Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #37 - We Love the '80s

As Jeff takes a much needed week off, Dave and Kevin decide to dig into the decade that truly molded them: the 1980s.

Dave gets into a bunch of classic horror that includes Slumber Party Massacre, Nightmares aka Stage Fright and From a Whisper to a Scream aka The Offspring.

Kevin talks about the recent documentary about obsessed Tiffany fans, I Think We're Alone Now. He also checks a must see off his list with Stripes and he and Dave talk the disaster that is Overboard.

They also talk about a great sketch showing Hanna Barbera heroes as The Justice League.

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Interview: Gary Friedrich, creator of Ghost Rider

Kevin Moyers at Wizard World Chicago 2011 with the great Gary Friedrich

Back in August of 2011, I was able to interview Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich at Wizard World Chicago. He was very gracious and one hell of a nice guy. We filmed it, but unfortunately, the audio is terrible due to the noise coming from the crowd around a two story t-shirt booth nearby. In light of the recent situation with Mr. Friedrich and Disney/Marvel, I figured I should go back and let you hear from the man himself. I did my best to transcribe what we filmed, and this is what I could manage. I hope you enjoy this short little interview.

The comic book creator community is stepping up behind Gary Friedrich, and leading that charge is Steve Niles. If you’d like to assist Mr. Friedrich in his plight, or you’d like to know more about the situation, head over to http://www.steveniles.com/gary.html.

Kevin Moyers: This was my favorite comic growing up. This was the only comic book I ever really read. Now, what gave you the idea for Ghost Rider?

Gary Friedrich: When I was a kid, I was reading several different comics. I went to the movies and saw The Wild Ones with Marlon Brando. That was the first motorcycle gang movie ever, and I immediately thought up the idea of a superhero on a motorcycle.

Cinematic Hell: Zaat (1975)

Director: Don Barton
Stars: Marshall Grauer, Wade Popwell, Paul Galloway, Gerald Cruse, Sanna Ringhaver, Dave Dickerson, Archie Valliere and Nancy Lien

I'm fast coming to the conclusion that my favourite bad movies are the ones that provide the sole entry on the filmographies of almost everyone involved. Career filmmakers, especially low budget ones, often have distinct voices discernible across their entire output, but a need to be at least successful enough to finance their next picture has a tendency to adulterate their personal vision. It's usually an artist's first feature that carries the best mark of who they are and what they have to say and it can be fascinating to see the work of those who never went any further. Don Barton and his Florida creature feature, Zaat, are a great example. Barton was an industry professional, whose Barton Films produced documentaries, commercials and training films. Like most professionals, he eventually succumbed to the urge to try a feature but, while it had a good initial run in the southwest, it never made money and he never made another.

Movie Review: Sword of Desperation (2010)

Directed by Hideyuki Hirayama

Starring Etsushi Toyokawa, Chizuru Ikewaki and Koji Kikkawa

A local lord of a small clan is bewitched by the charms of his first mistress, Renko, and allows her to exert her will over the governing body of the clan. Her cruelty and selfishness begins to cause financial strain on the lord and the local peasants are on the verge of rioting. After an afternoon dance show at the lords palace, Sanzaemon, (Etsushi Toyokawa) a low-level samurai employed by the lord decides it is his duty to assassinate the lords concubine for the good of the clan. He approaches her upon her leaving and plunges a sword into her chest and then surrenders himself, leaving his fate to the mercy of his lord. Certain he will be beheaded for this deed, he is shocked to find the lord has decided his punishment will be only a year of house arrest and a reduction of his pension.

Buy Sword of Desperation on DVD

Blue Underground has A Bullet for the General on May 22

At the height of the Mexican revolution, a mysterious young American (Lou Castel of FIST IN HIS POCKET) joins a gang of marauders led by El Chucho (Gian Maria Volonté of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) on a series of savage raids to steal guns for a powerful rebel general. But when the Gringo brings his own cold-blooded ideals to the bandits, El Chucho discovers that the real weapons of war belong to no army. In a land ravaged by poverty and violence, can true freedom be bought with a single bullet?

Klaus Kinski (FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) and Martine Beswick (THUNDERBALL) co-star in this legendary western directed by Damiano Damiani (AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION) from a powerful screenplay co-written by Oscar®-nominee Franco Solinas (THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, THE BIG GUNDOWN). Also known as QUIÉN SABE?, this thrilling epic features some of the most surprising performances, radical politics and shocking violence of any ‘Spaghetti Western’ ever made.  Freshly transferred in handsome High Definition, A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL is now presented here in both its U.S. and International Versions for the first time ever!

Buy A Bullet for the General on Blu-ray and DVD

Vicious Circle Aims to ‘Wound’ Audiences wi th a Gore-Filled Supernatural Tale of Revenge

February 1, 2012 - Philadelphia, PA — Breaking Glass Pictures has announced the March 6 DVD release of the carnage-packed horror film Wound (SRP 24.99). Director David Blyth takes audiences down a twisted rabbit hole where unimaginable horrors become reality.  Wound hits hard and shows that the only way to survive is to Beware the Beast!


Legendary director Ken Russell (Oscar-winning Women in Love, The Devils, The Who’s Tommy, Altered States) hailed Wound as a “romantically charged Gothic psycho-sexual horror tale.”  He championed the film as a “masterpiece,” pointing out the “gorgeous images and repulsive dream-surgery into the recesses of female consciousness.”

Troma Upcoming Releases: Kill, Purge and Where Evil Lives

Greetings from Tromaville! Cyperpunk, classic horror stories and brutal games with deadly consequences are featured in three new Troma Team Video releases coming up in the next few months: Kill, Purge and Where Evil Lives.

Releasing in May is David King's smash "Ozploitation" film Purge. A must-see for lovers of cyberpunk, Purge takes place in a utilitarian, genetically engineered parallel universe. Layla, a BDSM mistress, just wants to fit in and be happy, but her nemesis won't let her. Check out http://www.purgefilm.com.au/ to find out more.

In Kill, six strangers, winners of a dream vacation contest, awake to find themselves terrorized by insane Tiki-men in masks and taunted by their deranged captors. It soon becomes clear than only one thing will save them: kill or be killed! Directed by Chad Archivald and Philip Carrer, get Kill on DVD in April!

Where Evil Lives, a buried treasure from 1991 directed by Stephen A. Maier, Kevin G. Nunan & Richard L. Fox Jr, consists of three 30-minute horror stories as told by Jack Devlin (Claude Akins). The stories feature a mass murderer, a vampire, and a modern day witch who helps the police stop a demented doctor. Where Evil Lives will be available in May.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #36 - Spirits of Vengeance

Kevin and Dave start the show with a discussion about the Marvel/Disney lawsuit situation with Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich.

In this week's Blue Cheese segment, sponsored by Adam and Eve, Jeff reviews Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre.

The boys also discuss Bloody Birthday, Nude Nuns with Big Guns, the Bernie Mac documentary I Ain't Scared of You, Comedy Central's Workaholics and the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

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: I Ain't Scared of You: A Tribute to Bernie Mac (2012)

I am a huge stand-up comedy fan. Hell, I did it for years. 2008 was a tough year for comedy fans. First, we lost George Carlin, arguably the most prolific stand-up in history. Less than two months later, we lost Bernie Mac at the young age of fifty. Not only did we lose a great stand-up, but a great comedic actor. He was the shining light in a few films that would be otherwise unwatchable, and he stood out in great ensemble films such as Life or Ocean's Eleven. With some great stories and insight from family and friends, we get a great look at a great comedian in this touching documentary.

Buy I Ain't Scared of You: A Tribute to Bernie Mac on DVD

Wanna Be A Part Of Puppet Master X: Axis Rising??

February 10, 2012, Los Angeles, CA – Since the series’ inception in 1989, the "Puppet Master" films have been produced by Charles Band. Now, for the very first time in Full Moon Features’ most enduring franchise, Band will take the director’s seat himself with "Puppet Master X: Axis Rising." With Band finally at the helm, the film is expected to be the most anticipated chapter yet in the Puppet Master saga. But he isn’t the only one taking a more active role this time.

Movie Review: Undocumented (2011)

IFC Midnight has shown some wonderful consistency in releasing quality, provocative and even topical horror films over the past few years. For instance, we've sang praises for their release of Simon Rumley's Red, White and Blue numerous times on the site. A little bit of originality goes a long way, even for us genre junkies. Chris Peckover's Undocumented is on that same level, and boy does it pack punch that makes it easily the most fearless little film I've had the pleasure of seeing in a while.

Buy Undocumented on DVD

Movie Review: Spiderhole (2010)

Directed by Daniel Simpson

Starring Amy Noble, Emma Griffiths Malin and George Maguire

Four young art students embark on a mission to find an empty house in London, with the idea of living as squatters, free from the hassles of paying rent and the freedom of partying at their leisure. They soon come across a seemingly abandoned building, cut the lock and despite the fact that the interior is a complete shit hole they decide this is the place to make home. After a night of partying they awaken to find that every entrance into and out of the building has been sealed shut, doors welded and windows barred, with no way out and no way to signal for help. Panic soon overtakes them as they discover they are being toyed with by some type of evil presence. One by one they are gassed and dragged off to some type of operating room by a deranged doctor who likes to pluck out eyeballs and generally make life miserable for his victims. As the movie nears its end we get the obligatory plot twist when our protagonist Molly (played by Amy Noble) finds an old plastic purse containing a key and a girls I.D. She assumes this belonged to a previous victim and uses the key to escape only to find it leads her straight into the killers home. As she is being chased by the decrepit old killer she eventually winds up in a dead-end room where she comes face to face with the owner of the purse and we are let to believe she is eaten by the girl.

Buy Spiderhole on DVD

Movie Review: Outrage: Way of the Yakuza (2011)

Takeshi Kitano’s illustrious film career has seen many notable contributions to Japanese cinema, both as actor and director. Many folks in the states or outside of Japan were not introduced to the man’s talents until the late 90's and early 2000's until films like Boiling Point, Fireworks, Brother and Kinji Fukusaku’s masterpiece Battle Royale bursted onto the scene. Magnet has just recently released the Yakuza thriller Outrage: Way of the Yakuza and it seems very certain that even in 2012 the 65 year-old actor hasn’t lost a “Beat”.

Buy Outrage: Way of the Yakuza on Blu-ray or DVD

Movie Review: Gurozuka (2005)

Directed by Yoichi Nishiyama

Starring Nozomi Ando, Yukari Fukui and Yuko Ito

The story revolves around a group of Japanese high school girls who have formed a film club. They head to a remote house deep in the woods to work on a film project. While driving to the house in the woods the girls are discussing a rumor that 2 other girls from the same club had been murdered or ended up in an asylum after visiting the same house years before. One of the girls, Yoko, who was a member at the time, denies the rumors. However, once at the house, one of the girls finds a video tape that appears to show a girl being murdered by someone in a traditional Noh mask and its not long before they realize that the rumors of the murder were based in fact. Their food is mysteriously stolen, girls begin to disappear, some of them randomly show back up out of nowhere but some are found dead. When we get to the end of the movie, the person in the Noh mask is revealed and this movie is mercifully over.

Buy Gurozuka on DVD

Movie Review: Head Case (2007)

Directed by Anthony Spadaccini

Starring Paul McCloskey, Barbara Lessin and Brinke Stevens.

Shortly before viewing this movie I took a moment to admire all of the accolades and cool quotes which adorned the DVD case......”THE MOST DISTURBING FILM IN A DECADE”.........”TERRIFYING ON A LEVEL MOST INDIE HORROR FLICKS COULD ONLY DREAM OF ACHIEVING”........”VERY EFFECTIVE AND STRONG, HARDCORE HORROR FLICK” Sounds mouth-watering doesn't it? Had I had the pleasure of adding my own quote it would of gone something like this, “WATCHING HEAD CASE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF EATING CAT SHIT WITH NO SALT OR KETCHUP” There, now that that's out of the way, let's dig into the review, shall we?

Buy Head Case on DVD

Movie Review: Heathers (1988, Blu-ray)

There is a small shelf of movies on DVD and Blu-Ray in my home that sit separately from the rest of them. Admittedly, I have been shrinking my collection of films recently and keeping those that I find are essential or that I cannot get easily from a number of streaming sources… but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the small shelf set aside from the rest, as I’ve said, that holds an eclectic mix of odd little films, genre classics and hard to find ghoulishness. I call that shelf the “How to Make a Me” shelf and those are the films I plan on showing my young niece as her interest and age allow. We’ve watched Dark Night of the Scarecrow and Night of the Living Dead already (not to mention Star Wars… the real one) and we’ll watch the rest eventually. Every title on that shelf helped to shape me into the filmmaker/writer/artist/whatever I am today. They were instrumental in shaping my artistic worldview. Adding to the aforementioned titles, the small (but glorious) group includes Xtro, Bloodsucking Freaks, The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism and many more. Thanks to Image Entertainment, add Heathers to that list. The dark comedy of the 1980s, Heathers reaffirmed for me that the things I found funny were weird… but I wasn’t alone. The anti-Hughes movement began, in all reality, with Heathers and anarchists and dark comedic professionals, like myself, haven’t looked back.

Buy Heathers on Blu-ray

Eats & Drinks Review: Jack in the Box Bacon Shake

When I saw this little item in the Jack in the Box feed on Facebook, I initially thought someone was messing around. I figured there was no way that a popular fast food chain would do this. I wouldn't be surprised to find mom and pop places trying this out, but we ended up seeing this go mainstream.

I am an enormous fan of bacon. I've heard of  vanilla ice cream with bacon bits, and I've always been intrigued by the idea. A bacon shake is a natural progression for that. Within hours of my discovery, I had a large bacon milkshake in my posession.

At first sip, I could taste the interesting vanilla and bacon flavor mix. It was good. Sweet and salty go together very well. As I drank more, I noticed something. There were no bits of bacon. When you see a strip of bacon in the ad, you expect bits. I wanted that to nibble on while I drank. You get fruit chunks in a fruit milkshake, so why not bacon bits?

Overall, it's a good shake. I drank every bit of it, and I would gladly go back for more. Jack in the Box is offering the shake for a very limited time, but I guarantee that if it ends up being popular, they'll keep it on the menu for a long time.

Movie Review: The Big Bird Cage (1972)

Directed by Jack Hill
Starring Pam Grier, Anitra Ford and Sid Haig

The Big Bird Cage was the third “Women in Prison” movie produced by B-movie king Roger Corman in a short two year span during the early 70's, along with The Big Doll House and Women in Cages. Sensing the genre was becoming a bit predictable, Corman hired director Jack Hill to inject a fresh approach to this one, and by adding a heavy dose of humor and parody what he came up with is perhaps one of the best exploitation films of its time.

Buy The Big Bird Cage on DVD

Movie Review: The Dead (2011, Blu-ray)

About six months ago, I had the privilege of watching one of the best vampire films ever created, Jim Mickle's Stake Land. Stake Land was a fresh take a sub-genre that had been littered with sparkly crap that did nothing to help the vampire as a symbol of true horror. The zombie sub-genre hasn't gone unscathed either, thankfully, much like the Stake Land, the Ford brothers' have taken this repetitious rotting carcass and pumped some life with their recent film The Dead.

After crashing in the ocean, a group of soldiers float their way to a seemingly peaceful beach of the coast of Africa. This beach proves to be very hostile to the military men as a horde of slow-moving but ferocious zombies wait to nosh on their injured limbs. Lt. Brian Murphy (Rob Freeman) decides not be chow for the flesheaters and makes his way past the creatures and taking every effort to survive.

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #34 - Kids' Stuff

Jeff and Kevin are thrilled to finally have David Hayes on the show full time. They talk about Midwestern house troubles and the Star Wars blu-rays. Kevin and Jeff bring up some racism they noticed in a Disney classic. They also crap all over the Oscars.

Dave gets into iCarly, South of Heaven and Universal Monsters. Jeff shares his love for Octonauts and Undocumented. Kevin reviews the Tom Hardy biopic Bronson, 2001: A Space Odyssey and the first Comedy Central season of Futurama.

What directors would Dave and Jeff go gay for? Tune in to find out!

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

Movie Review: Dead Hooker in a Trunk (2009)

Directed by Jen & Sylvia Soska

Starring Jen & Sylvia Soska, Rikki Gagne

Two friends, Badass and Junkie, are on their way to score dope from a shady drug dealer. Along for the ride is Badass's sister, Geek and her friend Goody Two Shoes. Just as their adventure is getting into gear they discover a dead hooker in the trunk of their car. Bloody, madcap adventures ensue, as the four outwit horny police officers, a sleezy hotel manager who unwittingly fucks the dead hooker, chainsaw wielding Triads and a brutal serial killer with a baseball bat, all the while being followed by a Lemmy Kilminster look-alike cowboy pimp determined to claim the dead hooker for himself.

Buy Dead Hooker in a Trunk on DVD

"Debauchery" and "True Story Of A Woman In Jail: Sex Hell" Debut on DVD From Impulse Pictures!!

TWO NEW THRILLERS IN THE NIKKATSU EROTIC FILMS COLLECTION!

TRUE STORY OF
A WOMAN IN JAIL: SEX HELLand DEBAUCHERY

JAPANESE EROTIC DELIGHTS — WITH AN EDGE!

--> ------------------------------------------------
A Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma'am! double-whammy sexy slammer double feature from
the masterminds of Nikkatsu!
Due to their juvenile crimes, a group of fresh young girls is thrown into a horrid, squalid jail. They soon wish they were back on the outside,
as a gang of inmates subjects this “fresh meat”
to the horrors of being locked up. Mayumi,
a new inmate with a mysterious past, stands up for herself and fights back! NO ONE is going
to push her around, and she hatches an escape plan to seek revenge on the person who had
her incarcerated.

TRUE STORY OF A WOMAN IN JAIL: SEX HELL
is a sleazy, sexually graphic and surprisingly violent entry in the “women in prison” genre. The opening uniform changing, nude medical examination sessions, communal scrubbings in the bathhouse, nimble-fingered lesbians and vicious catfights are all here… and more!

In DEBAUCHERY, the sexy Ryôko Watanabe stars as Ami, a jaded housewife who pitches herself, body and soul, into the Tokyo decadence of the decade in an attempt to pep up her marriage. She secretly joins the elite “Madame Machiko Society Club” to experiment with discrete sex games and the thrill of making love to anonymous men. The sexual perversion and sick depravity she is subjected to, by her clients, is much more than she bargained for. Bondage, beads and whips are only the beginning! Can she escape this secret life she has chosen, or will it
destroy her forever? -->

Impulse Films proudly presents two historic stunners from the heyday of the violent sex film. Nikkatsu always delivers. DEBAUCHERY features an original theatrical trailer and both discs include liner notes from Japanese film scholar
Jasper Sharp.

Buy True Story of a Woman in Jail: Sex Hell and Debauchery on DVD

Movie Review: Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Directed by Ruggero Deodato

Starring Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi and Perry Pirkanen

Cannibal Holocaust is basically set up as a 2 part movie. The first part of the film centers around a New York university professor who has been hired to trek into the Amazon jungle in search of 4 documentary film makers who have gone missing after trying to capture footage of a pair of cannibal tribes hidden deep in the jungle. Along with his savvy and experienced guide and his helper they manage to find the tribes and by using their wits they are able infiltrate their way into the inner social circle of these primitives, and soon discover that the four missing film makers have met a gruesome end. While trying to figure out why the tribe would slaughter them in such a barbaric way they happen across the canisters containing all of the original crews footage. Once they secure the footage, they make their way back to civilization.

Buy Cannibal Holocaust on DVD