Winners and Sinners Department:

While everyone is not only a winner but King of the Castle here at Sleazegrinder.com, only one of you creeps is the winner of our first Week in Sleaze contest, for which we were giving away a Cherry Darling action figure from Grindhouse. That lucky pervert is Kirk “Trashy” Anderson, who informed us that he actually went to school at College of the Canyons in Valencia, CA, where they shot Caged Fury (and Hamburger: The Movie!). Our decision to name Kirk the winner was based partly on his creative entry, and partly because we feel kinda bad that he chose that place for his further education. Here’s hoping the Cherry figure makes things a little better, Trashy – just don’t tell us what you do with her.

Don’t feel bad if you were one of the thousands who didn’t bring Cherry home – because we’ve got another contest for ya this week! TWO lucky sleaze beasts will win the latest Welcome to the Grindhouse DVD double bill from Deimos Entertainment– 1978’s Coach, starring Michael Biehn and featuring celebrity skin from Cathy Lee Crosby, and 1982’s The Beach Girls, with a lot of Penthouse Pets doing what they do. Want this double helping of softcore shenanigans? Drop us a line at Sleazegrinder@gmail.com – subject line: Grindhouse Double Feature contest. Include your name and address, and we’ll let two of ya know if you won in ten days.

Okay, on to this week’s releases:

PICKS TO CLICK

There’s no way to explain why the Three Stooges are funny – you either think they’re a riot or you don’t. It probably helps if you find the sight of semi-retarded people smacking each other a gut-buster. I happen to fall into that category, so I’m pleased as all get out over The Three Stooges Collection (Columbia), which packages together the first 19 shorts (circa 1934-1936) with Moe Howard, brother Jerome (aka Curly), and Larry Fine. Included in this double disc set are such gems as “Punch Drunks” (Curly goes berserk every time he hears Larry play “Pop Goes the Weasel”), “Men in Black” (“Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard”), “Three Little Pigskins” (the Stooges play college football), “Disorder in the Court” and “Slippery Silks” (their first pie fight). Again, if you love the Stooges, this is essential, even crucial. If not, you’ll just shake your head and wonder why. And I don’t wanna know you if that’s the case.

Amicus was Hammer Films’ chief regional competition in the horror department during the ‘60s and ‘70s – the UK outfit (run by two Americans, Milton Subotsky and Milton Rosenberg) produced cheap and effective chillers that often featured Hammer stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and if they couldn’t match Hammer in terms of class or production values, they did manage to turn out highly watchable and frequently outrageous movies on a regular basis (including Tales from the Crypt, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, and the unbelievable Monster Club). Three of their better titles have been packaged together by Dark Sky as The Amicus Collection, which includes Asylum (Cushing, Herbert Lom, and super hot Britt Ekland and Charlotte Rampling in an anthology pic written by Robert Bloch); And Now the Screaming Starts (Gothic ghost story with Cushing, Patrick Magee and hot-cha Stephanie Beacham), and the insane Beast Must Die, with a leather-clad Calvin Lockhart hunting a werewolf among his guests (Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon, and foxy Marlene Clark), and the amazing “Werewolf Break” gimmick. Each of the DVDs include commentary by the cast and/or director, as well as original trailers and featurettes on Amicus, Peter Cushing, and the films themselves. I’d also take a look-see at Dark Sky’s release of Frankenstein, a 1973 TV-movie version with big Bo Svensen as the monster and Robert Foxworth as his creator. It’s a fairly serious and accurate version, produced by Dan (Night Stalker/Trilogy of Terror) Curtis and includes commentary by Foxworth and John Karlen (from Daughters of Darkness) as well as the original promo and recap from the ABC telecast.

And the final season of the original Outer Limits comes to DVD in The Outer Limits: Volume 3 (MGM) Included are some of the series’ best episodes (Harlan Ellison’s “I, Soldier,” which was later “borrowed” by The Terminator, and “Demon With a Glass Hand”) as well as its gooniest (“Wolf 359,” with Adam West vs. sand sharks on Mars). The entire series run is also available in a three disc package.

FROM THE VAULTS

Blue Underground revives some of its best (and most insane) Euro-horror titles this week, and each with the nice price of around $10-15 a pop. Among the pics are Bruno Mattei’s demented zombie splatfest Hell of the Living Dead and his post-apocalyptic thriller Rats: Nights of Terror, Lucio Fulci’s Manhattan Baby, Lamberto Bava’s A Blade in the Dark, and Michele Soavi’s Stage Fright and The Church, which are probably the best of the bunch. All feature Blue Underground’s extra-mile supplements, including original trailers and/or interviews with cast and crew.

Also up from the DVD depths: a double bill of Al Adamson with Five Bloody Graves and Nurse Sherri (Shock-O-Rama) – the former is a gory western with John Carradine and many of Al’s regular players on the wrong end of Indian arrows, while the latter is a lunatic story of possession, with a big-busted nurse under the sway of an evil magician. Sherri is available in its theatrical and alternate versions (as well as an interview with co-star Marilyn Joi), and both pics feature commentaries by producer Sam Sherman. And Synapse has reissued their top-notch DVD of Frank Henenlotter’s Brain Damage (evil parasite with the voice of Zacherley turns a guy into a killer), which includes commentary by Henenlotter and Uncle Bob Martin (moderated by Scooter MacRae, unfortunately, who also contributes overblown liner notes) and the original trailer. Synapse is also bringing Henenlotter’s Basket Case 2 to DVD this week; it has its moments, but doesn’t match the original BC for laughs or over-the-top gore. Extras include an interview with David Emge (Romero’s Dawn of the Dead), who played the freak with the half-moon face, and a making-of featurette.

HORROR BUSINESS

I did not see Day Watch (Fox), or Night Watch for that matter, because the trailer looked like it was full of hip vampires in sunglasses, which I am quite frankly sick to death of seeing. I am probably wrong about this (I usually am), but it’s available in an unrated DVD this week.

NOTE: These movies are AWESOME. – Sleaze.

I am also done (like, stick a fork in my ass and turn me over done) with torture porn or whatever the fuck people want to call it,  but I can understand that some aren’t, so they should know that Captivity (Lionsgate), with Elisha Cuthbert in a cage, is also out this week.

More interesting (to me, at least) is Alan Rowe Kelly’s latest, The Blood Shed (Heretic), which finds the cross-dressing director of I’ll Bury You Tomorrow as a member of a psychotic hillbilly family who prey on deserving locals; I’ve said before that Kelly is the second coming of Andy Milligan (headache-inducing family squabbles? Check. Copious blood flow? Double check), only more talented, and if you’re up for that sorta satisfaction, Kelly’s got the action. Brett Piper (Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell; Bite Me!) has a new one out as well – it’s called Bacterium (EI Cinema), and it’s got a flesh-eating monster amoeba vs. paintball gamers. I’ll watch that over Captivity any day of the week.

Lastly, Retromedia beefs up their tits-and-terror catalog with Bewitched Housewives, with Beverly Lynne as a Salem witch transported to modern day suburbia, and XXX stars Nicole Sheridan, Evan Stone and Rebecca Love doing what they do best (fuck, or at least pretend to). Black Night (Cult Epics) is a surreal fantasy-thriller that takes place in a future where the sun shines for only 15 seconds a day. You can imagine what that might do to a person’s head, and director Oliver Smolders gives you the full detail, which involves sex, insects, disease, and insanity. Our cup of tea, one might say. And I was really hoping that MGM’s release of The Initiation of Sarah was the 1978 TV-movie with Kay Lenz as an unpopular college girl who uses her psychic abilities to get revenge on queen bitch Morgan Fairchild. Sadly, it’s the 2006 TV remake, also with Morgan Fairchild, and co-starring Jennifer Tilly.

TV AND DOCUMENTARY:

Chances are that if you got excited over the Three Stooges news at the top of the column, you’ll be about ready to bust to hear that A&E Home Video is releasing Benny Hill – The Complete and Unadulterated Megaset (1969-1989), a massive 18-disc set featuring the entire and uncut Thames Television run of his comedy show, plus featurettes on Hill, the Hill’s Angels, and the series as a whole. Amazing. What a country we live in.

Also in the questionable taste department: John Waters: This Filthy World (Dokument), a concert movie of sorts showcasing Waters’ stage show (covering his films and fascinations) and directed by Jeff Garlin of Curb Your Enthusiasm. A definite pick-up for Waters devotees. And Rhino has Volume 12 of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which riffs on The Rebel Set, Secret Agent Super Dragon, The Starfighters, and the incredible Parts: The Clonus Horror.  And lastly, there’s Slayer: Unholy Alliance Live (Sony), which features performances from their 2006 tour with Mastodon (represented by two songs), Children of Bodom (two songs) and Lamb of God and Thine Eyes Bleed (one track apiece).

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PICKS TO CLICK:

Sometimes the best way to start your week is to ease into it, like a nice, warm bath. And sometimes it’s best to get things underway with a smack to the head – it gets the blood and adrenaline flowing, kicks all five senses into action, and puts your defense mechanism into play – all of which prepares you for the next smack (which, as we all know, is coming right around the corner). Should you desire that same reaction from your next movie, may I suggest Dog Bite Dog (Weinstein Company)? This 2006 ammunition fest from Hong Kong dispenses with the “bullet ballet” bullshit and focuses all of its speedfreak energy on amassing an eye-popping body count. The competitors in this slaughterfest are actor/pop star Edison Cheng as a relentless and feral Cambodian killer, and Sam Lee as the sullen HK cop who loses his own remaining shreds of humanity while pursuing this murder machine. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to check out Dog Bite Dog if you’re in the grip of a bad day – its unblinking pessimism and savage violence will either send you crawling under the bed covers for the rest of the week, or give you the hate juice to deck the person who steams you the most (boss/landlord/neighbor/guy who took your parking space). Watch with caution is probably the best advice, but do dig the double-disc extras, including commentary by Chen, interviews with director Cheang Pou-Sai and his cast, and a making-of featurette.

I’m already seeing complaints online from shut-ins and nerds about the Mario Bava Collection Volume 2 (Anchor Bay), so let me put a bootheel on their squirmy little necks and say that like the previous Bava Collection Box, Volume 2 delivers as close to The Goods as you’re going to get for the acclaimed horror director’s career. You get eight movies here – the gory spook show Baron Blood;  the ugly, claustrophobic thriller Kidnapped (both the new version with footage shot by Bava’s son Lamberto and the original theatrical version), Bava’s tongue-in-cheek spaghetti Western Roy Colt and Winchester Jack; the stylish murder fests Five Dolls for an August Moon and Bay of Blood; the swinging sex comedy Four Times that Night, and both version of Bava’s Lisa and the Devil (the original Italian edit and the revamped American version, House of Exorcism), with hot-cha Elke Sommer (who’s also in Baron Blood). Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog contributes expert commentary on most of the discs (Elke and producer Alfredo Leone handle the chitchat on House of Exorcism), and there are trailers, bios and a making-of featurette on Kidnapped. So, I ask you, what’s the complaint? Did you get American and Italian versions on some titles? Yes. Did you get commentary? Yep. Are the presentations here marked improvements on the Image releases from several years back (from which many of the extras in this set are taken)? Yes, most notably Bay of Blood, which sounded like it was remastered at the bottom of a well. Did you not get triple-disc versions of each movie with every single shred of material available on that title? No, you didn’t, but if that REALLY motivates you to get out of your bean bag chair and pour your geeky ire onto a discussion board… then I hate to tell you, but you are a world-class twerp. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s the way it goes. Anchor Bay also has stand-alone discs of several of the titles from the first Bava Box, including Black Sunday (with Barbara Steele), Black Sabbath (with Karloff – and no, it’s not the AIP version), and Erik the Conqueror, which features the great Cameron Mitchell in Viking action.

FROM THE VAULTS:

The Hellraiser 20^th Anniversary Edition (Anchor Bay) is a classic production on par with their other recent Anchor Bay Collection reissues (Re-Animator and Phantasm). You get interviews with stars Andrew Robinson, Doug (Pinhead) Bradley, and Sleazegrinder favorite Ashley Lawrence (Drool. - Sleaze) , who also contributes to the commentary with writer/director Clive Barker; trailers, TV spots, and the first and final drafts of the screenplay (on DVD-ROM) round out the set. No toys or deleted scenes, but go cry about it on a discussion board if you don’t like it (can you tell I’m very anti-DVD nerd today?).

Deimos continues to rescue ‘70s Spanish horror from its crappy fate on American bootlegs with two more deluxe editions. Spanish horror champ Paul Naschy is represented with Horror Rises from the Tomb, in which he leaves behind the Wolfman suit and places a 15^th-century Satanist whose headless body is revived by his descendants and picks up where he left off on the black magic and slaughter campaigns. Commentary by Naschy and director Carlos Aured is the chief asset, but you also get the English and Spanish-language vocal tracks, the original opening sequence, and a pile of trailers, posters and other material. Also on deck is The Loreley’s Grasp, from Blind Dead director Amando De Ossorio, about a mythological monster stalking ladies along the Rhine River in Germany. Like Tomb, it’s uncut and features Spanish and English audio.

Also on deck: double-disc sets of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (featuring interviews with Malcolm McDowell and a new making-of featurette) and The Shining (new features on the film’s locations and composer Wendy Carlos), and the Complete Seventh (and final) Season of Tales from the Crypt, all from Warner Bros.; the venerable French animated feature/headtrip movie Fantastic Planet (Facets), which bursts from its bootleg restraints with a new DVD that includes the original subtitled version and American edit, as well as a featurette on director Rene Laloux; and an unrated DVD of Rospo Pallenberg’s slasher pic Cutting Class (Lionsgate), which gave Brad Pitt one of his first movie paychecks.

HORROR BUSINESS

Did not see Hostel II. Do not intend to, as I don’t believe Eli Roth can make a movie with more than 10 satisfying minutes in it (his fake trailer for Thanksgiving in Grindhouse doesn’t count), and the first one was a turd. Sleaze did see it, I think, so I’ll let him tell you about it:

I didn't. I tried. I wanted to see Weinerdog naked, but the fuckin' douchebag had her bleeding and chained upside down the whole time. Fuck it. - Sleaze

The movie’s available in an unrated AND Director’s Cut, if you need to know. Oh, I didn’t see Saw III (Lionsgate) either, but it’s out in a Director’s Cut DVD too.

Probably more worth your time is Fido (Lionsgate), an amusing social commentary comedy tricked out as a zombie pic. The premise was amusing at least – zombies have been domesticated after a long war, and Billy Connolly plays the title character, a docile flesh-eater who becomes a beloved pet – but it didn’t seem to get much play here in the States (it’s a Canadian release). I think you oughta support your neighbors to the North and check it out. And I hear there’s violence, if that helps your decision at all.

 
The Tripper (Fox) is an offbeat slasher parody from David Arquette (of all people) about a gaggle of stoners (among them Jaime King, Jason Mewes and Lukas Haas) who are stalked by a maniac in a Ronald Reagan mask while expanding their minds at a retro-hippie music fest. Paul Reubens, Thomas Jane, Rick Overton, and Mrs. Arquette (Courtney Cox) are also in the cast; the DVD is unrated and features commentary by Arquette, Reubens and Jane, as well as deleted scenes and a blooper reel.

Also on deck: Buried Alive (Weinstein Company) is a ghost story/splatterfest from KNB Effects/Wishmaster director Robert Kurtzman that’s being released through Weinstein’s Dimension Extreme label; expect lots of blood and Tobin Bell from Saw. More ghosts are afoot in the Japanese thriller Apartment 1303 (Tartan), this time from the pen of Grudge and Oldboy author Kei Oishi; it’s about a cursed apartment haunted by mother-and-daughter ghosts. Kaw (Sony) is laughable nature-gone-wild horror about an assault by killer crows on a small Midwestern town, while Gag (Velocity/Thinkfilm) is low-budget endurance horror about a pair of thieves who stumble into a serial killer’s trap. The Devil (Facets) is a rarely seen 1972 surreal shocker from Possession director Andrzej Zulawski about a young 19^th-century prisoner who is driven to violence and depravity by his captor/protector, who may or may not be Satan himself. Expect your head to start spinning within the first few minutes, and as Fat Albert used to say, if you’re not careful, you might learn something (the picture was a not-too-subtle attack on the Communist forces in Zulawski’s native Poland, and they kept it out of circulation for almost 20 years).  

ODDS AND SODS

The Strange Case of Howard Phillips Lovecraft (Facets) is an odd but visually interesting documentary about the horror writer’s short life and career told through staged scenes and clips from old films; it’s a bit on the pretentious side, but HPL fans will find it an imaginative tribute to the Rhode Island Recluse. And Motorhead: Stage Fright (SPV) is a double-disc concert movie of the Road Crew in full roar on tour in Germany from 2006, and features the current lineup (Lemmy, Phil Campbell, and Mikey Dee) in commentary (we watch them watching the movie and offering their observations) and in interviews, as well as plenty of backstage action.
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Free Cherry!

One lucky Week in Sleaze reader will receive Rose McGowan’s Cherry Darling action figure free! Christ, just imagine the weird shit you could so with it!

How can you win? Easy – email us at Sleazegrinder@gmail.com, subject: Cherry contest. We’ll decide who wins. How? That’s our business. You have ten days!

PICKS TO CLICK

Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror provided one of the year’s most indelible images – that of stripper Rose McGowan drilling chemical-created zombies with a machine gun jury-rigged to the lower half of her leg – and much of the rock and roll in Grindhouse, his two-part tribute to ‘70s movie sleaze. As with Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, Terror is being released as a double-disc (from The Weinstein Company) that’s long on extras, including making-of featurettes and commentary by Rodriguez (which confirms what everyone’s suspected all along – a Grindhouse boxed set, featuring both movies, is in the works). The two best supplements (for me, at least) are the amazing fake trailer for Machete (with Danny Trejo as a one-man death squad) and an “audience reaction track,” which recreates the experience of watching the picture in a crowded and rowdy movie theater. I wish every DVD had this option.

And I wish every DVD had as much material as the massive double-disc AC/DC: Plug Me In (Sony) set. The band’s entire career to date is covered in five hours of live footage reaching back as far as ’75 and as current as 2003; Disc One is devoted to the Bon Scott years, with live performances and television guest shots from 1975-1979 (including four songs from one of his final concerts in France), while Disc Two covers the Brian Johnson administration in action on stages in Tokyo, Detroit, Munich, and the old USSR, as well as a 2003 face-off with the Rolling Stones. If you’ve got the will and the dough, there’s also a Special Edition which adds a three-disc compilation of Scott and Johnson performances, including an entire 1983 show at the Houston Summit. I don’t need to tell you that Plug Me In belongs in your collection (like, yesterday), do I?

Producer Sam Katzman’s unbelievably long career in Hollywood was spent grinding out low-budget features in almost every genre, from jungle adventure flicks with an aging Johnny Weismuller to mid-60s Elvis and youthquake exploitation like Riot on Sunset Strip. Four of his horror/science fiction efforts have been rounded up for The Sam Katzman Collection, which is part of Sony’s Icons of Horror series. The pics are Creature Feature heaven, and heavy on the camp – best/worst of the bunch is The Giant Claw, with a goggle-eyed vulture from outer space wreaking havoc on earth. But the others are solid B-chillers, especially Creature With the Atom Brain (a favorite of Roky Erickson’s) and The Werewolf, which actually hits a few dramatic notes in its story of well-meaning scientists who accidentally turn a test patient into a monster. The set is rounded out by the enjoyable Zombies of Mora Tau, with the foxy Allison Hayes (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), as well as trailers for all four movies, a chapter from Katzman’s 1951 serial Mysterious Island, and a cartoon that pits Mr. Magoo against monsters! Need your childhood nostalgia nerve twanged but good? Here’s the right place to find that action.

BCI continues to bundle together great ‘60s and ‘70s exploitation double bills for its Welcome to the Grindhouse DVD series, and its latest entry is no exception: Don’t Look in the Basement and Don’t Open the Door are very watchable chunks of regional drive-in horror from Texas filmmaker S.F. Brownrigg (who also gave us Scum of the Earth and worked on several features for the late, great Larry Buchanan). Basement is a variation on the old “inmates take over the asylum” story, with a young nurse discovering that the nuts are really in charge at a remote hospital, while the rarely seen Door has a young girl threatened by an various unsavory characters upon returning to her home to care for her grandmother. As with all Grindhouse DVDs, the disc is filled out by a barrage of trash trailers to complete a near-perfect recreation of the “grindhouse experience.”

And speaking of sleaze, Image has an incredible triple feature of ‘80s and early ‘90s exploitation that’s heavy on the violent revenge tip. First up is 1993’s Caged Fury, a women-in-prison skinathon with Roxanna Michaels, Erik Estrada, big Paul L. Smith, James Hong, porn types Ron Jeremy, Janine, Julia Parton, and Tyffany Million, and oh, the fucking Zeros too. Movie Numbah Two is the Italian-made Drug Traffikers (1985), better known as Thunder II, and starring Mark Gregory of Bronx Warriors as an Indian sheriff fighting a corrupt deputy in cahoots with dealers. And wrapping everything up is 1985’s Savage Dawn, with a platinum blond Lance Henriksen fighting biker William Forsythe while George Kennedy, Karen Black, and Richard Lynch phone their agents. Excellent stuff, every single one.

Oh, and Sleaze saw the documentary Crazy Love (Magnolia), so I’ll let you tell him about it.

Dude throws acid in chick's face. Chick, now blind, marries dude anyway. Love is crazy, man. - Sleaze

ENTIRELY UP TO YOU DEPT.:

The Reaping (Warner) has Hilary Swank dealing with CGI Biblical plagues and demon children in the Deep South, while Ice Spiders (Sony) reunites Melrose Place alumni Thomas Calabro, Vanessa Williams, and Patrick Muldoon as ski resort workers fighting giant mutant spiders on the slopes. Oh, and Muldoon sings a tune, too. Rockin’. The Stitcher (VCI) is a slasher pic (“based on actual events”) from Tulsa, Oklahoma, while Murder Party (Magnolia) spins on the amusing premise of a man at a Halloween party who discovers that his hosts plan to kill him as part of a performance art piece. The second season of Masters of Horror (Anchor Bay) kicked off with Tobe Hooper’s muddled The Damned Thing, about a toxic horror lurking under the ground in a small town (it has nothing to do with the Ambrose Bierce story on which it’s supposedly based). And while there might be some who think Jim Norton’s bug-eyed pervert routine is hee-larious*, I think he comes off as a mouthy creep. Your mileage may vary, though, so you can check out his standup in Jim Norton: Monster Rain (HBO).

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PICKS TO CLICK

Hideout in the Sun (Retro Seduction) is the first feature film from Doris Wishman, the grand dame of American sexploitation and director of such mind-boggling nudies and roughies as Bad Girls Go To Hell, The Amazing Transplant, and Double Agent 73. Hideout is tame stuff when compared to those pics – it’s basically a nudist camp movie, with a typically weird Wishman plot twist in the form of two bank robbers who use a Florida sun-worshippers’ retreat as their cooling-off spot – but if you’ve seen Doris’ other nudist movies (like the insane Nude on the Moon), you can expect plenty of head-shaking moments throughout. Retro-Seduction’s DVD includes commentary by Doris expert and all-around good guy Michael J. Bowen, as well as an archival interview with Doris and a new one from exploitation pioneer David Friedman; the movie itself is presented in full-frame and widescreen (spread over two discs), and there are a barrage of nudist camp pics, a newsreel from the year of its release (1960), and a dogpile of Retro-Seduction trailers.

Speaking of retro, Animeigo has Shinobi no Mono (a.k.a. Ninja Band of Assassins), a 1962 action-drama from Japan that’s credited with kicking off the ninja movie subgenre. Sleaze beasts that grew up with Sho Kosugi (or worse, Franco Nero and Richard Harrison) as the top movie ninja will be blown away by this black-and-white feature starring Raizo Ichikawa (from the Sleepy Eyes of Death series) as a ninja who wants to abandon the black robe and cool weapons, but is blackmailed into carrying out an assassination. Yeah, it’s talky in spots, but you get serious ninja action throughout (and even a ninja vs. samurai showdown at the conclusion), and Animeigo’s presentation is top-notch, with excellent subtitles and program notes that give you the full ninja 411. Dust off your headband and poison darts and check this out.

Oh, and if it’s retro TV you want, Season Three of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Universal) is out. Yeah, yeah, there isn’t any gore or monsters, but listen, nerd boy, if that’s what you need, go watch Masters of Horror. But if you’re in the mood for classy chills, check out this double-disc set; you’ll find Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Fay Wray, and three episodes directed by A.H. hisself, including the great “Lamb to the Slaughter,” which was based on a Roald Dahl short story. Perfect for October evenings that need a few more chills.

INDOOR BULLSTUFF (with apologies to Joe Bob Briggs):

Speaking of nerds, the internet droolers are up in arms over Warner’s new DVD presentations of Twilight Zone: The Movie and the Poltergeist 25^th Anniversary Edition. Yes, the extras on both are mighty slim – TZ appears to be bare bones, and Poltergeist’s sole extra is a cornball documentary about real poltergeists – but honestly, is ANYONE really dying to have John Landis revisit the on-set death of Vic Morrow on a TZ commentary, and does ANYONE think that Tobe Hooper is going to talk about whether he really directed Poltergeist or not (both of which are on the discussion board complaints)? Think twice, nerdlings. And let’s be honest – TZ is a pretty crappy picture, save for George Miller’s revamp of “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” Poltergeist, however, remains an exceptionally scary movie (no matter who directed it), and deserves a better package than this half-baked edition. Don’t worry, tho – I’m sure WB has a Silver Anniversary Edition or some such in the wings, just waiting for your paycheck…

28 Weeks Later (Fox) is the solid sequel to Danny Boyle’s excellent UK zombie/virus horror pic 28 Days Later; as the title indicates, it takes place a few months after the viral outbreak sent blood-hungry victims tearing through the population of London. The assumption is that the virus has run its course, but as a small group of rural folks discover, that isn’t exactly the case. Nice mix of bloody horror and social commentary (the U.S. pokes its nose into the business by taking over the repopulation of London and does a typical bang-up job); zombie fans take note.

HORROR BUSINESS:

I don’t recall asking for a sequel to the abysmal Wrong Turn, but someone at Fox thought it was a good idea, so you’ve got Wrong Turn 2 for your viewing pleasure this week. It’s the same deal as the first pic (reg’lar folks versus lumpy backwoods cannibals), but the tweak here is that it’s all being filmed as a reality show hosted by Hammerin’ Henry Rollins as an ex-military type. That’s worth about fifteen or twenty minutes of your time, I think.

Note: Wrong Turn 2 is fucking crazy. I recommend it. I recommend you pound down a bunch of coffee or cocaine or something and watch it on a giant TV with the sound blasting. Your head will blow clean off. Awesome. - Sleaze

Also on deck: Hallowed Ground (Weinstein Company), with the foxy Jaime Alexander (Rest Stop) once again in dire straits – this time, she’s in a rural town caught up in bloody religious fervor. The special effects look glum (lotsa CGI crows, for some reason), but Alexander’s easy on the eyes and the gore is plentiful. Black Sheep (Weinstein Company) is an amusing New Zealand monster pic about genetic experiments that turn the country’s eight trillion sheep into vicious killers. I think there’s a were-sheep in there too; if you dug Braindead or Undead, you’ll probably like this one. Raiders of the Damned (Image) is post-apocalypse zombie action, with the unsettling notion that Richard Grieco is the last hope for mankind. We’re all doomed, if that’s the case. Rise: Blood Hunter (Sony) was a promising vampire movie a few years back (I spent a day on the set when they were shooting at the L.A. Equestrian Center) with Lucy Liu as a reporter turned bloodsucker and Michael Chiklis as the detective determined to help her wipe out the monsters that turned her (Robert Forster, Carla Gugino, and Marilyn Manson are in there too), but apparently, it jumped the tracks somewhere between completion and release. Not sure what to tell you other than Sebastian Gutierrez, who wrote Snakes on a Plane, directs. Splatter Beach is a new feature from the retro-gore hounds at Camp Motion Pictures, tho they’ve tapped Mark Polonia of Splatter Farm fame to direct this tongue-in-cheek tribute to Horror of Party Beach. So whaddya get? Rubber sea monsters, Erin Brown, and lots of gore. Not bad for a Saturday night, I think. Speaking of low-budget splatter, there’s also Dracula’s Dirty Daughter (Secret Key), and I feel confident that you can figure out what’s going on in that one.

OLD SKULL:

Calling the movies packaged together in the three-disc Fox Horror Classics Collection (Fox) “horror” is a bit of a stretch; The Lodger (about a family that suspects their new boarder is Jack the Ripper) and Hangover Square (a composer discovers he may be committing murders during his blackouts) are more suspense-thrillers (and excellent ones, at that), than spook shows per se, tho The Undying Monster (a werewolf stalks an English family) is on the money. All three were directed by John Brahm, an unsung filmmaker from Germany who made several stylish movies in England and the States in the ‘40s (as well as episodes of The Outer Limits), and the set is loaded with extras, including commentaries, making-of featurettes, and original radio show versions of The Lodger and Hangover Square.

The American Silent Horror Collection (Kino) is just as its title says: four silent scare flicks from the States, including The Penalty (with Lon Chaney Sr.), The Man Who Laughs (Conrad Veidt’s face is carved into a permanent grin), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (with John Barrymore), and the old dark house classic The Cat and the Canary, which makes its DVD debut here (it’s also available as a stand-alone title). The set is rounded out by a 1998 documentary about silent horror, Kingdom of Shadows. Impress the goth chick in your life with this classy fiver of fear.

And speaking of Lon Chaney Sr., his star-making turn as The Hunchback of Notre Dame is on DVD from Image in an Ultimate Edition, which offers the sole surviving 35mm print of the film, as well as commentary by Chaney scholar Michael Blake, a reproduction of the original movie program, and silent footage of Chaney on the set.

MUSICK:

All-encompassing titles like This is Black Metal (MVD) are worrisome, since the title makes a promise that’s nearly impossible to keep. And undoubtedly, fans will probably have a complaint or two about the lineup on this documentary, which presents interviews with and uncut videos from Morbid Angel, Celtic Frost, Venom, Emperor and Amon Amarth (as well as the movie Black Metal Parking Lot and an interview with gang bang queen Jasmin St. Claire). My advice: take deep breaths before watching.

 Also from MVD: Bob Mould: Circle of Friends – Live at the 9:30 Club has the ex-Husker Du/Sugar frontman performing two dozen songs from throughout his lengthy career; Fugazi’s Brendan Canty is among his backing band. And Stranger: Bernie Worrell on Earth covers the amazing and difficult life of the Parliament/Funkadelic keyboard genius and the making of his solo album, with guests George Clinton and Vernon Reid, among others.

ODDS AND SODS:

It’s a ‘70s sleaze explosion! Lionsgate brings the Sylvia Kristel softcore classic Emmanuelle back into the digital fold; this looks like an acquisition of the out-of-print Anchor Bay version, but don’t take my word for it. And Cinema Epoch trots out Sylvester Stallone’s infamous closet skeleton The Italian Stallion (a.k.a. Party at Kitty and Studs), a low-budget softcore sexploitationer with the future Rocky mauling NYC gals in a wall-to-wall orgy. Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic (an Ultimate Fighting Championship slugger) does not show his cock a la Stallone in his debut movie, Ultimate Force (BCI Eclipse) but he does beat in the heads of many of his fellow Serbo-Croatian performers (note to Mr. Filopovic: please do not beat in my head for the joke about your dick).  And lastly, perverts should keep an eye out for the infamous Teenage Twins (VCX), a 1976 XXX title from Carter Stevens with real twins Brooke and Taylor Young as twins (natch) caught up in their daddy’s search for the Necronomicon (!). And my favorite bootleggers, Televista, are supposedly offering the ultra-rare Exhibition, a 1975 look at the French porn industry and one of its stars, prostitute-turned-talent Claudine Beccaire.

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PICKS TO CLICK:

Internet nerds can debate the different versions of Caligula (original director Tinto Brass’s “pure” edit versus producer and Penthouse magnate Bob Guccione’s “crass” take, which added hardcore inserts without the knowledge of its distinguished cast) until they’re blue in the face (and I hope they do), but the simple fact of the matter is that this two-hour-plus tribute to the decadence of ancient Rome is one of the most ridiculous movies ever made, a king-sized monument to bad taste and greed – and 100% pure fun. Perverts may decry the lack of heat in the porn cutaways (mostly cocksucking), but how can you not love a movie that lets Malcolm McDowell chew huge swathes of scenery in between fucking and fisting a bride and groom on their wedding night AND molesting his own sister (Teresa Ann Savoy), plus freaks wrestling each other and a giant decapitating machine? If you can, I don’t want to know you. And for those that agree with me, Image Entertainment has served up Caligula: The Imperial Edition, a three-disc set as colossal in scope and packed with laughs as the movie itself. Not only do you get two versions of the film – Brass’s original cut (sans hardcore) and Guccione’s theatrical version (with the XXX footage intact) – but you also get interviews with McDowell, a stogie-chewing Brass, and Oscar winner Helen Mirren (who played Caligula’s wife Caesonia), who offer their own no-holds-barred take on the Guccione edit. Eurocult vet John Steiner, and hardcore star Lori Wagner, who discusses her on-camera golden shower with remarkable good humor, are also on hand, as is an hour of deleted scenes, a hilarious documentary from the film’s 20^th anniversary VHS release (in which Guccione, scriptwriter Gore Vidal, and others all pass the buck on the film’s notoriety with amazing dexterity), and more. In short, the Caligula Imperial Edition is one of the most complete looks at one of the most completely lunatic films ever released. Make room in your collection for it NOW.

Equally off its rocker and enjoyable is Mystics in Bali (Mondo Macabro), a berserk 1981 black magic horror pic from Indonesia about an American gal (the awesomely wooden Llona Agathe Bastian), whose pursuit of the truth about Indonesian magic gets her possessed by a long-nailed, cackling witch; the spell causes her head and internal organs to separate from her body and sail through the air in search of newborns to eat (!). Needless to say, amazing, eye-popping nonsense from the director of Lady Terminator (another Mondo Macabro release, and also worth seeking out).  

And I’d save room for the latest double bills from BCI/Eclipse’s Welcome to the Grindhouse series (BCI). Amazing Two-Fer #1 is a double bill from Bud Townsend (the X-rated Alice in Wonderland and Nightmare in Wax!) with The Beach Girls (Penthouse pets do beach comedy) and Coach (Cathy Lee Crosby balls Michael Biehn and coaches high school basketball), while Amazing Two-Fer #2 takes it sleazy with The Hellcats (‘60s biker chick rampage with a Davie Allan theme song!) and Chain Gang Women (ugly crime spree action from Lee Frost and Wes Bishop of Race with the Devil!).

But if you wanna take the classy and arty route, you’ll do well with The Films of Kenneth Anger, Volume 2 (Fantoma). This collection compiles the best-known of Anger’s experimental films, including the incredible Scorpio Rising, Invocation of My Demon Brother (with its electronic freakout score by Mick Jagger and heavy ritual imagery), and Lucifer Rising (score by Manson Family member Bobby Beausoliel, cameo by Marianne Faithfull, and more Satanic/Crowleyian references than all of your Zeppelin and Sabbath records combined). Anger provides commentary for each of the films, as well as a look at his latest work, 2002’s The Man You Want To Hang, which pores over artwork created by Aleister Crowley himself. Contributions and tributes from Martin Scorsese, Gus Van Sant, and even ole Bobby B. himself make this a must-have for hipsters of all stripes.

Lastly, there’s The Comedians of Comedy (Image) – not the 2005 documentary about the Patton Oswalt-Zach Galifinakis-Brian Posehn-Maria Bamford alternative comedy tour, but rather a live performance filmed at the Troubadour in Hollywood, CA, and featuring Eugene Mirman, David Cross, Dana Gould, Andy Kindler, Blaine Capatch, and Jasper Redd in addition to the principal Comedians.

MUSIC:

Ramones: It’s Alive 1974-1996 (Rhino) is just like it sounds: two discs of live Ramones, from their earliest live shows at CBGB’s in ’74 to their infamous Don Kirshner and Sha Na Na TV appearances and finally, something like fame with stadium performances in South America and Europe. It’s four solid hours of the Ramones in full cry  – don’t even try to tell me you don’t need it. Meanwhile, from the newly reactivated Stax Records (via Concord Music Group) comes Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story, a fascinating documentary about the legendary Southern soul label, featuring interviews with some of its greatest stars, including Isaac Hayes, Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave), Booker T. Jones, Mavis Staples, and just about everyone you’ve ever grooved to (and wasn’t on Atlantic). The doc, which is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, also includes footage from the Stax Records reunion at the 2007 SXSW show, with Eddie Floyd, William Bell, and Booker T. and the MGs cooking with gas. And if you’re in the mood for vintage Stax, dig The Stax/Volt Revue Live in Norway 1967 (also Stax), a never-before-released live performance of the label’s biggest hitmakers on stage and in their prime, including Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Eddie Floyd, and the MGs (natch). Hot, sweet, and good for ya.

Oh, and lastly, there’s The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (S'more Entertainment), the infamous 1976 special that brought together closeted gay icon and Hollywood Squares fave Lynde and KISS on the same program (along with Margaret Hamilton – the Wicked Witch of the West – Billy Barty, and Donny and Marie!). KISS does three tune (“Beth,” “Detroit Rock City,” and “King of the Night Time World”) and try to figure out how they got into skits with Lynde and Hamilton. And the first season of Adult Swim’s hit-and-miss animated series Metalocalypse arrives in a double disc set.

HORROR BUSINESS:

Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane (New Line) is about motherfucking zombies on a motherfucking plane; word on the motherfucking street is that it’s worth watching for a motherfucking laugh or two, but don’t take my motherfucking word for it. You might do better with Evil Aliens (Image), an English horror pic about a sleazy film crew investigating an alleged alien abduction who wind up fighting for their lives against a horde of extraterrestrials bent on carrying out experiments on unwilling humor. Buckets of gore and gags a la early Peter Jackson ensue. Or you can go old school with Prom Night (Echo Bridge), a rare Canadian entry in the ‘80s slasher boom, with Jamie Lee Curtis on the wrong end of a butcher knife as usual. And yes, they’re remaking it for 2008. Sheesh.

BARGAIN ENTERTAINMENT:

Raw Nerve (Echo Bridge) brings together the dream cast of Jan-Michael Vincent, Traci Lords, Sandahl Bergman and Randall “Tex” Cobb in a no-budget thriller about a race car driver (Ted Prior, whose brother David directed the flick) who has visions of a serial killer’s crimes before they happen. Enjoyable junk, but who thought it was a good idea to have neither Traci nor Sandahl take off their clothes? More dependable in that department is The Girl with the Sex-Ray Eyes (Retromedia), which wins the Title of the Week award and stars hardcore starlets Nicole Sheridan, Shannon Kelly and Demi Delia in hard-R action. Also from Retromedia this week is another fun double bill of Italian sword and sandal actioners from the ‘60s; this time around, the pair-up is Goliath and the Sins of Babylon and Colossus and the Amazon Queen, with Mark Forest and the great comedy team of Rod Taylor and Ed Fury in the respective loincloths. And if that’s not enough Retromedia for ya, they’ve also released Sci-Fi Trash-O-Rama, a triple treat of Larry Buchanan’s loopy Creature of Destruction (a remake of The She-Creature), the snooze-inducing UFO-Target Earth, and something called The Flying Saucer Mystery, which I believe is a 1950s short about the then-new saucer phenomenon. Oh, and headcases will wanna save up for the double bill of Schizophreniac and Necromaniac  from Brain Damage Films; see Sleaze’s reviews for the full dope on both.

-Paul Gaita