This is not so much a review as it is a brief tribute to a great film. The first time I saw this film I was terrified by the tall man and his spheres and his minions of evil dwarf corpse creatures. Almost thirty years later I still love watching this film and doubt it will ever get old. Phantasm made it’s big screen debut in 1979 and has been thrilling audiences ever since. Written, directed, and co produced by Don Coscarelli, this movie will take you on a wonderfully disturbing journey through the strange world of the tall man and a group of friends who discover his secret after their friends funeral.The tall man played by Angus Scrimm, is a true icon in horror and a awesome force for Mike (A. Michael Baldwin), Reggie Bannister (himself),and Jody (Bill Thornbury) to overcome. Hotrods are everpresent in the Phantasm movies and the Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda, doesnt dissapoint. Another reoccuring theme are the awesome weapons you see throughout the series, my person favorite being Reggies double shotgun!

Spawning four sequals with a yet to be released Phantasm V in 2009 the Phantasm movies have made a lasting impression on horror fans. The sentinel spheres sheer efficiency and strangeness along with the wonderful acting of Angus Scrimm make this film and their characters some of the greatest moments of my childhood horror experience. If you have not yet seen Phantasm youhave no excuse not to now. You can Buy Phantasm here.

 I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass, and I’m all out of bubble gum. Talk about a classic! This has to be up there on the list of coolest films ever. A true Carpenter flick, this 1988 movie was directed and scored by the master himself with the screenplay to his credit as well under the psuedonym Frank Armitage. Based on a short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson, the plot is a mimic of the fears and political situations of 1980’s America.

An out of work contstruction worker (Roddy Piper) travels to Los Angeles from Denver to find that things are not quite what they seem. As he befriends another worker Frank played by Keith David, he is taken to a shanty town where the homeless live on the streets of LA. After a night in the shantytown John (Piper) notices things are not quite right at the neighboring church. As he wanders in to the church to investigate, he finds himself thrown into a world he didn’t even realize existed. A special pair of glasses allows John to see things for what they really are. Determined to stop the invasion, John kills several people that he sees as alien. When he tries to tell Frank (Keith David) whats going on, it leads to one of the greatest fight scenes ever! Simply a kick ass movie full of classic lines and scenes that will leave wanting more. You will want to see this film over and over again! One of my favorites. You can buy They Live
here, and trust me this is a movie your collection should not be missing!

If you enjoy intelligent lyrics, great songwriting and catchy rocking riffs, The Mountain Goats are a must hear. The three piece band is composed of lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist John Darnielle, Bass Player Peter Hughes, and Drummer Jon Wurster. One of my personal favorites is a track called Lovecraft In Brooklyn on the album Heretic Pride. The band was named The Mountain Goats in 1991 in Claremont California where Darnielle was attending college and found work as a pyschiatric nurse. The band has a whopping 16 albums to it’s credit, all of which can be purchased from The Mountain Goats Check these guys out they shouldn’t be missed.

Bands Official Website: http://www.themountaingoats.net/

Mountain Goats Wikipedia Entry : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mountain_Goats

Although the automatons range as far back as ancient Greece and rome with idols, religious relics and devices like the Antikythera Mechanism, we are taking a look at the “Golden Age Of Automaton”. This era ranged from the years of 1860 to 1910. During these years a new type of family business was beginning to surface in France. These mechanical animals were produced and sold all over the world. Some automatons were more than just mere animals, some were performers as in the case of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin and his automaton. Known as the father of modern magic Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin was not only a great magician but also an amazing inventor and craftsman. One of his creations “Antonio Diavolo, the acrobat“, was known to rest and smoke a pipe and perform amazing feats on a trapeze such as raising it’s arms or doing a headstand while performing tricky footwork. These families which included Théroude, Phalibois, Lambert, Renou, Roullet- Decamps, Vichy and Bontemps continued making automaton until it’s gradual disappearance at the outbreak of the first world war. You can learn more about this great automaton in Grand Illusions - The Story of Magic (2002)

So another great Carpenter fest has come and gone and this year was amazing to say the least. A great movie line up along with some amazing prints of these classic films made for an awesome experience. And what better way to top off those movies we all love than to have the master himself speaking between films!

This years fest ran from Friday, June 13th to Wednesday, June 18th and showed at Santa Monica’s Aero Theater and was presented by American Cinematheque. This years lineup started out with The Thing/ The Fog on Friday night with a appearance by Carpenter between the films. Saturday night ran with a double feature of Escape From New York & Escape From LA two more classic awesome genre films. Again Carpenter appeared between the showings. Although Sunday night’s double feature did’nt contain a guest speaker, it was nevertheless an amazing time! The Sunday showing was none other than an amazing original print of the awesome classic horror film Halloween, followed up with Christine. You may be thinking holy shit! … Thats Awesome!…and rightfully so, but I must say that my personal favorite did not show until Wednesday night and man I was stoked. I arrived at the theater excited as shit because I was finally getting the chance to see my all time favorite film on the big screen. Big Trouble In Little China! Big Trouble was BIG FUN and the whole place was loving the film. I hope they run this again sometime because this film rocks on the big screen. After Big Trouble they had a brief Q&A with Austin Stoker the lead role in Assault On Precint 13! If you have not seen this film go rent it now! This is a cult classic and a John Carpenter tribute to Rio Bravo. GO SEE THIS FILM! An awesome time and I sat right by the Latino Warlord seen in the movie as one of the gang leaders. The print on this one was practically new! Kudos to the group for getting ahold of this one. A great opportunity to see this film like it was the first time ever. This was one of the best times I have had at a movie fest ever perhaps because of the patrons the group putting it on and definitely because of the great line up of movies being shown. It was quite an experience for those who attended this great film fest and if you didn’t get to go, sign up and make sure you hit it next year. You will not regret it!

This Years Line Up Was:

Friday, June 13th, 7:30 p.m.
The Thing and The Fog
Carpenter will discuss films between showings

Saturday, June 14th, 7:30 p.m.
Escape From New York and Escape From L.A.
Carpenter will discuss films between showings

Sunday, June 15th, 7:30 p.m.
Halloween and Christine (no speaker, but how sick is this double feature!?)

Wednesday, June 18th, 7:30 pm.
Big Trouble in Little China and Assault on Precinct 13
AOP13’s Austin Stoker will discuss between films

Originally one of the After Dark 8 Films To Die For, FRONTIER(S) had to be removed due to rating issues. Rather than try and meet the R rating required to show it in the theaters, it was decided to leave the film in it’s original format. Will this movie live up to all it’s hype or just be another flash in the pan gore fest. It’s out on DVD as of May 13th 2008. Ill let you all know what i thought of it in the reviews section in the next couple of days.

Some of my other personal highlights were meeting Angus Scrimm the famous Tall Man from Phantasm series, and Reggie Bannister as well. Ray Wise who played Leland Palmer on Twin Peaks and the farmer character in Jeepers Creepers among others. Clive Barker was there but only for an hour or so signing before he had to leave. The screenings were great and I loved the films some of which I will cover on here such as Zombies, Zombies,Zombies. For more information on Fangoria’s Weekend Of Horrors you should check out their website at http://www.fangoria.com/woh.php

Zombies Zombies Zombies
On DVD Sept. 9th

Director: Jason Murphy

Writer: Anthony Steven Giordano (screenplay)

Genre: Comedy | Horror
Tagline: Strippers VS Zombies

Zombies Zombies Zombies was a real great time to see! I got to screen this film at the Fangoria 2008 Weekend Of Horror’s Convention in Los Angeles and this movie had me going from the start to the very end. The cast that was there at the screening was awesome and I enjoyed getting to see their movie with them.

Zombies Zombies Zombies is a comical horror flesh eating zombies kind of movie where cracked out zombie dope gets some hookers turning green pretty rapidly. After a night of stripping the crew decides to go down the street for a bite to eat. Thats where they run into the hookers and the backhanding pimp Johnny ‘BackHand’ Vegas played by Anthony Headen. After this encounter things start to go bad pretty quickly for the strippers so they fight their way back to the strip club for a little safety. This film climaxes with an explosive ending you have to see! Everyone check out Zombies Zombies Zombies coming to DVD this Sept. 9th!

Let me tell those of you out there a little bit about Twin Peaks and its basic summary so you know what it is that I am talking about. Twin Peaks is an American Emmy Award nominated Peabody and Golden Globe-winning television serial drama. The series was created by David Lynch and Mark Frost and was first broadcast on April 8, 1990. The show aired on the ABC network until June 10, 1991 the end of it’s second season. The story is set in a rural Washington town of Twin Peaks (actually filmed in Snoqualmie and North Bend Washington) where a young girl named Laura Palmer is found dead by a local man named Pete Martell near the river bank. Pete calls the Sheriff and reports the crime coining one of the series popular phrases “She’s dead..Wrapped in plastic.” The story quickly begins to develop as characters like Sheriff Harry Truman, and his cohorts Deputy Hawk, and Andy make their appearances and begin to investigate the crime. Federal agents are assigned to the case and so appears special agent Dale Cooper. The story follows the sheriff and agent Cooper and the towns other residents through their daily lives of normal but also very strange activities and relationships.

Now lets meet the characters.

Kyle MacLachlan … Special Agent Dale Cooper
Michael Ontkean … Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Dana Ashbrook … Bobby Briggs
Richard Beymer … Benjamin Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle … Donna Hayward
Mädchen Amick … Shelly Johnson
Sherilyn Fenn … Audrey Horne
Warren Frost … Dr. Will Hayward
Jack Nance … Pete Martell
Michael Horse … Deputy Tommy ‘Hawk’ Hill
Peggy Lipton … Norma Jennings
Everett McGill … Big Ed Hurley
Harry Goaz … Deputy Andy Brennan
Kimmy Robertson … Lucy Moran
Piper Laurie … Catherine Martell
James Marshall … James Hurley
Eric DaRe … Leo Johnson
Wendy Robie … Nadine Hurley
Joan Chen … Jocelyn ‘Josie’ Packard
Ray Wise … Leland Palmer
Sheryl Lee … Madeleine Ferguson
Russ Tamblyn … Dr. Lawrence Jacoby
Don S. Davis … Major Garland Briggs
Chris Mulkey … Hank Jennings
Gary Hershberger … Mike Nelson
Grace Zabriskie … Sarah Palmer

 

In the next installment we will cover the first pilot episode and discuss some of the plots and twists!