Antrum (2018)

Antrum (2018)
The Deadliest Film Ever Made

Dir: David Amito, Michael Laicini
Wir: David Amito, Michael Laicini

In this pseudo-documentary we are presented with the mystery surrounding the lost / cursed film ANTRUM. Completed in the late '70s, the film was submitted to and rejected by various film festivals. The festival directors shortly thereafter died under circumspect circumstances. During showings in the '80s and '90s a fire and a riot broke out killing theatregoers. The film remained unseen until a copy was found and is now presented as part of this documentary.

We, the viewer, are presented ANTRUM in all its '70s faded and scratched beauty. A tale of an older sister and her younger brother traveling into the woods to find antrum, the entrance to hell, so that they might rescue their recently deceased dog. Marvel at the sheer scariness that is the two digging a hole with shovels!

The surface plot is a bit boring. Two children digging a hole and learning that demons and eldritch creatures are not the scariest things in the forest. The real plot, which we learn of very slowly, is the message the sister is trying to impart to her brother via her telling of the fable she has spun. She includes a grimoire created by someone named Ike! She wants little brother to learn a life lesson and the best way to do it is by him getting his hands dirty. Throw in a second twist in an effort to jolt awake the audience and you've got yourself a film.

I must commend the filmmakers for their craft in creating the sister's fable. It caught me off guard although all the pieces and clues were there. Having said that, I was often weary of the plodding pace of the film, especially since the documentary and film have a combined running time of 95 minutes. The tale would have been far more effective if condensed down to an hour. The 'second ending' or second twist could have been eliminated completely and seems to be included only to make up for the lack of shock and suspense in the rest of the film.

The filmmakers are to be commended for making a film that is a bit different but the pacing and lack of character development kept me from embracing it. That and I never found the film to be scary.

** out of ****

Hammer Glamour (2013)

Thanks goes out to Jon over at Kitley's Krypt for pointing out that Marcus Hearn's documentary HAMMER GLAMOUR is available for viewing on YouTube.

The documentary, based on Hearn's book of the same name, is a light hearted look at many of the women who starred or co-starred in Hammer films. Clocking in at 42 minutes it is a brief and entertaining glimpse of the gorgeous women who played no small part in making Hammer Hammer. It covers the comedies but the emphasis is on the horror films. There are interviews with Vera Day, Martine Beswick, Madeline Smith, Valerie Leon, Caroline Munro and Jenny Hanley who shares a great story about her refusing to get nude for a film.

Narrated by Damien Thomas.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)

Dir: Mark Hartley

Cousins Yoram Globus and Menachem Golan, finding success in Israel with such films as ENTEBBE: OPERATION THUNDERBOLT (1977) and the wildly popular LEMON POPSICLE (1978), looked to realise their dream of producing and directing Hollywood films. Their path to that dream took them to the financially troubled Cannon films, started in 1967. Prior to Golan and Globus purchasing the company in 1979, Cannon distributed low budget films, everything from sexploitation like THE HAPPY HOOKER GOES TO WASHINGTON (1977) to the mainstream v. hippies JOE (1970).

Golan and Globus at first continued the formula established by the prior owners of making films cheap. But that wasn't enough for Golan and Globus. They wanted to be major players. The budgets increased. The amount of films they produced in a year skyrocketed. They bought up theatres. Everything they did was big. But the films weren't necessarily getting better.

This is the story of the rise and fall of Cannon films.

Film documentarian Mark Hartely, the creator of the excellent NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION! (2008), brings his talents to telling the tale of two men with an alien perspective of what makes a Hollywood film a Hollywood film and filled with hubris. Using clips from the films, past interviews with Golan (who died in 2014) and Globus, and interviews for this documentary with the writers, directors and actors who helped create the films, we learn a bit about the mindset of the two producers.

Cannon's Chuck Norris B move flick INVASION U.S.A. isn't great cinema. But it is bloody entertaining cinema. And that's what I was looking for from Cannon when I perused the shelves at the local video shop. I wanted to rent DEATH WISH 3 and THE DELTA FORCE. I went to see COBRA in theatres. I squealed with delight upon hearing they were producing Tobe Hooper's LIFEFORCE and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2. OTELLO? Is that the foreign spelling for OTHELLO? No matter! I wasn't looking to rent something arty from Cannon. And that may have been Cannon's downfall, trying to be an A list studio when what they were perceived to do best was B films.

Not all the tales are told but there are plenty in this documentary about the cousins doing what needed to be done to get the films made and their delusion that they were making extraordinary cinema. Golan pulling an Uzi on a pilot to force him to continue flying as more shots were needed, the lack of safety on set, the yelling and screaming, shady financial dealings, all told by those who lived through it. Actor Alex Winter, who appeared as a gang banger in DEATH WISH 3, slags everyone from the producers to Charles Bronson to director Michael Winner. It could be selective editing but I have the feeling he agreed to the interview in order to exact some revenge for his treatment on a film from thirty years ago.

It was a lot of fun to revisit the Cannon films from my youth and see the actors from those films recalling that time of their lives.

*** out of ****

Empire pictures documentary on Kickstarter

Celluloid Wizards in the Video Wasteland: The Saga of Empire Pictures

'An epic documentary about the dramatic rise and fall of Empire Pictures, the most ambitious B-movie studio of the 1980’s. '

Kickstarter link

As I'm a fan of Charles Band and his time heading Empire International Pictures, I bought a ticket to see THE DUNGEONMASTER when it was first released in theatres!, I jumped at the chance to back a documentary about Empire on Kickstarter. The trailer brought back fond memories of the days of VHS rental.

17 days to go. Check it out.

Lost Soul: The Doomed journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)

Dir: David Gregory

I first became aware of Richard Stanley sitting in a darkened theatre watching his killer robot film HARDWARE (1990). The use of colour (nod to Argento?), the gritty world, and Lemmy as a riverboat cabbie got to me. The film has issues but what was onscreen intrigued me and I looked forward to Stanley's next film. That next film was DUST DEVIL (1992). Due to studio interference, the film was drastically cut and a lack of faith in the film meant little in the way of marketing or actually being shown in theatres. I didn't see the film until its pan and scan (!) VHS release. It's a bit too deliberately paced for my tastes but features stunning visuals. When I read that Stanley was going to helm a remake of H.G. Well's ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU in the pages of Fangoria, I was excited. Stanley would have the budget and resources to make his vision come to life. Man, was I wrong.

Reading about the debacle that was Stanley's effort in Fangoria I was pissed that actors and producers conspired against him seemingly in an effort to destroy the film. LOST SOUL, a documentary about the filming of ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, takes a more objective tone to the subject than the fan boy me from twenty years ago.

Via interviews with Stanley, actors (curiously David Thewlis and Ron Perlman did not participate), crew, producers, Michael Gingold of Fangoria fame and a very candid Robert Shaye, the president of New Line Cinema, we learn what happened. Stanley was obviously prepared going into production, he shows off a slew of characters sketches, and had a well thought out vision of how the story would be told but as the film grew from low budget to a forty million dollar hot release Stanley began losing control and became reclusive. Starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer who both, by just about all accounts, acted like jerks and at times seemingly were trying to sabotage the production, it was too much for Stanley. Shaye was looking for a way to salvage the investment and fired Stanley after a few days of shooting and brought in John Frankenheimer to usurp the role of director. If you have seen ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU you'll know that even veteran director Frankenheimer was unable to reign in the shear stupidity of Brando's acting decisions. The finished product is very disappointing and a waste of the talents of the participants.

LOST SOUL is a fascinating look at a promising prospect that was doomed to fail.

***1/2 out of ****

Life Itself (2014)

Dir: Steve James

I don't know the year but at some point after my family moved to the Chicagoland area we started reading the Chicago Sun-Times. My favourite day to read the newspaper was Friday because that edition contained film review after review; many of them written by Roger Ebert. I would read the reviews by Ebert even for films that I had no interest in seeing (I wonder how many of those films that the youthful me ignored that the adult me cherished after a viewing). I hoped that Ebert gave a good review to a film that I wanted to see so I could use it to persuade my father to take me to see it. I can still remember Ebert's review of John Boorman's EXCALIBUR. The trailer on broadcast television with its promise of swords and sorcery had me eager to see the film. Not yet old enough to drive I had to rely on dear old Dad to be interested in a film and take me to the theatre. Ebert gave the film 2 1/2 stars. I was worried that the above average rating was not enough for my Dad but he must have seen enough in the trailer to want to see the film despite Ebert's tepid review (Helen Mirren perhaps?). Sadly, Ebert's rave review of George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD was not enough to persuade Dad to take me to the R-Rated re-release.

From newspaper, to television, to web site, I followed Ebert. His words prompted me to rent MY DINNER WITH ANDRE! His thumb up meant that I would spend the bucks to see a film in a theatre instead of waiting for its release on video. He taught me to look at a film with a critical eye.

Steve (HOOP DREAMS) James' documentary is based on Ebert's autobiography of the same name. Filming of the documentary started just months prior to Ebert's death. We see him in a hospital bed, his lower jaw having been removed due to cancer. He is at his worst, no longer able to speak or to eat. His fight against cancer has been raging for years. He is also at his best. Loving wife Chaz is at his side, as are his step-children. He hasn't stopped writing, and a re-design of his web site is in its final stage. And his eyes are bright and show his love of life and all it is; good, bad and indifferent.

Over the course of two hours the documentary follows Ebert from his home town of Urbana Illinois, to his first newspaper job, to moving to Chicago to study at the University of Chicago, stumbling into the role of film reviewer at the Sun-Times, to working with rival Gene Siskel and being propelled to America's most popular critic, and to finding the love of his life. Ebert's thoughts along the way are spoken by impersonator Stephen Stanton. We are privy to the excessive drinking at a local watering hole (where it is said that Ebert often showed up with he ugliest of women), his foibles as recounted by co-workers and witness the pure joy of vacationing around the world with his family.

It's an often sad tale but one I enjoyed. It was a pleasure to spend a bit more time with the man.

**** out of ****

From Romero To Rome: The Rise And Fall of the Italian Zombie Movie (2012)

FROM ROMERO TO ROME is an entertaining talking heads documentary that begins with the influential NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. NOTLD was far removed from the zombie films that preceded it (WHITE ZOMBIE, PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES) and that shift from zombies as slave labour to zombies as monsters craving flesh along with the success of its followup DAWN OF THE DEAD inspired the Italian zombie rip-off-thon that kicked off with Lucio Fulci's ZOMBIE. For fans of zombie films, like myself, there's no new information to be found and I've seen all the Italian films covered by the doc. But it was enjoyable reminisces by film critics and the creators of a time when a cheap knock-off bloody good romp of a film could be found on the shelves of one's local video shop.

The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry (2010)

Dir: Angel Agudo

Mick Garris hosts this documentary about the life and films of Spanish actor and film maker Jacinto Molina (Paul Nashy), most famous for his werewolf films. At a bit over an hour long there isn't time for in depth discussion of the man but it does provide a nice overview of his many trials and tribulations that can be augmented by reading his autobiography, MEMOIRS OF A WOLFMAN.

The documentary covers from the birth of Jacinto, to his family fleeing north in an attempt to avoid the Spanish Civil War, his love of body building and his first through last steps into the filmmaking world. The usual, for this type of documentary, talking heads put in an appearance (John Landis, Joe Dante), as do Spanish film makers who followed in his footsteps (Nacho Cerda) and those who acted alongside or were directed by him (Caroline Munro, Jack Taylor). The highlight though is hearing the tale of Jacinto as told by his wife Elvira Primavera and his two sons Sergio and Bruno. We never hear Jacinto's voice outside of film clips (stayed tuned until the credits end for the only time Jacinto speaks to the viewer) but we see the world he was born into and lived in via photographs, newsreels and the words of his loving family; it's very touching.

*** out of ****

Demon Lover Diary (1980)

Dir: Joel DeMott

Jeff during camera test

When boyfriend Jeff Kreines volunteers as cinematographer for his friend Don's horror film, Joel DeMott decides to join him and create a documentary on the low budget shoot. Their friend Mark Rance volunteers to handle sound recording and the trio pack their kit and drive to Michigan where filming is to take place.

Don Jackson and Jerry Younkins are two factory workers who have dreamed of making films and after two years of pre-pre production are ready to commence their dream. By taking out loans, mortgaging their homes, Jerry sacrificing a few fingers at the 'speedometer cable' factory to collect insurance money, and calling on friends and family for cast and crew they are finally ready to begin filming THE DEMON LOVER.

Don Jackson

Despite initial protests from Jerry, Joel is allowed all access to the horror film shoot and manages to capture on 16mm just how difficult and nerve wracking it is to crew, act and direct a low budget regional film. Things get off to a bad start when Jeff and tag a longs arrive a few days late but it quickly becomes obvious that Don and Jerry are in over their heads. Don comes across a a bit of a blow hard with repeated proclamations of how the film is going to revolutionize the film industry but has great difficulty explaining his vision to Jeff who will be doing the actual filming. Jerry at one point calls the film junk and Don jumps in to explain junk means it's not an art film. Over the course of the two week shoot there are numerous arguements, threats to quit, an actor with a funny Charles Bronson impersonation, a visit to Ted Nuget's home to borrow guns and live ammo and it all ends with shots fired and Jeff, Joel and Mark speeding away in their car from the location terrified for their lives.

Jerry Younkins

Joel's documentary was released on VHS a few years after THE DEMON LOVER failed to set Hollywood on fire. It has been released more or less 'as-is'; no remastering. The image is often dim, colours are washed out, it's grainy, sound is muddy; everything one would expect from this type of documentary from that time and budget.Joel does provide some narration that helps put scenes into context and helps the viewer understand why people are yelling at one another. Her role as documentarian isn't an objective one as she is often in the middle of the arguements and is not at all hesitant to provide her opinion on what Don and Jerry are doing wrong.

I first heard of THE DEMON LOVER in the pages of THE PSYCHOTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM and due to its subject matter and that it starred Gunner Hanson I wanted to see the film. It was years until I was able to get a copy and the viewing experience was severely disappointing. It also took years from the first time I heard about DEMON LOVER DIARY, also in the pages of PSYCHOTRONIC, to finally viewing it but I found it to be fascinating as a time capsule of regional film making.

Birth of the Living Dead (2013)

Dir: Rob Kuhns

BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD is a documentary about the classic film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Sadly, most of the cast and crew have passed away and do not make an appearance here. The saga of the forming of The Latent Image to releasing the ground breaking zombie film is told from the point of view of director George A. Romero in a series of interviews conducted by documentary film maker Rob Kuhns. Interspersed with Romero's commentary are observations on the culture at the time of filming and the film's impact by Larry Fessenden (also a producer of the documentary), Gale Anne Hurd (a producer on THE WALKING DEAD) and film critic Elvis Mitchell.

As I've seen the film scores of times on television, VHS, laser disc and DVD and have read countless interviews and books about the film there was not much about the film that I hadn't heard / read / seen previously. It's always a treat to watch an interview with Romero but the most fascinating part of this documentary is a teacher in a low income neighbourhood using the film as a teaching aid to poor black and Hispanic students. He even has them act like zombies! Odd that this film went from being warned about by Roger Ebert when he sat in a matinee showing filled with children to being shown uncut on broadcast television (where I first saw it) to being part of the curriculum for a class for young children.

It's a good watch for those that might not know much about the making of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD but I found enough entertainment to have enjoyed the documentary as well.

*** out of ****