Castle Freaks, Grandmasters, Slumber Parties, and Medical Deviates
I saw 7 Grandmasters at the Hollywood Theater last weekend. It was amazing. The Kung Fu is top notch. Not a whole lot of cinematic trickery necessary with artists of this caliber. See this movie. It is incredible.
Also saw Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak at home on DVD over the weekend. I loved Re-Animator and From Beyond. I also remember really enjoying Dolls when it came out. After that I sort of lost track of Gordon's work until I checked out Dagon a while ago, which I thought was a pretty decent Lovecraft flick.
I knew about Castle Freak, but the title never really grabbed me. I got the DVD for three bucks and it was totally worth it. I love Jeffrey Combs theatrical acting, especially when combined with Barbara Crampton's style, who kind of came up in television soap operas.
Gordon's movies are strange. They kind of come off very theatrical and sort of chintzy at first, but then after a while I find myself really into it. They play with super classical themes and do a good job hitting nerves. The monster in this is pretty great. The castrated beast walks around naked most of the time, exposing a sizeable sack, but no meat. It's a disconcerting sight.
Finally, I just watched Slumber Party Massacre III for the first time and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. I wrote the franchise off after the second one. Part two had a rock star slasher with a drill on his guitar and I hated it. I never really got into those late 80's rocker/metal/horror movies like Trick Or Treat and Rockula. I was very disappointed that SPM2 was one of them.
The third one is the 90's reboot and the girls wear high-waisted pants and frizzy hair. Like part one, this film was written and directed by women and there's definitely a nascent feminist subtext. In this one the slasher is an example of the dreamy golden boy gone wrong, rather than the mad male psyche unleashed of the first installment. Strangely the franchise was renamed Cheerleader Massacre after this one.
Lastly, here's an amazing trailer for Doctor Butcher M.D. (aka Zombie Holocaust) that Mike sent me. Enjoy!
Also saw Stuart Gordon's Castle Freak at home on DVD over the weekend. I loved Re-Animator and From Beyond. I also remember really enjoying Dolls when it came out. After that I sort of lost track of Gordon's work until I checked out Dagon a while ago, which I thought was a pretty decent Lovecraft flick.
I knew about Castle Freak, but the title never really grabbed me. I got the DVD for three bucks and it was totally worth it. I love Jeffrey Combs theatrical acting, especially when combined with Barbara Crampton's style, who kind of came up in television soap operas.
Gordon's movies are strange. They kind of come off very theatrical and sort of chintzy at first, but then after a while I find myself really into it. They play with super classical themes and do a good job hitting nerves. The monster in this is pretty great. The castrated beast walks around naked most of the time, exposing a sizeable sack, but no meat. It's a disconcerting sight.
Finally, I just watched Slumber Party Massacre III for the first time and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it. I wrote the franchise off after the second one. Part two had a rock star slasher with a drill on his guitar and I hated it. I never really got into those late 80's rocker/metal/horror movies like Trick Or Treat and Rockula. I was very disappointed that SPM2 was one of them.
The third one is the 90's reboot and the girls wear high-waisted pants and frizzy hair. Like part one, this film was written and directed by women and there's definitely a nascent feminist subtext. In this one the slasher is an example of the dreamy golden boy gone wrong, rather than the mad male psyche unleashed of the first installment. Strangely the franchise was renamed Cheerleader Massacre after this one.
Lastly, here's an amazing trailer for Doctor Butcher M.D. (aka Zombie Holocaust) that Mike sent me. Enjoy!
Labels: barbara crampton, castle freak, grindhouse film fest, hollywood theater, jeffrey combs, portland oregon, seven grandmasters, slumber party massacre iii, stuart gordon
posted by Bob Moricz at 8:35 AM
1 Comments:
Great movies!!! the first Stuart Gordon flicks were the best.
I saw SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 2 when I was younger and I liked it... it´s shit, but funny shit!.
In Spain, DR BUTCHER MD was entitled ZOMBI HOLOCAUST. Good title.
Last night I saw "Don't Open 'Til Christmas", good trash/good fun.
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