American Grindhouse = Blood + Boobs + Violence

Continuing my education into the flip-side of the Hollywood corporate entity. I watched this doc by director Elijah Drenner last night. Always having a limited knowledge of the "Grindhouse" era, I thought it just was during the late 60's to late 70's, a phenomenon where schlocky exploitation movies were churned out to the drive-in and 24 hr movie theater house crowds.

Oh how wrong I was. That is only a speck in a history that stems from the creation of the moving picture. This tightly woven doc starts with the early days of exploitation at the start of cinema, expanding to the late 70's where the tables turn and Hollywood begins to exploit the Grindhouse subject matter creating some of the biggest box office successes of all times, JAWS and STAR WARS. This was the beginning of the end for these mom and pop venues and forever
changing the way these movies were made and distributed.

Narrated by Robert Forster including interviews with John Landis (who is not so snarky in this doc), William Lustig, Joe Dante, Herschell Gordon Lewis and Jack Hill to name a few. All have wonderful stories about the Grindhouse way of making movies and the PT Barnum atmosphere that surrounded their creations upon release.

Scattered into the mix and adding tidbits of perspective are film historians Eric Muller, Eric Schaeffer and probably the cutest film historian ever to be interviewed Kim Morgan.

As I was taking notes the whole time on what films to catch up on. One of my favorite that they discussed only but briefly is LORD LOVE A DUCK from 1966 starring Roddy McDowell, Tuesday Wells (oh, my!), Harvey Coreman etc. I've seen this film several times in my life and it's truly a spectacle to view. A twisted comedy that in retro spec I never realized how saucy and jaw dropping some of the scenes they get away are. Then again it's been a good 15 years since I saw it. Time to re-visit and have a good 'ol belly laugh!

Sadly there are only a few of these type of theaters still around mainly in LA and NY though heavily depleted from it's heyday and I would bet don't run 24-7 anymore. In their places now are couches with 24-7 cable and internet access where you can stream and watch in the comfort of your home.

There is something to be said to sit with an audience during a midnight showing of EVIL DEAD 2 and it's pretty fucking incredible.

I miss those days.

Machete Maidens Doc slashes it's way to my heart...

Australian filmmaker Mark Hartley directed this little nugget of a doc that for most people will be an eye opener into the original Grindhouse films shot in the Philippines from the mid 60's to the 80's. Anyone who is a fan of films will enjoy the interviews from present and past filmmakers who braved the East to bring films to the West drive-ins.

I will be following this up with Hartley's film, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD and Hartley is currently in production on a new doc called, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS which I'm sure will be a great third installment.

MAIDENS is a well cut and wonderfully condensed piece of film history that gives you the nuts and bolts of what it was like shooting in the Philippines during the Vietnam era as well as Marcos' reign into power and how the filmmakers were able to utilize his military to add production value to their extremely low budgets.

The interviews are unabashed with John Landis delivering some spit fire as well as R. Lee Ermey's dislike of how soldiers were portrayed in APOCALYPSE NOW to Joe Dante, Jack Hill and Roger Corman to name a few.

Some of the best quotes come from the maidens themselves, Pam Grier, Gloria Hendry, Andrea Cagan and Judith Brown again to name a few. All intercut with their past clips of work which makes this also very titillating doc and one I took notes on for films I want to go back and re-visit.


It's also incredibly cool that Hartley was able to interview Eddie Romero who was one of the forefathers in creating these gems. No matter how little money he had to work with or nutty the script was, Romero always tried to make it the best film he could. Though from the interviews he seemed to distance himself from these films as years went on.

You understand now why the current trend of Hollywood Grindhouse movies don't work. As close as current filmmakers try, there is no way in hell that they could get away with what the originals had to offer unless you completely produce it yourself and maybe if you're lucky find distribution or just sell it yourself. I think this movement has now changed to the "backyard movies" which embodies the same concept of gore, terrible writing, cheap monsters with the exception of the lack of nudity. 

CASHBACK is worth plopping down money to see

This was a film recommended to me quite a while back and I had almost forgotten about it until I discovered it on Netflix streaming (BTW is a killer service!)

Sean Biggerstaff who plays artist (Ben Willis) a guy who breaks up with his girlfriend ends up becoming an insomniac. To eat up the extra time in his life he decides to take on a night shift at a supermarket that is filled with a screwball cast of hooligans speckled between the periods of suspended animation that Ben throws his reality into.

The beginning starts off a little melodramatic and operatic at the same time transcends nicely into his foe world that he creates in his head or is it in his reality?

Ben's narration as in most films would become grating and pretentious. Here it's a loving touch to a very quiet and lost character adding an almost out of body experience.

CASHBACK is shot with a lot of care and attention to detail by director Sean Ellis. The moments of frozen time that Ben wanders through gives us pause as the viewer to accept what he is truly saying and feeling while being surrounded by the very beauty he captures in his work.

If nothing else you'll enjoy the smattering of beautiful naked woman posed in silence as Ben commits their images to paper.

Price's Last Man on Earth still better than ever!

Probably still my favorite adaptation from Richard Matheson's book I AM LEGEND. Matheson didn't think Price worked as Dr. Morgan, but his lumbering thin stature I thought lent itself very nicely, giving Price a virtual undead quality himself. The low angle shots of his celestial figure standing over the pit of burning bodies delivers an iconic image that has transgressed into other films. Even being shot in Italy, the architecture gives you the sense of a familiar city that you may have never seen.  

It's been a long while since I've seen this and frankly every copy I've tried to watch is of terrible quality. A shame really since the film is in public domain. It would be nice to see it treated better. I instead watched it steaming from Netflix and it was the best looking version yet.

There is no fat in this movie at all. It's cuts right to the chase and delivers on back story when needed. Though it would have been nice to flush out a little more bits and pieces. The acting is a bit broad with some of the supporting cast which is too be expected. But scenes where his daughter looses her sight is very creepy to watch. Price gives such a reserved performance you never really get if his character has no clue the impact of what has happening to humanity in the past flashbacks or that he has made himself so detached from society already he is unknowingly in survival mode before anyone has a clue on what to do. The reappearance of his wife knocking, saying "Let...me...in" still brings the chills which brings me to how much of this film was the blueprint for Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD shot four years later. They make a good double feature.

The end, though a little rushed and again could have been flushed out a bit still delivers better than it's predecessors. LAST MAN ON EARTH is still a classic film that has spawned a slew of interpretations and if this was the beginning of the end it's probably pretty close of what we should expect.

When Herzog meets Monty Python in CAVE of FORGOTTEN DREAMS?

 There is no doubt in my mind that Werner Herzog is the consummate filmmaker. Being a geeked out fan of his for years I have not loved everything he has made but am never disappointed when you follow along in his journeys.

CAVE of FORGOTTEN DREAMS fits into this category. I missed seeing it in the theater in 3D. For me it's so far the best way to use the technology that isn't synthetically made to manipulate the audience. I'm not a fan of 3D, I think it's a desperate ploy from the Hollywood corporate entity to keep people coming to theaters to watch mediocre/poor dreck in order to pay overpriced tickets sales covering inflated and unnecessary budgets. But when I heard Herzog was going to use 3D to bring you inside the Chauvet cave in Souther France I was very excited. It's what 3D is meant to be used for.

I bought a 3D Blu-ray copy for my brother on Christmas and last night we watched it on his 3D flat screen. It's one of the most incredible pieces of cinema you'll see. The camera passes over 28000-32000 year old cave images that are drawn on different layers of rock, giving them a three dimensional look. Unless you visit the cave which is now shut down permanently you will never be able to experience the magnitude of this discovery. 

That being said, I wish Herzog had gone more with the KOYAANISQATSI motif than rolling out his cavalcade of Monty Python guests that ate up screen time. For one example, the bear skinned flute man showing up. He's not particularly relevant and came across as a goof. I get that Herzog manipulates his docs as much as his narratives. But I feel he may be becoming a characterization of his former self by pontificating even more outlandish comments than usual on what you're seeing as well as loaded questions to his interviewees. I found myself laughing and rolling my eye's during what is supposed to be pertinent information. 

This approach toed the line in GRIZZLY MAN, but less is more here and the gold ticket to this movie is the cave drawings, let them speak to us rather than having Herzog put his own 2¢.

That being said, this movie should ONLY be viewed in 3D, otherwise you'll miss the whole reason why he wanted to use this technology and the impact that it makes. 

Night of the Comet needed some Rutger Hauer

But! They had the cute and sexy cheerleader Kelli Maroney. I thought I had seen this movie when I was a kid, I didn't remember it at all, though scenes look familiar. It may have been one of those late night cable wake and pass out viewings.

I haven't watched an "actual" 80's horror/sci-fi movie in a long time. This one warmed my cockles. Though I was disappointed in the lack of comet zombies. They had such a fun and zany premise that it begged for it. Especially when you throw in two chics that LIKE GUNS! And they know how to use them! While dressing up one in a cheerleader outfit as she lights up a caddy with her Mac 10- I mean come on, give a fan boy what he wants! The mall sequence alone could have been extended, it was a damn silly and creepy scene.
The film does drag in spots as the sisters figure out what they're doing
or who they want to do.

But if you're looking for what everyone now is 

trying to re-invent as so called "80's" looking style 

movies, just go back and watch an actual one. 

In comparison they're more misses than hits on the 

new breed of these knock-offs. I'll stay with the 

classics. Though this would make a killer re-boot!

Experiencing Scott's LEGEND again after all these years.

Re-visiting movies can sometimes be a great experience or one that you wish you kept as an nostalgic memory. I've always had a warm spot for LEGEND. First being a Ridley Scott film, second having Rob Bottin doing the make-up which to this day is still phenomenal and thirdly is the closest to a live action 40's Disney animated film come to life.

The only version I had ever watched was the 90 min theatrical with the Tangerine Dream score that was fine but never really fit exactly. So dusting off my disc, I popped in the almost 2 hr director's cut with the original Goldsmith score. What an awesome surprise! It takes a little to get used too, especially if you've seen the theatrical a few times. But quickly this version takes a much darker tone and there is less Tom Cruise from what I remember being before that actually makes his performance better and more of an ensemble which is what it was meant to be.

Shot in 1982 it took three years for this puppy to finally be released after being re-cut multiple times to the score being changed because they were gearing it to a younger crowd. I feel this is the version to see. There is more of every cool thing that you wanted from the original viewing. Between the Sea Hag's exchange with Jack to Darkness to Lilly and Jack's relationship to the black dress dancing along side the demon baby. The print is incredible as you can finally see the depths of the craftsmanship that went into the sets. My only beef still to this day and I wish Scott had taken it out was several modern lines of dialogue from the Goblins that takes you out of the film.

This may not be his biggest critical achievement such as THE DUELLISTS, ALIEN or BLADE RUNNER. But it's still an achievement none the less and being only his fourth film at the time gives Scott another genre he pioneered that people would imitate for years to come.  

Darkside Films: The Vault

SECONDS AWAY

Was a promo photo shoot we did eons ago.  I had written a script called SECONDS AWAY and had a photographer I knew who shot the Jay Leno show take a Saturday to shoot us acting out scenes from the script.  Needless to say that I never had the opportunity to pitch this script.  But we have quite a selection of images to put towards it someday.  The cast was played by Johnny Seiko, David Buscemi, Martha Villasenor and myself, D.W. Kann to name the few.

*please note that the scanner I was using isn't up to a good quality so the pics lack their luster a bit. They will be replaced in due time.

JAWS: Book signing weekend!

Finally after a long three years watching my good friend Matt Taylor struggle to get every interview and photograph he could. JAWS: MEMORIES FROM MARTHA'S VINEYARD a beautiful 296 page coffee table book was released this past weekend.  The hard cover which own and weighed- clocked in at almost 10 lbs. This included the portfolio with the piece of the Orca and a DVD that has 8min of Super 8 behind the footage that islander Carol Fligor shot while at the time while her children who played extras in the film.

Below are a fraction of photos shot over the weekend by my close friend Rob Catalano.  We had over 200 people come to the book signing for the 2hrs plus of docs and talks from Production Designer Joe Alves to Susan Murphy who is married to the infamous Lynn Murphy. He was one of two men who Quint was the basis for and was in charge of the shark special effects while shooting JAWS on the island along with Bob Matty.  Lynn's wife Susan delivered a very moving speech to fans about her husband and his relationship with Robert Shaw and his experience working on the film.

Sunday night we showed JAWS plus a 15 min segment that hasn't been seen since 1974 from a TV magazine show called Our New England which had a scathing interview with Richard Dreyfuss plus a hysterical interview with Robert Shaw.  Jaws dropped and laughter erupted with this segment.  All and all it was a great success and the book is still available but I do not know for how much longer.  You can visit mvremembersjaws.com to place your order today!

Production Designer Joe Alves and authors Matt Taylor and Jim Beller

Myself working the production of the evening.

Just before the show begins we had a full house.

One of the many slides shown that evening.

Myself and Joe Alves going over the nights event for  his presentation.

Scrubbing "Bruce's" nose clean.

Outside the signing afterwards.

Clockwise: Susan Murphy, Lynn Murphy, Jim Beller, Jeff Kramer, Lee Fierro to name a few.

The line outside the signing.

Quint being eatin the night of the JAWS film

Moments before the screening.

To CELEBRATE:

The New Book Jaws: Memories from Martha's Vineyard I'm enclosing a photo from when I was seven or so, my sister was six.  We're in Edgartown MA in front of the JAWS 2 sign along with my grandmother.  

I moved to Martha's Vineyard when I was five.  Right before I moved there with my folks we saw Jaws at a drive-in theater.  After the shark first appeared, my father leaning over the front seat exclaiming to me and my sister cowering in the back, "That's where we're moving too!"  

So we did.  Being a fanof the film and fan of the water it never really bothered me to go swimming.  In 1987 Universal came back to Martha's Vineyard to shoot  Jaws: The Revenge I appear as the chubby faced kid playing and E flat Base Clarinet in the band- it was February and I was wearing penny loafers.  It was beyond cold and we were there for several hours.  Enjoy- 

JAWS BOOK SIGNING: Saturday, July 2nd, 2011, 5:30 – 7:00 pm. Old Whaling Church: 89 Main Street, Edgartown. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

SHOWING OF JAWS: Sunday July 3rd at the Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven, MA
 CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Exclusive: Jaws promo doc for New 296 page book

Promotional video for the new 296-page book JAWS: Memories From Martha's Vineyard by Matt Taylor. Promo was shot and cut by filmmaker D.W. Kann For more information and to order visit: www.mvremembersjaws.com

From the Vault - One Last Breath

I thought I'd share a short film we shot back in the 90's, just for fun.  Enjoy!