David Cronenberg: A Halloween Love Letter

It’s important, in the discussion of Halloween (the season of gore), to acknowledge those individuals that have, truly, made a lasting impression on the visceral art of gore. We would be remiss without looking up. Not skyward, mind you, no self-respecting gore meister would go that direction, but more North. Canada, to be exact. There, among the socialized medicine, seventeen-year-old drinking age and football end zones the size of island continents dwells the oft-overlooked king of the literate chunkblowers… David Cronenberg. His films have nauseated us for years, from the gritty and gory Rabid (1977) starring the late Marilyn Chambers through Jeff Goldblum’s star turn in The Fly (1986) and everything in-between, Mr. Cronenberg has sickened us, for the better, time and time again.

It’s important to note, though, that his penchant for the macabre, including his use of the wet stuff, is part of the theme of his films… it informs the social commentary. Cronenberg is not a master filmmaker, he is a master storyteller. In being a master storyteller, every one of his stories means something. All of it has a message and a theme and, thankfully for us, he chooses to express that theme using some of the most disturbingly metaphorical gore scenes ever films. Metaphor. Wait a minute. Metaphor. Gore. Meta-Gore… is that new? If that’s new, then I have dibs on it.

The proof, my dear friends, is available in high definition and 1080p for our enjoyment. Videodrome (1983) tells the sordid tale of James’ Woods descent into madness and a societies’ reliance on the television for truth. VHS won the war against Beta, and the war for Woods’ soul, as his body assimilated a video tape in one of the grossest scenes every shot in the early 1980s. Need more proof? Exploding heads are always fun and the best ones blew up all over the silver screen in 1981’s Scanners. Yep, Cronenberg.

Movie Review: eXistenZ (1999)

I watched this movie years ago. So long ago that I didn’t remember half of the cast. Or maybe I just tried to block it from my mind because I hated it so much. But being 14 years older now, and it being part of the package of films sent to me by my illustrious colleague, Jeff, so I kinda HAVE to watch it, maybe it’ll be different this time. Maybe I’ve developed a more discriminating sense of taste; maybe this time I’ll remember that David Cronenberg wrote and directed it. I have enjoyed his work in the past.

Then again maybe it still sucks.

eXistenZ is about a game developer named Allegra. She has designed a revolutionary new game (that would be eXistenZ, btw) that will change the gaming world as we know it. Apparently, though, there are some people who don’t brook no innovativeness and want her dead. After someone tries to kill her, Allegra goes on the run with a PR nerd, Ted, from her company. While hiding out, Allegra needs to assess the damage done to her biopod during the attempt on her life. It's the gaming system that looks like a giant sex toy that literally PLUGS INTO YOUR FUCKING SPINAL CORD. In order to assess, she has to play the game with a friendly, aka Ted.

Movie Review: Antiviral (2012, Alliance/IFC Films)

...uh, ladies and gentlemen...if you please, let me ask you something. Just how far would you go...in whatever way, shape or form...to embrace your favorite celebrity?? Would you merely follow their media exploits, published in tabloids, or broadcast on the exploitative TMZ?? Would you instead wait hours in line, just for a celebrity's autograph?? (...ahem, with hand raised...been there, done that) Would you pull them aside, upon chance or planned encounter, and snap a quick and spontaneous, albeit annoying (...to them) paparazzi shot?? Would you dare sneak into the celebrity's house, just to sleep in their bed...drink their orange juice, in the 'fridge...use their toilet?? Would you go so far as to spend your life's savings on a complex surgery, which would make your nose look like your favorite celebrity's nose?? Doctors have coined a genuine name for such blatant obsession...call it 'celebrity worship syndrome', or as definition serves, 'an obsessive-addictive disorder in which a person becomes overly involved with the details of a celebrity's personal life'...and admit it or not, just about everyone engages this syndrome, whether it be to the smallest degree (...i.e., 'I really like that person's music; it's a favorite of mine, and I listen to it, whenever I can'), or to a level much more grandiose and disturbing (...i.e., '...uh, like, I've had this plastic surgery, see...to alter my entire body to look like my favorite celebrity, as well as legally having had my name changed to match his/hers, and because of this, I, um...I have had a legal injunction issue against me, forbidding me to come within 100 yards of him/her')...

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #69 - 69, You Get It? 69!

In honor of their 69th podcast, Kevin and Dave discuss their favorite sex scenes in movies. You'll be surprised what gets them going, as the titles range from action to comedy to horror.

Jeff also chimes in with his choices, and we can all be sure that there's something to make you shudder.

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Movie Review: Little Deaths (2011)

I love a good anthology. I just watched and enjoyed Image Entertainment's recent Chillerama and well folks, we have yet another called Little Deaths. This film is a completely different animal than the playful, humorous Chillerama. Little Deaths, pure and simple, is a take-no-prisoners taboo-busting horror movie. Some of the best horror anthologies come from Britain, which is exactly where our feature here was produced, written and directed. Genre stand-out, Simon Rumley (Red, White and Blue) is joined by Sean Hogan and Andrew Parkinson to create this sinister trilogy.

Buy Little Deaths on DVD or Watch It Instantly