THE ORIGINAL IRON MAN - TETSUO (1989) TURNS 35!!!

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1989) d. Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
TETSUO II: BODY HAMMER (1992) d. Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)
TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN (2009) d. Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan)

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Winner of Best Film at the 1989 Fantafestival in Rome, Shinya Tsukamoto’s breakout 1989 feature Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a touchstone of cinematic cyberpunk, a relentlessly frenetic black-and-white 16mm assault on the senses and sensibilities, and a supercharged display of independent filmmaking.

50 YEARS OF VAMPYRES (1974)!!!

VAMPYRES (1974) d. Jose Ramon Larraz (UK/Spain)

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At a time when throwing extensive vampiric nudity on screen would have been enough, writer/director Jose Ramon Larraz went the extra mile to conjure a deceptively simple, highly satisfying tale of two bisexual bloodsuckers with Vampyres, released in 1974. Played with charged sensuality by newcomers Marianne Morris (as the dark, mysterious Fran) and Anulka (as blonde, fresh-faced Miriam), the Sapphic duo take up residence in a remote English countryside estate, flagging down unsuspecting male drivers to take home for an evening snack. In addition to their daily iron intake, these vampires enjoy all pleasures of the flesh, and Larraz delivers the goods in numerous well-shot, sexy interludes between the lovers and their victims.

THE RINGU COLLECTION BLU-RAY REVIEW

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Ringu (1998) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, so it's a great time to dive into Arrow Video's three-disc box set, packed with all four original Ring films, as well as commentaries, featurettes, interviews, and much more!

THE YOKAI MONSTERS COLLECTION Blu-ray Review

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Fanzine legend Dave Kosanke (Liquid Cheese) returns to the Doc’s office as they both explore the heretofore unfamiliar territory of THE YOKAI MONSTERS, now available in a new box set from Arrow Video.

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (1969)/ACCION MUTANTE (1993) Blu-ray Reviews

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Jon Kitley of Kitley's Krypt returns to the Doc's office to discuss dos peliculas muy bueno! The debut features from and both changed the face of Spanish horror upon their releases, and happily both have recently received Blu-ray releases, so it's high time we sat down to talk about them!

WEIRD WISCONSIN: THE BILL REBANE COLLECTION Blu-ray Review

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Author, fanzine legend, and authentic Wisconsinite Dave Kosanke (Liquid Cheese) joins AC for a rollicking, rambling tour of the life and career of maverick independent filmmaker Bill Rebane, best known for his 1975 drive-in smash, The Giant Spider Invasion.

ORCHESTRATOR OF STORMS (2022) Movie Review

Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin (2022) d. Dima Ballin/Kat Ellinger (USA) (112 min)

In the press release, we are presented with the following, “Has there been a genre artist more fundamentally misunderstood and inappropriately discussed than Jean Rollin? He remains one of genre cinema’s most singular poets, a theatrical fantasist, interpreter of dreams, orchestrator of storms. His recurring use of twin or paired protagonists and surrealistic interpretations of vampirism, with tones that were often in the midnight space between gothic literature and fairy tale, his sense of humour and intellectual musings, his sumptuous visual ideas, coming together to make inspired works of genre art that ran against nearly all traditions of the times they were made in.”

ZOMBIE FOR SALE (2019) Blu-ray Review

Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 31
Total First Time Views: 16
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $3,329.71

Zombie for Sale (2019) d. Min-jae Lee (South Korea) (112 min) (1st viewing)

The Park family, comprised of a father (Jong-ryol Choi), two brothers Joon-Gul (Jae-yeong Jeong) and Min-Gul (Nam-gil Kim), their sister Hae-gul (Soo-kyung Lee), and Joon-Gul’s pregnant bride Nam-Joo (Ji-won Uhm), eke out a living at their run-down gas/service station, bilking the occasional passerby with flat tire-inducing debris on the highway and a tow truck waiting in the wings. Their ramshackle lives change forever when Jjong-Bi (Ga-ram Jung), one of the brain-dead test subjects from Korea’s most prominent drug company, escapes from the lab and shambles into a literal collision course with the family. While Jjong-Bi looks and walks like a traditional Romero zombie, he prefers to munch on heads of cabbage rather than brains, and when he accidentally does bite the aging patriarch, his rejuvenated victim actually feels 20 years younger!

YUMEJI (1991) Blu-ray Review

Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 30
Total First Time Views: 15
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $3,132,30

Yumeji (1991) d. Seijin Suzuki (Japan) (128 min) (1st viewing)

A most unusual ghost story, this final chapter in Suzuki’s Taisho Trilogy is at first glance a biopic about painter and poet Yumeji Takehisa (Kenji Sawada), yet ends up being far less concerned with realistic depictions of the artist’s life and more with exploring the elusive boundaries between man and woman, life and death, objectification and obsession. Takehisa’s relationships, specifically those with three women, highlight key elements of human nature, and Suzuki applies his painterly vision to nearly every frame, weaving a hypnotic spell that lingers in the heart even as the images ebb and flow through the mind.

WARNING FROM SPACE (1956) Blu-ray Review

Scare-A-Thon Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 27
Total First Time Views: 14
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $2,222.64

Warning from Space (1956) d. Koji Shima (Japan) (87 min) (2nd viewing)

As Japan is rocked by mysterious sightings of UFOs over Tokyo and large one-eyed aliens attempting contact, scientists collaborate to investigate the unexpected rise in extraterrestrial activity. Unbeknownst to them, one of the aliens has already assumed human form and is about to deliver a very important message that could be humanity’s last hope for survival.

CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (aka THE GATES OF HELL) (1980) Blu-ray Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 2
Total First Time Views: 1
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $90.02

City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell) (1980) d. Lucio Fulci (Italy) (93 min) (5th viewing)

In the village of Dunwich, Father Thomas (Fabrizio Jovine) mopes around a graveyard, looking suitably bummed out by his existence. He decides to shuffle himself off this mortal coil courtesy of a length of rope and a nearby tree branch, and manages the job quite handily. Unfortunately for the rest of us, his act of self-slaughter has opened one of the fabled Gates of Hell and if the darn thing doesn’t get closed by All Saint’s Day, humanity is D-O-O-M-E-D. In addition to that happy bit of news, the priest’s death also sends NYC psychic medium Mary (Catriona MacColl) into a cataleptic stupor during a séance, with the poor gal getting buried alive. After being saved by intrepid investigative journalist Peter Bell (Christopher George), she dusts herself off and entreats Peter to help her find the resting place of Father Thomas so that they can close the gate in time….

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1989) Blu-ray Review

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) d. Shinya Tsukamoto (Japan) (69 min)

After a character credited as “The Metal Fetishist” (Shinya Tsukamoto) shoves a length of pipe into his thigh, the excruciating pain sends him limping into the street where he is subsequently run down by the Salaryman (Tomorowo Taguchi) and his (intentionally) nameless girlfriend (Kej Fujiwara). Fearing for their reputations, they take the fetishist’s seemingly lifeless body and dispose of it at the bottom of a ravine, pausing to make love in the shadow of their crime. Shaving in the mirror the next day, the Salaryman notices a small metal diode emerging from his cheek; attempting to pull it out only causes agony and a bleeding wound that marks him like a brand. In the subway, he is accosted by a similarly afflicted Woman with Glasses (Nobu Kanaoka), her hand encased in metal, and while he manages to escape her frenzied attack, the relentless metamorphosis continues, his flesh slowly and inexplicably being replaced by iron, chrome, and steel.

THE CHILD (1977) Blu-ray review

The Child (1977) d. Robert Voskanian (USA) (82 min)

When lovely nanny Alicianne (Laurel Barnett) returns to her childhood burg to take a position caring for Rosalie (Rosalie Cole), a strange little girl whose mother recently passed away, she unwittingly enters into a bizarre small-town realm where small animals – and soon the human residents – are disappearing into the clutches of a growing army of resurrected corpses. Seems young Rosalie has been sending her undead “friends” to avenge her mother’s death… even though there isn’t a lot of evidence to support her claims that anyone actually contributed to it!

DARK AUGUST (1976) Blu-ray Review

Dark August (1976) d. Martin Goldman (USA) (87 min)

In what amounts to be more dramatic character study than straight-ahead fright flick, former New York illustrator Sal (J.J. Barry) flees the city and his current marriage to “find himself” in the quieter climes of Stowe, VT (where the film was actually shot). Unfortunately, one day he accidentally runs down a young girl crossing the country roads, whereupon her vengeful grandfather (William Robertson) lays down a curse on the urban interloper, setting in motion a series of events that threaten to rob Sal of both his sanity and his life.

DREAM NO EVIL (1970) Blu-ray Review

Dream No Evil (1970) d. John Hayes (USA) (84 min)

This offbeat, Psycho-inspired offering from writer/director Hayes (Grave of the Vampire, Garden of the Dead) is a meandering examination of young orphan Grace’s lifelong desire to track down her father (Oscar-winner Edmond O’Brien). After encountering our emotionally battered heroine in a pre-credits sequence, we flash forward and find a grown-up and curvaceous Grace (now played by Brooke Mills) dazzling the assembled masses via her high-fall act within a traveling salvation show headed by charismatic preacher Jessie (Michael Pataki), who just happens to be the brother of Grace’s beloved betrothed, Patrick (Paul Prokop).

TENEBRAE (1982) Blu-ray Review

Tenebrae (1982) d. Dario Argento (Italy) (101 min)

American mystery author Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) arrives in Rome to promote his newest novel, Tenebrae. Unfortunately, a serial killer is on the loose, taunting Neal and murdering those around him in gruesome fashion via straight razors and hatchets… just like the character in his novel. As the mystery surrounding the killings spirals out of control, Neal investigates the crimes on his own, with fiction and reality blurring as fear and madness take hold.

SUTURE (1993) Blu-ray review

Suture (1993) d. Scott McGehee / David Siegel (USA) (96 min)

The wealthy and self-assured Vincent (Michael Harris) meets his blue-collar half-brother Clay (Dennis Haysbert) at their father's funeral and is struck by their similarity. He decides to murder Clay and take his identity, only Clay survives the assassination attempt with no memory and is mistaken for Vincent. The fact that Vincent is white and Clay is black only complicates a film that probes deeply into the nature of identity.

SCALPEL (1977) Blu-ray review

Scalpel (1977) d. John Grissmer (USA) (95 min)

Dr. Phillip Reynolds (Robert Lansing), a renowned plastic surgeon, has a bit of a conundrum. His wealthy and recently deceased father-in-law has cut him completely out of a vast inheritance, leaving the entirety of the estate to Reynolds’ daughter, Heather (Judith Chapman). Problem is his estranged offspring is unlikely to share, having run away from home after her overprotective daddy drowned her beau in the pond out back last year. One night, the disinherited doc crosses paths with a young exotic dancer, Jane, her face beaten beyond recognition, and hatches a scheme to reconstruct her features in the form of the missing Heather and split the $5 million pot between them. As her scars heal, the two grow closer, both to sealing the deal and to each other, but first they’ll have to convince suspicious Uncle Bradley (Arlen Dean Snyder) and the rest of the family that Jane is Heather... and make sure Heather doesn’t show up to ruin the party.

SLUGS (1988) Blu-ray review

Slugs (1988) d. Juan Piquer Simon (Spain/USA) (89 min)

Simon, the maestro behind the gut-busting splatter flick Pieces, delivers another heaping helping of the red sauce, this time with toxic waste-fed gastropods doing the honors. While the line readings and WTF moments are not as abundantly plentiful, there’s enough head-shaking banana boat wackiness to keep guts chuckling and gruesome sequences to keep lunches buckling. When several members of a quiet upstate NY community start turning up munchified, it’s up to public health inspector Michael Garfield (as a character named – snicker – Mike Brady) and his public works buddy (Philip MacHale) to save the day.

VAMPYRES (1974) Blu-ray review

Vampyres (1974) d. Jose Ramon Larraz (UK/Spain) (88 min)

At a time when throwing extensive vampiric nudity on screen would have been enough, Larraz (and his wife Diane Daubeney, who lent her name to the writing credit to meet the UK union quota) went the extra mile and conjured up this deceptively simple, highly satisfying tale of two bisexual bloodsuckers. The Sapphic duo, played with charged sensuality by Marianne Morris (the darker, mysterious Fran) and Anulka (blonde, fresh-faced Miriam) take up residence in a remote English countryside estate, flagging down unsuspecting male drivers to take home for an evening snack. In addition to their daily iron intake, these vampires enjoy all pleasures of the flesh, and Larraz delivers the goods in numerous well-shot, sexy interludes between the lovers and their victims.