Number 167 (Vol. 4, No. 23). This edition is for the week of June 2--8, 2003.
Once again into the abyss with
The Renegade Film Festival
SAINTS & SINNERS III
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Plus...
• The Top Ten Cult Movies Of All Time, cont'd!
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Some of the contributor's columns did not get updated until Friday this week, for which I apologize, but due to my involvement in the extended coverage of the Renegade Film Festival, it couldn't be helped. Things should settle down next week. Again, sorry for the delays.---Nolan
It started like most days with big events I want to attend -- complete chaos, utter panic, no sleep, and things that don't/won't work. No matter how much preparation I put into it, it never seems enough. Looking back, it's a miracle I got as far as I did.
I had just bought my new Sony Digital-8 camera, intended for "The World of Nolan" spots, only days before and only had time to hold it in my hands literally less than five minutes before my ride, Gustavo Perez, was to show up and cart us off to the State Theater. When he showed up I realized I never inserted a cassette into the camera. I had to read the owner's manual while Gus was standing there to find out the tape loads from the bottom. Then we tested an external mic, intended for interviews. After discovering there was no headphone jack in the camera, we had to record some tape and play it back---the mic turned out to have a short in it. So we were going to have to rely on the onboard mic which is usually never recommended because of background noise. At least it worked, but we were going to have to be really careful.
After all the batteries were accounted for and all the camera equipment was judged ready enough for take-off, we departed South Tampa almost an hour later than we intended.
We arrived about 4:00pm, just about the time the first movie "Follow The Bitch" started. I had to make a judgement call about getting a few pictures and a few interviews for this 'zine and miss either some or all of the picture, reminding myself that I was determined to see all the movies this time. But there was an opportunity to get some quality time with Pete Bauer, Rick Danford, "Necro Nancy" aka, Krista Grotte, and Andy Lalino before I lost them to the crowd and I had to seize it.
Finally making it into the auditorium, Gus and I were able to at last see the last fifteen minutes or so of "Follow The Bitch" enough to know it was a well-made and funny picture by producer Julian Stone. Basically, a group of friends has been meeting every Friday night for ten years for a ritual poker game. Know-it-all Bill has been keeper of the tradition and host of the game. Suddenly Andy announces he's getting married and two other friends share dark secrets. To make matters worse someone's invited a (gulp) WOMAN to the game and she's real good. As Gus and I were finding our seats, Bill(?) announced the get-together would be held Saturday night next week (because he agreed to a date with a--gulp--WOMAN). Lest this be seen as anti-female, I think the theme had to do more with spontaneous changing tastes happening simultaneously within a group than anything. That's what I got out of it, but like I said, I didn't see the whole movie, unfortunately.
Appealing, because I can certainly identify with the group-of-friends-whose-rituals-are-being-interfered-with-by-outsiders.
Lemonade -- Capitol Pictures. Very funny movie about a family funeral. Shouldn't be funny? Probably not, especially if you've lost someone close to you recently, but for some odd reason what it reminded me of are those times of solemnity from youth where things were so damn serious I couldn't help but laugh out loud. In Lemonade, the kids in the family, pissed off because they're missing their school pool party over this are determined to sabotage the funeral of "Uncle George" as some sort of payback. The nervous wreck minister, the dysfunctional family, the suddenly-appearing mistress, and the loafer-redneck friends in the back row add up to a disaster of a ceremony. Favorite moments are when one of the kids manages to throw a "Mentos" candy at the coffin and it lands squarely on George's lips! Then, of course, you just KNOW there'll be a scene where somebody trips over the coffin and -- well, catch this flick if you can and see.
The Show -- Trilobyte Productions. The man behind this production, David Biggerstaff, is a very nice fellow who announced he just purchased the domain "floridafilms.com" to bolster his original website at Trilobyte productions, but more importantly, to bolster the intercommunication of Florida filmmakers, a noble goal indeed. David will appear in my forthcoming video about S&S III I'm editing as we speak. "The Show" deals with a selfish man whose premature death initiates contact with God in a sort of a basement courtroom setting---only it looks like the Devil himself has to act as councel to argue for the right to the man's soul! A cool script, but for some reason I found it to resemble more of an adapted stage play than screenplay. I didn't care too much for the lead actor, but the Devil was great at chewing up the scenery as loudly as he could, very funny, and "God" was an imaginative rendering -- basically a steady close-up of an old man's nose and bearded mouth with some filtering --and the character who had the best lines! (I never thought of God as having a thin NY accent tho --ha ha.) A brief conversation with the filmmaker afterwards revealed this was shot on mini-DV and edited with (I believe) Final Cut Pro. He's a really nice guy and I plan to help him with his new site if I can.
Wonderboy III --- Minor League Productions. A tradition at all three Renegade events, this chronicles the adventures of the Renegade chieftains' kids who have become super-heroes in this universe. Short and quickly paced, cute without being smarmy, and the kids are always adorable. Written produced and directed by Rick Danford.
Shelley (A Skateboarding Video) -- Matt DuVall. If you were to tell me that a 45-minute video of teenagers skateboarding would be a big hit at the festival, I'd've said you were crazy. NOT ONLY does the rapid-fire editing and skateboarding antics rival bigger MTV-style productions, but the kicker is this was all done by 15-year-old Matt DuVall and his friends using a Hi-8 home video camera over the course of a season (I'd've said summer, but the literature says winter.) My only criticism is the lack of any real close-ups of the boys or any speaking parts, so they remain kind of mysterious. I dunno maybe that was the intention. I really wanted to meet Matt and tell him how impresed I was, but I don't think he was actually at the theater. Anyway Matt, if you're reading this: keep up the good work--you've got a lot of talent!! Further, if you need a distributor, drop me a line!
Skippy Lightfoot's Perfect day -- Sketchbook Productions. Skippy Lightfoot is a young twenty-something dogged by bad luck and a resultant pessimistic attitude. One day a genie appears from his living room sofa(!) and agrees to grant just one wish. Skippy wishes to have a perfect day, something he's never had. When he next wakes, he finds things go where he throws them, money appears on the sidewalks, and jobs are now easy to get. Now the ultimate: the perfect date. As Skippy's perfect blind date winds towards its inevitable blissful conclusion, a dark stranger appears to advise Skippy that this much luck comes with a terrible price.
A "philosophy/comedy" with shades of whimsical Twilight Zone episodes, and a thoroughly enjoyable romp.
Till Death Do Us Part --El Gato Productions. A tale of duplicity (a popular theme at the festival this year). A wheelchair-bound woman is contemplating suicide and entrusts those around her to help her with the job: her husband and a young male friend. As the poison is planted the true victim is revealed.
Well done, if fairly predictable, but all the actors are convincing and the editing is tight. This print suffered from the poorest video and audio track quality with audible hiss and sometimes fuzzy picture (altho I should state there were numerous technical glitches during the fest, they need a better copy of this movie). One bonus: this was the only film at the festival to show an alternate ending!
The Final Round -- ArNaliFilms. A Japanese fighter tries to find the wherewithall to defeat a larger, more menacing opponent. Through memory flashbacks, he finds his rage, and we learn what led to this point. Technically well-executed, I found this film to have the least satisfying ending of any at the festival--basically it didn't really have an ending. The two finally square off and the film's over.
Super Jack -- Rice Power Productions. What a weird movie! The logo is sort of a '70s cop TV show thing, and it has a retro feel, but in ways that are not related to the story. A philandering and abusive young airline pilot returns home to deal with a jealous wife. During a drunken brawl he passes out to find when he wakes he may have murdered his wife! He goes outside and is met by the classic "nosey neighbor" who points out a new mound of dirt in the front yard--our "hero" is horrified. As he digs up the dirt he finds a big surprise--beneath the ground and above it as he gets what's coming to him. Surprise, surprise the wife and nosey neighbor are in on it, too. (There's that theme again.)
An Eye For An Eye -- Lurid Pictures. Well I had to get up and pee and get refreshments and do more interviews sometime and, unfortunately, I picked just before THE ZOMBIE MOVIE was getting underway, like a freaking idiot. I love this kind of flick, I should've been paying closer attention to timing. From the literature: "It's a few weeks into a zombie plague. A father and daughter are intruded upon by a low-life who takes adantage of their generosity . He injures the father during a zombie sneak-up, but the tables turn on him. The family decides to get him back with an eye for an eye--with interest."
I got back to my seat just as this tidy little thriller was ending its last few minutes, and immediately regretted not consuming the whole thing, it looked like a lot of fun. Hopefuly I'll snag a video one day.
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I'll Save You -- Damian Beurer. This and "Filthy" were the coolest movies at the Festival and deserve the awards they won. "I'll Save You" is a fanboy's DELIGHT as several Super-Heroes fight over a single city block in New York after a woman gets robbed of her purse. Hey, if Spider-Man and Daredevil arrive simultaneously, whose "bust" is it? Now add The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Punisher, and several others including--get this--The Ambiguously Gay Duo, Gary and Ace, from the SNL cartoon producer Robert Smigel's series of the same name. You have to be a REAL insider fanboy to know them! Eventually all heroes devolve into infighting until the little old lady calls a stop to it with a few moves of her own.
Reminder this is live-action and not an animation. It is the movie SO MANY of us wanted to make--ha ha! (see the Lettercol for a message from the director and a link to the movie!
Just Due -- Katie Damien. Touching story of two young sisters in the Old West who use fantasy to escape the harsh abusive reality of their owner/boss. In their dreams, they are rough-and-tough gunslingers. As the abuse increases, fantasy and reality begin to merge into a more satisfying resolution.
Eulogy -- Jose Martinez. A hand-painted eulogy for filmmaker Stan Brakhage. Shot in 8mm reversal film and mini-DV. Martinez spoke to the audience briefly before the movie to ask if anyone had even heard of Brakhage and no one said a word. Shrugging it off he continued to describe a pioneer of film in ways that made me want to know more. The film that followed was a real trip to say the least. Very experimental, very cool. Images, painted over, painted through, sometimes just paint alone. Let's just say I'm ashamed we never heard of Stan Brakhage before now. But we do have Jose Martinez.
Capricorn Sister -- MOYO Films. Judy works at the Whiskey a Go-Go music club in downtown LA. When she finally has time to relax at home she finds she can't because of the middle-aged rock band who rehearses in her gargage. Finally she takes matters into her own hands. Shot in 16mm negative and reversal films using loops and montages. Weird, but oddly satisfying, I felt like I was watching an underground snuff flick for a while!
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Aaron Brokovich -- Hi-Brow Productions. A send-up of the Julia Roberts movie finds young Aaron working for LA attorney Dale Mabry(!), and investigates evidence that the water supply in LA is turning the female population into lesbians! This culminates into a hilarious courtroom showdown with the key witnesses.
Filthy --Tinker Wins Productions. Clearly the event of the evening. Andy Lalino and John Karliss have been working on this film and promoting it relentelessly for a couple years now and the results have paid off--not only is it a great movie, but the crowd had been whipped into such a frenzy of anticipation it would've been tragic if the film had been a let-down! Fortunately, it did not disappoint. Tough-as-nails girl reporter Dana Diamond (played with bitchy glee by Jennifer Bass), is out to get the report of the century on Halloween Night when she stumbles on a dirty homeless man apparently attacking and kidnapping a woman off the street. When Diamond closes in on the scene, she discourages her cameraman from helping the woman, and tells him to just keep shooting! She follows the human garbage heap into a run-down house filled with decades-old rotting garbage. An untimely accident takes care of the cameraman, so Diamond is on her own. Then...the "family" is introduced. What unfolds next is an homage to several classic horror thrillers, most notably The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, you name it, and Filthy proves it can gross-out with the best of them! Notable performances by Krista Grotte as the hillbilly daughter, Sheri Lawrence as "Fermentia" the hag/mother, and John Biebrich as Rocky the cameraman, he was a hoot!
Only criticism? It's too short! It crams a 90-minute movie into only 32 minutes and when it's over you still want more. Perhaps Misters Lalino and Karliss will expand on this someday, but for now it's quite an entertaining investment of 32 minutes!
Date or Disaster -- Date or Disaster Productions. A send-up of dating game type shows and their reality show brethren. Sleazy producers send weird couples out on psychotic dates. Nebbish man wants the girl but goes psycho. Entertaining use of small corner cartoons to be a "Greek Chorus" to our players' inner feelings.
While at first I thought the premise was funny and the execution was very funny, this just went on WAAAAAAAAY too long and the joke got old with me. Still, I'd recommend it as a good send-up.
My Skin --Black Cab Productions. Woah, is this creepy! And without even being gross! Part of the Nightmare Collection, Death flies in to collect the soul of a murdered young woman, but first takes revenge on her killer. After replacing all of the incriminating evidence--the bullets, the smoking gun, the fingerprints--Death takes a moment to place a very special phone call. Basically a one-man, one act play with a brilliant performace by the older, seasoned lead actor who plays Death.
Boredom --Mark Phillips. Short film comprised of a rather disconnected series of home-movie style vignettes. This was an unannounced entry in the festival and was introduced as filler--which it did nicely.
Web Of Darkness. Before "Filthy", I think this was supposed to be the event of the evening. Unfortunately, the movie simply wasn't done in time, so it was repeatedly introduced as a "rough cut". So rough in fact, the audience was required to go out to the lobby and pick up survey forms to "help us out with the editing process". Whew! OK.
Written and Directed by Rick Danford and starring Tom Savini, this is a movie about a website chatroom for vampires that proves a little too inviting for the female half of one young couple. After a brief regrettable introduction, the guy's girl falls for the group's leader and she gets "initiated". Chaos ensues as the guy tries to win his girl back against near-insurmountable odds. At the same time is an inner fight amongst the brethren for control of the "coven" or whatever. Savini plays the current main leader (I think), who's fighting the egotistical, smarmy younger guy over which way the group should go. I kept nodding off (it was almost 2:00 in the morning by this point) and I honestly don't remember how this turned out, except it was one of the talkiest vampire pictures I've ever seen.
HOWEVER, it would be unfair to categorize it in any final way since the guys did go to such length to describe it as a rough cut. So that's as far as I'll go with that. The actors are all attractive and competent and the photography is nice. The rough cut's audio was unfortunately distorted duirng the second half and there were other technical problems that I'm sure will be resolved eventually.
They only gave us about 10 or 15 minutes to do our "homework" before the staff of the State Theater literally threw everybody out. I told Danford later I'd have to mail the survey into him. But outside the building I was able to get some good video interviews with Chris Woods, Andy Lalino, and PCR contributor and fellow filmmaker Brandon Jones who had arrived later in the evening. One that got away: PCR columnist of late John Lewis was there, but disappeared shortly after "last call" and I never found him or else I'd've gotten video of him too.
IMPORTANT ADDITIONS TO ABOVE: 6-5-03. As happens so often, when I put out the earliest edition of PCR, I almost always forget something important, usually due to phone calls and ongoing fatigue. There were a couple more things I think deserve serious mention here. First, I had the chance to meet filmmmaker GREG RIVERA, director of THE UNINVITED (another big winner at one of last year's festivals), introduced to me by Andy Lalino to whom I'm grateful. I told Greg I had missed "The Uninvited" last year, but heard great things about it, and Greg pledged to send me a copy -- thanks, man, I'll watch by mailbox and you watch for the official Nolan write-up here!
The other thing I want to mention is two trailers that came on just before "Web of Darkness" (I think it was then). They were both products of Present Day Productions' JOE DAVISON, "Pain" and "Unearthed", the latter starring Tom Savini. Both were really well done, and I'm looking forward to their release.
Also, making personal appearances on stage to announce movies or provide color (or both) were actresses Robyn Griggs (Days Of Our Lives, The Urn), and Krista Grotte (Filthy), aka, "Necro Nancy".
AND THE WINNERS ARE: Saints: "I'll Save You" (Damian Beurer and Christopher Fields). Sinners: "Filthy" (Tinker Wins, aka, Andy Lalino and John Karliss). CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL MONTY ON ALL SAINTS & SINNERS III WINNERS
Mike's Challenge: The Top Ten Cult Movies of All Time!!
PART TWO. Regular readers may recall in Mike's Rant # 165, Mike Smith commented on the "Top 50 Cult Movies of All Time" list as published by Entertainment Weekly magazine. He commented on how different their choices were from the ones we'd likely make.
Naturally, he smelled a new Top Ten Challenge aborning, so asked PCR readers to send in their Top 10 Cult Movies of All Time. Note: As usual, your "favorite" may not match what you think of as "best", so when conflicted, err on the side of "favorite"! PART ONE debuted in last week's issue, we now return with the next chapter...
| THE TOP TEN CULT MOVIES OF ALL TIME Matt Drinnenberg |
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Another top ten challenge. Cool!! In keeping with the alignment of the planets, I've ensured my offering is among the last. Why break with tradition, right?! Anyways....this is a fun one. Unlike Mike, my list will be my personal favorite cult films irregardless of previous mention in other forums, because, hey...they are my personal favorites. Of course, I really need a top 20 to fullfill righteousness in cult, but Mike said 10, so without further ado, in no particular order........
1. Rocky Horror Picture Show: Oh yeah...the big daddy. I can't say for sure how many times I've seen this movie. What I can say, is that the only movie I've seen more than this one is JAWS. The crowd participation is just a blast to be a part of, and of course, there's always the "Blade" reference when we use to open for Rocky Horror.."I'm pickin' up my baby tonight, gonna see a movie that starts at midnight...." Oh yeah!
2. Evil Dead: Not trilogy, but the first Evil Dead. Surely this made my all time horror lists. If not, i was experiencing cranial meltdown. I was hanging with Nolan at the booknook and he clued me in to this film as he had read about it. I believe, when it was over, our response was something like "THAT WAS FREAKING AWSOME!!". Still is today.
3. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid: Probubly alot of you havent seen this insanely funny, and brilliantly ingenious film about a detective, Steve Martin, who is hired by Rachael Ward to find out about her murdered father. Done taking clips from classic detective movies of the 30's and 40's, injecting Bogart, Cagney, Vincent Price and others into the story line in a seemless fashion. From bullet sucking to breast adjusting, the only thing you need is to use your neighbors' daughter's underwear to make soup.
4. Kentucky Fried Movie: Insanity at it's finest, with some of the most hilarious gags ever put on film. A film that, when watching, you will have its gratitude. Oh yeah...eat lead sucker!
5. Dawn of the Dead: How did this not make any lists? Man am I confused. Never had an idea movies like this existed until Mike clued me in. I asked him what it was about. He laughed and said "It's a love story..huh, huh,huh" Was it ever. I've been in love with it ever since, although I cringe whenever I pass a blood pressure machine.
6. Billy Jack: One of the first, if not the first, movies where a loner takes on a towns curruption and kicks all their asses. Tom Laughlin plays Billy, who is part while man, part indian, who watches over a school of runaways, protecting them from the previously mentioned scum. This movie, even today 30 years later, still kicks ass.
7. John Carpenter's The Thing: For all you morons out there who don't think John Carpenter ever came out with anything worthy, I submit this film. Kurt Russell shed his Disney image in one fell swoop, as a member of an ice station who unwittingly save The Thing for it's frozen demise. Some of the most impressive and inspiration special effects in the history of film......and the big plus is that none of it..NONE OF IT..was that crappy CGI.
8. Phantom of the Paradise: This movie just gets no respect. Some of the best music ever put on paper is in this film, which is an obvious spoof of Phantom of the Opera, where the hero get's hosed and comes back for revenge. Excellent Cinematography, too. Just a great movie.
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail: LOL. These guys are just way too insane. Truly, I never really cared about them until I saw this with Mike, then I discovered my brother Mark had a couple of their albums, one of which has SPAM on it. From being held captive in a tower of lust filled virgins wanting a man, to farting in someones general direction this movie rocks. Just be sure you watch out for the little bunny rabbits.
10. Poseidon Adventure: You know the story. It was Titanic before Titanic. It is also a much better movie. When I was a kid, I just couldnt get enough of this. I bugged my dad to take me to Twin Bays all the time. He'd ask "What are you going to see?" I'd say "Posiedon Adventure". He'd say "Again????". I'd say, "Yeah, and pick me up in about 6 hours so I can watch it a couple times". The only other movie's that received such devotion were Planet of the Apes, and, of course, JAWS.
10a. Planet of the Apes: No, not Burton's remake, the original that started my love for the movies. I can never get enough of this. As I just mentioned, this is one of my all time favorite films in any capacity, and i would be disloyal to my personal history if it wasnt included. Now, take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!!
There are a ton of films not listed that could easily make this list. American Werewolf in London, Airplane, Ladies and Gentelmen the Rolling Stones...I could go on for a while. Naturally, JAWS would be on this list if I considered it a cult film, but it's really more legendary then cult, so it sits on a plateu above all others. And again...10 just isn't enough to do justice to some of these lists, in essence, we need a bigger boat.
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| THE TOP TEN CULT MOVIES OF ALL TIME William Moriaty |
1. "Carnival of Souls": Possibly the most evocative and visually stunning
movie of its type ever produced. Check out some of the incredible shots in
the DVD version that never made the final cut.
2. "Rocky Horror Picture Show": Possibly the most emulated and interactive
cult movie ever.
3. "This Is Spinal Tap!" Rob Reiner's pseudo-documentary hilariously
spoofing the rise, fall and rise of the bogus British band Spinal Tap,
captures the essence of the entire 60's to 80's rock scene seamlessly.
4. Any Coen Brothers movies, my favorites in order being "Blood Simple",
"Brother Where Art Thou?", "Raising Arizona" and "The Great Lobowski".
5. Any Zucker Brothers movies, my favorites including the "Airplane", "Top
Secret", "Hot Shots" and "Naked Gun" series. Wonderful satire and parody.
6. "Streets of Fire": This 1984 movie fascinated me with its '50s classic
cars, neon and dreamlike quality, most of the movie being filmed at night.
Just where on earth is this supposed to take place (or does it even take
place on earth?)?
7. "Fantastic Planet": Made in the early 1970's in one of the Soviet bloc
nations, this is one of the most strange and moody animated movies ever
made. The soundtrack is at times haunting.
8. "Liquid Sky": Produced by a Soviet, this utterly bizarre movie is set in
New Wave New York City, circa 1984. The premise of the movie is that a
small alien craft somehow empowers a woman to make her lovers literally
disappear at sexual climax.
9. "Buckaroo Bonzai": 1984 was a bumper crop year for cult movies. This
Peter Weller flick about a part time brain surgeon part time dimension
traveller is absolutely entertaining.
10. Urban cult movies such as "Beat Street", "Disorderly Orderlies" and
others.
Honorable Mention: "Can't Stop The Music" featuring the Village People.
It's an absolute riot - - you gotta see it!
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| THE TOP TEN CULT MOVIES OF ALL TIME Terence Nuzum |
OK, here it goes. Here are my cult films. I'm basing "cult" on whether the movie has a reputation to it and how fanatic a following it may have. Of course, a following that is small and obessesive. For instance, "Titanic" can't be a cult film. Obviously. Sorry guys, but "A Clockwork Orange" isn't quite cult enough and putting [John Carpenter's] "The Thing" is almost ridiculous, but c'mon, Lalino, "Star Wars" is no where near a cult film. And calling the great Fulci masterpeice L'aldilà "Seven Doors of Death" is sacrilege. Ahh, Vinnie, you one-upped me on my Kubrick fantacism! I was going to dress as a droog for Halloween once but I didn't want to shave my facial hair, so I copped out. I can't win them all. But on to my list. Here they are in order from least to greatest.
10. Street Of Crocodiles: -- 1986. The Brothers Quay short film that inspired a thousand heavy metal music vidoes. The Quays use of stop-motion animation via broken doll heads and creepy knick knacks is unequaled and has never been surpassed.
9. Videodrome: -- 1983. Cronenberg's video nasties shocker is full of gory special effects and creepy anatomical distortions. The plot about a political group trying to wipe out "perverts" from society by using snuff films that transmit a signal which ultimatly kills them is genuis. Cronenbergs finest hour. He never topped this.
8. Zardoz: -- 1974. Boorman's sci-fi satire about man and the nature of violence is riveting, funny, and highly disturbing. A movie like this would never get made today. In the great words of Arthur Frayn (Zardoz) "Is God in show business too?"
7. Carnival Of Souls: -- 1962. The only film that director Herk Harvey ever gave us is perhaps the scariest horror film ever. Basically a failure in its day due to poor marketing it got its recognition years later and became a classic. Harvey's direction is in my opinion still stands up to the surreal greats like Fellini and Lynch.
6. El Topo: -- 1969. Alejandro Jodorowsky's classic tale of surrealism, gunfighters, messiahs, and violence. This is to the 60's what A Clockwork Orange was to the 70's. Jodorwosky made a few more films before retiring to work on comics in Metal Hurlant and won fame with his strip The Incal which was drawn by Moebius.
5. The Wickerman: -- 1973. Like all good cult fims, The Wickerman became popular overtime, was considered lost (at least the full print), and of course doesn't live up to its unfair hype. Don't get me wrong it is a masterpeice but nothing can live up to years of praise upon praise.
4. Straw Dogs: -- 1971. Sam Peckinpah's little-seen masterpeice of the violence inherent in man is hands down the most harrowing experience ive sat threw. The violence, the psychological tramua, and the tension is unique in cinema. In other words, it's rough watching this. Watch it alone at night and you will be forever changed. And no watch closely Hoffman is not a hero figure.
3. Freaks: -- 1932. Another cult film that is full of hype. This one, though, delivers. Todd Browning's tale of deceit and murder in the carnival freak community is shocking for its time and will probably be the only movie ever to have a cast of complete real life freaks.
2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: -- 1974. Tobe Hooper's slasher classic is the epitome of cult. It is usually blasted for being awful and violent. Well let's put it this way for violence it should be PG but for psychological tramua it should be X. I've said it once and I'll say it again it's pure insanity caught on film. It also owns the ultimate title for a cult film.
1. Eraserhead: -- 1977. It doesn't get any more cult than this. Lynch's terrifying descent into one man's twisted dilemma has everything that a cult film needs. When people give you that terrified look and say "you haven't seen that?" it's like it was made for this film. The best cult film and possibly my favorite movie of all time. In heaven, everything is fine.
Honorable mentions:
The Clown Murders (1975): The little seen horror film with John Candy in a dramatic role (yes, he even cries). If you are freaked out by clowns this will traumatize you forever.
Maniac (1934): Dwain Esper's exploitation classic from the '30s in which a real cat's eyeball is popped out of its socket and swallowed.
IF (1968): Malcolm MacDowell's pre-Clockwork Orange role as a rebellious student that, in the end, blows away the whole school. Ahead of its time, to say the least.
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| THE TOP TEN CULT MOVIES OF ALL TIME Stephen Beasley |
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Hi PCR Fans: This is my list in no particular order. These cult films were
had the most impact on me in one way or another.
1. Billy Jack - I saw Billy Jack at the Fun-Lan Drive-In Theater in, and
I’m guessing.....1970-71. It had a most profound effect on how I thought an
adult male was supposed to behave. Billy Jack may just have been the “John
Wayne” figure for Baby Boomers. He dressed cool, he fought like a tiger and
was (with Bruce Lee) possibly the first onscreen hero that I remember using
martial arts, rather than the old western “slug-fest” method of fighting.
Prior to this, onscreen heroes generally fought 1-on-1.
Billy Jack fought 4, 5, 6 and more at once, and totally kicked ass. I will
always remember the scene where he shot the main biker dude right between
the eyes....splitting his sunglasses into two pieces.
2. Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS - I don’t recall the leading actress's name but
I thought a hot blonde chick in all that black leather does a number on a
teen-aged pcyche. I’m remain sexually depraved 3 decades later.
3. Monty Python's Holy Grail - (“Merely a flesh wound”)
What can I add that the rest of you didn’t. Great movie by the Monty Python
Comedy Troupe.
4. The Song Remains the Same - This movie, although not particularly
well-made, was one that I anxiously awaited its release. I have always
considered Led Zeppelin to be one of the greatest rock acts EVER. They had
“the cool car”, even before ZZ Topp.
5. Freaks - This ancient (about 1932) film starred actual freaks of
nature. If you haven’t seen it.....I heartily recommend it. Includes the
usual “forbidden love” and “murder for love” scenes. And to witness the
actor with neither arms or legs light a cigarette is something entirely
freakish.
6. Groove Tube - I saw this at Twin Bays 4 Theater, as I carried my usual
student ID card and got in for $1.00, if memory serves. Great movie and my
sense of humor is still as wacky and misunderstood as that movie was to most
critics at the time. The Chevy Chase scene (“I’m looking over a four-leafed
clover“) haunts me to this day.
7. The Rocky Horror Picture Show featuring “Blade 'Live' Edition“ (I was
there...recording) - This wasn’t my first viewing of The Rocky Horror
Picture Show, but is was the most memorable.....I was seated in the audience
recording it (Nolan’s theme song) for PCR Editor-in-Chief Nolan B Canova.
If only “Blade” clould have toured the world with The Rocky Horror Picture
Show.
8. Any Russ Meyers' Film. I saw all the Russ Meyers flicks to hit Twin
Bays Theater. I felt compelled to see them. Although the stories were 2
bit, the ladies were all “10s’......Super Vixens, Up and Mondo Topless were
faves. I’m afraid this reveals way too much about me.
9. Dazed and Confused - Although the movie is set in 1976 and I graduated
in 1975......it’s identical so well to what high school life was like for me
that I enjoyed it immensely. In high school, I gravitated slightly more to
the hippie culture than the jocks, although I had friends in both camps.
Excellent Baby Boomer flick.
10. Story of “O” - This movie was probably the first porn I had ever
seen.....and I saw it about 5 times. I can still see the beautiful “O”
fresh in my mind. I was a most impressionable lad. A great way to keep the
missus in line, eh? ;o)
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This week's issue
Hollywood by Ashley Lauren
ON HIATUS
Uncle Nolan,
Greetings from Spain!!! I am here in Barcelona right now and just found a cyber cafe where I could send an e-mail. Pretty cool. I will be home late on the 10th and I may try to do an article that night about my trip. We´ll see. Anyways, I just wanted to say hi from this beautiful country. See ya soon!
Love,
Ashley
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This week's issue
WHERE DID ALL THE HORROR COMICS GO? An enlightening history of comics censorship from the '50s through the present. Also: The Slush Pile, One Shots, movie news, and media commentary....
....................................Click here for more
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This week's issue
The Digital Divide by Terence Nuzum
Blur: Think Tank
Whirlwind Heat: Do rabbits wonder?
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