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.

 

The Dreaded Horror Blindspot: Part II

We've all got one: a segment of our nerdly obsessions which isn't quite as thoroughly clued in as might be expected. As I discussed in part one of this series (which I suggest reading before continuing) the truth of this disability is willfully and purposefully hidden from our contemporaries. I will not lower my head in that similar shame. My area of genre emptiness is Hammer Horror and I've set about filling in my knowledge like a veracious hair club for men candidate. Though I am admittedly on a much slower path to recovery, it can't be said that I'm motionless. So I tucked up to the table, draped the cloth to my neckline, and dove in mouth first.

Today's menu begins, centers and ends on 1970's Peter Cushing-less Horrors of Frankenstein. Instead Ralph Bates steps into the familiar digs of Victor Frankenstein. Bates was also in Taste the Blood of Dracula , another Hammer Horror film released that same month staring Christopher Lee, but might be best remembered as Dr.Jekyll in Dr.Jekyll & Sister Hyde (which I'm working on tracking down a copy of). What's fascinating about this specific retelling of the Mary Shelley story is what Bates brings to the table. In one instance he's friendly, amiable and charming. Split seconds tick off the clock and in that small sequence of time, he's now conniving, cold blooded and ruthless. Absent from the proceedings is the misunderstood, driven genius that we're so commonly presented with in the innumerable spinnings of the Frankenstein yarn.

The rest of the films' trappings can be found among those commonly attributed to period Hammer: lavish recycled gothic sets, lovely busted beauties bearing some flesh (though not as much as is customary) and a fantastically epic-esk score. Topping off the tank are a lovely scheming house keeper, a charming best friend to Victor, a fun grave robbing husband-wife pair and David "Darth Vader" Prowse- the latter looking burly and scarred as "The Monster".

Prepare for a bold proclamation. Horrors of Frankenstein has become my favorite film version of the classic Mary Shelley legend. There is just so much going on behind the calculating eyes of a young Victor Frankenstein, who will not be stopped in his goal of bringing about new life. The lies he connives are brilliant, the line between his ruthlessness and his charm so razor thin and his manipulation is so very subtle. The bottom line here is that you need to see this underrated monster movie. This might not be an easy task as it seems to only be available as an out of print DVD released in 2001 but if you've got a region free player, the Hammer collection is always available to you.

Next on my Blindspot list is Vampire Circus, which (as luck and fate have procreated in my favor), is playing in 35mm as part of the Colonial Theatre's First Friday Fright Night series on May 4th. See you at the midnight movies.

 

 

...With a Vengance

We're back!

Please accept my heartfelt apologies over the lack of updates this past month. Life seems to conspire with other factors to prevent me from entertaining you or from even allowing me the simple extra time to watch many movies at all. I'll be returning to updating two to three times a week so stay tuned faithful readers.

To celebrate coming back with a vengeance, here are three fun "Revenge of the..." flicks:

The Revenge of the Living Dead Girls (1987)
Of course we're starting with a zombie film! I'm nucking futts about the genre of the living dead. What does this French dead girl production from the 80's offer you to pry your weary eyes from more modern fare? Honestly the setup is not what you're here for: tainted chemical gets into milk, girls drink milk and die, more of the chemical spills onto their graves causing them to rise...yadda yadda yadda. If that was all there was to feast on here, you'd be better off skipping this bottom dollar B-movie. Here's the kicker: The Revenge of the Living Dead Girls includes an undead lesbian love fest. If that isn't enough encouragement for this to end up in your netflix queue, it also includes dick decapitation!

These girls know to wait 20 minutes after eating before going in the pool.

Revenge of the Creature (1955)
This sequel to The Creature from the Black Lagoon sees the Gillman captured and taken for study at a local aquarium. There our titular creature has eyes only for a buxom betty oceanography student. If you've any of the gift of foresight at all then you can probably guess where the story goes from there. Originally shot and released in 3-D, this monster movie is also notable for being the first acting gig of Clint Eastwood (uncredited) as lab technician Jennings.

"You see, my mouse don't like people laughing."

Revenge of the Cheerleaders (1976)
You might remember our intellectual symposium Five Things Not to do While Watching The Cheerleaders from November. Revenge of the Cheerleaders is the sequel to that delightful 70's teen sex comedy. In many ways, it isn't as good as it's progenitor but does contain all the things that makes this long gone subgenre great: nudity, wacky hijinks, teenage shenanigans, softcore loving, um nudity. What else does it have? Oh, just a little David Hasselhoff in the role of "Boner", a gentleman esquire.

A great classic poster!

Stay tuned for a deeper look at Revenge of the Cheerleaders in the next week or so here at The 'Cheese.

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?

Troll Hunting for Fun and Profit

If I could quantify my love for new, fascinating films dropping into my Netflix instant queue, I'd need a disproportionately large measurement system. I wonder if I could rent the deck of an aircraft carrier? What's the going rate? It should take an enormous scaling to dish up the delightful cinematic ideas coming out of Norway. If your gore soaked funny bones weren't tickled by Dead Snow (which they should have been, rewatch it noob), then allow Norwegian film making to win you over with the dark fantasy, Troll Hunter.

Love the poster art

Heavily steeped in folklore, Troll Hunter never treats the titular monsters as such. Instead, we're introduced to them by a documentary crew following a government sponsored agent, Hans the Troll Hunter (Otto Jespersen, who is FANTASTIC). Hans is a tired, disgruntled employee who decides to expose the long kept government secret because he's underpaid and sick of government bureaucratics. He's a blue collar worker doing a thankless job which would be extraordinary to anyone else, but to him is simply another day-another dollar. In that sense, he's got a lot of the appeal of Hellboy (my favorite comic book character), minus some of the more overt comedy. For me, Hans makes this film what it is. His weapons and his methods are akin to that of an exterminator, methodically readying specialized equipment to deal with specific variants of pests. (I could also draw parallels to James Woods in John Carpenter's Vampires, but I don't want to call down the slings of arrows of outrageous 'net trolls.)

Our Hero: Hans

The Trolls themselves are thoroughly fleshed out, both scientifically and through associated folklore. There are different subspecies, their traditionally depicted abilities and vulnerabilities are given scientific explanations and they are confirmed as mammals, at one point, by a veterinarian whom Hans consults. Their haunts, behaviors and even physical oddities are cataloged and either exploited or defended against. It's intriguing. It sucks in the part of your brain which is always actively scanning to explain the dark parts of our world and our cultural imagination.

Set in and around Norway, we're treated to amazing vistas - the likes of which draw to mind scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Waterfalls, mountains, green hills and frozen tundra are all fleetingly seen. Here is where I need to detail my only detractions from what is an otherwise fantastic film. To this point I haven't mentioned the cinematic style or over arching frame work of the story. That's because Troll Hunter is a found footage film. We're viewing through the eyes of an aspiring(and yawningly uninteresting) documentary crew, yearning to drag the mythological trolls screaming into the light of day. Why bring this up while speaking about the beauty of the Norwegian landscape? Because the herky-jerky nature of being a found footage film means the vistas were only glanced at, sideways with a camera sitting on a lap pointed out a window.

Indeed the parkinson's fueled cinematics lend difficulty to following along with the subtitles, which normally become second nature to viewers within a few minutes. I will admit bias on my part- I've grown very tired of the found footage motif. I'd have much preferred this be a traditionally shot piece of motion picture fantasy. It's not enough to ruin viewing experience - but I'd be remiss not to dock it a few cool beans for wearing the well used garb of a trend I'd like to see fade (mostly) away.

Troll Hunter is very awesome. It's a cinematic treat and well worth seeking out. It's apparently already on the fast track for an "Americanization" (since 90% of Americans are lazy fucks unwilling to see a subtitled film) - but it's destined to fail if it doesn't star Otto Jespersen. Chris Columbus had better hope Otto speaks English.

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.

The 31 Days of Halloween: Day 10

Halloween is the best time of the year. It's a wonderfully indulgent time, where your inner ghoul is given societal license to be put on display. To celebrate it to it's wicked fullest, the Midnight Cheese will be posting every day in October with excellent ways to enjoy the season. Whether it's horror films, video games, books or activities, check back every day for some new Halloween fun.

The Monster Squad

I've ridden this Halloween count down celebration as though it were my trusted stallion, Nostalgia. Through the woods of aging and past the fortified walls of adulthood, I've spurred Nostalgia to ride swift and true. Continuing on this joyride through my yearly Halloween indulgences, we have The Monster Squad (1987). Fantastically, Fred Dekker weaves together the back stories of Universal's stable of horror icons; Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, which all come together in this delightful horror/comedy treat.



The story is an inspired take on the Van Helsing/Dracula struggle. One day every century the amulet of good, a supremely powerful artifact which can be used to banish evil beings from the world, is vulnerable to destruction. In the prologue, Van Helsing fails to complete the banishing ritual against Dracula, but his apprentice manages to sneak the amulet to America. Now we're again approaching the special day of vulnerability and it's up to the Monster Squad to prevent Dracula from retrieving the amulet, destroying it and enveloping the world in darkness!

The titular organization is composed of a group of kids who love the classic monsters and monster movies. They come across Van Helsing's diary, discover the truth and must set about stopping the worst from happening. These kids are us. More than many other films, The Monster Squad epitomizes what films are supposed to do: allow the audience to put themselves into the place of the protagonists and "ride along". In this case, these kids are us when we were kids. Think about it: they're unhealthily obsessed with horror films, idolize monsters, know all about their portrayed "weaknesses", constantly discuss all these things and they formed a tree house based club to do so. If this doesn't ring any bells for you, it's entirely likely that you're hopeless.

How does this fit the season? I'm delighted you asked.
For one, it's a perfect flick with which to introduce your wee little ones to monster movies. It's geared as adventure and comedy, rather than gory horror. For anther thing, lets look back at the list of famous monsters contained in the film: Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I've masqueraded as four of those five for various Halloweens in my youth. I suspect you have to some degree as well. Lastly, and for more than any other reason: it's FUN.



Horror can be sinister, it can be frightening, it can be cruel and remorseless but on Halloween it's also mischievous, wicked and delightfully fun. Shine a light on those darkness seeking horrors and enjoy.

The 31 Days of Halloween: Day 8

Halloween is the best time of the year. It's a wonderfully indulgent time, where your inner ghoul is given societal license to be put on display. To celebrate it to it's wicked fullest, the Midnight Cheese will be posting every day in October with excellent ways to enjoy the season. Whether it's horror films, video games, books or activities, check back every day for some new Halloween fun.

Popcorn

"Saturday night at the movies, who cares what we came to see!"

1991's low budget slasher film is actually a brilliant love letter to William Castle-esk gimmickry and 50's giant monster flicks. There's so much to laude and enjoy in Popcorn that it's surprising how little known it actually is. It would help if there was a proper DVD release of it, which there isn't, but you can catch it on Netflix instant streaming. So why should you seek Popcorn out?

It's early Saturday morning so I'm gonna do this list style:

• The setting is a classic, old school movie theatre
• Really cool gimmicks for the fictional in film movie festival films; Mosquito in Projecto-o-Vision! Attack of the Amazing Electrified man in Shock-o-Scope! And The Stench in Aroma-Rama!
• Takes place on Halloween, the Horrorthon staff and attendees are all in costumes.
• The kills, while there aren't an over abundance, are all creative and gleefully evil.
• Excellent cinematography, great use of the setting, good performance from all the principals.

More than anything, Popcorn takes great pains to revel in it's love of 50's horror tropes; simultaneously it lampoons, emulates and aggrandizes all that made that era great, whilst still forming a successful 80's slasher film. It's a tall task, which most filmmakers would fail at. Check out Popcorn and if you dig it, search for the Kickster program that's currently working to give it the Proper DVD release it deserves.

The 31 Days of Halloween: Day 6

Halloween is the best time of the year. It's a wonderfully indulgent time, where your inner ghoul is given societal license to be put on display. To celebrate it to it's wicked fullest, the Midnight Cheese will be posting every day in October with excellent ways to enjoy the season. Whether it's horror films, video games, books or activities, check back every day for some new Halloween fun.

An American Werewolf in London

Aooooooooooooo! Werewolves of London. Aooooooooooo!

Where to begin; Oh where should I start?

Have you seen this film? An American Werewolf in London is the quintessential wolf man film of my childhood. Certainly I'd seen the classic Universal wolf man films and other films like The Howling, but none of them made such a mammoth impact, on both the industry and me, as John Landis' 1981 werewolf movie. Rather than recap the plot of the film (which you can just look up at your leisure anyway), let's take a look at some of most influential and interesting things that An American Werewolf in London did.


The Soundtrack
This flick is a black comedy, in addition to being a horror film. It's one of the best blending of the two genres that I've ever seen. Part of what makes it work so well is the subtle use of upbeat songs, not to break the tension in the moment, but to give it a nudge and wink. Landis was limited by what he could license the rights to. Sadly, he couldn't use Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London". Limitations can unlock creative alternatives though and what is used here is absolutely perfect. Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Badmoon Rising", Van Morrison's "Moondance" and no less than three versions of "Blue Moon" are leveraged to great effect. My particular favorite is the doo-wop version of "Blue Moon" by The Marcels. Bom bom-bom-bom Ba-bom-ba-bom-bom...Blue Moon...


The Transformation
This one sequence changed the face of werewolf films. Before An American Werewolf in London in wolf man films, the transformation from man to beast and back again would be accomplished in one of a few ways:

-Pan away from actor as human, pan back with the werewolf make-up in place.
-Fade in/out. So a close up of the actor as human is filmed. Then, a close up in the same position of the actor as wolfman is filmed on top, to give the illusion of a gradual fade into or out of being a man beast.
-The animated shadow of a man is shown to transform into a beast. When we see them next, they're fulled wolfed out.

An American Werewolf in London never flinches away from a second of the painful, gory, horrendous transformation from man to beast. Special effects master Rick Baker pulled out all the stops and crafted a sequence that is still amazing to the modern viewer. It was hugely influential in a number of ways. The power of this scene convinced Michael Jackson to hire Landis to direct the best music video of all time, Thriller (Disagreement about Thriller is fightin' words where I come from). Werewolf films now, by and large, all show the transformation on camera after the trail had been blazed. It can be argued that this bled through to other horror genre films as well.

Perhaps most amazingly, An American Werewolf in London won an Oscar for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. What's so amazing about that? There was no Outstanding Achievement in Makeup Oscar the year before...it was created to honor this film specifically. It's been a normal Oscar category ever since.

You really need to see this film on a crisp October night. If you're in the Philadelphia area, it's actually being screened tomorrow (10/7) on 35mm as part of the Colonial Theatre's First Friday Fright Night series. (Information here) I can't urge you to check out this film with an audience forcefully enough. You're missing out on the real experience if you don't. Still, anyway you can, check out An American Werewolf in London.

See you next Wednesday... ;)

Grabboids: The Val and Earl Show

The rain and thunder pound on outside, but inside, ah inside is a trove of alternate worlds to escape into. Row upon row of brightly colored, highly enticing 7" by 4" by 1" slivers of heaven. The banks of VHS tapes reflect the florescent light suggestively, until one catches the eye and it's completely obvious that this is tonight's entertainment.

This ritual is one I played out hundreds of times before and on this particular stormy evening in 1992, the slip cover for Tremors caught my attention first. It's homage to classic monster movies was evident just from the cover, which was almost completely taken up by a poised to strike "grabboid". It was all so very Jaws-like. I flipped it over to take in the details, which was really just part of the ritual (I'd already decided to rent it anyhow).

Kevin Bacon!? Footloose Kevin Bacon? And Fred Ward from Remo Williams? Oh this is gonna be sweet. But it was 1992, so what I likely said was "radical!" or possibly "gnarley!". But let's not sell Tremors short on the rest of its casting; its diverse collection of character actors is a integral part of what makes this flick so great. In short its characters have character. Bacon and Ward play Val and Earl, two handymen who do odd jobs for folks in this community. They decide (one day too late, as Val laments) that they've had it up to here with putting up fences, digging ditches and emptying septic tanks for chump change.

Of course, we wouldn't have much of a ride if our protagonists could simply leave the delightful town of Perfection (population: 14) unmolested. No sir. Folks start to turn up dead and soon enough the grabboids start to rear their ugly, prehistoric, multi-tongued, monstrous worm-heads. Of course, our motley band of townsfolk begins to become monster worm snacks in rapid succession including Walter Chang, played by John Carpenter mainstay Victor Wong.

However, there are two Perfection townsfolk who the grabboids are foolish to mess with: the Gummers, Burt and Heather. The Gummers relocated to this sleepy, near abandoned ex-mining town to avoid the gaze of big government. The gun nut survivalist duo are played by Michael Gross, fresh off of the Family Ties finale and Reba McEntire, who I don't even hate here (full disclosure: country music is atrocious). The gun fight scene in their bunker's basement is awesome. It's also worth noting that Gross has made a veritable career out of the Tremors films (he's in all 4) and it's tv spin off. I still contend that Burt Gummer is a cult horror figure and deserves his own action figure.

So, refocusing the scene on 11 year old me. With the glossy intoxication of the back of the Tremors VHS in full control of my frontal lobe, I march to the check out at my local Blockbuster (now on an endangered species list of some sort), pausing along the way to snag some 'everlastin gobstoppers, popcorn and a Serge soft drink, to begin a night of unapologetic delight. It's still storming like hell out side, so I make sure to hide Kevin Bacon and the gang under my jacket and hustle home in half the time. Far more "radicals!" and "gnarleys!" escaped from my parent's basement as I must have watched this cult classic half a dozen times over the following three rainy days.

These days there's so many easier ways to have movies come to you, but that's a lament for another post. Tremors is available on both Blu-ray and DVD (you guys still watch those, right?). If you're gonna pick up the Digital Video Disc version, you might as well purchase the Tremors Attack Pack, which contains the first film and all three of it's direct-to-video sequels. Grab some friends and plan a night in with this fantastically enjoyable camp classic.

Why Do We Love 'The Blob'?

I could be snarky and say that I love The Blob because "It creeps and leaps and glides and slides across the floor". Honesty could prevail and I could simply admit how much I love B-movies (oh boy, do I!). Still, the answer to the titular question is quite a bit more nuanced than a simple singular answer could account for. Let's examine the parts that make up the whole that is The Blob.

Filmed in 1957, The Blob was intended to be the B film in a double bill with I Married a Monster from Outer Space, but it turned out that more people were paying admission to watch a gelatinous monster absorb unfortunate townsfolk and so their roles were reversed. It had a very modest budget of $240,000 and featured a then unknown Steve McQueen, who famously took a flat payment of $2,500 dollars instead of ten percent of the film's gross. He didn't think the film was going to perform well; it made ten million dollars at the box office. It was the first movie role, in a career that would span decades for Aneta Cirsaut and the last role of a character actor who began in the silent era of cinema, Olin Howland. It's this mix of well travelled character actors and upcoming young actors that gives The Blob a great small town feel, to which many could relate and some long to return to, but which didn't feel forced. The side characters however ARE goofy and in some cases, poorly acted (I'm looking at you Mr. Fire Brigade Chief), to the absolute delight of Blob fanatics.

To complete the small town feel, Valley Forge Studios scouted filming locations in the surrounding towns. It was this masterstroke that really gives, what is otherwise a goofy monster picture, it's grounding, it's heart. In particular, The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania has become a fixture of Blob fandom. It's been restored to it's majestic 50's kitsh and holds an annual Blob-Fest celebration, which the whole town gets in on. The Downingtown Diner, location of the climactic scene, doesn't quite look the same, but I'm told the famous basement is still much as it once was.

Still, if this were all The Blob had going for it, we'd likely not be discussing it with the same reverence. What is it about this film that so captures our attention and fond recollection? Teenagers, terrorized by a monster, who try to warn adults, who refuse to believe them. That could be applied to an incalculable number of films. Where this one is different, I feel, is in it's portrayal of both the teens and the adults. Unlike many of the "teenagers in rebellion" pictures coming out at the time, the teens in The Blob aren't "stupid rebellious". Certainly they race their hot rods, they play jokes on each other, but it's never malicious or mean spirited. The adults aren't quick to trust the teens, but some actually do listen and consider what is being said, quite unlike most other films, especially of the horror and science fiction genres. There's a feeling of playfulness between the cops and teens, rather than hate and spite, which otherwise infects the entirety of both genres now and is in fact completely expected. And the film pervades hope as well. Hope that by banding together we can save ourselves.

There's plenty of conjecture that the message of The Blob is of the dangers of Communism and defeating it with cold(what an ironic conjecture). I don't buy it. To quote Tim Curry from Clue, "Communism is just a red herring". Besides, if you started out clear, it stands to reason that you too would become more and more blood red as you absorbed squishy human-fodder.
I'll stop gushing now. The Blob is a fun flick. A really great example of 50's drive-in monster cinema. Check it out and let me know what you think. See you at Blob-Fest!