The Grindhouse Report

[OSJ]

1 minute ago, J.T. said:

I am sad (proud?) to admit that I have seen every one of the Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS films in an actual movie theater.

Wait a minute, they showed that shit in a real movie theatre? They don't even have the balls to do that at the midnight movies during the Seattle film fest when they have showed weird shit like Bad Taste and Chopper Chicks in Zombietown.

[J.T.]

11 minutes ago, OSJ said:

Wait a minute, they showed that shit in a real movie theatre? They don't even have the balls to do that at the midnight movies during the Seattle film fest when they have showed weird shit like Bad Taste and Chopper Chicks in Zombietown.

This was in the late 90's when Midnight Movie showings still had teeth.

I would go and see their "watch this without puking or fainting and you get a free pass!" movie and then use my free pass to check out the freaky exploitation movie of the month..

[OSJ]

When we had our big house in Wallingford we used to do movie night pretty frequently and have a bunch of friends over. I'd start with something pretty innocuous like one of the Deathstalker films and then move up to Ilsa or some similar shit that would empty the house except for my buddy Larry, who was every bit as hardcore as I am.

[J.T.]

Fun Fact:  Ilsa / She Wolf was filmed on the same set as the television show, Hogan's Heroes, in Culver City, CA. 

The show had already been cancelled, so the producers of Hogan's Heroes allowed Ilsa / SS to be filmed on the same set under one condition.

The scene at the end where Ilsa's camp is burned to the ground is real.  The makers of Ilsa promised to actually set the buildings on fire to save the producers of Hogan's Heroes from having to spend money to have the set torn down or demolished.

[OSJ]

2 minutes ago, J.T. said:

Fun Fact:  Ilsa / She Wolf was filmed on the same set as the television show, Hogan's Heroes, in Culver City, CA. 

The show had already been cancelled, so the producers of Hogan's Heroes allowed Ilsa / SS to be filmed on the same set under one condition.

The scene at the end where Ilsa's camp is burned to the ground is real.  The makes of Ilsa promised to actually set the buildings on fire to save the producers of Hogan's Heroes from having to spend money to have the set torn down or demolished.

What do ya want to bet that Bob Crane was there to film Dyanne Thorne getting nekkid?

[nate]

I'm crossposting to the Grindhouse and Collectors threads:

Vinegar Syndrome is having a "Halfway to Black Friday" Memorial Day sale, 50% off everything (except the most recent releases).  They've got a remarkable amount of exploitation available.

 

Sale ends Monday, I think. Maybe Tuesday.  Starts tomorrow.

[bobholly138]

5 hours ago, J.T. said:

This store could only exist in a small town in New Jersey and the clerk would be an elderly woman that keeps a shotgun behind the counter.

WE HAVE NO ADULT FILMS FOR SALE~!  DO NOT ASK~!

 

It was a small town in coastal Mississippi,well if you consider Pascagoula MS small.. And ran by a mother and son. They also had most of the John Waters films. The place had a great selection of back catalog titles.

[bobholly138]

5 hours ago, J.T. said:

I am sad (proud?) to admit that I have seen every one of the Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS films in an actual movie theater.

Midnight showing to be certain, but in a movie theater all the same.

I saw the first one on VHS...think it was   a bootleg. Then saw the other 3 in the early 2000s. Thru dvd or bootleg DVD-rs. Got the Anchor Bay three pack extremely cheap at the crackhead flea market not long after it came out.

[bobholly138]

5 hours ago, OSJ said:

No, it existed in Seattle as Vertigo Video, one half of the store was devoted to gay porn, the other half to the type of film that only you and I would know... 

The owner, Bob Cleere (RIP, a victim of AIDS), and I would go through catalogs from distributors looking for weird shit like Lady Terminator. Tapes were expensive way back them, average about $50.00 before quantity discounts. Last Orgy of the Third Reich ran him $140.00 as he had to get it from a private collector. Some of this stuff just sat, but he told me he wore out three sets of the Ilsa movies... So those made up for some Lady Terminator that Bob and I were probably the only people to watch it more than once.

This was Take 3 Video. A MOm and Pop place. that managed to survive for 5 years or so after Blockbuster invaded the area. But it was mostly cause they rented porn and had a good horror/cult movie section. Was the only place I have seen Last House on Dead End Street for rent. 

[J.T.]

12 hours ago, bobholly138 said:

It was a small town in coastal Mississippi,well if you consider Pascagoula MS small.. And ran by a mother and son. They also had most of the John Waters films. The place had a great selection of back catalog titles.

I am ashamed to admit that I would pray for this store to close its doors forever so that I could swoop in and buy the library.

[piranesi]

On 5/23/2018 at 7:40 PM, odessasteps said:

Now, In honor of Clint Walker’s passing, a review of Killdozer please...

 

 

[piranesi]

Watching a low-rent Canadian Nightmare On Elm St./Body Snatchers kncokoff called THE BRAIN (1988) that stars David Gale (Re-Animator) and googling around people in it and found the best IMDB photo ever.  For someone who is only in a few movies, that one photo can sum up your entire career as far as the endless archive of the intrnet is concerned.  Ladies and Gentleman, say hello to Chrsitine Kossak (this image should also be all the enticement you need to find and watch THE BRAIN.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Guys, a giant brain just jumped on Christine Kossak's face and then it opened up and ate her, like absorbed her whole body and David Gale looked up and said.

 

Spoiler

"Well.....that's food for thought."

 

GUYS!!! taht happened!!!

[piranesi]

This movie, THE BRAIN (1988) also has George Buza in it.  You've seen/heard him in SO MUCH STUFF!!!

 

 

 

And because of how the internet bots work this exists:

 

The answer...is intriguing...

 

 

 

[(BP)]

Buza's greatest credit in my book is as the adult-sized baby in the Canadian television adaptation of Maniac Mansion starring Joe Flaherty. The Family Channel played it all of the time when I was a kid (how that got past Pat Robertson I have no idea.) 

[piranesi]

3 minutes ago, (BP) said:

Buza's greatest credit in my book is as the adult-sized baby in the Canadian television adaptation of Maniac Mansion starring Joe Flaherty. The Family Channel played it all of the time when I was a kid (how that got past Pat Robertson I have no idea.) 

 

[piranesi]

Has anyone here ever seen a 1985 ultra-low budget (like credit-card financed) movie called "The Passing"?

 

It's directed/written/funded by/starred in by a guy named John Huckert.  And it is amazing.

It's a "sci fi" movie in the same way that UNBREAKABLE is a superhero movie. The writing is so amazing and the characters are like John Waters characters if they were likable. It also looks similar to an (early and at his most budgetless) John Waters movie. In fact I'd say it has roughly the same kind of genius but put to use in a very different genre.

The strange editing and fragmented storytelling is both unsettling and always manages to make sense (thanks to the deft deployment of exposition dialog in little touches that don't feel like exposition). The acting is amateur but it ends up making it feel like  some sort of horrible documentary, like in a LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT sense. The use of music is brilliant. This guy basically took no resources and made something artful and intense and emotionally stirring, all while also making a fairly exploitive revenge/horror/sytopian sci-fi movie.

It is in a few places horribly violent and in others really touchingly funny and genuinely sad. 

I don't want to give any of it away in case you go looking for it. But the opening scene doesn't seem like there will be much there, though it has a gritty violence to it.  Then there is a sudden jump to this amazing tale of friendship between two old, dying war buddies living together in poverty.  Then gradually the two merge into an actually interesting sci-fi short-story style premise with shades of GET OUT. And even with what seems like a budget in the tens of dollars one genuinely nightmarish visual effect near the end that is so striking it should be iconic.

Ernie and Rose:

Just to give you a sense of the hidden genius of this, here is a quick and very moving dialog exchange between Ernie and Rose. Ernie and Rose are WWII vets. Ernie's wife has died and Rose, his old war buddy, has moved in with him so Ernie can take care of him. They are increasingly worried that they are nearly too old to be able to care for each other anymore and Ernie is trying to talk Rose into  committing suicide with him.

Ernie: Are you scared of dying?

Rose: Oh no...Dying is a punishment...to some...to some it's a gift. And to some it's a favor.

Ernie: Who said that?

Rose: A Senator.

Ernie: Well...I guess...we...uh....need a favor.

 

But this is followed by a sight gag that is literally out of a Laurel & Hardy movie.

Also note: John Huckert is probably most well-known for writing DINOCROC.

ANyone heard of this?????

 

EDIT: OMG EVEN THE END CREDITS ARE AMAZING. THEY ARE UNFOLDING ON A CRT COMPUTER SCREEN CLEARLY PROGRAMMED IN BASIC AND IT IS SO ODDLY AFFECTING!!!!

 

EDIT 2: HOLY SHIT, the end credits also include an entire second set of credits labelled "cutting room floor" for all the people involved in a subplot about an STD virus that was apparently dropped from the movie because while he was editing the film the AIDS crisis became a widely publicized thing and John Huckert thought it was be disprespectful to include an STD subplot. Which means he dropped probably 30 minutes of storyline and then just streched out what he had to 96 minutes and somehow with all that stretching never lost me for a second!

 

EDIT 3: You are FUCKING KIDDING ME! There is an end credits surprise of the actor who played Ernie introducing himself and singing a song for us about reincarnation.

 

[nate]

My movie watching group meets tomorrow, and it was my pick.  I'm going with a "maniac" theme:

Maniac (1980); Maniac (1934); Neon Maniacs; and Maniac Cop 2.

I expect great things.  GREAT things.

[Curt McGirt]

You might want to take a page out of John's book and play Maniac '80 last. Dunno the constitution of your friends, but I bet the first scalping might end up being a deal-breaker for some folks.

[nate]

22 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

You might want to take a page out of John's book and play Maniac '80 last. Dunno the constitution of your friends, but I bet the first scalping might end up being a deal-breaker for some folks.

Well, I'm only taking Maniac '80 because it was requested by one of the other dudes (which kinda violates the spirit of the whole thing where we switch off each meeting), but when he simply said, "Do you have 'Maniac'?  I wanna see that.", my plan all along was to take Maniac '34, then 'Neon' and 'Cop 2', but I'm still taking '80 so dude doesn't act like a damp rag diaper baby.

Tl;dr, Maniac '80 on last, it is.  Hopefully we run up into HIAC time.

[FluffSnackwell]

Spoiler alert: I guess the Neon Maniacs aren't any bigger pussies than the aliens from Signs for being so easily vanquished by H-2-0. 

The featured film at my first bad movie night was Bloodsuckers From Outer Space. That was way before I'd acquired such a taste for awful garbage. I recently bought it on DVD on the cheap before I realized it was getting a brand new Blu Ray. It's all good though. I can't imagine the format upgrade is worth the extra fifteen bucks. 

 

 

[Curt McGirt]

Now I'm wondering if he meant the Frodo Baggins Maniac instead of the Willie Cicci Maniac. If he wants Elijah Wood he's gonna be sorely disappointed.

[Curt McGirt]

Okay, if the Maniac fest ended up going down, we need a report. Who threw up/left? Who got high and laughed too hard at the '34 Maniac? Who couldn't remember who Robert Davi was and where they remembered him from? 

[FluffSnackwell]

Before I ever saw Maniac, I knew some random trivia about it. My dad had one of those "stories behind the songs" books. Apparently the song from Flashdance was actually written after the dude watched Maniac. Of course, the lyrics were totally different when it was about a big sweaty guy who liked to scalp random women. 

[FluffSnackwell]

Robert Davi scenery chewing is why nobody should ever have to endure a Maniac Cop trilogy marathon. His mediocrity is only offset in Part 2 by Leo Rossi's perverted scumbag and Maniac Cop fan club president character. In part 3, they not only skimped on Maniac Cop but there was just too damn much Davi. 

[nate]

We didn't make it to Maniac '80.

Started with Maniac Cop 2.  Everything was all well and good.  But Maniac '34 *really* threw everyone for a loop.  So bad, so good, so much WTFness we ended up watching one of the 42nd Street Forever trailer comps until HIAC.  Shame, because I've been waiting to watch Neon Maniacs until this meeting.  Now i have to wait until my turn again.