HOWARD THE WHAT?!?

HOWARD THE DUCK

Directed by: Willard Huyck

Written by: Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz

Staring: Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins, Terry Jones, Chip Zien

1986

Before Iron Man changed comic book movies, before Marvel Studios existed, and before the synergistic acquisition of Marvel by Disney, there was a comic-to-film adaptation that changed the world. It defied the odds, logic, and was fostered into existence by George “Star Wars” Lucas himself.

Yes. I’m talking about Howard the Duck. A motion picture that would forever change how we perceive the world. Rosebud, shmose-bud. Howard had arrived to quack-fu kick us into the next millennium of filmmaking.

Okay, so maybe I went a little overboard with the hyperbole on that one. How else can I sell this spectacle past the title, though? Let’s start with a little bit of history.

Howard the Duck is a Marvel Comics character, created in 1973 by Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. He is large anthropomorphic duck prone to cigars, tiny fedoras, and fits of rage (what’s the deal with duck characters having anger management issues). He’s trapped on our world doing nothing extraordinary other than living and surviving. In the early days, Howard’s adventures tended to fall into the vein of horror parodies (which is a concept that informed the subsequent, hardly family-friendly, movie). Later, Gerber brought forward the tone of Howard the Duck being a more existential book, noting wonderfully that, “life's most serious moments and most incredibly dumb moments are often distinguishable only by a momentary point of view.” Gerber brought a meta-textual and inquisitive nature to the book. This tone, however, was violently dismissed from the movie adaptation.

So, here you have an antihero who fights monsters and lines at the DMV with equal vigor and indignation. How do you inform that into a single movie narrative? Well, it’s arguable if writers Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz did with any kind of success. However, what transpired is a hidden gem of Hollywood cheesiness.

The movie was a favorite in my childhood and has maintained said status in adulthood, but for different reasons. When I was a five-year-old sitting in the cinema on opening weekend, I was just enamored with the high level plot. It’s a duck-man who fights giant monsters and plays the guitar. As I got older, the utter perverse nature of much of the plot was almost a revelation. This movie is not for kids featuring heavy innuendos, duck boobies, proportional condoms, and the implication of anthropomorphic bestiality (wait, is it bestiality if the animal-party can consent… anyway). Let’s dive in.

Howard is plucked from his living room, through the cosmos, and into our world due to the meddling of pesky scientists on earth. He’s dropped in the middle of Whatever-city America where he quickly befriends a down on her luck musician by the name of Beverly (Lea Thompson). Beverly is pretty open to Howard being an alien and is immediately flirtatious. Different strokes, right? She brings Howard to Phil (Academy Award winner, Tim Robbins in a tour de force performance) who is a junior scientist working at the local museum. He is the only person Bev can think to take Howard for answers. Hilarity, hijinks, and human-duck relations ensue until the plot kicks into high gear in act two.

You see, those pesky scientists from before think they might have opened a portal for other, much more threatening, beings from other dimensions to break through to our world. With Howard’s help (I’m not sure how), they can hopefully close this gap and send him back to his home. Things don’t go swimmingly and before we know it, Howard and the gang are forced to battle the Dark Overlord of Planet X (no shit).

Originally conceived as an animated movie, Lucas’ involvement precipitated the use of Industrial Light and Magic’s skills to create a live-action Howard. Like the Godzilla days of old, Howard is a man in a suit with an animatronic mouth, eyes and, expressions. Sometimes it’s a wonderful effect and sometimes it’s just not. Howard’s proportions often fluctuate. Depending on the suit’s limitations per scene, it can take you out of the film at times. But where ILM had inconsistent success with Howard, they delivered tenfold with the reveal of the movie’s big bad at the end. To this day, this is some of the most fluid and immersive stop-motion animation in a live-action film I have ever seen. The articulation is nearly flawless and genuinely frightening.

Tonally, Howard the Duck is all over the map, which almost strengthens the overall experience. Both broad and very specific, sometimes in the same scene, it can be difficult to follow. I’m not entirely sure who the intended audience for this movie was because they commit to neither fully. However, having seen the movie at two different times in my life, I’m of two minds about it. There were many things that flew over my head when I was younger. There are also cringe worthy moments that used to illicit cheering. Make of it what you will, but Howard the Duck’s greatest weakness may in fact be its saving grace.

A few years ago, Lucasfilm and Universal finally released Howard the Duck on DVD with a new transfer, documentaries, and interviews (which are sadly without Tim Robbins involvement). Of course, the creative blame marketing and studio confusion on the film’s eventual financial failure. Is it me, or has this been the go to complaint of cult films’ success (or lack their of)? “The studio just didn’t know what to do with us.” I’m sure it’s true in some instances, but not every time. Sometimes a movie just doesn’t hit the mark. Own it, man.

It’s not currently on Netflix streaming, but it’s not hard to find. I highly recommend checking this cheesy gem out. This movie really is something special. It’s a grand critical and financial failure as well as a stunning achievement in tone and special effects. Love it or hate it, you have to try it to find out.

If it were a safe bet, these types of pleasures wouldn’t make you feel very guilty. Where’s the fun in that? 

The Trailer Dump, Issue No. 15

Greetings and salutations dear readers. Like Iron Man's armor, the Trailer Dump has leveled up and taken a massive leap forward. It's now a self contained entity, encapsulating all the good that you've come to expect, including cheesy trailers, intermission bumpers and solicitations to visit the, sometimes frightening, concessions stand. I've assembled all this on one platform: my iPhone (damn I love technology). Still a work in progress, I'd appreciate feedback.

 

I'm also writing a new weekly series for Mania entitled Saturday Shock-O-Rama. You can find my first go around right here: Count Yorga, Vampire

See you on the flip side.

 

What is the 'Cheese? How do you define the 'Cheese?

What the heck is the Midnight Cheese all about? It's a poignant question for anyone to bring up and it might surprise you to learn that even I am sometimes at a loss to provide a satisfying answer. Simple in scope, the Midnight Cheese is my attempt to spotlight the kinds of films many people haven't heard of or perhaps haven't paid attention to. More than that it's a prismatic sphere, taking into itself all of the different media I've digested over the years (including the manner of ingestion) and projects out a rudimentary recalling of the experience. The point, dear reader, is a catfish hiding in muddy waters. With the 'Cheese's recent reanimation, I thought it might be interesting to brainstorm out exactly what the Midnight Cheese is supposed to be. Ride shotgun with me and let's see where this leads.

The Midnight Cheese is USA Up All Night; Gilbert Gottfried and a bowl of popcorn. The lights are out and I'm half hidden under a blanket. Anyone who could run to my aid in the case that the budget horrors depicted on the small screen came alive was fast asleep. I could never quite stay up all night, fading to slumber somewhere along the seven hours which this programming would keep night owls close company. My viewership began before I could even comprehend their edited safe for TV sexploitation films and ran well into my high school years. The films didn't matter. In point of fact this is likely the largest contributing factor to my future love affair with what norms consider "bad movies". I owe USA Up All Night more than one hug could ever convey to an unsuspecting Gilbert Gottfried.

The Midnight Cheese is seeing a 35mm film among a crowd. It's the imperfections inherent in watching a 35 year old 35mm print; The snaps; the crackles; the pops. Knowing that as I behold light blasted across celluloid at 24 frames per second that it's source is forever changed, however minusculely. There's an exchange taking places as it looses some of it's once illustrious luster to effect me and as part of our viewing leaves it's mark in return on the reel. To be shipped across country with nefarious plans it will impact even more malleable minds during it's lifespan. The communal laughter. The quiet agreement during the most terrible moments, that we've all steeled ourselves against, but are still secretly horrified of is all part of the enjoy and the spectacle.

The Midnight Cheese is The Sunday mornings with only the post cartoon-block shenanigans of The Three Stooges to usher us into an afternoon of Godzilla and Rodan. These two and more were our first cultural ambassadors, fascinating us with our own shame reflected back in movie form and enjoyed by those far too young to realize such a thing was amiss. Later, pulp of the silver screen would manifest itself in new clothing as Hercules the Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess and The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. The campy and corny and exactly what I'd expect out of a rainy Sunday morning.

The Midnight Cheese is staying up well past bed time. In youth it was to catch a glimpse of that which was forbidden. At present it's to put off the responsibilities of adultdom just another hour- to take in one more movie. It's seeing the latest horror release at midnight on a Thursday, with work to contend with at the crack of dawn.

The Midnight Cheese is Exhumed Films' Horrorthon, willing the mind to stay awake, refusing to submit to the slowness of 4:30am. It's the communal joy of First Friday Fright Nights at the Colonial theatre, resplendent in it's 108 year old dressings. It's the ridiculousness of tiger man. It's the fun of Cult Cinema shows. It's laughing at The rediculousness of Black Angles, it's groaning in horror at Teenage Mother.

It's enjoyment of the simple. It's giving a pass to the flaws. It's laughter with friends.

It's corny and it's cheesy and it's me laid bare. Certainly, we've got something in common.

Welcome to midnight.

 

eX-Fest II: Chatting with Jesse Nelson

There's an incompletion located somewhere within you. A sacrosanct sector which hasn't gotten sufficient nutritional intake. It's not your fault that the past decades haven't been kind to your ability to take in exploitation cinema with a raucous audience full of the deviant that you hide inside. Exhumed Films has your ticket though, hosting an annual exploitation marathon dubbed eX-Fest, which boasts a smorgasbord of flavors. With eX-Fest II just six days away, I asked Jesse Nelson (member of Exhumed Films and co-proprietor of Diabolik DVD) a bunch of questions which I've wanted to know the answers to.

Q: How did you get involved with Exhumed Films in the first place?

We met the guys that run GRINDHOUSE RELEASING while at Fantasia in
Montreal and decided that it would be fun to rent a few movies from
them, find a local theatre and have a halloween double feature. We
all threw in some money and resigned ourselves to the fact we might
lose it, but at least we would have a good time watching the movies.
To our surprise, people showed up and we decided to put the profits
back into a collective pool and start planning more shows. Back then
it was mostly word of mouth and handing out flyers - the internet was
a very small portion of what it is now.

Q: Since you guys primarily run horror, where did eX-Fest come from?

After the success of the 24hr fest, we decided we needed another big
show midway between the horror-thons, so we came up with a theme of 12
hours and movies we normally wouldn't show at the 24hr fest. Mainly
we wanted to watch a bunch of sleazy, non-horror movies with an
audience and we figured an "event" would bring people in and luckily
it did.

Q: What's been you absolute favorite show that Exhumed has run?

Easily Bruce Campbell at the Harwan. He was in town for a
Hercules/Xena convention and we managed to get ahold of him for a
screening of Evil Dead 2 at Midnight. He not only introduced the
movie, but did a Q&A and refused to leave until he signed something
for everyone. I think we managed to wrap it up around 5am. PLUS, he
gave us a low ball figure for the night and refused to take a penny
more. Very classy, funny and all around the most pleasant celebrity
experience despite the late night and that the AC had broken earlier
that day.


Q: How about favorite film? (that Exhumed has screened)

I love so many of the films we show, its hard to pick one out. Its
fun to show oddball things like PIECES and FAREWELL UNCLE TOM with a
crowd, but I think that THE THING is the film that I never tire of
watching with an audience.

Q: What's the film you'd most like to show but can not? (why not?)
Collectively it was DAWN OF THE DEAD, but we finally worked out that
rights issue last year. Aside from that there are some other things
that we have never been able to track down for one reason or another
such as HALLOWEEN 3 for example, but the thing I have wanted to show
from the beginning is Fulci's CONQUEST which doesn't seem to exist on
film any longer in any format.

Q: I've really enjoyed the smaller venue'd, 16mm shows at the Audubon
auction house from this past year. Where did that idea come from? (and
will there be more of them?)

The Auction house has a pretty tight weekend schedule, which is great
for them, but not great for us trying to schedule shows. We will have
more in the coming year for sure though. They actually contacted us
and wanted us to have a pop up theatre in there. They already had the
PA and the screen so all we had to do was provide the films and the
projectors - which is the great thing about 16mm.


Q: Since 1997, you guys have been housed in a number of
venues. Which do you feel was the coolest, which has the best vibe for
exhumed and which do you miss the most?

The Harwan was my favorite... It was a total dump and provided the
best vibe. You could smoke in the upstairs lounge!!! But the Hoyts
in Pennsauken was the best for us business wise. They didn't care
what we did, what we showed and how long we were there. It wasn't the
best vibe, but it had the best projection, sound and those amazing
seats! It would be great to have the 24hr fest there. To this day I
don't think the manager told corporate what he was doing and put that
money in his pocket for the rental - but that was fine by us.


Q: Who decided to end last year's eX-Fest with The Other Cinderella.
(fucking spectacular, btw)

I wanted to end this year's with a full on hardcore movie, but the
other guys were against it and I guess I was to some extent as well,
but damn it would have been fun! Harry is the exploitation guru in
the group and I don't even argue with the films he comes up with. If
he wants to show it, I want to see it!


Q: What's the most rewarding part of Exhumed for you?

Aside from the movies, which do become a bit tedious from time to time
(Evil Dead 2 again???) I really love meeting everyone and chatting
about movies and hearing the responses - which aren't always positive.
I feel like we have created a great horror community with Exhumed and
DiabolikDVD in the Philadelphia area and I love being involved with
that.

I'd like to thank Jesse for taking the time to answer my questions (and for always taking all my dollars at at the Diabolik DVD table each show!).

Check out my recap of last year's eX-Fest and then snag your tickets for this Sunday's event right here (precious few remain as of this writing). Then prepare yourself for twelve hours of mysterious mind blowing fare from all across the exploitation venue. If you waffle now, you'll be cursing yourself while you read my recap of the awesome flicks on display.

 

Mutant Chronicles: Modern B-Movie Archetype?

The world of cinema changed dramatically in the wake of the force of nature known as Roger Corman, that much is certain. He was the snowball which gathered flakes during his downhill charge, destined to smash convention as an unstoppable landslide of change. B-Movies underwent an irrevocable shift once major studios realized that they could couple the simple, campy plots from small budget pictures with gaudy, over sized budgets. Bruce Campbell argues in his first book, If Chins Could Kill (which you really should read!), that most of the major blockbusters of today are just gussied up B-Movies with money behind them. Independence Day. Transformers. The Happening. Give it a ponder.

This still contains more happenings than The Happening

Meanwhile back on Earth (more specifically on the Ikea couch in my basement, huddled under a handful of blankets with a cat keeping me company) I was winding down the last of my holiday vacation with gray matter relaxing Sunday morning fare on the Polish Syphilis SyFy SciFi channel. When what to my wandering eyes should appear, but something called Mutant Chronicles staring some guys named Thomas Jane and Ron Pearlman. I'll admit that I'm an enormous sucker for celluloid adventures which featuring Mr. Pearlman and Thomas Jane knocked it out of the park in the under appreciated 2004 Punisher adaption.

Mutant Chronicles is a fascinating venture in the digital filming style made famous by Robert Rodriguez with his adaption of Frank Miller's Sin City. Despite a smaller budget overall budget, the effects are exceptionally realized here, screaming that there was vision and style to spare. While the characters are somewhat flat, they manage to fill all of the standard tropes of a group of mercenaries while at the same time injecting just enough personality for there to be clashes within the group. Witty banter aplenty.

If you're unfamiliar with the pen and paper game on which the movie's based, don't worry! Any casual Internet search on the matter will punish you with the sweat and bile of self loathing Internet nerds, sperging over their keyboard the collected sum of all their disappointment that this film takes liberties with the cherished source material in the name of making an entertain romp. I suggest you treat them like all the women in their lives do: with pity and careful avoidance, one hand on the mace in their purse if proximity is considered 'Danger Close'.

Giant Maglights come as standard equipment in 2707

Mutant Chronicles (the film) paddles the stream of time to the year 2707, on an Earth where nearly all natural resources have been depleted and over which four mega corporations wage perpetual war. It is during one of these battles, which resemble a mix of world war one trench combat with steam powered ships, that a great seal is broken. This ancient symbol confined within it a vast machine, which crashed to Earth during the Ice Age. From the machine spring monstrously mutated men with a massive biological spikes for hands. These they use to maim and kill, then drag their conquests to the core of the machine, which in turn transforms these unlucky meat sacks into more killing engines.

Much as with zombies, each casualty replenishes the enemies ranks. Soon the rich and lucky are chartering every available craft to the safety of Mars, leaving billions to the meat grinder. Enter Brother Samuel (Pearlman), a holy man cut from the cloth of an ancient sect. He protect a books with the secret to stopping the horror threatening to engulf the entire planet. Samuel recruits a varied team of mercenaries to deliver a bomb into the heart of the machine, thus ending the doom-come-apocalypse. The action takes us down into the ancient underground ruins of our current world (upon which the world of 2707 is built), below which the fate of the planet is to be decided.

Mutant Chronicles: Helmet piercingly erect

This isn't an amazing film that will kick your ass six ways from Sunday with it's awesome-osity. When you get down to brass tacks though, it's an entertaining, modern day B movie, delivering up exactly what genre fans should have already come to expect from a monster/zombie-retro/future/steampunk-action/adventure flick. If you can't have fun chilling with this lazy Sunday afternoon affair then it's entirely possible that you take the Internez (and their related serious business) far to seriously. Relax and check out something off the wall. Perhaps Mutant Chronicles?

Top 5 Reasons to Purchase MST3K Volume 22

Oh to be a MSTie!

With the home release fate of our favorite cow-town puppet show in the loving care of Shout! Factory, fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 have been enjoying consistent, rapid fire releases loaded with excellent and interesting special features. This year alone, we've had four major releases: three box sets and a special two disc edition of the Manos: The Hands of Fate. Shout! has also been awesome enough to produce eight reprints of episodes released in previous box sets by Rhino, which are now out of print. Admittedly, these reprints are bare bones in nature, but for those who missed out on the now unavailable box sets for whatever reason, these are a great way to acquire official version of these much loved episodes.

We haven't had it this good since the hay day of Comedy Central, giving us annual Turkey Day marathons. If you're a true MSTie, you won't require any convincing from the likes of me. Instead, please consider this more a list of the best 5 things about this most recent of box sets, tendered reverently from Shout! Factory's hands into your waiting mandibles for consumption.

Quickly, before we jump into your waiting maw of doom, here are the four episodes featured in this set (in case you suck at Amazon.com):

-306: Time of the Apes - A Japanese tv series attempting to cash in on the American Apes mania of the time, truncated into a crummy, nonsensical flick.

-314: Mighty Jack - Mish-mash of episodes five and six of a Japanese tv show set aboard a flying submarine that gently banks from side to side.

-610: The Violent Years - Despite it's violence, this is a truly boring entry in the "teenagers in rebellion sub genre". The overly long preceding short(Young Man's Fancy) is actually more entertaining and better riffed than the main attraction.

-702: The Brute Man - The final performance of Rando Hatton, who's disfigurement lead to him playing the rough thug in many films. Here he's "The Creeper", a shadowed monster who steals in order to fund the surgery of a blind woman he loves.

If you're looking for five hundred words each on episodes you've probably seen a dozen times, I'm certain any number of other reviewers of this set can hook you up. Now let's get to the good stuff.

1. More Sandy Frank episodes!
Sandy Frank is best known for importing (and hilariously poorly dubbing) the Gamera films and several Japanese TV shows and films to the American market. No less than eleven of these Sandy Frank imports were riffed as episodes for MST3K and on many occasions the mockery extended beyond the meterial to teasing the film distributor himself. This perceived animosity had led to the belief that all 11 Sandy Frank episodes would never see home release. A myth dispelled like so much Gamera flatulence with Shout! Factory's special five disc set revolving around the giant friend of children turtle monster in July. MST3K Box Set 22 contains two Sandy Frank episodes: Mighty Jack and Time of the Apes. Keep your fingers crossed that the two Fugitive Alien episodes are forth coming as they're excellent.

2. The Making of MST3K (1997)
This, the second such special, has an unfair advantage over it's predecessor: It isn't narrated by the hated (by MSTies far and wide) Penn Gillett. Twenty-five minutes in running time, this special was filmed during season 8 and features some awesome insights from the cast and crew (much of which you likely already know from years of scouring the Internet, but still, it's great to get an official release of this). Mike and the bots riff the behind the scenes footage itself, as you'd expect them to, and the history of the show up to that point is illuminated for your personal edification.

3. Four new mini posters from Steve Vance
As with all of the Shout! Factory releases, artist Steve Vance graces us with his interpretation of Servo and Crow taking on the episode in question. While they're also on the individual DVD's display cases, it's always awesome to receive them bundled in as separate posters too. This time around, it really feels like Mr.Vance stepped up his game in an effort to include more details and action in the background. Kudos to him; I love these little posters.

4. The DVD Menus of MST3K
Hopefully you've spied with you little eyes the steady evolution of the DVD menus from static images accompanied by music from the film being riffed? Surely you've noticed that the menus themselves are now entertaining short form comedy in their own right with 3d renderings of Tom, Crow and the SOL? This fascinating extra takes you behind the propulsion pushing it forward. A man - in point of fact - not a fuel source as such. This extra gives a detailed glimpse behind that creative process.

5. Turn Down your Lights were applicable
This prompt would be seen just prior to the theme song for each episode of the show from the first episode of season 2 (201 - Rocketship XM) through the fourth episode of season four (404 - Teenagers from Outer Space) but had been noticeably absent from most of the home video releases (It was included on the previous set as all five Gamera episodes began with it). Shout! Factory has again listened to the MSTie outcry and has included it on both Sandy Frank episodes, allowing these episodes to begin as they're supposed to!

As always, Shout! Factory takes the ball and (insert relevant sports metaphor here- depending on the ball taken). They Rule. There's more special features I didn't mention including: an introduction to The Brute Man by Mary Jo, introductions to Might Jack and Time of the Apes by Japanese cinophile August Ragone, Ed-ucation: Archival Interviews with Delores Fuller and Kathy Wood and the MST Hour Wraps for Time of the Apes.

The only thing missing is an announcement detailing the next set's episodes! God it feels good to be a MSTie.

2011 Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horrorthon

Wow, let me just take a moment here before beginning. It's refreshing to not start an article with the "31 Days of Halloween" preface. You should understand that it isn't that I didn't enjoy writing that series, it's simply that it IS an endurance run. I capped off my month long celebration of all things Halloween by attending the annual Exhumed Films 24 Hour Horrorthon. This is the fifth incarnation of the 'Thon, of which I've attended all but one (I missed the 3rd year, in 2009). As a long time Exhumed Films goer, I look forward to this event all year long. (the first show I attended was the All Night Italian horrorfest at the now defunct Hoyt's on October 20th, 2000)

The truth is that the Exhumed crew always puts on an elaborate production, from the pre-show announcements and prizes, to wallet emptying horror merchandise enticement and general feel of hanging out with friends. It's a marvelous atmosphere to feel included in. I can't make every show, but I try my hardest- even when it might not features films which I necessarily love or am intimately familiar with- because it's not 100% about what you're seeing but also how you're seeing it and whom you're seeing it with.

Before I showcase the shock and awe blasted into my brain from this weekend's Horrorthon (and with which I am still working to congeal into something more linear), I'd like to discuss that last point in a little more detail. Normally, all Horrothon films are kept an absolute secret right up until the moment that they unspool on screen before hungry eyes. This year there was a break from tradition. Exhumed Films announced that the Philadelphia premier of the new, shot in Africa, zombie film The Dead would take place during their largest event of the year. During the preshow announcements, we were informed that the distributor of the film decided not to even strike ANY 35mm prints, deciding instead to go with digital distribution only. Understandably, this was met with some displeasure amongst the crowd, as to this point, Exhumed Films has only showcased film itself.

This bitter pill put some audience members in such a tizzy that fully half the audience opted to take a longer dinner break rather than sully their film print purism with the possible taint of digital projection. Guys, I get it, you disdain digital and are hardcore print-o-files. There wasn't a print-isn't a print-might never actually be a print of The Dead. You missed a really great zombie flick in the vein of early Romero with some great visuals and even better tension. Name the last zombie film with slow walkers that contained effective, slow building scares.

Now that we're through that, if you're still with me and haven't skipped right to the comments section to explain exactly why you thought dinner at Chili's was more important than a new independent zombie film's Philadelphia premier, let's take a look at exactly what we brave few had seared into our souls. It's important to note that this year's line up consisted only of films that Exhumed has never shown before (with one technical exception). This is a monumental achievement as leading up to this, they've showcased somewhere in the neighborhood of 260 films.

And I know young people today are the visual sort, so accompanying my thoughts on each film is the trailer for it. (mostly because I love trailers so much)

1. Psychomania aka The Death Wheelers - 1973
The psychedelic chic of this odd undead tale was a fantastic way to open the horrorthon's proceedings. With a strange and potent mix of biker road film, satanic pacts, zombies who are no worse for the wear and Bond'esk British styling, Psychomania put us into a hypnotic trance- opening our brain pans, offering space to what we were about to receive.

2. Rodan - 1956
Historically the horrorthon has featured a giant monster movie in the second slot. Nearly any film would face the Sisyphean task of rolling a boulder up the hill that is The Mighty Peking Man (showcased to the delight of all at last year's horrorthon). Rodan radiates 50's giant monster gratification thoughout and is replete with excellent miniature effects - the true star of the film. Slavish devotion was poured into these effects, with stand outs including the ground collapse (in the trailer below) sequence and the volcano sequence. This was an instant time portal to the Saturday afternoons of my youth, which is exactly the time which it played.

3. Frightmare aka The Horror Star - 1983
Frightmare takes the tropes of the Hammer horror subgenre and casts a delightful dance of darkness on it's bones. The resulting floor show is a cornucopia of campy entrapment designed to shake us loose from our comfort food of decades past and casts it in a newer menacing light.

4. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - 1986
Armed with plenty more snacks still at your disposal, you're cruising through Horrothon five without a care in the world. You're high on life, for truly the greatness of all creation can be extrapolated through the medium of film and many are unspooling before your very eyes. And then...yes and then a random, senseless act of remorseless violence is cast unflinchingly across the silver screen. It locks your attention and brings you back to full focus, crashing repeatedly into your sensibilities like a sledge hammer. Maybe you chuckle during the home invasion scene, but it's an unconscious defense mechanism rather than amusement. That's Henry. Here's his trailer.

5. The Dead - 2010
As an enormous zombie fan, I've done the genre six ways from Sunday by this point. Still, gems such as this one have the ability to surprise and delight. The amazing visuals of the wilds of African mid day juxtaposed with ever present encroaching zombie horde creates a deadly beauty. The gun kills can only be described as kinetic in nature, likely a way to cope with budgetary constraints but perhaps a design choice. The Dead is smartly written enough not to have to rely on characters making stupid mistakes to be over come, which is an amazing consideration given the field of zombie material out there. This independent film is rough around the edges but there is so much to like in the bubbling cauldron that even those with a limited interest in the rotting reanimated subgenre book a vacation to Africa.

6. Trick or Treat - 1986
How does one conceptualize this film, when it contains neither tricking nor treating? It's soul has no real basis in Samahin. Instead this is rock metal voyage helmed by copious amounts of denim and Aqua Net, dragging behind its chains and wielding it's devil horns as a warning to all at map's edge: there be entertainment here. Skewing anti-metal culture and metal culture simultaneously, Trick or Treat spins the plates effortlessly and was perfectly placed to kick the tempo back up after the viciousness of Henry and the stark hopelessness of The Dead.

7. Night Warning aka Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker - 1983
I'm just going to refer to this as Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker since that is by far the superior title. What could you want in a film that this does not have? Crazy lumber beheading car crash? Check. Insane incestuous aunt face licking action? Check. Homophobic cop who invents fictitious gay love triangles on to which he can vent his hatred? Check. Pickled head in a jar? Check. My interest piqued? Check.

8. Frankenhooker - 1990
What would be your course of action if an invention of yours (radio controlled lawn mower) mulched your chubby, pretzel hungry finance into a pile of chipped beef and a head? If the film in which you star is titled Frankenhooker the obvious progression is to feed New York hookers super crack causing them to explode into a rain of diseased limbs from which you constitute a new body for your beloved. Clearly. This fantastic freakshow shares it's sense of humor with the revered Dead Alive and has more tits than you can shake your prick at.

9. Dr.Black and Mr.Hyde aka Decision for Doom - 1976
Stan Winston's transformation effects for the yin-yang flip-flop from black doctor to white murderer are nothing short of astounding. It's astounding that they honestly thought that heavily coating a black man in talcum powder and inserting contacts in his eyes would magically make him appear Caucasian. This trip through blaxploitation land is about par for the course and a welcome part of the horrorthon.

10. Legend of the Wolf Woman aka Naked Werewolf Woman - 1976
Can several erotic flashback sequences bulging with buxom nudity carry a film? They can if the film you're thinking of is Legend of the Wolf Woman, whose lead actress is compelling to look at, which is paramount, since she'll do just about anything to strip down and take fun sized bites out of dudes, almost at random. It's a confusing ride, which never delivers with an actual werewolf, except in the past- where she comes equipped with hairy big toe sized nipples. At this stage in the game, anything to get the blood flowing again is welcome, even if it's bundled with the strings of chest hair attached.

11. Blood Diner - 1987 (released 1990)
This mad cap, silly story of two brothers dedicated to reincarnating the heinous goddess Sheetar with the guidance of their disembodied uncle, who's just a brain and eyes in viscous goop yet retains the power of speech, is oft overlooked for it's silly nature. Truly you would be wasting you time trying to rationalize the finer points of Blood Diner, just trap in and enjoy the blood feast.

12. The Burning - 1981
Did you know Jason Alexander once had a full head of luscious hair? It's true; he wasn't born bald and he played the cool guy. There's lots to love in this fantastic slasher and it was excellently placed to bring back the focus of those attendees who'd gone all sleepy eyed and weak necked. This is arguably Tom Savini's best work and Cropsey is still believably hideous to look upon. I always loved the twist on the well established "last girl" trope becoming "last boy".

13. Maximum Overdrive - 1986
Trust me when I tell you: Once you've been awake for 30 plus hours, you start to see things at the edge of your vision. Things which aren't quite there and on which you can't quite focus. Dodging and leaping from sight the instant you glance at them, you know they're there. Those bastards. If you didn't doze, you're reaching a critical point and pretty much no act of god is going to help you in your quest to remain in the land of the conscious. Nothing that is, but a heaping dose of Emilio Estevez. He's like entertainment crack for your sleep deprived brainstem. Sprinkle him on your spleen. Is Maximum Overdrive a good film? Who cares? It's a shit load of fun.



14. Meet the Feebles - 1989
Power to stay awake fading...Braindrive overload...[Rebooting]...defrag complete. Loading [film recognition software]...reading input "Wingnut films"...processing...
Wait, Wingnut. Isn't that Peter Jackson? Yeah it is. Is this Bad Taste? No, they showed that already. What about Dead/Alive? No, was shown as part of a double feature with Bad Taste. So what could thi...OH MY GOD IT'S MEET THE FEEBLES!

My apologies. I couldn't help but relay exactly what went through my head at roughly 10:30am as the last film of the marathon began to hit my retinas. The way my brain went about working with low cognitive power is a recollection I won't soon forget. What a great, upbeat way to conclude the festivities. If you call muppets on drugs, fucking like bunnies (and in some cases actually fucking bunnies), singing about sodomy and killing each other upbeat. This is a film I never believed I'd see on film. Thank you Exhumed Films.



A few observances:
-This seemed to be the most consistent line up of any Horrorthon- there were no super highs but conversely there were no staggering lows in the film selection either, rather they were all good/great throughout.

-The Cafe in the lobby of the IHouse continues to rule. Biz makes sandwiches that must be some modern day, watered down form of elvish magic, but with meat in them.

-Some of you seriously aren't taking your hygiene concerns seriously. I shouldn't catch a wiff of you strong enough to nearly take me from my feet just from walking by on a trip to the bathroom. Perhaps you're adjusted to the odoriferousness. We aren't, be kind to our noses.

-I'd love to see 7 Exhumed Films 'Greatest hits' and 7 films which have never been shown before. Though I shouldn't say anything since I've loved every line up so far. So I'll just say this: Give me more of whatever you want, EF. You haven't steered me wrong yet.

Manos: The Special Edition of Fate!

The best kind of DVD delivery is the one you completely forgot you ordered (and paid for). It's a scientific law- Uma Thurman’s dynamics of consumerism. So when I came home two nights past to find the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos the Hands of Fate two disc special edition in my mailbox, well I thought little Samhain (of Trick 'r' Treat fame) was dropping off my Halloween gift, early.


If you're unfamiliar with MST3K or it's treatment of the cheapie film Manos: The Hands of Fate shame on you let me illuminate you. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the award winning TV show concerning the adventures of Joel, a man trapped in space by the (marginally) evil Dr. Forrester, and forced to watch the worst films imaginable, all in an effort to see what it will take to drive a man mad. Joel constructs two robot companions(Tom Servo and Crow) and, to keep himself sane, the trio mercilessly riff their way through the dregs of celluloid. Manos is considered by many fans to be one of, if not the very best episode of the entire ten season series.

Is it any wonder then that this popular episode has gotten the home video release treatment three times before (twice on DVD and once on VHS from Rhino)? What would motivate MSTies (MST3K fans) to purchase it yet again? For starters this two disk set is loaded with enough extras to bust Big McLargeHuge's pants at the seams. Most of them are excellent.

There’s a lot to love here, as far as features that would mutate this into a full fledged “special edition”. Most enamoring for me is the Group Therapy featurette, giving us more of the people we adore discussing the love and tender kindness they hold for Manos. Mary Jo, Trace, Frank and Joel spend about twenty minutes discussing all of the elements which came together forming the MSTie perfect storm. There’s certainly some retreaded information here for longtime fans but it’s mixed well with new insights while still being highly entertaining. The Mystery Science Theater Hour wraps, giving the stage to Mike Nelson in his Jack Perkins persona, are also included to sate the lust of the fans who so desire them. They’re charming and I always love the absurdly gleeful way Mike as Perkins delights on the oddest parts of the film being riffed.


There are two, count them (I know you won’t), two segments on Henry Jamison “Jam” Handy to behold. Jam Handy was, among other things, a prolific producer of educational film reels, mostly for the U.S. armed services and Chevrolet Motor Company. Many or all of these shorts are in the public domain and that’s how they ended up on MST3K. The shorts “Hired!” parts 1&2 feature famously on the episodes Bride of the Monster and Manos: The Hands of Fate. (Coincidentally, both are collected and shown together in this special edition release. “Just because we can” is the note from Shout! Factory. Marvellous)

The first segment, titled Jam handy to the Rescue! is a documentary that combines footage from an actual interview with Jam from 1966 with newly produced footage that serves as the framing story; it’s the “why” we would be watching this footage. This is fairly funny, though it misses on a few notes where the modern day interviewer (dressed, and with footage distressed ,to appear vintage) hams it up and plays on the cultural difference of 50 years ago.

The second segment on the subject of short educational films (and Jam Handy), titled My (Educational) Short Life, is an excellent interview with Joel Hodgson, creator of MST3K. The content of the interview is excellent, with some even more cool insights to genesisal evolutionary points of my favorite cow town puppet show. However, at least with my disc, the audio for this part was horribly distorted, as though Joel was speaking through a phone when it was clear this wasn’t the case.

There’s also another feature, this one on the film being riffed itself. Hotel Torgo is probably the weakest feature in this special edition, a fragility I’m willing to accept, given the meaty bulk already packed into this set. With walk-throughs of original filming locations it’s a retrospective worth watching, at least once.

If all of this isn't enough to whet your whistle (and you are an enormous glutton for punishment) the second disc also contains the entire original, unriffed version of Manos. Honestly? I'm betting you don't have the stones to watch this beast unriffed*.

*The Midnight Cheese takes no responsibility for your fragile, broken mind; the likeliest result if you attempt to watch Manos: The Hands of Fate, without the sanity preserving armor of MST3K.


Shout! Factory really knows what the MSTie crowd wants and is doing everything they can to placate us. The large release box sets continue to come fast and furious, including episodes never thought to be possible due to rights issues, and they're supplemented with barebones rerelease of popular out of print Rhino releases, of which there are certainly many. I can comfortably say that there hasn't been a better time to be a MSTie in the home video release market. I can only hope some other out of print, well beloved episodes get this level of treatment. cough Mitchell cough

If you’re in the Philadelphia area and can’t get enough of MST3K’s treatment of Manos: The Hands of Fate, you’re in luck! The Colonial Theatre, world famous for its role in 1958’s The Blob, is hosting a showing of it on November 11th. Until then, the Master is waiting for you. *haunting Torgo theme*

Late Night Double Feature Picture Shows

Ah the double feature, that wonderful staple of drive-ins and late night horror/scifi programming. Like many of the topics brought up here on the Midnight Cheese, double features are a lost art in many ways. Luckily the folks at Shout! Factory remember them and know how to put together a great DVD experience. On a whim, I snagged The Evil and Twice Dead together as a double feature, a part of the Roger Corman's Cult Classic series. I popped open a brew and greedily tore the cellophane armor from the case, then stretched out on the couch to enjoy a night of low budget horror.

Let's start there, with the cover: it sets the mood, depicting the brick wall of an 80's second run theater, with the one sheet posters plastered up very slap-dash. I don't know about you but for me the little things like this really make the over all experience that much more satisfying. Which is why when the menu loaded, I actually giggled a little. Where I was expecting a selection menu with just the titles of both films to select, I was instead treated with the visage of an old, neoned to the nines, movie house frontage. By selecting the ticket, a classic style "admit one" type ticket, you advance into the theatre. The lobby looks like exactly what you would expect to find in a place that would show a double billing of The Evil and Twice Dead. There's a snack bar on the left, by selecting that, you're given access to the scene selection menu. Similarly the rest room door on the right grants you access to the special features, not too much here beyond director commentaries and an interview with Jill Whitlow, who played Robin in Twice Dead. Interestingly she was also in Swamp Thing and Night of the Creeps, and she has some fascinating thoughts to share. The main attraction, though, is obviously the double doors at the center of the lobby. They lead into the theaters and kick off our double feature. However before we get our 'Cheese on, we're given the choice of just selecting one of the films or the "Roger Corman Experience". Sounds awesome, right? It totally is. By selecting it, both films play straight on through. But more than that, we're treated to a fully programed theater double feature experience. There are 70's bumpers announcing the upcoming attractions, several exploitation trailers, even a snack bar solicitation and there's more of them between the films.

Got your popcorn? Good. The show is underway. First up, we've got The Evil, which is the story of a doctor, Richard Crenna of Rambo fame, who purchase an enormous old mansion, which he plans to open as a drug rehabilitation clinic, with the help of his friends. So they set about cleaning up this long abandoned, built on cursed Native American land, monument to horror film set location. And wouldn't you know, before long one of our intrepid protagonists accidentally unleashes the titular evil. It's a little bit ghostly mansion, a couple parts demonic spirit with a few sprinkles of the eternal struggle between good and evil thrown in for good measure. It all works out in the end, if you believe in the standard 80% attrition rate, which I do. This is a pretty interesting movie, nothing special. It's exactly what you'd expect from double feature fodder.

After some more trailers and an enticement to procure more noshables from the united snack bar of your kitchen, our second feature kicks in. Twice Dead is the tale of an east coast family who inherits a mansion in L.A. Formerly the mansion belonged to a famous Hollywood actor, who lost his love and hung himself. Unfortunately it's now the haunt of a stereotypical late 80's, early 90's gang of punks. They resent being ejected from their hang out and begin a campaign of harassment against the family kids. There's a few problems here, but mostly the issue is that Twice Dead is schizophrenic; it doesn't know if it's a ghost story or if it's a gang revenge tale. It's both, kind of. It's also very made for TVish, very Saturday afternoon matinee. It isn't as strong as The Evil but it's also a taste of nostalgia for me, recalling USA Up All Night, which needs to come back (damnit).

It's obvious that Shout! Factory put some honest effort into the presentation here and if, like me, you pine for the schlock of yesteryear, check out this double feature DVD.

Bento Box of Schlock, order no. 1

"Welcome to the Midnight Cheese cafe` madam, what will you be having this evening? Ah the bento box, a wise decision. There's a little bit of VHS cover nostalgia for the 80's child in you, some instant gratification to get you going, a nosh-able delight to consume while getting your gratification on and a bit of knowledge dropped on you. Would you prefer that with a look back at your past horror indiscretions or the past indiscretions of others? Both? Excellent, I'll have the chef whip up your very own BENTO BOX OF SCHLOCK!"

Ah dear readers, I realize that sometimes you are in a hurry and just don't have time to read through our finely crafted ministrations. Submitted your your approval, I offer you the Midnight Cheese's newest dish: The Bento Box of Schlock. A little bit of a lot of things, which you can comsume quickly. Let me get out of your way. Tuck in and enjoy.

"Here he comes: Machine Gun Joe! Loved by thousands, hated by millions! " -Junior, Deathrace 2000

Chow
Nighttime Nachos
-Plate full of tortilla chips, spread out evenly
-Top with sliced jalapenos, kalamada olives, chili powder and splashed of tobassco sauce
-Cover all of that with shredded chedder and mozzerella cheese and nuke it until the cheese it melted
-Chow down while watching a cheesy movie
-Don't bother weighing yourself in the morning

Instant Gratification
Oh, you needed a flick to watch while enjoying those Nighttime Nachos? Well how about this then, Circle of Iron staring David Carradine?

It's the kick ass kung fu story of Cord the Seeker, who's set off on a quest to recover the book of all knowledge from the Wizard Zetan (most people call it stealing, but he's our hero, so what can you do?). Did I mention it stars david Carradine as "The Blind Man". And as "Monkeyman". Oh he's also "Death". And "Changsha" too. There's these other two guys in the film too, but you've probably never heard of them: Roddy McDowell and Christopher Lee. I know, not worth mentioning.

Circle of Iron available until the end of this week on netflix's instant streaming.

VHS Nostalgia
Check out this cover:

Did you know that this is the front cover box art for a film called The Final Sacrifice which features a husky, mulleted Canadian and a wimpy, rail thin Canadian who own no firearms? It's true. The box art was used to entice folks to pick up what they thought was a rollicking actioner. What they got instead was MST3K fodder (episode 910).

Cinema Obscuro~!
Speaking of The Final Sacrifice, we've got Christian Malcolm, who played pipsqueak Troy in said film (although his credit was incorrectly switched with the other lead, Bruce Mitchell, who played Zap Rowsdower, and there wasn't enough money in the budget to fix it). So what did Mr. Malcolm get up to after shooting this cinematic masterstroke? It seems he spent 6 months in 1999 as part of National British Tour of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)". He had roles in Intimacy, Band of Brothers and Night Flight in the early part of the century and really hit his stride recently in the award winning short film Sex with the Finklesteins and a the role of "The Head of Ops" in the film Hanna. Not too shabby, Troy, not too shabby at all.

Cheese o'the Day
On this day in the year of our lord (Roger Corman) nineteen hundred and ninty-six, The Frighteners made it's theatrical debut. On the exact same day, the Tales from the Crypt television show premiered it's final episode.

"Well, that about wraps it up here at Rock & Roll High. Remember, if your principal ever gives *you* trouble, if you want *this* (Vince Lombardi High School is burning down) to happen at your school, you just give ol' Screamin' Steve a call. I'm in the book - under SCARRRREAMIN'!" -Screamin' Steve Stevens, Rock 'n' Roll High School

School may be out, but Horror High is in!

You think you had it bad in high school? What you experienced is a cake walk compared to what hapless Vernon Potts (Pat Cardi) experiences on a daily basis. Played with authentic nerd brilliance, Cardi's Vernon is the heart, and soon-to-be twisted soul, of Horror High (AKA Twisted Brain). Left alone by his widower/travelling salesman father to practically raise himself, Vernon spends most of his time in the school's biology lab working on a not-so-clearly defined experiment with a guinea pig named Mr. Mumps. When he's not in the lab, Vernon is viciously bullied by a jock d-bag named Roger (Mike McHenry), mocked by his Phys. Ed. instructor Coach McCall (genuine Dallas Cowboy John Niland) and given some Mommie Dearest-type discipline by the hard-ass English teacher Miss Grindstaff (Joy Hash). Just when things can't get any worse, the school's drunk janitor makes poor Vernon drink a beaker of fluid that looks like it was used to dye Easter eggs. The fluid is the key to Vernon's experiment. Needless to say, things go horribly wrong as Vernon's monstrous alter-ego scratches names off of his enemies list.

Filmed on-the-cheap in Texas, this seedy 70s variation on the Jekyll and Hyde story is one earth-toned slice of midnight cheese. You know you're in for a good time when the movie opens with cinematic history's most maudlin theme song. It makes the lyrics from You Light Up My Life sound like they were swiped from Leonard Cohen's notebook. The audience is then treated to a parade of teens riding Schwinn bikes while dressed in the standard issue Earth shoes, Huck-a-Poo shirts and bell bottoms fresh off the rack from Two Guys department store. The mood is so groovy that you can almost smell the Hai Karate. What follows after the credits is an 80 minute smorgasbord of sophomoric bullying, authentic acne, stilted dialogue, bad lighting, bizarre moustache twitching, severed fingers, a severed mannequin head, mutant rodents, human and animal skeletons, smokey acid vats, huge sideburns, pestle beatings, macrame, football cleat stomping and a transformed monster man who looks like a mash-up of Randall "Tex" Cobb and Andy Robinson's Scorpio killer from Dirty Harry (post beat down).

If all that wasn't enough, b-movie badass Austin (Assault on Precinct 13) Stoker shows up as badass police detective determined to get to the bottom of the bizarre business going down. How badass is Stoker's cop? He's so badass that he's introduced with a music cue that's so funky it sounds like Billy Preston's Slaughter score if it had be written by Boo Radley. But that's not all! "Mean" Joe Greene, fresh from his iconic Coke commercial, turns up during the film's climax as a shotgun-wielding police patrolman.

If you're a cheesy movie aficionado, you owe it to yourself to pick up the uncut, restored 35th Anniversary Special Edition DVD of Horror High from Code Red. It's a fun, laugh riot horror flick and the disc has a heaping helping of cool extras. Pick it up today and your mood ring will be all aglow.

Do You Dare Look into The Hypnotic Eye?

We open on a gorgeous, young blonde, dressed in a nightgown walking into frame. A bath towel is draped around her neck and she holds a bottle of shampoo. The odd thing is that she's not coming from or going to the bathroom. She stops in the middle of her apartment, pops the bottle cap and proceeds to lather her hair. A few seconds later she turns on the gas stove range. Instead of putting the kettle on for a spot of tea, she dips her head in the flame and turns herself into a human torch.

That's the first scene of 1960s The Hypnotic Eye - and brother, if that doesn't grab you by the boo-boo, I don't know what will. Written by William Read Woodfield, a professional Hollywood photographer and part-time magician/entertainer, and his wife Gitta, The Hypnotic Eye is the story of super square Detective Sergeant Steve Kennedy (Joe Partridge), his cute-as-a-button girlfriend Marcia (Marcia Henderson) and French hypnotist "The Great Desmond" (Jacques Bergerac). Kennedy's investigating a recent rash of self-mutilations performed by good-looking young women, the latest victim being Marcia's friend Dodie (Merry Andrews). In what should be glaringly obvious to our hero, the heavily-accented hypnotist and his assistant/lover Justine (Allison Hayes of Attack of the 50ft. Woman fame) are behind these terrible crimes.

In addition to being a fun horror/mystery movie, The Hypnotic Eye is also a prime example of gimmick horror. Taking a page (or stealing a page) out of the great William Castle's book, the Woodfields and director George Blair concocted "HypnoMagic" a state-of-the-art film making process in which the viewing audience would be hypnotized during the middle of the movie. During that sequence of the movie, the only thing the audience will be compelled to do is giggle. But The Hypnotic Eye is not an Ed Wood movie. In fact, with some casting changes, a script polish and little more money, this movie probably could have been a classic contender. Blair's direction is competent, the cast is game, the story is good and the effects work is downright scary and gory. Add in lots of cigarette smoking, poorly performed jazz, a doctor who sounds like he should be pitching pennies in an alley, a criminal psychologist who likes to walk around in his robe showing off his man boobs, "The King of the Beatniks" performing his howlingly awful poem "Confessions of a B-Movie Addict" and, of course, one hypnotic eye, and you've got the ingredients for the perfect midnight movie.

If you miss the days of Saturday afternoon UHF monster movie shows or were too young to experience them, pick up a copy of The Hypnotic Eye, available for the first time ever on DVD from the Warner Archives Collection.

Just a drop In Roger Corman's bucket

Midnight Cheese continues its salute to this week's birthday boy Roger Corman with a look at his 1959 social satire/fright flick A Bucket of Blood. Starring B-Movie badass Dick Miller, A Bucket of Blood is the twisted tale of Walter Paisley, busboy at the boho chic coffee house The Yellow Door. Square Walter yearns to be an artist like the beatnik poets and sculptors he serves every night. Unfortunately for Walter, he possesses no artistic skills and is mocked by the coffee house clientele on a nightly basis.

One night while trying to sculpt in vain, Walter accidentally kills his landlady's pet. Too upset with himself, Walter decides to hide the pet's body by covering it in clay. While doing so, Walter realizes that may be creating art. When he displays the corpse/statue at the coffee house the following evening,Walter's work is met with praise. Critics crown him the king of cool and demand to see more of his work. Walter decides to oblige them with my creations via the only muse he knows - murder.

Made at a time when the burgeoning beatnik scene was laying the foundation of the hippie counterculture of the sixties, Corman and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith spare no expense at skewering pretentious pop art posers and beatnik bozos. Artists who once branded Walter a tool of the establishment, begin to to heap praise upon him when they realize they can benefit from clinging to his coattails. Characters that discover the secret to Walter's "art" decide to turn a blind eye to his misdeeds once they realize they can profit from them. Add in poorly-written poems, drugged-out intellectuals and some really bad art and you've got a nifty little knock at Eisenhower-era hipsters.

In addition to satire, the Corman/Griffith team and their company of players deliver the chills, too. Walter's artwork is especially creepy and several of the murder set pieces are eerie. Miller is especially fine as Walter. During the first act of the movie, Miller wrings every drop of sympathy from the audience. We root for the mistreated busboy and are genuinely frightened for him when he commits his first accidental murder. By the end of the movie we loath Walter. Miller transforms him into a madman as well as a hipster consumed with being the art scene darling. Although Miller's acting resume is enormous, Walter Paisley is the actor's signature role. Miller and this character are so beloved by cult movie director Joe Dante that he's cast Miller in several movies as unrelated characters named Walter Paisley.

A Bucket of Blood is worth checking out if you haven't seen it. It's also a worthy addition to any B-Movie lovers DVD collection. You can still get the MGM distributed DVD from Amazon and other online retailers. It features the original trailer and a nice transfer. There are also a few public domain DVDs floating around but their quality is crap. A Bucket of Blood is also available from Netflix instant watch.