Universal, 2015),not part of the Dark Universe . A feast for the eye with lavish costumes and set designs ,and some actual scares, the film only grossed about $74 million worldwide on a $55 million budget . Why did this film not do better? It was a visual feast for the eye, but it failed to find the audience it deserved. Is it horror fans really now just want more gore and less style?? INSIDIOUS3(Blumhouse/Focus), released the same year, made over ten times it’s production cost ($11 million).
Perhaps the people now in charge of nursing Universal‘s DARK UNIVERSE concept will reconsider what made the originals classics and will consider reducing the slam bam action and return to horror. The original plans were that the “Universe” would be linked by Prodigium, a secret society dedicated to hunting supernatural threats, run by none other than Doctor Henry Jekyll (Russell Crowe). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCowxWN2c_Q I am sure that concept is now deader than a vampire staked in sunlight while lying in holy water as rose thorns are floating through it atop a garlic garnish.
Projects that were cancelled due to the failure of THE MUMMY were
THE INVISIBLE MAN to star Johnny Depp.
The cancelling of Bill Condon‘s BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN project was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the announced remake.
THE WOLFMAN .
DRACULA
a VAN HELSING reboot –Tom Cruise was once announced for the role, but I guess he decided upon THE MUMMY instead).
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON – this poor creature has been bandied about for decades, with names like John Landis and Guillermo del Toro attached at different times. Guillermo del Toro got tired of waiting and made his own version ,called THE SHAPE OF WATER ( Fox Searchlight,2017). One should note that this wonderful film ,even with Oscar wins, only took in $194,742,801 worldwide,with almost $64 million coming from the U.S.
Perhaps Universal should study that film,as well as on films like GET OUT (Blumhouse/Universal,2017) and figure on moderate budget films that deliver on the scares.
I think they could also learn from the old Hammer Studio model of designing films to make use of sets ,etc ,while developing their own stock company of stars .
Here is the winner of our WELL GO USA contest to win a copy of the DVD/BLU RAY of BETTER WATCH OUT .
Contestants had to turn a classic Christmas tale into a horror story . The winner was drawn at random .
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer
Son of Sam Snowman Welcomes you to Christmas Town at the North Pole
Where Mrs. And Mr. Satan Claus Live now known as Mr and Mrs Santa Claus,
I Will tell you the story of how one murderous reindeer saved Christmas !
Mr. Satan Claus was a evil man that got by making money off the holiday season he would show up with his pack of reindeer led by Donner and make ends meet off the donations an cookies !
This year was a bad snowstorm and the pack wouldn’t be able to make it to town through the woods.
This year was also the year that the lead Reindeer Donner gave birth to his son Rudolph upon birth though everyone notice something not quite right with their new fawn.
He had bright bloody nose and it would bleed whenever he cried, as he grew older in the next year others noticed other differences like when he was angry things would mysteriously break on their own.
Objects would fly about like they were being controlled by thin air.
Donner was quick to try and hide his sons bloody noses and pretend he was normal not wanting to lose his job or spot on Satan Claus’s Team.
Donner went about training his son for the annual reindeer games, Once there Rudolph meets a nice fawn named Clarice he is very attracted to her and is seen talking to her but some other reindeer they come up and pick a fight with Rudolph an one shoves him down knocking off his disguise an angering him in a fit of rage Rudolph flies through the air and attacks the other throwing him so far that he instantly killed him summoning with magical forces shards of broken barn fence he pierces the hearts an heads of the other attacking reindeer ! By default being the last man left to win the Games !
Satan Claus notices his power and ability to fly and how it can be used to his advantage !
He sees the flying reindeer as something to become famous an therefore bring him in money in fame plus now he would be able to not only go to his town but every town with his fast flying reindeer.
They enjoy many years of fortune and murderous rampages stealing from all the boys and girls parents wallets taking their hard earned money and shelling out nothing but cheap foreign made toys in return.
The end…… Merry Christmas !!
Tommy Freeman
(Congrats ,Tommy. We will be sending you your prize-THE DVD/BLU RAY combo of BETTER WATCH OUT from WELL GO USA.
Back in 1982, ‘Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring was a music video in constant rotation on the new channel MTV. The catchy tune referenced the
popular TV.series as a suspected spy is caught and interrogated . Several music video directors went on to make popular fantasy films ,such as David Fincher ,Russell Mulcahy, and Alex Proyas.
Also among them was Dutch director,writer,producer, and musician Dick Maas. Since then he has given us many Dutch thrillers and horror films like AMSTERDAMNED(1988,also available from BLUE UNDERGROUNDhttps://www.amazon.com/Amsterdamned-Limited-Combo-Blu-ray-Stapel/dp/B071GW2L2Z/ ), SINT (SAINT) 2010,up to 2016’s PROII (PREY). His films are marked by their style as well as dark humor that permeates them.
His first film that drew him to international attention was DE LIFT . In a modern apartment building in Amsterdam, strange things are happening ,most of which seem to involve the bank of elevators . The company who are responsible for the maintenance of the three conveyers (or lift of the title ) send Felix Adelaar (Huub Stapel ,later to star in Maas’ AMSTERDAMNED )to check out the systems.
While working, he runs into reporter Mieke de Boer (Willeke van Ammelrooy, star of the art house hit and Oscar winning ANTONIA’s LINE ,1996)who is investigating the strange events.
Among the occurrences are two drunken couples who are trapped in an elevator while the heat increases to dangerous levels , a blind man who falls into an empty shaft (and which the building owners declare is a suicide) ,and the gruesome decapitation of a security guard .
The more the Felix & Mieke investigate, the more strange things become. Is the company RISING SUN,who provides microprocessors for the system ,somehow involved with the strange things?
Their detection leads to Adelaar’s wife leaving him and taking the children, thinking that he is having an affair with the journalist. His boss also suspends him. Felix has nothing to lose as he goes to building one final time to find out what is happening and confront the evil within.
DE LIFT seemed to have done well in Europe, but it was not as well received in the United States.
Released to a limited number of theaters in July ,1985 , critics were indifferent to the foreign title ( “Mr. Maas leaves the elevator’s potential fiendishness largely unexploited.”-NY Times,July 4,1985)and 6 year old distributor Island Alive folded shortly after .)
Luckily ,video stores were booming and Media Home Entertainment released it on VHS in 1986 in a dubbed version, and in 1988 through their foreign film division Cinematheque Collection in a Dutch language subtitled print.
Maas continued to create wonderfully off kilter films through his First Floor Features .He creates three popular Dutch comedies and a T.V. series (FLODDER)as well as the marvelous already mentioned AMSTERDAMNED (1988) and even an episode of the THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES (‘Transylvania Transmission”).
It seems that for years people kept after Maas to do a sequel or a remake to DE LIFT. Finally in 2000, Maas raised sufficient funds (fifteen million Euros) for a larger version that expands on several of the ideas from the original film, and hires American actors as the leads as well as several marvelous character roles.
While set in New York City , the majority of the film was shot in Holland on some of the biggest sets ever built for a Dutch film .Some street scenes and aerial photography were the bulk of the American footage. The blending is for the most part flawless, and even the Dutch actors blend in convincingly in this English language film.
In DOWN (also known as THE SHAFT ,which makes one expect it to be a film about Richard Roundtree ), the setting is in a modern NYC skyscraper. In the Millennium Building, one of the elevators malfunctions and traps a group of pregnant women ,overheating the air and several of them give birth !
The building managers call in the Meteor company that maintains the elevators, who send Jeff (Eric Thal ,Sam Nevins in Buena Vista’s adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s THE PUPPET MASTERS,1994 ) and his new young assistant Mark Newman (James Marshall ,who is best known for portraying James Hurley in the original and revival of TWIN PEAKS )to check them out. Newman wants to do a more in depth review of the systems ,but his partner feels that will be too much of an inconvenience to the building, and expensive. Mr Milligan (Edward Herrmann, LOST BOYS ,W.B. 1987),the building owner, agrees.
Not long after that , a blind man and his seeing eye dog fall (literally) victim to the killer machines. One of the security guards who finds the corpses hanging in the shaft gets his head caught in the door and decapitated when the elevator descends .
Reporter Jennifer Evans (Naomi Watts, later to star in Peter Jackson’s epic KING KONG ,Universal,2005) starts to investigate, and she interviews Newman ,quoting him in her article as saying “ 9 out of 10 people make it out of an elevator alive.”
Newman is chewed out by his boss ,Mitchell (the always wonderful Ron Perlman, HELLBOY,Columbia,2004). Shortly thereafter, another bizarre death happens ,when a skateboarder is pulled supernaturally into an elevator and within seconds hurled up to the 86th floor, and then flung out violently ,through a glass partition and off to the ground below .
A press conference is held by Milligan and Police Lt McBain (Dan Hedaya,THE USUAL SUSPECTS, MGM,1996). The official statement is that the skateboarder committed suicide, and that it had nothing to with the previous accidents .
Evans does not believe it ,and she visits Newman’s home .She has gotten several surveillance tapes, and it shows the skater’s death. Most mysterious, the elevator trip, which should take at least 40 seconds, is accomplished in less than two!
Jeff refuses to believe them ,and so they go to Evan’s newspaper office . Their research keeps bringing up the name of a researcher named Gunther Steinberg (Michael Ironside, forever typecast as a villain thanks to his brilliant work in SCANNERS,Avco Embassy ,1981). Gunther ,who had worked with the army on mixing dolphin brain mass with electronic circuits ,was hired by the elevator company to develop microchips .
The next morning Milligan is horrified when he has the body of Jeff drop through the ceiling of the elevator he was occupying. Jeff had probably been checking the elevators but Milligan and company use his death as a means of scapegoating. At the conference, they call Jeff deranged and say that he had been responsible for all the events, and probably died trying to set up another incident.
The story is believed and the building conducts business as usual. That is ,however, until one elevator speeds upward, the bottom dropping out and passengers, including a small child, fly helplessly downward to their doom . Those who hang on are not safe, as the container hurls at extreme speed through the roof ,stopping with a crushing Impact.
The President of The United States holds a White House press conference ,where he announces he feels that the events are due to terrorists and a terrorist team is sent to protect and prevent any further incidents.
Evans and Mitchell continue to investigate the bizarre history of the building, and the experiments of Steinberg .
Since the Army let him go, it seems that he has continued,only now their may be human DNA ,and the chips have become sentient, and evil.
Can they get in the building, pass the militia and Steinberg to stop the evil ? The film ends like a supernatural DIE HARD (Fox,1988)
DOWN was given a token release by Buena Vista International on May 20,2001. It seems to have come and gone quickly ,and the home video rights were acquired by Artisan . It seemed to have also made little impact on the dwindling video store market ,and with fandom .
Now BLUE UNDERGROUND has done stellar work on finding the best material possible on these two films, and put them on Blu Ray.
THE LIFT is a 1080p HD resolution print 2 K restoration from the original negative , presented in 1:66:1 wide-screen.The film is available in it’s original Dutch Language (5.1 DTS-HD or 2.0 DTS-HD) or English (2.0 DTS-HD). The sound is very clean and clear, with sound effects and original music jumping out at certain points.
Dick Maas also composed the score , and it is one of those now dated sounding synth scores as well as electronic whooshes and sounds .
The English track uses terms like “lift” (a direct translation of the title)rather the more common American usage.
The subtitles seem to be based upon a direct translation of the Dutch dialogue ,as it does not always match the English language dialogue. They are clear and easy to read. There are also English SDH and Spanish subtitles as well.
Other extras are :
-A running commentary by director Dick Maas and editor Hans van Dongen who talk about the difficulties of making this film on a 350,000 Euros budget.
-”Going Up” an interview with star Huub Stapel
-”Long Distance”-a short 4 minute short that has the feel of a Twilight Zone episode ,wherein a father who has had a car accident, calls his home and speaks to his daughter . Beautifully filmed and acted.
-Trailers from the U.S. and Holland
-A poster and still gallery .
-a nice newly written essay booklet by by writer /filmmaker Chris Alexander . He nicely covers the film ,plus discusses the more relaxed mores of European filmmakers about sex and nudity as well as comparisons to Stephen King works about machines gone wrong. He prefers the original film to the 2001 remake.
For DOWN , the film is also a brand new 2K restoration from the original negative, 1080p HD Resolution , presented in a 2.35.1 wide-screen all region print .
The audio is available in the original English as well as French in both 5.1 DTS-HD or Dolby Digital Stereo .
The sound is more mixed for multi speaker presentation (due no doubt to it’s larger budget ),with sounds being very crisp and clean.
The Yellow Subtitles are easy to read, though whomever wrote them , they need to learn the difference between “Your “ and “You’re” .
Spanish subtitles are also available.
Other extras include :
A running audio commentary with Maas and stunt coordinator Willem de Beukelaer . Maas at times seems to have forgotten how certain scenes were done ,but is reminded by de Beukelaer (an example is the opening shot that moves from C.G.I. and model shots to the live action.On the extras ,we see how the shot was accomplished.More on that later.). It is fascinating to hear the two say how they have worked together since AMSTERDAMMED ,and the difficulties of doing a film like this. The recreations of New York interiors is perfect ,and it seems the diner was actual functional (too bad they didn’t move it to an actual building.I am sure it would have been a hit with tourists to have an American diner in Amsterdam!).
The same director of photography (Marc Felperlaan )worked on both films ,and they recreate some shots ,while using a little C.G.I. to blend between the real actors and effects(such as the beheading in the elevator).
The director seemed to have had disagreement with Marshall on the exact tone of the film, but it does not come across in the finished production.
Director Maas mentions that the film opened the weekend before 9/11, but he is referring to the European opening. It seems it opened well, but after the events, the film did no business.
It is easy to see why. A New York Skyscraper ,people falling to their death, the President referring to terrorists (dialogue was actually copied from President Bill Clinton referencing the Feb 26,1993 bomb attack on the Twin Towers). It is quite creepy ,and not in the way the film intended. Needless the film ended up being a financial failure.
The use of Aerosmith’s “Love In An Elevator” was a big expense but is a nice button to the film.
Other extras are
–The Making of Down : a behind the scene look at the making of the film, including the construction of the huge sets, and the mix of CGI and live action,as well as the various stunts.
–The Blu Ray exclusive is a more detailed behind the scenes documentary.
-There is also the American teaser and theatrical trailers.
-A poster and still Gallery
– A Collectible booklet with a new essay by Michael Gingold.
Both films have much to recommend them . The original has a nice gritty quality to it , though oddly, I lean more to the slicker American remake. It is probably because of the expanded story-line plus the dark humor comes more to the fore . The remake does seem to fluctuate as to whether there is a supernatural element or is it a sci fi A.I. story (or both) , but it doesn’t take away from the film.
Maas handles possessed machinery better than Stephen King film adaptations like MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986,D.E.P.). It also predated supernatural skyscraper films like the little seen DARK TOWER (Sandy Howard, 1987 ;directed by Freddie Francis (as Ken Barnett), KenWiederhorn (as Ken Barnett)(!!) starring Jenny Agutter and Michael Moriarty) and elevator terror films like DEVIL (Universal,2010) or ELEVATOR ( Inception ,2011) .
I would definitely recommend both films ,especially if you wish to see an example where a foreign director remakes his film in English and doesn’t mess it up (a la THE VANISHING (Argos Films,1988 and Fox,1993).
Back in the late 1960s, I caught this awful science fiction film on an UHF channel. At that time, you had to adjust antennas to get a good signal ,as weather could affect your receiving a broadcast. I thought that film was going to be THE CREEPING UNKNOWN (1956, aka THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT,Hammer).
The film I experienced was another matter entirely. I mean, it had a spaceship and a creature, but– this seemed awfully inept . And the sound ! Where was the sound for long stretches ? Adjusting the antenna did nothing to bring it in.Oh there it is-narration?? Dubbed voices?? I realized I was watching an American made cheapie, but in those pre VTR days ,as a Monster Kid, you sat and watched what you could get.
For a short film ,it seemed mercilessly drawn out , with nothing happening for what seemed like ages. When it ended ,I remember thinking well I’ll never watch that again.
Wrong. Years later it was released by several Public Domain companies (as well as more reputable ones ) who would find a poor 16mm dupe of films and put them onto VHS for a hungry new video market. Ah, while working at a video store, how often it would be brought to the counter and I’d stay silent unless asked for my opinion.
The Creepie Crawlie Meets the Troops
Later, the film was “discovered” by a larger audience when Mystery Science Theatre 3000 “riffed the show in their sixth season (episode 606 ,September 17,1994) . The inept film had finally found its audience ,who all laughed at the pictures dreadfulness.
What the majority of us were unaware of was that the true monster was not the carpet creature, but the sadistic sociopath who convinced many that he was the next Orson Welles ,while abusing and using women and possibly even being involved with child pornography.Vic Savage
Writer/Director Pete Schuermann (who directed the comedy Star Trek Spoof ,HICK TREK:THE MOOVIE(1999,ATOZ Films) was someone fascinated by the film THE CREEPING TERROR ,and started to look into the history of the film.
What began as a straightforward documentary developed into a hybrid recreation/documentary/true life film on the project and it’s insane creator Vic Savage .
Savage was a perfect moniker for him, as he was seemed to be the poster boy for Anti Social Personality Disorder (ASPD). Those who have this may show symptoms as far back as childhood.Those with ASPD tend to lie, break laws, act impulsively, all with a lack of regard for the well being of others or them selves. That seems to be Savage to a T”.
Born in was born August 14 ,1933 in Bridgeport, Connecticut as Arthur Nelson White , one of the lies he would tell people is that he was born in Oklahoma of Cherokee descent .
Somehow, he met actor Joseph Sargent ,and for some reason Savage gave Sargent his first opportunity to direct . Savage co-produced the film (under his real name Arthur N. White) with Karl Kappel while co-writing the screenplay with Lois White (his long suffering spouse?? ).Savage also cast himself in a supporting role as a 26 year old street punk in the film STREET FIGHTER (1959,Joseph Brenner Associates).
The film ,shot in Savage’s own Bridgeport Connecticut , tells the story of an arrogant teen gang leader who when his girlfriend is murdered, decides to clean up his life .
Star Dora Conn seemed to have appeared only in this one film but actress Ann Atmar appeared in INCUBUS (Contempo III Productions ,1966 , itself a film that was briefly lost )as well as a COLD WIND IN AUGUST(U.A.,1961). Ahmed Bey had appeared in an Arabic film, EL zanati Khalifa in 1952, and was a boxing champ.
Director Sargent went on to direct television episodes of STAR TREK (Paramount,1966-1969) and feature films like COLOSSUS THE FORBIN PROJECT (Universal,1970).
STREET FIGHTER the film is practically lost. In an odd footnote, in October 2014 , Savage’s ex-wife placed her VHS copy of the film up for auction. The original film print was destroyed by her after it was transferred to this VHS copy, supposedly the only existing copy of the movie . I could not find if this print had been sold .
Old DVD cover
Savage bummed around for awhile ,until he got the idea of making a monster movie ,originally to be called ‘Dangerous Charter”. Here ,his con man skills sparked into full gear, fooling nearly everyone that he was a star producer ,getting people to donate materials ,locations, and most of all money to his project .
He also slept around ,often in front of his terrified and abused bride , basking in her helplessness. He also was drugging himself to fuel his excesses, and may have also been involved with creating children pornography. All facts that will make it harder to now sit and laugh through the resultant mess that was and is THE CREEPING TERROR (released by Crown International in 1964).
Pete Schuermann with his THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA creates an appropriately interesting hybrid film, interviewing certain surviving members of the film which are inter-cut with the dramatic recreation of the insanity and terror behind the scenes. (A weird fetish of the director ? )
The film definitely holds your attention, thanks in no small part to the powerful performance of actor Josh Phillips. A working actor , this film is a showcase for Phillips, as he goes from goofy to terrifying, often within the same scene. One hopes he was not as method as Daniel Day Lewis, for to be around a personality like that would be too much ,especially on a low budget film.
He is matched by the performance of Jodi Lynn Thomas, who suffers more abuse than anyone should or could imagine. That the real life Lois survived and indeed is interviewed for the film is a testament to her inner strength .She even co-wrote a book (HOLLYWOOD CON MAN by Lois Schwartz and Janice Wenger ,iUniverse (January 4, 2001))wherein she changes names of many of the people but tells a sad compelling tale of physical and mental abuse since childhood.
Thinking she found love when she married, she soon realized that another even more vicious abuser had her in his control. That she escaped and is now happily remarried is a reassurance about her but makes you wonder how many thousands of others go through such hell on a daily basis ?
The technical aspects of the film are fine with the early 1960s well recreated ,again on a low budget. The photography and sound are sharp and serve the story, rather than drawing attention to themselves.
Imagine if you will a much darker ED WOOD (Touchstone,1994) and it will give you an idea of what to expect from THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA .
(Model kit of the Creepie Crawlie)
The Synapse single disc Blu Ray release of THE CREEP BEHIND THE CAMERA is a hi-definition 1080p (1.78:1)presentation with a super sharp image and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound .
Synapse has not skimped on the extras on this release.
They include :
-An all new 2K Scan of the original THE CREEPING TERROR. Having only seen this film in dupey washed out prints ,it is nice to see it as how it probably looked upon its original release. That said, there is nothing that can be done about the QUALITY of the actual acting and storytelling.
-An informative running commentary by Schuerrmann, along with Producer Nancy Theken and actors Josh Phillips and Jodi Lynn Thomas. The group seem to enjoy recalling the making of their film with a lot of laughter as well as awe for the work that was put into their project .
-A Behind The Scenes – MAKING OF documentary
(Another VHS box cover )
–HOW TO BUILD A CARPET MONSTER– this multi part doc shows the progress of creating their recreation of the infamous thingie,though done with materials that were probably unavailable to the original creators.
–Breaking Down Art’s Death Scene
–Monster Movie Homages
–ONE MICK TO ANOTHER– Byrd Holland (the original Sheriff from CREEPING TERROR ) and Allan Silliphant (screenwriter, later known for directing /writing /producing the successful 3-D nudie cutie THE STEWARDESSES (Hollywood Films, 1969) over 50 years later about their experiences and lives since CREEPING TERROR.
And another VHS Cover
– Alternate Ending
–The Original Theatrical Trailer
–SCREAMFEST Promo Trailer
–SCREAMFEST Q&Awith Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank from MST3K ).An interesting talk with the director and two stars ,with Josh looking like he is auditioning to join the band THE MISFITS !
(Annnnnd another VHS release)
–Removable SDH English subtitles .They seem to follow the dialogue fairly closely.
As I am writing this review, Harvey Weinstein of Miramax /Weinstein fame is becoming a Pariah due to his long history of sexual misconduct and abuse. He says his attitude was due to the work enviornment of the 1960s. Vic Savage would smile in sadistic delight.
We welcome writer SEAN FALLON reviewing a controversial true story drama, I AM MICHAEL . -We look forward to more of his intelligent reviews . – Kevin G Shinnick
I AM MICHAEL (Passion River )DVD $19.99.Color .98 Minutes. 2015 Also available currently to view on Netflix .
The movie I AM MICHAEL is based on the true story of Michael Glatze, a former advocate for gay rights, who converted to Christianity, renounced homosexuality, became a Christian pastor, and married a woman. The film, starring James Franco, and directed by Justin Kelly, seems very subtle in its tone, despite addressing such a loaded topic that generates such strong feelings from so many people.
In today’s society full of hatefully divisive rhetoric found both by some left-wing gay rights advocates and some right-wing evangelical preachers who grossly misrepresent Christianity, it is imperative that people distinguish the difference between rejecting gay marriage and hating gay people. This movie fails to clearly make that distinction, despite a small attempt. “I’m not condoning hate. In fact, this is about love. Choosing a gay identity will condemn you to an eternity of suffering and I want to save people from that,” are theologically flawed words that influenced Michael Glatze, but address the reality that love can be the motivator behind objections to gay marriage.
According to true Christian theology, the mere state of being gay is not sinful. It is the unrepentant practice of illicit sexual behaviors, whether heterosexual or homosexual, that 1 Corinthians 6:9 warns will prevent people from entering the Kingdom of God. Christians believe that God loves the gay community, we are called to love the gay community, God is all knowing, God is all loving, God has communicated that practicing homosexuality is harmful to those who do so, love can not condone behavior that harms our fellow man, Christians are called to be courageous, and courage requires standing up for what is truly loving, as defined by God, even if mainstream society will persecute us for doing so, while branding us with nasty labels.
Michael Glatze(James Franco)tells a young male teenager, “If you are a moral person, then you will choose heterosexuality, in order to be with God.” Glatze makes no attempt to help lead the teenager to Jesus, through love. Rather, he makes an ill-conceived, insensitive, and theologically flawed attack on the teenager’s morality and decency, based on feelings that the teenager did not choose to have. Not everyone can just “choose” heterosexuality. People who experience same sex attraction can instead choose to avoid sexual sin by living a chaste and celibate life, a difficult challenge, but possible by God’s grace. While the movie addresses the reality that there are people who simultaneously are openly gay and openly Christian, it fails to address the aforementioned way of celibacy through which those people can still live in obedience to God. Not surprisingly, the teenager who Michael Glatze spoke to is later seen in a store with a gay male partner.
Whether you are a Christian, gay, both, or neither, you will likely find this movie that is by no means family friendly to also be ultimately unsatisfying and unsettling in its wishy-washy approach to such a sensitive issue. Furthermore, many may find the male on male kissing scenes, profanity, and controversial dialogue to be very off-putting. Despite great acting performances by James Franco and Zachary Quinto, I could not in good conscience recommend this movie, since it essentially asks people to choose between sin and heresy, without properly defining the truly Christian road that rises above both.
If Andy Milligan (GURU THE MAD MONK, Nova Int.,1970) made movies for Independent International that were produced by John Waters, it would give you an idea of the craziness that is THE CRAWLING BRAIN.
The term “camp” was made for films such as this. The film is a loving if inept tribute to classic b movie camp like THEY SAVED HITLER’S BRAIN (Paragon/Gold key ,1968), BRAIN OF BLOOD(I.I.,1971) MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND(Hemisphere,1968) and most obviously, FIEND WITHOUT A FACE (MGM,1958). Gore and nudity are sprinkled liberally throughout.
The story has Stefan (Randal Malone) finding out his grandmother is the former nurse/lover of Franz Kindler (the name of the Nazi from Orson Welles classic THE STRANGER(RKO,1946)), a mad Nazi scientist who has his spine and brain placed into a tank until a new body can be found for him.
(Young Anita Page Ziegfeld Follies;92 year Ms Page in this film)
The grandmother Anita is portrayed by then 92-year-old Anita Page, who starred in the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, BROADWAY MELODY (MGM,1929). She passed away in 2008, her last film being released posthumously in 2010, FRANKENSTEIN RISING (Sterling), which also starred Malone.
The brain suddenly decides to take over Stefan, who manipulates his brother (Mark Shady) into helping him. Every once and awhile the brain crawls from its tank and takes things into its own-err— spinal column, and kills people itself.
People visit the house end up being used as experiments for surgery, until a new nurse named Jillian (Heather Beaton, EYES OF THE WEREWOLF, Leo Films,1996) arrives to care for Grandma. Jillian, it seems, looks exactly like Anita did when she was young (also played in flashback by Beaton) and it seems once the evil brain finds a new body for itself, Anita may have herself a new host body as well.
The whole film has a “Hey I got a camcorder, let’s make a movie” feel to it. Shot on video, the entire budget wouldn’t stretch to craft services for one meal on a T.V. show. That said, the film is unlike a lot of s.o.v. product at least competently put together, though the dialogue suffers at times from microphones being too far away.
Hey there IS a script!
Music (credited to Ronald Stein) sounds like it is mostly lifted from DEMENTIA 13(AIP,1963) with certain sounds effects taken directly from FIEND WITHOUT A FACE.
As to the “acting”, always a major bugaboo of mine in these s.o.v. films:
Randal Malone, who it seems has more than 50 films to his credit, minces through his part like a bitchy Divine wannabee.
At the other end of the spectrum we have Stephanie Beaton, who never seemed to get a film that truly showcased her actual acting talent.
The effects are a fun throwback to the onset physical effects of the films that inspired them (at points reversing the film has the spinal column appear to wrap around its hapless victims).
(Because You’re Mine, I’ll steal your spine ….)
A well -staged car crash surprised me, although I was left wondering did they just do the stunt and leave?
(How dis-arming !)
Indeed, I wish there was a commentary track from those involved, to hear what it was like on set and their thoughts of the final product (and indeed, how they got Anita Page to be in their film).
Extras are limited to an alternate opening (full nudity as it stands now, topless nudity in the alternate, both supplied by actress Athena Demos) and an alternately edited flashback sequence (which I admit I saw no difference).
Also included is an over the top trailer that would have put people into their local drive ins had it been made in the 1970s. Finally, there are trailers for other films to be released by BLOOD BANQUET (including DEVILS’ NIGHTMARE(French,1971)). Blood Banquet also sells a 3D version of MANIAC (Roadshow,1934), GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE (Ent.Pyramid,1972), as well as other S.O.V. titles by Ron Ford.
Should you wish to see a modern-day exploitation film, leave your brain outside as you watch THE CRAWLING BRAIN.
Here are the winners of the UNIVERSAL /SCARLETDEATH RACE 2050 Blu RayContest .
Death Race 2000 was based on the short story “The Racer” by Ib Melchior.
The people who were picked with the correct answer were:
Sean Fernald
Los Angeles, CA
Allison Bennett
Peoria, AZ
Ken Sleeth
Lusby, MD 20657
Mike Shields
Prescott Valley, AZ
Joe Covert
Baton Rouge, LA
Congrats ! Universal‘s representative in the contest has been contacted with the winner’s mailing information .Their prize ,each to receive one blu ray combo of DEATH RACE 2050, is being sent. .
Like & Follow SCARLET THE FILM MAGAZINE REVIEWS for upcoming articles and contests!!
Update: January 17th, contest over. Winners to be announced!!!!
UNIVERSAL PICTURES and SCARLET THE FILM MAGAZINE REVIEWS would like you to win one of five copies of the BLU RAY/DVD combo release of the new sci fi action adventure film DEATH RACE 2050 .
How to win : Answer : What story and by what author was the original DEATH RACE 2000 based upon?
just send an email toscarletthefilmmag@yahoo.com in the heading ,put DEATH RACE 2050 contest .
In the body of the letter, put your answer and you name and mailing address .
Contest ends January 15th,2017 .
Five winners will be pulled from all entries .
Open to readers within the continental United States .
LEGENDARY FILMMAKING ICON, ROGER CORMAN RETURNS
TO PRODUCE THE MOST EPIC DEATH RACE EVER
AS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY BEGINS IN PERU
ROGER CORMAN’S DEATH RACE 2050
The MSRP is $26.98 for Blu-ray and $22.98 on DVD. AVAILABLE JANUARY 17,2017.
MALCOLM MCDOWELL STARS IN THE SENSATIONAL ACTION-PACKED FILM
DEBUTING ON BLU-RAY™, DVD AND DIGITAL HD
IN 2016 FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Universal City, California, February 18, 2016 – An outrageous action-packed film and reboot of the original Death Race 2000, Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 began filming February 8 in Peru. Filled with the full-throttle mayhem and black-hearted humor, this all-new film drops the flag on a phalanx of automotive gladiators who earn points for killing pedestrians — and their fellow drivers. Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 is an original release from Universal 1440 Entertainment, a production entity of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The film will be available exclusively on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD in 2017.
The Original DEATH RACE 2000
In the decades since well-known independent film pioneer and Academy Award® winner Roger Corman first put the iconic anti-hero Frankenstein into the driver’s seat in Death Race 2000, this over-the-top cult classic has hurtled headlong toward cinematic immortality. Among the most enduring of the prolific producer’s legion of memorable films, Death Race 2000 has inspired a growing fan base that continues to propel the popular franchise as it marks the 40th anniversary of its original release.
“This is an amazing opportunity for me and millions of Death Race 2000 fans to experience the intensity, thrills and dark humor of the original, fueled by a terrific young cast, spectacular vehicles and side-splitting action, literally” said Corman, the trailblazing writer, director and producer. “Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 puts the pedal to the metal to bring this enduring franchise to a whole new level.”
Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 stars Manu Bennett (The Hobbit franchise) as Frankenstein, as well as Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) as the Chairman,Burt Grinstead (“NCIS”), Marci Miller (Viper), Folake Olowofoyeku (The Beaver), Anessa Ramsey (Footloose), Yancy Butler (Hard Target) and Charlie Farrell (Cantar).
The film is directed by G.J. Echternkamp (Hard Candy) from a script by Matt Yamashita (Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda) and G.J. Echternkamp, and produced by Roger Corman (Death Race 2000) and Luis Llosa (Anaconda).
SYNOPSIS
In the not-too-distant future, America is controlled by an all-powerful corporate government that keeps the masses placated with violent virtual-reality entertainment. The event of the year is the Death Race, where a motley assortment of drivers compete in a cross-country road race, scoring points for running down pedestrians and killing each other. The reigning champion and popular favorite is half-man, half-machine Frankenstein — but little does he know he’s taken on a rebel spy as his co-pilot.
BLU-RAYTM, DVD AND DIGITAL HD’s exclusive BONUS FEATURES:
The Making of 2050– This featurette goes behind the scenes of Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050 to explore why, over four decades later, the original Death Race 2000 has been remade, including what made this project appealing to cast and crew, what changes have been made, and what fans of the original will still love. Discover the movie magic behind the deaths, stunts and of course — the cars! Includes interviews with stars, director G.J. Echternkamp and Corman himself.
Cars! Cars! Cars! – Go on the set with the drivers of Death Race 2050 as they introduce their one-of-a-kind killing machines: Frankenstein and his Monster, Perfectus and his Piece of Art, Tammy and the Tank, Minerva and her Sound Box and ABE.
The Look of 2050 – An insider look at how the film’s visual style came together, including how shooting in Peru helped set the tone of the picture and how the costumes became stars in and of themselves.
The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack includes a Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD with UltraViolet™.
Blu-ray™ features a pristine high-definition picture, theater quality sound and extras.
DVD offers the flexibility and convenience of playing movies in more places, both at home and away.
DIGITAL HD with UltraViolet™ lets you watch movies anywhere, and plays on your mobile devices.
About Universal 1440 Entertainment:
The Universal 1440 Entertainment banner develops and produces live-action and animated non-theatrical productions directly for distribution in all media worldwide. Since its formation in 2005, the group has assembled an exceptional roster of animated family fare, including the Daytime Emmy®–winning Curious George television series for PBS KIDS; the latest installment of the beloved The Land Before Time series, The Land Before Time: Tale of the Brave; as well as a string of hugely popular Barbie and Monster High movies, based on the world-renowned Mattel-branded properties. The group also has successfully built upon some of Universal’s highly celebrated live-action franchises, Scorpion King, Death Race, Jarhead, The Man With The Iron Fists and the terrifying Chucky movies, as well as debuting the Tony Award®–nominated hit touring stage production Bring It On: The Musical and the epic sci-fi adventure hit Tremors 5: Bloodlines. Among projects currently readying for release are the explosive action-adventure Jarhead 3: The Siege; the adrenaline-fueled actioner Hard Target 2, and the high-energy dance drama Honey 3.
Universal 1440 Entertainment is a production entity of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBCUniversal. NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation.
Many people know the actors who star in their favorite shows and movies, and others know the directors. The person who is most forgotten is the writer, the person who basically creates the world in which the stories take place.
One of these artists is screen, teleplay, and stage play writer John Gay. Now Mr. Gay, with the assist of one of his children, daughter Jennifer Gay Summers, has put out his autobiography.
And what a fascinating life it is. The California born Mr. Gay talks about the lure of acting and how it drew him across country (after serving our country in WWII ) to become an actor. Working in summer stock, he soon gained a great deal of experience as well as meeting his partner and wife Barbara “Bobbie” Meyer.
Venturing to New York, their attempts at gaining acting work led them to entering the new media of television ,broadcasting live several nights a week from the top of the New Amsterdam Theatre (the former home of the Ziegfeld Follies and now the House of Mouse where the hit musical ALADDIN currently resides).
The show, APARTMENT 3C had only two actors (the husband and wife team) and due to the low budgets, Gay had to also write the shows himself! The program became the second show broadcast from fledgling station WOR in 1949. A modest hit, it gave John Gay not only an extra avenue for revenue but a career for which he would greatly excel.
Their second show ,MR & MRS MYSTERY had a larger budget (they were allowed to hire other actors ) and Mr. Gay was able to parlay those into other writing assignments for the Golden Age of Television (KRAFT TELEVISONTHEATRE ,PLAYHOUSE 90 )and crossing paths with such greats as Rod Sterling and Sidney Lumet.
His first screenwriting assignment was for the Burt Lancaster /Clark Gable submarine drama RUN SILENT RUN DEEP (1958/UA). His second screenplay earned him an Oscar nomination (along with co-writer Terrence Rattigan) for SEPARATE TABLES (1958/UA).
From there he was now a full-fledged screenwriter, working with the likes of Vincente Minnelli (twice, neither of which were happy experiences) as well as actors like Rod Steiger (twice, in two gems well worth seeking out (NOWAY TO TREAT A LADY (1968 Paramount) and HENNESSY (AIP 1976)) and Paul Newman (SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION 1971/Universal).
He nearly worked with science fiction great Ray Bradbury on the troubled production of WHITE HUNTER BLACK HEART, which remained unmade until Clint Eastwood and different writers turned it in a feature.
In the 1970s, when television really began turning out movies of the week and adaptations of classics, Mr. Gay seemed to have been involved with almost every great production. Many of my well-remembered favorites had a title mentioning John Gay as the Adaptor or Teleplay By credit. KILL ME IF YOU CAN (NBC,1977) had Alan Alda embody killer Caryl Chessman ; Anthony Hopkins as THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (CBS HALLMARK ,1982) ; LES MISERABLES (CBS HALLMARK 1978) and so many others. Plus he did superior TV remakes of mystery classics DIAL M FOR MURDER (ABC, 1981) WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (CBS HALLMARK 1982), and SHADOW OF A DOUBT (NBC HALLMARK 1991). The list goes on and on .
He took his skill as a story teller to the stage, having VINCENT PRICE remind people what a brilliant and versatile actor he truly was in DIVERSIONS & DELIGHTS, a play about Oscar Wilde. Price took the play all over the world, doing well everywhere but NYC (when the New York Times critics could still kill a show).
Mr. Gay is a wonderful writer, telling his life story with wit, good grace and honesty. Indeed, it is one of the few books that I have read lately that I wish had been longer (Mr. Gay dismisses his work on the troubled George Pal science fiction film THE POWER (MGM, 1968) with just a line or two).
Having turned 92 this past April,2016 , we are pleased that he and his daughter have shared his wonderful story with us. I have been careful not to give too much away so that you can discover the wonderful life of John Gay within the pages of ANY WAY I CAN.
RECOMMENDED.
–Kevin G Shinnick
Full Disclosure: I have been in contact with the author and his charming daughter for several years now as I attempted and finally successfully directed the first NYC Equity Production of DIVERSIONS & DELIGHTS in 35 years. The chapters 40 and 43 deal with this wonderful gem of a play.
originally published March 30,2015 SCARLET THE FILM MAGAZINE Facebook page
Vic Savage
(Model kit of the Creepie Crawlie)
(Annnnnd another VHS release)
Franco and the real Michael Glatze
Quinto & Franco in happier times.
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