This week on Deadpit Radio, the legendary Paul Ehlers (Madman Marz himself) made a special announcement about an upcoming DVD re-release of the seminal 1982 slasher flick Madman. The bombastic axe-wielder told the Deadpit crew: “I found out from Gary Sales who was the owner and original producer of Madman that he had struck a deal with Code Red films to put out a new edition- a re-issue… So, we are going to be coming out with the original film on a re-issue DVD”. Ehlers goes on to say, “We are going to leave the original commentary track on the film…as far as other extras, we’ve decided to reach out to some of the fans of the film. What we’re thinking of doing is that through Deadpit.com, as a central hub for all this, we’re asking…if you (the fans) have a collection of anything to do with (the film) ‘Madman’…anything that you have that might be cool, please send over still photos or limited video of your collections to Deadpit.com. We’d love to take a look at it, and if we think it’s appropriate, we’d love to put it on the extras of the new release.”

That’s right folks, by sending photos or video of your Madman-related collections over to Deadpit Radio, you (or maybe just your stuff) could possibly wind up on a documentary for the upcoming re-release of the DVD! If you think you’ve got the goods, shoot us an email over at deadpit@gmail.com with your submissions. Good luck and beware the Madman Marz!

A kid in the 70’s, I grew up like a Monster Kid was supposed to. I began with the Universal horror classics like Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy, and then graduated to Hammer Horror, Godzilla movies, etc. Support was provided by The Monster Times, Famous Monsters and all the Warren horror magazines, as well as Aurora monster model kits. Then, at the dawn of the 80’s, as I became a teenager, the slasher phenomenon happened and I was hooked.

These flicks were new. They pushed the envelope with their stalk-and-kill format, bringing a sense of reality to the horror movie. No longer were vampires, reanimated corpses and werewolves the creatures that stalked victims; now it was the all too real serial killer. One of the particular strengths of the horror movie is its continuing ability to examine whatever fear a society is experiencing at any given time: the atomic terrors of the 50’s, the fear of nature and what kids were turning into during the early and mid-70’s, today’s torture porn. In the 70’s, serial killers were becoming a more common phenomenon and really making an impact on the public’s psyche with the likes of Zodiac, Richard Ramirez, and the Son of Sam generating a general sense of unrest. It was only natural that they’d work their way to the forefront of the horror flick too.

After the low-budget Halloween was released in 1978 and became a hit, the slasher movie floodgates started to open. With the success of Friday the 13th two years later, anyone with a camera, an actress and a blood squib was suddenly hopping on the slasher mill. Hollywood wasn’t far behind either, each studio hoping to find their own Friday the 13th like Paramount was lucky enough to have done. Each week it seemed like a new slasher flick was showing up at my local small-town theatre, most of them named after some holiday or event in order to cash in on the formula established by Halloween then cemented by F13th. I mean, they brought Final Exam to town. Final Exam! If ever there was a sorry excuse for a slasher flick, it’s Final Exam.

Though I wasn’t old enough to be going to these R-rated beauties on my own at first, my friends and I would find ways to get into the theatre. Right at the peak of the slasher cycle, however, I turned 18 and getting in no longer required any imagination. What remained though, was the anticipation I felt each and every time before the lights would dim and the flick would begin. The thought that drove the excitement was, “What if this is the movie that REALLY freaks me out?!” Man, I miss that feeling.

The 80’s was an era when movie critics and community groups protested slasher flicks, adding to the attraction by making them seem forbidden. In their eyes, and in the minds of a lot of people who’d only heard about these dangerous flicks through the media, if you were a slasher fan, you were sick. The point that the anti-slasher lobbyists were missing is that, for the most part, slasher fans could tell the difference between fantasy and reality. Each gore effect was like a magic trick. We wanted to be fooled by the make-up artists’ illusions (All hail Tom Savini!). We also liked the suspense that lead to each attack, and we liked identifying with the final girl as she fought off the killer and survived through to the sequel.

Living in Canada, censorship was also an issue in the 80’s as numerous slasher flicks would show up cut. We weren’t quite as bad as the UK, but we were close. This censorship only drove the compulsion to seek out uncut versions of the edited movies. In some cases, this would take years. Add the damage done by Canada’s chopping block to the none-too-subtle self-censorship already imposed on filmmakers by the MPAA, and you could find some pretty bloodless slasher flicks circulating around the great White North in the Regan era. I can recall catching a screening of Mother’s Day wherein one of its lunatics is about to behead an unaware hippie. The axe swings, there’s an obvious cut in the image and on the soundtrack, and the hippie just disappears as the scene continues. Nice editing job. Though not a slasher flick, don’t even get me started on the cuts inflicted on George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead when I caught it during its original Canadian release. Let’s just say it was all tease.

Of the slasher flicks I went to see in the 80’s, the best audience response I experienced was during the original Friday the 13th, though When a Stranger Calls was a close second. Stranger, however, didn’t sustain the audience involvement the way F13th did. It’s hard to believe today, but the tension in the air at that F13th screening was palpable. Each kill was greeted with a communal scream from the audience, giving us non-screamers a rush as people everywhere around us lifted out of their seats. And that ending, stolen fresh from Carrie, ensured that everyone was talking about the movie as they left the theatre and into the next day at work/school.

Today, though that communal slasher movie theatre experience is for the most part gone, slasher flicks from their golden age are available uncut and pristine on DVD and Blu-ray anywhere. Can’t find them at your local retailer or rental shop? Just order them online. Flicks that even die hard slasher fans dismissed in the day are being reevaluated and enjoyed for what they have to offer (I’m talking to you, Pieces). And this, I think, is one of the great lessons we can learn from Retro Slashers: You never know what piece of today’s “trash” is going to be tomorrow’s treasure. Now go find a red leather zipper jacket to put on, drop the needle on some Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, and pop Don’t Go Into the House into the VHS machine (or do you have Beta?). A gnarly experience is waiting.

Here we go again, another gem that’s been lambasted by critics armchair and professional alike: BCI Eclipse have dug up Robert Hammer’s 1980 sleaze-o-rama Don’t Answer The Phone and given it an uncut release. I do like my slashers but serial killers employing strangulation instead of the good ol’ butcher’s knife struck me as too dull in the past - this flick was a shock to that system. An all-too-human killer played by Nicholas Worth saunters around in an army-camo jacket doing women in with stockings. In between, he taunts a psychologist over call-in radio with a creepy Mexican voice. His victims aren’t all airheads we cheer on to die nor carefully developed characters we earnestly want to live, they’re mostly real seeming women who had the bad fortune to be targeted, and get terrorized and killed in most uncinematic ways. The Killer, with his sweaty balding head leering over them, is a complete psychotic that operates by his own indecipherable world logic. Police procedural breaks up the time spent with the killer, but I wanted to wash myself after watching this. Sadly, real life is the sequel to Don’t Answer The Phone - because there are slimeball nutjobs like this one out there in everyday life.

Audio/Visual:
The 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen is suitably cleaned up but thankfully the late 70’s hasn’t been digitally scrubbed out - this is a gritty flick that relies on its street-level charm/repulsion (take your pick). I’m not sure such high-pitched anguished female screams would need to be in more elaborate multi-channel encoding then the mono sound on offer, so no problems there.

Supplements:
A featurette, Digital Roadshow’s Answering The Phone is directed by Bruce Holecheck and interviews the man behind the serial killer, actor [and now the late] Nicholas Worth. He’s a kind man who chooses his words carefully, so everything he has to say is interesting or important. The Audio Commentary by writer/producer/director Robert Hammer & moderator Shane M. Dallmann covers the whole spectrum of the film’s origin-to-release. Hammer offers free flowing info for Dallmann who prods with a scholarly voice.

Two Easter Eggs are present - on the special features page highlight Off on the commentary option then press Up. The icon will disappear - so then press Right to reveal a red camera icon that opens up more Nicholas Worth footage of the man discussing his other movie roles. The other is footage found after the film when the audio commentary track is on and is best described as commentary on the commentary! Also, an introduction to the film by Hammer & Dallmann autoplays with the film but isn’t advertised on the packaging, so could well be considered an egg itself. Rounding out the disc are the customary lesser extras like the Still Gallery of on-set snaps which runs in montage and trailers for the film and lurid brethren The Hearse, Blood Mania and Roberta (Snuff) Findlay’s Prime Evil.

Graphics:
The classic white text and red phone artwork is reproduced for the cover with subtle enhancements, and comes in a nice plastic-embossed cardboard slipcase. Menu animation featuring bloody razorwire doesn’t overwhelm like others tend to do (and keep us waiting forever until we can pick an option!).

Movie:
Liberal nudity, blood drenched murder shots and a menagerie of quirky characters contribute to this 1987 parcel of fun. It’s what made Cheerleader Camp the Cinemax staple that primarily exposed it to its many praisers. But the standout element is the central character of Alison Wentworth (Betsy Russell). Alison is not only frigid but self absorbed, evoking not sympathy but satisfaction at the terrors she faces throughout. Save for, perhaps, the implications of the final twist, which manages to brew a sense of unease in the viewer’s stomach.

Audio/Visual:
Anchor Bay, as per usual, have implemented a first rate restoration, due in part to acquisition of the original negative. In conjunction with the letterbox framing, it reveals up to now unseen or unnoticed detail, such as an atmospheric set design and the vibrant colors of the girls’ camp uniforms, important when you’re staring at their chests for so long. Also, some off-putting close-ups from the old VHS are now visible in their correct framing/composition. Sound is clear enough in Dolby Mono - let’s agree off the bat that the sound of older films like this don’t benefit from being pulled apart and re-assembled into artificial sounding Dolby 5.1 tracks. The spooky nightmare laughs are all that assault the speakers, and all that need to.

Supplements:
There’s a simple way to divide a bare bones from a special edition: whether a disc has an audio commentary or not. If it does, and especially for Anchor Bay, it means the participants can usually provide materials for other extras. That’s what we have here. Director John Quinn and producer Jeff Prettyman lend their voiceovers, detailing everything you’d want to know about the flick. The information contained leads the listener to a newfound respect for many of the cast, especially Lief Garret (Brett) and Lucinda Dickey (Cory). I gotta grumble though, at the creators insistence that a whole bunch of dallies they had access to (with slight variations/extensions of scenes) weren’t worth including on the disc.

Three trailers seem almost identical but provide a subtle look at the evolution of the film’s marketing. An easter egg reveals a fourth: a promotional trailer composed of rough cut timecoded footage. An alternate title sequence is included under the original title, which is what everyone outside of the USA will be well accustomed to already.

On to the Still Gallery. Quinn contributes a stack of clear on-set photos that give visual insight to the production, but the gravy is a fabulously garish airbrushed foreign cover art - depicting an image that in no way matches any scene in the film. Ah, those were the days.

Leading slasher journalist Adam Rockoff has penned the liner notes for an included booklet (brief at two pages, but not loaded with photo padding) which thankfully doesn’t come off as too repetitious in spite of the commentary (as a few in the past have been prone to). The text ends with a paragraph on the fabled sequel - an ideal lead-in to our own extensive investigation that we’ve carried out over the years here at Retro Slashers.

Graphics:
AB have thankfully used the original artwork on the cover, altered only to include the principle actors’ names up top. The cheerleading skeleton is probably what most first remember about the film - that and mistaking it for Return to Horror High. The menu screens by Crest National’s facilities are of usual top quality - always a perfect mood setter for the film ahead in an age when menu screens look like glorified video games.

1. Sam Kinison’s The Honeymoon Killer: This comedy slasher involved a madman killing new brides as they finished their wedding vows. As the killer makes his escape from the church he screams “YOU’ll THANK ME LATER” at the groom. Kinison really wanted to make this but Hollywood studios and independent producers rejected his treatment for the film. There was a chance New Line could have made this as part of Kinison’s two picture deal with the studio, but Kinison died a few days before he could sign the contracts.

2. Lover’s Lane: This was announced way back in Fangoria #10 as Emmett Alston’s follow up to New Year’s Evil. It was supposed to be released by the Cannon Group after they released X-Ray (a.k.a. Hospital Massacre). Wayne Newton was set to star but the film was never made.

3. Nightmare Weekend: In 1981 the script for Nightmare Weekend was heralded for its originality but it never got past the planning stages at New World Pictures. The killer dies before the opening credits but comes back as a zombie stalking a group of teenagers looking for a party. The murder weapon of choice was to be a really sharp hook. Troma released a film titled Nightmare Weekend in 1985 but it has nothing in common with this lost slasher.

4. The Boarding House: This film was announced in 1982 and was to star Angus Scrimm, Robert Quarry, Reggie Nalder, and Linda Blair’s sister, Deborah Blair. The film was never made but a poster was produced to help drum up investors. The artwork shows The Groundskeeper (Scrimm) carrying a dead girl in his arms. Quarry is a priest holding a cross. Reggie Nalder seems to be holding a razor or knife. Below the image of Scrimm is a hooded figure about to plunge a machete into the torso of a nude woman. Not to be confused with Boarding House, John Wintergate’s brain damaged classic starring Jonema.

Happy Hell Night missed the slasher frenzy by almost a decade but it’s still a pretty good attempt at a straightforward horror movie. As legend has it, twenty-five years ago seven students were slaughtered by a seemingly unstoppable force named Malius (Charles Cragin). The survivors - a student (played by a very young Sam Rockwell) and a priest (Irfan Mensur) forged ahead to a new life while Malius remained locked up at the local loony bin, eating nothing but bugs and sitting in a musty, old cell. Now it’s the present day and Blood-Soaked U is celebrating Hell Night. Strangely there’s only two initiates, one being Sonny (Franke John Hughes), a motorcycle riding rebel whose brother, Eric (the very handsome Nick Gregory), is the president of the fraternity. Oh yeah, and Sonny is doing the naked pretzel with Eric’s girlfriend, Liz (Laura Carney). So when fellow frat brother, Bara (Ted Clark), who runs a campus television show, comes up with the daring idea to sneak into the nut house and snap a picture of Malius, Eric is only too happy to send his deceitful brother on his way. Unfortunately, things go awry and Malius escapes with only one thing on his mind: murder.

This Canadian/Russian co-production wisely took a more serious approach to an already worn out premise. Although the small budget, choppy editing and time lapses are sadly apparent (two of the actors have totally different hair styles by the second half of the film) Happy Hell Night manages to maintain a sinister atmosphere. Some of the carnage is pretty top notch too. Armed with a trusty pickaxe, Malius does some major damaged to a few of the more indiscreet students.

Happy Hell Night has several strong points. The two male leads are excellent in their prospective roles and the love triangle actually supports the great, downbeat ending. Now when was the last time a subplot came into play in a slasher flick? That’s like, sooo 1982! Both Nick Gregory and Franke John Hughes have gone on to fairly successful careers. In fact, this film is brimming with now familiar faces including Jorja Fox and the above referenced Rockwell. Darrin McGavin also shows up to help get the bloodshed flowing but puts in a rather cardboard performance. It’s easy to see that he was slumming it, but he barely even manages to look alive in his few scenes. Cragin makes an awesomely malevolent Malius. His black eyes and old man/baby face are haunting. Cragin only made a few films, but he truly looks like he was made to scare the pants off an unsuspecting audience.

Ted Clark gives the film a breath of brevity as well. As Bara, he’s an annoying brat with a bad mullet, but he’s given the best lines in the movie and does not disappoint in their delivery. It’s worth the price of a rental just to hear lines like “They get the bitches and I get the riches,” “You got the willies or what,” and “While you were out fucking the dog…” A decade later, Clark would become one of the backwoods hillbillies in another underrated gem, Wrong Turn. Director and co-writer Brian Owens didn’t find much fame after Happy Hell Night, though he did go on to pen the dismal Brainscan, and it’s unfortunate since although it’s not perfect, this movie is overflowing with flickers of talent. The image of the squirming Jesus statue looks like it came right out of a fever dream. If only Owens been given a bigger budget and a better time frame, who knows what this film might have become. Give it a shot, you could do a lot worse.

Guest Reviewer: Steven Lewis

There will be buckets of pity given to any person who doesn’t like watching prissy sorority girls receiving rightfully what they deserve - a brutal death.  Most of us horror hounds saw this past year’s Sorority Row, but how many of the casual horror fans or just the casual movie goers know that this was only a remake?  The House on Sorority Row is the 26 year old original that gave life to it’s remake counterpart.  Much has changed between these two films alotted their two decades - the music, the fashion and even the presentations of the women - but one thing hasn’t changed and that is morbid fatalities.  Liberation Entertainment revives this classic by releasing the 25th anniversary edition!

The school year comes to an end and seven graduating girls of the Theta Pi sorority celebrate by throwing a huge party at their sorority house.  Unfortunately, house matron Ms. Dorothy Slatter doesn’t share their enthusiasm and reaches bitch-levels heights of hell among the young and beautiful greek ladies.  They decide to pull a prank on their house mother in retributive spite but when the prank goes array, Ms. Slatter ends up dead and the girls freak out, tossing her deceased body into the filthy sorority pool and keeping it their secret.  As the night and the party progresses, one by one the girls begin to disappear only to be found later gruesomely murdered.  With Ms. Slatter’s body missing from the pool, the girls suspect she has risen from the depths and has pledged revenge on their dastardly deed.

Director Mark Rosman has done a fantastic job with expressing the fear among the ladies.  One scene stands out in particular to me and it is during the first scenes of the party.  Scattered among the party goes, the Theta Pis, just moments after throwing a deceased body into the pool, are the sole gloom looking individuals of the festivities surrounding them and there is a medium length shot of them looking at one another from across the room, each having the same worried expression.  With all them having the same feeling, I thought to myself on how nice to actually see that for once.  I’m tired of having the overly expressed bitch of the group who can be okay with murder and keep on with her life as if nothing ever happened.  Eileen Davidson’s character Vicki is the closest to being that said labeled bitch but in the end, she is just as scared and as frightened as her lesser intense personality sorority sisters.

The gore effects are nearly implied.  There were a few scenes of actual showing of the deaths and the ones that were displayed were sorely bland, aka boring as hell, when compared to other early 80’s films.  We are subjected to shadow deaths and cut scenes that quickly transition right in the middle of the murderous act.  The blood is there; I can’t neglect the severed head in the toilet or the sharp point of the walking cane impaling the eye.  These are notable points of interest, but they’re viewable length is too brief for horror comfort standards.

With a horror movie that deals with a lot of chicks, I’m always guaranteed for an abundance of nude scenes and sexy sex.  Not the case here as we are teased with Vicki’s one topless scene and a short and brief ass cameo.  Not that I’m complaining about Eileen Davidson’s scenes but I would have loved to see more of her co-star Jodi Draigie who played Morgan - yummy!

Enough with the gore and sex, I know that is all you readers want to talk about but lets get back to the plot.  Shooting back to 1961, twenty years earlier, Ms. Slatter was pregnant but supposedly lost her child do to a willing experiment ran by Dr. Beck.  However, Ms Slatter hides her secret and her “dead” child who bares abnormalities that could soon result in a psychotic breakdown.  This plot is a bit far-fetched for the setting that it is, but it is still simple enough to work amongst the sorority grads.  What better way to off beautiful young girls than to have a freak of nature do it?  We never see what the freak looks like but when he dawns the joker mask and outfit, I didn’t really care what his facial features were for that mask was truly scary and the way it was introduced could make anybody crap their pants.

Liberation Entertainment’s 25th Anniversary edition replaces the outdated Elite Entertainment’s out of print version and will be the only active edition out there in the world.  With it’s release now on retail shelves, you can check out its 16×9 widescreen presentation, storyboard comparisons and an alternate ending presentation which I believe to be better than the original.  Don’t miss out on The House on Sorority Row if you’re a fan of the remake and remember girls, pledge Theta Pi or…Die!!!

I hate posting R.I.P.s, but here’s a great that’s passing is gonna go unnoticed by far too many. Code Red DVD have been the bearer of bad news that Tony Fish, AKA the legendary T.P. from Madman (1982) passed away in 2009.

I couldn’t locate a good picture and it seemed in bad taste to show his character’s death scene (which, it has to be said, is one of the best shot, acted and edited kill scenes in slasher history) so I’ll leave you with the mark of man’s highest achievement: the self-named belt buckle. Pay your respects.

Rob Zombie’s commentary reveals the production/filming of Halloween II was one giant cluster fuck of mistakes, studio tampering, sudden cuts in budget and  shooting days, bad weather, and an insane race to finish the film before the August theatrical release.  Zombie also explains plot points that confused fans, making clear Debra Myers (Sheri Moon Zombie) is just a hallucination produced by Michael’s diseased mind, not a real ghost.  Some of the anecdotes about the actors and locations are pretty humorous, especially the one about residents in Georgia calling 911 when they saw the fake signs for Haddonfield’s most famous strip club.  Considering all of the behind-the-scenes drama involved it’s amazing Zombie managed to finish and release the film on time.

The deleted/alternate scenes special feature shows a mask-less Michael killing the stripper, Big Lou, and a delivery driver.  A deleted scene involving one of Laurie’s hallucinations shows Michael hanging a girl from a tree in front of a playground full of children.  It’s a disturbing scene that should’ve been left in the final version.  Danielle Harris fans will enjoy her additional scenes including an encounter with a comic book geek trying to seduce her with promises of tickets to a comic con.

Other special features include audition footage, make-up test footage, blooper reel, a music video of Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures, and all of Uncle Seymour Coffins’ stand up routine at the Halloween party.  There are plenty of previews for other Sony releases but none for Halloween II.  The blooper reel footage is entertaining but short.  Uncle Seymour’s bit is really just the ramblings of a sad drunk too wasted to know it’s time to get off the stage.  At least there are plenty of strippers on stage to distract the viewer from the bad jokes. 

If you hated the theatrical version I doubt there is much here to change your mind about Zombie’s handling of the franchise.  I know all of those fans angry over Laurie’s sudden evil turn in the theatrical version will hate to learn she is pretty much bat shit crazy at the beginning of this version.  Both versions of the film suffer some of the same weaknesses.  Malcolm McDowell’s Loomis is still an unlikable prick and that damn white horse is still a stupid plot point that should’ve been deleted.  Overall, though, the director’s cut of Halloween II is a much better film than the theatrical version.  If you loved, liked, or thought the theatrical version had some promise, then you should really enjoy the director’s cut.

Liberation Entertainment unleash Mark Rosman’s The House On Sorority Row from the attic on Jan 12th. Looks like a decent upgrade from the OOP Elite barebones, and contains a photo and commentary of the lost ending where the heroine is found dead in the pool dressed up in Eric Slater’s clown costume.

A cult classic slasher film that delivers suspense, murder, mystery…and yes co-eds. Flirtatious young sorority sisters who are days away from graduation set out to throw one last decadent celebration. Unbeknownst to them, the strict matron of their house hides a horrendous secret thought long buried. A gruesome accident is witnessed by a hideous fiend, hidden within the once nurturing dwelling, which triggers a rampage of death and destruction. Before the end, the peril faced by this sisterhood will push them to the brink of annihilation. And rivers of blood will drown all who enter…The House On Sorority Row.

Extras:
Trailer
Photo Gallery
Commentary by Mark Rosman, Eileen Davidson and Kathryn McNeil
Storyboard Comparisons
Alternate Ending Presentation

Movie:
A night shift for the clerks and shelvers at a suburban supermarket is going to be their last. Not just because it’s soon closing for good, but because someone is using the Deli tools to butcher the crew. “Half Off” indeed. Scott Spiegel’s Intruder is an underrated slasher due to the infamous mangling it received by Paramount for it’s original 1989 release. But now it’s here Uncut, and can be judged in it’s true context. What makes the movie stand out from the pack are inventive camera angles, likable characters and a littering of details that ring true for retail clerks.

Audio/Visual:
As is the norm with many Band releases, the transfer is Full Frame. It appears to not be Pan & Scan, which is a good thing, but Open Matte. The reason I suspect that is because there is too much vertical room above character’s heads. This ruins Spiegel’s deliciously framed shots, but at least you’re getting all of the horizontal. It’s a double edged sword. Black levels are too light, but instead of whining about that I fiddled with my contrast bright levels on the ol’ TV until I found a happy medium. The source of the print is unknown, but the quality places it firmly under a film remastering, but firmly above VHS. The sound is crisp and clear enough to satisfy. No background hiss at all, thankfully.

Supplements:
None, which would usually preclude covering it (we are special edition focused where our DVD reviews are concerned) but it is an important DVD release nonetheless. It took over fifteen years to get the film released uncut in an official, readily purchasable form, so I’m keeping that in mind to keep my thoughts grounded here. Sure, I think the movie needs another release down the line with a widescreen transfer and extras featuring the co-operation of Spiegel and the Raimis (those Evil Dead S.E.’s are gold) but for now, it does the job of getting the film out there in a way it was meant to be seen - uncut. It should be noted that there is a trailer included, but it’s a modern-cut and gives away the identity of the killer. Steer clear or you’ll be struck like a deer.

Graphics:
The green artwork and slanted logo implemented for the menu screens is more in tune with the Evil Dead films if anything - and seeing as how this movie shares many principle cast and crew from those flicks I can see why it was chosen. The cover art is nice and stark, sure to reach out to eyes on the store shelves. The only thing that bugs me is the crudely photoshopped Bruce Campbell from Army of Darkness into an Intruder shot on the back cover. Campbell is in the film all of one minute at the end (he doesn’t even get a close-up) and I’m fine with his name being on the front of the DVD to attract sales, because this is a movie the diehard Evil Dead fanboys will want for their collections anyway, but that fake image crosses the marketing line.

Here’s a bizarre story some of you may have missed. Eli Roth, during a recent trip to Mexico, was attacked by a pissed off gang of sea urchins. A rogue wave crashed into Roth and drove the director into sea urchin infested waters. The sea urchins greeted Roth by stabbing him several hundred times with their spines. Roth was able to fend off the attacks with his hands and feet.

When Roth finally made it back to shore he was stopped by two drunken fans who wanted the injured director to join their party. The fans had to settle for bloody handshakes. At the hospital, Roth was informed no anesthetic would be used while a doctor removed the hundreds of needle sharp spines with a pair of tweezers. During recovery, Roth sent his vacation-from-hell story and photos of his shredded foot to the website TMZ.

To read Roth’s harrowing account of his near death encounter and see images of his foot click here: www.tmz.com/2010/01/06/eli-roth-inglourious-basterds-mexico/

1989 was full of uncertainty. Like George Michael’s sexuality for instance, and this oddball black comedy slasher.
Offerings was a regional horror movie shot in Oklahoma and is a total rip-off of Halloween. However, it also likens itself to Rob Zombie’s remake by giving the killer a motive. It’s also a little bit like Prom Night, Slumber Party Massacre, He Knows You’re Alone (already considered a Halloween rip-off by many), I, Madman (which also came out in 89) and almost any other slasher you might have caught in the 80s. It’s obvious that writer/director Christopher Reynolds was an avid fan of these films, combining many of the best elements of each one. However, Offerings is still quite the mixed bag.

Little John Radley leads a horrible life. Struck mute after his father takes off, he’s stuck with his angry mother who loves to taunt the kid at every turn. In fact, he’s kind of the taunting toy in his small town. It seems no one but pretty little Gretchen likes him. The neighborhood kids lure him to a well and then “accidentally” cause him to fall inside it. Flash forward ten years, and John, who now has some creepy facial scars, is living mostly sedated in a mental hospital. Not only did he fall down that well, but he ended up eating his mother. Talk about pent up aggression! Anyway, the new nurse on duty gets kacked and John escapes, heading back to his old town and to Gretchen. Apparently in his unspoken gratitude and undying love, John has decided to kill the kids who goaded him into the well and remove parts of their body and give them to Gretchen as gifts. Hot on John’s heels are the fatty-boom-balatty sheriff and this Dr. Loomis type who is a college professor.

The weird thing about Offerings is that although it’s a blatant rip-off of Halloween all the way down to the score, it’s also a little unique in the way it plays things out. Unfortunately, as is the case with many regionally shot indies, it’s just not particularly engaging.

The other weird thing about this movie is the copious amounts of black humor, especially in the death scenes. I first saw this movie in the early 90s and remember finding Offerings to be the kind of film where the low budget works in its favor and not against it. A few years later, I picked it up again, out of curiosity and thought the opposite. Upon this last viewing, I fell somewhere in the middle. The humor – like the vice grip scene or the parents eating cake at 3 am in matching robes – are surprisingly well played out, but the overall absurdity falls flat against the rest of the film. That’s too bad, because Offerings had a chance to, uh, offer something fresh to the already tired genre.

It’s the near future and young adults are divided into two factions: the ‘Frats’, the privileged college upperclass, and the poverty-stricken ‘Mutants’, a society of punk protestors. We start out with each group separately but in mirrored situations – a pack of ‘bad’ frat members are in trouble for repeated pranks on a ‘good’ frat, while on the punks’ side of the city, ironically-named peaceful leader Eddie Pain scolds nuclear-scarred metal-armoured Splatter for actions that make his name not at all ironic. It’s when the troublemaking frat boys are sent out to kidnap a Mutant for a party prank that the two groups collide, and Splatter seizes the opportunity to murder Eddie, which defaults himself to leader status, and pin it all on the fratboys, which results in a chase movie with slasher overtones where escape seems impossible.

Ronald W. Moore (who also co-wrote with Kathleen M. Hagan) shot this as Splatter around the midpoint of the 80’s, perhaps the best time to make a genre film. Advertising played up the Texas Chainsaw Massacre connection of having Ed Neal and Marilyn Burns in the same film again, but the links are stronger. This was shot in Austin, Texas, and a TCM poster can even be seen in a shop window in one scene. Yet Future-Kill doesn’t emulate the famous other, in fact it goes out of its way to be a 180 degree counterpoint. Instead of a rural setting and retarded killer wielding second-hand-hardware, we have the inner city, and a calculating, technologically superior killer.

After playing the Hitchhiker, it’s good to see Ed Neal (who also wore a producer’s hat on this) bumped up to lead villain status. I personally find Splatter a more textured badguy then Leatherface. I was entranced by the number of technogadgets housed in Splatter’s armour, which reveal themselves as the film progresses, usually in methods of murder. Except one time after being humiliated by a hooker, when Splatter gets all low-tech on the girl and we’re treated to death by corrugated iron. Marilyn Burns looks pretty rough in the character of Dorothy Grim, a past-her-prime punk (and Splatter’s missus) who’s a far cry from sweet Sally Hardesty.

And that’s what this movie is about: polarized opposites. It’s set up as a frat comedy in the Animal House vein only to turn upside down into a serious violent film at the end of the first act. Anyone who tuned in blind on cable would have had one hell of a surprise at this point. The story also illustrates a massive ecological and cultural divide in future society, which in the 80’s we seemed to be moving towards (with the decades’ emphasis on material goods). Yes, behind the gore and exploitation framework this is a ‘message’ movie, I generally don’t care if that’s implied subtly or waved with a giant waving sign, all that matters is that saying something with the film was important to the creators.

Almost every reviewer loves to point out that the poster art is far better then the film. I tell you, they must think they’re geniuses for each coming up with that tired zinger. Let’s examine: would they prefer films to have cover art somehow psychically tailored to their specific like or dislike of a film? Terrific covers are what got us video store generation horror fans to pick up movies like this of unknown quality that we otherwise wouldn’t consider. There’s also the fact that it was designed by Alien’s HR Giger (after initial shooting, reportedly) which immediately sets his art a high bar not even a multimillion dollar budget could eclipse (See: Species). So comments like that are real cheap shots. To play devil’s advocate, HR’s art, drowned in silver is a slight misleading, pointing toward a more sci-fi tone. Giger did also design an alternative piece which skews completely the other way, into horror imagery. I prefer our Australian version of the art, which only adds some blue and red hues to provide a more balanced cover accurate representational of the film’s interior.

Future-Kill (which I grew up thinking was called Future Hill due to the title font) gives me such a rush every viewing. My favourite supporting player is Tom (Barton Faulks from the also excellent Edge of the Axe). He took the transition from carefree jokester to adrenelised killer in two easy steps (1. face being about to die, 2. strike first). Credit also goes to the black hole urban cityscape of decayed brick, rusted iron and sparse neon that backdrops the blood, sweat and fears. The musical score by Robert Renfrow (Interview) is a downbeat but hopeful synth track. Let’s also pay due to some hilariously filthy lines like “I’d rather suck off a ballbag”, “you worthless shit-cunt”, “let’s score some gash” and “tonight’s feature: the worm in the cage… in 3D”.

And Freddy is waiting for you!

The official website for the upcoming (and sure to be definitive) documenatry on the Elm Street series has gone live.

The documentary, which began filmming in August of 2009, should prove to be all intensive. Brought to you by Dan Farrands who put together His Name was Jason, has assembled an amazing list of people who were involved in the making of the beloved, and undying, series.

Farrands’ co-director Andrew Kasch said, “The Nightmare series has long been regarded as the most high-brow and creative of the mega horror franchises, so our goal is to make a film that reflects those qualities. While His Name Was Jason was campy and off-the-wall, this documentary will offer a serious chronological account of the creative process – the hardships and triumphs behind one of Hollywood’s most iconic characters. Above all else, this is not a fluff or
promotional piece for the upcoming remake but rather will focus on the original series of films that began with Wes Craven’s 1984 classic.”

You can also also follow the documentary on:
Facebook
MySpace
Twitter

Also, check out the awesome Nighmare on Elm Street website (no associated with the doc), which is run by Wil at Horror Yearbook… aka one of my favorite people!