Saturday, November 13, 2010

Jason Rudy-Desperate Visions Productions

One of my adventures when I was at Weekend of Horrors (and there were many), was meeting Jason Rudy of Desperate Visions Productions. He is an independent film maker and was on a panel with other independents during the festival. He had a booth set up so I went over to talk with him. He stated his films were uncensored so much so that they were shocking. I thought I would pick his films up just to see what the hype was. Chump Change, Lady M, and the Last Road To Hell were the movies I bought.
I thought he did the best with what he had. He does not have much of a budget. I did not think his movies were shocking. One of them even had a scene they blacked out stating they couldn't show the footage. It was shocking to see that I guess.
Most of the actors did not act well and some areas in all movies looked pretty fake. I will give him credit for his ideas and the work he does. It is hard to write, produce, direct and act. If you want to help out an independent film maker you can pick his movies up many ways. Keep trying Jason.

Zombie Chronicles: The Infected

I have been looking at a lot of zombie independent films lately. One stands out above the rest for innovation. The Zombie Chronicles: The Infected is part one of a series of films that Writer, Director Marvin Suarez is releasing to the public. The Infected was picked to be in The Big Apple Film Festival.
The Big Apple Film Festival (BAFF), presented by the Big Apple Film Society, takes place annually at the world famous Tribeca Cinemas.
The BAFF was named one of MovieMaker Magazine's top '25 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee.' The film festival is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the highest quality films from the New York City independent film community, as well as additional specially selected films from across the country and around the world. Great job Marvin!!!! Onto the film.

I first need to mention this article has some spoiler points of the film. I would suggest watching it before reading any further. If that is the case please go to www.whataretheinfected.com on November 23rd to get a copy. It is well worth it. If you want to read on, here is it!


Zombie Chronicles: The Infected puts quite a different spin on people becoming what you could say is a different race. They are not quite zombies in the traditional sense. Since this is part one of three, we don't quite know what is going on yet and that gives the audience the panic factor as I call it. On top of that, it is filmed a bit like Cloverfield and The Blair Witch, however, it is not as shaky ( thank god I didn't want to be nauseous).
Marvin uses the split screen method in certain parts showing the humans getting attacked and the infected attacking at the same time. He does this at the correct times throughout the film making it brilliant. I haven't seen that done too often especially in independent short films.
The film starts off showing the audience dates and times. This goes on throughout so we know what is going on when. The infected are shown first in between credits as well as a news reporter explaining and showing what he sees. All the infected look and act different.
It then goes to Sarah (Celeste Santoya) and Josh (Lavrenti Lopes) the main characters who are paramedics.
Sarah wants to get to her apartment because that is where her 7 year old daughter is. The infected are everywhere! They manage to reach the apartment complex but have an audience of the infected following them. Here is where it gets even better!
The infected talk!! To me that is worse than the normal zombies. At least with normal zombies you don't have to listen to them. There is no choice here. They try to get into your head, and not just in the literal sense this time haha!
Sarah and Josh find Sarah's daughter Cadence (Jaelene L. Gonzalez). She is one of the infected. The actors do a great job showing the raw emotion of losing a loved one. Included are flashbacks to when Cadence had her last birthday. The sound and camera work allow the audience to know what is past and what is present. Another cool aspect of this movie is that the audience is able to follow Josh's fall into being one of the infected. When he does turn he explains to Sarah they are on a mission to spread the virus to the world and she has a choice whether to be one of them or be eaten. When she rejects him he uses her daughter to change her mind, or does he? That is where the film ends. Marvin leaves just the right amount of questions to have the audience waiting for the second film. We Want Answers!!!
The lighting that was used in the scenes was used appropriately. In some scenes the audience could not see what was really going on but could hear. This allows the audience to capture in their minds what is going on. That is an age old use of good filming that Hollywood had strayed from in my opinion. There is nothing scarier than our own minds.
Again, the film will be released on November 23rd 2010. This is worth getting your hands on. If you go to www.whataretheinfected.com you can buy it there. I don't normally buy short independent films but I did this one!
I don't think Marvin Suarez will be going away anytime soon. It takes a lot of balls in my opinion to stray away from normal zombie films. He took that leap and it worked! I will be in line for the next Chronicle. If you are a true zombie film lover, you will be too.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

The Day The World Went Away DIRECTOR'S CUT

The Day the World Went Away

The Directors cut is longer and more defined. Please look for it in about a half an hour!! Please leave comments.

Nightmare Concert (A Cat In The Brain) 1990


I know I'm going to get some hell for this one but that's fine with me because you see, I didn't really care for this film. A Cat In The Brain is a gore hounds dream on paper, and the movie doesn't fail do deliver on those parts. Lucio Fulci is the star and director of this film and if you ask me he should stay behind the camera and only get in front of it when he gets up from his directors chair to walk to the shitter. Not to say his acting is bad but, well, nevermind. It's pretty bad. I'll get to the plot (plotish? is that a word, plotish?). Lucio plays himself in the film who starts do go insane in the membrane and begins seeing visions from his films in his real life. That's pretty much it. And most of the gore scenes you've seen in his other better movies. But as a collection of gore scenes it does pretty good. Although the scene of the guy with the chainsaw made me laugh, he's cutting off a womans limbs but the cuts don't exactly match up to where he's actually cutting. I found myself bored, and that's saying a lot for me. I love nasty, gory, boob filled movies and I had a difficult time not grabbing my phone and playing bejeweled after 30 minutes (thanks again for the phone sis). It's gore for gores sake on the other hand, and if you haven't seen many of Lucio Fulci's films this would be a good alternative to having to have to sit through his other often overlong and badly dubbed films by just watching this collection of nasty scenes from his older movies (Zombie 2 not withstanding. Zombie shark battle bitches!). So to wrap things up go see it yourself and fast-forward to the good parts because the story itself, what little of it there is in my opinion, sucks.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Critters. Yes, I said Critters.


Ok, depending on how old you are you may remember this little gem from the mid 80's. I decided that we should re-visit some of these old 80's films that time may have forgotten, but alas I have not. I picked Critters because of a little 9 year old, she saw the box art on netflix and said "awww, aren't they cute!". So the story follows a boy named Brad played by a young Scott Grimes, who now plays the voice of Steve Smith on American Dad (enjoy the useless trivia). Or maybe it follows a handyman named Charlie who, oh, never mind. The real star of this little gem are the critters, those adorable little hairballs that roll all over the place eating everything in site. They break loose and land on earth with a pair of bounty hunters, one named Ug and the other named Lee, fast on thier trail. You know what, that's all I'm going to say about Critters besides go watch it again with the kids. Or for the first time, it's not a hack and slash gore-a-thon but I sure thought it was fun. That adorable little 9 year old that thought the Critters looked all cute really enjoyed this movie and I think you will too. I'm going to have some more oldies on the way as well because they just don't make 'em like they used to, and we may just find some that you'll be happy that you found.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Weekend of Horrors


October 15-17 in Burbank California was a horror fest called Weekend of Horrors, sponsored by Creation Entertainment. It was a small venue compared to others, and because of that I was fortunate enough to go and mingle with some of the biggest names in horror over the last 30 years.
On Friday I landed at the Burbank airport and walked to the Marriott Burbank Hotel. It was that close, and a lot of the guests were also staying there. I checked in at 9:00am and the front desk person was kind enough to let me into a room right away! I put my close away and decided to lay down for a bit.
After I woke up I looked around the hotel and found where Weekend of Horrors was being held. I decided to check it out. I walked in the front door and the woman who took my money was extremely kind and explained what was going on where.
I looked from my right to my left and there were booths with items to buy everywhere! There were thousands of DVDs, clothing, art, books and actors with photo's they would sign for you.
I was in heaven but did not know where to start. I was a bit nervous too as I was there to promote myself in the film business and learn the do's and do not's of independent film making as well as special effects makeup.
I made my way around the booths in the outer area of the hotel. All the guests were extremely nice and talked to me like I was one of them. I went into the middle of the hotel to a medium sized room where I saw Sean Patrick Flannery, Norman Reedus (who will be in The Walking Dead, so jealous) and David Della Rocco from Boondock Saints. There was so many people at that booth I walked around the other way where I saw John Kassir (The cryptkeeper), Fred Williamson ( Athlete and movie actor), Sid Haig (Rob Zombie movies and many years of acting work since the late 1950's), a ton of others and my favorite, Joe Bob Briggs.
I got to hang out with Fred Williamson and Joe Bob Briggs a bit. There were two presentations I wanted to catch so I went into the main ballroom to listen. The first was on Independent filmmakers. The panel consisted of David Sterling of Brain Damage Films, The Lewis Brothers (Black Devil Doll), Jesse Kozel (Candy), Jason Rudy of Desperate Visions, and Jack Ulrich and Geza Deczy (Alluvial).
These guys talked about the fact that you can do so much more if you don't have a big production crew. They stated that is where the money goes instead of making the actual film. Some of them stated in order to get people to help you, you already have to have the money available to pay up front or in this day and age, no one will help you. All were on the same page as far as the setbacks of being the writer, editor, director and actor in making a film. In listening to the next guest, Joe Bob Briggs, He also stated it is too hard to do everything yourself, and that if a filmmaker does, it can take the focus off of each job and in turn hurt the movie. In essence, each job is very important and needs attention. When you are doing everything it is hard to focus specifically on one thing to make it great.
Joe Bob Briggs was an excellent speaker and handled the crowd wonderfully answering every question and bringing in stories to keep the attention of the crowd. He is writing a book and apparently producing a movie soon. It will be interesting what he has up his sleeve. He is very knowledgeable about film in general, not just the horror genre which of course is his specialty. He is very down to earth and will talk with anyone that wants to talk with him. He doesn't make you feel like your talking to an icon. I liked that. I am sure others did as well. He is passionate about his fans ensures they get what they are there for. He had a busy weekend moderating panels and as well as meeting fans.
Friday night I decided to go down to the bar to eat. There I met Joe Pilato (Day of the Dead). I had dinner with him and found he is going to be in a new 3D version of Night of the Living Dead, Origins. He was very interesting to talk to. Director Zebediah De Soto, Director of the movie was also there and he was intriguing. I get the feeling he won't be going away anytime soon. He has that dark artistic vibe about him. I could have listened to him all night. Instead I went to bed.
Saturday morning I woke up and went downstairs to have a little breakfast. I met up with David Della Rocco who I had talked to a bit the night before and the rest of the weekend as well. He was very down to earth. It didn't even feel like I was talking to someone who has been in two big movies. I was done eating so I sat watching people in the lounge.
I had put in my zombie contacts for the day and had on a cute little outfit. I did not go all out like some people did at the venue. There were people dressed as zombies, werewolves, vampires, and all kinds in between. It was fun to watch. I brought my pictures with me instead. I wanted to make sure everyone remembered who I was. With zombie makeup on, no one would have.
I met up with a friend of mine and we mingled with fans and guests all day long and looked for strange DVDs we could buy. We watched the old movie Demons and listened to a forum from the cast of the new Night of the Demons film. Another friend came after that and it was time for the big event!
Bruce Campbell graced us with his presence. I was able to get a picture with him and listen to his presentation in the hotel. He discussed the fact that there are too many people remaking great films and making them bad. He stated there was not as much creativity now as it seems too many movies are remakes. He also stated if your going to remake a film, pick a bad one and make it good. I would have to agree. One of the friends I was with asked about Bruce's scar and he let her come up to the stage to touch it. She even got into a magazine for doing that. Bruce was asked some very off the wall questions including a statement from a guy stating he was from the Netherlands and there is racism against Muslims. He started to go off and Bruce handled it very well. I had been upset because he did not allow people to come up to talk to him, but after all the strange questions and statements as well as seeing some people appear like stalkers, I understood. After we were done with that, they left and I mingled with John Carl Buechler as well until I went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning I knew I would treasure this weekend. It was my closest claim to fame I have had. Most of the guests remembered who I was, even my name. I handed out my cards and am hopeful some will contact me. If not for work, just to chat as I really enjoyed talking to them. If you get a chance to go to one of these events, you will not regret it.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Chimera - Short Film

Machete

I am biased, I love Robert Rodriguez movies. Robert was born June, 20, 1968, which, by the way, makes him older than me!" Robert is an American film director, screewriter, producer, cinematographer, editor among other talents. He has made many films including ones most have probably never heard of. Here are a few movies not so known to the very well known.
Bedhead, El Mariachi, Desperado, Four Films, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl, and wrote a book in 1995. Of course we are not here because of his book.

Rodriguez has a spin on his movies I cannot get enough of. He gives you a scare or makes you sad and then laugh all in one breath. He is able to make you cringe while providing comic relief that I have never seen. He takes horror and comedy and blends them to fit his vision and the actors eat it up. Now onto why I am here, Machete.

Machete was brilliant. The cast and crew could not have been better except for Jessica Alba. She almost appeared to me as a background to be admired. Other than that, this movie was worth seeing!

Machete was released September 3, 2010. ( Yes I am a little late getting this out.) The movie starred Danny Trejo (Machete Cortez), Robert De Niro (Senator John McLaughlin), Jessica Alba (Sartana Rivera), Steven Seagal (Torrez), Michelle Rodriguez (Luz) and my favorite Tom Savini (Osiris Amanpour) among other well known actors that made this movie the hit it was.

I also need to give a shout out to the makeup and special effects people. Susan Benson, Doug Field, Meredith Johns, Missy Lisenby, Heather Olson, Ermahn Ospina and Nancy Rankin. Without these people, the movie would not exist in my opinion. Also remember Ethan Maniquis worked in tandem with Robert.

Machete (Danny Trejo) is a man of the law in Mexico. He wants law and order. Torrez (Steven Seagal) sees it differently. He Kills Machete's family. Machete then finds himself in the US illigally doing odd jobs for money and tries to keep a low profile. He is enticed to take $150,000 to assassinate Senator John McLaughlin ( De Niro). Machete gives the money to Luz (Michelle Rodriguez) to allow her to fund her cause, helping Latino's get to the US so they can have a better life for themselves and their families. INS agent Sartana Rivera (Jessica Alba) gets involved and an emotional yet funny journey ensues to clear Machete's name and get rid of crooked politicians.

I refuse to give anymore information on this movie. You must see it yourself! If you are a republican or do not have a great sense of humor however, this movie is not for you! Long live Rodriguez movies!!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

CatchMeKillMe Productions

I am now a part of CatchMeKillMe Productions. It is an independent film company out of Arizona. We just got done with a great Zombie movie! I was the main makeup artist as well as a killer zombie. We are looking for people to review the movie and maybe assist in our next quest!
Thanks for checking out my love for Zombies!!

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Last Exorcism

The Last Exorcism is indeed what I am hoping for, it to be the last. This film was directed by Daniel Stamm. Daniel, who is from Germany, is most well known for a film called' A Necessary Death' which came out in 2008. He has also won awards for short films.
Patrick Fabian, Iris Bahr and Louis Hertham star in The Last Exorcism. The movie starts out with promise. Reverand Cotton Marcus has been completing exorcisms since he was a kid. He finds he is running on auto pilot and doesn't really believe in what he is doing. He takes a film crew Iris Reisen (Iris Bahr) and Dan Moskowitz (Adam Grimes) with him to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere to prove exorcism is a fraud.
Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) is a man who claims to have a daughter, Nell (Ashley Bell), who is possessed. Cotton riggs Nells bedroom to move and sound like there is a demon. Cotton completes the ritual, takes the money offered to him and leaves to stay in a hotel before leaving to go back home. Nell shows up at Cotton's hotel in the middle of the night acting weird. From there, the hope is to be scared or at least intrigued. I was neither. I will leave the rest to your imagination.
The ending was like taking a blunt trauma to the head. I just sat there wondering why? I saw everyone else in the theatre did the same thing.
The budget was $1.8 million and I wondered who got all the money? It was not spent well. I think if this movie was made into a short, which is what Danial Stamm is good at, it could have been good. Making this into a full 99 minute movie was not a good call. The beginning and end was focused on too much, like a short film does. If I can say anything good about the film, the actors did a good job and the way it was filmed did not give me motion sickness. Unfortunately the film acted like it was written by separate people and just plugged into scenes without communication with each other.
I am hoping Daniel Stamm's next movie, due out in 2012 called 'The Night Chronicles: Twelve Strangers', is a much better film. It is going to be about twelve jurors who preside over a case that ends up having a twist of the supernatural.
I give Eli Roth props for producing The Last Exorcism as he is trying his hand in other areas of horror, however, he may want to go back to torturing people with gore, not with movies like this. Sorry Eli, still love ya!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Krazed - Hypnotized (Original Song)

The Day the World Went Away


Ian Messenger is at it again with another short film. This time he is doing it zombie style! This short is being filmed as I am writing this. This movie is sure to show the raw emotion with some good kills! Stay tuned but be cautioned, this movie will not be for the faint at heart.

Krazed

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Infestation (2009) Christopher Marquette, Brooke Nevin, Ray Wise.

I can actually say I recommend this movie. Here are the main reasons. Acting was good, it was funny and had some bizzare moments. One of the characters offered another woman a pair of running shoes so that she could actually run away from the Huge insects. Of course she does not take them and acts like a stupid bitch. Finally one of the other characters with the groups shoots her. (Bonus!) It was good up to the end. Then it just stopped. Oh well, it was still worth my time and yours.

Never Follow A Zombie: The Hog

Never Follow A Zombie: The Hog: "The Hog Imagine a former MMA fighter deciding to try his hand in the horror genre. Sounds weird doesn't it. Ian Messenger (writer of the 'T..."

The Hog


The Hog

Imagine a former MMA fighter deciding to try his hand in the horror genre. Sounds weird doesn't it. Ian Messenger (writer of the "The Hog") and his friends, decided to get together to make a short horror movie. This would be their first try. Does it live up to it's name or is it just bacon.

The first few seconds of the movie were a bit boring showing the actors names and only a car driving down the road. After that, however, it lived up to it's name. The three main characters, though short lived, made the audience feel sucked into their situations. This is what a horror movie should do. It had the feel of the late 1970's horror flicks, raw and dirty. Rob Zombie has been the only recent director to bring that feel back to the screen with House of a Thousand Corpses and The Devils Rejects.


The movie was not perfect having a few flaws here and there, however, its my opinion that this Short horror movie is well worth your time. I hope this group of young talent continues forward with this type of horror.


Wiccanz


The Hog - Movie Review