Category: Cult Classics

DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D.* – Midnights This Weekend at The Moolah (*Medical Deviate)

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“The patient’s screaming is disturbing me. Perform removal of vocal chords!”

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DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. screens Midnights this weekend (August 12th and 13th) at The Moolah Theater and Lounge (3821 Lindell Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63108) as part of  Destroy the Brain’s monthly Late Night Grindhouse film series.

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DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. (“Medical Deviate” – aka: ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST), is a hybrid of the dumbshits-go-to-the-jungle-and are-eaten-by cannibals genre (think CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST), with some living dead shenanigans thrown in.  It’s similar to Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE, but twice as cheesy and three times as funny. The gore effects are completely over the top and hilarious; disembowelments, impalements, slit throats, eye gouging, machetes through the head, death by outboard motor – all the stuff to keep the Late Night Grindhouse crowd happy.

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Ian McCulloch returns from ZOMBIE and his dialogue and delivery are really funny, with the good doctor spewing such lines as, “I could easily kill you now, but I’m determined to have your brain!!!” (didn’t Anthony Hopkins say that in HANNIBAL?) Anyone who likes ridiculous gory 80’s Italian exploitation potboilers should definitely check out DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. Along with McCulloch actor Dakar (Molotto) also appears from ZOMBIE only this time he has some more dialogue. Synonymous with these Italian films at the height of their popularity, the lead actress, in this case the lovely Alexandra Delli Colli (as Lori) takes off her clothes at every opportunity and Sherry Buchanan as Susan is also pleasant on the eye and has a pivotal shocking scene. But still it’s typical Italian schlock with bad dubbing, editing and script etc, as it moves from one scene to the next as the expedition’s party are picked off one by one by the local cannibals/zombies. One memorable moment comes early on with a man jumping out of a window and falling 20 stories to his doom, and when he hits the ground, the mannequin in his place loses an arm. Cut to dead guy on floor, and his arm is still attached! I saw DOCTOR BUTCHER M.D. several times at the drive-in back in the early ‘80s and can’t wait to see it on the big screen once again! Join me, won’t you?

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TICKETS ARE $7 AND YOU CAN BUY THEM ONLINE VIA MOOLAH’S WEBSITE.

THE PSYCHOTRONIC PRE-SHOW STARTS AROUND 11:30P WITH THE FILM STARTING AT MIDNIGHT.

The Moolah Theatre & Lounge serves alcohol until 2:30AM! Feel free to show up early and stay late to have some drinks and get friendly with the amazing Moolah staff.

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A Facebook invite for Friday night’s event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1823938141167474/

A Facebook invite for Saturday night’s event can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/events/1662010500787073/

Destroy the Brain’s site can be found HERE

http://www.destroythebrain.com/

 

 

 

DARK SHADOWS First Cast Photo

Hey horror hounds! Courtesy of our friends at Entertainment Weekly here’s our first look at the cast of Tim Burton’s big screen version of the small screen classic, DARK SHADOWS. Now this is not the first time the Collins clan have made it to the movies. In 1970 MGM released HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS based on the daytime drama and starring most of the TV cast. NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS followed.

Here’s a bit of background on the cult favorite. Dan Curtis (BURNT OFFERINGS) created the “soap opera ” which debuted on ABC-TV in 1966. The main focus of the first episodes was the arrival of Victoria Winters in Collinsport, ME and her interactions with the secretive Collins family. The program languished at the bottom of the ratings until Curtis, in order to save the show from cancellation,decided to take a gamble and introduce a vampire into the Gothic series. Barnabas Collins as played by veteran stage actor Jonathan Frid caused a sensation on the daytime TV landscape. Youngsters flocked to the show, turning the mature Frid into a teen idol (featured many times on the cover of Tiger Beat and other magazines) and giving the producer a merchandising bonanza. Board games, model kits, comic books, paperback novels, and posters flooded the stores. There was even a comic strip in daily newspapers! A record album of the show’s eerie score by Robert Colbert was a huge hit and spawned a top 40 single, “Quentin’s Theme”. Unfortunately not even the additon of witches, werewolves, and other ghoulies could keep the mania going and the final episode aired in 1971.

Ah, but like any good vampire Barnabas did return. The show was soon syndicated to local stations. Devoted fans staged conventions featuring reunions of the cast members. Innovation produced new comic books in 1991. NBC revived the show as a prime time hour long drama in early 1991 while Warner Brothers TV produced a new two hour pilot film that never aired.

And now,long time fan Tim Burton is taking this Gothic epic to the big screen. Lets’ take a look at the residents of Collinwood. Starting from the far left is Helena Bonham Carter (THE KING”S SPEECH) as Dr. Julia Hoffman, psychiatrist, friend of the Collins family and (in the TV show) an aide of Barnabas. Next is Chloe Maretz (LET ME IN) as Carolyn Stoddard followed by Eva Green (CASINO ROYALE) as Angelique Bouchard, the witch who cursed Barnabas. The young lad is the disturbed David Collins played by Gulliver McGrath with his governess Victoria Winters played by Bella Heathcote (she’s also the spitting image of Barnabas’s long lost love Josette). Speaking of Barnabas, in the center is Johnny Depp (THE TOURIST) as the centuries old vampire. Seated is the family housekeeper Mrs. Johnson played by Ray Shirley. Next is Collinwood groundskeeper Willie (yup, Groundskeeper Willie!) Loomis played by Jackie Earle Haley (WATCHMEN) who releases Barnabas and soon becomes his ‘ familiar’. He’s followed by Roger Collins played by Jonny Lee Miller (TRAINSPOTTING) and family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard played by Michelle Pfieffer (BATMAN RETURNS).

Synopsis:

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

This group (along with horror film icon Christopher Lee and several original TV cast members) will welcome moviegoers back to Collinwood (cue the cascading waves and Colbert theme) when Warner Brothers releases the film on May 11, 2012

Where’s the love for ‘Nightbreed’?

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Back in 1990, a little horror film called ‘Nightbreed’ slipped under the radar of most, but still managed to become a cult favorite of genre fans. Directed by horror master and author Clive Barker, the film isn’t “perfect” but it’s still a great movie with tons of reasons to love it, including a cameo role by director David Cronenberg.

If you follow Clive, online or otherwise, you’ll realize there are always lots of questions thrown his way… about his books, about his movies and about the status of both, new and old. One of the most commonly asked questions regards this 1990 movie and whether we’ll ever see the DVD get re-released, preferably as a Director’s Cut (it’s known that much material was cut) and, maybe even Blu-Ray?

As it turns out, Fox currently still owns the rights to this film and thanks to a loyal fan named Mark Millar with an excess of free time, two key pieces of information have been revealed: the additional cut footage (long thought to have been lost) does still exist and is merely buried in some warehouse awaiting it’s resurrection and that any resurrection of ‘Nightbreed’ in any form is being blocked simply by some studio executive’s misguided notion that there isn’t a big enough fan base to warrant spending the money on a Director’s Cut, let alone an upgrade to Blu-Ray.

Here’s where the film stands currently: there’s only a single, bare-bones paper-case Region 1 DVD release that’s sorely outdated, there’s NO Region 2 DVD, and with 25 minutes of unused footage along with a very real possibility for a commentary and lots of bonus material, a Director’s Cut DVD/Blu-Ray release is certainly worth the fight. Below is the information from CliveBarker.info regarding the grass roots push for this to happen…

If you’re interested in showing the size of audience or demand for an extended version of Nightbreed, please either e-mail us by clicking on this link or send us a Tweet to @philandsarah (find us at our Twitter page here).

Just your name or screen name is fine but please feel free to add your country of residence and / or a sentence or two on why this would be a great idea. We’ll collate responses at the bottom of this page and build a picture of support for Nightbreed here!

[source: CliveBarker.info]

Russell Brand to be ‘Drop Dead Fred’

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Seems perfect there, doesn’t it?   Universal seems to think so.   They are setting up a remake to the 1991 ridiculous comedy as a starring vehicle for Russell Brand, the seemingly go-to guy now to play the wacky, British guy.

Dennis McNichols (“Saturday Night Live” and ‘The Last of the Lost’) is currently working on the screenplay about a woman whose imaginary friend from her childhood shows back up after her life begins to fall apart.   The original didn’t do too well when it initially released, but the film has garnered a cult status over the years since.

Brand will clearly play the role of the imaginary friend.   Universal’s idea is to make the film more in the vein of ‘Beetlejuice’ with the young woman entering a world full of lost imaginary friends from people’s childhoods.

What do you think?   Is ‘Drop Dead Fred’ a film ripe for a remake?   Is Brand the right choice to replace Rik Mayall?   Anyone know where Mayall is now?   Let us know by commenting below!

Source: THR

‘Night of the Creeps’ Finally Getting DVD Release

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Fred Dekker’s cult classic ‘Night of the Creeps’ is thought by many to be the catalyst for a whole lot of later-released alien invasion/zombie movies.   Most notably is ‘Slither,’ James Gunn’s 2006 film, which takes a whole lot of ideas first noticed in ‘Night of the Creeps’ and piles on the gore effects.

Despite the beloved nature of the 1986 film, however, it has yet to see a DVD release.   That is, until now, as Fred Dekker has answered all of our requests when we quote his movie saying ‘Thrill me!’.

Michael Felsher of Red Shirts Pictures was on a recent episode of the horror/internet talk radio show, Dead Pit Radio, where he made the announcement that Sony is officially releasing ‘Night of the Creeps’ on DVD this coming October.

What’s more, this is to be a special editon, original director’s ending and all.

Said Felsher: “It’s going to be the director’s cut with the original ending. We’re going to go balls to the wall with the special features on it.”

Horror fans all around the world are rejoicing on this day.   ‘Night of the Creeps’ has been long considered as a necessity in terms of a DVD release, but the only way any of us were able to view it on DVD were through illegal means.   Now, it’s legal.   Now, it’s official.   ‘Night of the Creeps’ on DVD is coming.

Source: Dead Pit Radio

FINALLY! ‘Howard the Duck’ on Region 1 DVD!

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It’s about damn time! George (Lucas) certainly took his time with this one. Still one of my favorite sci-fi B-movies of all time, I’ve been waiting for ‘Howard the Duck‘ to hit DVD in the U.S. for years. The movie originally came out in theaters in 1986. Until Tuesday, March 10, 2009… one could only acquire this precious gem on PAL format DVD, meaning the Brits got it before us. What’s up with that?

But wait, it gets better! Not only is it now on DVD, but it’s a “Special Edition” release with goodies included. The DVD (unfortunately only a single disc) contains the following Special Features:

  • A Look Back at Howard The Duck
  • Releasing the Duck
  • News Featurette
  • The Stunts of Howard The Duck
  • The Special Effects of Howard The Duck
  • The Music of Howard The Duck
  • Teaser Trailers

You can pick up your own coveted copy of this DVD at your local retailer, or at Amazon.com right now for only $8.99 — Update: You may want to hurry. I planned on going to my local Best Buy to pick up this DVD, along with ‘Let the Right One In’ (also released 3/10), but it appears it’s already on back-order?!?!? Hmm, may just have to order Howard online…

Classic Shit: ‘Through The Looking Glass’

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‘Classic Shit!’  is a column dedicated to films that were maligned upon release, and it is for films that are as entertaining as they are terrible. It is a home for cinema’s underdog.

If I say something is a classic, then take it with a grain of salt. If I call it shit, then I do it with love.

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Continue reading Classic Shit: ‘Through The Looking Glass’

25 Movies You Should Have Seen And Probably Never Have

I am a fan of James Gunn’s movies. And his hair.

He keeps an interesting blog on Myspace. His latest concerns itself with the aforementioned list of movies you should – but probably haven’t – seen. There are some great, obscure films on his list:

Continue reading 25 Movies You Should Have Seen And Probably Never Have

‘Mystery Team’ still hasnt found a buyer!

‘Mystery Team’ was one of the best movies at Sundance and it still has not gotten purchased which in my eyes is a travesty. Everyone that I talked to about this movie absolutely loved it at Sundance, and I really cannot believe no one has stepped up to the plate yet.

Even with people being scared of the movie not making a splash at the box office, this movie will be HUGE on dvd, cult classic status. Not to mention the fact that Derrick Comedy has a very large Internet following and if this movie is marketed properly, it could definitely reach ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ big very easily.

You can read My Review here. /Film Review, Film School Rejects Review, FirstShowing.net Review, Geek Tyrant Review, Cinematical Review, LatinoReview.com Review.

All of those guys matter, and all of those guys loved the movie. Think about all of the combined page views and visits they all/we all get and then figure that if we are pounding down our readers throats to go see the movie it will probably happen. Whoever gets this movie will wind up with a cash cow, lets just hope they cash in properly.

‘Repo!’ Rocks St. Louis

I’m just gonna throw this out there. Â  Unless you were at the Tivoli Theater in St. Louis last night, you don’t know what fun is! Â  Mr. Darren Lynn Bousman, Terrance Zdunich, and Bill Moseley brought ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ road tour to the STL.

Hundreds upon hundreds stood in line to partake in the festivities. Â  Some came dressed as their favorite ‘Repo!’ characters. Â  Many of these people hadn’t even seen the film yet. Â  Others sang their favorite songs from the rock opera. Â  Some of them, as well, had not even seen the film yet. Â  They just knew the songs from listening to the soundtrack and building up their anticipation to actually see the film.

The experience was amazing even before the ropes were let down to allow us into the theater. Â  The adrenaline could be felt in the air, and it was as intoxicating as… well, Zydrate.

Spooky Dan from Bloody Disgusting.com intro’ed a short film he made, basically a scene form ‘Repo!’ that he “re-imagined” with puppets.

Check it out right here:

Then the main attraction kicked in. Â  Bousman, Moseley, and Zdunich did a short intro before the film began. Bousman did a quick little tease of something to stick around for after the film was over. Â  After that little tickle of the ass with a feather, we were off!

I’m not going to do a full review. Â  You can check out Travis’ thoughts on the film right here! Â  I will say, however, that ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ is an amazing film filled with amazing music. Â  I’m sure the experience of seeing it on the big screen with a thousand of my closest, and most psychotic, friends didn’t hurt my liking of the film, but I could garner enough from the film to know that I would have loved it regardless. Â  Not only does it have a kickass soundtrack, awesome performances, and an incredible visual style by Bousman, the story is very deep when you recollect on it. Â  It is very Shakespearean and calls back to the darker days of some of Shakespeare’s more jolting tragedies like Titus Andronicus.

After the film, the three Genetic kings retook the stage for a Q&A. Â  Subjects such as the costumes from the film, the pre-recording of the music, and other musicians Zdunich would like to work with were broached.

Bousman also said that, to really help he and the filmmakers behind ‘Repo!’, you could purchase the DVD or Blu-ray, the soundtrack or the MP3 downloads. Â  You can also check out the official site and join the Repo! army. Â  There is also a countless number of merch you can check out for the film.

Bousman also explained that there are 12 total prints of the film in existence. Â  Six of these are just sitting in a warehouse in LA. Â  If we want ‘Repo!’ to come back to STL, or wherever you may reside, you should get on your local theaters to get these prints out of storage and into the movie theaters. Â  If even half the people that were in attendance last night see the film on a regular basis, ‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’ could easily become the new ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’.

Continue reading ‘Repo!’ Rocks St. Louis