Search the Cinema Head Cheese Archives!

August 31, 2012

MAD MONSTER PARTY- Starring Boris Karloff, Gale Garnett and Phyllis Diller Arriving 9/4

What better way to get in the Halloween sprit than by celebrating with a monster party? Lionsgate Home Entertainment makes Mad Monster Party available for the first time in High Definition with the release of the Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD) as well as HD Digital Download and On Demand arriving just in time for the spookiest holiday of the year as well as the theatrical release of the similarly themed Hotel Transylvania. From the team who created the stop-motion and animated holiday classics “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman,” Mad Monster Party stars the voice talents of Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) and Phyllis Diller (Eight on the Lam). The Blu-ray Combo Pack bonus materials include a “making of” featurette, plus two featurettes that look at the animation and the music of the film, as well as two bonus sing-along tracks. The Mad Monster Party Blu-ray Combo Pack arrives on September 4th for the suggested retail price of $14.99.

Baron Von Frankenstein (voice of Boris Karloff) has decided to retire as the head of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. But first, he must inform the other monsters about his plans. How to deliver the news? How else - through a Mad Monster Party! Von Frankenstein’s guests include a who’s who of Halloween favorites, including the Werewolf, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Mummy, the Invisible Man and more. But who among them is fit to be the new head of the monsters?

August 30, 2012

TV on Blu-ray Review: The Walking Dead - Season Two (2011)

When Robert Kirkman unleashed The Walking Dead on the comic book world a few years back, possibly the last thing on his mind had to be that it would be one of the most popular shows (on American Movie Classics of all places). Well, it is even with some imperfections, this thrilling story of a group of survivors battling a zombie apocalypse was easily granted another season to continue the creepiness.

Director Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Mist) was a big cog in The Walking Dead, unfortunately (to many fans, including this one) he was replaced in the director’s chair. Did it help or hurt the fine series? You can now see whether it did or not as it’s being released on to Blu-ray and DVD by Anchor Bay and AMC.

August 29, 2012

Night of The Devils Debuts On Blu-ray And DVD From Raro Video!

RAROVIDEO DEBUTS THE WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE OF CLASSIC HORROR CULT FILM
NIGHT OF THE DEVILS ON DVD AND BLU-RAY SEPTEMBER 25

(Hollywood, CA and Rome, Italy) Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian Film Boutique RaroVideo announces horror fan favorite NIGHT OF THE DEVILS restored to its original splendor for the first time ever on DVD and Blu-ray September 25, 2012.

“A surreal, erotic and stylish Italian horror film with unforgettable
imagery and electrifying music...”
Chris Alexander, Editor, FANGORIA MAGAZINE

NIGHT OF THE DEVILS (1972) Italian genre film legend Gianni Garko stars in this terrifying masterpiece of the macabre, based on Tolstoy’s story The Wurdulak, itself previously adapted in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath. A nameless mentally ill man (Garko) is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery. After admitted into a psychiatric hospital, the man flashes back to his nightmarish encounter with a backwoods family whose dynasty holds a centuries old curse. What follows is a night of unrelenting horror. With music by Giorgio Gaslini, composer of scores from films by Dario Argento and Michelangelo Antonioni and special effects by Carlo Rambaldi known for his special effects on E.T. Atmospheric and gory, NIGHT OF THE DEVILS is a Eurohorror classic not to be missed. RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Movie Review: Isle of the Snake People (1971, Cheezy Flicks)

Directed by Juan Ibanez, Jack Hill
Starring Boris Karloff, Julissa and Carlos East

A small remote island is the home for voodoo rites, a death cult and an evil priest named Damballah. Local law enforcement turns a blind eye to their evil ways until captain Labesch arrives from the mainland, determined to crack down on the islands lawlessness, and clean up the hard drinking police force. The captain appeals to plantation tycoon, Carl Van Molder (Boris Karloff), for help but is quickly warned not to interfere with the customs of the natives, or face dire consequences.  Undeterred, the captain begins a crackdown on the voodoo rituals which are happening nightly and quickly finds out that the forces of evil inhabiting the island are much more powerful then he ever imagined.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #61 - Somebody Must Be Stoned

Kevin and Jeff discuss the magical disaster that is Back Woods 2. They both costarred in the movie with Dave, and it seems that none of them will ever live it down. Kevin also talks about his Netflix marathon of ESPN's 30 for 30 series and Marley, the documentary about the reggae legend. Jeff reviews the box set of a series that probably shouldn't exist called Lancelot Link.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com.

Support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment by clicking the links on our Sponsors page!

$5 off $50

Movie Review: Penumbra (2012, IFC Films)

Directed by Adrian and Ramiro Garcia Bogliano

Starring Cristina Brondo, Camila Bordonaba and Berta Muniz

Run Time: 90 min.


Marga (Christina Brondo) is a highly motivated, arrogant and successful businesswoman from Spain on assignment in Buenos Aires, a city she hates and who’s people she despises.  While in the Argentine capitol on a day the whole population is waiting to view a rare solar eclipse, she must also find a new tenant for her families decrepit apartment. Rapidly losing her patience, she comes across the mysterious Jorge (Berta Muniz) lurking outside the front door, who informs her that he has a client willing to pay four times what she is asking in rent. There’s just one catch though, the paperwork must be signed immediately. As Marga waits to complete the transaction, several of Jorges associates suspiciously appear at the apartment, and before long Marga discovers that their plan may mean a tragic and violent end for all involved.

August 28, 2012

Movie Review: Screwballs (Blu-ray, 1983)

During the mid-eighties, the nine year-old me occasionally had had access to the to the late-night cable that frequently showed fare that was not quite for the eyes and ears of my corruptable being. After seeing Porky’s (thanks to my older brother renting it) all I wanted was to see was more films like it – filled with boobs, bad jokes and even more boobs. Although it was the pre-chili peeling years, I still had an early admiration for the female form.  

The High School and college T&A flick seemed to pop up around the same time Joe D’Amato’s Emmanuelle entries where broadcasted on cable which made myself a happy youngster. In the wee hours one Friday night I saw Rafael Zielinski Screwballs, a film that would stick with me for years and now, amazingly, it is available on Blu-ray by the folks at Severin Films. Who woulda thunk it?

August 27, 2012

Movie Review: Twins of Evil (2012, Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Directed by John Hough

Starring Peter Cushing, Madeleine Collinson and Mary Collinson

Run Time: 87 minutes

Two beautiful orphaned identical twins, Maria and Frieda Gellhorn (both Playboy centerfold models in the 70‘s), move to the village of Karnstein to live with their uncle Gustav ( Hammer favorite & horror legend, Peter Cushing), a fanatical puritan and leader of the local witch-hunting “Brotherhood”.  In a castle overlooking the village lives the village Count (Damien Thomas), a blood-thirsty vampire who spends his time practicing black magic, worshiping Satan and defiling young peasant girls (As the old saying goes...its good to be the Count.) Protected by his social status, the Count goes about his heinous business with impunity.  Uncle Gustav and his Brotherhood, frustrated by this, take it out on innocent peasant girls, hunting them down and burning them at the stake, assuming everyone with a nice set of tits is a witch.

August 26, 2012

Movie Review: Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012, Anchor Bay)

Directed by John Shepphird

Starring Jack Scalia, Jeremy Luke and Joey Russo

Run Time: 87 min.

With summer in full swing and a record-breaking 4th of July crowd soaking up the boardwalk sun, Seaside Heights is the place to be in New Jersey. But when an illegal coastal drilling operation inadvertently unleashes a horde of man-eating albino bull sharks, the coastal town is hurled into chaos, and its up to a local bunch of Italian beach bums led by TC, aka- The Complication (Jeremy Luke), his band of  shirtless Guido sidekicks and his sometimes girlfriend Nooki (Melissa Molinaro), to save the day, save the party and save the town.

August 25, 2012

Movie Review: Marley (2012)

The thing I love most about documentaries is that they are always a source of education. Whether you know nothing or think you know everything about a subject, there's something to be learned. Though I'm not well versed in reggae, I, like most people, know a few songs by Bob Marley and The Wailers. We can all sing along when one comes on the radio or pops up in a commercial. We see the t-shirts and posters all over the place. The funny thing is that many of us don't really know much about him. To be honest, I always thought he died from a gunshot. I had much to learn, and in two and a half hours, I learned plenty and enjoyed it all.

August 24, 2012

Movie Review: Babysitter Massacre (2013, Alternative Cinema)

...having engaged and embraced the 'slasher' horror sub-genre at a relatively young age...remembering a time when just about every weekend, during the early-to-mid '80's, there were new, blood-drenched offerings in this sub-genre...this ardent viewer can't help but appreciate the recent wave of horror cinema, which pays a lovingly devoted homage to that bygone era. The best of the lot, not only borrowing straight from the prerequisite 'rulebook', associated with the genre...the masked killer, who's identity is suggested and hinted at, in the course of the film, given a plethora of distracting 'red herrings', but an identity not revealed, until the last...beautiful, buxomous and scantly-clad (...if that) young women, who are dimly aware of 'what happened before', but remain bravely naive and unaware enough, to haplessly provide themselves as helpless 'slasher' fodder for the killer...the one 'surviving' gal at the end...innocent, virtuous, and yet less naive...a fighter, clothed in something next to nothing, and reduced panic-stricken flight...the false scare jolts, followed by a moment of relaxing 'whew', before the real scare jolts kick in...and of course, a generous balance of lingering nudity, and righteous arterial spray...and more boobies...and more blood...and more boob...well, you get the point...but also affords the viewer a measurable caveat of...something not necessarily original, but at least an element...a twist on the genre, unique and individual enough, to make the film it's own creature. Does our newest offering, "Babysitter Massacre", have all that...and a ham sandwich?? Let's find out, shall we??...

Movie Review: Chillerama (2011, Blu-ray)

Growing up in the early 80’s I kind of caught on to the end of the drive-in horror/cult phenomenon that helped so many little independent genre films become slices of film history. I never took in an all-nighter or a triple-bill but I did get to see Friday The 13th III in 3D when I was at the impressionable age of six. I wish I did grow up at least ten years earlier so could enjoy that whole atmosphere that directors Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City) Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen), Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn II) Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs) put together in anthology form with Image Entertainment's Chillerama.

Buy Chillerama Blu-ray, DVD or Watch It Instantly



August 23, 2012

DVD Review: The Collective Vol. 4: Emotions (2012)

If good quality short-films are something you have a taste for, then here’s a recommendation for you- Go out and get your hands on Jason Hoover and JABB Pictures latest short-film collection entitled, Emotions. It’s the work of ten indie filmmakers that most people have probably never heard of but definitely need to know about. Each short is roughly ten minutes long and unlike a lot of short films whose purpose is to tease the audience in the hopes of possibly being made into a feature, these films are all complete stories.  Ranging from disturbing, to funny, to creepy, spooky and just plain bizarre, there really is something for everybody in this DVD. Lets have a quick look at each-

August 22, 2012

TV on DVD Review: Dan vs. - The Complete First Season (2011)

Creators: Dan Mandel, Chris Pearson

Voices of: Curtis Armstrong, Dave Foley and Paget Brewster


Dan thinks the whole world is out to get him, and he may just be right. From his crappy apartment at the Casa Paradiso, Dan, along with his easily manipulated best friend Chris and his hot genius wife Elise, will plot his elaborate personal vendettas against enemies both real and imagined. These enemies come in the form of... the dentist, ninjas, Canada, baseball, Ye Olde Shakespeare Dinner Theatre, the entire state of New Mexico, George Washington and The Salvation Army, (just to name a few).

August 21, 2012

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #60 - Baseball, Babies and Back Woods

Kevin and Dave give a short recap of Wizard World Chicago that includes the cosplay shortage and Dave's heavy sack.

Kevin reviews the Snoop Dogg debacle Mac + Devin go to High School and a vampire flick he actually liked called Midnight Son. He also shares the nausea he felt while watching Catching Hell.

Dave talks about the disaster of a movie we filmed in 2011, Back Woods 2. He also gets into $5 Wrestling and the racially backward Revealing Eden book series.

Jeff jumps in on his own segment to review the blu-ray of the second season of The Walking Dead and sticks to the topic with Zombie Babies.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com.

Support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment by clicking the links on our Sponsors page!

Movie Review: Let Me Die A Woman (1977)


As a gentleman, one of the most splendid body parts that I myself have attached to my doughy body, is my wang. Yes, I’m being honest here. He’s my pal. Whenever I’m unhappy, the wang is unhappy. Whenever the wang is tired , I’m tired..and so on. The last thing I would ever contemplate doing would be the severing of the glorious gristle. The thought of separation from one of my best pals in the world (right next to my Labrador) is something I surely couldn’t fathom. But I don’t have gender dysphoria either which sadly plagues Leslie's existence, the star of Doris Wishman’s film, Let Me Die A Woman. Doris Wishman (Deadly Weapons, Nude On The Moon, Double Agent 74)has given numerous offerings to the exploitation genre, but none like this. Thankfully, Synapse Films sees the brilliance of Let Me Die A Woman by giving the royal treatment in the form of a new special edition of the Wishman oddity.

Buy Let Me Die a Woman on DVD!


August 20, 2012

Movie Review: Midnight Son (2012)

The vampire genre has become tired and boring to me. I just can't get excited about it anymore. I refuse to watch Twilight. I don't like True Blood. Even the original Dracula isn't interesting to me anymore. Within the first ten minutes of Midnight Son, I was happy. This was not the same old vampire story. A young man named Jacob seems to be dealing with medical issues. He has liver issues, can't stop eating and eventually faints at work. We steadily build through his journey in dealing with a change that he can't stop.

August 19, 2012

Movie Review: The Hunter (2012)

Thylacine is an animal that presumably went extinct in the early 1930s. Also known as the Tasmanian tiger, it was a small dog-like marsupial that survived in Australia and Tasmania. Thousands of sightings have been reported since its extinction, but none have been confirmed. The search for the last remaining Tasmanian tiger is the basis for The Hunter.

Martin David (Willem Dafoe) is the best mercenary money can buy. You get that from a simple transaction that takes place in the beginning of the film. He is sent to the Tasmanian jungle to hunt down the last Tasmanian tiger for a very secretive biotech company. He stays a room in a house occupied by a depressed woman and her son and daughter. Martin sticks to business, but not for very long.

Movie Review: Lethal Ladies Collection: Volume 2 (Shout Factory)

Three cheesy Roger Corman 70‘s exploitation films in one neat little set- and although not all of the same caliber, each of them delivers in varying degrees the classic Corman trademarks. Here's a quick look at each:

The Arena (1974) -  Kidnapped by Roman soldiers, four beautiful women must battle for their lives in The Arena, while attempting to beat the Romans at their own game. This one stars Corman’s favorite ass-kicking temptress, Pam Grier and Margaret Markov (The Hot Box and Black Mama, White Mama). These two sexy exploitation icons alone have helped to give this film its well deserved cult status. Markov playing the role of Bodicia, the hot priestess who likes running around in lingerie, and Grier playing the role of Mamawi, the Nubian dancer with deadly sword-fighting skills.

Movie Review: Screaming in High Heels: The Rise and Fall of the Scream Queen Era (2011)

Directed by Jason Paul Collum

Starring Linnea Quigley, Brink Stevens and Michelle Bauer

With the advent of the video cassette recorder, VHS tapes and the mom and pop video store’s of the early 80‘s, a huge niche was created, one which was to be filled by movies with titles like Return of the Living Dead, The Slumber Party Massacre and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. Movies that could be made in a week and slickly packaged to be rented out on the video store shelves. And it soon became evident that not only was the public receptive to these kind of films but they were literally flying of the shelves faster then they could be made. And thus began...... the era of the Scream Queen.

Book Review: Jacked (2012, Severed Press)

Shane McKenzie is one screwed up guy. I like it, don't get me wrong, but he needs a psych eval, pronto. And it is this particularly endearing quality that allows me to enjoy his work so much. What we have on our plate this time is a little different from the usual cannibalism, food stuffs fiction. What appears to be a vile, squishy and goop-laden alien attack is viewed differently by three different guys trapped inside the gym they work out in; a glass lined prison where they can see the world go to shit outside while getting in a quick dead-lift. Herein we find where McKenzie is at his strongest: putting archetypal characters into horrible, extreme situations and, in this case, literally giving the survivor scenario steroids. This is Jacked, boys and girls, and even though I loathe to type this, the novella has gone into 'beast mode.'

August 18, 2012

Movie Review: She Freak (1967)

Directed by Byron Mabe

Starring Claire Brennen, Lee Raymond and Lynn Courtney

Claire Brennen stars as Jade Cochran, a discontented woman looking for a way out of her dead-end job as a waitress at a greasy diner. One day a carnival employee wanders into the diner and encourages Jade to take a chance and apply for a job, since the carnival happens to be passing through her town. Jade quits her job and is soon hired on, waiting on picnic tables and living the oh-so-glamorous carny lifestyle. She quickly discovers though, that she despises the freaks and human oddities that accompany the show. She has a fling with with Blackie, the ride superintendent, but wanting to get ahead socially she starts dating and eventually marries one of the carnival owners. The power and money she now possesses aren't enough to satisfy her though, and she is eventually caught cheating with the hired hand, which leads to her husband being stabbed and killed. This leaves her in charge and she soon makes her move to start getting rid of the freaks. the freaks aren't happy about this and some how end up turning her into some type of weird side-show oddity with a bulging eye and snake-like skin. (How this was accomplished is never explained.)

August 17, 2012

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #59 - Wizard World Chicago 2012

Kevin and Dave head to Wizard World Chicago for the second straight year. They talk to Loren Moore about his amazing new sculpture. Dave chats with Big Dog Ink, publishers of Ursa Minor and their cover artist Natali Sanders. They also talk to a zombie Chicago Cub from Fear City Apocalypse and some other interesting characters.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com.

Support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment by clicking the links on our Sponsors page!

August 16, 2012

Chupacabra Territory New Film Announcement!



CHUPACABRA TERRITORY is a found footage movie that goes back to the roots of the genre, The Blair Witch Project.


The Chupacabra is real and he’s ready to carve your intestines out next Summer 2013.

Movie Review: Fightville (2011)

Mixed Martial Arts has taken an amazing leap since it really became the most popular fighting sport, even making boxing and “professional” wrestling. It’s changed a bit over the years becoming a little more humane but even with that said the sport has put a Guillotine choke-hold on the two mentioned athletic events.

Michael Tucker has taken the allure of this sport that seems to permeate so many young men by following two young fighters, Dustin Poirer and Albert Stainback while they grind it out in the lower ranks off MMA in Louisiana. Both are interesting character’s, Poirer is almost a quiet psycho who when fight time comes completely lets loose in the octagon like a rabid pit bull. Stainback isn’t quite as talented as Poirer, but his mouth is plenty bigger as we get see him run it plenty in between matches and grueling practices.

Movie Review: Monster A-Go Go (1965)

By Hal Astell

This one screams a glorious low budget and if Mystery Science Theater 3000 hadn't done a version of it I'd have been seriously surprised. Of course they did, and considered it the worst film they'd seen up until that time. Manos: The Hands of Fate came later. Made in 1965 in black and white, it has bad acting, bad dialogue and bad music. It also has bad sound and bad lighting so it's often hard to tell exactly what's going on, even with a clear narration. Then again that may be a blessing. There's literally nothing good about this film: not only is it bad but it's boring. Bad is understandable in a film like this for many reasons, boring isn't.

Buy Monster A-Go Go on DVD


To be fair the main reason that it's so bad is that it's really two films. Director Bill Rebane ran out of funding on his film Terror at Halfday in 1961 and couldn't finish it. It would have disappeared without a trace had Herschell Gordon Lewis not needed a second film to play alongside his Moonshine Mountain three years later. He bought the footage, shot some additional scenes to finish it off (with new actors given that the originals weren't available) and added a narration and a new title. He was so proud of the results that he didn't even put his name on them: he's uncredited as a director and listed under the pseudonym of Sheldon S Seymour for his additional dialogue.

August 15, 2012

Movie Review: Klown (2010)

Directed by Mikkel Norgaard

Starring Frank Hvam, Casper Christensen and Marcuz Jess Peterson

Run Time: 89 minutes

Danish Language- English Subtitles

Frank is, what on the surface appears to be one of the worlds greatest fuck-ups. In order to prove his fatherhood potential to his pregnant girlfriend who has just dumped him, and in an act of desperation, he “kidnaps” her 12 year old nephew Bo, and takes him along on his best friend Casper’s weekend canoe trip of debauchery, which they have dubbed their “Tour de Pussy”. The wife and girlfriend of the two are under the impression this is merely a boys weekend in the country and have no idea the canoe trip has a scheduled stop at a music festival and a brothel.

Movie Review: Filmgore (1983)

Directed by Ken Dixon

Starring Cassandra Peterson

Think back to the days of grainy film, from the mid 60's to the late 70's. Think back to the golden and formative age of gore-cinema, movies filled with voluptuous and untalented actresses who were more then willing to take one for the team, bare their breasts and be gleefully dismembered in front of the camera.

Buy Filmgore on DVD

Although Filmgore's premise is to deliver the goriest movies of this time, what it actually does is give a pretty comprehensive cross-section of retro forbidden cinema. From the truly terrifying (but not necessarily gory) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), to the true classic gore-fest's, including Bloodfeast (1963), The Driller Killer (1979), and the nightmarishly fun Two Thousand Maniacs (1964).

August 13, 2012

Interview: Director Todd Freeman (Cell Count, Pray for Hell)


by Osvaldo Neto

01 – How has the filmmaking disease infected you? And when did you realized this was going to be your life?

So funny that you used the word disease and infection when referring to filmmaking.  My brother, sister, and I were all “infected” with the disease of “film” very early in our lives.  Our dad collected 16MM prints of classic films and would sit us down in front of the screen and told us of the harrowing tales of how the filmmakers made the film.  Our father is a Baptist Minister as well as an avid film lover... so the combination of the two is where we find ourselves in the film medium.  I would go to church 3 times a week and then on Friday nights we would sit down and watch Night of the Living Dead and hear about how George Romero and company sacrificed in order to make their dreams come true.  A truly amazing, and albeit strange, way to be raised.  I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. 

Movie Review: Hijacked (2012)

Directed by Brandon Nutt
Starring Dominic Purcell, Vinnie Johnson and Randy Couture

Special Agent Paul Ross (Randy Couture) seems to have his hands full, as he is simultaneously investigating some big-shot corporate bad guys while trying to reunite with his ex fiance Liesel, (Ashley Cusato). Things get dicey when she is hired by one of the kingpins he is investigating. Somehow they both end up on the crime lords private jet which is soon taken over by hijackers demanding a billion dollars, while in mid-flight. Its then up to Randy Couture, uhh....I mean Paul Ross, to save his fiance, save the hostages, and save the day.......and I’ll give you one guess how it all turns out.

I'm not going to say this was a complete bomb, but it did suffer from some pretty glaring deficiencies. First off, I'm a huge Randy Couture fan (as a fighter), as an actor new to the craft he’s still quite raw, and that was pretty evident here. They kept his lines down to a minimum, which was a smart idea, but he still looked a bit mechanical in his delivery. With that being said though, his fight scenes were actually pretty good, so I'm still holding out hope that he will get some more opportunities to improve because he does have great presence on the screen.

August 12, 2012

Movie Review: New York Grindhouse Superstars: Kathy's Graduation, School Of Sexual Arts and Tycoon's Daughter

Review by Alain Andbasquet


Situation: You, being the classic adult film lover, are knocking back a couple of 40's with one of your friends and start telling them about all the great films from that era of outlaw cinema. They? Are still way skeptical, with visions of hairy nutsacks, horny pizza boys and bad acting in their heads. Okay, fine. You're obviously going to need some evidence of a more physical kind (not that kind of physical, perv) to prove them wrong. After all, there are two kinds of adult films. The ones that can function as both a movie and an adult film and then straight up sleaze, in all of its sweaty and awkward dangling glory. After Hours Cinema DVD release, “New York Grindhouse Superstars” is completely and a 100% in the latter category. Even better for you smuthounds, it's a triple bill, all helmed by one of the most notable directors of that era, Shaun Costello.

Buy New York Grindhouse Superstars on DVD

August 10, 2012

TV on Blu-ray Review: Boss - Season One (2011)

Network television has been inconsistent at best over the past 20 years with its output of hard-hitting, truly dramatic TV. Blame it on reality TV, just weak writing or just a lack of backbone to create something that's not cookie cutter. Along with HBO, AMC and other cable stations, Starz has taken the torch with the popular shows Spartacus: Blood and Sand and the recently unleashed political drama starring Kelsey Grammer called Boss.

Newly issued to DVD and Blu-ray via Lionsgate and Starz, Boss is a tale that seems all too real with what goes on in today’s headlines with the influential men and women in various political offices. In what is a huge departure from his character “Frasier”, Kelsey Grammar plays power-hungry Thomas Kane, the fictional mayor of one of the great cities on our planet, Chicago.

Movie Review: The Iron Lady (2011)

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd

Movie review by Greg Goodsell

When we first see the elderly and feeble Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) in THE IRON LADY, she is doddering over the price of milk in a Pakistani bodega with a clerk who barely speaks English. The painful irony is all too clear. Thatcher, the British Prime Minister who earned the sobriquet “The Iron Lady” by the then Soviet Union, was at one time called Maggie Thatcher, the Milk Snatcher” by her critics. Slashing civic programs and expounding fearlessly on her “sink or swim” philosophy, resurrected an ailing Great Britain to the level of an international economic powerhouse. Her fearless climb to power is documented in this film, giving the viewer a thrilling slice of 20th century history.

August 9, 2012

Movie Review: 1970s Triple Climax: GrindHouse Triple Feature (After Hours Cinema)

Everyone loves a good finish, getting there is fun, no doubt, but its the big, juicy climax that you remember most. And After Hours Cinema is at again, delivering not one....not two....but three obscure porno gems from the 70‘s. Chock full of all the good stuff you love about retro porn.

Youngun’s, this isn't your porn. It isn't even your parents porn, this is the stuff your grandparents were watching on a projector with the bedroom door locked.....way back in the day. When porn movies were grainy and dirty. When polyester was all the rage and wood paneling covered every wall. An era when the pubic hair was so thick the male actors looked like they were making love to sleeping badgers super-glued to the women's crotches. Ahhh... the good ‘ol days. Fans of this type of retro-smut have a lot to be excited about with this trio of spunk-flying goodness, so lets take a quick peak at whats inside...

Cinematic Hell: The Wild World of Batwoman (1966)

by Hal Astell

THE WILD WORLD OF BATWOMAN VHS BAT WOMAN CULT COMEDYDirector: Jerry Warren

Stars: Katherine Victor, George Mitchell and Steve Brodie

Buy The Wild World of Bat Woman on VHS (Really!)

Apparently to become a batgirl you have to be initiated under Article 21 Paragraph 6. You know, the one about wrist radios with direct lines to Batwoman herself and cups of honey, mint, cherry and strawberry yogurt masquerading as blood. These batgirls are fake vampires but they're hip, you dig? At least, that's what I think the point of this opening scene is. Who knows? Jerry Warren doesn't and he wrote and directed the thing. This completed a decade of insane movies for him that included The Incredible Petrified World, Teenage Zombies and Attack of the Mayan Mummy. He returned to the directors chair only one more time after this, for Frankenstein Island in 1981 which reunited the three stars of this film and added John Carradine. All his movies are bad, but they're more misguided than inept. As the title suggests, this is his most wildly misguided movie of all. A rip off of the successful new hit TV series, Batman, it has no idea what it wants to be.

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood (1973)

Director: Toshiya Fujita
Star: Meiko Kaji

Buy Lady Snowblood on DVD

Back in the eighties in England, I learned about genre film as much by reading about it as by actually watching it, given that the self appointed arbiters of public morals cut or banned movies by the bucketload. I remember reading with longing about a number of Japanese films from the early seventies, generally sourced from manga and featuring stylised violence and great gouts of blood, precisely the sort of thing that the censors had kittens about. Most notable were those written by Kazuo Koike and eventually, through an underground source, I found the six films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series, along with the American Shogun Assassin, compiled from the first two, which had a history of trouble with the censors, though it technically never made the video nasty list. I never found Lady Snowblood back then but I'm overjoyed that AnimEigo have made it available in a crisp letterbox print with solid subtitles and useful liner notes.

August 8, 2012

Movie Review: Young, Violent, Dangerous (aka Librii, Armati, Pericolosi, 1976)

Directed by Romolo Guerrieri

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

A pretty young blonde, Lea (Eleonora Girogi) tells a stern police commissioner (Tomas Milian) that her boyfriend Louie (Max Delys)is planing a gas station heist with his two other friends. While the cops are too quick to write it all off to yet another jealous female, Louie and his friends Joe (Benjamin Lev) and Paul, a.k.a “Blondie (Stefano Patrizi)” follow through with the robbery, leaving three innocent bystanders riddled with bullets. It's only the beginning of their crime and murder spree, as the day grows longer and the boy count soars comfortably into the double digits. Buying weapons from some friendly thugs, the boys rob a supermarket and then gun down their accomplices in cold blood. The blonde joins the trio for the final leg of the journey in an attempt to break through the border into Switzerland. When two gangsters refuse to give them dummy passports, the guys bloodily dispatch them in a bit of vehicular manslaughter. Expressing callous disregard for all who get in the way of their bullets, the good, the bad and the ugly all taste lead and the trio's flight from the law ends with a big bang.

Movie Review: Dead Season (2012)

Directed by Adam Deyoe

Starring James C. Burns, Scott Peat and Marissa Merrill

A worldwide viral outbreak leads to a plague of hungry zombies scouring the earth in search of human flesh to consume. Amidst the chaos and rubble of what is left of the country, two people make radio contact with each other. Soon after they meet up, Elvis, Tweeter and her young friend devise a plan to escape and hopefully make a new life somewhere in safety.  They travel to Florida, meet a shady character and eventually get their hands on a boat. Map in hand, they motor out to sea in search of an island.  Once they find one, they soon realize not only is the island infested with the undead but there is also a group of survivors residing there which they are forced to join up with.

Cinematic Hell: They Saved Hitler's Brain (1963/1976)

by Hal Astell

Director: David Bradley

Stars: Audrey Caire, Walter Stocker and Carlos Rivas

Buy They Saved Hitler's Brain on DVD

They Saved Hitler's Brain is one of the greatest movie titles in existence, one that just exudes badness in the most awesome way. I've wanted to see it for years but hadn't realised that it would highlight to me a whole new subset of bad movies that I didn't even know existed, the precise opposite of something that plagued me in England growing up. It's not difficult to see why some movies being shown on television would be cut for content, especially exploitation films. However I saw films on TV like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home that were cut too, films that contained absolutely nothing that might warrant censorship.

August 7, 2012

Movie Review: Scalene (2011)

Directed by Zack Parker

Starring Margo Martindale, Hanna Hall and Adam Scarimbolo

Fan’s of psychological thrillers, buckle your seat-belts because Zack Parker’s Scalene is about to take you on a wild ride.
In a nutshell this is a perceptual thriller which is told from three points of view revolving around the rape of a female caretaker by a brain-damaged and mentally handicapped man and his mother’s subsequent revenge after his incarceration.

The story is told in a very non-linear fashion, with the climax of the film being shown at the beginning and then the events leading up to that moment played out in a sort of helter-skelter kind of way that felt like puzzle pieces which slowly begin to fit together in such a way that you don't know what the whole picture will look like until the final piece is set in place. And when that final piece is set down, the picture looks nothing like what you imagined it would.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #58 - Scattered

Kevin welcomes a special guest for a short introduction and our most coherent segment ever. Dave talks comic books this week in anticipation for Wizard World Chicago. Jeff does a little Blue Cheese and some Girls Gone Dead, and Kevin reviews the Superheroes documentary and the latest album from Calabrese.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com.

Click on any of the links above to purchase at Amazon.com or click the link to our sponsors below and support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment!

August 6, 2012

Music Review: Calabrese: Dayglo Necros (2012)

It's always amazing to me that the psychobilly genre took so long to exist. Based on the Glenn Danzig fronted The Misfits, it's something that started decades after the band originally hit. It could have something to do with the resurgence of the band with new front man Michale Graves, or it could just be something that needed time, but here it is, and Calabrese seems to be near the front of the pack.

I had originally heard of them from their album 13 Halloweens, and I also got to see the video for Voices of the Dead, which was directed by Brian Pulido (Chaos! Comics) and featured our own David Hayes as Tor Johnson. I definitely saw growth from 13 to Voices, and I see continued growth in Dayglo Necros.

Movie Review: Freak Dance (2010)

Directed by Matt Besser, Neil Mahoney

Starring Joshua Allen, Edwin J. Bennett and Matt Besser

When rich girl Cocolonia (Megan Heyn) cant shake her booty at home because of her uptight mom (Amy Poehler), she hits the streets, determined to live the lifestyle of a poor, uneducated street dancer. She soon hooks up with a group of  dancers who are about to lose their dance-studio if they cannot come up with money to pay the fines levied by the building inspector.

Together with her new dance partner Funky Bunch (Michael Cassady), Cocolonia must partake in the most dangerous and forbidden dance of them all, The Freak Dance, in a dance-fight to the finish against their arch-rivals, led by the flamboyantly sinister Dazzle (Drew Droege), in an attempt to win enough money to save the studio. The last time The Freak Dance was performed was when the former leader of Funky Bunch’s troupe, Astonaut (Corby Griesenbeck) performed it with Dazzle’s sister.......resulting in Astonaut losing his penis and Dazzle’s sister dying from a shattered spine.

August 4, 2012

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO TOPLESS AGAIN… eOne and Cinema Head Cheese Give Away GIRLS GONE DEAD!

This is a simple contest for our readers! Just like or comment on our Facebook post about the contest, or email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com and tell us that you'd like to be entered. Three winners will be randomly drawn. It's that easy! Contest ends August 27, 2012, so hurry!

A hilarious throwback to the sexy 80s’ comedy/horror flicks. GIRLS GONE DEAD centers around six beautiful high school friends reunitING for spring break during their freshman year in college -- only to find a sadistic killer with a medieval war hammer has targeted them! With a cast filled with notorious celebs and personalities – such as Jerry Lawler ("WWE Raw"), Beetlejuice and Sal ‘The Stockbroker’ Governale of “The Howard Stern Show”, Ron Jeremy, Iron Maiden’s Nicko McBrain, scream queen Linnea Quigley and a passel of Penthouse Pets like Ryan Keely and Janessa Brazil – this soon-to-be cult classic is certain to add some sizzle to your summer!