Synapse Films to Release Three Films From Argentine Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano!

SYNAPSE FILMS Rewards Fantastic Fest Favorite ADRIAN GARCIA BOGLIANO with Triple-Crown Feature Film Pickup

ROMULUS, MI - September 28, 2011 - Synapse Films has snared rights to three terrifying feature films by celebrated Fantastic Fest and SXSW filmmaker Adrián García Bogliano, the Argentine director of festivl favorite COLD SWEAT and the upcoming PENUMBRA, grabbed by IFC Midnight on the eve of the film's Fantastic Fest world premiere.

In ROOMS FOR TOURISTS a busload of girls fall prey to a town of terror... what connects the victims? The young filmmaker of WATCH'EM DIE takes a job that leads to horror. Four young girls stop to help a woman in the street and it leads to rape horror and death in the breath-stopping I WILL NOT DIE ALONE.



"I am a huge fan of Adrian's films and have seen every single one. I feel that he may be the most talented new filmmaker I have come across," enthuses Synapse head Jerry Chandler. "He is a master of making the most of miniscule budgets and his attention to detail is unmatched. I was hooked when I first saw ROOMS FOR TOURISTS---the atmospheric dread is palpable early on. I WILL NOT DIE ALONE is somewhat similar to I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, only it's a great movie! And WATCH'EM DIE is much more fun to watch than Hostel or its myriad imitations."

Synapse Films exec Jerry Chandler negotiated the deal with the filmmaker.

Synapse Films has recently released brand-new remastered Blu-ray releases of James Glickenhaus' THE EXTERMINATOR, William Lustig's MANIAC COP, and Frank Henenlotter's FRANKENHOOKER, with Tarantino-producer Lawrence Bender's INTRUDER out this December.

TV on DVD Review: Sigmund and the Sea Monsters: Season One

By James DePaolo

As a very young kid in the early 70's, Saturday Mornings to me were the day of magic. From cartoons to children shows, that magic box in the middle of the living room floor kept my attention. And easily for my parents the best babysitter. To get to visit my childhood one more time was interesting. Sid and Marty Krofft created many fun family shows for Saturday morning television to capture many kids and young adults imagination, and among them was the vastly popular H.R Pufnstuf and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Sigmund, is the story of a sea creature named oddly enough, Sigmund, who leaves his family's cave by the ocean and is taken in by two kids who adopt him. Rip Taylor has an appearance as one of the characters as Sheldon the Sea Genie, along with the other characters Sigmund Ooze played by Billy Barty. Johnny and Scott Stuart are played by Johnny Whitaker and Scott Kolden.

Buy Sigmund and the Sea Monsters: Season One on DVD

Movie Review: The Stepfather II: Make Room For Daddy

Joseph Ruben's The Stepfather was a sleeper hit in 1987. It’s near perfect character study of psychopath, Jerry Blake(Terry O'Quinn), a man who just wants to have the perfect Ozzie and Harriet family. That can't be a lot to ask. I guess it's just how Jerry goes about it - the man has a short fuse. It always seems to end with Jerry butchering the family and moving onto the next . Jerry meets his match though by the end of The Stepfather and even get a giant butcher knife to the chest. Was that the end of Jerry's journey? Not at all, just a minor diversion that lands him wounded and in a mental hospital. This is how Jeff Burr's(Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, The Offspring) Stepfather II: Make Room For Daddy opens, with Jerry Blake just fine and dandy - ready to whistle some more in Synapse Films special edition DVD release.

BUY STEPFATHER II ON DVD!

After the obligatory flashbacks from the finale of The Stepfather, Jerry Blake is lying not so comfortably in a bed at the local institution pondering an escape. As we know by now, Jerry, is a smart cat. It doesn't take too long before he kills a few prison employees, disguise himself in a security uniform and be off to find his dream family. Carol ( Meg Foster, They Live, Welcome To Arrow Beach) and her son Todd (the late Jonathan Brandis) are Jerry's focus now. This lonely real estate agent sees Jerry as not only a polite, handsome gentleman but a potential quality role-model for her so Todd - who's still damaged by the divorce. What Carol doesn't know is her best gal-pal Maddy(Caroline Williams) is onto Jerry's scheme. Why not let sleeping Stepfathers lie? Amazingly, Jerry has such a lock on Carol's heart that they take that "extra" step get engage. Do they even make it to the wedding, or does Carol have second thoughts that sway Jerry in his decision in even letting her and Todd breathe another second?

Movie Review: The GingerDead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver (2011)

While I don't always go for cheesy horror, I do like intentionally cheesy horror. I especially like when it goes to extremes. The original GingerDead Man was a riot. The title character, voiced by Gary Busey, was created from dough that was made with cursed flour. He was absolutely ridiculous, full of crazy one-liners and killed without remorse. Just what you want in a deadly pastry. In this edition, sans Busey, we see the killer cookie in a brand new setting.

Buy GingerDead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver on DVD

Movie Review:The Basement: Retro 80s Horror Collection

I try pretty hard to not throw the "nostalgia" word around too much, occasionally though there is a special title that comes through our grubby hands here at the Cinema Head Cheese offices that warrants it. Alternative Cinema has put together a box set that has unleashed a nostalgic joy rarely experienced with their recent release of The Basement: Retro 80s Horror Collection. This mammoth box of schlock consists of five movies: Cannibal Campout, Video Violence I and II and the unreleased features Captives and of course the film that the set is titled after, Tim O' Rawe's 8mm horror anthology, The Basement.

Buy The Basement: Retro 80s Horror Collection on DVD

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #15- ...And Amigos Forever We'll Be

Jeff Dolniak and Kevin Moyers finally sit down with David Hayes for a fun filled episode of reviews and news.

The trio gets into the still controversial Cannibal Holocaust coming to blu-ray and The Basement: Retro 80s Horror Collection.

They also discuss the Children of the Corn series, classic movies that still hold up like Airplane! and The Howling, and micro-budget wonders and disasters.

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

Click on any of the links above to purchase at Amazon.com and support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment!

Movie Review: Sex Galaxy (2008)

In the distant future, sex becomes illegal on Earth due to overpopulation. Meanwhile, space travelers head to a planet full of prostitutes led by a robot pimp. That's the general premise of Sex Galaxy, a movie made up of different old clips that are public domain. The clips are put together with a voice over track recorded to tell the story.

Buy Sex Galaxy on DVD

The premise is okay, and would have been fine as a YouTube clip, or even a series with different storylines. I don't know that this style really fits a feature. It claims to be the first 100% recycled movie, but there are a few new clips added to fill in some gaps. The old clips are of mostly poor quality, but that's to be expected. The new stuff is degraded to match, but you can still tell which is which for the most part.

4th Annual Tucson Comic Con is November 5-6!

One of the newer comic conventions in the nation is in Tucson, AZ. Tucson Comic Con is in its fourth year, and it promises to be a good one. Cinema Head Cheese will be there to cover the con, and we're very excited about it.

The con takes place November 5-6 at the Bookmans Event Center. Tickets are available at the door at a mere $3 per day or $5 for the weekend. Can you beat that?

For more information, visit tucsoncomic-con.com.

Movie Review: TMNT (2007)

When I was a kid, I wasn't a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan until the first live action film was released. I really liked the creative costumes and sense of humor. It really grabbed me and made me a fan for life. The sequels (yes, including the terrible one with Vanilla Ice) were also fun. I was excited about the turtle quartet returning to the big screen, but I wish that it had been in a live action format

Buy TMNT on Blu-ray or DVD

The story starts out with the turtles in four different places in life. It's a nice little reminder that we haven't seen them in awhile. The only one still fighting crime is Rafael, and he does it under a pseudonym. Casey Jones eventually joins him, and with time, the remaining brothers get into the act.

Movie Review: Maniac Cop (Blu-ray)

William Lustig's (Maniac, Uncle Sam) Maniac Cop has seen some very solid cult fandom over the years, which certainly makes it feasible that genre DVD specialists Synapse Films would tackle the feature for a new Blu-ray Special Edition. While not really a slasher film as the title may imply, Maniac Cop is more of a hybrid of action, crime-thriller and horror. The host of cult film favorites that make out the cast - Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Army Of Darkness), Richard Roundtree (Shaft), Tom Atkins (Night of the Creeps) and Robert "The Chin" Z'Dar (Samurai Cop, Tango and Cash) is enough reason for me to flip it on. Tom Atkins is the man here, and as close to a hero as you'll get in Maniac Cop. Sorry Bruce, we'll get to you later.

Buy Maniac Cop on Blu-ray

Movie Review: Nude Nuns With Big Guns (2011)

Growing up Catholic and being enrolled in Catholic School until the ninth grade, I naturally had many experiences both positive and negative with nuns. Most of which were unfortunately the latter. These sisters weren’t the easiest on the eyes, as most resembled Robbie Coltrane's drag portrayal from Nuns on the Run. Joseph Guzman's Nude Nuns with Big Guns doesn't have the fugly nuns that I grew up with on display, but it does offer more than enough gratuitous skin and gun-toting, revenge-seeking nuns.

Buy Nude Nuns With Big Guns on Blu-ray and DVD

Movie Review: Children of the Corn V and VI (1998, 2001, Blu-ray)

I really, really dig the original The Children of the Corn film (and Stephen King’s story). The latter part of my growing up was in a rural-ish area with large, scary cornfields. Anything can happen in there and if you are unfortunate enough to meet some of the humans that tend these fields you would be scared, too. So, the idea that a vegetable god, at war with Christianity, using children to build a demonic army is cool. The coolness definitely wears thin for the first sequel. Number three is rough… four is rougher. I’m not liking things very much anymore. Suddenly we’re at number five and number six. I don’t even remember these things getting VHS release, but here they sit on Blu-ray. Two ‘movies’ on one disc. Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror from 1998 and Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return from 2001… I have gone to hell. There is actually a rumor that Stephen King was struck by a mini-van in 1999 because of these films. The world may never know.

Buy Children of Corn V and Children of the Corn VI on Blu-ray!

Night Train Murders: HD Sleaze Classic Coming from Blue Underground!

You Can Tell Yourself It’s Only A Movie… BUT IT WON’T HELP!

It was released as Second House on the Left, New House on the Left, and Torture Train. The ads screamed, “Most movies last less than two hours! This is one of everlasting torment!” It remains one of the most graphically fiendish films in exploitation history, the story of two teenage girls traveling through Europe, forced into a nightmare of sexual assault and sadistic violence.

Irene Miracle (Inferno, Midnight Express), Flavio Bucci (Suspiria), Macha Meril (Deep Red), and Marina Berti (What Have They Done To Your Daughters?) star in this depraved shocker directed by Aldo Lado (Short Night of Glass Dolls, Who Saw Her Die?) and featuring a haunting score by Ennio Morricone (The Bird With the Crystal Plummage).

Experience evil gone off the rails: Night Train Murders is now presented in a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original uncensored negative!

Extras:

* Riding the Night Train – Interview with Co-Writer/Director Aldo Lado

* U.S. Trailer

* International Trailer

* Radio Spots

* One of the most graphic and disturbing Euro-thrillers of all time is now available on High Definition Blu-ray Disc!

* Brand new High Definition transfer from the original uncut and uncensored camera negative

* Features Full 1080p HD Resolution for the ultimate home theater experience

* Extensive online exposure on top websites, including YouTube, Facebook, DVD Talk, Blu-ray.com, Fangoria, and many more

* “More Reprehensible Than LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT!” – All Movie Guide

* “DISTURBING… An Exercise In Graphic Malevolence And Sadism!” – Sleazoid Express

* “A Sadistic, Vile Rape-Revenge Story… It’s A Ride Well Worth Taking!” – DVD Drive-In

* “This Little Nasty Has Substance… Much Smarter Than Most Exploitation Films, And In Many Ways Even More Powerful!” – Horror Digital

Movie Review: La Rabbia (1963)

Directed by Pier Palo Pasolini and Giovanni Guareschi

“Why are our lives characterized by discontent, anguish, and fear?” Why, I didn’t know they were! I thought life was characterized by the pursuit of money, the pursuit of shelter, the pursuit of pleasure … maybe that’s why our lives are characterized by discontent, anguish, and fear. The above question was posed to both leftist, communist, gay film director Pier Paolo Pasolini and right-wing essayist and occasional filmmaker Giovanni Guareschi in 1963. Both Italian filmmakers were given miles of black-and-white newsreel footage to craft an answer to that question, as well as formulate an answer. The results -- La Rabbia, or "The Anger" -- are fascinating to say the least, a scorching mondo documentary for the intellectual, where existential philosophy is proffered instead of the expected shots of native tribesmen shoving their heads up cows’ asses.

Buy La Rabbia on DVD

Movie Review: Sex, Demons and Death (aka Diabolicamente... Letizia, 1975)

I'm not exactly sure what to think of Sex, Demons and Death. At the start of the movie, a guy that looks like a better looking Mick Jagger talks to his wife over the phone, and you learn that she can't have kids. They decide to let the wife's niece move in as she promised her dead sister that she would take care of the orphan. When the husband, known as the architect, picks up the niece, Letizia, the pervy uncleness begins.

Buy Sex, Demons and Death on DVD

Movie Review: Subspecies (1991, Blu-ray)

Full Moon owner Charles Band has managed to produce and direct some unique genre flicks over the years. Interestingly, it seems that he tries to make a franchise out of every feature. Some of them work ok, and some don't. The Subspecies series has been one of the better ones atleast for my liking.  Now the original film, directed by one of Full Moons most prolific contributor ,Ted Nicolaou (Bad Channels, Puppetmaster Vs. Demonic Toys, Terrorvision), is seeing release on the Blu-ray format.

Buy Subspecies Blu-ray or DVD

The backdrop for this vampire film takes place in Dracula's favorite country, Romania. Three lovely young ladies are exploring the wonderfully scenic countryside only to cross paths with a super-pasty bloodsucker named Radu (Anders Hove). Radu's fresh off killing his father (Angus Scrimm, Phantasm series) so he could get his bloodstone - a powerful birthright which he hopes to use in his favor during his blood draining outings.

Movie Review: The Lickerish Quartet (1970)

Directed by Radley Metzger


A jaded and world-weary married couple (Frank Wolff, Erika Remberg) with the wife’s son from a previous marriage (Paolo Turco) watch a black-and-white stag film at their crumbling Italian villa. They become intrigued by a blonde actress (Silvanna Venturelli) they see in the loops – and wonder under what circumstances prompted her to appear in a pornographic film. Heading into town, they catch a trick motorcycle act the carnival – and a female bike rider removes her helmet to reveal herself as the aforementioned film’s “star.” Convincing the woman to return to their villa, she denies participating in the film, and when they screen the film a second time – she’s nowhere to be found! In the manner of Pasolini’s Teorema, the mysterious woman winds her way through wife, husband and son, and nothing, not even the film itself is what it appears to be.

Buy The Lickerish Quartet Blu-ray or DVD

From the Creators of "Worm" comes "Familiar".

FATAL PICTURES presents FAMILIAR

Through a series of tragic events a middle aged man grows to suspect the negative impulses plaguing his mind may not be his own.

Starring: Robert Nolan Astrida Auza & Cathryn Hostick

Cinematography & Co Producer: Michael Jari Davidson Special Effects by: Ryan Louagie Carlos Henriques & Steven Dawley Produced by: Zach Green Written & Directed by: Richard Powell

For more information on Fatal Pictures' Familiar please go to these links:

http://www.fatalpictures.com/
http://www.fatalpictures.blogspot.com

Movie Review: Scream 4 (2011, Blu-ray)

I feel like I’ve been in a wayback machine. We all know the story, we all know the characters and we even know the gimmicks, but the nostalgia was well worth it. It could be due solely to the fact that the characters are my age and I identified with them in 1996 when the original came out and with each successive sequel, I aged the same way they did (quickly and gracefully… ahem). So, prepare yourselves for a glowing, gushing, fanboy review of Scream 4, complete with obligatory Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson butt kissing. Oh, and I still have a crush on Neve Campbell.

Buy the Scream 4 Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Combo and the Scream Triple Pack (Scream | Scream 2 | Scream 3)!

THANKSKILLING coming to DVD on November 22nd!

"The perfect mix of comedy, gore, and campiness" - Matt Molloy of Scars Magazine 
 
Gobble, Gobble, Motherf@#%$rs!

ThanksKilling promises nothing but a cheesy good time. It's the perfect cult film to watch around the holidays, especially Thanksgiving.

More than just a film about a killer turkey, ThanksKilling is an experience. It started with two guys setting out to see how much they could do, with so little. Casting was done in a garage, the turkey puppet fell apart by the end of the film, and distribution came and went many times. The film was shot in 2007 when creators Kevin Stewart and Jordan Downey were still in college, and took another two years to finish.

Buy Thankskilling on DVD

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #14 - Blood, Blueberries and Barney

Jeff Dolniak starts off with a review of the all-new Blu-ray editions of the cult classic Maniac Cop and Herschell Gordon Lewis's Blood Trilogy. He also brings up the Lewis documentary The Godfather of Gore.

Kevin talks about his most recent views including Killer Yacht Party, TMNT and First Sunday. He talks about why Tracy Morgan is one of the best actors around.

Jeff gets into how strange kids' shows are, and the two dads talk about Wonder Pets!, Barney and the catalogs of Hanna Barbera and Sid and Marty Kroft.

In their new Blue Cheese segment, Jeff and Kevin transition into adult cartoon parodies The Flintbones and Beaver and Buttface.

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

Click on any of the links above to purchase at Amazon.com and support Cinema Head Cheese and Abnormal Entertainment!

Pink Eiga's "Twilight Dinner" may be something worth staying up for!

“TWILIGHT DINNER”

KAZUHIKO leads a normal life until two beautiful sisters move into the apartment next door. He

falls for the younger sister, MAYAKO, but not before being seduced by the older sister,
TSUKIKO... Soon Kazu has an insatiable hunger that he thinks is sexual, but might be something
deeper, darker and more feral...

From the king of Japanese PINK EIGA, Yutaka 'Mr. Pink' Ikejima (JAPANESE WIFE NEXT
DOOR films), comes this brilliant mix of sex and horror that will leave you panting and
hungering for more.

Buy Twilight Dinner on DVD

Exclusive Predatory Instinct Trailer!

Cheesers, here is an exclusive trailer for Predatory Instinct! Feel free to visit Midnight Releasing for more information! Predatory Instinct is currently available on DVD!

Movie Review: The Blood Trilogy (1963-1965, Blu-Ray)

For the better part of twenty years now, Something Weird Video has unleashed the rare, the sexy, the gory and the just plain ridiculous upon VHS, DVD owners and now, amazingly, the Blu-Ray market. Yes, I said it, Something Weird Video is now releasing titles in high-definition! These aren’t obscurities like Doctor Doom, The Atomic Brain and Johnny Firecloud but four of the biggest titles in their library – Basket Case and Herschell Gordon Lewis’ The Blood Trilogy (Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs and Color Me Blood Red). I’ve been waiting for the day to see HG Lewis’ most famous films on the Blu-ray format, and now it’s here.

Cinematic Hell: Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966)

by Hal Astell

Director: William Beaudine

Star: John Lupton

Buy Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter on DVD

Back in the silent era William Beaudine was a name to be reckoned with. His acting career took off in 1909 but he soon became far better known behind the camera, beginning as an assistant director in 1911 at a mere nineteen years of age and progressing quickly up to full director four years and 55 films later. He made it as high as Mary Pickford movies like Little Annie Rooney and Sparrows before making four films in England and somehow alienating Hollywood. So he became 'One Shot' William Beaudine, churning out movies at a rapid pace for Poverty Row studios like Monogram and PRC, often without retakes. He racked up hundreds of these, some shot in less than a week, and while they were often capable, even astounding if you consider the budgets and the shooting schedules, they still weren't very good. This eight day shoot was his last film, shot back to back with another weird western, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula, which is even worse than this.

Strangely he hadn't made too many crossover movies before, with the stunning exception of Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla in 1952, but he seems to have taken the genre clash as a ideal setup for dry comedy and so played it straight but outrageous. This approach leaves it akin to a TV sitcom with the laugh track removed, unashamedly camp and ripe to be converted into yet another stage musical like Reefer Madness and The Evil Dead. You can imagine what's going to come from the title alone but the standard western town being emptied of inhabitants while the credits roll underlines the atmosphere of fear. Just in case you've been living under a rock for the rest of your life, there's a frickin' huge painted mission sitting atop the frickin' huge painted hill that looms behind the town like the frickin' huge painted backdrop it is. One Shot hadn't had a budget since the advent of sound. Anyway, take a wild stab as to where the Frankensteins live.

Guess why everyone's getting the hell out of Dodge. Yes, they're Frankensteins. C'mon, work with me here. They're Dr Maria Frankenstein, who is the granddaughter of the Count, because even the title of this film is wrong, and her rather elderly brother, Dr Rudolph Frankenstein. She's actually not too bad, because she's played by Narda Onyx, with bright eyes, rosy cheeks and a perfect accent for a Frankenstein. Onyx was Estonian but was born in 1931 so soon became a refugee bouncing around during the war looking for a home. Her accent is exotic because it's a potent combination of Estonian, German, English, Swedish and Canadian, with an emphasis on rolling Rs. The influences are obvious: she's the Bela Lugosi to Stephen Geray's Peter Lorre. Geray was born in Austria-Hungary in a town that is now in the Ukraine, but as Rudolph he's 27 years older than his screen sister, almost double her age but still dominated by her character.

The inevitable question is, 'What are they doing in some western town?' The inevitable answer is more of the usual. 'Another wonderful storm!' cries Dr Maria Frankenstein as we first meet her, for that's what the deserts of the American southwest have in common with the old gothic tales of old Europe: electrical storms. Other than the location, the Frankensteins look the part. They have white lab coats and an anatomic chart on the wall. They have a laboratory full of scientific gadgets that spark and light up. They have a young man strapped to a table with a steel helmet on his head painted in the colours of the Jamaican flag. For this, there is no explanation. I was waiting for the film to become Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and Her Sidekick, Bob Marley, but it never manifested, mon. Maria is following in the footsteps of her grandfather (we discover that her father was just a weakling) in trying to resuscitate brains and animate corpses.

Unfortunately she's not too good at it. Francisco Lopez promptly proves to be yet another failure by rudely dying on her table, though we see what Maria doesn't and realise that he dies because Rudolph deliberately substitutes poison from a bottle with a huge skull and crossbones on it for the digitalis that his sister needed to save his life. He obviously wasn't kidding when he said he really wants to go back to Vienna. Maybe a little child murder will help make his dreams come true. Maria is too busy to notice though, so she thrusts her fist into her palm and goes back to the encyclopaedia, I mean to grandfather's notes. 'What a fool I've been!' she cries. She's made fundamental errors with the duothermic impulsator, the fool, by only attaching it to the corpse at hand, rather than the brain of a living body too. Bizarrely she can turn to her well bookmarked 'Precisely What You're Doing Wrong' chapter to find out precisely what she's doing wrong.

Rudolph may have known all along because he points out that it might kill the living brain, but that's just a cue for Maria to glow insanely. She's magnanimous about it: 'That's a chance I am willing to take,' she cries. She needs a powerful giant not a child, then she's bound to succeed. 'But what good will it be to succeed?' cues Rudolph. 'Imagine!' she replies. 'We'd have someone to do our bidding who can't be put to death. Just as we have given it life, only we can take its life away.' In other words, she's an even crazier loon than the rest of her family and we can't help but wonder how these Frankensteins keep surviving long enough to breed and who they keep finding to help. Maybe Rudolph is really the same age as his sister but inbreeding took its toll. Maybe he doesn't have teeth and that explains why he has so much trouble saying simple things like 'three children'. That's how many have died thus far from the next door village.

Francisco Lopez makes four, but he's special because he has an annoying sister who can happily remain annoying throughout the film as its other leading lady. It's because of her that the Lopez family is the last one left in the village, getting drunk on orange juice while they wait for Juanita to return from the house. She's played by Estelita Rodriguez, credited as usual simply as Estelita and who may just be the biggest star of the film, given that she came to it from the classic John Ford western Rio Bravo. Star or not, she's still annoying. She's the stereotypical spitfire senorita with her bright red shirt and bright blue dress, full of piss and vinegar and lathered with far too much make up. She's at the house to ask questions about Francisco, who is apparently suffering from a contagious disease, the very one that apparently caused the death of the previous three children and which apparently required them to be buried at night with nobody around.

Perhaps she was happy to play stereotypical Mexicans because she wasn't one: she was born in Cuba, at least a decade before the year of birth listed on her tombstone. If she was only 35 when she made this film, she'd been doing a lot of hard living, though that may also explain why she died before it could be released, officially of influenza but more probably of something a little more suspicious. She was far from the only person to end her career here, this film being something of a jinx for the cast and crew. Beyond being the last film for William Beaudine and Estelita, Narda Onyx never acted again, going on to write a biography of Johnny Weissmuller instead. Stephen Geray had only a single further credit, a minor one in 1966 as Man with Fish in The Swinger. Cal Bolder switched to TV and retired a couple of years later. Of the main stars, only John Lupton and Jim Davis went on to long careers.

Lupton, Bolder and Davis belong to the other half of this film, and the two halves haven't met thus far. Lupton is the suitably black clad and moustachioed Jesse James, who has mysteriously survived the Northridge raid but has found himself on the run ever since. Bolder plays his one remaining sidekick, a musclebound but apparently mildly retarded character called Hank Tracy. The pair have fallen as low as to have Hank boxing in impromptu prizefights in each town they find themselves in just to put food on the table, girlie ones too if this one is anything to go by, with a Tracy on one side, a Stacy on the other, and a Jesse collecting the bet money after the fact. At least One Shot Beaudine manages to sneak some interesting shots in, such as the one where Stacy punches Tracy into a horse so that its rider falls off. Are we clutching at straws so much that such a setup is a highlight? You betcha.

Jesse James is in town to meet up with the Wild Bunch, which has been similarly depleted down from a dozen to three because Circle Productions couldn't afford a large cast. Butch Curry is their leader and all he has left to lead is his brother Lonny and Pete Ketchum, yet they're still at each other's throats. Butch wants to pull a daring heist, to capture $100,000 of bank money from a stagecoach in a pass outside of Bisbee, but he doesn't think three members of the Wild Bunch is enough to take this much money from the one man who will apparently be on the stage with it, so calls in a notorious outlaw with a price on his head. That's a phrase that's continually used throughout the movie, by the way, like it's his actual name. Jesse James, Notorious Outlaw With a Price on His Head. Maybe he went native and the local tribe were feeling verbose. Lonny turns traitor when he can't get a third of the take and runs to Marshal MacPhee, played by J R Ewing's father, the reliable Jim Davis.

Bizarrely, Rayford Barnes, who plays Lonny and inadvertently causes the entire Wild Bunch to be shot dead by the law, would follow this role up with one in The Wild Bunch, the renowned one directed by Sam Peckinpah, albeit not in a major role. I wonder if Peckinpah was exhibiting a subtle sense of humour in the casting choice. Six years earlier Barnes had also appeared in a movie called Young Jesse James, but then everyone working in Hollywood seemed to make at least one Jesse James picture during their career. The stagecoach heist doesn't go well, but Jesse and Hank get away, with a bullet in Hank's shoulder. The sheer acting inability of this man is amazing to behold. I'm certainly no actor but every now and again I see a performance that I could outdo and Cal Bolder's here is one. I have more charisma in my sleep. Then again Bolder wasn't hired for his acting chops, he was hired because even his muscles have muscles.

He was discovered while working as a California Highway Patrolman under his real name of Earl G Craver, the agent impressed by his physique. He was 6' 4" tall, 260 pounds, with a 52" chest and a 32" waist. He isn't as dumb as he appears in this film, as he wrote a couple of novels after retiring from acting. Here he's as dumb as a post and he's destined to be Maria Frankenstein's new Igor, the giant she's been craving. Yes the two sides of this story do connect in the end, as Juanita bizarrely recommends the Frankensteins as the best hope of saving Hank's life. Quite why she would do this, I really don't know. 'Since they came here there has been nothing but death and sorrow,' she spits. They've murdered her brother and emptied her town. Yet a day or two on the road, one meeting with Jesse James, who saves her from being kidnapped by a wild Injun, and she takes them both to the painted backdrop. 'There they are', she says.

Fortunately from now on we get to see more Maria than we do Juanita. The senorita is the sort of girl who torments her beau into carrying her home on his shoulder and ravish her into shutting up, bitching all the way. Maria is a challenge. Sure, she'll kill you while you're sleeping and hook you up to a Jamaican mind transferrence device but at least she's gloriously old school in her antics. 'Wonderful,' she repeats as she salivates over her new Igor in his sickbed. We're entirely with her when she gets all uppity about being denied by Jesse James, Notorious Outlaw With a Price on His Head. 'To think that this outlaw with a price on his head refuse me for that girl,' she spits, forgetting her command of the English language and sounding more and more like Bela Lugosi as the film runs on. By the time Hank's head is shaved and the Frankensteins plot above his sleeping body, he obviously has his jaws clamped together in an attempt not to laugh.

It's here that the pulp horror antics reach their peak and we almost forget entirely about the western component. John Lupton is entirely too subdued for us to pay attention and he doesn't warrant any of the magnetism he seems to command over every lady in the film. Juanita and Maria have the choice of boring old Jesse James and young dumb hunk Hank Tracy, hardly a difficult choice for any red blooded young lady, yet both pick the notorious outlaw. Perhaps even in the nineteenth century, the ladies can't resist the draw of a bad boy celebrity. It's the only explanation I can come up with. I'm sure you can choreograph the rest of the film yourselves given that it hardly breaks new ground, except through the bizarre introduction of a brain that pulses like a heart. The dialogue descends to the level of 'Our village is free once more, thanks to you,' but should have been, 'I've just lost the last eighty some minutes of my life, thanks to you.'

I remember enjoying this movie years ago, though despising its partner in crime, Billy the Kid Meets Dracula. Revisiting it again now I can't imagine why. It's utterly unworthy of the memories I have of it, being capably shot but otherwise utterly ludicrous. Maybe it plays better on a tiny screen. Maybe it plays better if you're half asleep. Maybe it plays better if you've just watched something even worse right before it. Really it only has one thing going for it and that's the very concept of setting a gothic horror movie in the old west, not really a new idea but one that had never been used with such blatancy before. The weird western has grown in popularity over the last half century, mostly due to the work of Joe R Lansdale, and it's surely only a matter of time before he or another writer brings a great weird western script to life on the big screen in the same sort of crossover style that Bubba Ho-Tep represented. All we can know is that it isn't this.

Movie Review: A Horrible Way to Die (2011)

The psycho-thriller has been really pretty hit and miss these days. There are some solid titles out there such as Bereavement and Simon Rumley's excellent Red White and Blue. Unfortunately, for every Red White and Blue you get a much more of the routine camcorder tripe. Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barret attempt to be among the latter with the downbeat horror feature, A Horrible Way to Die.

Following a suitably spine-chilling opening sequence, A Horrible Way to Die goes on to introduce the main characters while their participating in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. The lead character, Sarah (Amy Seimetz) is a broken-down and scarred addict, looking for answers that don't come at the bottom of a bottle of whiskey. She meets a Kevin (Joe Swanberg) at one of her meetings and soon become fast friends.

Movie Review: Babysitter Wanted (Blu-Ray)

I have to say, I didn’t expect too much from Babysitter Wanted. The 2010 effort directed by the team of Jonas Barnes and Michael Manasseri (from Barnes’ script), at first glance, looked to be a standard babysit and slash fest. What the film is, exactly, is a nice mesh of slasher and gothic devil-inspired horror with a healthy dose of genre convention humor. I enjoyed Babysitter Wanted quite a bit. It was moody, atmospheric and playful using the staples of the babysitter-being-stalked film to its full advantage. Playing like a throwback to the late seventies, the film starts slowly and builds toward an intriguing little mystery until the big plot twist, which was a nice change of pace.

BUY BABYSITTER WANTED BLU-RAY

Now, when I say slowly, most of you claiming to have ADHD will say, “Nope, not for me.” Good. You don’t deserve to watch this, then. What I mean by slowly is something that is sorely lacking in the modern horror film… character development. Our protagonist is fully fleshed out with motivations, aspirations and even some cultural conflicts. Wow, what a new concept, a character we care about!

Angie (Sarah Thompson) goes away to college in order to learn art history. Angie is a devout Catholic and being at school has her paranoid and jumpy from the onset. In need of a job, Angie answers a babysitter-wanted ad and finds herself in the country with the friendly Stanton couple (Kristen Dalton and Bruce Thomas pulling off a perfect evil Thirtysomething routine).

Movie Review: Black Roses (1988)

The combination of rock 'n' roll and metal in horror films has always been a grand mix for genre fans. Most horror fans seem to have a lean towards the hard rock - I know I do. Rock 'N' Roll Nightmare director John Fasano obviously knew this when he directed that raucous Jon Mikl-Thor vehicle. Synapse originally released Rock 'N Roll Nightmare on DVD, so why not release his second hard rock horror film, Black Roses. No Thor here, but we do get a whole heap of rubber monsters, music and ridiculousness to fill 90 minutes.

Buy Black Roses on DVD

The youth in the sleepy little town of Mill Basin love their metal. The popular band "Black Roses" and their mysterious frontman, Damien (Sal Viviano) are coming to town to share their own brand of rock and demonic possession. The Black Rose's music and live-shows have so much power over the kids that they start killing their parents. It's all up to a concerned teacher, Mr. Moorhouse (John Martin) to knock the curse out of the students that the dastardly Damien put upon them.

Movie Review: Killer Yacht Party (2011, Troma)

Troma has always been known for bringing bizarre horror to the masses. Be it the flagship Toxic Avenger or a musical about a famous cannibal, they always seem to bring some humor to the table in and amongst the gore. Well, almost always.

Buy Killer Yacht Party on DVD or Watch It Instantly

 We start at a night club, which is a nice way for us to see who our victims are going to be. They're those douchey club kids that you just can't stand. That's completely fine with me. The one exception is a mousey girl who really isn't comfortable with the scene or the people in it, but her best friend convinces her to get out and live a little.

Wanna Date?? How about for November 8th when Synapse Films releases "Frankenhooker" to Blu-Ray?

“If you only see one movie this year, it should be FRANKENHOOKER.” - Bill Murray (CADDYSHACK, GHOSTBUSTERS, STRIPES)


From Frank Henenlotter, the creator of the BASKET CASE trilogy and BRAIN DAMAGE, comes FRANKENHOOKER, a gory horror-comedy twist on the Frankenstein legend.

Buy Frankenhooker on Blu-ray

When Jeffrey Franken’s fiancée is chopped to pieces by the blades of a remote-controlled lawnmower, he uses his dubious medical knowledge to try to bring her back to life. He reassembles his beloved Elizabeth using the body parts of New York City’s finest prostitutes, and resurrects her during a heavy lightning storm. Unfortunately for Jeffrey, his dear Elizabeth’s brain is scrambled and she runs amok on 42^nd Street, turning tricks and bringing high-voltage death to her customers!

Synapse Films is proud to present the uncut version of FRANKENHOOKER in an all-new 2K high-definition transfer created from original vault materials and digitally re-mastered 5.1 surround sound!

Features

• AUDIO COMMENTARY with Director Frank Henenlotter and Make-Up Effects Designer Gabe Bartalos
• A SALAD THAT WAS ONCE NAMED ELIZABETH - Patty Mullen Featurette
• A STITCH IN TIME: THE MAKE-UP EFFECTS OF FRANKENHOOKER - Featurette
• TURNING TRICKS: JENNIFER DELORA REMEMBERS FRANKENHOOKER - Featurette
• ORIGINAL THEATRICAL TRAILER
• REVERSIBLE/ALTERNATE COVER ARTWORK

Run Time: 85 minutes
Release Date: November 8, 2011
Language: English (DTS-HD MA English 5.1 Surround / DTS-HD MA English 2.0 Stere0)
Aspect Ratio: High-Definition 1080p Widescreen (1:78:1)
Format: Blu-ray
Price: $24.95



Synapse Films

New Videos for the upcoming Zombie Blu-ray Release!

I'm sure mouths are watering for the upcoming Ultimate Edition Blu-ray of Lucio Fulci's cult classic Zombie. To tide us over until the release date, October 25, 2011, Blue Underground shared some videos including a new trailer for the theatrical re-release and a video about the restoration of the film.

In other good news, the Ultimate Edition will include a brand-new Introduction and Interview with avowed Zombie fan Guillermo del Toro! Check out the videos below, and pre-order your copy on Amazon!

Movie Review: Herschell Gordon Lewis:The Godfather of Gore (2011)

Over the course of film history few directors can really lay claim that they created something that would later become a phenomenon in movies. Herschell Gordon Lewis is one of those "few" that can. Herschell Gordon Lewis’ unique creation became known as the “gore” film. Although some filmmakersdid use gore for shock value, much like how Dwain Esper did it in Maniac backin the 1930's. No one quite went to the outrageous extremes that Lewis went with his Blood Trilogy (Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs and Color Me Blood Red).Lewis was a renaissance man in a sense and continues this path into his early 80’s by still making movies and doing direct marketing.

Buy The Godfather of Gore on DVD

Cinematic Hell: White Pongo (1945)

by Hal Astell

Director: Sam Newfield

Stars: Richard Fraser and Maris Wrixon

Buy White Pongo on DVD

Even though we're about to visit West Africa, the opening music by an uncredited Leo Erdody feels rather Arabian. By the time we get through the introduction that tells about 'vast areas of dense forests and swampland as yet unseen by white men' and 'virgin territory penetrated only by the Congo river', we half expect to see a giant cobra being summoned out of a basket, but no, it's just a bunch of half naked savages leaping around a tiny campfire. What makes it special isn't the natives, or even the fact that the most recognisable name in this debacle, Guy Kibbee's brother Milton, is strung up by his wrists presumably waiting to be sacrificed. It's that there's some lunatic leaping around in a white gorilla suit pretending to be the missing link. He's actually Ray Corrigan, who worked inside most of the ape suits Hollywood put into movies, at least when he wasn't playing Tucson Smith or Crash Corrigan in western series.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #13 featuring Tim Ritter

Jeff Dolniak and Kevin Moyers welcome cult horror filmmaker Tim Ritter to the show. They discuss his beginnings, his friendship with Joel Wynkoop, and the changes technology has forced on the entertainment industry.

The Battle Beyond the Stars winner is announced as well as the rules for the DeadGirl contest.

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

From the Show: Find Tim Ritter, Battle Beyond the Stars and DeadGirl at Amazon.com

South of Heaven comes to DVD October 11th from Synapse Films!

NOBODY IS HIS NAME. REVENGE IS HIS GAME!

Buy  South Of Heaven on DVD

When Roy Coop finished his stint in the Navy, he only had two things on his mind: seeing his brother Dale, and writing the great American novel. What he gets, however, is the homecoming from Hell! A pair of violent vaudevillians (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE’s Jon Gries, and Thomas Jay Ryan) mistake Roy for his brother, looking to collect on a debt he didn’t know he owed. Eight fingers later, Roy is burnt to a crisp, forged by fire into a new man. Roy is dead. Nobody is born.

Now it’s Nobody’s turn to have his wicked revenge, and to save his brother before it’s too late. Wrapped in bandages and ready for blood, Nobody is determined to kill those that get in his way, even the murdering masochist named Mad Dog Mantee (Shea Whigham, MACHETE and HBO’s BOARDWALK EMPIRE). Dodging bullets and dodging dames, Nobody meets the nasty ne’er-do-wells Lily (Diora Baird, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING) and Veronica (Elina Lowensohn, SCHINDLER’S LIST). In this wonderful neo-film-noir, violence and vengeance are sure to meet in a little town they call… South of Heaven.

Features

• THREE AUDIO COMMENTARY TRACKS! Featuring Director J.L. Vara, Star Shea Whigham and other cast/crew. Critic Commentary includes Todd Brown (twitchfilm.com), Scott Weinberg (fearnet.com) and Devin Faraci (badassdigest.com)
• THREE SHORT FILMS by Director J.L. Vara, Including: MISERABLE ORPHAN, AZOLE DKMUNTCH and A BOY AND HIS FETUS

Director: J.L. Vara
Starring: Shea Whigham, Diora Baird, Elina Löwensohn
Run Time: 97 minutes
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Language: English (5.1 Surround)
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic 1.78:1
Format: DVD
Price: $19.95

The Film Vault Podcast returns September 16th

If you are a podcast fan, and you like Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast!, then I think you might like The Film Vault. Bryan Bishop, best known as Bald Bryan on The Adam Carolla Show, and Anderson Cowan, resident sound man on Loveline, get together weekly to give their top five lists in random film categories.

The show had a great run over on Adam Carolla's ACE Broadcasting Network, and now they're venturing out on their own. I've been a fan for quite awhile now, and I recommend it. I hope to see a return by Miss Movies, who did a regular segment called Red Light / Green Light, in which the boys discuss real upcoming film projects.

To listen or subscribe to the show, head over to http://tfvpodcast.wordpress.com/

TV on Blu-Ray Review: Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

It's never been really easy to find too many programs on TV and cable that both my wife and I could watch together. As much as I’d like to watch Desperate Housewives, Wipe-Out and the ample amount of reality TV garbage we tended to feed ourselves on a weekly basis, there was really nothing on that we both could watch that garnered even a modicum of excitement. That is until we discovered STARZ Entertainment's Spartacus: Blood and Sand almost two years ago. The team of Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and creator Stephen S. Deknight exposed unsuspecting viewers to what may be the most graphically violent, sexually explicit and most importantly, exciting series of all time. Unfortunately, Spartacus himself, Andy Whitfield, fell ill with a case of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma; any chance of him reprising his role as Spartacus in the near future was low.

Buy Spartacus: Gods of the Arena [Blu-ray] or DVD

Yoko Oh No!

by David Hayes

It really was a nice apartment. Seriously. Chicago rehabs are notoriously big, and this was no exception. Two large family rooms, eat-in kitchen, large bay windows… all was right with the world for the first month. And then THEY came.


Buy Walking on Thin Ice on CD


A month after our move, the apartment below us filled. Two very nice guys, roommates. A little shy, but my wife and I heard one of them mumble something about a band they were in. We smiled, envisioning an entire apartment building filled with artists… like a collective. We saw a day where I would shoot a film and walk across the hall to have it scored, or go downstairs and have a brilliant tenant in a studio apartment design a wonderful poster. My wife and I smiled to each other and started the trek upstairs. From the apartment below, and presumably our new neighbors, the Beatles' White Album began to play and filled the hallway with John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Movie Review: Torso (Blu-ray, 1973)

Since their inception in early 2000, Blue Underground has been waving the Giallo flag by releasing many quality Italian films - like the recent excellent 1080p upgrades of Dario Argento’s Deep Red and Cat O’ Nine Tails. They continue their Blu-Ray roll with Sergio Martino’s classic Torso in both its uncensored English version(90 minutes) and Martino’s full-length “Director’s Cut” (93 minutes) under the title I Corpi Presentano Tracce Di Violenza Carnale.

Buy Torso [Blu-ray] or DVD

Both versions of the feature kick off with an introduction by Torso superfan Eli Roth. Love him or hate him, Roth does a nice job as he briefly points out some the aspects that made Torso such influence on his films. There’s an option here to either watch the intro or go straight to the feature. As the opening credits roll you see a great deal of style in what is a very erotic opening sequence in which three lovely women are on display “playing” around in the buff.

Cinematic Hell: Child Bride (1938)

by Hal Astell

Director: Harry J. Revier

Stars: Shirley Mills and Bob Bollinger

Buy Child Bride on DVD

I knew that Manos: The Hands of Fate had been referenced by many people in the know as the real worst film of all time, including the writers of Mystery Science Theater 3000 who had effectively rescued it from cinematic oblivion. However when researching that film I found tantalising snippets about another movie that they declined to screen on their show, one that they once threw out in answer to a convention Q&A question as to whether they had seen anything worse. That movie was 1938's Child Bride, so naturally I had to add it to my Cinematic Hell viewing list. It was a US government funded movie intended to be shown as an educational piece in the Ozarks and other areas of the American deep south where it was seen as acceptable for grown men to marry young girls. And by young, I don't mean seventeen. This is a film that's in the public domain, available on cheap box sets everywhere but is still categorised at Wikipedia under 'films with a pedophile theme'. Be warned.

Movie Review: Whore Angels

As an avid admirer of Japanese erotica it's always nice to discover movies I had no idea existed. The company Pink Eiga is fairly new company that has made a point in releasing some of the craziest and sexiest films to come out of Asia in recent memory. With titles like The Japanese Wife Next Door, Groper Train and the film I'm reviewing today, Mototsugu Watanabe’s outrageous Pink film Whore Angels. Do they live up to their genius titles?

Buy Whore Angels on DVD

Whore Angels is a story about two young Japanese gals who tend to walk on the wrong side of the track by making their wages in the world's oldest profession, prostitution. Pleasuring lonely men is something they do remarkably well at the "Hot Lips" brothel. Joshu, is a sexy, energetic cowgirl prostitute who has a talent for giving hand-jobs that cause geysers of man-goo to spurt through the air.

Sinister Visions, New Gore Anthology In Production!

The first teaser stills for upcoming horror anthology SINISTER VISIONS have been revealed. The stills come from the two segments "Mother Knows Best", written by Garry Charles and directed by Kim Sønderholm and "My Undead Girlfriend" written by Henric Brandt, Rasmus Tirzitis and Stefan Bommelin while directed by Henric Brandt.

The full anthology is expected to hit the market in early 2012 and will contain a total of 5, possibly 6, horror stories. A good portion of dark humor will be present as well.

The people behind SINISTER VISIONS are giving the public a chance to support and become apart of the anthology via IndieGoGo, read more about it here: http://www.indiegogo.com/Sinister-Visions

SINISTER VISIONS IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1808474/

The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence Trailer

I know there are plenty of folks out there who thought the original Human Centipede was disgusting or stupid, but I don't think they saw the movie for what it really was. Take the character of Dr. Heiter by himself, and you have some great dark comedy. Those who got it, loved it, and I am a member of that flock.

Buy The Human Centipede (Unrated Director's Cut) [Blu-ray] or DVD


The sequel is something that many of us have been waiting for, and we've been promised a twelve part centipede this time around. The story is about Martin, a man who becomes obsessed with the original movie. He decides to create his own centipede, and I'm sure the results will be very interesting. While the first film boasted its medical accuracy, the sequel claims the opposite. The trailer follows. It looks like we don't have to wait very long for the film.