Hi there! Well after writing about the film "Maniac", starring Joe Spinell, I thought I'd just write a short post on the proposed sequel and the short promo film that was made.
"Maniac 2: Mr Robbie" was made in 1986, and was filmed by Buddy Giovinazzo who had only just made his first film "Combat Shock". Unfortunately shortly after this promo was filmed, Joe Spinell's untimely death cut short any plans for a feature film. Joe Spinell was upset that so many females were upset about the first film (not surprising really), that he decided to make the main character a vigilante who kills abusive parents.
Mr. Robbie is a children's tv personality, and receives a lot of mail from fans. Some of these children talk about how they are beaten up by their parents for watching too much tv. Mr. Robbie is upset about this and decides to bring the law into his own hands!
I could say more about this film, but the video at the bottom of the page says about all there is to know about this short film, and also includes the film as well.
It's too bad that Joe Spinell died before he had a chance to make a feature film. From this concept it looked like a good idea and could have been quite an enjoyable film!
Thanks for reading! (I told you it would be short!)
I first saw "Man Bites Dog" in 1999 when a friend of mine bought it on VHS, and it has really made an impression on me ever since. It is a Belgian film, released in 1991 and was directed by Andre Bonzel and Benoit Poelvoorde.
The film is a black & white mockumentary about a serial killer named Ben (Benoit Poelvoorde), who is being recorded for a warts and all documentary. The camera crew joins Ben while he is murdering people, visiting his family and friends, or listening to his views on a broad variety of subjects (poetry, cinema, music, the weight ratio needed to sink a human body in the water).
After a while, the camera crew starts to get involved in the killing. Instead of just Ben murdering individual people, they target families and couples in their homes. The killing stops for a bit when Ben gets arrested after a victim escapes. Somehow he manages to escape jail but afterwards he, the camera crew, and his family are being targeted in some sort of revenge attack which pretty much ends in everyone's death.
This is just a brief outline of the plot, but there is so much more to this film than was mentioned. "Man Bites Dog" is very much a very funny at times, black comedy. He talks about how he likes to attack old people in their homes because they are easier to rob, as it can be made to look accidental and old people keep all their valuables in their property. He is very particular to postmen, who are his favourite victims. Ben is a very entertaining person in front of the camera, and has many insightful opinions on many different subjects which he talks about at length. This gives him a bit more depth than most films of this type.
It can be that entertaining at times, that when the violence does happen it can be very sobering. The deaths are filmed quite realistically, and most are very violent. There are some scenes that are very hard to swallow, especially once the camera crew become involved in the killing. In one scene a family at home are targeted, the camera crew smother the child while Ben deals with the family. In the worst scene, after an entertaining scene of the group getting drunk, they target a couple at home. What follows is a disturbing rape scene, followed by a horrific morning after scene of the aftermath.
As disturbing as these scenes are, I hope it doesn't put you off watching the film entirely. As grim as I've made the film sound, "Man Bites Dog" has a lot of humorous scenes and the main character Ben can be really funny and engaging. It won various awards around the world, including two awards at Cannes.
As you can assume, the film was very controversial when released. Even the posters couldn't escape controversy. The poster depicts Ben shooting downwards, while a small amount of blood and a baby's dummy are shown flying through the air. This never happens in the film nor is it suggested. Even though, certain posters for this film replace the dummy with a pair of dentures! At the bottom of the page is a comparison of the two posters. The left image is "graphic" and the right image is "censored".
In my last post for "Don't Go In The House", I talked about how horror was being attacked by critics and certain groups of people because of the violence, usually against women. I also mentioned another film, "Maniac". This film was released in the same year as "Don't Go In The House", and I think these two films really go hand in hand for fanning the flames of controversy.
"Maniac" is a 1980 released film directed by William Lustig, who has made a few films with the word maniac in the title. He directed the popular films "Maniac Cop" 1&2, and co-directed 3 with Joel Soisson (a writer/producer on many straight to dvd films like "Highlander: Endgame", "Mimic 2", & "Hollow Man 2"). William Lustig is also the CEO of the entertainment company Blue Underground which has released a nice 2 disc region free blu ray of this film.
The film revolves around a lonely figure called Frank Zito (Joe Spinell), who lives in a dingy apartment with his collection of mannequins. He is a serial killer who stalks and kills women, then afterwards he scalps them and takes their clothing to dress up his mannequin collection. He often has conversations and even sleeps with these mannequins. These conversations give a bit of background on Frank. He talks to the mannequins like they are his mother who we find out was an abusive prostitute who orphaned poor Frank after a car accident.
One day Frank notices a photographer in the park called Anna. After a visit to her apartment they start dating and things seem to go well. On the last date, Frank asks if he can visit his mothers grave before going to the cinema. When he visits the grave he goes completely insane and tries to kill Anna, who manages to escape. I hate spoilers so saying anything after this point would ruin things!
Joe Spinell began his film career with a non speaking and uncredited role in "The Godfather". This part opened to door to many other films where he usually played some sort of violent thug. He was a close friend of Sylvester Stallone and starred as the loan shark who employs Stallone in "Rocky". They were already friends beforehand when Stallone was a struggling actor, and Spinell later on became Godfather to his son Sage Stallone. He later starred in other Stallone related films. Spinell wrote, co-produced and developed the story for "Maniac", which is probably his best performance. He is truly believable as this unhinged psychopath who at times can be very charming to people and sometimes be someone you can really sympathise with due to his past. The scenes when he is alone in his flat are the most disturbing to me. A planned sequel was in the works, though there is a short promo that is unfortunately Spinell's last time on camera before his death in 1989. This short promo was directed by Buddy Giovinazzo who was also supposed to direct the sequel. Giovinazzo is famous for his first film "Combat Shock", which is one of the best films Troma ever distributed. I'll put the trailer at the bottom of the post.
Another person who contributes to the notoriety of this film is Tom Savini who done the special effects. The special effects are quite realistic and very bloody, and Savini keeps the best special effect to himself and one of the most infamous effects in horror film history! He stars as a guy who drives his girlfriend out to a nice, dark, secluded area, where they attempt to make out. Spinell jumps onto the front of the car with a double barrelled shotgun and shoots through the windscreen, blowing Savini's head apart in realistic slow motion. This really is the "money shot" of the film. The prosthetic head was filled with animal innards and bits if animal brain, then really shot apart with a shotgun.
As I said before, horror films were being attacked for their violence mainly against women, and there is no denying that this is a violent film. It doesn't have a body count like "Nightmare On Elm Street" or "Friday the 13th", but what it does have is highly realistic, very bloody deaths. At the time, New York was crime capital of the USA, and street violence was commonplace. It wasn't unrealistic to think people like this would be roaming the streets, especially with American serial killers like Ted Bundy and David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) only recently being caught and still in people's memory.
If you like your horror films gritty and bloody try and get or borrow a copy of this film, I thinks it is without doubt an underrated classic. Very soon the remake will be released, starring Elijah Wood and written by Alexandra Aja and directed by Franck Khalfoun (a very successful team who made "Haute Tension" and the excellent "P2"), and it looks like it could be very good. I'll put the trailer underneath this post too!
Thanks again for taking the time to read the page. Please feel free to comment below, like my facebook page which I update a lot more than I do here (sorry I'm not the most prolific blogger but I do try!), or join my twitter. There are links to the right of the page. Also check out the other blogs that I think are very good that are linked also.
"Don't Go In The House" is a 1980 film directed by Joseph Ellison. This was pretty much his only directing job apart from a film called "Joey", made in 1986. It was largely unseen and never made much of an impact compared to his first film.
"Don't Go In The House" has went on to be a cult classic, and only recently has been released in the UK by the label Arrow Video (under their ArrowDrome guise) after years being stuck in video nasty limbo. Needless to say I snapped it up.
The story is about a man called Donny (Dan Grimaldi), who was physically abused by his mother as a child. She would regularly punish him and try to burn the evil out of him over the kitchen stove. He develops an obsession with fire and grows up to work at the local incinerator. There is an accident at work where a can of aerosol gets into one of the furnaces and explodes, setting someone on fire. Instead of helping the guy out, Donny just watches the guy burn as other people come out to save him. Afterwards, he claims he froze with shock.
After that incident, he goes back to the house he shares with his abusive mother. When he goes to check on her, he finds out she has died in her sleep. At this discovery he becomes totally unhinged. He decides to modify a bedroom into his own furnace, with steel walls and a chain for hanging people on. He then goes on to pick up various women to take home to become victims in his "room of steel", as the trailer likes to call it.
This is where the film gains some notoriety. At that time the horror genre was being attacked by critics and feminine groups for it's depiction of violence pretty much solely against women. Roughly around the same time a film called "Maniac" was released, basically following a serial killer who preys on women and kills them in horrible ways. Critics were saying that the people who made these films were "sick" and "depraved" individuals. These two films were the main examples of that argument. I'm not really here to spark debate as to whether that is true or not (if you have anything to say, feel free to mention in the comments below).
I liked this film. I can see what critics are getting at with the violence at parts, and is slightly disturbing, but there are a lot of other films from that time period that I would deem more disturbing. "Maniac" being one of them (watch that movie if you get the chance!). The film is pretty short. It could have been an extra 20 minutes at least, the film ends quite abruptly. I would rather let you watch the film to see what I mean, but the ending left me a bit underwhelmed. The running time may have been due to budget constraints, but I suppose for what money they did have, they managed to make a fairly decent, disturbing and effective film. It also has one of my favourite horror trailers ever, and for people wanting to see the film but would rather not buy it, the entire film is on youtube for your enjoyment! The trailers for "Don't Go In The House", and "Maniac", are at the end of this post.
Thanks for reading the blog. I took a bit of time out and I'm not the most prolific of bloggers, but I hope you have enjoyed reading. Feel free to comment below, join the page, or get in on the conversation on twitter or facebook (links are on the right of the page). I actually do a lot on my facebook page so you should check it out!
Just in case anyone has noticed there hasn't been a post in a few weeks. I've just been really busy but hopefully I'll have something up soon. Got a few films that be writing posts about so please keep an eye out.
Also if you have the time and you haven't already, please like my facebook page. I have been talking a lot on there, doing competitions and talking about films in general. The more the merrier so check it out! There is a like button on the right hand side of the page. If you are already liking the page, please spread the word!
Also for more reading, take a look at some of the other blogs that I think are great that you can go to by clicking on the links on the right too!
Hi everyone! I'm being a bit out of character for this post as I'm actually talking about a music video. One of the members follows my Facebook page and thought their new zombie themed music video would be suitable for the blog, so why not. It makes for a bit of a change! The band is called "Sinicle" and the song is called "Obliterate".
"Sinicle" are a heavy metal band that hail from Reno, Nevada and the band members are Andrew Zaragoza, who plays guitar and sings lead vocals. Justin Miller plays bass and sings vocals, and James Gepner plays drums.
They have been gaining a bit of a following online and have been interviewed for several magazines and online radio stations. They are hoping to win a battle of bands competition to play on this years Warped tour, I'll have a link to that at the bottom of the post. The have relocated to Hollywood, California, and are regularly playing gigs at venoes such as The Whisky, and The Rainbow Bar.
The video is of the band playing on stage at a live gig. Unknown to them, there is a horde of zombies making their way to the venue, possibly attracted by the noise. The video culminates in the zombies taking to the stage and devouring the band as they try to keep playing! It's a fairly DIY video and has practically no budget, but it does give you a fair impression of what it's like to be at one of their shows (minus the zombies obviously!).
"Sinicle" are currently working on a new EP, with producer Bob Kulick. Kulick is a Grammy Award winning producer and is the brother of "KISS" guitarist Bruce Kilick. He has also played on several "KISS" albums and has worked with artists like "Motorhead", "Lou Reed", "Meat Loaf" and "W.A.S.P.
Check out the links below and remember to check out the video. I'll be back to normal for my next post but who knows, I could do something similar again at some point! Please leave some comments at the bottom of the page if you have a minute to spare, and feel free to join my facebook page or twitter by clicking on the links on the right hand side of the page.
Hey there! It's been a couple of weeks, I've been a bit lazy and have just been watching a lot of films and not writing about them. I have been posting a lot of stuff on my facebook page, basically film trailers of the films I've been watching and short films that are from youtube. If you would like to join this page there is a like button to the right of this page. Now onto the film!
"Perth" is a 2004 film from Singapore, directed by Djinn ( real name Ong Lay Jinn). The main character is a man called Harry Lee. He is a self proclaimed "simple man" whose dream is to move to the Australian city called Perth. He works part time as a security guard at the shipyard and drives a taxi at night, saving up his money to move to Perth. Unfortunately his plans go a bit awry when he loses his security guard job and his wife gambles away his savings.
A man he knows from the shipyards called Angry Boy Lee, who is not exactly by the book, says that if he needs a job he will try and help him out. Harry recruits his best friend from his days in the army, Selvam, and goes to meet Angry Boy Lee. He manages to get them a job transporting prostitutes about town, and Harry starts to make a good bit of money that will make his dreams of moving to Perth start a little bit quicker. Until he meets a prostitute who he falls for.
He transports this prostitute a few times to a hotel, and whenever she leaves she seems to have taken a beating. It reminds him of an incident he had in the army with a girl, and he feels he can make up for it by buying the prostitutes freedom. This is easier said than done! Things start to go downhill quite rapidly once this happens, and in a pretty violent fashion.
The cover of the dvd says that this film is Singapore's answer to "Taxi Driver". It has some similarities such as him driving a taxi, trying to help save a prostitute with violent results, and there's even a mirror scene! But it has enough stuff in it to help carve out its own identity. This film is has a lot of scenes of just Harry and Selvam sitting in bars and restaurants, just drinking and talking about any and all topics. They really seem like they have known each other for years and are very close friends.
Harry has a lot of problems in his life. He is a man in his fifties watching the world go by and feeling left out. He thinks he can rid himself of his faults and start afresh in Perth, which he portrays as a Utopia where there are no troubles.
The director Djinn said he was inspired to make the film because of the many taxi rides he has had where the drivers have had a desire to move to Perth. Also when he was in the army reserves, he noticed a lot of the soldiers talked about moving to Perth. Even his uncle who was in the merchant navy talked of his dream to move to Perth.
Thanks again for taking the time to read the page. If you have anything to say please leave a comment below, I like to have some feedback from the people who have read the page. Also please like the page on facebook or twitter, though facebook is my preferred page as I do a lot of posting trailers and stuff on it. I'll see you all again soon. Thanks!
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