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Friday, December 29, 2006
Yes, it's been one year. Well, almost. I figure that Horror Drive-In's official birthday is February 10th. That's the date I have logged for posting the first front page essay. But we planned the site for a few weeks and the time has come for me to pay up for another year's hosting.
Honestly, I've had second thoughts about doing it. Time is my biggest problem. I wish that I had more to devote to reviewing and updating everything here. To be more involved in the message board too. But it's been a very nice year. Especially after we fixed the nightmarish spam problem. I've never had to delete or even warn anyone. I know that some sites are a free-for-all, but the drive in is no place for fighting and nastiness. It's a place of celebration and joy. That's the spirit I'm attempting to preserve here.
Things have been fairly quiet at the forum...almost too quiet at times, but looking back over this last year, I feel really good about it. I don't think there's another board quite like it that focuses on horror and exploitation films and horror literature in exactly the way we do. I like it and I like everyone that participates.
Another year and horror appears to be bigger than ever. The big publishers are putting out a lot of scary books and they aren't afraid to call it what it is. Horror. The small presses are thriving still, despite doom-laden prophecies from many. Myself included. I didn't think the faltering economy could support the number of books and micro publishers that are out there. But it is. You are the one to thank for that. The people that buy books every month, even though you have more than you'll ever be able to read in your lifetime. You continue to gamble on new writers, even having been burned a time or two. And hopefully we're all doing our parts to keep independent publishers and bookstores in business.
Horror thrives at the movies too. Some exciting new films have been released in the last year. Controversial movies like Hostel and Saw 3. Popular ones like The Hills Have Eyes, which prove that remake doesn't necessarily have to be a bad word.
Indie films have been coming by the score. Everyone that buys a digital camera from Wal-Mart and owns a computer can now make a film for almost nothing. That's a mixed blessing. It seems like dozens of independent horror films are released each week and most of them are dubious prospects to me. As always, the discerning viewer has to sift and research to find the gold amid the mud.
Me, I miss the days of Super 8. I think a few still use it, but it's the exception rather than the rule these days. To me it was a bit purer then. Every take had to count, or the filmmakers would lose precious film. I think the very method of the use of film made them it much more critical to make each shot count. And from what I've seen, it can show in the results.
It's not that I dislike digital photography, nor do I blame those that use it. It's not like most no-budget directors have a lot of choice. But that anyone with a bit of vision and dedication can shoot a feature is a double edged sword. Talented people get superior movies made, but the market is flooded with a lot of inferior product.
As for the online horror community, it's still going strong. It's like a rushing locomotive, stopping and picking up new passengers all the time. I've been involved in the horror fiction (and to a lesser extend, horror film) community for a long time now. All in all, I love the group. Sure we fight and we all (yes, me too) act like children sometimes. Discussions get heated. Differences of opinion get vociferously out of hand. But when the chips are down, we are the most loving, supportive, most decent and kind-hearted people I've ever met. I'm proud to be a part of it.
In the next year at Horror Drive-In, you can expect more of the same. Reviews and commentaries, opinions and fun at the forum. I hope to get back and do some more interviews, but they take a lot of time and time is what I am short of.
I want to thank everyone that posts or lurks at the boards. And everyone that has dropped me a note about the things I say. If I piss you off or if you agree and want to let me know, don't hesitate to contact me.
Yes, I considered closing the doors here at Horror Drive-In. I couldn't bring myself to do it though. There are enough dead outdoor theaters out there and I don't want this shrine to The Great American Drive-In to join the graveyard.
The greatest dream of my life is to own a drive-in theater and I guess this is as close as I'll ever come to that.
Oh and one more thing: I plan to make several trips to The Starlight Drive-In, in Durham, North Carolina in the next year. It's a blast and I'd love to see some of you Mid-Eastern US horror lovers there. I'll be making announcements and I hope that those of you that live nearby (or even farther away) consider making the show.
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Sunday, December 17, 2006
In an earlier installment in these pages, I made the proclamation that Dust Devil was the horror DVD of 2006. And that wasn't a bad call. Subversive's DVD package is fantastic. However, Dust Devil is a bit too cerebral to really qualify as a drive-in movie. It's really more of an art film than a horror movie to me.
Now I have a different DVD that I think hold the title of Best Horror DVD of 2006. It's the Synapse 2 disc Meltdown Edition of Street Trash.
By any standard, Street Trash is a brilliant low budget exploitation horror movie. But you'd have to have been there at the time to truly understand the excitement that many of us felt for it. Conceived and shot in the mid-late 1980's, Street Trash was a conscious attempt to counterbalance the limp excuses for horror that were all-too-common back then. Things like Critters, Ghoulies, House 2 and numerous others. I admit to feeling fondness for many of these productions, but the genre needed a shot of adrenalin at the time. The classic grindhouse theaters were closing down and so were the drive in theaters. People were holing themselves up in their abodes and were satisfying themselves with a lot of safe genre movies. Street Trash was intended to be unsafe viewing. It would fuck you right in the brain with no condom.
Fangoria championed Street Trash in its pages and the excitement was palpable and infectious. The photos that ran in the magazine were mind-blowing. Early word about the film and interviews with its cast and crew promised something that we'd never quite seen before. And man did they deliver.
Street Trash is, on the surface, a wild story about an unearthed crate of cheap wine that has an explosive effect on those that imbibe it. At a buck a pop, it becomes a popular choice on the street and the bums that drink it meltdown and explode. But really, the story works best as a look at the lives of various street people and the community they have created. The depiction of them is sometimes disgusting, often hysterical, and even oddly touching at times. The exploding winos are merely icing on the cake.
Street Trash was eventually released on the Lightning Pictures label on Vestron Video. I lived directly across the street from an Erol's Video at the time and I was friends with the manager. One Saturday I had some company over and the manager called me and chuckled and said that he had Street Trash for me. This was before the actual release date and I got it for free. I think that I surprised my guests when I yelled, "ALL RIGHT!" into the phone and ran out the door and across the street.
We watched the movie and we all roared with laughter at the right places and cringed at the explicit gore sequences. Street Trash was exactly what it had been promised to be: A modern exploitation classic.
Street Trash might not have been an enormous money maker, but it was seen by those that needed to see it and those that experienced its marvels have never forgotten it. Numerous individuals, like myself, waited for its arrival on DVD.
Our dreams came true a couple of years ago, when Street Trash was released in a fully restored edition from The Criterion of Exploitation, Synapse Films. I suppose that 'restored' isn't really the proper word here...because this DVD looked better than any previous release. Far, far better.
I had the pleasure of meeting Roy Frumkes, the writer and producer of Street Trash, at The Horrorfind Convention 2005. Frumkes is a charming, funny and obviously intelligent guy. He was at the Synapse table to help promote the first, bare bones, release of Street Trash on DVD. I knew that a Special Edition was forthcoming, but I bought one anyway. I got the leaflet insert signed and inscribed by Mr. Frumkes, and that edition also contained a sticker which could turn any bottle of wine into a faux bottle of Tenefly Viper. Which is the name of the toxic wine that ignited and explodes the assorted bums and misfits in the film.
Now, a couple of years later, the deluxe, 2 disc "Meltdown Edition" of Street Trash is available. To those that have purchased the single edition, I urge you to double dip this time. And for those that haven't seen Street Trash before, this is THE must-own movie of the year.
In this time of extras and documentaries and bonus features on movies on DVD, I grow weary of it all. Most tend to be a bit boring and similar to each other. This is most definitely not the case with The Meltdown Memoirs, a feature length documentary about the making of Street Trash. Even longer than the film it documents, The Meltdown Memoirs is as entertaining and fascinating as the feature itself. Roy Frumkes' likable personality permeates The Meltdown Memoirs and he shares an abundance of information about the film and the people that made it. People that are are as interesting as the characters in the actual film. The two hour running length of The Meltdown Memoirs went by all too fast for me, and I wanted to watch it again the very next night. Many know that Roy Frumkes makes excellent movie documentaries...anyone that has seen Document of the Dead can testify to that. But The Meltdown Memoirs is even better than the in depth look at the making of Dawn of the Dead. It is, in fact, the single best documentary of the making of a movie that I've ever seen.
The extra disc also contains the original 16 minute short that inspired Street Trash, as well as a long lost teaser for the film. Add two commentaries from both Frumkes and director Jim Muro (who went on to become the most sought-after steadycam operator in Hollywood) and a still gallery.
Christmas is here and you owe yourself a present. Buy the 2 disc Meltdown Edition of Street Trash and you'll thank me for it. Or maybe buy it for someone you love. This is easily the best horror DVD package of 2006.
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Saturday, December 09, 2006
I can hear it now. I'm a Scrooge, a humbug, a spoilsport and a cynic. Maybe so.
But I feel for a lot of people around this upcoming holiday. I'm not talking about those that are lonely or too poor for food, even though they deserve sympathy and care too. I'm talking about the middle to low income families and the poor slob that is the husband/father. In many cases these people have a hard enough time keeping the bills and creditors at bay. The ever-increasing difficulty in keeping food in the bellies, clothes on the backs and gas in the car. People holding their own in an unfair world and not asking or expecting any handouts.
In today's society, parents are expected to give their kids everything their hearts desire and if they do not go through with this, they are awful people. I've talked to people that say this time of year is the worst for them. No matter how they attempt to save and plan ahead, the Season of loving-kindness and generosity is a living nightmare. Too many people get behind on their payments or even worse, get themselves into debt. A swamp of killer interest rates and payments that can never be caught up on. It is expected of them.
And it's not like I didn't get the royal treatment when I was growing up. We lived in humble means, but every Christmas the floor was so full of toys and presents that you couldn't even walk. I'm not feeling sorry for myself either. I'm a pretty lucky guy in this regard. I have an employer that always gives a ridiculously generous bonus and it easily covers the purchases I need to make. But too many others aren't as fortunate.
People get depressed and even physically sick when they contemplate the season and its implications. And they are reminded of it everywhere they go, from bell-ringers outside of stores
begging for another piece of their ass to sickeningly sweet carols playing everywhere. A constant reminder that they are shitty parents/children/family members unless they spend far more than they are able to for Christmas presents . It's the same warped logic that makes a young man think he has to go into debt to get an engagement ring that is preposterously outside his budget. A trinket that merely symbolizes the real bond between a couple about to be married.
Wouldn't it be better if everyone just gave and received one item? Something that comes from the heart and not the mall. But the retailers get all lined up anticipating the profits that they'll accumulate over the joyous holiday season. Children are programmed to expect an enormous payoff at Christmas and many adults even put unrealistic expectations on others this time of year.
And the poor get poorer by the day.
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