Movie Review: Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993, Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack)

Review By: Rob Sibley

Bill Lustig had a tough task with Maniac Cop 3. MC2 was easily one of the best action/horror films of the 80's. It's essential viewing if you dig these kinds of movies. It featured a stand out performance from Robert Davi, amazing stunts and gunplay that still is impressive to this day.

Maniac Cop 3 was released three years after MC2 and many fans say this was film that was better left dead. A lot of the blame went to Lustig but many didn't know the rather torrid production history the film went through.

In the making of feature director Bill Lustig had this to say "I hate the movie, I can't stand to watch it. Everyone got to piss in the pot, so that's what they got. A pot full of piss." My personal opinion is the film is much better then it's given credit for. For a film made esseintally by a comitte it came out well. Nowhere near as solid as part II but still it's a fun watch and at the end of the day... that's what counts.

Movie Review: The Black Waters of Echo's Pond (2009, Project 8 Films/Anchor Bay Entertainment)

...oh, that ol' rascally demi-god, Pan...yes, folks, we're talkin' the impish, clove-footed one with the pipe flute, of legendary Greek folklore...often consorting with them pesky, mischievously demonic entities and dark ones, residing in his abysmal lair, Pandemonium (...in learning something new, every day...and now, privy of that word's origin). Tortuously preying upon the eternally damned ones...gleefully partaking of a most sadistic level of entertainment...cruelly exploiting the weaknesses, insecurities, vulnerabilities, jealousies and deceptions of mortal men...if need be, even turning them against one another, for the mere purpose of insidiously voyeuristic pleasures. Wouldn't it be interesting, and wrought with a twisted sense of intrigue, if modern man...who has long since abandoned the classical gods of lore...stumbled upon a venue, whereby the horrors of Pan and his diabolical minions could carry on, in their eternal gameplay of elating torture, pain-infliction...and death. Step right up, folks...gather around the circle...find your token in the game...a game where one is drawn to peer ever so deeply into a watery abyss, in an effort to see one's fate...one's desires...one's true self. Except, such unveiled truths...they aren't always what one expects, and sometimes…well, they ain't too pretty, either...as the following story's hapless and unwary 'players' find out, in the cleverly contrived, chilling and oh-so horrific thriller from 2009, "The Black Waters of Echo's Pond"...

Movie Review: Zombies Vs. Strippers (2012)

You know, I’ve seen a bunch of movie listings with some kind of creatures battling strippers in their titles. For some reason, there are a ton of film makers out there that seem to think strippers would make great defenders of the American Way in case of some kind of supernatural outbreak: zombies, vampires, werewolves, etc. For you folks out there that like to make films, what’s up with that?

And so I waded into the naked glittery world of (non-porn) stripper movies with Zombies Vs. Strippers. In the greater Los Angeles area sits the Tough Titty, a quaint little strip club with a tiki motif. It’s run down and starving for customers, so much so that it’s $5000 in the hole and the owner, Spider, is considering selling it to a local land developer. His girls are devastated. But not to worry. A young stud, Spike, has just entered the establishment with $16,000 to spend. So what if he got it from a robbery? This could be the miracle the Tough Titty needs to stay alive!

Movie Review: Zombie Hunter (2013, Well Go USA)

...without a doubt, Danny Trejo has to be the hardest working character actor, working in Hollywood, these days...so much so, in fact, his very presence in genre films might well be defined as outright exploitative. After all, considering his vast and eclectically varied resume of completed and in-progress starring film productions (...a 'wow' revelation, over at IMDB), it does almost seem like he appears in just about every other genre film, under the sun...for the most part, playing nearly the same 'anti-hero'-like characters that...despite the wayward change in costume, setting and situation...do not seem all that far removed from each other, from character to character. And surprisingly enough, in most of these films, Danny is cast in roles which...despite the occasional, full-blown starring role (...uh, can anyone say, "Machete"?)...don't seem to last, or fare too long, in the course of whatever film he might be featured in...with the exploitative justification being that, despite his minimal appearance in many of his films, the powers-the-be, as far as distribution and advertising, often see fit to frontline his name and mean-looking visage on film posters and home video venue covers. Taking all that in account, it might be easy to see that.....

BREAKING NEWS!!!

"We interrupt the lovingly dedicated, in-progress celebrity reveling, with this breaking report...First-Time Filmmaker Kevin King Initiates 'Kickstarter' Campaign, In Effort to Illicit Funds for Production of Dream Horror/Actioner, Called "Zombie Hunter" (...no relation to the Japanese manga), Premieres Said Film At Montreal-Based 2013 Fantasia International Film Festival...And In the End, Concocts Slap-Together Sloppy, Very Contrived, Overly Emulative, 'So What' Eye-Rolling & Shoulder-Shrugging, and Overall Brainless Entry In Well-Worn 'Zombie' Horror Film Sub-Genre"...

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #120 - Young Frankenballs

Dave is back with Kevin this week, and he talks about his experience with "Young Frankenstein: The Musical." They also discuss the genius of Miley Cyrus, Dave talks about his newest custom Migo and Kevin reviews the twisted Chilean flick Hidden in the Woods.

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

You can always email us at cinemaheadcheese@yahoo.com or tweet us @CinHeadCheese.

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Interracial Sex Havoc #2: 1972 - 1974

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Movie Review: The Sexualist (1973) + Wendy's Place (1971)

Directed by Kemal Horulu

Review by Greg Goodsell
This double bill of Seventies pornography – one hard, the other soft, is the best such pairing by Vinegar Syndrome yet. The Sexualist, which also went under the far wordier title of The Sexualist: A Voyage to the World of Forbidden Love, shows unprecedented ambition for a film of this type. The action is up close and very personal, but it has a bit more on its agenda than poontang. Wendy's Place? Not so much.

To begin the review proper: The Sexualist details the efforts of an overbearing hippie porno film director Jeffrey Montclair (Dale T. Fuller) to make an astrological skin flick. Pompous narration over hardcore footage describes the various leanings of certain men and women of astrological bent are then presented in time-treasured “white coater” fashion. We learn that Taurus women “make great business executives” amid all the people making nookie nookie. The chief story involves iconic porno performer Jennifer Welles. growing dissatisfaction with the project at hand. She picks up and seduces rich brat Shana O'Neal pedaling 52 miles to New York from Staten Island – who in turn is then cast in the porno film. That's it for real plot, as The Sexualist meanders all over the place with terribly unfunny comedic skits.

Movie Review: CZ12: Chinese Zodiac (2012, Emperor Motion Pictures)

...really gotta give mega-action-star Jackie Chan, some serious gumption. After all, look at the dude; at only 59 years of age, still being one of the most youthfully vibrant celebrities, working in martial arts cinema, despite his seasoning...and still doing his own stunts, at his age, no less. The guy is, without a doubt, the 'Mick Jagger' of the martial arts movie genre, in the sense that the death-defying stunts that he does, isn't gonna kill him; it'll be merely the fact that he'll keep tirelessly working in the motion picture field, up until the point that...well, up to the point when he just can't do it, anymore, physically...he's that dedicated. What's so damn cool about that dedication, is that for him, it's not just for the money...it's for the endless, world-wide legion of fans, who he dedicates himself to. As such, this proves a most invariably inarguable point, considering his well-documented, record breaking stuntwork, which has been a better part of his work...as well as the ensuing, equally record-breaking injuries, which he has sustained, in the course of the 40-some-odd years, which he has been performing (...and for those privy to all of Jackie's work, that observation might be emphasized best, in watching the jaw-dropping end-credit outtake footage, in each of his films...a practice, which he was inspired to include at the end of each of his films, after having starred in 1981's "Cannonball Run"...which also included outtake footage, during the end credits). Well, this viewer is here to tell you that despite his reported announcements, Jackie seemingly appears to have no sign of stopping in his tracks and packing it in, as far as offering his fans, the death-defying, action-packed thrills and chills they've come to expect, as evident in his latest cross-country actioner (...yes, he directed this one, too)...a rollicking excursion in comedy, intrigue, mystery and high adventure, called "CZ12: Chinese Zodiac"...

Movie Review: Barbara Broadcast (Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack)

If you've had the opportunity of catching the remastered DVD and Blu-ray releases of Radley Metzger's adult features from Distripix / Video-X-Pix like The Opening of Misty Beethoven, The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann and Maraschino Cherry you've come to expect a quality of care that's rarely seen by other adult movie distributors. The recent release of the three disc DVD/ Blu-ray combo pack of Metzger's Barbara Broadcast carries on what those fine titles had going for them with a new restoration and some glorious goodies.

What if there was a restaurant where you could get a hand-job for an appetizer, intercourse for dinner and a little blowjob to finish off things to cap off the evening? This is the reality of  Henry Paris Barbra Broadcast? The elegant and always lovely Annette Haven (Maraschino Cherry) plays Barbara, a very well respected Madame who's on hand in this pleasure-based establishment to do an interview with a reporter named Roberta(C.J Laing) who happens to very interested in her life. From this point forward Metzger establishes an at times off-the-wall fantasy - with the viewer quickly being whisked away in a series of vignettes that weave a decadent piece of Golden Age entertainment.

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: Maniac Cop 2 (1990, Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Review By: Rob Sibley

 Finally after years upon years of waiting and watching shoddy full screen DVD transfers of this action/horror classic (Yes I said class). Blue Underground releases the film onto Blu-ray for the first time and even better this is the first time this fine film has received a release in it's proper 1.85:1 Widescreen aspect ratio.

Not only that but Blue Underground has gone the extra mile with the bonus features. This was easily the most anticipated release of the year for me and Blue Underground did this film proud. Not surprising since as we all know the director Bill Lustig runs BU.

Maniac Cop has always been a favorite film of mine. It's a near perfect film for what it is. It's filled to the brim with that great sleazy NYC atmosphere of the 80's that Lustig captured perfectly in his earlier films. It features a strong performance from Robert Davi and Robert Z'Dar aka the Maniac Cop perfectly embodies the role of this undead & unstoppable Terminator/Zombie like cop out for vengeance.

Movie Review: From Up On Poppy Hill (2011, Studio Gibli, Cinedigm Entertainment)

...this viewer really has to hand it to the skilled writers, directors and animators of the best of contemporary Japanese anime; when skillfully integrated, there's a certain symbiotic relationship between the extraordinary visual splendor of these varied productions, and the engaging & quite compelling storylines, which the striking visuals help to tell. Often, from production to production, the story relies on the visuals, and vice-versa, but also, they complement each other. Without the story, the visuals prove to be merely eye-candy, and without the visuals...well, one might as well merely be reading a book, and imagining the visuals. And some select anime productions are so masterfully written...so visually immersing...so captivating and engaging, with regards to the characters, it makes one genuinely wonder why the filmmakers involved, chose not to conceive and render such an exquisite production, as a live-action feature film, rather than utilizing animation. It is that keen latter observation, which denotes anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, as one of the most skillful artists, working in his field. Most anime devotees very much know and lovingly embrace his masterful work, which includes such classics as "Princess Mononoke" (1997), "Kiki's Delivery Service" (1989), "Spirited Away" (2001), and "The Castle of Cagliostro" (1979), amongst others. And proving that the proverbial apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as far as equally skillful filmmaking artistry, in the realm of anime feature-film production, Hayao's son, Goro, has proven himself, his father's equal, carrying on the tradition, with the strikingly beautiful, breathtaking, captivating and compelling coming-of-age drama, 2011's "From Up On Poppy Hill"...

Cross Bearer & The Cemetery kick ass and take names at Pollygrind!

The production team behind the Adam Ahlbrandt double feature Buried In Flesh (Cross Bearer, a gritty arthouse slasher, and The Cemetery, an ultra-violent possession tale) is pleased to announce its U.S. premiere at Pollygrind Film Festival has been awarded Best Horror Movie (The Cemetery). Also taken home was Best Use of Blood/Gore (The Cemetery), the Director’s Showcase Award to Ahlbrandt for his accomplishments with Buried In Flesh, and the Newcomer Award to lead actress Natalie Jean for her performances in both features. 

Movie Review: The Vincent Price Collection (Blu-ray)

Vincent Price is one of those rare breeds of actor that simply put - is bigger than life. His versatility and scene-eating prowess made the majority of his features so engaging to fans of genre that has undoubtedly put him at horror legend status. Whether it was his work on Roger Corman's Poe titles or his other AIP excursions, his involvement was almost a sure thing that what you were about to see was something truly special. The folks at Scream Factory have been hard at work on preserving Vincent's legacy with their four Blu-ray set that includes six of his finest contributions to genre - The Pit and the Pendulum, The Masque of Red Death, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Witchfinder General, The Haunted Palace and The Fall of the House of Usher. All titles have been restored for the glorious high-definition format and, yes, like previous Scream Factory releases it's loaded with extra features both new and ported from the MGM DVD releases

The set kicks off with two of Price's crowning achievements on disc one - The Pit and the Pendulum and The Masque of Red Death. The Pit and the Pendulum marked Price's second foray into the world of Edgar Allen Poe with Roger Corman. Here Price plays, Nicholas Medina, the husband of the recently deceased Elisabeth (Barbara Steele, Black Sunday). Following her death, Elisabeth's brother takes a trip to visit Medina's castle to find out a little more about what happened. The plot thickens pretty quickly as Medina, while the showing facade of depressed widower, he's actually hiding plenty of secrets - one being a giant swinging pendulum in his torture device filled basement. Price is excellent here as Medina and no doubt plays this "tortured" individual well. Corman is also at the top of his game along with the very welcome storytelling strengths of Richard Matheson.

Movie Review: The Face with Two Left Feet (1979, Code Red)

...ever bear witness to a movie...never mind if it proves good or bad (...let's face it...some films, like the one you are about to become privy of, are beyond such criticism)...from first frame to last, which has you so incredulously wide-eyed, mouth-gaped, constantly thinking, "...what the @#$%??" Whether you want to walk away or not, that you cannot turn away from it, because of the revelational unbelievability of what you are watching. And at the end, you catch yourself throwing your head back, slapping your forehead with the palm of your hand, rolling your eyes, and exclaiming, "...Jeez!!", a minute or two after the final credits roll...again, not necessarily because of whether the movie was good or bad, but because you just cannot grasp at the reasoning or the possibilities, as to why or how the film could have possibly come into existence, nor can you consider whether or not it deserves to exist. Your mind, gnawed and tortured, you unconsciously pick up the remote, push 'play' again, and engage the film a second time. And after all is said and done, you...uh, you throw up your hands, and sighingly resign yourself to actually liking the film; you're still not sure why or how you like it...or perhaps, you are embarrassed at the reasons for liking the film, but H-H-HAVE to admit liking it, nonetheless. If you can relate to any of this...you, my friends, are in the throes of what is, according to Hoyle, known as the 'guilty pleasure', or perhaps, as in the hapless case of this viewer, having recently embraced the obscure, though still irresistible, enjoyably ludicrous and hilariously wacky, grindhouse-styled, disco-themed comedy, 1979's "The Face with Two Left Feet", you have caught...'The Fever'...

Movie Review: Demon Hunters: Fear The Silence (2013, DVD)

Review By: Rob Sibley

Before I start this review I think it's important to state what I consider to be an "independent film". Those two words are thrown around more often then I like. To me a true independent film costs less then 30K to make. To me that's the true spirit of Indie film, it means the filmmakers did it for a passion of movie making. They didn't do it for the fame or the glory or the money.

Demon Hunters is one of those films, a true Independent gem. Made for next to nothing, the film takes a high concept and does it on a shoe-string budget and actually pulls it off. So many filmmakers have had their hearts in the right place but failed to execute. Usually due to sloppy screen writing or iffy acting.


I'm happy to report that Demon Hunters for the most part avoids all of these pitfalls by smartly setting the action in basically one location. It also doesn't take itself seriously at all which is refreshing to say the least.

Cinematic Hell: The Brain From Planet Arous (1957)

by Hal Astell

Director: Nathan Hertz

Stars: John Agar, Joyce Meadows and Robert Fuller

Buy The Brain From Planet Arous on DVD

Beyond sporting a title as outrageously inviting as The Brain from Planet Arous, surely a gift to any pornographic spoofer, this film opens with what appears to be Tinkerbell dancing around the Mesa of Lost Women. No wonder director Nathan Juran insisted on having his credit changed to Nathan Hertz, though Hertz is his middle name rather than a description of the reaction his own brain had to the finished picture. It can't be good when the director is embarrassed of a feature he made, even one that kicks off with an explosion and has make up by Jack Pierce, Universal's monster maker. We soon see why: we're about to be subjected to John Agar, who married Shirley Temple and debuted opposite John Wayne and Henry Fonda in John Ford's Fort Apache, but went consistently downhill from there. This is a bad film and yet it's only partway down the ski slope of quality that ended with him in Larry Buchanan movies like Zontar: The Thing from Venus.

Movie Review: Zombie Ex's (2013, Northern Fabulous/Bloody Earth Films)

 ...nope...nope...not this viewer, thank you very much...nope...not gonna do it...nope...not gonna do it, dammit, says this viewer!! Not gonna go into another droning and repetitive rant about yet another new zombie comedy, amidst the countless zombie comedies already gracing the horror genre wasteland. Nope. Not gonna reflect back upon bygone humble beginnings, what horror sub-genre has since been wrought, as the result of some little 1968 presumably classic zombie flick, by some dude...maybe you've heard of him...some dude named Romero, or something like that, I think. Oh hell, no. Not gonna shovel out the typical ya-da-da ya-da-da ya-da-da about a new zombie flick that once again establishes & revels the 'basic rules' of the zombie genre, storywise (...i.e., being reanimated flesh-eaters, needing to shoot them in the head, etc.), and yet, tries to turn the genre on it's head, by humorously gives the expected proceedings, a supposedly fresh twist, or some underliningly social satire. And it's a shame that this viewer isn't gonna do all that, 'cause such oft-visited, nostalgic reflection of this beaten and well worn horror genre would still make for a reasonable and much greater measure of insight and relevation, than the adequate, though pretty much shoulder-shrugging, ho-hum offerings afforded the hapless viewer of the 2013 horror comedy, "Zombie Ex's"...

Movie Review: X-Ray/Schizoid (1982/1980, Cannon/Shout Factory)

Oh, how delightfully crazed and eclectically varied, was the cinematic reign once held by 'the little studio that could', The Cannon Group. From production to distribution...from relentless vigilantes to shuriken-welding ninjas...from fantastic fantasy-filled adventures to special effects-filled sci-fi spectaculars...from psycho killers to break-dancing 'boogaloos'...from sleazy big-studio knock-offs to Academy Award-winning respectables...Cannon Films...ambitiously led by the exploitatively entrepreneur-driven efforts of Menahem Golen and Yoram Globus...managed to hold their own quite well against the 'big boys' of Hollywood...their inception, their brief, albeit respectable studio run, their eventual downfall...all components in a most intriguing story, which in itself, would make for quite an interesting tale to tell (...and actually WILL, when the long-awaited documentary, "Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films", is unleashed upon the public, sometime next year). And how equally delightful is the relevation that the fine folks at Shout Factory, has picked up a good number of titles from the Cannon Group library...culled from their direct film production efforts, to those of outer circle production sources...domestic and international...which, in their exploitatively idyllic wisdom, chose to represent and distribute. Never one to ignore a 'flavor-of-the-moment' movie trend, Cannon was, of course, quick to ride the late '70's/mid-to-late '80's 'splatter movie' bandwagon, with some of their own visceral & juicy productions and acquisitions...

Synapse Films to Release Dario Argento's Masterpiece "Suspiria" on Blu-ray and DVD!

SUSPIRIA

COMING TO DVD, BLU-RAY,
AND OTHER OPTICAL MEDIA!

SYNAPSE FILMS, INC. LICENSES DARIO ARGENTO'S SUSPIRIA, SOUNDTRACK BY GOBLIN, FOR DVD, BLU-RAY AND FUTURE OPTICAL MEDIA.

ROMULUS, MI – Oct. 31, 2013 – Synapse Films, Inc. has acquired the North American home-video rights to Dario Argento's 1977 classic horror film SUSPIRIA, with an original soundtrack by European prog-rockers Goblin. Described as “one of the scariest films of all time” by Entertainment Weekly, SUSPIRIA stars the beautiful Jessica Harper (Brian De Palma's PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, Woody Allen's STARDUST MEMORIES) as a young girl caught up in a coven of witches controlling a German dance academy, with a guest appearance by Udo Kier (Lars von Trier's NYMPH( )MANIAC, Andy Warhol's FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA).

“I’ve been involved in the restoration and release of many films in my career, but SUSPIRIA has always eluded me, until now,” says Donald May, Jr., President of Synapse Films. “It’s one of my favorite horror films and I’m ecstatic that my business partner, Jerry Chandler, was able to negotiate with the rights holders to release this film. This is going to be an amazing project

for us.”

Synapse Films, Inc. will work closely with Technicolor Rome and Technicolor Los Angeles to create an all-new high-definition 2K scan from the original negative for a possible 2014-15 video release. “It’s important to spend as much time as possible to create the definitive high-definition home video version for the fans,” May explains. “We’re going to take our time with this one.”

Synapse Films, Inc. is currently planning the extensive work on SUSPIRIA in conjunction with Technicolor, utilizing both their Rome and Hollywood facilities. The film scanning will be coordinated and supervised by Technicolor Hollywood’s Director of Restoration Services, Tom Burton, whose film restoration credits include Ridley Scott’s BLADE RUNNER, Georges Méliès’ A TRIP TO THE MOON, and Blake Edwards' BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S.

Final specifications, retail pricing, and extras for the Synapse Films release of SUSPIRIA will be announced closer to the as yet to be determined release date.