Slasher Addicts Anonymous

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Thomas Ellison

My name is Thomas E., and I’m a slasher addict.  I’ve struggled with this addiction for three decades now and I doubt I will ever be cured.  The truth is I don’t want to be cured.  I enjoy my slasher cravings and revel in the euphoria brought on by finding a rare title or watching a really scary, suspenseful slasher.  Recently, my slasher addiction has grown to include watching slashers in theaters with a rowdy crowd.  I used to watch slashers in theaters all the time when I was a kid but never liked when audience members  yelled advice at the screen.  Now, Lord help me, I love to hear the audience scream in terror.  Their cries of horror are a sweet symphony to my ears. 

Slasher Addicts Anonymous (or SAA for short) is a place where slasher addicts can go and be themselves without fear of scorn or ridicule from non-slasher fans.  My goal is to one day have SAA chapters in every state in the Union and all English speaking countries.  And maybe a few in Germany, France, Italy, and Japan.  The purpose of the SAA is not to cure slasher addicts but rather to encourage their addiction and pass their love for slasher films on to others.  We want more slasher addicts in the world, not less.

What the SAA really needs right now is a celebrity national spokesperson.  No addiction is taken seriously by the mainstream media until a celebrity gets involved.  Don’t believe me?  Take a look at the current fake fad known as sex addiction.  Nobody had ever heard of this made up disease until a bunch of rich, famous guys got caught banging strippers, porn stars, and hookers.  Notice, none of these guys are ever caught with one-eyed hunchbacks or 500 pound circus performers.  A few years ago this type of behavior was known as “being a typical guy”.  Now it’s called sex addiction and news shows devote several hours to the subject every week because it involves celebrities.  With the right celebrity in place those news programs could be devoting hours to the discussion of slasher addiction.  I’m open to suggestions from Retro Slashers readers as to who should be the national face of the SAA.

I know times are tough but I have found an easy way for slasher addicts to continue supporting their habit.  Restaurants.  Trust me on this, folks.  Whenever I go out to eat I always find cash just lying around on dirty tables.  There’s usually a few bucks under a plate, beneath an empty glass, or on top of a napkin dispenser.  Hell, it’s easy to find enough cash to pay for the meal and have some left over to put towards a new addition to the old slasher collection.  I suspect most customers are in such a hurry to pay their bill and leave that they don’t notice when a few dollars fall out of their wallets or pocket books. 

Right now some of you are probably thinking you don’t need the SAA.  Slashers are just a minor hobby or a simple distraction from everyday life that you can walk away from whenever you want.  You’re wrong and I can prove it.  Here are a few questions that will determine if you’re a slasher addict:  Does your slasher collection occupy more than one room in your house/apartment?  Have you ever bought a product because Jaime Lee Curtis or some other slasher star promoted it in a commercial?  Have you ever walked into a store, discovered a large selection of slasher films for sale, and suddenly forgotten your own name?  Is “Do I spend my money on this slasher or save the cash and buy food?” a question you ask yourself more than once a month?  If I say “Buy a Bag .  . .Go Home in A Box” do you instantly know what film I’m talking about?  Do you read and/or write for websites dedicated to the slasher genre?  If you answered yes to any of the above questions then sit down and take a deep breath.  You’re a slasher addict.  Don’t panic.  There will always be a spot for you in the SAA.  Don’t hesitate to drop by and share your slasher addiction stories with us.

Posted in Features | 5 Comments

The Undertaker DVD In October

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Dusk

A Lost Slasher no more! Code Red are bringing the late Joe Spinelli’s psycho-slasher The Undertaker to DVD in October. Our own Thomas Ellison investigated the film and also recently reviewed it. And now you’ll get to see it to. Taking things one step further, Code Red are offering fans to vote which cover it gets. Click below for hi-res.

“Here is your chance to pick your favorite cover for the October Release of the unreleased Joe Spinell film THE UNDERTAKER (aka DEATH MERCHANT). Here are the 3 covers, just post on this blog which one you prefer, A, B or C, and the one with the most votes will be it! Hurry, you have until Thursday 7/8 at 9 PM Pacific to vote, so vote now!”

We personally pick Cover C because it’s 100% Spinelli Cool. Though Cover A is not without its pockmarked charms. If you’re within the time window, head on over to the Code Red comments page to vote. Be sure to let us know your fave.

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The Psycho Legacy DVD Artwork

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Dusk

Here is the artwork for The Psycho Legacy 2-Disc DVD, arriving October 19th from Shout Factory.

For the whole story on this highly anticipated doco (come on, we all know Psycho is the granddaddy of the slasher film), you’ll want to check out our Interview with Robert Galluzzo, conducted last year when the director was still knee deep in all things Norman Bates.

Source: STYD

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Black Devil Doll Weird Wobbler Cumming

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Dusk

Press Release:

Cult Collectibles is proud to announce the release of its first “Weird Wobbler” bobblehead style figure from one of the most outrageous underground films ever made: BLACK DEVIL DOLL! Pre-orders are available now with product shipping in September 2010!

The 2008 film is the story of an executed Black militant who is reincarnated into a vicious ventriloquist’s puppet, causing endless mayhem and murder (to put it mildly). Widely hailed by cult film aficionados and simultaneously condemned for its overt (yet completely tongue-in-cheek) offensiveness, Art Ettinger of Ultra Violent magazine stated, “Black Devil Doll is a triumph, seamlessly blending crass un-PC humor with cerebral artistry. The Lewis Brothers deliver one of the most original exploitation films of the new millennium, a singularly unique mix of brain and brawn.”

Owner of Cult Collectibles, Mark Jason Murray comments, “I became a tremendous fan of the film even before I saw it and when I started brainstorming what would be the perfect license to launch my toy company, BLACK DEVIL DOLL seemed to be the best fit. Thinking as a collector and fan, this is something that I would love to have in my own collection and since the film character is essentially a “toy” it was an easy choice. From a business perspective, I know the film already has a rabid fan following and that the film’s creators would be able to provide an incredible amount of publicity for it right out of the gate. I am also very keen to work with people who I considered friends.”

The figure was created with great attention to detail while still allowing it to have an identity of its own. “A lot of time was spent getting the details of the figure just right,” states Murray. “It was still important for the figure to appear as a characature, which the bobblehead format is famous for, but only slightly as anything “cute” would have gone against the character in the film. It’s really very accurate, from the subtleties of the facial expression down to its boots.”

Besides holding a knife in one hand, even further details were included to help bring out the spirit of the film character and one of the film’s biggest jokes. “What started as a simple afterthought during the initial planning of the figure turned out to be one of the figure’s best features and one of the most difficult to obtain. We wanted the figure to be holding a bucket of “Oakland Fried Chicken” and initially it came back looking like Colonel Sanders on the bucket which was the exact opposite of what it’s supposed to look like so after multiple design revisions it finally got to where it needed to be and it brings a whole new level of hilarity to the figure that I am sure fans of the movie will really enjoy. I am very happy with everything about this figure. It was great to work with the creators of the character and film and perhaps we can collaborate on something else in the future.”

Murray’s company strategy is simple. “I really want to do figures that put Cult Collectibles in a category of its own and this provided me with the ability to do just that. I anticipate the figure will sell out quickly.”

Cult Collectibles is already at work on three future limited edition “Weird Wobbler” figures scheduled for release late 2010/early 2011:

-The “Demon Doll” will pay tribute to the Italian horror films of actress Geretta Geretta (Lamberto Bava’s DEMONS, Lucio Fulci’s MURDEROCK, RATS: NIGHTS OF TERROR, etc.)

-The “head wound girl” from Lucio Fulci’s THE BEYOND (in association with GRINDHOUSE RELEASEING)

-Lucio Fulci from his film CAT IN THE BRAIN (in association with GRINDHOUSE RELEASING)

BLACK DEVIL DOLL “Weird Wobbler” details:

-Limited edition of 1,000 hand numbered figures

-7 inches of lightweight polyresin

-housed in a full color retail box designed by BLACK DEVIL DOLL poster artist, Stephen Romano

-Special exclusive BLACK DEVIL DOLL trading card available ONLY during pre-order period through www.cultcollectibles.com

-Pre-orders available now with figure scheduled to ship by mid-September 2010

For more information on Cult Collectibles visit: www.cultcollectibles.com

For more information on Black Devil Doll visit: www.blackdevildoll.com

Posted in Features | Tagged | 2 Comments

He Knows You’re Alone (1980) Review

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Amanda By Night

After a jilted lover (Tom Rolfing) kills his ex-bride-to-be, he decides justice has not been served and decides that all women preparing for their upcoming nuptials need to meet the sharp end of his knife. The killer has arrived in a new town looking for Amy (Caitlin O’Heaney) and her wedding party to make perfect, voluptuous targets in his sick revenge. Amy’s spotted our killer, but everyone just laughs it off as getting cold feet. Can her ex-boyfriend, Marvin (Don Scardino), get her to dump the groom and save her from the clutches of a madman? Oh, Marvin! My hero!

Defying convention was never the slasher genre’s strong suit, so why start with He Knows You’re Alone? It’s a simple story taken from the pages of the master, John Carpenter, but with a small twist – the killer’s face is never concealed (although he remains quite frightening). Perhaps it’s because of those similarities to Halloween that He Knows has never been a darling of the critics, or many die hard fans for that matter, but I still have a soft spot for this nice little thriller. Most detractors of it hate the fact that it’s a basic road map of Halloween but some of us dig the minimalist plot and the chemistry between the two leads. Don Scardino makes Marvin a decent and likable fellow and Caitlin O’Heaney is good as Amy. Lest we forget, this was also Tom Hanks’ first film. He only shows up in two scenes, but you can see his star quality shining.

He Knows has some great set pieces too. The opening scene spins a clever movie within a movie yarn and eagle eyed horror geeks will notice that’s Russell Todd from Chopping Mall and Friday the 13th Part 2 hanging over the car! Blink and you might miss James Carroll from Girls Nite Out in another scene. Yes, there’s a virtual cornucopia of horror references to be had during just one viewing! Now who could say no to that?

Director Armand Mastroianni knew how to keep the bodycount rolling. The best scene in the film features the curvy Elizabeth Kemp sitting with her back to the camera, listening to a pop ballad on headphones and toking it up as our killer watches. Remember when girls were curvaceous? Those were good days! There’s also a terrific close-to-death reaction from the put-upon final girl who plays it like a real person in her situation would – she freaks out! And big time! The horror at what may happen to her is palpable and creates a great sense of fear during the final chase scene.

So while He Knows is by no means a groundbreaking film it is entertaining and harkens back to the day when films of this ilk had yet to be considered contrived. So take your shoes off, kick back and let the killing begin!

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The Future Of Madman Marz

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Dusk

Joe Giannone’s Madman (shot in 1980, released 1982) has experienced a resurgence with slasher fans in recent years similar to the Sleepaway Camp movement. Yet this has all been contrary to the increasing rarity of the film since Anchor Bay’s DVD went out of print.

But that’s about to be remedied as Code Red DVD prepare to release their own special edition into the marketplace come September. Writer/executive producer of Madman, Gary Sales, recently spoke with Retro Slashers about what’s planned for the trusty camp slasher.

“The DVD’s almost done and it’s coming with an hour+ featurette – The Legend Lives: 30 Years of Madman, by horror filmmakers, Victor Bonacora and Dave Beinlich.” Sales tells us. “Lotsa interviews and never before seen images. Just interviewed Deron Miller of CKY, who was inspired by Madman to write Escape From Hellview, the band’s 3rd most popular song on YouTube. In addition, we caught Carl Fredericks (now 84), who played Max. Sorry, Gaylen Ross won’t go on camera. But Paul “Madman” Ehlers is there. There’s also a trip back to Fish Cove, the old  location where Madman was shot.”

Sales has really taken Madman by the belt-buckle and secured its mass-availability long into the future across several formats. He informs us “We’re also now on YouTube Rental and heading for PlayStation, & Hulu. We’re also in iTunes review mode now and should be live there before Halloween.”

No talk of an old slasher movie resurfacing would be complete without bringing up the possibility of another Madman movie. Sales enthusiastically outlined to us what he refers to internally as the Madman Marz 3D Re-Imagining Project. “I’m in talks with studios and foreign buyers for a release in 2011. The script has been written by Paul “Madman Marz” Ehlers, his son Jon (born during production) and myself.  It’s killah! Really killah!” We’ve also heard that it could function as a dual reboot/sequel similar to Friday The 13th (2009) but plan a follow up conversation with Sales in future to address this.

Not simply forward-minded, Sales is happy to look back to yesteryear and take stock of what Madman really meant to people: “Many of our fans are from back in the day and Madman was one of the first horror pix they ever saw (many were underage and got to see it in the early days of VHS while their parentz weren’t home or thru an older sibling.)  But many young horror fans missed the first run and weren’t around in the early 80’s and are just discovering the cool slashers we made back in the day.”

To keep up with the Marz Movement, visit the movie’s Facebook and Twitter.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | 20 Comments

Code Red Say Nightmare DVD Within 6 Months (UPDATED)

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Dusk

While Code Red DVD have released some mouth-watering rarities, their status as the Criterion Of Horror is constantly kneecapped by their seeming reluctance to engage customers about the status of several long-delayed titles.

But nonetheless, the excellent long-running website Horror DVDs has often played public confidant to the company in the past, and today brings positive word from Mr Code Red himself, Bill Norton, about their most anticipated release ever, Nightmare [In A Damaged Brain], aka Blood Splash.

Boldface type added for dramatic effect.

“Anyway, just to clarify to some here – it is not just translating the interview from Italian to English – that is fairly easy. The main issue is that every line of the translation needs to be timed to when Scavolini is talking so that it can be matched to when he’s speaking. It’s not as easy as using a dialog list for a feature film where you have various characters conversing and it’s easy to put the subtitles where/when they belong. This Scavolini interview is basically a 95-minute one man talking feature-length film and requires much more than a translator just writing down what he’s saying on a piece of paper. A professional subtitle-house is the only option and that will cost us well over $3,000 for a title that will never recoup what we’ve already put out. This is simple business truth. We are not a charity, although we would love to be rich and release everything perfectly. I doubt anyone wants to donate $3,500 to get that interview done. I don’t have $3,500 either, unfortunately. Sorry. DVD sales are in the pits, and throwing more cash at a title that will not break even (trust me, it won’t) is simply no longer in the cards.

Anyway, it seems the majority of fans out there really just want the film, though, so we have finally decided to release NIGHTMARE within the next six months with the extras we have completed and leave it at that. Hopefully, fans will appreciate what is there instead of what isn’t. But the film will be there, and that’s the most important thing. Check our blog for the official announcement soon, and the streetdate once it’s announced. Thanks.”

We’ll all be watching their official blog for that official announcement. In the meantime, peruse our past catalog of Nightmare articles, including a juicy one about the famously tangled Tom Savini FX controversy, right here.

Update – Official Announcement from Code Red

Posted in Features | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Horror High 35th Anniversary Edition DVD

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Dusk

On August 10 Code Red DVD releases the 35th Anniversary Edition of Horror High (1974 – do the math on that one). No relation to Return To Horror High (1987), though close together VHS release dates of both films in some countries implied as such, Larry Stouffer’s movie is actually a reliable stock proto-slasher. Continue reading →

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The Undertaker (1988) Review

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Thomas Ellison

undertakerUncle Roscoe (Joe Spinell) is a small town undertaker who loves his work and his customers, literally.  Roscoe is a necrophiliac who turns his female victims into brides while male victims become members of the wedding party.  When Nick (Patrick Askin) discovers his uncle’s dark secret he alerts teacher Pam Hayes (Rebecca Varon, or Yaron depending on the source), which puts them on Roscoe’s hit list.  A cop (writer/director Will Kennedy) and a bumbling security guard are also on Roscoe’s trail.  But Uncle Roscoe has a few tricks up his sleeve and plenty of room in his secret cellar for anyone trying to stop his unholy lust for cold flesh.

Joe Spinell’s final performance in The Undertaker is sad, shocking, terrifying, and amazing.  It’s tough watching the great Joe Spinell stagger through scenes, read his lines from the script on his desk, and glare into the camera whenever he thinks a scene should end.  At times his speech is so slurred that it makes his dialogue damn near unintelligible.  Joe’s performance really comes alive during the second half of the movie.  Just when you think there’s no way Uncle Roscoe can get any crazier, Spinell descends to a whole new level of madness.  With his wild eyes and psychotic laugh, Joe Spinell becomes a chilling portrait of pure insanity during the final showdown with Rebecca Varon.

There are several gory kills to wet the appetites of blood-thirsty slasher fans;  decapitation, disembowelment, an eye gouged out, throats slit and ripped, and a face shoved into a frying pan.  Some of the kill scenes are blunted by bizarre editing but it doesn’t distract from the overall impression  the movie is a real bloodbath.  The sleaze factor really gets cranked up to eleven when Joe or stand-in Will Kennedy fondles the corpses.  Flesh fiends who prefer their women above room temperature will be satisfied with the copious amounts of nudity provided by living characters.

The Undertaker’s biggest flaw is the crazy editing which is so shoddy that it makes one think the film was never finished.  Some scenes are blink-and-you-missed-them short while others drag out long after the actors have finished.  There are several instances were a scene is suddenly interrupted by unrelated footage for no apparent reason.  A couple of kills are played on fast forward accompanied by Joe Spinell’s dubbed in laugh.  In its existing form, The Undertaker is a mess but the film could be saved if the surviving footage was re-edited.  There is an interesting story lurking among the jumbled scenes and garbled dialogue.

Currently, The Undertaker is considered a lost slasher but it has the right ingredients to become a cult classic if it ever gets an official release.  Joe Spinell’s amazing performance in his final slasher film is the best reason to search for the footage.  Also, The Undertaker has a strange sort of low budget, grind-house charm.  There is a rumor The Undertaker will receive an official release in the next year or two.  Hopefully, those rumors are true because Joe Spinell’s last slasher shouldn’t stay lost forever.

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Maniac Cop Screenplay

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Dusk

Here’s the original script for Bill Lustig’s MANIAC COP, titled simply “Cordell” by master screenwriter Larry Cohen.

Cordell (aka Maniac Cop) (3.16meg) July 7th 1987 Draft by Larry Cohen – PDF format

Innocent people are being brutally murdered on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. As the death toll rises and City Hall attempts a cover-up, Frank McCrae heads the investigation. A young cop, Jack Forrest, finds himself under arrest as the chief suspect, having been the victim of a set-up by the real killer and a mysterious woman phone-caller. Forrest, his girlfriend Theresa, and McCrae set out to solve the puzzle before the Maniac Cop can strike again.

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