Pervert! [2005]

James is returning home from college for summer vacation to visit his father, Hezekiah and is soon about to embark on an important journey of self discovery.  Most of his life James was the shy type who never had much luck in making it with the ladies.  But all of that is about to change as James learns valuable life lessons vital to any young man’s developement such as; how to drive while having sex, how to sculpt a woman out of raw meat, and how to cover up the accidental death of a prostitute.  After  James dry spell comes to an end, the women he has sex with become victims of violent murders.  It is soon revealed that a curse was place upon James, while he was visiting a witch-doctor to help make himself appear more attractive to the opposite sex.  The curse causes his penis to detach itself from his body and develop a fatal attraction for the women he engages in intercourse.  This film blends t&a, comedy, gore, and stop-motion animated penis’, to pay tribute to one of America’s greatest filmmakers Russ Meyer.  Many aspects of the film are similar to a Meyer production such as, its use of sound and editing, its portrait of over-sexualized women with strong sexual desires, and its portrayal of baffled  men who become dumbfounded by these women’s sexuality; but it also blend elements of 50’s horror and 60’s gore making it a hybrid masterpiece.

Directed By:  Jonathan Yudis        Written By:  Mike Davis

Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam aka Turkish Star Wars (1982)

Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam seems to have been made using scraps off the floor from the Star Wars editing room, and tattered remains from materials used on the set of Yokai Monsters.  This film shamelessly robs  footage from star wars battle scenes and splices them with footage of hilariously cheesy fight sequences to produce a truly bizarre cinematic gem.  Continuity and common sense were obviously not issues of main concern when this film was being conceptualized, scripted, and filmed.  The action scenes contain some of the most unconventional editing techniques I’ve ever seen.  Jump cuts, odd angles, and chaotic editing, give the fight sequence an edge, making them very entertaining and extremely different from anything in Star Wars or Starcrash.  At first I expected this to be similar to the classic star wars knock off, Starcrash, but this film is far stranger and much more entertaining.  Our hero’s Krate chop their way through zombies, monsters, ninjas, robots, and an evil wizard.  I’m admittedly not well versed in Turkish cinema, I’m constantly learning about new titles and new directors, but this has got to be one of the best cult classics I have ever seen out of Turkey.

Directed by:  Çetin İnanç         Written By:  Cüneyt Arkın

Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore [2010]

This is a very informative documentary which covers Herschell Gordon Lewis’s filmography show casing all of his films, paying particular attention to his gore films.  It also features many legendary filmmakers such a David Friedman, Doris Wishman, Bunny Yeager, and John Waters.  The filmmakers, cast and crew members, and film historians discuss the legacy of Herschell the Great through a series of interviews, commentary on behind the scenes footage, and commentary on clips from his films.  This documentary also explores his personal and his business relationships with David Friedman, which is interesting because Friedman too is legendary in the world of exploitation films.  This is a very well made, well-informed documentary which documents a classic era in filmmaking that may never be again.  Lewis set a new standard for horror and exploitation filmmaking whose influence is deep-rooted and far-reaching.

Directors:  Frank Henenlotter &  Jimmy Maslon

Fight For Your Life [1977]

Fight for your life is highly offensive in its use of racism towards african americans and at times extremely difficult to watch .  Three escaped convicts hold middle class minister Ted Turner and his family hostage at gun point and proceed to taunt and degrade.  The dialogue is filled with inflammatory racist remarks that are very unsettling.  I myself am a fan of racial humor, but many of the remarks in this film far transcend the limits of humor or decency.  A good part of the film is dedicated to the torment of this poor family and it isn’t until the convicts sexually assault and rape, Ted Turner’s daughter that the family decides to revolt against their captors.  This film is a prime an example of exploitation filmmaking in it’s finest form guaranteed to be enjoyed by girndhouse era film junkies.

Directed By:  Robert A. Endelson   Written By: Straw Weisman

Don’t Deliver us From Evil [1971]

A controversial tale of a friendship between two young girls who attend a covenant.  They girls make a vow to satan and seek pleasure from committing various sins.  They take great delight in indulging in devious activities ranging from lust to murder.  Summer vacation arrives and the girls appetite for debauchery reaches new extremes.   Thier destructive behavior over consumes them ultimately resulting in their complete loss of innocence.  This film has many scenes i found extremely shocking due to the nature of the sexual content and one of the greatest endings i have ever seen on film.  The disturbing and graphic nature of the film caused to be banned in France, its country of origin.  This film is a cult classic and will always stand the test of time.

Written & Directed by:  Joël Séria

2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams [2010]

This film is based on the 2ooo Maniacs mythos created by legendary cult filmmaker, Herschell Gordon Lewis.  Pleasant valley is ready for their jubilee, but no northerners are taking their bait so they decide their cannibalistic act on the road.  They cross paths with the cast and crew of the show “Road Rascals” which is an obvious spoof on Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton’s short-lived series “Simple Life”, and an all out battle for survival ensues, teaching these spoiled brats a valuable life lesson in brutality & bloodshed.    The good ol folks of pleasant valley dish out their gruesome brand of southern hospitality and delicious southern style barbecue.  Many of the victims are lured in through seduction, then brutally murdered.  Bad in ever since of the word this film is far worse than the 2005 remake of 2000 maniacs.  Not recommended unless your interested in seeing classic films be brutally mutilated and pissed on.

Director:  Tim Sullivan

The Skin I Live In [2011]

This film is truly terrify, with an extremely disturbing plot.  The plot centers around a doctor, Robert Ledgard but who has a morbid fascination with skin and a great interest in drastic altering people physical appearance.  His daughter becomes the victim of a sexual assault, deeply distraught and severely unstable she takes her own life.  Dr. then decides to kidnap Vincent the perpetrator of the assault, and subject him to a series of bizarre medical experiments.  Vincent’s whole anatomy is physically altered and he is shaped in the image of Ledgard’s deceased wife and renamed, Vera.   Vera is held in captivity for years, and kept under close surveillance by Dr. Ledgard who begins to obsess over her.  Vera tells him that she loves him and couldn’t live without him, but is she telling the truth?  Watch and see, this is one of the most imaginative horror films ever, it borrows ideas from the classic “eyes without a face” but makes them much more horrific.  I really felt trapped and horrified while watching this film, takes the maniacal doctor idea to a whole new extreme.

Director:  Pedro Almodóvar       Written by:  Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar, & Thierry Jonquet

Big Man Japan [2007]

This pays homage to the popular monster movies of  Japan such as the Godzilla, Mothra, Gandhar and also Ultraman.  Big Man Japan is a superhero, who is called upon to ward of evil monsters who attempt to terrorize japan.  It is shot in the style of a documentary film in which we see public opinion of Big Man Japan, behind the scenes action of the production of his television show, and a glimsp into his personal life.  It is an interesting take on the traditional monster movie, because the viewer is able to analyze different aspects of the hero’s personality.  The battle scenes are filled with a number of very strannge computer animated monters, each of whom are all very uniqie in their own way.  At times they look a little cheesy, but I’m sure that how they were intended to be.  Overall this is a very unique well made film that fans of all monster movies will enjoy.

Director:  Hitoshi Matsumoto      Written By:  Hitoshi Matsumoto & Mitsuyoshi Takasu

The Ward [2010]

The ward tells the tale of a group of women in a mental institution who are terrorized by a ghost residing with in the hospital halls.  A newly admitted woman, begins to notice a series of strange happenings within the connfines of the ward.  After questioning the other four about events, it soon becomes apparent that the girls are hiding a deep dark secret.  Once their secret is revealed the plot thickens  and a strange twist occured which completely caught me off guard taking the film into a darker setting.  The film uses unique techniques and excellent use of music in creating a frightening atmosphere.  Overall I enjoyed this film, the story itself seemed a little lacking, however the technical aspects of this film made it an enjoyable watch, along with the fact that I really enjoyed watching almost all of Carpenter’s previous films.

Director:  John Carpenter   Written By:  Michael & Shawn Rasmussen

The Woman [2011]

This film tells the tale of Chris Cleek a man who captures a woman in the wild who lives a very savage existence.  She behaves and almost looks very animatistic and dwells in a make shift cave within the wilderness.  He takes her home, cuffs her and keeps her in captivity.  The woman is subjected to a series of crule and unusual punishments at the hand of Chris and his son Brian who displays very disturbing misogynistic attitudes towards women obviously learned from his father.  The story climaxes when Chris’s daughter Peggy, frees the woman, who in turn gets revenge on  her captors.  The film takes a strange twist in which evidence of more extreme cruelty has taken place.  An excellent horror film with excellent acting and good production value, highly recomended to fans of well produced horror films.  Also make  note to stay tuned for the entertaining short which follows after the feature credits.  I’m hoping that the killer woman becomes a new trend in horror film production, it would be nice to see more films with women commiting the violence rather than being on the recieving end of it.

Director:  Lucky McKee  Writters:  Lucky McKee & Jack Ketchum