I’m not ashamed to admit that “Red Sonja” is a childhood favorite. As a TV junkie, I spent a lot of my childhood watching movies on network TV and I constantly tuned in to “Red Sonja.” It was such a departure from the normal movies I watched as it sported a female heroine, Ernie Reyes Jr. trying his best to kick ass, and an unusual narrative that feels like a mix of “Barbarella” and “Wizard of Oz.” Of course this being 1985, you can sense Dino DiLaurentiis also trying to build his own movie series a la “Star Wars,” even featuring a battle with an underwater monster in a cave. I never caught on to it before, but this is also one of the rare action movies from the eighties where there is a heavily implied sexual affair between heroine Sonja and villainous Queen Gedren.
Tag Archives: Monsters
Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]
Film buffs will be elated to see “Creature Designers,” a very technical cogs and gears documentary that spotlights the grueling process of creating creatures for movies. Directors Gilles Penso, and Alexandre Poncet mold a love letter to the classic master creature creators, as well as a very down to business film that shows the technology behind some of the most iconic creatures and monsters of all time. It’s a thrill to see how the directors have such a reverence for these artists, as we get to visit with a ton of unique artists and concept designers that are enthusiastic about their work. Since the beginning of film, special effects and creature have found a wonderful marriage with filmmaking.
That’s thanks in part to Lon Chaney who was able to use his make up kit to build some amazing monsters out of his face and own features. From there it’s been a rising tide of artists and creators that have added to the cinematic experienced and helped advance storytelling as a whole. Both filmmakers visit with iconic masterminds like Rick Baker, Joe Dante, and Guillermo Del Toro, all of whom explore their love for special effects, and convey the process of building creatures for some of their films. What becomes apparent within “Creature Designers” is that the advancement of special effects would lead in to less and less necessity for suits and machines, and more need for computer technology.
This darker period is chronicled in “Creature Designers” where we’re able to view a more vulnerable side of these individuals, all of whom had to adapt to the shift in technology or risk losing their livelihoods. Thankfully, the documentary doesn’t depict the introduction of CGI and motion capture as the bane of the special effects industry. Directors Gilles Penso, and Alexandre Poncet explore some of the amazing advancements made in computer technology, from motion capture, facial recognition, and how they’ve used this kind of programming to bring to life amazing characters like Golum from “Lord of the Rings” and the T-1000 from “Terminator 2.” No stone is left unturned, as every interview is informative, exciting, and filled with amazing anecdotes.
For folks that are seeking a career in the special effects industry, or for films buffs very invested in the special effects element of filmmaking, “Creature Designers” is a wonderful documentary that brings us up close and personal from the fan viewpoint and a technical viewpoint.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016): Ultimate Edition [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
From the man who gave us such rousing successes as “Sucker Punch” comes a new vision of Batman and Superman that’s pitch black, violent, and painfully stupid. Zack Snyder is a man with so much admiration for Alan Moore and Frank Miller, he spends the majority of “Batman v Superman” ripping them off wholesale. Snyder’s film is such a botched job he works in reverse, and takes the time out to deconstruct his vision of the iconic superheroes we haven’t even gotten to know yet. But hey, at least we get to see Bruce Wayne’s parents murdered in an alleyway once again. To make matters worse, the film is long, overstuffed, and painfully boring.
Batman v Superman: Extended Cut or Why You Can’t Pour Perfume on a Pig
Pearls. Again. Bruce Wayne’s origin. Again. Joe Chill. I’m presuming. Again. I can still hear the echoes of fan boys rejoicing that “Batman v Superman” wouldn’t be another origin story, and yet director Zack Snyder allows us the thirtieth origin of Bruce Wayne, all for the purpose of squeezing in Bruce muttering “Martha.” Which is his mother. And so a thousand memes were born.
Director Zack Snyder doesn’t allow us the benefit of young Superman or Clark Kent with his mother, also curiously named Martha, because that would make sense. Plus, Snyder never worked with Diane Lane or Kevin Costner. It would be funny though to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan playing John and Martha Kent.
Jeepers Creepers 2: Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray] (2003)
With the follow up to the criminally overlooked “Jeepers Creepers,” director Victor Salva completely loses all sight of the potential for his first film and embraces the B movie roots of the Creeper. That’s not to say that’s a bad thing, but “Jeepers Creepers 2” ends up being a brutally silly movie that offers a solid diversion, even in spite of its massive flaws and lapses in logic. To add to the unusual experience, the follow up to the original is filled with so much homoeroticism and subtle sexual overtones, you’ll feel just as uncomfortable as the characters do while they’re being stalked by the Creeper.
Jeepers Creepers: Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray] (2001)
Victor Salva’s “Jeepers Creepers” is a pretty excellent and haunting horror gem in the early aughts when horror was pretty stagnant for a while. A mix of Duel and a genuine monster movie, director Salva presents a well paced and very scary film that only accentuates how terrifying films on the wide open road can be with the proper premise. Justin Long and Gina Phillips is top notch, keeping the film afloat with their memorable chemistry and fantastic interplay. They play siblings Trish and Darry, two college students tasked with delivering a car to their cousin across the country. Along the way as they bicker and deal with boredom, they’re confronted with a menacing truck that nearly runs them off the road.
While mistakenly crossing its path, they find the truck and its menacing driver seemingly sliding corpses down a storm drain. Deciding to investigate it, the pair arouses the anger and obsession of the truck’s driver, who slowly reveals himself to be anything but a simple psychopath. Quite obviously working on a limited budget, director Salva keeps a lot of the elements of the villain ambiguous and left wildly up to speculation by the viewer. Rather than piling on a lot of knowledge, our characters literally drop right in to the lair of our villain and slowly realize the severity of their discovery and how it will greatly affect their lives if they don’t get off the road and back to civilization.
The terror is amped up minute by minute, as both protagonists slowly run out of options in their efforts to get home, and try to outwit the monstrous driver who reveals himself to be much more clever and vicious than they ever imagined. Long is especially very good as his sanity slowly dwindles the deeper in to this nightmare he and his sister drop. Phillips plays well alongside Long, keeping up with his strong turn as a very strong heroine. A lot of “Jeepers Creepers” is beautifully paced and well edited, allowing for a ton of simple but brutally creepy moments. Some of the best scenes involve an attack on two beat cops in the background as our characters drive ahead of them, and the final reveal of our villain which is both jarring and shocking.
What would have been a simple “Duel” knock off spirals out of control in to a bonafide tense monster movie that keeps its pace pretty brisk and introduces us to a twisted new horror fiend with survival instincts that make it relentless, vicious and remorseless. What’s more is that many elements are introduced that are very supernatural and out of the ordinary with ideas about premonitions and fate that either favor this being’s hunt for prey, or ultimately work against it. “Jeepers Creepers” is a fine horror yarn, and one that goes criminally under appreciated mainly for Salva’s very public sordid criminal past, and the sub-par sequel.
Disc One from Scream Factory includes an audio commentary with director Victor Salva, whose work on this feature is informative, if kind of tedious. The second commentary features Salva with cast members Justin Long and Gina Phillips. It’s a fun little reunion, as the trio seems very casual and friendly toward one another. On Disc Two, there’s the thirty seven minute “Jeepers Creepers: Then And Now” a collection of interviews with the cast and crew. “From Critters To Creepers” is a twenty minute interview with producer Barry Opper, who discusses in length his career, working with legends of horror, and his involvement with the film.
“The Town Psychic” is a seventeen minute interview with Patricia Belcher who plays the town psychic introduced in the second half. “Behind the Peepers” is an hour long HD transfer of the original Standard Definition documentary. It’s a six part making of for “Jeepers Creepers,” with cast and crew interviews, video clips, production stills, the creature designs, and so much more. There’s a seventeen minute “Deleted Scenes” reel containing extended scenes and alternate openings and ending. There’s also the original trailer, a radio spot, and a trailer gallery with production stills, on set photos, and concept designs for the creature.
Evil Bong High-5 (2016)
Do you see what happens when you let interns make a movie with petty cash on the weekends? You come up with “Evil Bong High-5.” It’s a stoner movie that’s so bad even stoners will eventually shut it off because it’s destroying their high. At only seventy minutes long, this is a movie that literally stops dead in its tracks in order to advertise the company’s brand of painfully unfunny ethnic stereotype dolls. One of the many sequels apparently breaking even enough for another installment, Eebee the Evil Bong is back and she’s just as mean as ever. Now that she’s trapped a small group of people in The Bong World, alongside the Gingerdead Man, they have to figure out a way home.