Monstruos Calientes

Brutal and Obscene: THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1969)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:45:00 +0000

Dear Martha, Sunday is for Honeymoon Killers...

Presented today for your viewing pleasure is an international collection of posters and lobby cards for director Leonard Kastle's gritty, gripping 1969 film, The Honeymoon Killers. While the giallo-esque Italian posters are alluringly sleazy, I think the Mexican lobby card, with its raw, bold design is my favorite. I can only imagine how stunned audiences were after seeing this film upon its original release...the stark, poker-faced grimness, the stripped-down, no-bullshit, almost-documentary vibe...and more than anything else, Shirley Stoler's steely, frightening performance as real life Lonely Hearts killer, Martha Beck.

Lonely? Lovesick? Looking for a Lothario? Join Aunt Carrie's Friendship Club today!

Los Monstruos del Terror!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:15:00 +0000

(via Popcorn & Sticky Floors)

Happy Halloween!

Talking Heads on The Old Grey Whistle Test (1978)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:45:00 +0000

Here's a clip of Talking Heads performing "Psycho Killer" on the UK music program, The Old Grey Whistle Test in January 1978. Mr. Byrne is at his tightly-wound, Norman Bates best here and the ferocious, extended dueling-guitars showdown at the end of the song is a fucking scorcher. The band would release their second (and finest) album, More Songs About Buildings and Food six months later in the US. Under the influence of Brian Eno's production, they found their previously-minimalist sound fleshed out and enriched dramatically, and it's fascinating to hear how differently they approached playing their signature song in this performance just one year following its original release in '77.

Dennis Dermody: Descent Into the Cinemaniac's Lair

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:45:00 +0000

For years now, writer Dennis Dermody has been unleashing his hilarious, sharp and refreshingly unpretentious takes on horror, cult and exploitation films upon the world, regularly for PAPER Magazine and occasionally elsewhere. He's appeared in documentaries about James Bidgood (The Queer Reveries of James Bidgood) and longtime friend John Waters (the excellent Divine Trash) and - reaching all the way back to 1981 here - can be seen in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance as a patron hastily exiting Mr. Fishpaw's raided porno palace in Polyester. A regular go-to guy for when a knowledgeable voice on the seamier side of cinema is required, Dermody's moniker of Cinemaniac is richly deserved. When he really loves a movie, you know it...you're already adding the title to your Netflix queue before you've even finished reading his review. I can't begin to list how many gloriously warped movies he's pointed me towards via his writing, but it's high time for an anthology of his reviews and essays to be bundled into a book.

Here's a fun 2007 clip, produced by PAPER Magazine, featuring Dermody conducting a guided tour of his movie and mayhem-memorabilia-packed NYC apartment. Dig those beautiful framed Tenebre and Let Me Die a Woman posters!

You can visit Dermody's frequently-updated Cinemaniac blog over on the PAPERMAG site....his recent reflection on the heyday of 42nd Street's movie houses (wherein he recounts - accidentally - sitting on a live cat in one darkened theater, as well as someone trying to set his hair on fire (!) during a viewing of Invasion of the Blood Farmers in another) is a wistful, filth-caked love letter to the Deuce's grimy glory days.

Gallery 1988 Presents: CRAZY 4 CULT 3-D

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:45:00 +0000

It's back! Crazy 4 Cult, Los Angeles' ongoing exhibition of cult film-inspired artwork has returned to Gallery 1988 in the all-new Crazy 4 Cult 3-D show, up now and on display through August 8th, 2009. Featuring 100 artists working in media ranging from painting and illustration to plush toys, sculpture and beyond, this third installment (while a bit heavy on Big Lebowski tributes....am I really the only person in the world that doesn't slavishly worship this overrated, endlessly-gushed about film?) is a worthy successor to its two predecessors and a definite must-see if you're in the L.A. area over the next few weeks.

Here's a small sampling of what you'll see adorning the walls of Gallery 1988 during the exhibition. Carlos Ramos' Showgirls piece, as well as Lauren Gregg's heartbreaking Dawn Weiner tribute are undoubtedly my favorites.

Jeff Ramirez

"Mouth"
oil on panel
10 x 20 inches
(Blue Velvet)

Justin Parpan
"They Live Customizable Monster Kit"
digital print on archival paper
(They Live)

Lauren Gregg
"Wienerdog"
acrylic on wood
18 x 22
(Welcome to the Dollhouse)

N.C. Winters

"I Am Jack's Broken Heart"
acrylic and resin on wood panel
16 x 20 inches
(Fight Club)

Mari Inukai

"MILK"
17 x 21 inches, framed
oil on canvas
(A Clockwork Orange)

Lauren Gregg

"Harold"
acrylic on wood
16 x 22 inches
(Harold and Maude)

Shark Toof
"Shark Toof's Chainsaw Massacre Starring Jessica Alba and Mike White"
screen print on archival paper
24 x 36 inches

Carlos Ramos

"Showgirls"
48 x 24 inches
cel paint on wood
(Showgirls)

Eric Fortune

"Rising Son"
acrylic on watercolor paper
15.5 x 22 inches
(Army of Darkness)

Dave Perillo

"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"
giclee print on archival paper
16 x 20 inches
(Pee-Wee's Big Adventure)

Julian Callos
"Class Dismissed" (from Crazy 4 Cult 2)
giclee print on archival paper
11 x 14 inches
(Battle Royale)

Billy Perkins

"Mushroom Cloud-Layin' MF"
100lbs cover stock 4 colors
20 x 26 inches

(Pulp Fiction)

Andy Kehoe
"Leatherface Wanders Alone"
acrylic and oil on panel
18 x 18 inches
(The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

Crazy 4 Cult 3-D runs from now through August 8, 2009. Call G88 for exhibition hours and purchasing inquiries.

Gallery1988
7020 Melrose Ave.
Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 937-7088

View Larger Map

Stephen Thrower: NIGHTMARE USA

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:45:00 +0000

Without a doubt, one of the more comprehensive and awe-inspiring film books released in the past few years is Stephen Thrower's mammoth 2007 volume, Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents (FAB Press). At over 500 pages, and spanning the key 15 years of the American exploitation film genre (1970-1985), Thrower's exhaustive, entertaining history is unmatched in its ambition and scope.

As explained in the book's preface, a mere 500 pages (as well as five years of research) just wasn't enough to cover every film and director he'd wanted to; amazingly, a second volume is in the works, with over 120 more films yet to be covered. Thrower's knowledge of (and admiration for) the films he writes about is vast, and despite Nightmare USA's encyclopedic heft, things are kept moving along at an engrossing, engaging pace throughout. Containing twenty five exclusive interviews with cult filmmakers - including Douglas McKeown (The Deadly Spawn), David Durston (I Drink Your Blood), Joseph Ellison (Don't Go in the House), Gloria Katz and Willard Hyuck (Messiah of Evil) and Robert Endelson (Fight for Your Life) - and over 175 films reviewed, Nightmare USA is the ultimate exploitation film afficiando's bible.

Besides having previously edited the horror cinema magazine Eyeball: The European Sex and Horror Review, as well as authoring one of FAB Press' other finest titles, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci, Thrower also spent many years as a member of British experimental group Coil, co-authoring two tracks ("Solar Lodge" and "At the Heart of It All") on their 1984 debut full-length, Scatology.

Upon the release of Nightmare USA in 2007, Thrower curated a UK-based film festival in Hammersmith themed around the book and a handful of the films contained within. In this episode of Alex Fitch's I'm Ready for My Close-Up (originally broadcast on Resonance 104.4 FM), Thrower is interviewed, among other topics, about the festival, the history of the American exploitation film, the marketing of horror movies and the room-clearing powers of a well-timed Herschell Gordon Lewis DVD.

Listen: Stephen Thrower on I'm Ready for My Close-Up, May 2007.

Season's Slayings

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:45:00 +0000

This appears to be a Spanish commercial for satellite provider DirecTV with a holiday theme and some very special celebrity appearances. That's about all I know about it, other than that it's completely fucking genius, as well. No, it's not one of those disgusting American DirecTV ads wherein Sigourney Weaver or someone else you used to love dessecrates the memory of one of your favorite movies of all time or anything. This is something else entirely. The gift-bearing Samara is my favorite.

Black Widow Lolitas: Jack Hill's SPIDER BABY (1968)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:45:00 +0000

The early 1960's must have been pure monster heaven for morbid children. You could get your ghoul on with any number of creepy-crawly TV shows, movies, comic books or toys....as long as your parents didn't put the kibosh on the nightmare-inducing entertainments. Fiends, beasties and mutants skulked from every dank pop-culture corner, infesting everything from cereal boxes to pop 45's to t-shirts.

A later by-product of this craze was undoubtedly Jack Hill's 1968 oddity, Spider Baby (shot in '64, and also known as: Spider Baby, or The Maddest Story Ever Told, Attack of the Liver Eaters and Cannibal Orgy). Infused with a pitch-black sense of sick humor and working wonders with a minuscule budget, Spider Baby tells the twisted story of the three remaining members of the Merrye Family, teenage psycho-sisters Virginia (Jill Banner) and Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn) and their cat-eating, infantile maniac brother Ralph (Sid Haig). Afflicted with a mysterious genetic disorder that causes them to mentally and physically de-evolve (into - yes! - savagery and cannibalism) once they've hit late childhood, the orphans are kept hidden from the outside word by their loyal, loving caretaker and family chauffeur, Bruno (Lon Chaney Jr.). When a trio of distant, conniving relatives arrive to claim the estate - thereby splitting the family up and bringing the outside world into the Merrye's home - things get real murderous, real quick.

The Merryes are nothing if not hospitable. Once the outsiders have dropped in, the family and Bruno treat them to a luxurious supper of inky-black spider soup and roasted cat. I've always had a soft spot for dysfunctional family dinner scenes, and this one is a gem.

Admittedly, the interlopers are bit on the slow side to pick up on the impending danger they're in. Emily, the calculating, sexy viper that's come to seize the estate, is so oblivious that after she's been shown to her dilapidated room for the night, she proceeds to dance around in her kinky unmentionables rather than boarding the doors and windows up.

A handy B&B hint I've picked up on my travels: if a family of creepy shut-ins shows you to a guest room that has a naked Raggedy Ann doll nailed to a crudely-scribbled spiderweb on the wall, you should make a quick mental note of the closest exits/possible weapons, rather than indulging in a lingerie-posedown.

Despite the homicidal tendencies of the girls, there's an undeniably childlike sweetness to their creepy ways and the sheltered, cobwebbed lives they've created for themselves in Merrye Manor. Virginia, Elizabeth and Ralph would love nothing more than playmates who share their love of the dank and squishy, and resort to murder only when they're threatened and intruded upon by the "normals" outside. Hill effectively switches gears from grisly and goofy to heartbreaking when Bruno, his eyes brimming with tears, explains to the sisters that even if these intruders are vanquished, there will be further (and nastier) attempts to take them away and split up the family. The end of the family and the intrusion of the outside world is inevitable, and it's this sad reality that gives the film an unexpected bittersweetness and resonance beyond just being a parade of grotesques.

In a lesser director's hands (and without the performances of the cast, especially Chaney Jr. and Haig, both of whom are excellent), this might not have been the case. At the core of its black little heart, and for all its gross-out humor and monstrous morbidity, Spider Baby shows an endearing, touching affection for its family of misfits.

Here's the (very '60s-style) animated opening credit sequence, featuring the film's theme song as performed by Chaney (which was released as a flip side of Bobby Pickett's "Monster's Holiday", no less).

Comic artist Stephenie Gladden was commissioned by TCM Underground to create a mini web-comic based on the opening credits song that you can take a look at here. The concept behind creating the comic is explained as such:

Although it didn't see release until 1968, Jack Hill's SPIDER BABY was made in 1964, at the height of the "Monster Craze" of the early 1960's. Monsters were menacing every aspect of American popular culture, from prime-time TV to mainstream magazines, gum cards, toys, bubble-bath dispensers, and more. Hill's film is introduced in novelty-tune fashion by Lon Chaney Jr. accompanied by simple comic drawings. In storybook style, we have elaborated on this premise, rendering Roland Stein's song in full - complete with 1960's-appropriate sick humor and ghoulish cameos.

The Spider Baby: Director's Cut DVD is available from Dark Sky Films.

That Healthy, Rosy Glow...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 06:45:00 +0000

via Everything Is Terrible:

And finally:

Times Square 1969 Sausage Shopping with Billy Graham

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:45:00 +0000

Evangelist Billy Graham looks at some racy magazines and books in a bookstore during a stroll through New York's Times Square June 11th, 1969. Graham is in New York for a 10-day "Crusade" at Madison Square Garden. "Anyone walking down Times Square can see why New York is in need of a great spiritual and moral awakening," he said.

(Source: Bettmann/CORBIS)

Worship Thee Kindly The Dark Hand That Guides Me: The Mind-Blowing Art of SKINNER

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 01:45:00 +0000

As featured in this month's issue of Juxtapoz Magazine, the epic, eyeball-melting artwork of Sacramento-based artist Skinner brings to life a wild, intricate mythology of warriors, beasts, slayers, all things Metal and a truly hallucinatory sense of color. Looking at his tripped-out, monster-packed paintings, you can't help but wish you could see them in animated form...now, thanks to Eighty Four Films and animator Jim Dirschberger, your demon dreams have become a bloodsoaked, dismembering reality. You'll want to watch this in HD mode, full-screen, with the volume cranked all the way up for maximum effect.

"Like some fantastical LSD nightmare, the art of Skinner is a full bore visual assault that maintains a vicious stranglehold on one’s senses. Rivers of blood cut valleys out of crystal mountains that cradle the battleground of the war for evermore. From the ashes and dust rises one warrior, a very strange warrior, on a mission to destroy preconceptions of visual art and paradigm all the while maintaining a very very dark sense of humor."

Check out more over at TheArtOfSkinner.com, and if you happen to find yourself in the San Francisco area tomorrow night, be sure to drop in at the 111 Minna Gallery for the opening night of Skinner's very first solo exhibition.

Lake of Dracula Have Come For Your Daughters

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:45:00 +0000

"Named for a 1971 Z-Grade Japanese vampire movie, Lake of Dracula resorts to sonic methods of mayhem not dissimilar to the cinematic scare tactics employed by its namesake. In other words, the band is cheap, fast, and out of control -- and it goes straight for the jugular. Its members all come from spiritually likeminded ensembles: guitarist and resident cynic Weasel Walter is a veteran of the avant-jazz/punk/noise ensemble The Flying Luttenbachers, frantic percussionist Heather M is from the Scissor Girls, and the maniacal, pompodoured, bespectacled frontman, Marlon Magas, was once a member of the U.S. Couch and is known throughout the land for his half-crazed rantings. The group has also welcomed members of US Maple and Jaks into the fold. It's a good thing these folks have music, because given their general proclivities, one could imagine them locked up in some sort of maximum security situation. What I'm saying is they're crazy. The collective makes abrasive, almost unlistenable music that exemplifies the so-called Chicago No Wave scene. But it's kind of fun, in a psychobilly Cramps sort of way -- full of manic stacatto rhythms, screeching guitars, and Magas's lunatic howling and groaning. The collective debuted in 1997 with a self-titled full-length (which produced "Biographers of the Flaming Druglords"). Lake of Dracula has yet to release another album, as its members are busy with other projects."

-Jesse Ashlock/Epitonic.com

Fireside Bowl, Chicago (1996):

"Four Teachers", live at the Empty Bottle, Chicago (1997):

"Memories of Me", final show (1997):

Purchase Lake of Dracula's self-titled 1997 debut album here. Purchase Skeletal Remains, a 2008 compilation of rare, live and radio session tracks here.

Missing Gilda

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:45:00 +0000

As I was reminded by my friend Michael this afternoon, today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Gilda Radner. Despite the number of brilliant women working in comedy today, I can't help but feel that there's a Gilda-shaped hole at the center of it all. When I see some of my favorite funny women onscreen now - Amy Sedaris, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Tina Fey, Maria Bamford, Rachel Dratch, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman and Stephnie Weir to name but a few - the influence and inspiration she must have had on them is impossible to deny. Fearless, ferociously funny and always looking like she was having the time of her life making everyone else around her laugh, Gilda Radner left us way too soon. In only five years on Saturday Night Live ('75-'80), she created a cast of characters that lived on long after her passing.

In tribute, I can't think of a more suitable clip to share here than the infamous "Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals", the gleefully raunchy opening song from her 1980 concert film, Gilda Live (which incredibly, has yet to be released on DVD). Because the album was slapped with a parental advisory warning sticker, I had to pull out all the stops/debates/arguments/cross-arguments in order to be allowed to purchase it at the tender age of 11 when it was released. Comedy and filth prevailed over caution (as they always should), my parents (fans themselves) relented, and I returned home with my coveted vinyl, proceeding to listen to it on repeat for months on end. The impact and inspiration she had on my sense of humor and my love of funny ladies has not waned since...

REMCO Movieland Drive-In Theatre (1959)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:45:00 +0000

As a horror film-fixated kid growing up in suburban Orange County, California during the '70s and '80s, I was in a continual state of unfulfilled desire for the perfect drive-in movie experience. My parents had no love for the ritual of watching a film (or two) through a windshield, opting instead for the climate-controlled sanity of the mall multiplex. There were numerous times when, riding in the backseat of the family sedan at night down the highway, I'd catch a quick, titillating/frustrating glimpse of a drive-in screen showing an all-too-brief flash of monster mayhem or blink-and-you'll-miss-it gore, my nose pressed to the window and my pulse racing as I got even the measliest fix for my burgeoning habit. Believe me, seeing the elevator cable slice-up scene from Damien: Omen II at a brisk 60 MPH clip out the back window of a car is the kind of thing childhood movie dreams are made of.

At the age of nine, once I'd finally pleaded and begged enough to break them down and get hauled off to the drive-in, my parents chose a double-feature of not The Fury and The Manitou (if only), but House Calls and Annie Hall. I was too young to appreciate Woody Allen at that point, and Walter Matthau was simply no match for Amy Irving making John Cassevetes explode in a juicy, wall-painting psychic rage.

By the time I had my own wheels and could make it to the altar of cinematic worship when I wanted, all but one local multi-screener had closed down. I did manage to catch Evil Dead II at the Stadium Drive-In in '87, at least, and first seeing the scene when the cellar door crushes the zombie's head and sends the eyeball flying across the room into the shrieking girl's mouth was a truly formative moment of my teen movie going experiences. Horns honked, headlights were flashed and you could hear the gorehounds howling their approval all the way to the snack bar. Inevitably, this particular drive-in succumbed to years of neglect, disinterest and the onslaught of home video, and was razed a few years later for an enormous strip mall/entertainment eyesore/fast food megapolis adjacent to Angel Stadium.

With these memories in mind, and noting the fact that I've dreamt of a drive-in of my very own for all these years, you can imagine my excitement upon discovering this vintage commercial for the amazing REMCO Movieland Drive-In Theatre playset from the late '50s. Park the cars, fire up the screen and it's showtime.

Yes, that is a very young Patty Duke you see there, and yes, you can load the "poster" into the marquee for the Now Playing feature....too cool. You know that when (because "if" is not an option here) I get one of these babies for myself, I'm wasting no time in making a custom I Drink Your Blood/I Eat Your Skin card to use in the Today's Double Feature sign holder.

(Drive-in speaker photo credit: R. Svirskas)

An Authentic Catalog of Cruelty!: Mondo Monday Poster Party

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Bonus! Included in the price of admission! Lest we forget the glorious, ghastly trailer for Mondo Cane 2 (aka Mondo Pazzo):

'77 Heaven, Down Under Style: Radio Birdman and The Saints

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:45:00 +0000

Australia's Radio Birdman tear through a blistering take on "TV Eye" by the Stooges in 1977:

And here's The Saints with a great live clip of "Demolition Girl", also from '77:

What's Behind the Freezer Door?: TENDER FLESH (1974)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 14 May 2009 16:45:00 +0000

After a brief vacation, Monstruos Calientes has returned...apologies for the drought of posts prior to this week. Coming back from a trip early last week to find that none other than the incredible Popcorn & Sticky Floors had given a generous shout-out to my blog was fantastic. Being one of the primary inspirations for starting this thing, as well as one of my very favorite exploitation film blogs out there, I was tickled (hot) pink for the mention. Much appreciated, gentlemen. When I finally get myself up to Toronto, a round of boilermakers are on me. If you're a new reader and you found us via P&SF, welcome and thanks for stopping by. Now...back to the grind...

It goes without saying that a love of (and an insatiable hunger for) lost films is a cruel, cruel addiction. Sure, there's the occasional payoff of finding that elusive title you've had lurking around the back of your mind for years, but for every treasure unearthed, there's always a list of films that seem to remain tantalizingly, frustratingly out of reach. Tender Flesh (aka Welcome to Arrow Beach), Laurence Harvey's final film from 1974 (and sole directorial credit) falls squarely in the latter category for me. I'd read about it for a couple of years now, and thanks to Synapse Films' latest installment in their essential 42nd Street Forever DVD series of vintage grindhouse trailer compilations, Volume 4: Cooled By Refrigeration, finally caught the original theatrical trailer.

In the film, Harvey plays Jason Henry, a wealthy Korean War vet and photographer who lives with his sister Grace (Joanna Pettet) in a sprawling home in the coastal California town of Arrow Beach. Thanks to some ill-advised culinary adventures while being held as a POW (shades of Harvey's earlier, best-known role as brainwashed assassin Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate), it seems that Mr. Henry's developed a healthy appetite for the sweet taste of human flesh. After he invites a young runaway hippie (Meg Foster) to crash at his place for the weekend, and once she starts sniffing around the basement meat locker, all bloody hell breaks loose.

The needle on the Creep-o-Meter jumps right into the red within seconds - is it the salaciously hinted at cannibalism, the jarring, blood-splashing jump cuts or just Harvey's waxy, sweaty mug that lends this one such a sleazy, freaky vibe? Whatever it is, I seriously have to finally see this damn movie. Long gone on VHS, and never released on DVD, Tender Flesh remains awfully hard to come by. If you've been lucky enough to have seen it yourself, it goes without saying that recollections, opinions and possible leads to tracking it down are more than welcome in the comments section.

"It makes the killing in Snuff look like amateur night...."

...And Maggie Makes Six: THE LEGACY (1978)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:45:00 +0000

"A millionaire and a million-dollar prostitute, a star-maker and a nation-killer, a woman whose lusts are as cold as graveyard snow...five of the most powerful people in the world, gathered in an ancient mansion to inherit a Legacy of bloodsome horror. And Maggie makes six."

You're looking at the incredibly awesome Polish poster for the 1978 supernatural thriller, The Legacy, starring Katherine Ross and Sam Elliott's Mustache. Please click the habit-clad cat above for the full-size image, it's so worth it.

I remember seeing this one as a kid and being completely, utterly scared shitless by the gnarled hand lunging out from behind the hospital bed curtain, and especially, the scene where the woman becomes trapped under the suddenly-solid surface of a swimming pool. Traumas, traumas. Between this scene and an irrational, unfounded fear of my toes somehow becoming stuck in the grating of the pool floor filter, well below the surface of the water, I was pretty much totally freaked out by the pool as a kid (which meant more time inside the house reading about movies/avoiding sunlight, not a bad thing, really).

The Legacy trailer (1978):

That swimming pool scene in full:

For more info about Polish Poster Art, visit the Polish Poster Shop.

Hey, Hey it's the Mummies!

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:45:00 +0000

The Mummies crawled forth from the primordial muck of San Mateo, California in 1990, wrapped head to toe in bandages, driving a customized '65 Pontiac ambulance to their own shows, and aiming to be the dirtiest, rawest and wildest garage rock band in the land. Of course, the original line-up imploded messily within just a couple of years, but remain revered even still for their snotty, blistering brand of fuzz-laden chaos. The self-proclaimed Kings of Budget Rock™ have reformed a few times since, playing shows as recently as last year in Oakland, California and Valencia, Spain. It was announced last fall that the band would be performing in New Jersey, Brooklyn, Paris and Sardinia (!) in the summer of 2009; check their website (linked above) for further details.

Curious types can find a killer collection of original songs covered by the Mummies in a great post entitled "Songs We Taught the Mummies & Vice Versa" from a couple of months back over on WFMU's Beware of the Blog.

None other than the legendary Billy Childish once famously declared that the Mummies were "the only garage group he really loved", and honestly, there's really no better endorsement than that. I don't need to tell you to turn this shit all the way up now, do I?

"What a Way to Die":

"Justine":

"The Fly":

"Uncontrollable Urge":

Black Caesar, White Pussycat

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:45:00 +0000

Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is Playgirl Magazine's Mr. October, 1974.

Read an extensive, entertaining interview Williamson did with Jay Slater over at Slasherama.com. The star of Black Caesar talks about his role in the original Inglorious Bastards, working with Lucio Fulci, and the inherent "sweetness" of co-star Mark Gregory in Enzo Castellari's 1990: The Bronx Warriors (aka Escape From the Bronx) (1982).

What's that? You've been scouring the globe, searching for the soundtrack album of 1990: The Bronx Warriors for what seems like ages now? Of course, The Manchester Morgue's got you covered. Phelpster never fails to deliver the goods.

Bill Lustig's 1983 action pic Vigilante (starring Williamson and the eternally-cool Robert Forster) arrived in my mailbox just this morning from Netflix, and I can't wait for some lean, mean early '80s-style street justice to be served.

Back tomorrow with some guitars, yelling and very antisocial behavior courtesy of the Mummies. Until then, stay sick!

Deadly Is The Female: Peggy Cummins in GUN CRAZY (1950)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:45:00 +0000

As Annie Laurie Starr, the sharp-shootin' psychopath who lures horny gun-nut Bart Tare (John Dahl) into her web of hot lead and cool murder in Joseph H. Lewis' seminal 1950 noir, Gun Crazy, Peggy Cummins created one of the most enticingly evil (and gorgeous) femme fatales of the genre. While Bart tries to shake off his violent past, Annie is all blood lust, fury and pure impulse, propelling the fugitive duo on their run from the law...whether plotting the perfect bank job or considering using a toddler as human collateral, Cummins is impossible to take your eyes off of. I hadn't seen Gun Crazy in over a decade, and while watching it again last night, I was completely captivated by her diabolical, charismatic performance. It's hard to top either Barbara Stanwyck's icy turn in Double Indemnity or Ann Savage's batshit-crazy Vera in Detour for ultimate psycho-seductresses, but Cummins brings a scary, sexy, hair-trigger intensity to Annie that ranks right up there with the best.

Find Gun Crazy at Amazon, Netflix, YouTube.

John Waters: Shock Value (1981)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:45:00 +0000

In honor of John Waters' 63rd birthday today, Monstruos Calientes is proud to bring you the entirety of his 1981 memoir, Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste, as read by the author himself. Long out of print in audiobook format, Shock Value is a hilarious journey through the making of Waters' early films, his observations on the seamier side of pop culture obsessions, and insights into the deranged cinematic universe he's created over the years.

(Divine Trash, d. Steve Yeager, 1998)

I could listen to Waters talk for hours on end about his life, his casts and the incredible stories behind the making of his movies. Of all the DVD commentaries out there, there's none more entertaining, engaging or captivating as the ones he does himself for his own films. As comforting as listening to a favorite uncle recommend which brand of amyl gives the best brainbuzz, or hearing a heartwarming account of visiting Tex Watson in prison, there's simply no one else quite like him out there. Happy Birthday, John, and thanks for all the puke.

John Waters - Shock Value (1981)

01. The Filthiest People Alive (23:50)
02. Why I Love Violence (8:49)
03. Baltimore, Maryland: The Hairdo Capital of the World (20:36)
04. Casting (6:01)
05. Desperate Living (12:33)
06. Sort Of Famous (2:17)
07. Do You Have Parents? (3:45)

MACHETE in Lego

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:45:00 +0000

Action...suspense...emotion...all painstakingly-rendered in stop-motion Lego. Created by YouTube user Gigerbrick, here's the Robert Rodriguez trailer from Grindhouse, recreated entirely in the beloved plastic bricks. Even at a mere two inches tall, this Machete is still one tough hombre.

Sample some of Gigerbrick's other Lego videos here....the Star Wars meets The Hills Have Eyes one is bloody charming.

Source: Fangoria.com
Machete illustration: Carlos Lerma

Battle Royale Revisited: Rocket From the Crypt Vs. Adam and the Ants

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:45:00 +0000

Sit back and let yourself be blissfully-bludgeoned as Rocket from the Crypt power through a killer take on Adam and the Ants' "Press Darlings"...listen here. So many great bands mutated forth from the twisted lineage of RFTC; while Hot Snakes will always be my favorite of the pack (yes, even more so than Drive Like Jehu, if that's possible - if only we'd gotten just one more damn studio album after their swan song, Audit In Progress, back in 2004!), we now have both the Night Marchers (fronted by John Reis, Rocket's main man and Hot Snakes guitarist - their debut album, See You In Magic was one of last year's best) and Obits, the new band from Rick Froberg, ex-Hot Snakes screamer, whose debut full-length, I Blame You, comes out via Sub Pop on March 24th. Click the cover image below to hear "Pine On', a track from the forthcoming album.

As with RFTC, the Night Marchers and Obits deliver stripped down, steaming hot, no bullshit rock and fuckin' roll - proving without a doubt that two guitars, a bass, a drum kit and some kick-ass hooks and vox still have the power to thrill. Play loud.

Doris Wishman's LET ME DIE A WOMAN (1978)

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Ehrlich) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Available on DVD from Synapse Films.