Alternative Cinema News

Christmas Time...It's Here Again!

2011-12-22T20:24:00.003-05:00

Have you listened to the December Podcast yet????

Special guest “The Russ” (Erin Russ) talks about her starring role in PorkChop! Your favorite Christmas Horror movie and More! Hosted by Michael Raso, John Fedele and William Hellfire!

Listen In!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Alternative Cinema Podcast 33 / December 2011

2011-12-02T12:03:00.005-05:00

Alternative Cinema Podcast 33 / December 2011
Show Notes by Douglas Waltz

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Tune in:
http://alternativecinema.podbean.com/
Stream, Download, iTunes

We plunge right in to the Christmas extravaganza with a trippy, echoey beginning before special guest – Erin Russ informs us this is episode 33 (and not 32!)

Michael Raso has his Polaroid ProCam loaded with expired film along with William Hellfire, John Fedele and the aforementioned Erin Russ, who will be referred to as “The Russ” from here on out.

"The Russ" shot with the Polaroid Pro Cam

Since we have The Russ you know that The Russ Shuffle by The Smooth Sailors can’t be far behind!

The Russ Shuffle by Film Photography Project

John Fedele was a little late so Michael took it as a sign for an impromptu photo shoot with The Russ.

Above:

The Russ brought Michael a CD of demented Christmas music which leads us into a trailer for the newly released Porkchop.

The big news of the month is that Michael has connected with his childhood sweetheart. Seems she dumped him in 1985 at The Dairy Queen when he told her he was going to a Fangoria convention to meet Tom Savini instead of spending time with her. Twenty-six years later all wounds have healed and through the magic of The Facebook.

above: Tom Savini (Who is Tom Savini)

Seduction Cinema will be taking over Showtime soon with the triple threat of Playmate of the Apes, BatBabe and SpiderBabe with Showtime’s Sexy Spoofs.

The VHS release of The Basement garnered mention in both The New York Times and G4.

The Monster Channel is also being invaded by Camp Motion Pictures with the upcoming showings of;
Video Violence 1 & 2
Cannibal Campout
Woodchipper Massacre
Splatter Farm
Beauty Queen Massacre
And, of course, The Basement

Check out http://www.100ymm.com/ for more information.

Director Richard Griffin got to have two theatrical showings of his newest film, Exhumed, and Paige Davis was there for a report from the premiere.

Henrique Couto gets a mention for his new Christmas album, Yule Be Sorry which can be had over at ukeordie.com.

Mr. Hellfire was extremely excited to hear about the new film, Sweet Prudence and The Erotic Adventures of Bigfoot.

We got letters from Ramundo, Ryan Johnson, Tony who won the AC Magazine contest, but Michael never sent out, James, who wants to know if the guys want to review his movie, Hack Job and Thomas who also has a film to review called Weed Wolf. William heard there was a Bigfoot in it so he’s all for it.

The Russ covers the film Where The Dead Go To Die

The Evan City Chapel which appears in the classic film, Night of the Living Dead is in disrepair and horror fans are trying to save it from destruction. Check out http://www.fixthechapel.com/ to see what you can do to help.

William mentions a handful of Code Red titles for perfect Christmas presents (available from Alternative Cinema.)
Soul Survivor
Messiah
And Beyond The Door.

Porkchop is finally released and for all fans of The Russ, she will indeed be topless. The Russ is also in the newest issue of Girls and Corpses. She even has a brief Q&A in the magazine which she reads for us.

This leads us into a huge review of the 1966 classic The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t that everyone watched. It even made The Russ cry.

Not to be outdone, William gives us Werewolf of Woodstock with Kevin Tighe as the main monster, Andrew Stevens as a hippy and Belinda Balaski who even wrote to The Russ about how much fun it was to make the film.

William regales us with a band called Happy Flower and their psychedelic noise/sound.

Followed up by The Golden Turkey Awards album with the season Appropriate, Hurray For Santy Claus from Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.

William gives a rundown of the 24 hour Exhumed Film Festival where The Russ caught up on mass quantities of sleep.

Finally, Mike mentions Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol and we end the holiday podcast with the song ‘We’re Despicable’ from the film.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we’ll see you next year!

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST / Episode 32 - November, 2011

2011-11-03T10:26:00.003-04:00

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST
Episode 32 - November, 2011

The ultimate internet radio show for indie underground film fans and filmmakers alike! Thanksgiving Horrors! VHS Goes to Camp! The Thing 2011! New DVD Releases! Near-Death and the Ultimate Poop Story! Hosted by Michael Raso, John Fedele and William Hellfire!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Show Notes by Douglas Waltz

The AC Podcast returns with one of my favorite quotes from John Carpenter’s The Thing. It’s Mike, John and William with November’s AC Podcast!

The winner of the Erin Russ contest is David Montgomery.

Letters are read from our faithful listeners. Trent from Kent, ‘Scotch’ Anderson wrote in this month.

Speaking of “Scotch,” the first important news of the month is the soon to be unleashed on the world, Playmate Of The Apes…The Comic Book!

Michael, William and The Russ went to see The Thing prequel. Thumbs down from Michael, but William has certain things (pun intended) that he likes from the film. They do both agree that it seems bland and one dimensional in comparison to Carpenter’s 1982 film. This leads to discussion of other recent remakes like Funny Games and Let The Right One In.

above: "The Russ," Willam Hellfire and Michael Raso en route to "The Thing" prequel.

The Fall 2011 Catalog update is out and available by request. Mike runs down a bunch of the new titles in the update. The catalog is discussed in painstaking detail.

The guys discuss trying to finish and release Grizzly 2.

They received a letter from the original president of Camp Video. He is happy that someone is still releasing films under the name and passes the torch.

Paige Davis does an interview at Nighthawk Cinema where they did a VHS viewing of Video Violence and The Basement.

John and Mike share stories of vehicular disasters that may include alcohol. It quickly devolves into William’s tale of pooping his pants. Much laughter ensues.

William does reviews of Cuckoo Clocks From Hell, Happy Life and the band Scratch Acid.

William mentions horror films with a Thanksgiving bent. Home Sweet Home with Body by Jake is mentioned.

Mike gives us a taste of what December will bring to the Alternative Cinema Podcast including the release of Porkchop with Erin Russ.

Mike talks about his recent purchase of the Beach Boys Smile Sessions CDs.

A general call for letters about your favorite Christmas horror film is made before the guys hit the road for another month.

http://www.alternativecinema.com/

Alternative Cinema Podcast #31 - October 2011 Show Notes!

2011-09-28T21:56:00.004-04:00

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Show notes by Douglas Waltz

Along with the regulars, Michael Raso, William Hellfire and John Fedele we have the special guest star, Erin Russ as the AC podcast explores all things Erin Russ.

Image above: Super Ghoulish guest Erin Russ photographed by Michael Raso

Halloween is upon us and the AC Podcast shows it’s true colors with sound bites from “Famous Monsters Speaks,” the likes of Bela Lugosi, Grandpa Munster with a taste of the tune ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Nouvelle Vague to get the show off to the right start.

Pre-Show activity includes Michael loading up his Polaroid Spectra camera and John Fedele presents Michael with a Two Guys Tee-Shirt!

above: Erin Russ shot with a Polaroid Spectra camera. Below: Two Guys department store posted by John from Flickr.

Erin presents the new releases from AlternativeCinema.com :

Sept. 27th The Sex Merchants
Nov. 8th Lustful Illusions
Dec 6th Porkchop and Zombie Allegiance
Jan. 17th Platinum Pussycat/Sexploiters Double Feature
Jan. 24th Sexually Deranged and Stiffed

The new Alternative Cinema Catalog Update is now available. E-mail us ( AlternativeCinemaPodcast@gmail.com )for a PDF!

Cinema Wasteland is coming Sept. 30th – Oct. 2nd with Director Henrique Couto managing the Alternative Cinema booth. Some of the guests include Gunnar Hansen, Frank Henenlotter and Ginger Lynn Allen.

Alternative Cinema will also be at the New York Comic Con - New York Oct. 13th – 16th.

We'll be at Chiller Theater! This Chiller be will mark the last East Coast appearance of Elvira.

All things Erin Russ!

Erin tells the tale of how she met William on MySpace(!) that led her to moving to New Jersey.

above: Erin in makeup for an Alternative Cinema cover photo shoot.

Erin discusses her photo shoots for covers for Alternative Cinema. She also appeared the short film, Devil Sister which was her first film.

Erin stars in "Porkchop" and discusses working on the production. Porkchop is about a bunch of high school students who decide to camp at Camp Wood. Little do they realize that a madman with a pig mask is waiting for them. Porkchop stars Erin Russ and Ruby LaRocca .

The "Erin Russ" photo shoots for Girls and Corpses is discussed. Michael Raso shot the images and opted for using Kodachrome film instead of digital photography for the shoot.

Erin Russ personally made a "Mixed CD" called the "Devil Sister's Halloween Horror Show" and is giving it away. Tune in to the podcast to find out how to win!

Next Up is the Center Stage Review of The Basement, the 1989 Super 8 gore feature that has never been released...til now!. The Basement tells the tale of four characters who are confronted by a creature who shows each of them a vision of their own personal Hell. The box set includes four more shot on video films as well as the option to watch The Basement on a blood red VHS tape!

William brought John some VHS presents to bring home; The Meat Eater, Silent Madness and The Weirdo by Andy Milligan.

The Russ Shuffle by Film Photography Project

Lastly, the gang discusses the new song by The Smoove Sailors recorded especially for this podcast - The Erin Russ Shuffle!!!

That's it til next month!

Alternative Cinema - What's New!?

2011-09-15T15:20:00.004-04:00

Alternative Cinema is happy to announce the following new DVD releases this week!

THE BASEMENT (1989)
THE 5-FILM RETRO ‘80s HORROR COLLECTION (3 DVD + VHS SET)

We've waited 22 years for this release! 5 Films in a VHS Big Box for an amazinghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif $24.99 at Alternative Cinema. Get it here!

The Ultimate Gift to Fans of 1980’s DIY Horror Cinema! VHS / DVD 5-Film Collection in an Exclusive VHS Collector’s Package that Includes Classic Early 1980’s Home Video VHS “Big Box” Packaging! Also Includes the Never-Before-Released 8mm feature, The Basement, on DVD…and VHS!

Available for the first time on VHS and DVD, The Basement is the lost 1989 Super 8 anthology feature film directed by Timothy O’Rawe (Ghoul School). Restored by director of photography Michael Raso in 2010, The Basement is a shining example of 80’s DIY cinema inspired by Amicus Films’ Tales from the Crypt and featuring elaborate special make-up and creature effects by Scott Hart.

The Basement (1989) - Directed by Tim O’Rawe. Four strangers are summoned to the basement of an abandoned house by a mysterious entity known only as The Sentinel. One after another, they are forced to witness heinous deeds they have yet to commit – and which will damn them for all eternity.

Swimming Pool - An unfaithful woman disposes of the evidence with a little help from a demonic water spirit.

Trick or Treat - Classic monsters exact revenge on a bitter man who refuses to honor Halloween.

Zombie Movie - Cocaine, hookers and reanimated corpses wreak havoc on the set of an independent film.

Home Sweet Home - A young man questions his sanity after purchasing a house where torture and mass murder were committed 6 years before.

The Basement Retro ‘80s Horror Collection also includes cult classic DIY films:

Captives – Available for the first time on DVD, Captives is director Gary Cohen’s follow-up to his incredibly successful SOV horror films Video Violence and Video Violence 2. Taken hostage by three violently deranged criminals, a woman fights back to save her baby and mother-in-law’s lives in this gritty and suspenseful crime drama.

Video Violence - In this gore-soaked cult classic, a young couple opens a video store in a small town populated by violence-addicted amateur filmmakers, lead by the demented Howard and Eli.

Video Violence 2 - The sequel to the Video Violence finds Howard and Eli pirating a cable TV channel for the purpose of furthering their brand of homegrown depravity, madness and murder.

Cannibal Campout - Deranged orphans torture, mutilate and murder innocent campers in this DIY classic from Jon McBride.

1987, 1988, 1989 / 548 mins. / Horror / Color and B&W / Not Rated / 4x3 / Region 0 / NTSC / English / Stereo

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- The Basement on VHS Cassette
- The Basement Commentary
- The Basement Outtakes
- The Basement New Segment
- Vengeance short film
- Say No To Drugs short film
- Meadowlands Showcase Segment: Halloween Take Over
- Meadowlands Showcase Segment: Long Road to Karaoke
- Meadowlands Showcase Segment: Long is the Night
- Video Violence 1&2 Commentaries
- Cannibal Campout Commentary
- Captives Commentary
- Interview with Video Violence Director Gary Cohen
- Camp Motion Picture Vault

____________________________________________________

BEYOND THE DUNWICH HORROR / PRETTY DEAD THINGS HORROR DOUBLE FEATURE 2-DVD SET

Two Astonishing Tales of Terror From Beyond the Grave

Get it HERE for $14.99 on DVD!

Beyond the Dunwich Horror - A Modern Vision of Ancient Evil

Kenny Crawford arrives in Dunwich after hearing that his brother Andrew has been admitted to a psychiatric ward, and is suspected in a string of disappearances in the town. As he investigates the mystery surrounding his brother’s incarceration, he uncovers evidence of a sinister and dangerous plot…as an ancient evil awakens from its slumber…featuring Lynn Lowry (The Crazies, I Drink Your Blood)

Pretty Dead Things - Death Never Looked This Good

Adult film star Jennifer Bond has everything a girl could want: looks, power, a fabulously dangerously sexy boyfriend…and immortality due to the fact she was transformed into a vampire circa 1979. But as her 50th birthday draws near, she returns to the town she left in search of the love of her life, the aging porn director John Welles. Unfortunately, one of her travelling companions and former co-star takes a shine to one of their midnight snacks, a pizza delivery boy, and she creates a new vampire with a taste for bloody revenge! As the four ex-porn stars ravage the town as part of their nightly fun, the pizza boy hooks up with the beleaguered mayor and the Moral Majority to stomp out the dangerously porn star-vampire menace.

________________________________________________________________

42nd Street Pete's BUSTY BABE BONANZA 2-DVD SET

It’s a Full House! DVD only $14.99 HERE!
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Hosted by Grindhouse personality 42nd Street Pete, Busty Babe Bonanza presents over three hours of scintillating sexploitation! This vintage 28-loop collection showcases classic Erotica from the 1950s through the 1970s, and features busty starlets Uschi Digard, Candy Samples and Arline Hunter in hard-to-find loops Dr. Probe and the infamous “Marilyn Monroe” short, Apple Knockers and a Coke.

Loops included are:
Geisha Girls, Bunny Waters, Girls Who Talk to Goats, Frisco Girls, Apple Knockers and a Coke, Classy, Uschi, Patricia, Big Hair Hijinx, Triple Climax Orgy, Kitty V, Sherri Quinn, Kalantan – Lia – Jerrima, Dr. Probe, Chastity Belt, Mistress Uschi, Mistress of the Ropes, Cherry Cheeks, Take Down and Tap Out, Open Evenings, Nudist Camp, Naturally Yours, Carol Baker, Ruby Hughes and Friend, Wild Honey, Kiko, Helen Russo, Spanks May I Have Another

1950s – 1970s / 235 mins. / Erotica / Color and B&W / Not Rated / 4x3 / Region 0 / English

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Color Booklet Featuring Liner Notes by Grindhouse Personality and Program Host 42nd Street Pete
- Secret Key Trailer Vault

__________________________________________________________________

Don't forget to tune in to the Alternative Cinema Internet Radio Show! Where else can you hear about backstage antics with Brian Wilson!!!???

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Join the AC Podcast October 1 when Michael, William and John are joined by the undead Erin Russ. She's so cool that she has her own theme!

The Russ Shuffle by Film Photography Project

Don't miss a dead beat! Visit often:
http://www.alternativecinema.com

Alternative Cinema Expands Warehouse!

2011-09-04T18:48:00.002-04:00

The Alternative Cinema warehouse expansion will cause interruption to our phone service from Tuesday September 5th through Wednesday September 7th.

above: Jeff inspects shelving that will hold new products delivered to Alternative Cinema

AC on-line ordering will not be interrupted.
http://www.alternativecinema.com/

AC catalog manager Justin Wingenfeld handling the fork lift in the massive product movement. It is estimated that Ac warehouses 200,000 DVDs.

Sledgehammer - AC Center Stage Review

2011-09-02T10:22:00.003-04:00

Review by William Hellfire

When asked what David A. Prior's inspiration was in shooting Sledgehammer he said plainly 'the horror movies of the time, I don't even remember 'em it's so long ago…ah...Jason.."...Sledgehammer was not a work of an inspired horror film enthusiast, just a guy who wanted to become a filmmaker and learn while doing it. This was considered nothing more than 'product' for it’s distributors and for the first wave of potential fans who rented it, it must have been a shock to the system as shot on video releases were unheard of at the time of its release. \

Having myself come from the world of shot on video low-budget and micro-budget films, Sledgehammer was still a shock to MY system as it was lensed in 1983 and I had never seen anything quite that dated shot on video. The film itself is a mad train wreck padded with slow motion, repetitive bland interior scenery (I.E. living room, hallway, kitchen, bedroom repeat!) shot with a dreamy blurred filter starring a male stripper/model as the hero and a sledgehammer-wielding snuffalufigus ghost as the killer who switches back and forth from child form to grown up form. In one memorable scene he even GROWS before our very eyes from child to adult. The plot is loose, the pacing clunky, the character interactions awkward (and sometimes even gross). Add in seemingly arbitrary supernatural elements and it makes for a surreal experience.

Bad is the new good, we have made cinefile sport out of limited films who’s intentions are pure and end results were none the less bananas! As horror film fanatics we have seen all the greats, unearthed the cult faves, and now the only way to satiate our lust for ‘80s horror is revisit the bottom feeders, search for the forgotten, the odd balls and the awful. Movies rushed into production to cash in on the video craze, some of them are snooze fests, low-budget rip-offs of commercial genre pictures and some are small screen gems in their own unique way as is SLEDGEHAMMER!!!!

Some of the gore effects are truly gruesome, especially a grey matter exposing sledge to the back of the head head, but the choreography of the kills are amateur and awkward; usually the drama and suspense added only by slow motion playback. (The 80 minute run time would be much shorter if a third of the film was played at the actual speed.) The food fight scene is actually more revolting than most the kills and fortunately plays out in real time.

That all aside this is an entertaining movie if for no other reason than it is completely foreign to the senses and presents a brand new experience and look into the early years of no budget filmmaking. The score is a well done synth drone a la carpenter and makes up for the grating obnoxious characters and their poorly delivered, chuckle inducing dialogue.

The DVD presentation and extras are really the star of the show. Intervision's presentation holds true to the retro enthusiast vibe and compliments this shot on video feature with a few great intuitive and entertaining extras as well as amazing trailers for more ‘80s shot on video movies: “Things”, “A Night to Dismember”, and “The Secret Life of Jeffery Dahmer”. Even Intervision’s logo is made to resemble the authentic ‘80s video graphics as well as its synth sting accompaniment. The logo seems to have been laid off to VHS and re-encoded to giving it an authentic VHS feel. Nice job guys, really dig the style and all the love you put into this release.

Alternative Cinema Podcast #30 / September 2011 – Show Notes

2011-09-01T00:25:00.003-04:00

Notes by Douglas Waltz

The Alternative Cinema Podcast!
Listen, Download, iTunes!

Podcast Powered By Podbean

The 30th episode of the AC Podcast starts off with a cut from Satan’s Pilgrims album Creature Features.

Your hosts Michael Raso, John Fedele and Bill Hellfire hit the ground running with a Polaroid Spectra camera full of expired film to document the show.

With all the new listeners and letters, Mike is really happy to be there. So happy that he mentions a new purchase - Brian Wilson Reimagining Gershwin CD. That leads into a tale of Mike and John, along with Mike Weiss getting to meet Brian Wilson at Carnegie Hall.

John Fedele meets Brian Wilson!

The guys run down places where Alternative Cinema will be making personal appearances.

Nighthawk Cinema will have a screening of Video Violence with director Gary Cohen on hand for a prescreening Q&A.

The New York Comic Con in October October 13th – 16th
http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/
Buffalo Screams Horror Festival October 26th -30th
Buffalo, NY

ChillerTheatre Expo October 28th – 30th
http://www.chillertheatre.com/

Mike also gives us a heads up that the October AC Podcast will be The Erin Russ Podcast!

Listener letters are followed up by Bill bringing a new twist to the hillbilly horror that the guys are so fond of.

The less traveled path of …sasquatch rape!

With films like Night of the Demon and Demon Warp, Bill gives full reviews of both films and mentions a new release, Letters From The Big Man that deals with sasquatch love.

Bill also brings in one of his VHS treasures. A big box copy of Godzilla vs. Megalon.

The hillbilly discussion continues as Bill mentions Slashed Dreams a.k.a. Sunburst from 1974 starring an extremely young Robert Englund.

And just when you think the reviews are over, Bill talks about the Intervision release of the classic 80’s shot on video horror classic, Sledge Hammer. With all the extras, Bill’s review makes this sound like a must buy for any fan of the genre.

Bill brings up two artists in the music scene that he recommends highly. The group Graveyard from Sweden and Silverfish

Silverfish “Crazy”

Les Baxter

John discusses music with recent purchases of Les Baxter film soundtracks. They discuss all the Corman films as well as other low budget horror films that Baxter contributed to.

With that they wrap up the show with a tune from the film, Horror Express.

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

“Horror Express” coming to DVD this year from Severin Films!

Write to the Alternative Cinema Podcast
AlternativeCinemaPodcast@gmail.com

Don't forget...get yer DVDs at AlternativeCinema.com!

See ya next month!

Alternative Cinema Internet Radio - March 2011

2011-03-01T05:00:00.003-05:00

Filmmakers Chris LaMartina’s latest feature “Witch’s Brew” and Clint Kelly discusses the story behind releasing the 1980s shot-on-video feature “Sledge Hammer” on DVD.

Download, stream, iTunes or listen below
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

Podcast Powered By Podbean

above: NEW YEAR'S EXECUTIONS

above: PRESIDENT'S DAY 2: THE EVISCERATION PROCLAIMATION

Check out all the vids on Chris LaMartina’s The Lost Trailer Park YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/thelosttrailerpark#p/u

Clint Kelly talks about “Generation Z” and “Sledge Hammer” in this video from August 2010

Did you know?

Alternative Cinema prints an old-timey catalog for all the horror and exploitation DVDs they offer. Titles from Shock-O-Rama, Blue Underground, Camp Motion Pictures, Synapse Film, Seduction Cinema, Retro-Seduction and more.

Get yours...it's FREE.
e-mail us! Send us your address and tell us a little about yourself. A catalog will be on its way to you!
AlternativeCinema (at) gmail.com

AC Home Page
http://www.alternativecinema.com

Alternative Cinema Podcast - Episode 23 - February 1, 2011

2011-02-01T08:58:00.004-05:00

The Alternative Cinema Podcast celebrates the release of the Jacob Ennis gore-fest “Red River,” the sleaze report on the new 1970s After Hours Cinema releases, Mike White’s Impossibly Funky book and dirty paperback books from the 70s.

Stream, Download or iTunes links:
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Alternative Cinema celebrates the release of Jacob Ennis' new gore-fest RED RIVER!

RED RIVER is available on DVD today!Buy it at Alternative Cinema.

****************************

An AC podcast listener turned us on to Kerry Decker's NIGHT LIFE - The latest in VHS technology! Totally awesome!

****************************

Did you know that Alternative Cinema prints a DVD catalog featuring over 1000 titles? It's free...get yours!

Send an e-mail to AlternativeCinemaPodcast (at) gmail.com
Send us your address and a little bit about you and your love of Indie films. We'll get a catalog out you you!

Alternative Cinema Podcast NOTES / Episode 21 - December 1, 2010

2010-12-01T00:37:00.004-05:00

The Alternative Cinema Podcast welcomes 42nd Street Pete – the “go to guy” when it comes to all things Grindhouse. Why? Because he was there. He lived the era. In the Grindhouse heyday through its demise in the 80’s, the guy lived Times Square and all of the good, bad, and ugly that went along with it.

Listen to Alternative Cinema Podcast Episode 20 - Devember 1, 2010
42nd Street Pete
Interview by Film Historian Michael Bowen

Stream, Download or iTunes
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

Hookers, peep shows, drugs, bums, mobsters, and the infamous grindhouses were all part of Pete’s life.

In 2006 Pete launched 42nd STREET PETE’S 8mm MADNESS, a DVD series of forgotten 70’s stag loops on DVD.

Pete’s DVD line is still going strong and has recently branched out with his Saturday Night Internet Radio Show – 42nd Street Pete’s Grindhouse
http://www.jackaloperadio.com/

Visit Pete on the Internet at www.42ndStreetPete.com

Stream, Download or iTunes
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

"Book of Lore" filmmakers score at Killer Film Festival

2010-11-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Blog by Michael Raso

Imagine my surprise when I received a call (this past Monday morning) from indie filmmakers Chris LaMartina and Jimmy George for an invite to lunch. Turns out both gents were passing through on their way back from the Killer Film Festival in Massachusetts where they picked up three (count ‘em…THREE) awards for their new film “Presidents Day.” ("Best Picture", "Best Screenplay" and "Best Use of a Former President")

(above) A relaxing lunch at "The Butler" Family Restaurant

Chris and Jimmy are also the talented guys behind two new releases this year – the “Book of Lore/Grave Mistakes Double Feature” and (segment director for) “Faces of Schlock.”

This dynamic duo was also my guests on the May 2010 Alternative Cinema podcast. We heartily discussed the trials and tribulations of producing a no-budget movie. An episode of the AC Podcast that no low-budget filmmaker will want to miss! Listen below.

Stream, Download or iTunes link
http://www.alternativecinemapodcast.com

Best of luck to Chris & Jimmy. Come back soon!

Visit the Killer Film Festival on-line
http://www.killerfilmfest.com/

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

All text and photos © Alternative Cinema, L.L.C.

FANGO SEZ SKIP THE GYM AND WATCH SCULPTURE INSTEAD!

2010-11-12T07:00:00.002-05:00

"A visceral treat" "One of the best horror films of 2009" HorrorSociety.com

“…well-acted, intense, gory, repulsive, disturbing, and brutal” FearZone.com

"a gruesome tale about an aspiring artist who goes to hell and back for her art" 10 K Bullets.com

SCULPTURE, the newest gore-tastic feature film from genre director Pete Jacelone, stars Raine Brown as Ashley Steel, a talented artist who happens to be haunted by traumatic incidents from her past. Despite support from her childhood friend (Misty Mundae), Ashley spirals down a path of unspeakable psychopathic terror and murder. Featuring Marv Blauvelt, Susan Adriensen, Alan Rowe Kelly and a terrific supporting cast, SCULPTURE "contains all of your favorite things - humor, sex and gore" (Fangoria Magazine).

SCULPTURE, which screened to critical and audience acclaim at numerous genre festivals, was released by Camp Motion Pictures October 12, 2010 and can purchased at a special promotional price of $14.99 at AlternativeCinema.com

You can purchase or stream SCULPTURE at many retail and online stores, including: Hastings, Kim's Underground, Amoeba, Amazon.com, Blockbuster.com, and Movies Unlimited.

Back to Alternative Cinema

Camp Retro 80s Lives!

2010-11-09T10:05:00.005-05:00

blog by Michael Raso

Gary P. Cohen will be my special guest on the December 2010 Alternative Cinema Podcast. Gary is the director of the infamous 1987 Direct-To-Video classic VIDEO VIOLENCE.

VIDEO VIOLENCE, VIDEO VIOLENCE II (1987) and the rarely seen CAPTIVES (1988) will be part of the upcoming Camp Motion Pictures Box Set (that will also include the unreleased 1989 Super 8 film THE BASEMENT)

Original VHS box arts

Recording for the podcast will take place this Thursday, November 11 at Camp Motion Pictures HQ in Butler, NJ.

If podcast listeners have any questions for Mr Cohen, please e-mail them to me at AlternativeCinemaPodcast (at) gmail.com

About Gary P. Cohen

Gary P. Cohen is the Producing Director for Middlesex County, New Jersey's Plays-in-The-Park. Over Gary's diverse career, he has been a theatrical agent for The William Morris Agency, founded his own theater company (Celebration Playhouse) in the 70's, acted in many plays and musicals, and created lighting and set designs for PIP and other NJ theaters. In addition to directing at PIP, Gary has worked for the Bickford Theatre and the Forum Theatre. He has written two books about theater: THE COMMUNITY THEATER HANDBOOK and the THEATER DIRECTOR'S PRIMER, both published by Heinemann Publishers and available on-line at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.

Film Editor Joe Kolbek and Gary P Cohen (at Camp HQ in 2007)

Along with Mark Baron, he has written a children's musical, THE RELUCTANT DRAGON, published by Heuer Publishing. A horror movie fanatic, Gary has also written and directed two ground-breaking shot-on-video horror films, VIDEO VIOLENCE and VIDEO VIOLENCE 2 which have become cult favorites. Camp Motion Pictures has released the two films, completely re-mastered, on a double DVD, complete with director commentary, outtakes, and interviews.- http://www.frankensteinthemusical.com/team_Cohen.html

Alternative Cinema Home Page

Alternative Cinema Podcast NOTES / Episode 20 - November 1, 2010

2010-11-01T09:53:00.002-04:00

Blog by Michael Raso

Episode 20 - November 1, 2010
Shooting movies with the Canon 7D DSLR, Scrambled Sex TV Channels, Apple Knockers and a Coke and tons more. Special guests Henrique Couto and Joey K.

Stream, Download or iTunes
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

This month I'm joined by filmmakers Henrique Couto and Joe Kolbek.

Links to topics discussed:

The NEW Polaroid 300 Instant Film Camera is available at Target Stores in the USA.

The Polaroid 300 camera takes credit card sized instant pictures. I took it with me to the premiere of Digger Films' "Under The Scares." You Tube video below.

Canon 7D DSLR scores BIG for low-budget filmmakers!

Henrique and Joe discuss their experiences using the Canon 7D camera. Most recently, Henrique shot "Church of the Eyes" - a film currently in production by CoppFilms.

"Church of the Eyes" teaser trailer

"Church of the Eyes" - Written by Andrew Copp, Kevin Jones and Nick Williams. Directed by Andrew Copp. Projected release date 2011 Shot on the Canon 7D by Henrique Couto. Image © Copp Films. Image Used with Permission. http://coppfilms.weebly.com

"The Basement" to be released on DVD and VHS?!

We announced that Tim O'Rawe's 1989 Super 8 feature film "The Basement" will make it's world premiere on VHS and DVD in 2011. The film was shelved and forgotten due to technical difficulties.

Introducing the ZOOM HD2 Handy "Digital" Recorder

The November AC Pocast was recored on the NEW ZOOM HD recorder. It's fantastic and perfect for recording sound on your movie set using the Canon 7D!

Above: SWEETWATER Zoom H2 video on YouTube
http://www.sweetwater.com/

Alternative Cinema Forum at KILLER REVIEWS!

Did you know that you can log on to KillerReviews.com in their forums section and leave comments in/about Alternative Cinema podcast!? Log on today!
http://www.killerreviews.com/forums/forum.php

NEW RELEASES at Alternative Cinema!

The boys discuss new DVD releases including SCULPTURE, FACES OF SCHLOCK and TWO BIG BOOBS - featuring the famous, famous, famous stag reel - "Apple Knockers and a Coke!"

Trailers for some NEW RELEASES

"Two Big Boobs"

"Sculpture" - starring Raine Browne and Misty Mundae

"Faces of Schlock" stars Ruby LaRocca

NEW RELEASES at Alternative Cinema ON SALE!

The 1980s SCRAMBLED SEX DVD COLLECTION is discussed. In the 1980s, before cable TV reached some areas, soft-core sex shows were shown on UHF channels. The signal was scrambled unless you subscribed to a "descambler" box. One of the most popular services was Wometco Home Theater. The film in this DVD collection played on such services.

More on Wikipedia about WHT (Wometco Home Theater)

We leave you this month with a tune from Michael Nesmith's album "Tantamount To Treason."

Who's Michael Nesmith?
"Best known for his role (and his trademark wool hat) in the made-for-TV pop-rock band The Monkees, Nesmith has done much of his most notable—though widely unrecognized—work since The Monkees disbanded in 1970. Among his groundbreaking achievements, he tinged rock music with some of his native Texas flavor and created a style that has come to be known as altcountry, won the first Grammy for Video of the Year in 1981, and created one of the first companies to distribute movies and TV programs on home video. But perhaps most significantly, Nesmith pioneered the TV music-video format that eventually became MTV."
- http://swindlemagazine.com/issueicons/michael-nesmith/

Check out all of Mr Nesmith's music at his website - http://www.videoranch.com/ and Amazon.com

You won't be disappointed.

Hey, check out Henrique Couto's UKE OR DIE website too!
http://ukeordie.com/

Letters to AlternativeCinemaPodcast@gmail.com

See you next month.

- Michael Raso

THE BASEMENT - 1989 Super 8 Goodness Coming to VHS?!

2010-10-14T11:18:00.006-04:00

After being shelved for 21 years, the 1989 Super 8 feature film "The Basement" (Dir - Tim O'Rawe) is getting a DVD and VHS release(!) in 2011 by Camp Motion Pictures.

Shot in the tail end of the VHS era, the feature was intended for release on the original Camp Video label. The film, which suffered from technical obstacles, was abandoned late in 1989. Director O'Rawe went on to direct "Ghoul School" in early 1990 for Cinema Home Video.

The film was retrieved from storage in 2009 and inspected. Amazingly preserved, the film was shipped to DuArt Film & Video in New York City for a film-to-tape transfer by colorist Tim Bond under the supervision of Director of Photography Michael Raso. The film was edited by Joe Kolbek, who recorded an entire new dialog track (with music by filmmaker Chris LaMartina).

An early 2011 DVD and VHS release is planned.

Ghoul School Splatter University Edition trailer / Camp Motion Pictures

More info soon on "The Basement"!

Back to Alternative Cinema Home

MEET SCULPTURE STAR RAINE BROWN AT CHILLER THEATRE OCTOBER 29-31, 2010

2010-10-12T09:00:00.003-04:00

RAINE BROWN / Image © R. Logue / R. Logue on FLICKR.com

Meet the star and director of SCULPTURE, the newest “well-acted, gory, and disturbing (Fearzone.com),” film from Camp Motion Pictures this October 29, 30 and 31* courtesy of Alternative Cinema at New Jersey’s Chiller Theatre.

SCULPTURE DVD Art / Photography by Michael Raso

Praised by HorrorSociety.com as. “…a visceral treat on many levels, ” SCULPTURE stars Raine Brown (DARK CHAMBER) and Misty Mundae (Masters of Horror ‘SICK GIRL’, SPIDERBABE) in a harrowing story of an emotionally fragile artist and the repressed trauma that threatens her sanity.

Image © Dark Shutter / Dark Shutter on FLICKR

Actress Raine Brown will be at the Alternative Cinema table for photo ops and autographs all three days of the event. Director Pete Jacelone will be available Saturday, October 30th.

Hear Director Pete Jacelone on this month's Alternative Cinema (Episode 19) Internet Radio Show (Download, Stream or iTunes) - http://www.alternativecinemapodcast.com

Chiller Theatre is New Jersey’s longest-standing and most-beloved Fan Show, and takes place at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey.

For additional information on Chiller Theatre hours, location and guests visit www.ChillerTheatre.com. For additional information on SCULPTURE and the Alternative Cinema network of DVD labels, visit www.AlternativeCinema.com

Links:

Buy SCULPTURE on DVD (On Sale!)

Chiller Theatre - http://www.chillertheatre.com

Raine Brown - http://www.rainebrown.com/

Back to
ALTERNATIVE CINEMA Home

WIN "SCULPTURE" FROM FANGORIA AND WATCH EXCLUSIVE “MURDER MONTAGE” CLIP!

2010-10-11T17:01:00.003-04:00

America’s #1 Horror Magazine, Fangoria, is giving away copies of SCULPTURE, the newest horror film by Pete Jacelone (CAMP SLAUGHTER, PSYCHO SISTERS) starring Raine Brown (100 TEARS, DARK CHAMBER) – and, get your first glimpse at just a few of the insanely amazing gore and FX with this Fangoria Exclusive “Murder Montage” clip!

http://www.fangoria.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2274:sculpture-murder-montage-and-dvd-giveaway&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=167

Hear "Sculpture" director on this month's (Episode 19 - October 1, 2010 ) Alternative Cinema Podcast!

Buy SCULPTURE DVD Now - On Sale at Alternative Cinema!

Shocking and Controversial Documentary available on AC.com

2010-09-07T12:34:00.002-04:00

GRAPHIC SEXUAL HORROR: The Shocking and Controversial Documentary is Available Now from AlternativeCinema.com

Graphic Sexual Horror takes a peek behind the terrifying facade of Insex.com, the most notorious of bondage websites, exploring the dark mind of its artistic creator and asking hard questions about personal responsibility. Original Insex footage, behind-the-scenes interactions, and interviews with PD, models, members, and staff reveal deep fascinations with bondage and sadomasochism that run parallel, and in fact become irreversibly entwined with the lure of money.

Graphic Sexual Horror Trailer

Interview with co-director Barbara Bell

Following a successful series of screenings at Slamdance and the Buenos Aires International Film Festival (to name a few), Graphic Sexual Horror is now making the rounds of Fan Expos nationwide. After a recent screening, Barbara Bell commented:

"I have been shocked by the degree of interest from mainstream audiences - even some fans of mainstream horror films had to leave the screening due to the graphic nature of the content."

Graphic Sexual Horror - AlternativeCinema.com

Back to AC Home

SHOCK-O-RAMA CLIPS ON YOUR BLACKBERRY WITH DEADLY SCARY TV

2010-09-07T12:24:00.001-04:00

Required: One Blackberry Smartphone 4.2.0 or higher, One Pay-Pal Account

You can view THOUSANDS of short films and clips from your favorite horror films – including ones from Shock-O-Rama Cinema! – with a new Blackberry App called DEADLY SCARY TV, for a one-time fee of $2.99!

With 6 categories to choose from - Zombies, Vampires, Die Laughing, Shocker, Slasher, Spine Tingler and D.O.A.! – rotating at 8 clips at a time, it could take you YEARS to watch all of this AWESOME content!

Clips from the Shock-O-Rama Cinema library include Bite Me, Drainiac, Feeding The Masses, Creatures from the Hillbilly Lagoon, Criminally Insane and Prison-a-go-go (to name just a few)!

Head over to the Blackberry store to get yours now - http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/11082

Back to AC Home

AMERICAN SPEEDWAY Rocks Jersey’s CLASH BAR September 10!

2010-09-07T10:56:00.002-04:00

Come On Down With AC, Y’all!

trailer to American Speedway’s Ship of Fools

“The North’s answer to Nashville Pussy”*, East Coast Thrashers American Speedway bring their balls-to-the wall brand of southern punk rock’n’roll to New Jersey’s own Clash Bar, Friday September 10.
*Ray Van Horn, Jr., AMP MAGAZINE

photos above (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT)
Bill Angry - Bass / Backing Vocals
Lorraine "Dirty" McGurty - Lead Guitar / Backing Vocals
Mike Kerchner - Lead Vocals / Rhythm Guitar
Chris Callahan - Drums

Here’s what some smart people have to say about the band:

"Confident and assertive without hitting the point of cockiness, every second of Ship Of Fools asserts that while we are no longer in the fine company of acts such as the New Bomb Turks or Gaza Strippers, the world of punk rock’n’roll is alive again. American Speedway have revived the corpse." - Keith Carman, EXCLAIM!

"AMERICAN SPEEDWAY sounds almost legitimately Southern it could thus be said they are the North’s answer to NASHVILLE PUSSY." Ray Van Horn, Jr., AMP MAGAZINE

"All hail greasy, loud, riff-heavy rock!" - Greg Prato, ALL MUSIC GUIDE

"Straight out of Hostile City, USA (aka Philadelphia) American Speedway pound, bash and puke through marriage - ruining asshole- anthems like Drink' And Drivin' and No Control like the Supersuckers on their first day back from a 90 day stint in the county jail." - sleazegrinder, CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE

The Alternative Cinema crew’s fixin’ to be there around 10 PM – see you there!

Clash Bar
39 Harding Avenue
Clifton, NJ 07011
http://www.myspace.com/clashbar

Jonesin’ for some more AMERICAN SPEEDWAY? Get some here

http://www.americanspeedwayrocks.com
http://www.myspace.com/americanspeedway
http://www.facebook.com/pages/American-Speedway/21704069608
http://www.youtube.com/americanspeedway

Back to AC HOME

Meet Desiree (on the 9/1/10 Ac Podcast!)

2010-09-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST
Episode 18 - September 1, 2010

Indie Triple Threat Desiree Saetia discusses modeling, acting and her music (with band Monday Night Bear Claw) in this stimuating episode hosted by producer Michael Raso.

Plus Faces of Schlock DVD Giveaway! Win Faces of Schlock PLUS KILLING SPREE, SPLATTER FARM and VIDEO VIOLENCE!!! Listen in to the show to find out how to win FREE STUFF!

Support Independent Cinema! Buy Faces Of Schock HERE.

DVDs ON SALE This Month on AlternativeCinema.com

FACES OF SCHLOCK Music Video!

**********************************

MONDAY NIGHT BEAR CLAW!!!

below / above: Monday Night Bear Claw

**********************************

Podcast letters from

Noel "Scotch" Anderson

"SCOTCH" Rock On!!

Plus! Long-Time AC supporter Michael G Leonard drops us a line about his NEW MOVIE "BAZOOKAS: THE MOVIE"

Mega trailer for BAZOOKAS: The Movie! from Thundercrack Films on Vimeo.

Set your Radio Dial to Alternative Cinema Podcast and don't forget to subscribe this this fab news blog!

Blog © Alternative Cinema / Desiree Saetia and Monday Night Bear Claw Images shot on Polaroid film by Michael Raso. © 2010

Back to Alternative Cinema Home

MEET MISTY MUNDAE AT THE RUE MORGUE FESTIVAL

2010-08-23T18:30:00.003-04:00

An astonishing 57,000 fans of comic books, anime, sci-fi and horror head to Toronto each year for Hobby Star’s Fan Expo; the horror division of which is sponsored by Canada’s leading genre publication, Rue Morgue Magazine.

Alternative Cinema will once again promote and vend at this amazing annual event! We’ve planned an astonishing number of DAILY give-aways and promotions at our booth, including copies of the critically acclaimed SHOCK FESTIVAL, STASH, WOMEN’S PRISON MASSACRE, VIDEO VIOLENCE and more! And, along with the robust assortment of our in-house independent horror and exploitation titles, we’ll also offer your favorite DVDs and Blu-Rays from fellow independent genre companies Synapse Films and Blue Underground.

Upcoming titles we’re promoting include the fan-favorite, SCULPTURE (official release date October 12 – SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL COPIES AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT THIS EVENT) , starring Raine Brown and Misty Mundae.

Speaking of Misty, she’ll be making her first public appearance in two years at the AC booth. She'll be present all three days autographing DVDs and 8x10s, so be sure to stop by and say “hello” to the star of SHOCK-O-RAMA, LORD OF THE G-STRINGS, “Sick Girl” (Masters of Horror), THE RAGE and Showtime’s Original Series, “Lingerie”.

For more information about the Rue Morgue Festival of Fear visit http://www.rue-morgue.com/rmp_fof.php

Back to AC Home

Spotlight on DEBBIE ROCHON

2010-08-09T16:43:00.003-04:00

The Prolific Actress, Writer, and Fangoria Radio Co-Host / Producer Gives AC the Skinny on Her Latest Projects

"Walking Distance"

Phil Avelli, Marketing Director for the Alternative Cinema network of independent film labels, caught up with indie- film icon Debbie Rochon last week over coffee. Here’s what Debbie had to say about some of her recent projects and last four years as co-host and producer of Fangoria Radio:

Phil - Hi Debbie! Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with me. As you know, on August 24th we’re releasing the SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION, which contains SKIN CRAWL - in which you starred - as well as a film you co-wrote and co-produced, SUBURBAN NIGHTMARE. This seemed like a really good excuse to speak with you about some of your recent projects and future goals! So, what’s new for 2010 and beyond?

Debbie - I feel very proud of ‘my’ 2010 releases so far, THE GOOD SISTERS - based on true characters brought into modern times from the Salem Witch Trials era - was an amazing shoot and the movie turned out really unique and was just a joy to make. COLOUR FROM THE DARK was an exceptional experience, directed by Ivan Zuccon (H.P. LOVECRAFT'S THE SHUNNED HOUSE), the film is based on Lovecrafts’s story “The Colour Out of Space”. COLOUR FROM THE DARK was shot in the farmlands of Italy - about an hour north of Bologna - over a 5-week schedule. It’s receiving excellent reviews, and I feel deeply privileged to have been a part of it. See it through Netflix, and if you really like it, buy it.

“The Good Sister”

“Colour from the Dark”

I made a few films that are soon to be released that I would love to single out. SLIME CITY MASSACRE is certainly one of them. It was an honor to be in the sequel to such a beloved cult hit and I think the original SLIME CITY fans will really enjoy it!

(FYI, SLIME CITY MASSACRE will screen this August in Toronto at Rue Morgue’s Festival of Fear, part of the Canadian Comic Book Expo. Director Gregory Lamberson – who is also promoting his new novel, “The Frenzy Way” – will be in attendance)

Another great film I worked on was VOODOO COWBOYS. I bonded me with a number of talented members of the cast and crew while in Arkansas, including the current reality TV vixen Whitney Mixer (who is one of the stars of Showtime's THE REAL L WORD now airing). Then there's SICK BOY starring Skye McCole Bartusiak who starred in such features as THE PATRIOT and DON'T SAY A WORD - she was a real treat and ultimate pro to work with. Rebecca Stacey (with whom I worked on AMERICAN NIGHTMARE) recommended me for that one and I am very grateful to her for that – it was such a fantastic experience working on that set. Another upcoming project is WON TON BABY! with Suzi Lorraine and Gunnar Hansen. It’s a really unique ‘evil baby’ movie with a lot of socio-political statements wrapped in a fun fetus- gone-awry flick! I have seen WALKING DISTANCE which is playing at a lot of fests right now, also featuring Reggie Banister and Adrienne King, it really kicks some old-school warped Hellraiser-esque type ass! SATAN HATES YOU!, a response to the classic 60s and 70s Christian scare flicks is completely off-the-hook original and has a laundry list of genre stars in it like Larry Fessenden, Angus Scrimm, Michael Berryman and a host of other greats, it was pretty awesome to afforded the chance to be in the same flick as such talent. Other films coming out soon after this litany of honestly great flicks are ALIEN VENGEANCE, AS NIGHT FALLS, SHE WOLF RISING and AVANTGARDE - to name a few! I can honestly say it's been a busy time, but more importantly a 'good quality of films' time for me, which is why it really is so exciting.

“Satan Hates You”

Phil – it’s amazing you’ve been able to tackle so many projects on top of your column in Fangoria magazine and role as co-host and co-producer of Fangoria Radio. Would you tell us a bit about working in radio – and what it’s like to work with Dee Schneider (of Twisted Sister). Had you met Dee before Fangoria radio? :

Fangoria Radio

Debbie – I actually co-hosted the 2005 Greenwich Village Halloween Parade with Dee Snider!. The company that booked both of us for that gig was the same company that ended up buying 'Fangoria Magazine’," Rochon related. "And then 'Fangoria' branched out into the website and the Sirius XM radio show. I had a lot of experience doing radio, and Dee was brought in, and he's a wonderful radio talent. I have co-produced and co-hosted Fangoria Radio for four years now…the show has been on hiatus for a couple of months, and it probably will be for at least another month, but booking, writing and hosting the show really sharpened my chops for producing in general. While I would never be interested in producing exclusively I do love creating projects where you have more control over the final product. Although it was collaboration between everyone who worked on the show it was far, far more than just a gig. It was a way of life and really my entire life for those 4 years. I loved the cooperative control I have working on that show. I met a lot of pretty amazing people and a few duds along the way too. But the good folks out weighed the bad 100 times over so I can't imagine a better experience than I have working on the show. Tony Timpone, Dee Snider, Michael Gingold and the rest of the Fango team really changed my life and all for the best. I also learned that for the most part the bigger the horror star the less maintenance they would require. It was some of the struggling up and coming folks that were higher maintenance oddly enough. But I was always thrilled to get on the big names I always wanted to interview plus the talented lesser knowns that really deserved the exposure too.

Phil – You mentioned you’ve been writing, can you tell me a bit more about that?

Debbie – yes, I also write a regular column now for Fangoria magazine, “Diary of the Dead’. That is a real dream come true for a writer. My autobiography keeps chugging along as well, but I have to often put it aside to travel and work. But I’m constantly writing, working on stories about not just me, but the condition of the world and human behavior. I am very, very happy right now I couldn't be more pleased with the people I am working with and the projects I am doing.

Phil – Thanks, Debbie!

Win a complementary copy of the SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION autographed by Debbie Rochon – PLUS – copies of SPLATTER DISCO, STASH and NUN OF THAT - by entering the “August is Debbie Rochon Month” contest here! And, be sure to check back in to Alternative Cinema each month for exciting new contests and promotions.

Back to AC Home

Debbie Rochon Month / DVD Giveaway!

2010-08-01T16:55:00.003-04:00

We’re giving away 5 Free Copies of the Brand-New DVD set, SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION, autographed by Scream Queen DEBBIE ROCHON- PLUS – copies of SPLATTER DISCO, STASH and NUN OF THAT – by entering the “August is DEBBIE ROCHON month” contest below:

DEBBIE ROCHON has played many iconic horror and pop-culture characters over her incredible career, including Witches, Vampires, a Lesbian Gladiator and even a sexy she-ape, now THAT'S RANGE!

To win your complimentary autographed copy of the SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION - PLUS - a copy of SPLATTER DISCO, STASH and the irreverent nunsploitation send-up, NUN OF THAT, send an email reply to the question -

In Which Alternative Cinema film did Debbie Rochon portray both a witch and her wealthy descendant?

To: publicity@alternativecinema.com

About the SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION: Available at a store near you August 24, 2010, the SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION contains the four feature films SUBURBAN NIGHTMARE, PSYCHO SISTERS, SKIN CRAWL, and DRAINIAC starring Misty Mundae (SPIDER-BABE), Debbie Rochon (TROMEO & JULIET), and Julian Wells (DR. JEKYLL & MISTRESS HYDE)

5 random winners with the correct answer will be alerted by email the final week of August. Be sure to check back the first of every month for a new AC promotion and a new contest!

*******************

All Debbie Rochon DVDs in our store on SALE!

The star of SKIN CRAWL (one of the awesome films included in Shock-O-Rama’s August 24th New Release THE SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION), NUN OF THAT, TROMEO AND JULIET, SLIME CITY MASSACRE (and many more), sat down with AC recently to discuss her role as co-host and producer of Fangoria Radio, as well as her upcoming projects. In honor of the prolific actress, writer and producer, AC is holding a month-long ‘Debbie Rochon’ Promotion!

Select "Sale Items" on the left side-bar of this site to locate our Debbie-heavy releases at AMAZINGLY low prices through the end of August! And don’t forget to check back every month for another incredible AC promotion!

*******************

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST
Episode 17 - August 1, 2010

Producing a No-Budget Movie! Henrique Couto discusses Faces of Schlock and playing Indie Rock! Hosted by Michael Raso.

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME
Content © 2010 Alternative Cinema, LLC

KILLER LESBIAN VAMPIRE GIVE-AWAY!

2010-07-06T19:04:00.002-04:00

You can win one of 5 Free Copies of the Brand-New, DVD set, Lesbian Vampire Lovers Collection - PLUS – copies of VAMPYRES (Blu-Ray), VAMPIRE ECSTACY DVD, a LUST FOR DRACULA Poster and a THE SEXY ADVENTURES OF VAN HESLING Poster – by entering the “July is LESBIAN VAMPIRE month” contest below:

The Contest: We all know the first vampire on film was Count Orlok from F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu starring Max Schreck. Since then the vampire has had an incredible run in motion pictures. The most famous of course being “Count Dracula” though, I would prefer to be bit by Misty Mundae or Darian Caine…

To win your complimentary copy of the Lesbian Vampire Lovers Collection plus a copy of VAMPYRES on Blu-ray, VAMPIRE ECSTACY on DVD and a set of 2 posters from the films LUST FOR DRACULA and THE SEXY ADVENTURES OF VAN HELSING, send an email reply to the question

What actor reprised the role of COUNT DRACULA more times than any actor?

To: publicity@alternativecinema.com

5 random winners with the correct answer will be alerted by email the final week of July. And, be sure to check back the first of every month for a new AC promotion and a new contest.

About the LESBIAN VAMPIRE LOVERS Collection: Available at a store near you July 27, 2010, the Lesbian Vampire Lovers Collection contains the four feature films My Vampire Lover, Sexy Adventures of Van Helsing, Vampire Seduction and Vampire Vixens.

Starring Misty Mundae (SpiderBabe), Darian Caine (Lust For Dracula), Tina Krause (Bad Biology) and Debbie Rochon (Tromeo and Juliet) as the Sexiest Fanged-Beauties to Ever Drain Your Bodily Fluids in this Four-Feature Erotic Vampire Collection from Seduction Cinema.

You must be 18 years or older to enter this contest (and prove it)

Back to AC HOME

HOLY NUNSPLOITATION - NUN OF THAT's Coming To Your TV!

2010-07-02T11:41:00.001-04:00

Starting July 1st, NUN OF THAT, the irreverent grindhouse-inspired
nunsploitation film DVD Talk calls "a lively, potty-mouthed, blood-spattered plunge into unrepentant sacrilege" that "delivers a wily spectacles-testicles-wallet-watch adventure" will now broadcast directly into your living room.

Starring Sarah Nicklin (BROTHERHOOD, SPLATTER DISCO), Debbie Rochon (TROMEO AND JULIET) and featuring a cameo by Lloyd Kauffman as the Pope, NUN OF THAT is “one of those rare modern exploitation films that truly feels like the real thing” joblo.com

Sister Kelly Wrath is a nun with a temper problem. After being gunned down in an alley, she is selected by God to join The Order of the Black Habit, a group of supernatural vigilante nuns on a mission to rub out the mob. But first, Moses, Gandhi and Jesus have a few challenges up their sleeves for her.

Directed by Richard Griffin (FEEDING THE MASSES) and distributed by Camp Motion Pictures, NUN OF THAT is now available in North America from the following cable/satellite/IPTV providers:

Charter
Verizon FiOS (July 11th)
AT&T U-Verse
Rogers (Canada)
Mediacom
Insight
Suddenlink
RCN
Cogeco (Canada)
DISH (VOD)
Buckeye
Armstorng
Bend Broadband
Blue Ridge
Cameron Communications
Cincinnati Bell
CL Tel
Click
Community Television
Consolidated Communications
D&E Communications
Duo County
EPB of Chattanooga
Frontgate Networks
Grande Communications
Guadalupe Valley
Hotwire
HTC Conway
INS Des Moines
MUS Fiber Net
NTELOS
NuLink
OneSource
San Bruno Municipal Cable
Service Electric
Volcano Vision
VTMS
Wave
Wilkes-Barre
Wilson

NUN OF THAT on DVD

Back to AC HOME

AC's 2010 Release Schedule / New DVD Lines!

2010-07-01T15:15:00.002-04:00

Alternative Cinema has some AMAZING collections and brand-new films coming soon from in-house labels Shock-O-Rama Cinema, Seduction Cinema, Camp Motion Pictures and Bloody Earth films – plus – partners Blue Underground, Synapse and more! We’re also happy to announce we’re featuring titles from Independent Entertainment, a brand new micro-budget label kicking off with some AWESOME D-I-Y products such as FACES OF SCHLOCK and the ultra-exploitative DEFILED. And if that’s not all, we’ll be running monthly “themed” promotions featuring contests and MASSIVELY reduced pricing on products from both our in-house labels and content partners!

JULY 2010

FEEDING THE MASSES HORROR COLLECTION
Street Date: July 13, 2010
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $22.99

42nd STREET PETE’S WILD, NUDE AND NATURAL
Street Date: July 13, 2010
SRP: $19.98
Our Price: $17.98

LESBIAN VAMPIRE LOVERS COLLECTION
Street Date: July 27, 2010
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $22.99
July Promotion Price: $12.49

AUGUST 2010

SAN FRANCISCO SEX COLLECTION
Street Date: Aug 10, 2010
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $22.99

SUBURBAN PSYCHO HORROR COLLECTION
Street Date: Aug 24, 2010
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $22.99

SEPTEMBER 2010

BLOODLUST: THE EROTIC CINEMA OF TONY MARSIGLIA
Street Date: Sept 7, 2010
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $22.99

DEFILED
Street Date: Sept 21, 2010
SRP: $19.99
Our Price: $17.99

FACES OF SCHLOCK
Street Date: Sept 21, 2010
SRP: $14.99
Our Price: $12.99

OCTOBER 2010

SCULPTURE
Street Date: Oct 12, 2010
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $22.99
Pre-Order Promotion: $19.99

SLEAZY 70s STAGS
Street Date: Oct. 19, 2010

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

Mutant Insects, Malevolent Spirits and…Muckmen? Catching up with Veteran Horror Director, Brett Piper

2010-07-01T14:52:00.003-04:00

Author and screenwriter Bruce G. Hallenbeck recently sat down with director Brett Piper – or as Bruce refers to him, “Harryhausen on a B-movie budget”. Piper, who recently wrapped on his latest production, MUCKMAN, dishes about the challenges of directing “a parody of the History Channel reality series MONSTERQUEST,” and reminisces about the classic films that influenced his career.

Article by Bruce G. Hallenbeck

New Hampshire-born Brett Piper brings new meaning to the term "old school."
For Piper, the old school of stop-motion animation beats anything done in CGI.
From the first time he picked up an 8mm movie camera at age eleven, he filmed
claymation dinosaurs and remade his favorite Hammer horror films. Currently, Piper is based in Pennsylvania and is producing his own projects. "I haven't bothered trying to raise money since leaving ei," Piper continued. "I had a couple of near misses getting a producer in LA to back some movies but they fell through, so Mark (Polonia, director of DIY cult favorite SPLATTERFARM and recent Camp release SPLATTER BEACH) and I decided, what the hell, we'll just finance a movie ourselves. When I say 'finance,' I mean pay the out of pocket expenses because everyone's working for free. It's like an old MGM musical: 'Hey, gang, let's put on a show!'"

Piper's newest "show" is MUCKMAN, a kind of parody of the History Channel
reality series MONSTERQUEST. "It's like MONSTERQUEST meets THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK," Piper explained, "but the assumption seems to be that it's a SWAMP
THING type of scary monster movie. If you call SWAMP THING a scary monster
movie. We had a short, tight shooting schedule all worked out, three weekends,
six days. Like an old Roger Corman movie. We had to stick to the schedule
because, among other things, (lead actress) Alison Whitney was getting married
and that was all the time she could give us. Apparently when a woman gets
married the rest of her life gets put on hold while logistical preparations that
would make the invasion of Normandy look like a trip to the corner store are set
in motion. Anyway, on the very first weekend two of our 'actors,' one of whom
claimed to be a professional based on some extra work and who knows what else,
bailed on us with virtually no notice. The reason given?! 'Well, we thought it was going to be more fun and we're not having fun.' So Mark and I scrambled to replace them while trying to finish shooting with the people we still had. Eventually we squeezed another day or two out of Anju (formerly known as AJ Khan, veteran of many Seduction Cinema movies) and Alison and, by a fairly amazing coincidence, I happened to hear from my nephew who joked, as he always did, 'If you ever need another actor for your movies, don't forget me.' Little did he suspect what he was letting himself in for. When I told him I could use him he said, 'Can my roommate be in the movie too?' and we had both
our replacements.

"By now, however, everyone was struggling to give us a little more time
here and there and we ended up shooting the entire movie in bits and pieces over
the next five or six months, frequently with anyone who happened to be
available, so in the final movie you might see a scene with six people in it
that was shot over a three-month period with one or two people at a time and
then all stitched together. And, son of a bitch, but in the final version it's
damn near seamless. Even I forget that they weren't all together at the same
time!"

The trailer for MUCKMAN is a B-movie hoot, with classic man-in-suit
monsters ala Roger Corman's THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED and IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, along with some cool stop-motion, a little female flesh and a lot of
off-the-wall humor. It looks like another hit for our "poor man's Ray Harryhausen."

Brett and I have been corresponding since we were teenagers (I hope he
doesn't mind that I mention that was a long time ago), yet I've never actually
met the man and know next to nothing about his personal life. As he puts it,
"Between movies there is no Lon Chaney," which is what the screen's original Man
of a Thousand Faces said back in the 1920s to deflect any questions about his
private life.

What I do know about Brett is that, at age 27, he made his first feature
film, MYSTERIOUS PLANET, which had a budget of only $5,000. It ended up grossing
over $50,000 when it was released on video in the US and in Europe. His next
feature, released by the legendary Sam Sherman as RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD,
was picked up a couple of years later, and his best-known early feature, A
NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL, was released by Troma in 1991.

RAIDERS OF THE LIVING DEAD (Spanish VHS Release Art)

All of these films were marked with Piper's special brand of low-budget
special effects wizardry. He sculpts his own stop-motion animation models in the
style of his childhood hero Ray Harryhausen (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, the
original CLASH OF THE TITANS, etc.), something which carried over into his films
for PopCinema. For this interview, Piper told me a little about his influences.

"Hammer was a very big influence," Piper said. "I grew up watching the old
Universals and they pretty much formed my image of the classic monsters,
Frankenstein, Dracula, et al. My introduction to Hammer (not counting seeing
HORROR OF DRACULA when I was so young I barely remembered it) was issue #2 of
"Castle of Frankenstein," the one with the Larry Ivie painting of (Christopher)
Lee's Dracula on the cover, and I was appalled. These new-fangled takes on my
old friends were sacrilege! But a little later I saw BRIDES OF DRACULA at a
matinee and it was amazing. It showed me you could go in an entirely different
direction with those characters. In addition to doing stop-motion dinosaurs in
the backyard I began trying to recreate scenes from the Hammers on 8mm. I must
have done the disintegration scene from DRACULA half a dozen times."

Brett Piper and Misty Mundae / 2006 SHOCK-O-RAMA Fangoria Screening

Over the years, Piper has worked with cult movie faves such as Misty
Mundae, Linnea Quigley, Ron Jeremy, Matt Mitler and the Polonia Brothers. In the
mid-90s, he wrote and directed a film called THEY BITE, a kind of take-off on
both THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, which was made in Florida. One of the producers (who shall remain nameless) was, shall we say, not an Einstein: when Piper used the expression "Rhodes Scholar" in front of him, the clueless fellow responded in an unexpected way: "Actually, he thought it was a 'road scholar,' sort of a rural version of 'street smarts,' and
(that) it referred to a kind of savvy hobo or bum who lived on the road. He was
a genius."

Working in the low-budget field, Piper has come in contact with several
"geniuses" who provide him with no end of anecdotes: "...The producer of THEY
BITE got us kicked out of our primary location on the first night of shooting
there. In fact, he started interfering with the shoot the very first morning of
the very first day. We were supposed to shoot at a nearby restaurant at nine in
the morning, but as were were about to leave I got word that the 'producer' -
didn't want us to leave until he'd spoken with me, and it was important. He was still in bed. We waited around until noon when he finally shambled out. 'What's up?' he said. 'What do you mean, what's up? We've been waiting for you all morning. What do you want?' 'Oh, well, I just wanted to know what was going on.' For that we blew off our entire first morning of shooting."

Brett Piper on the ei Cinema produced “Bite Me”

Piper had much happier experiences working with Michael Raso on various
ei/PopCinema projects, starting in 2003. "Mike and I had been in touch off and
on for years," Piper recalled. "One day he called me up out of the blue and said
he'd like me to make a movie for him. I found out later it was Kevin Shinnick's
idea. Kevin had interviewed me for an issue of "SPFX" Magazine and suggested me
as someone who could make a cheap movie that didn't look so cheap. Mike said,
'Do you have anything ready to shoot?' As it happened, I had just written the
script that would be called SCREAMING DEAD. He said, 'Is there a part for Misty
(Mundae)?' Yes, I said, as a matter of fact there was. I'd seen her in GLADIATOR
EROTICUS and thought she had talent and charisma. So I was asked to come down to
ei for a meeting and we pretty much hammered out a deal and that was that. It
really was just that simple. SCREAMING DEAD was a success and I made three more
movies for them. It was actually the most productive period of my life."

Piper has also loaned his talents to other people's productions, doing the
effects for such films as BIKINI GIRLS ON DINOSAUR PLANET and KINKY KONG.
"BIKINI GIRLS was a pretty painless experience," Mike asked if I'd be willing
to shoot some stop-motion dinosaur cuts to flesh out a movie he’d acquired. I
could shoot whatever I wanted as long as I included a shot of a dinosaur taking
a dump to tie in with a big scene. So I very quickly built three wire frame
stop-motion puppets and shot a bunch of clips, including several with a painfully constipated ceratopsian which, to be honest, was some of my best animation. The whole thing took three weeks."

Brett Piper lends his talents to KINKY KONG

On KINKY KONG, the fearless Piper had even more of his work cut out for
him. "This could turn into a long, long story, but essentially, while Brian
(McNulty, senior editor at POPcinema) edited the live action, I built and shot a bunch of miniatures. 'Bone Island,' the Wall, some other things. I designed an ape suit, which, frankly, I never liked. It was bad but not bad enough to be amusing. It should have looked
like the one in KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, really awful. The director came in and
talked the guy in the ape costume through a bunch of shots in front of a green
screen. Later, Mike said, 'We need shots of the girls in the ape's hand! You
can't do a KING KONG parody without a girl in an ape's hand!' So we brought in
Anju and the lead girl (I forget her name) and I directed them in a few inserts
that I matted into a shot of an ape's hand, which was in fact my own hand with
make-up. And I did a stop-motion T-Rex, a Goofysaurus, for a fight scene."

The Brett Piper “Kong” suit for KINKY KONG

When I asked Piper if he would ever "retire" from filmmaking - let's face
it, it's a stressful business - this was his reply: "Almost anything is less
stressful than making movies, isn't it? Once in a while, once in a great while,
I think about quitting. After all, I'm only a few years younger than Harryhausen
was when he retired. Maybe if I had a successful career behind me I would
consider it more seriously, but as it stands I can't stop until I've achieved at
least a few of my goals. The really good movies are still ahead of me, or at
least that's what I tell myself. When I'm eighty, I still be at it, like Jess
Franco or Joe Sarno. You never know."

The SHOCK-O-RAMA Horror Collection

A new four-film collection of critically and commercially acclaimed Brett Piper “B” movies, directed for the Shock-O-Rama Cinema studio, was released this June 15. The collection, which contains BACTERIUM, SHOCK-O-RAMA, BITE ME! and SCREAMING DEAD, embodies his passion for classic FX and retro-filmmaking.

Back to AC HOME

2010-07-01T13:00:00.002-04:00

Episode 16 – July 1, 2010

http://www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

photo by Michael Raso / Holga 120n on Fujichrome

No-Budget filmmakers Henrique Couto and Joe Kolbek crash the podcast to discuss the trials and tribulations of making/selling indie movies, the great DVD Giveaway and more!

LESBIAN VAMPIRE PROMOTION!
Alternative Cinema's throwing a LESBIAN VAMPIRE Promotion for the entire month of July, to celebrate the “coming out” of the LESBIAN VAMPIRE LOVERS COLLECTION! Select "Sale Items" on the left side-bar of this site to locate our blood-soaked seductive selections at AMAZINGLY low prices! This is our second in a series of monthly AC promotions!

Click Here for SALE ITEMS

AC Podcast Forum (Hosted by Killer Reviews)

AC HOME

AWESOME SHOCK-O-RAMA HORROR COLLECTION GIVE-AWAY!

2010-06-01T18:28:00.001-04:00

We’re giving away 10 Free Copies of the Brand-New, Ultimate “B” Horror Collection, the SHOCK-O-RAMA HORROR COLLECTION - PLUS – each DVD collection includes a complimentary set of 8x10s! – See info below to enter!

About the Collection: Available at a store near you June 15, 2010, the Shock-O-Rama Horror Collection contains the four feature films SCREAMING DEAD, BITE ME!, SHOCK-O-RAMA and BACTERIUM. Kurt Dahlke over at DVDTalk.com got a sneak peak at the collection and proclaimed:

“Lovers of this stuff want cheap, smart laughs, cheesy gore, great monsters and much, much nudity. Piper delivers in spades, and he doesn't insult you in the process”
Read entire review here

The Contest: Practical effects wizard and Director of the films featured in the SHOCK-O-RAMA HORROR COLLECTION, Brett Piper, is heavily influenced by classic stop motion animators RAY HARRYHAUSEN and WILLIS O'BRIEN, who created some incredible creatures during their respected careers. To win your complimentary copy of the SHOCK-O-RAMA HORROR COLLECTION plus the ultra cool 8x10s, send an email reply to the question

What is your favorite Stop Motion animated movie monster?

to publicity@alternativecinema.com

Pretty easy huh? Winners will be alerted by email the final week of June. And, be sure to check back the first of every month for a new AC promotion and a new contest.

Back to AC HOME

Chris LaMartina and his "Book of Lore"

2010-05-21T14:07:00.004-04:00

Article by
Bruce G. Hallenbeck

There's this really fun book called "Weird N.J.," by Mark Sceurman and Mark Moran that's a sort of combination clearing house and travel guide for New Jersey's local legends, best kept secrets and offbeat folk tales. Yes, Virginia, there is a Jersey Devil, and there are lots of other bizarre beasts and urban myths in the Garden State.

Much in the same "vein," if you'll pardon the expression, is Chris LaMartina's feature film BOOK OF LORE, but this time it's all about weird happenings in Maryland.

LaMartina's movie has to do with a mysterious book that details local unsolved crimes, most of them of the distinctly icky variety, such as the kidnapping and murder of babies, people with their eyes gouged out, etc. This Encyclopedia of Eerie leads to a few new murders when lead character Rick Adams (A. J. Hyde) tries to uncover the mystery surrounding the murder of his girlfriend, who's been killed in the manner of one of the murders in the Book of Lore. Needless to say, he uncovers more than he bargained for…

Chris LaMartina is Baltimore-born and bred, a 25-year-old wunderkind who grew up on a diet of Hammer horror films, Universal monster classics and eighties slasher films. His 2007 movie BOOK OF LORE was released as part of the horror double feature collection, BOOK OF LORE / GRAVE MISTAKES on May 18th, courtesy of Camp Motion Pictures, and you can clearly see his influences in the film's lighting scheme (bright colors ala Hammer, Mario Bava and Dario Argento), his ensemble cast (pick any eighties slasher film) and his gore effects (Tom Savini meets Herschell Gordon Lewis). The latter, in fact, makes a special guest appearance of sorts; you can hear the voice of the Godfather of Gore on a bingo record in the film, calling out numbers. Weird indeed.

I spoke with LaMartina recently about his depraved childhood, and, perhaps, even more depraved adulthood. "When I was a kid, around fourteen or so," LaMartina recalled, "I discovered the family camcorder and caught the filmmaking bug. I started making short films and as I got older, the plots became more elaborate and they became more ambitious. I used to watch a lot of horror movies on video, and there were some pretty crummy horror movies out there. After awhile, I thought maybe I could make something better than that stuff.'

Scenes from Chris LaMartina’s BOOK OF LORE

While going to film school, LaMartina made an anthology film called DEAD TEENAGERS, which was released to DVD by Brain Damage Films. This brought him to the attention of another Baltimore filmmaker named Jimmy George. "I met Jimmy years and years ago," LaMartina continued, "when I was fourteen and he was eighteen or nineteen. We talked the same language because he was a film nerd, but the age difference made it difficult. They're going to parties and they don't want to hang out with fourteen-year-olds. So he went out to Hollywood to try to be a screenwriter and then he came back a couple of years later for a bunch of reasons... so a mutual friend of ours re-introduced us and we got together and started writing BOOK OF LORE."

Jimmy George and Chris LaMartina visiting Pop Cinema Studios to record the May 2010 AC Podcast

LaMartina knows his stuff as far as horror film history is concerned. "I like the Expressionism of the German silent films," he noted, "and I like the colors in the giallo films. There's something cool about it. People have a psychological response to horror films. My background is really diverse; I would catch the Hammer horror stuff like HORROR OF DRACULA, and then as a pre-teen I saw like every Universal horror movie: THE WOLF MAN, SON OF DRACULA, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, all that stuff. And then I went through a slasher phase."

"We spent about a year just writing BOOK OF LORE,” LaMartina said. "We wrote a first draft screenplay, and that's something a lot of micro-budget filmmakers take for granted. They'll write a screenplay and maybe let a friend check it out. But we took it really seriously. We got script coverage. We paid a professional reader to give us an opinion, what about it was crap, what about it was decent.

"When we finally got the script where we wanted it, we cast and raised the money. We raised the money by selling a lot of my stuff. I was a projectionist and I had a lot of 16mm film prints. I had a 16mm print of Tod Browning's FREAKS that I sold. I sold most of my more valuable VHS tapes. And Jimmy sold his whole collection of DVDs. And that's how we funded the movie."

LaMartina is a big supporter of the DIY movement. "I like the idea of doing it yourself," he continued. "With the right equipment, anyone can make a movie that looks good. So we raised the money, we held auditions... We started shooting the film in August '06, and the first two or three days of shooting were the hottest days in a couple of years in Baltimore. We were dripping with sweat in unbearable conditions. And that same week, my brother was getting married - and I was the Best Man. I had to organize his bachelor party and go to the wedding during the first week of production. It was just like a nightmare!"

But LaMartina persevered, as did his "awesome crew." He did his own cinematography. "Jimmy did a lot of the sound," he continued. "And we had Darren Mosher, a special effects guy. It was a very bare bones crew, but we pulled it off.

Darren Mosher applying make-up on his next victim, Sean Quinn.

Two weeks into production, D. Patrick Bauer, who played Evan Nash, got mono. So our plan to finish shooting in August was just thrown out the window. We pretty much finished shooting with everyone else by the end of August, but we shot all of his stuff in September and October. Most of the principal photography was done by the end of October."

“Book of Lore” crew - pictured left to right: Darren Mosher, Dan Vidor, Chris LaMartina, Lindsay Hanson, Jimmy George, Aj Hyde, and Jordan Epstein

Filming of the "legends" illustrated in the Book of Lore took place later. When I mentioned the "Weird N.J." book to him, LaMartina laughed and said, "You know, it 's so funny you bring that up, because I love that stuff! I don't scare easily and it's been a long time since a film really scared me. So I thought about what really creeps me out, and for me it's those stories, those mythos that people tell around the campfire. And there's a small town near Baltimore that is so rich in these weird and creepy stories. You know, about hauntings and murders and things like that. Those are the creepiest things to me. And I'm pretty happy with the result, of how the stories played out."

the chances are if BOOK OF LORE scares Chris LaMartina, it will do a number on you too.

“Book of Lore” was released by Camp Motion Pictures as BOOK OF LORE / GRAVE MISTAKES Double Feature DVD

Available on Alternative Cinema and Amazon

Jimmy George and Chris LaMartina were guests on the May 2010 Alternative Cinema Podcast. Listen below or click this link for other options (including iTunes)

Visit Weird New Jersey!
http://www.weirdnj.com/

Back to Alternative Cinema Home

Studio Visit

2010-05-13T10:23:00.005-04:00

Blog by
Michael Raso

It’s not that often that filmmakers visit the studio. These days, the Butler, New Jersey offices and studio are primarily marketing, post production and catalog sales for the combined companies of Pop Cinema, Alternative Cinema and Camp Motion Pictures.

The turn-of-the-century hustle and bustle of multiple in-house, on-site productions to feed the exploding DVD market are in the past in favor of productions off-site (and often in the home state of the filmmakers)

In 2007 Mark and John Polonia (along with Brett Piper) shot “Splatter Beach” in rural Pennsylvania.

John Polonia, Brett Piper and Mark Polonia / "Splatter Beach" 2007

In 2008, the tongue-in-cheek spoof "BatBabe:The Dark Nightie" was shot in nearby New York City.

“The Jerker” wreaks havoc in NYC / Batbabe: The Dark Nightie

This year, Jacob Ennis is shooting a follow-up to his successful STASH in his home state of Kentucky. Here is the press release from late in 2009:

BLOODY EARTH FILMS ANNOUNCES NEW PRODUCTION!
JACOB ENNIS TO HELM EXTREME GORE SHOCKER,
“RED RIVER”

Jacob Ennis, director of indie exploitation hit STASH, is currently in production on a new exploitation feature for Camp Motion Picture’s Bloody Earth Films. Inspired by iconic extreme ‘70s exploitation-horror films such as THE HILLS HAVE EYES and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, RED RIVER, also penned by Ennis, is the shocking and brutal tale of the final days of a back-woods serial killer. Set in the gorgeous parks and forests of Kentucky, with an extensive cast of locals and professional talent, RED RIVER is slated for release in late 2010.

Images from the upcoming “Red River” directed by Jacob Ennis

In late April, Maryland natives (Chris LaMartina and Jimmy George) came up from Maryland and appeared on the May Alternative Cinema Podcast.

Alternative Cinema Podcast

Chris and Jimmy are the Dynamic Duo behind the “Book of Lore / Grave Mistakes Horror Double Feature” being released nationally this Tuesday, May 18th by Camp Motion Pictures.

“Book of Lore/Grave Mistakes Horror Double Feature”

They also produced the monthly “Lost Trailer Park: Never Coming Attractions” …

May 2010 / PSYCHO de MAYO (aka Gringos Muertos)

April 2010 / SHRIEK OF THE EASTER BEAST featuring George Stover

…and most recently produced the 80’s “throwback” “President’s Day” also featuring George Stover, Ruby LaRocca and Shawn C Phillips.

“President’s Day” Official Trailer

Shawn produces the amazingly popular (and favorite YouTube show of mine) “My DVD Update Collection” – a monthly show where Shawn shares his review of “showing the dvds and Blu-rays Ive gotten over the last three weeks!”

My Dvd Collection Update 4/12/10 featuring “Book of Lore / Grave Mistakes” review + a review of Michael Hoffman’s ROT: Reunion of terror

As some of you may know, I am passionate not only about filmmaking but of Film Photography (with emphasis on cameras from the Twentieth Century). So much so, that I started a podcast called The Film Photography Podcast!
The monthly show can be heard here - http://filmphotographypodcast.com/

Here are some images I shot using vintage cameras during Chris and Jimmy’s visit to the studio.

Jimmy George and Chris LaMartina shot on Classic Polaroid 600 Instant film

A vintage (1954) Kodak Brownie Bull’s-Eye camera was used to shoot Jimmy and Chris in the Pop Cinema studio.

_________________________

Pop Cinema owner Michael Raso has been working professionally in the visual arts for over 20 years. A photographer, producer and and most recently Podcast host, Raso is passionate about using film as viable and exciting medium for the visual artist, even in this age of digital photography.

Film Photography Blog
http://michaelraso.blogspot.com/

The Film Photography Internet Radio Show
www.filmphotographypodcast.com/

All Images © 2010 Michael Raso

Alternative Cinema HOME

Interview With"Shock Festival" creator/author Stephen Romano

2010-05-05T17:19:00.002-04:00

Author, artist and director Stephen Romano gets down-and-dirty about his acclaimed DVD, STEPHEN ROMANO PRESENTS SHOCK FESTIVAL, and the 2008 novel that started it all.

What got you into genre films?
I had a very unconventional upbringing by my father who was a rock and roller in Houston. He thought outside the box, played blues and jazz in smoky nightclubs. I followed him into that life for a while, but it was movies that fascinated me the most . . . and because we partied so often with local entertainment types, it wasn't hard at all to go on movie sets and get a whiff of the craziness that lurks behind the scenes. I actually interned for a few days on Al Reinert’s Academy Award-nominated documentary FOR ALL MANKIND. I talk about some of the more bizarre experiences I had during that time on my commentary track on the SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD. What really got me into genre films had to be STAR WARS, and later STARCRASH and DAWN OF THE DEAD; those were the films that really knocked my lights out. DAWN was the first film I ever saw that made me want to make films. There was a real excitement in the craft of that movie. The way it was shot and edited, the pacing and the execution of the special effects. (HALLOWEEN also wowed me, though it probably hasn't aged as well.) I was always a nerd for films like CLASH OF THE TITANS, too. The sleazy allure of the grindhouse experience put me in a hammerlock not too long after that. By the time I was 13 I was beyond help of any kind. When ALIENS came out in 1986, I paid real money to see it in the theater 37 times. (Believe it or not, I was actually aiming for 38 times because of Lieutenant Gorman's line in the film where he tells Vasquez he's done 38 simulated drops. That's the kind of obsessive fan-boy I am.) That was really a magic year for genre films. THE FLY came out that year as well. There were always late night creature features, midnight movies. Elvira was in her prime with MOVIE MACABRE back then. BARBARELLA was a favorite, still is. I wish they would stop remaking my favorite movies!

What got you into genre related art and more specifically movie poster art?
I think anybody with any interest in film at all is into movie poster art. It's half the game, really, especially with genre pictures, and I grew up in the last great age of it, when home video was first starting. Remember when they used to put real hand-painted movie poster art on video covers? Man, I miss that. I'm not sure who came up with the current trend of "floating heads" in movie posters, but it speaks volumes about how sanitized and unimaginative the industry has become. I collect posters and original movie art, too. I have one entire wall in my house devoted to art from STARCRASH, which is the grandest, cheapest, silliest, most awesome STAR WARS rip-off ever.

There's something really off kilter and tacky-fun about being so obsessed with a film like that. The crown jewels of my STARCRASH collection are three original pencil studies for the one-sheet, done by Drew Struzan, back when the film was still called THE ADVENTURES OF STELLA STAR. Struzan is a legend now of course because of his posters for BACK TO THE FUTURE, STAR WARS and the Indiana Jones movies, along with about a million other things---but back then in the seventies, he worked for American International, doing amazing posters for films like TENTACLES, SQUIRM and THE FOOD OF THE GODS. They hired him to do STARCRASH, but AIP lost the right to distribute the film and he was canned. But he still did five different pencil comps, which are beautiful works of art; of course, because this is Drew Struzan we're talking about. I'm always on the lookout for the other two. (Any LOST BOYS fans out there?) John Solie did the final one sheet, which is pretty stunning in its original art form. Roger Corman was distributing the movie by then.

What was the start of your career in art?
I've been in comics in some form or another as a writer/layout artist since about 1992-ish. My first pro gig was the graphic novelization of Fulci's THE BEYOND. I wrote and illustrated an original graphic novel project a year before that, but I was just the pencil artist. I was a rough breakdown kinda guy. See, I was never really a finishing artist before SHOCK FESTIVAL. I literally had to teach myself how to paint and design using Photoshop for the project because I realized it was too ambitious to afford a larger art team. One of the reasons that something like SHOCK FESTIVAL has never been attempted is that it would have been far too expensive to do in any conventional way. Oddly, since the announcement of SHOCK FESTIVAL in 2008 at the Fango show in Austin, I've done dozens of real movie posters and DVD covers for filmmakers who dig the style I developed. Crazy world. I never really set out to be a finishing illustrator, it just sorta happened by accident. Up until now, I've concentrated mostly on writing and designing.

When did you start the Shock Festival book project and what were its origins?
Well, I've wanted to do a book of fake movie posters since I was a kid, and it still strikes me as bizarre that someone hasn't done it yet! Seems like a real no-brainer, huh? But as I mentioned before, doing a book with hundreds of these damn things would be really expensive to produce . . . good artists cost lots of money, just ask Drew Struzan . . . but I think that's only part of the reason nobody ever did it until now. The best ideas are the most original ideas, and they tend to hover right there in plain sight. I had just finished writing a dreary novel about the death of my mom in early 2007 and decided I needed a more fun project to occupy my creative headspace. I had been toying with the SHOCK FESTIVAL concept as a real project since just before MASTERS OF HORROR (Episode one: INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD) started filming---but I always came up against the wall of the art itself. I didn't feel like spending all my money hiring artists or getting my friends to work for free---but it was always nagging in the back of my head. So one night I'm just kinda doodling around on the computer and came up with a pretty respectable poster for I HATE YOUR GUTS and I said "hey . . . I bet I could pull this off." In the beginning, it was my plan to do all the design and graphics work myself, while farming out the key art to various professionals I could hire on the cheap. I put an ad on Craig's List, called in some favors, and enlisted all my friends as character models. I got Tim Bradstreet on the project on a kind of a wink-and-handshake deal. But a funny thing happened as those first few months of the project inched forward---I studied what these guys I was hiring to do my key art were doing and realized I could probably do it, too, and I could probably even get closer to what I actually wanted if I did it myself. I shot a bunch of photo reference for the fake film SHARKHUNTERS and was gonna send it to Tim Bradstreet so he could do the poster . . . but I just ended up art directing the thing until it was done! And it looked really terrific, very authentic.

When I realized I could shoulder most of the workload myself, I altered the scope of the project from sixty-six (because it couldn't be 666!) fake movies to one hundred and one and started putting in 18 hour workdays. Before I knew it, an entire year was gone and I had taught myself how to paint movie poster art! In December of that year, I had the project in good enough shape to print a small run of the book so that I could demonstrate the concept to publishers. Bradstreet was really blown away and came on with Thomas Jane as co-publishers with IDW----and then I spent ANOTHER year getting the final version ready, doubling the amount of art, working with Bradstreet. Jane offered to become a character named Elliot Swann. It was like making an indie movie and then getting a distributor and reworking the final cut. It became this massive, unprecedented endeavor. Literally two years in the making.

Was it harder coming up with the intertwining back-story of your fictional exploitation personalities or did the difficulty lie in coming up with so many fictional films that could pass as actual lost gems from the heyday of grindhouse cinema?
It was a completely organic process. I knew I wanted to have text along with the posters and some kind of faux history built around them, but I never realized just how deep it would eventually get. I began with inventing the posters, casting my friends as characters, kicking it around. A few of the models made suggestions to me about what kind of B-movie stars they wanted to be---like my best friend Ashley Laurence. She's still really famous for playing Kirsty in the HELLRAISER films and wanted to be a Russian sex kitten rather than a scream queen. We brainstormed over the phone and just kinda invented Natalya "Natalie" Ustinov right on the spot. I'd have wild photo sessions where people like Lynn Mikeska, who plays Tracie Lynn Darcie in the book, would show up with armloads of costumes and we'd just make up stuff! She had a wedding dress one of those nights and one of my other friends had a cool Indiana Jones getup on--so we slapped shotguns into their hands and RAIDERS OF THE WEDDING DAY MASSACRE was invented!

This was the first creative woolgathering session---the "research" period, so to speak. I started to see who the characters of SHOCK FESTIVAL were during this time. About mid-year, I just took a break from the art and spent a month writing the text of the book. It just flowed right out, that first draft, and it was wild and crazy, way too long, and I invented more films and characters along the way. Later, when it was time to get the book in shape for its nationwide release, I did an incredible amount of editing on the fucking thing. I cut it down from over a hundred and fifty thousand words to around sixty thousand. I added Thomas Jane's character. Cut out the fat. Added more posters. I made certain rules for myself editorially that provided a sort of "instant objectivity" about things. You'll notice that aside from the opening of each chapter, there's almost never a full page of text and each block of text ends on a PERIOD. In other words, I never wanted a page break in the middle of a paragraph, and I wanted the text to completely support the art, changing off smoothly in tandem. I spent months hacking it up and putting it back together. And while it was definitely a long and intense process . . . I wouldn't say that any of it was difficult at all. This stuff is in my blood. In fact, it was the MOST fun I've ever had on any project I ever attempted.

You directed the I HATE YOUR GUTS trailer - what was it about that specific film that inspired you to pick up a camera?
It was the first poster I did for the book . . . and I knew I could get Lynn to come in and reprise her role as Tracie Lynn Darcie. I had the concept for the trailer way early in the development of the book, actually. It's a sick joke that comes at you really hard and fast, and I knew it would make people laugh and maybe cringe a little. It's just under a minute long. I wanted mine to be short and brutal, really in-your-face. We had no money at all, so we had to do something that would be easy to do in one day. A lot of screaming and blood flying around, it's really very silly. But it's my little movie. Someone called the cops on us because we shot in my backyard and Lynn is a method actor. A bunch of officers showed up just as we wrapped and there's all this blood everywhere, it was just insane. I had to do my best song and dance to keep out of jail for directing I HATE YOUR GUTS!

If a Shock Festival Volume Two DVD set ever happens, which film would you direct a trailer for on that set?
I wanted to shoot GOLDILOX STRAIGHT TO HELL for Volume One, but we were unable to pull it off on such a low budget. I'd like to do one for STARFIRE BEYOND THE GALAXY, which is my tribute to STARCRASH, of course. But to be honest, directing is not really a huge ambition of mine. I've actually been talking with one of the directors on this project about doing a feature-length SHOCK FESTIVAL trailer movie. That would be awesome and I wouldn't have to do any of the work! We DID have a great time shooting I HATE YOUR GUTS. You wouldn't believe how much laughing was going on behind the scenes on that. Then again, it was a one-day shoot on a zero budget, just goofing around with a camera and a few friends.

I understand that you have written for some other films and filmmakers, can you elaborate on this in general and specifically your work with Don Coscarelli?
Sure. I have actually written quite a number of film projects, most of which never got filmed for one reason or another. Sigh. That's Hollywood, man. But the money is good. I was able to take two years off to write and illustrate SHOCK FESTIVAL because of a few of those heavy paydays. I actually wrote something with Don during that period of time, but that's top secret for now. Coscarelli gave me my first professional break in the real business. I had written a few scripts for hire, published a science fiction novel called INVASION OF THE MUTANOIDS, ghosted two books for other writers. But I'd never done anything in Hollywood proper and I wasn't Guild yet. Don was impressed with my PHANTASM stuff and allowed me to publish the comic series, which he was really blown away by, and so he invited me to be his writing partner on a lot of things. Obviously, the first tangible result of that was our episode of MASTERS OF HORROR, which ended up as the best reviewed film of his career. That was insane. It was really an honor. We also wrote the sequel to BUBBA HO-TEP together. That's looking like it's finally going to get made soon.

Can you elaborate on the script you wrote for Phantasm V that Don Coscarelli supposedly liked so much?
Afraid not. Top secret. I wrote it. Don still likes it. Maybe it will happen someday.

What can we expect next from you?
The next film project is most likely to be BUBBA NOSFERATAU: CURSE OF THE SHE VAMPIRES. It's a wild screenplay and Don's getting it set up now, with Paul Giamatti co-producing and co-starring as Colonel Tom Parker. Ron Perlman is on board in the lead role of Elvis originated by Bruce Campbell, which is outrageous and cool. Book-wise, you should check out THE RIOT ACT. That was a book of original short fiction I self-published just after MASTERS OF HORROR in a super limited run---just a hundred copies to test the waters, and was very well received by some very famous people. The new version has six new stories in it, none of which have appeared anywhere else. It's all original stuff. It will appear soon from a major publisher. Also, I am the author of the OUTRAGEOUS novelization of BLACK DEVIL DOLL, which is available right now from Amazon. I am working on another novelization now. That's for the classic Spanish horror film PIECES. I am doing that one for Grindhouse Releasing, which is run by Bob Murawski, my great friend, who just recently won an Oscar for his work on THE HURT LOCKER. It'll be out just in time for Halloween, I believe. In fact, I just did the poster for Bob’s amazing GONE WITH THE POPE, which is also in theatres now and you MUST SEE.

I also have two novels in rewrite now. One of them is called SAFE IN THE WOODS, which is an important work, a bit along the lines of Jack Ketchum's THE GIRL NEXT-DOOR. Yeah. I don’t fuck around. I speak truth.

Also, just because I’m into having FUN with horror movies, I’ll be one of the hosts of the FRIDAY THE 13th 30 year convention in August and you'll see a really kick ass poster from me on that, too! I also did the original promo poster for THE BLACK WATERS OF ECHOES POND, which is out now in theatres . . . plus I do private commissions for people who just want to see themselves immortalized in B-movies, like THE MUMMY OF MOTOWN . . . and then there’s my poster for MURDER LOVES KILLERS TOO, which is an amazing horror film done by real professionals with a love and affection for Italian Giallo . . .

and, of course, I hope people enjoy my SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD set. We put an entire year into creating it and I think the work shows. I'm particularly proud of the commentary tracks I did, which are very innovative for this type of project---kind of a combination of an extended interview and lecture on horror and exploitation films which takes you into some wild territory and hopefully sends you away smiling and maybe a little more knowledgeable about the form. We have Uncle Creepy from Dread Central on the main track with his wild and hilarious commentary, which is more screen-specific and fan-centric than mine. He's a good buddy, and just fucking insane. I really think people will find the whole package satisfying as hell. We have all the bases covered, man.

For additional information on Stephen and his many projects, visit -http://www.myspace.com/shockfestival

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

Joe Sarno 1921 - 2010

2010-04-27T09:23:00.003-04:00

I received a call late last night that friend and filmmaker, Joe Sarno had passed away. All of us at the studio were very close to Joe the last twelve years, re-releasing his films around the globe, allowing fans of old and new to enjoy the wonderful movies that Joe wrote and directed.

Our deepest sympathy goes to Joe’s wife, Peggy and her family.

We are all devastated by the news. Joe was a great man and loved by everyone at Pop Cinema who had the wonderful opportunity to work with him.

Michael Raso
Pop Cinema

Film historian and Joe Sarno biographer Michael Bowen released the following message this morning.

Joe Sarno
1921 - 2010

One of the Titans of the American erotic cinema, Joe Sarno, has died at the age of 89.

I loved him dearly and commend his spirit to the cinematic firmament.

His achievements will far outlive the frailty of the human body and the ephemeral prejudices of taste and morality. For me, he was the consummate filmmaker, a man who drank deeply of the medium’s essence and dared to trade in its most profound truths: simplicity, directness, and an insuperable faith in the power of human presence.

His death last night, Monday, April 26, marks the passage of a robust and innocent genius.

Godspeed, dear friend. The ravages of war can no longer touch you; your long afternoon of creative idleness has come to an end. The runway is once again clear for take-off.

My deepest condolences to Joe’s beloved wife, Peggy Steffans Sarno, to his children, and to the legion of actors and technicians who had the good fortune to work with him. His visionary gifts will not be forgotten.

Michael Bowen
New York City
April 27, 2010

About Joe Sarno
A pioneer of sexploitation cinema, American film director and screenwriter Joseph Sarno’s prolific career spans the evolution of the genre, beginning with Nude in Charcoal in 1961 and culminating in his 2004 feature Suburban Secrets. His early black and white films are praised for their chiaroscuro lighting and their complex psycho-sexual plots; but it was his more explicit art-house film, Inga, shot in Sweden in 1968, that brought him international attention and catapulted its young star, Marie Liljedahl, to fame. Joe continued to write and direct adult films through the 1970s and 80s, often working under a pseudonym or offering his director’s credit to the film’s female lead (A Touch of Genie, Inside Jennifer Welles). Among his most noted films are Sin in the Suburbs, Inga, Abigail Leslie Is Back in Town, Confessions of a Young American Housewife and Butterflies.

Recently, his work has been the subject of retrospectives at the New York Underground Film Festival, the Lake Placid Film Festival, The Vienna Filmmuseum, The Cinemateque Francais, The Turin Film Festival, The Alamo Draft House, the British Film Institute and the Warhol Museum.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0765430/

Joe Sarno screening at the Alamo Draft House 2008

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview With"Devil Sister" director Paige Kay Davis

2010-04-09T14:31:00.003-04:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Paige Davis, Head of Business Development for POPcinema and Camp Motion Pictures and Co-Producer of STEPHEN ROMANO PRESENTS SHOCK FESTIVAL, talks about her obsession with classic (and not-so-classic) possession films, and how they inspired DEVIL SISTER

Paige Davis and Ed Douglas, director of “The Dead Matter” and founder of the dark music band, Midnight Syndicate

Would you give the Alternative Cinema audience some background information on your career in film or the arts in general?
I have a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Maryland, and for the better part of 15 years worked in traditional sales and marketing positions. The opportunity to come on board with POP / Camp some 6 years ago couldn’t have come at a better time – I’d been working as an outside sales rep for a national company and was a) creatively frustrated, b) stressed out and c) bored to death. New technologies had made producing and directing my own projects an option and I briefly considered starting my own company. Ultimately, the financial and logistical hurdles convinced me I would be better served by learning all aspects of the business from inside an established company.

As for my interest in cult and horror films, John Stanley’s “Creature Feature” is firmly entrenched in my childhood memories. My grandmother belonged to the Redington Beach “Beach Club,” and each summer I would accompany her to the club to swim, then watch GODZILLA, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON or similar horror- sci-fi films while she played bridge and gossiped with her friends. When I was 7, we moved to Oahu and “Creature Feature” was replaced by “Ultra Man” and “Denjin Zaboga” (and on rare occasions a classic Universal Monsters film). It wasn’t until my late teens that I rediscovered my love for dark and obscure cinema after taking a class in which we watched POSSESSION and The MAFU CAGE.

How did you meet Stephen, and what was the genesis of the DVD?
I met Stephen as the result of a poster he created for Richard Griffin’s 2008 feature film, BEYOND THE DUNWICH HORROR. I initially called Stephen to gage his interest and availability in creating original art for one or more of our upcoming DVD releases; however, we soon got off-topic and embroiled in a discussion of exploitation and horror genres, our favorite films, trailers, his background and book…apparently, he’d always wanted to put out a trailer compilation, and the concept of tying in the DVD to his book and brand grew from there.

What was your production or direction experience before undertaking DEVIL SISTER? And, why did that particular faux film interest you?
Prior to DEVIL SISTER, I’d produced several “mini-docs” (short form supplemental media shot and edited in documentary fashion to “flesh out” a DVD release), but I’d never undertaken a project remotely like this one.

Los Angeles SHOCK-A-GO-GO FESTIVAL video produced by Paige Davis

The moment I stumbled across Stephen’s description for DEVIL SISTER, I knew I wanted to produce and direct the faux trailer for it…the qualities I found exciting about the project were the same ones that proved the most challenging: how to effectively convey dread, suspense and horror while maintaining ambiguity (regarding the “possession” of the main character). Of course, several contemporary films have done this effectively (THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, REQUIEM) over the period of an hour or so…but I had to convey this in less than 4 minutes. Frankly, it’s unlikely I would have attempted the project if I hadn’t recently produced a highly exploitative piece of key art for a 2009 Bloody Earth Films release, STASH, in which young women are kidnapped, tortured and raped by a back-woods drug dealer. The model, Erin Russ, was absolutely amazing – when she first arrived on set, I gave her a brief run-down of the film’s plot and asked her to try to convey a near-catatonic state – she immediately “got it” (and was so convincing I was a bit freaked out), and I knew I had the lead for DEVIL SISTER, should I move forward.

Erin Russ as the Devil Sister

Justin Wingenfeld, who plays her brother (and is an amazing character actor and experienced director), stepped in to assist in a variety of ways; and Joe Kolbek (also an experienced director) shot, lit, edited, bought worms, and explained how the vomiting scene in the EXORCIST was achieved.

Editor Joseph Kolbek, “Devil Sister” Erin Russ and “Brother” Justin Wingenfeld

Luckily, my favorite possession films are THE CHILD, BEYOND THE DOOR, THE NIGHT CHILD, THE TEMPTER and THE SENTINEL…so I felt confident that if I could capture the off-beat, low-tech ‘vibe’ of these trailers my project would succeed, regardless of exercising restraint. Honestly, I would have loved to explore the psychosis of the priest – but there’s only so much footage I could justify shooting when the end result is a trailer! In the end, we cut at least 30% of the edited footage out of the trailer – it was simply too long and unnecessary.

above: Scenes from “Devil Sister”

Any upcoming projects you’d like to discuss?
I’m currently finishing two feature-length scripts: an extremely dark, surreal, fantasy-horror project and an exploitation-horror film with a nearly all-female cast. However, if I can make the time to direct something again soon, it’s likely to be another short – a dark fantasy inspired by VIY and Russian folklore, featuring Baba Yaga.

Buy Shock Festival DVD
AlternativeCinema.com

Back to Alternative Cinema Home

Interview with Michael Raso - ARCHIVE, RESTORATION and RELEASE

2010-04-08T13:42:00.004-04:00

Interview by Stefan Elnabli,
NYU - Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program

Motion picture producer, filmmaker and photographer Michael Raso has been working professionally in the visual arts for over 20 years. In 1994 he launched his filmmaking studio and distribution companies, Seduction Cinema, Shock-O-Rama and Camp Motion Pictures. In 1998, Michael began his retro line, finding, restoring and releasing lost and forgotten horror and exploitation films to home video - a passion that continues to this day.

Q. Your companies Pop Cinema and Alternative Cinema distributes new films as well as films of the past. Your "Retro 80s Horror Collection" offers some pretty wild titles in independent exploitation horror. What is the process like when you are producing a DVD for distribution in a collection like that, from the acquisition phase to final release?

I’ll use the movie “Video Violence” as an example: shot in 1987 and released as part of the “Retro 80s Horror Collection” series from my home DVD company, CAMP MOTION PICTURES, it embodies all of the characteristics of this era and style of “film”: shot on video, micro-budget, and originally distributed Direct-To-VHS.

Video Violence 2007 DVD Ad Campaign

When acquiring a vintage film for distribution, the first step is to do an inventory of materials. Writer/director Gary Cohen’s office is a short distance from my studio and he was kind enough to deliver the materials personally. In the oversized box were dozens of Sony U-Matics (a broadcast tape format that was introduced in 1971). The Sony U-Matic was solid, durable and was heavily used for shooting news on video through the 1990s. Unfortunately, the box did not contain any edited master tapes. According to Gary they were lost during the “VHS distribution” days. Luckily, there was a VHS copy of the film in the box.

Once the materials were inventoried, I decided that the VHS master was not high quality enough to be released on DVD and the movie would have to be reassembled from the original U-Matic camera tapes. The VHS master served as the template for editing the raw footage on the U-Matics and thus the film was lovingly “restored” from the original elements.

Q. What about the retro-sexploitation film releases that you put out, where original film elements could possibly be up to 50 years old?

The same process applies for motion picture films – first, inventory of materials. With film materials, proper storage is usually the key to preserving the original materials. Unfortunately, climate-controlled storage is expensive, and many films are badly damaged or lost due to improper storage or neglect. Some films were abandoned by their producers in film labs, only to be thrown into a garbage dumpster when that lab moved or went out of business. Kudos to Chris Nebe (producer, Joe Sarno’s “Butterflies,” “Bibi,” “Veil of Blood”) and Sam Sherman (producer, Independent-International Pictures) - both men were scrupulous regarding proper storage of their negatives as well as the prints to the films they own.

pictured: well maintained motion picture elements

Q. When dealing with original film elements, do you perform inspection/repair and any other conservation actions to prep films for a video-transfer, and what kinds of tools does it take to perform this kind of film work?

With film elements, initial quality control is performed by hand: I inspect the print for any visible damage such as sprocket damage or rips. Then, I view the film on a telecine machine. The term telecine refers both to the film-to-tape transferring machine, as well as the process by which film is transferred to tape. A qualified film colorist sits in on this process with me. The colorist alters and enhances the image electronically, then the film is mastered to a hi-definition video format.

Q. During a film-to-video transfer, what kinds of restoration actions do you take when thinking about the final distribution product?

Most every time, a film negative or print that is 25 years or older has faded and lost some of its original color. First step before telecine is to clean the film. Film cleaner can remove grease, ink, adhesive, smoke stains, soot, fungus and other oils from the film negatives or prints.

Electronic devices like the Da Vinci telecine machine make near miracles possible during telecine. The Da Vinci System is one of the manufacturers of high-end post-production color grading and film restoration systems. Many times, the original brilliant color can be restored.

Q. Do you work with any of the original filmmakers during this process?

Whenever possible, I work with the original film director. In the past I’ve been fortunate to have Joe Sarno (Swedish Wildcats, Inga), Carter Stevens (Punk Rock), Sam Sherman (Mean Mother, Dracula vs Frankenstein) and others to sit in during the telecine process.

pictured: filmmaker Joe Sarno and Michael Raso at DuArt Film & Video, New York City 2009

pictured: Carter Stevens (right) laughing it up with film historian Michael Bowen and exploitation screen legend Jamie Gillis – December 2008

Q. Have you found that there is a limit to the amount of restoration that someone can do on a film, where going so far might betray the original experience of seeing a print of a film during the time of its exhibition?

I do feel it is important to keep the final product authentic to the original viewing experience. And frankly, it’s an amazing and time consuming challenge just to get a film to its original state.

Color correction process on Joe Sarno’s “Daddy Darling” (1970)

pictured: colorist Bruce Goldstein, Ascent Media East using the DaVinci film-to-tape machine.

Q. Are there any films that you've released that you've also done film preservation work on, whether that's making an inter-negative, a new print, or any other preservation related actions? If so, what is that process like, from securing funds either through grants or your own investment to working with film vendors and finally securing some kind of archival storage for the finished preservation work?

Many, many times I have wished to take finished restored digital Hi-Definition masters to the next step, which would be the process of striking a new film print. Unfortunately, the cost involved was prohibitive when release on DVD was the end goal. Having said that, one of my dreams is to coordinate a program of important vintage sexploitation films for international film festival exposure, utilizing a combination of original film elements and new prints struck from my restorations – this would be a dream come true.

Q. Have you ever began working on a project that led to the discovery of a film thought to be lost, or the discovery of film elements that are in better condition or have more content than any of the other known film elements of a particular title? Can you comment about any of your experiences with these kinds of discoveries?

I’m thrilled to say, “yes”! I’m in the process of evaluating and releasing a vintage erotic film library stored on 9th Avenue in New York City. As part of this process, during the summer of 2008, I worked almost daily archiving and reviewing film elements from this library. One day while working, I was visited by film historian and colleague Michael Bowen. He was looking around the room and noticed the scribbling on the unassuming box on the shelf. “I don’t believe it, but I think that the box above your head reads All the Sins of Sodom,” he said. We pulled the big box down and opened it, and inside were the complete negative and sound elements for All the Sins of Sodom, a film previously thought to be lost (no film, no VHS, no screenings were ever documented since its original theatrical run). As I’ve worked closely with Joe Sarno for years (and own the rights to many of his films), this was a particularly amazing moment.

“We pulled the big box down and opened it, and inside were the complete negative and sound elements for All the Sins of Sodom, a film previously thought to be lost!”

images from the film negative “All The Sins of Sodom”

Q. Do you work with film archives, collectors, or film historians during the production of a video release? If so, how do they contribute to your restoration/distribution projects, and how would you describe your contribution, if any, to them?

Yes, and working with film historians like Michael Bowen and Ed Grant has been particularly invaluable. Their historic perspective “rounds out” the work I do and adds value to the final release. Historians, filmmakers and fans are often in some way, shape or form emotionally connected to a particular film or series of films. While fans of Joe Sarno or Carter Stevens are overjoyed to see rare unreleased films restored and released, I firmly believe that the bonus features (interviews, historical data that places the film in context) are also an important part of the restoration and release process. Liner notes, interviews and audio commentaries are all an important part of the “magic” of the process.

pictured: film historian Michael Bowen during the 2010 commentary track for Joe Sarno’s “Abigail Lesley is Back” (1975)

I’m also very fortunate to have been technically trained as a cinematographer and editor before I started my first home entertainment companies (Pop Cinema / Camp Motion Pictures). This training provided me with a “global” view of all the media that my company handles. Meaning, I have the technical knowledge of what the media is, which is essential for getting to the marketing stages, and I don’t have to rely on third-party handlers to deal with film and tape elements.

Preparing for the French release of “All The Sins of Sodom” (1968) – Michael Raso, French filmmaker Virgile Iscan, filmmaker Joe Sarno and producer Dave Copeland in New York City, January 2010

Many times a film is discovered only to then languish on a shelf. I spearhead the project by negotiating the deal with the film owner so that we can get the film off the shelf and back on the screen, be it the silver screen or the screen in one’s living room or laptop.

Q. Film archivists today use the term "orphan film" to describe any film that has been abandoned by its creator or copyright holder, neglected, or relegated to limited or no access. Do you consider independent exploitation horror and sexploitation as orphan genres, and what are your thoughts about the general state of archiving and preservation for titles in these genres?

I believe that exploitation or sexploitations films are as important to our culture as film classics like “Gone With The Wind.” It’s so fascinating that our “secret cinema” – the sex film - is not treated with the cultural respect that it deserves. I’m happy to say that this attitude seems to be changing: respected institutions like the British Film Institute, the Torino Film Festival, the Cinematheque Francais in Paris and the Warhol Museum recently honored the films of Joe Sarno by inviting Joe to events that showcase his work.

Joe Sarno at the Torino Film Festival 2006

It’s a thrill and an honor to continue to work with newly found and forgotten films. With the amount of films currently “earmarked” for restoration and release, I expect my work will continue for many, many years to come.

Links

NYU - Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program
http://www.nyu.edu/tisch/preservation/

Michael Raso’s Film Archiving Photo Gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelraso/sets/72157612121031432/

Michael Raso’s Film Photography Internet Radio Show
http://filmphotographypodcast.com/

Back to Alternative Cinema
http://www.alternativecinema.com/

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Mars (Dead House Music)

2010-03-25T17:01:00.004-04:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Meet MARS of DEAD HOUSE MUSIC, composer, musician, horror fan and the composer of the original scores for the Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival DVD.

Could you give the Alternative Cinema audience some background information on your career in film or the arts in general?
My pleasure. I grew up in a musical household, and have a background in music ranging from musical theatre, Classical and Jazz, thru Death Metal and Goth rock. I performed / toured in the extreme metal scene of the 1990's and decided to get off the road around 2004 or so. As a fan of genre film, who just happens to be a musician and composer, I figured that by establishing a studio in my own home I could pursue my primary career while simultaneously exploring my other passion: Horror films. I grew up on Universal Monsters and Hammer horror, and later I discovered Italian Giallo and other styles of Euro Horror. So, working within the genre just seemed to make sense.

I decided to sharpen up my orchestral chops, and I began looking for film work in 2005. I opened DEAD HOUSE MUSIC that same year, as a company dedicated to creating quality scores for independent genre film. 17 films later, I'm still on that mission.

I understand that you composed the music for various menus and intros on the Shock Festival project, what brought you to this project?
I was on Paige Davis' radar, and she called me when it came time to brainstorm for the project. She actually asked me initially to direct a trailer based upon one of Stephen's “films” that was supposed to be a lost H.P. Lovecraft adaptation. Anyone who knows me knows what a Lovecraft nerd I am. Anyway, at the time (directing a trailer) seemed like a bit of a stretch for me time-wise…so, I offered to write some music for a few of the other trailers and perhaps to do a central theme song for SHOCK FESTIVAL instead.

After corresponding with Stephen, we hit it off so well, I just kind of ran with the inspiration as it came. The result was a lot more music than I'd initially intended, but Stephan & Paige really dug what I was coming up with, so no one seemed to mind. Now the music is a really integral part of the project, and I'm really pleased that it turned out this way.

What is the process of composing music for projects like this?
I'd say it begins with 30 years of being a genre fan. Seriously, I have my bases covered when it comes to this world. Being able to reference multiple eras thru several decades of film music styles, let alone being able to reproduce those styles convincingly, by myself, takes some serious effort, I don't mean to sound arrogant, but that's the truth. But it never FELT like work, I was just indulging myself and immersing myself in the fantasy world Stephan had set up already, mixed with all the genre music I had absorbed thru being a fan for so long. The two mirror each other so closely that they crossed over.
From a technical standpoint, I used as many vintage guitars, amps, drums, and various other musical instruments as I could get my hands on. This was to get the correct tones that were crucial in making the music seem truly credible as being from the past. After that, I used selective equalization techniques and vinyl noise to “Age” the recordings properly. I think the results are pretty convincing if I do say so myself.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
Sure. Several feature films I've done this year - ("WON TON BABY" "SAWTOOTH" & "SLIME CITY MASSACRE") hit the convention circuit before December, “LOVECRAFT: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN” is out on DVD & Blu-Ray this month. “DEMON DIVAS AND THE LANES OF DAMNATION” should be out on DVD in 2010. And, the video & music I did for Transfuzion Comics's DEADWORLD re-launch turned out cool.

I'm past the funding stage for a film I'll be directing in 2010 (which, as everyone knows, is the hard part), and into pre-production right now. Lastly, I'm scoring an animated feature film sometime in the New Year. My Bloody Best to all the fans of horror out there.

For more information on Mars and Dead House Music, check out the following websites, www.deadhousemusic.com and www.myspace.com/deadhousemusic

New Jersey's Night of Dangerous Music

2010-03-24T23:06:00.003-04:00

By Michael Raso

Fellow New Jersey filmmakers “Chainsaw Kiss” (Victor Bonacore, Ruby LaRocca, Joey Smack) embarked on the production of their first feature film project this year. The feature, “Blood Wings” stars Linnea Quigley, Ruby LaRocca and Johnny Link to name a few.

According to the filmmakers “Blood Wings” is “a story about a young girl who is ignored & mistreated by everyone who is supposed to love her. She soon finds shelter and warmth within a satanic cult. There's nothing like hell on earth.”

The film is being shot on Super 8 and 16mm film. A trailer was released this month on You Tube.

To raise money to complete their feature, Chainsaw Kiss held a benefit 2/20/2010 at The Clash Bar in Clifton, NJ. Fat Lizzy, Mike Hunchback & The Weird Fantasy Band and Beret donated their time and music.

I attended, 1980s vintage cameras in hand, to document the evening.

See all the pix on Flickr

Images © 2010 Michael Raso
Michael Raso's Film Photography Blog

Chainsaw Kiss on MySpace

Back to Alternative Cinema home

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Nicanor Loreti

2010-03-14T16:09:00.002-04:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Argentinean writer, producer and filmmaker Nic Loreti delivers a post-modern interpretation of Grindhouse cinema with ATTACK OF THE SADISTIC KILLER.

Could you give the Alternative Cinema audience some background information on your career in film or the arts in general?
I’m a professional writer and long-time horror fan who has contributed reviews and editorial to several leading genre publications (Fangoria, Shock Cinema), and I just published an interview book titled Cult People here in Argentina.
My involvement in genre cinema dates back to the 2001 Argentinean horror film, “Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante”, for which I performed a variety of tasks both in front of and behind the camera (actor, best boy). In 2005, I produced and directed a short film, El Kuervo (inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven”), which screened at the Fantasia Film Festival as well as the Buenos Aries festival Rojo Sangre. In 2007, I produced the horror western LEFT FOR DEAD for cult director Albert Pyun, which was shot here in Argentina. After that, I wrote (with my close friend German Val, who did THINKING MAN'S GUN) the screenplay for BREAKING NIKKI - a cool indie horror pic coming soon to DVD in the US - and the film DYING GOD, starring Lance Henriksen and Erin Brown (Misty Mundae). I'm currently working as a film producer and writer here in Buenos Aries, having just completed a thriller called PARAPOLICIAL NEGRO, and will produce a horror movie titled MEMORY OF THE DEAD in early 2010 (both shot on Red One cameras). I also just finished an animated short film narrated by Billy Drago, with music by Claudio Simonetti (SUSPIRIA).

What attracted you to the project and ATTACK OF THE SADISTIC KILLER?
I'm a big fan of Stephen's book SHOCK FESTIVAL; it's truly a unique work of art. So when I approached the people at Pop Cinema about interpreting one of the faux films for the DVD, they told me to pick a poster for the trailer. I picked ATTACK OF THE SADISTIC KILLER based on the cool art and the amazing name (which was actually a re-title of one of the original faux films).

I really enjoyed the visual style you employed (freeze frames and the picture-in-picture segments) - were there any specific trailers that served as a template or an influence?
My inspirations for ATTACK were trailers for Italian giallos and film noirs, full of crazy colors and picture-in-picture images.

Can you ell us a little about the actors you worked with?
The lead is Guadalupe Cheja, who is also my girlfriend and a cool director/ editor herself. We did a short film called BAD BLOOD, which she co-directed and starred in, so I instantly thought of her when I needed a female lead in the trailer. The guys are all cult filmmakers from the indie scene in my country: Vic Cicuta, Elvira Serio and Hernan Quintana - the 3 of them seen in the Z movie SADOMASTER (released by the US label SRS CINEMA). They are all part of the amazing counter-culture world of the local underground cinema.

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
Guadalupe and I did the special effects, makeup, camerawork and cinematography. Mariano Cattaneo helped in the editing and color correction and the music is by a local underground band called Da Capo, who are truly amazing.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
Hmmm.... THE RAVEN (the animated short) is looking for a distributor, so if anyone's interested feel free to contact me, plus I'm also working on a new screenplay. Oh, Cult People, the English edition, is coming out in January 2010. Look for it then! It features interviews with Henriksen, Argento, a prologue by Lloyd Kaufman and more!

Keep track of all of Nicanor’s film projects and books at his myspace page, www.myspace.com/nicloreti

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

A Conversation With ROT:Reunion of Terror Director Michael A. Hoffman

2010-03-10T11:59:00.004-05:00

by
Bruce G. Hallenbeck

This is not your father's high school reunion: five school chums get together at a cabin in the woods to celebrate their tenth year out of school. What they don't realize, however, is that a killer is lurking around somewhere in the darkened forest, waiting to pick them off one by one. The question is: is there an unknown serial murderer that's responsible, or is it one of them?

Director Michael A. Hoffman

ROT: Reunion of Terror Trailer

That's the premise of ROT: REUNION OF TERROR, a new feature film directed and co-written by Michael A Hoffman (aka Michael Hoffman Jr.), an enterprising young filmmaker from Florida who has spread his considerable talent through many facets of the movie business, from production assistant on such low-budget efforts as Tim Ritter's SCREAMING FOR SANITY: TRUTH OR DARE 3 (1998), DIRTY COP NO DONUT (1999) and DIRTY COP: I AM A PIG (2001). His first feature as a director was the horror anthology film SCARY TALES (2001), which received worldwide distribution and was followed up with a sequel, SCARY TALES: THE RETURN OF MR. LONGFELLOW (2003), which he co-directed with Jason Daly.

Since then, Hoffman has honed his skills working on commercials, music videos, industrial productions and other independent features as editor, director and writer. His latest directorial effort is ROT: REUNION OF TERROR, which was filmed on location in California. At age 29, Hoffman recently told me in a phone interview from his home in Florida that he "feels a lot older." Then again, he's been involved in film since the tender age of fourteen, when he hooked up with Ritter after seeing an ad for a production assistant in a local newspaper.

Smokin' - Internet Ad from Michael A. Hoffman on Vimeo.

His experience with Ritter on SCREAMING FOR SANITY was invaluable: "I learned what to do and what not to do on a film," Hoffman recalled. "It was tough, but I kept working in films throughout high school. I was the worst senior ever; I skipped 45 days of my senior year. But it was worth it."

In more recent times, Hoffman has worked as a writer on Corbin Bernsen's production THE CLOWN and he was production manager of the St. Louis Cardinals' 2008 ad campaign. But it's as director/writer/producer on his own low-budget horror features that gives Hoffman the most satisfaction, despite the trials and tribulations of making ROT.

Clip from ROT: Reunion of Terror

"Of all the productions I've worked on, ROT was the toughest," Hoffman stated. "It was part of a two-picture deal with Disruptive Media, the other being SPRING BREAK MASSACRE. We filmed ROT on location at Big Bear and San Bernardino National Forest in California. Jim Fulton, who is in the film as a redneck store owner, owned the ranch where we filmed much of the movie. It's a great location. Jim Fulton rocks! But we just had one problem after another getting the movie in the can."

ROT: Reunion of Terror

ROT: Reunion of Terror

Those problems included blizzards, car accidents and floods. "I've never seen so many things work against a production," Hoffman continued. "It was cold - we shot in February and March - and there were some shots we couldn't complete, like when the girl has her head bashed against the tree. There was a flash flood and we couldn't finish the shot. Fortunately, I'm a union editor by trade, so I found a way to work around it. But it was snowing - in California! - during all of the night shoots. We had to backlight everything so you couldn't see the snow. Plus the fact that Big Bear and the cabin we were filming in were 240 miles apart, and we had to make them look like they were in the same spot. And we filmed some scenes months apart. So again, as an editor, I had to ask myself, how do I make these scenes work? I basically had to re-edit the entire movie over the course of eight months."

The fact that Hoffman is also an editor makes him feel a certain kinship to one of his favorite classic horror directors, Terence Fisher, who did many of the most famous Hammer Films, including HORROR OF DRACULA (1958). "I have a huge collection of Hammer and Amicus films," Hoffman said. "The fact that Fisher was an editor first shows in the economy of his shooting. He knew exactly how much to shoot, and I try to do that too."

“The fact that Hoffman is also an editor makes him feel a certain kinship to one of his favorite classic horror directors, Terence Fisher…”

Along the rocky road to the film's completion, there were some bright spots. "We had a 140-foot crane donated to us, provided we could repair it," Hoffman said. But even that ended up awkwardly: "We managed to do that, but at one point it broke down and the cameraman was stuck in it for nine and a half hours! And he has a fear of heights. We're good friends now, but I think he still wants to kill me!"

Murphy's Law may have applied to the film, but the end result is a tight, suspenseful and surprisingly atmospheric mood piece that both recalls and satirizes eighties slasher films. "We tried to play around with horror stereotypes," said Hoffman. "For example, the opening scene in your average slasher movie was usually a young couple camping in the woods. You'd see a silhouette of them making love in the tent against the lamp light, and then they'd be horribly killed. Well, instead of the usual clichés, in our movie the campers in the opening scene are two girls who happen to be lesbians. They have the scene in the tent with the lamp light. And, by the way, their nipples are hard because it's so cold!"

“instead of the usual cliches, in our movie the campers in the opening scene are two girls who happen to be lesbians”

Hoffman also does something a lot of young filmmakers don't do: he takes the time to build up a mood before most of the killings start. "I tried to make it like an eighties movie in that respect," he noted. "Then we took all the clichés and moved them one step forward, and we wanted to throw the audience off, especially in the last ten minutes."

His magnum opus now completed and in release through Shock-O-Rama Cinema, Hoffman was recently assistant editor on FORGET ME NOT, an indie feature starring Carly Schroeder, and is currently working on BEWARE, a made-for-TV movie that is being shot in both Spanish and English versions for Spanish television.

Hoffman likes having a regular income from his high-profile gigs, but his heart belongs to horror. "I'd rather make fifty low-budget movies than one huge-budgeted blockbuster," Hoffman said with a laugh. "I'd like some bigger budgets than I've had in the past, but I'm still a huge fan of those eighties slashers, and those are the kinds of movies I love doing."

ROT: Reunion of Terror DVD BUY at Alternative Cinema

ROT: Reunion of Terror NETFLIX Link

ROT: Reunion of Terror on FaceBook

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST – March 2010

2010-03-09T13:17:00.003-05:00

Join Michael Raso and John Fedele for this Podcast Blizzard that includes DVD giveaways of the amazing SHOCK-FEST DVD!

Discussions include Super 8 film, Michael Hoffman’s “ROT,” “House of the Devil” on VHS (!?!)

Also, a tribute to the passing of XXX Cinema Legend Jamie Gillis with words from Joe Sarno, Carter Stevens and Eduardo Cemano.

Jamie Gillis Interview
Courtesy of Retro-Seduction Cinema
Available on DVD from Alternative Cinema

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Adrian Santiago

2010-03-04T11:28:00.002-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

The director of the visceral and phantasmagorical TENTACLES IN A TWISTED DEATHDREAM, Adrian Santiago, fills us in on his newest film, GRIM and his involvement with Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival.

Can you give us some background information on your career in film or the arts in general?
I most recently wrapped on my first self-written, self-shot, self-directed, self-edited, self-financed feature film GRIM (produced for on about $5,000us). I was also a lead videographer for the 2009 AFI Dallas International Film Festival, worked as an extra in seasons 2 and 3 of FOX's “PRISON BREAK", Lifetime's "INSPECTOR MOM", and many years ago as a child, CBS' "WALKER TEXAS RANGER".

When did you first meet Stephen Romano, and what drew your attention to TENTACLES IN A TWISTED DEATHDREAM?
We were at a horror convention promoting a movie for another independent studio, and just before getting kicked out of the booth for (gasp) giving my business card away and networking, I walked past Stephen Romano and his booth promoting the (at the time) unreleased book SHOCK FESTIVAL. I sat around, shot the shit with him and fell in love with the project! I remember saying something to him like "You should think about doing some fake movie trailers to go along with the book", and he smiled and said "Funny you should mention it..."

A couple of weeks later, Stephen sent over a PDF for the "TENTACLES IN A TWISTED DEATHDREAM" entry... and about a month after that I called him up to tell him it was ready. Good thing he's such a nice guy, because when he heard the good news he sounded like he couldn't believe it: He was excited, but I could swear he was trying to say "Holy shit, someone actually followed through!”

After that, he altered the poster for "TENTACLES" to include my name, our actors and crew which is way cool. He also stole a picture of me and inserted it into the "SATAN INSIDE HER" where he listed me as Italian Director "Enzo Castilliano". Very lulzworthy.

The monologue in the trailer appears to be shot specifically for a trailer rather than part of a film used for a trailer, much like how filmmakers such as Hitchcock and William Castle would shoot separate trailer material. Were there specific trailers which influenced you?
I wrote everything the night before we shot the trailer while I was pissed off at my girlfriend... I tend to do my best stuff when I'm either crazy angry or crazy depressed. Anyway, I got on Youtube and looked up a bunch of authentic grindhouse trailers (which, post-Rodriguez/Tarantino'cide were hard to find). Of all things, the one that spoke to me the loudest and most effectively was the trailer for DOLEMITE. It was action-action-action all the way through, accented by Rudy Ray Moore's stylized promo. I decided that was the best way to go, as we could establish a wide range of details (historical, political, and maniacal) and soak 'em in blood to show they're all equally futile.

I'd love a chance to take the concept behind TENTACLES (as Stephen wrote it) and translate it to a feature film. Make it real chatty, see if I can't get people to nod their heads in agreement with the guy who ends up being the craziest motherfucker of the bunch moments before he goes on a killing spree... see if the experience does anything to change their perception of right and wrong.

Can you tell us a little about the actors you worked with?
The only actor by trade out there was Christopher Dimock (whose name now appears on the TENTACLES poster in SHOCK FESTIVAL). At that point we had worked with him on a short film we did for Fox’s "On the Lot"... urp, excuse me: I always vomit a little when I mention that show. Other guys out there (the victims) were Garrett Wilkerson (the guy who gets the funny little "floating" animated bullet hole in his neck), a couple of his friends, Mike Peters (been with us since the first short film I ever made), and Tomas Santiago, my younger brother. Poor guy, everyone else gave us quiet deaths, but when Tom gets shot in the knee he was crying, cussing... all good stuff, but by then I figured we could save some time and just NOT record audio!

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
Garrett Wilkerson handled all the sweet blood hits (that was actually the first time they had been used), Cinematography was co-op between myself and Daniel Patterson. Surprisingly I get asked this question a lot, and I'd like to take this time to put the rumors to rest: Yes! You're SUPPOSED to see the boom pole! We planned out a lot of deliberate bloopers/flaws... some shots are in focus, none of the gunshots follow any kind of realistic trajectories, and so on. I had wanted to have the reflection of the crew in a car window as a guy stepped out of it, but we didn't have any vehicles from the era and the camera would've been too modern.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
Yes, dammit! Be on the look out for "GRIM", a film by Adrian Santiago at a film festival near you in 2010! Test audiences (who have seen only clips) find the movie immensely troubling to watch... one person summed up the opening of the film best when they said, "It’s tough, it’s brutal, it’s unsettlingly realistic, you find yourself wishing it was over but it only gets worse. If they can get away with staging something like this in a film in broad daylight, imagine what a real-life sicko can get away with when there are even fewer people around."

I'm no asshole... feel free to reach out and touch me!

You can “reach out and touch” Adrian by email at evilprojectblack@gmail.com or follow him on projectblack.com, www.myspace.com/projectblackstudios or
www.facebook.com/projectblackstudios

SHOCK FESTIVAL is available on DVD Now!

BACK to Alternative Cinema HOME

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Richard Griffin

2010-02-26T09:13:00.006-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Since exploding onto the genre scene in 2004 with the critically acclaimed socio-political-zombie satire, FEEDING THE MASSES, Richard Griffin has gone on to complete nine more features (eight from the horror genre). Richard takes a moment to discuss his cinematic career, and his contribution to Shock Festival, DARK NIGHT OF THE DEMON HOUSE.

Richard, tell us about your background in film or the arts in general?
I started making short films on Super8 when I was very young, and then after awhile I began working at a local television station in Rhode Island. We did a little bit of everything.... from commercials, to PSAs, to shooting concerts and other events. As much as it was a video sausage factory, it taught me a great deal about virtually every aspect of production.

After leaving the television studio in the mid 2000s, I started Scorpio Film Releasing with my partner Ted Marr in 2004. Since then I have directed over nine features.

What brought you to this project and what drew your attention to DARK NIGHT OF THE DEMON HOUSE?
I was very fortunate to have Stephen Romano create the posters for two of our features -- BEYOND THE DUNWICH HORROR and NUN OF THAT. When it came time for the SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD, Stephen asked me if I would be interested in directing one of the faux trailers. Originally he asked me to make a specific trailer, an homage to the Luigi Cozzi STAR WARS rip-off, STAR CRASH, but I was right in the middle of shooting a feature and didn't feel like I would have the energy to devote to an epic sci-fi trailer, so I picked something a little more low-key.... and that was DARK NIGHT OF THE DEMONHOUSE.

Your trailer truly captured the seventies feel complete with period roto-scoping effects, were there any particular films or trailers which influenced your trailer?
Before shooting the trailer I watched a hell of a lot of Independent-International Pictures, especially NURSE SHERRI, for a general look and feel. I also viewed a bunch of EXORCIST rip-offs like BEYOND THE DOOR and ABBY. It was the most entertaining "research" I've ever done for a project!

Independent-International Pictures’ NURSE SHERRI

Can you tell us a little about the actors you worked with?
I rounded up a number of actors who were involved in NUN OF THAT at the time. Sarah Nicklin, who's been in every film I've made since SPLATTER DISCO, Michael Reed, who I know would have no problem having sex scenes with Sarah.... since they are now husband and wife! Also in the cast are Brandon Luis Aponte and his uncle Alex Aponte, (You can never have too many Apontes in your movie.), the beautiful Alexandra Cipolla, the regal Nolan Kerr, and to add to the movie's cool factor, David Lavallee, Jr., who is a brilliant up-and-coming actor and fight choreographer.

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
Seeing it was very small production, we kept the crew very light. I directed, shot and edited it. Ted produced and ran sound, a brilliant FX artist named Alan August handled the blood, and finally my regular composer Daniel Hildreth composed and performed the score.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
We currently wrapped shooting a sci-fi horror film set in 1957 called ATOMIC BRAIN INVASION, which I'm very proud of. In 2010 I'll be directing a dark comedy called BIRD TALK, as well as another feature that is currently untitled - but I promise it'll be our most shocking film yet!

You can keep track of Richard’s cinematic output by “friending” him on Facebook as well as visiting myspace.com/scorpiofilmreleasing

Back to ALTERNATIVE CINEMA Home

Jamie Gillis passes away at 66

2010-02-20T11:45:00.002-05:00

By Michael Raso

I was shocked when I heard that Jamie Gillis passed away yesterday at 66 years old. According to numerous on-line reports, Gillis was battling cancer in the last year.

Jamie Gillis in Carter Stevens’ PLEASURE PALACE (1979)

Seeing Jamie Gillis (on film) is a daily occurrence at the studio, where I archive and program DVD releases for my labels Retro-Seduction Cinema and After Hours Cinema. Three of my personal and on-going projects – the restoration of Eduardo Cemano, Joe Sarno and Carter Stevens’ film libraries – all include Jamie Gillis in one way, shape or form.

Jamie Gillis (with Tina Russell) in a rare behind the scenes shot (being directed by Eduardo Cemano in MADAME ZENOBIA 1973)

Jamie Gillis and Rebecca Brooke from Joe Sarno's ABIGAIL LESLEY IS BACK IN TOWN (1975)

I last saw Jamie Gillis in December 2008 at a dinner film historian Michael Bowen & I threw (for Joe Sarno) at Zarela’s restaurant in NYC. It was cold and snowy. Carter Stevens drove in all the way from the Poconos just to attend.

Lack of focus is made up for by Lots of Laughter!
Pictured: Peggy Sarno, Michael Bowen and Jamie Gillis
Zarela's Resaurant, New York City - December 16, 2008

The Three Amigos!
Pictured: Carter Stevens, Joe Sarno and Jamie Gillis
Zarela's Resaurant, New York City - December 16, 2008

It has been and continues to be a real joy restoring the lost films of the great men mentioned above. Much more work to do and so, so sad that Jamie had to leave us so early in the celebration of the re-releases of so many films that he brought his talent to.

Links:
Porn legend Jamie Gillis dead at 66 by Greg B / Cinesploitation
http://www.cinesploitation.com/?p=4006

Jamie Gillis passes away / AVN
http://business.avn.com/articles/37411.html

Jamie Gillis titles

Back to ALTERNATIVE CINEMA Home

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Victor Bonacore

2010-02-12T15:14:00.005-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Indie filmmaker Victor Bonacore, director of the faux trailer "THEY MADE ME!" talks about his influences, his cast, crew and how it all began with a Chainsaw Kiss.

What inspired you to pursue a career in film?
I have always been into the arts, especially film. My two older sisters raised me on PINK FLAMINGOS, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW & THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS, so I believe that had somewhat of an impact on me. After I got my first camcorder I re-enacted scenes from famous movies, and then I started writing. I went to school for film, and made some shorts there, but it wasn’t until I moved out to New Jersey and into a house with fellow filmmakers Joey Smack & Ruby Larocca that I really found my place. I bought a 16mm camera; we put our minds together and started creating all the time, and formed CHAINSAW KISS. We started making films together in the summer of 08. First we did a weird music video for Long Island folk artist Johnnie Lee Jordan called THE WIGLY. Then we did a film about child molestation and organized religion that played some great festivals like Fantasia in Montreal & The Coney Island Film Festival called ICE CREAM SUNDAY. Our next project was a movie about a girl who will do anything to get the weird one that she wants, which was actually the directorial debut for Ruby Larocca, titled BELATED BY VALENTINES LOVER. Then we did a film called DOG SHIT written & directed by underground speed-core musician ScreamerClauz about a utopian society where people wear paper plates as masks. Next came the trailer for the SHOCK FESTIVAL project, and we had a blast doing that. We are currently shooting a new film called BLOOD WINGS: A SATANIC FANTASY and it’s going to be our first feature film together. We are all very excited about it. After that we’re going to produce a new short, written and directed by Joey Smack! So we are constantly working, constantly going broke, but committed to making our name in the underground art scene.

What brought you to this project and what drew your attention to choose the specific trailer you made?
I have a good friend that works for ALTERNATIVE CINEMA, and I thought this would be a great project to be associated with so I asked if CHAINSAW KISS could be a part of it, and they said yes! So we went home, flipped through the book for a couple of days and I fell in love with THEY MADE ME! I love girl gang films, and I just love gang films in general so I thought it would be great fun doing one. I went to Ruby right away and asked if she would play the lead in the trailer, and of course she said yes! I took all the taglines and anything else associated with that title in the book, and then wrote out a rough script for it. Joe & I reviewed it again, made some changes and we were ready to shoot. Our friend Brandon was living with us at the time and is a very talented DP, so I asked him to shoot it, and that is one of the reasons, the trailer looks so good!

Explain why you would want to make a trailer for a film the book refers to as “the most poorly made all girl exploitation effort of its day?”
Because that’s awesome! There is true art in bad cinema and to have my name associated with that is a blessing from Satan!

Can you tell us a little about the actors you worked with?
Well, what can I say about RUBY LAROCCA? She is the greatest actress of all time. And I really mean that. If you ever get lucky enough to work with her, you will know what I mean, she does whatever you ask of her, and more, she’s a great fucking talent, friend and roommate.

pictured: Ruby LaRocca, Shock Festival producer Paige Kay Davis, Victor Bonacore

The other girls were great too! I had never worked with Jamie Mayhem before and was really excited to. She is great and is a pleasure on set. She is also in the upcoming BLOOD WINGS as well! Sybelle Silverphoenix was great too, I met her at Comic-Con where she was promoting a new film she was in directed by Underground Legend BillZebub. I contacted her and she was down! Monique Stines I have known for a while and have worked with before, too. She will do it all and with a smile on her face. Then we had Mike Mistake who was more than happy to get brutally murdered by a group of beautiful toughies. Chi Orengo gladly got thrown around in the dirt and rolled on glass for the film. Then I needed a girl to get raped by a knife, so I called up my girlfriend who had never been in a film before and said “would you be cool getting raped by a knife today?” She was down!

Then I put a call in to the incredible New Jersey actor ALAN ROWE KELLY, a pleasure to be around and great honor to work with. I knew he would bring the mother character to life. Really a great cast, where everyone went the extra mile and everyone kicked ass, and I know that is reflected on screen.

pictured: Alan Rowe Kelly

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
Brandon Wunder was the director of photography. He’s got a great eye and his stuff is great; it was easy to work with him. The song we used was from the band the UBANGIS! A really tight, rock n’ roll band! ScreamerClauz edited the trailer, did the sound mix and all the visual effects for the film!

on the set of “Blood Wings.” Pictured: Victor Bonacore, Linnea Quigley, Johnny Link

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
Yes, there’s DOG SHIT, which I mentioned earlier, and our newest project BLOOD WINGS, which we are currently still shooting. We just got off our biggest weekend of shooting, 3 days straight. LINNEA QUIGLEY is in this film as the housemother of a satanic cult (we just finished shooting all her scenes). This movie is going to be insane! It’s a story Ruby and I came up with together, and we are all producing together while I take the directional reigns. This will be our first feature so we are very, very excited about it! Keep an eye out for it next spring!

Keep up with CHAINSAW KISS at their myspace page
www.myspace.com/chainsawkiss

Return to Alternative Cinema HOME

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Chris LaMartina

2010-02-09T22:19:00.004-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Baltimore filmmaker Chris Lamartina, director of the zombie-trailer-homage TOOL SHED OF THE LIVING DEAD and faux TV spot GHOST OF THE RAVEN, talks Shock Festival, Edgar Allen Poe and his latest filmmaking project.

When did you first become involved in the horror genre?
I got serious about filmmaking when I was around 18 or so. During my first year at college, I started doing a segment each break for an anthology that would become DEAD TEENAGERS. It was crummy-looking movie shot on consumer gear for about $300, but it got a distribution deal and gave me hope that I could continue making films for a wider audience. Shortly after completing DEAD TEENAGERS, I met up with an old friend, Jimmy George, and we began working together. We somehow managed to raise a little bit of money to make our first film together and have continued to churn them out since then. So far, we've produced 3 features together, BOOK OF LORE, GRAVE MISTAKES (these two are coming out as a double feature through Camp Motion Pictures in May 2010), and the recently wrapped PRESIDENT’S DAY.

Fill us in on how you become involved with Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival DVD?
My girlfriend gave me Stephen’s 2008 book, SHOCK FESTIVAL, as a Christmas gift last year and it quickly became one of my favorite possessions. I loved the artwork, the articles, but most importantly... the mythology. Stephen’s grasp of what makes the culture of exploitation film so great is strong and few have done it as well as the book did.

I picked my two trailers for different reasons. I chose GHOST OF THE RAVEN because I'm located in Baltimore and my apartment is literally five minutes from Poe's gravesite, so I figured I had to. I felt a need to represent my hometown and I've always felt an affinity for Poe. He's popped up in my life many times and in many places: I was recently contacted by the Baltimore Museum of Art to produce a piece inspired by his work for their upcoming exhibit, and Poe was a subplot of a romantic comedy script I wrote last year that won third place at the Baltimore Screenwriting Competition.

TOOL SHED OF THE LIVING DEAD seemed to be the most open-ended and easily one of the most silly, niche titles in the book. I knew I could gather some friends in a weekend and get some great footage. I also knew about an abandoned graveyard where we could shoot a few shots and incorporated them into the trailer.

TOOL SHED OF THE DEAD is one of the films with the least coverage in the book, was this a limitation on the project or was it freeing?
It was definitely freeing. I didn't want to take away from Stephen's vision of these films, so when producing both, I tried to keep his vision in mind. Since TOOL SHED is very limited in coverage, I tried to think about what films it would be like...

The TOOL SHED trailer is definitely I DRINK YOUR BLOOD in tone, but if it were a feature, I imagined it like GARDEN OF THE DEAD or even an early Andy Milligan film... that's the type of film stock/damage I was going for... that scratchy faded-red (because of poor storage) look that many of Milligan's features have. As a former projectionist, I was trying to achieve what color damage would traditionally occur to the prints in the color correcting process.

Can you tell us a little about the actors you worked with?
For my two trailers, all the actors were friends. For my features, we've had auditions and managed to work with some really great folks. For my latest project, PRESIDENT’S DAY, I got to work with a group of great actors such as George Stover (John Waters’ Female Trouble and Desperate Living, Don Dohler's films), Ruby Larocca (star of Seduction Cinema films), and Shawn Phillips (from Youtube’s Don and Murph Show).

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
I wrote, directed, and edited both trailers. I scored the music for TOOL SHED, but Mars from Dead House Music did the music for GHOST as per Stephen's request. I'm glad I could use it, since it's perfect for the trailer.

I did some of the special effects, but my friend Randi Williams did most of the zombie makeup.

I understand that a couple of your films will be released this year; can you give us some additional information?
BOOK OF LORE and GRAVE MISTAKES will be released as a double feature from Camp Motion Pictures on May 18, 2010.

BOOK OF LORE is an atmospheric horror flick about a small town that is plagued with a surprising number of bizarre local legends that start to "come true". It won Best Horror Feature at the 2007 Shockerfest International Film Festival.

GRAVE MISTAKES is a campy throwback to 1980s horror anthologies like CREEPSHOW and TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE. It follows a grave robber who tries selling stolen jewelry to an old antiques dealer, but instead of trading goods, they trade stories of ghosts, zombies, vampires, and other supernatural entities.

The double feature disc should be jam-packed with extra features, commentaries, making-of featurettes and tons of great stuff for fans of low-budget horror.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
I'm currently editing PRESIDENT’S DAY, our latest film. It's a gory social satire about a maniac in an Abe Lincoln outfit who is killing all the candidates for a high school student council election. I'm pitching it as a cross between ELECTION and SLEEPAWAY CAMP PART 2. So far, it looks like it will be a lot of fun.

You can keep up with Chris and PRESIDENT’S DAY on his myspace page,
www.myspace.com/chrislamartina

On FaceBook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/PresidentsDay

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Dave Neabore

2010-02-08T16:32:00.000-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Musician and filmmaker Dave Neabore raps about his love of horror, his music career, and how his two passions led him to Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival and DEAD BUGS ON THE CARPET.

Could you give the Alternative Cinema audience some background information on your career in film or the arts in general?
I've been a musician since I was very young, and had a successful career for over 20 years now with the bands DOG EAT DOG and MUCKY PUP. My interest in film dates back to the mid-70s when I was exposed to JAWS, CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, and INVASION Of THE BODY SNATCHERS among others as a young kid. My parents forbade me to EVER see LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT after they walked out on it in the theater, and of course it then became my holy grail as an adolescent. I got a super 8 camera in high school, but the film processing was too expensive, and I gave it up when I recorded my first album and went on tour of Europe at 18 years old. In the late 90's I got back into it and made my first real short film with a $20,000 budget. It was called REEL FEAR and had a few screenings on the east coast including the first New York City Horror Film Festival. Since then I have continued to make short films while touring and recording.

I see that you have done some music for films and even for the Lucio Fulci documentary PAURA, when did you begin to incorporate your love of horror into your music career?
I have a very extensive horror soundtrack collection. I guess the most influential soundtrack to me is from CREEPSHOW. When I saw this opening night in 1982, the experience blew me away, and the music was a huge part of that. I always wanted to do a soundtrack, which is the reason I started making short films in the first place. In 2001, my good friend and high school buddy Michael J. Hein, had just directed his first feature, a zombie movie called BIOHAZARDOUS, and offered me the chance to do the music as well as provide 2 songs. A couple of years ago when Mike Baronas was working on the PAURA DVD, he liked my music from the FULCI Symphony Of Fear album, and asked me to provide music for his movie. For me it was an honor and an amazing experience. There is a limited CD soundtrack available, so it's out there for the fans to hear. I am so busy touring with my rock band that I'm not really out there pimping myself as much as I should to get more soundtrack work. I basically just wait for the phone to ring, so to speak, and take the jobs as they come.

What brought you to this project and what drew your attention to choose the specific trailer you made?
I first met Stephen Romano after we both worked on the 1999 CD, FOR LUCIO FULCI: A Symphony Of Fear. I always thought he was an incredible musician and artist, so I have followed his work since that project. After I sent him the soundtrack to the PAURA DVD, he responded with a very positive email about my music. A short time later he sent me a demo proof of the SHOCK FESTIVAL book. As soon as I saw this book, I freaked out and proclaimed it a work of genius to anyone who would listen. I wrote Stephen, basically begging him to be a part of any future incarnations of the book, and also included a list of my favorite posters. Stephen wrote me back and gave me the go ahead for DEAD BUGS ON THE CARPET, which was my first choice on the list. The poster just screamed giallo/slasher, my favorite sub-genre, so I knew this would be the perfect trailer for me.

Were there advantages or limitations to choosing a film that is barely mentioned in the book?
I read the corresponding chapter over and over and tried to remain faithful to what was written in the book. There we definitely some challenges going in, but my goal was just to please Stephen. If he was happy, then my job was done. My limitations were really budgetary. I had no money and no crew, so I really had to do everything myself.

Can you tell us a little about the actors you worked with?
I like to use my close friends in my short films. I know that they will be there for me, show up when I need them, and give me all they got. For DEAD BUGS ON THE CARPET I used the same cast as my previous short, JASON HURTS, which appears as an extra on the FRIDAY THE 13th documentary, HIS NAME WAS JASON. Justin Pawelec played the black gloved killer and also provided important locations, props, and extras. My long time friend Greg Merkle, who previously played Jason, took on the role of a victim this time, and did a fantastic job. Kim Berlin, who usually works behind the scenes, also makes a special appearance. Finally, Lou Strippoli, a very talented stand up comedian, did the voice-over. Since my trailer has no on-screen dialogue, I didn't have to worry about bad sound or acting, which really helped the process.

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
I directed, shot, edited, scored, and did the makeup effects. Basically, I was a one man crew. It can be frustrating trying to do everything while communicating with the actors. There are times where I lose my cool, but eventually I get what I want, and we laugh about it over a beer at the end of the night. This is how I've shot my last 3 short films, and even though I take on the whole burden, I know that I am getting what I want.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
I've now made a string of short films over the past 10 years, and feel that I am ready to make a feature length film now. I know how long the process will take, so I am really looking for the right script or idea before diving in. I have a few scripts that have been sent my way, but I am still keeping my options open. I'd like to be involved in the writing to some degree, but wouldn't mind directing someone else's material. I've been very lucky to have constantly gotten new opportunities throughout my life, and one project always leads to another. Maybe someone reading this will be the link to my next one.....

DAVE can be reached via e-mail at daveneabore@yahoo.com

Back to www.AlternativeCinema.com HOME

SHOCK FESTIVAL ORIGINAL TRAILERS SCREEN IN NYC

2010-02-01T10:58:00.011-05:00

Report and Photos by Michael Raso

Anticipation and excitement filled the lobby of the Anthology Film Archives Theater in New York City this past Saturday, January 30th as filmmakers braved the single-digit weather and gathered to celebrate the upcoming release of Stephen Romano’s Shock Festival DVD.

Screening was the Tribute Trailers segment of the 3-disc release, comprised of 13 contemporary trailers plus one “mini-movie”. Showcasing the talents of several up-and-coming independent directors and shot on location in such diverse cities as Austin, Los Angeles, NYC and Buenos Aires; these short content ‘faux trailers’ were inspired by the fictional horror and exploitation films described in Stephen Romano’s acclaimed 2008 novel, Shock Festival.

“The inspiration for the Shock Festival DVD was Stephen Romano’s 2008 book of the same name. The best way to describe it is a “parallel universe” of grindhouse cinema – fictional directors, stars, poster art and a variety of cinematic ephemera – interwoven with real horror and exploitation films from the ‘70s. It’s visually stunning. In producing the DVD, we strove to mix the best (and best-worst) of original grindhouse content with contemporary faux trailers inspired by the fictional films from Stephen’s book,” said Paige Davis, who co-produced the DVD and directed the faux trailer “Devil Sister”. She went on to say, “tonight is both a celebration of the upcoming release, and a “thank you” to the directors, cast and crew who brought these fictional films to life in trailer form.”

In attendance were Dave Neabore (“Dead Bugs on the Carpet”), Michael Gingold (“Girl Killer”), Chris LaMartina (“Tool shed of the Living Dead,” “Ghost of the Raven”), Victor Bonacore and Chainsaw Kiss (“They Made Me”), Richard Griffin (“Dark Night of the Demon House”), Paige Davis (“Devil Sister”), as well as crew, cast and friends of the production.

Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival DVD is available February 9th, 2010 from Alternative Cinema / Shock-O-Rama Cinema. For additional information on the DVD and interviews with the directors, visit www.AlternativeCinema.com

Additional photos can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newyorkgrindhouse/sets/72157623327681564/

Hear all about SHOCK FESTIVAL (along with an interview with Shock Fest creator Stephen Romano) on this month's ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST.

www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

Back to Alternative Cinema HOME

AC Podcast for February 2010...Best Show Ever!

2010-02-01T10:18:00.004-05:00

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST
Episode 11 - February 1, 2010

Join Michael Raso and John Fedele for the BEST AC PODCAST EVER! It’s February and that means it’s time for the national release of the long-anticipated DVD of Stephen Romano’s Shock Festival. Stephen joins the show to discuss the show and the genesis of the ultimate grindhouse DVD experience. Also, Henrique Couto and his shocking Miley Cyrus ukulele song, Chris LaMartina’s 80’s-style slasher flick “President’s Day,” B-Movie news and more, more more!

For download, RSS feed or iTunes link go here:
www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

Alternative Cinema Home Page

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Michael Gingold

2010-01-28T19:11:00.006-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Could you give the Alternative Cinema audience some background information on your career in film or the arts in general?
I've been the managing editor of FANGORIA magazine for nearly 20 years and a contributor to Fangoria.com for nearly 10, and during that time I've written a number of horror screenplays. Four of them have been produced (Leeches, Ring of Darkness, Shadow: Dead Riot, Halloween Night), two of them to my satisfaction (I'll leave it to readers to figure out which ones those were). Even as I’ve enjoyed working on the horror journalism side of the industry all these years, I've never lost the ambition to direct that I first nurtured at New York University's film school. I directed a Super-8 feature many years back that remains uncompleted due to technical issues, and when the opportunity to contribute to SHOCK FESTIVAL came up, it struck me as a perfect starting point to getting back behind the camera.

What brought you to this project, and the GIRLKILLER trailer in particular?
I've been a fan of Stephen Romano's SHOCK FESTIVAL book ever since I came across a promotional display for it at a FANGORIA Weekend of Horrors convention in Austin, TX, and was briefly fooled into thinking the THAT FUCKING CAT poster was the one-sheet for an actual long-lost movie. I wound up doing a bunch of coverage on the book for Fango, and when Paige Davis told me about the DVD project, I got equally excited. I've always loved B-horror and exploitation trailers, and really enjoyed the faux coming attractions produced for GRINDHOUSE. I asked Paige if I could contribute one to SHOCK FESTIVAL, and was thrilled when she brought me onto the project.

The next step was going through the book and picking out a title to work with that hadn't already been claimed by one of the other trailer-makers. Since I'd be dealing with a micro budget, anything involving monsters, aliens or heavy-duty action was out; I didn't want cheap FX etc. to be a source of humor here! GIRLKILLER seemed to be a perfect choice: just a psychopathic young woman killing other young women. The fact that there were only a few lines of description of the alleged film in the book's text meant that I'd have a lot of freedom to come up with my own images, though I did make sure to incorporate those elements that were mentioned, like the psychopathic neighbor with a hammer fetish and the key image on the poster itself.

As for the structure, my initial inspiration was the trailer for EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, one of my all-time favorites. I wanted to do a similar preview that's all fast-cut images with no dialogue, just music; I rationalized that since this was supposed to be an American trailer for an Australian feature, the U.S. distributor didn't want potential audiences hearing any funny accents, but the real reason was that I wouldn't have to worry about ADR or other postproduction sound in the short time I had. I tried to throw in a couple of other clues that this was an Aussie film: If you look very closely during the kitchen strangling scene, you'll see a jar of Vegemite on the table, and in her concluding cast-rundown shot, "Briana Miller" is sitting in the passenger seat of a car, which is on the left side instead of the right (for which I simply flipped the image).

Can you tell us about the casting of Ian MCculloch?
I also wanted to throw in a few homages to Italian horror cinema, since Steve's GIRLKILLER director "Darby Silver" is an in-joke on Dario Argento—"argento" is "silver" in Italian. One of those is the opening shot, an echo of the classic SUSPIRIA trailer. And when I found out my friend Mike Baronas was bringing several actors from classic Italian horror films to a Chiller convention, I had the crazy idea of heading over there and, with Mike's help, trying to snag a few shots of one of them to slip into the trailer. My DP/composer Scooter McCrae is a huge fan of those movies, and agreed to join me on the mission.

Once we got there, it quickly became clear that Ian McCulloch had to be our man; he still looked very much like he did in the '70s, which is when GIRLKILLER was supposedly produced. Once Mike had made the introductions, it also became clear that McCulloch was still a true professional who would expect nothing less from us. Fortunately, my friend and FX artist Brian Spears and his pal Eugene Driscoll said we could shoot in their hotel room, which 1) was on ground level, meaning we could get shots of McCulloch entering from outside through the curtains and 2) had colored inlaid tile around the bathroom mirror that gave a perfect '70s look. We prelit the bedroom and the bathroom before McCulloch got off the convention floor, and recruited Ruby LaRocca, an actress I'm friendly with, to play a sexy girl opposite him in one shot.

What I didn't know was that Ruby is also a big fan of Italian horror and its actors, and I somehow neglected to mention her co-star when I pitched the scene to her; she was quite startled when she came to the room and saw who she'd be appearing with! The shoot went great, though; I had brought a trench coat for my actor to wear to appear like a '70s detective, and we had a bottle of J&B (actually filled with chardonnay, at McCulloch's request) for that Italian-genre veneer, and we got all our shots in about 45 minutes. Scooter and I still can't believe we pulled it off.

Can you tell us a little about the other actors you worked with?
Since no one would have any dialogue, I didn't really need to hold auditions, but went with people I knew who had the right look. Alia Lorae is a singer who specializes in dark music and lyrics, and was thus an easy choice for my anti-heroine. I've worked with Mike Lane a few times on our friend Glen Baisley's movies, and knew he'd have fun with the part of crazed filmmaker/actor Silver. Christine Spencer is an actress from a few films by James Felix McKenney and Larry Fessenden among others, and graciously agreed to appear in my little project. Audrey Quaranta and Logan DeSisto are both writers for Fango who had expressed an interest in appearing in a horror film, and were quite enthusiastic when I offered them roles as victims. Logan also helped out behind the scenes and, among other things, introduced me to Jessica Meirs, a figure model who had no problem doing the nudity required for the trailer's shower scene.

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?
As I mentioned, Scooter, whom I've known forever, did my cinematography and music and was invaluable in both capacities. We know each other so well that we were able to blaze through our shoot, capturing everything in two days, plus a few hours on another night and the McCulloch convention shoot. In several cases, rather than set up lights for interiors, Scooter suggested just using the natural light coming in through the windows, which wound up looking great and really adds to '70s look. Where the music was concerned, no one knows Italian horror scores better than Scooter, and he did great work using samples of '70s-appropriate instruments.

I've also known makeup FX artist Brian Spears for quite some time; he's contributed to numerous East Coast independent genre films (including SHADOW: DEAD RIOT, which I wrote), and came in to sling the blood for me, doing a great and messy job. Two filmmakers he's worked for are Glen, another longtime friend who served as my editor and brought years of experience in that capacity, and Brian Weaver, who provided the key location. Brian lives in part of a big house owned by his uncle, veteran Fango writer Tom Weaver, and the first time I set foot in there, I knew it was a horror-film location waiting to happen. The bedroom and living room have a black-and-red color scheme, the kitchen is all done in green and orange and it also has the ladder behind the walls and the tool room seen in key shots. Ninety percent of the trailer interiors were shot all in the one house, yet it looks like we used multiple locations.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?
I'm working on a couple of feature scripts right now, and after the GIRLKILLER project went so well, I'm anxious to get another feature going. But I'd rather not discuss any details until I'm closer to having something to actually show.

Michael Gingold’s GIRLKILLER trailer is part of Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival, available February 9th from Camp Motion Picture’s exploitation / horror label, Bloody Earth Films.

Back to Alternative Cinema Homepage

Content © 2010 Alternative Cinema, LLC
Please do not re-print without written permission

Shock Festival “Tribute Trailers” Screening NYC Anthology Film Archives

2010-01-25T19:37:00.003-05:00

NYC, New York
January 25, 2010

The contemporary “Tribute Trailers” program of the upcoming Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival DVD, a 3-Disc video and audio celebration of the Grindhouse era featuring classic and contemporary homage content, will screen at 10:00 pm Saturday, January 30 at The Anthology Film Archives, located at 32 Second Avenue in NYC.

The program, comprised of 13 contemporary trailers plus one “mini-movie”, showcases the talents of several up-and-coming independent directors. Shot on location in such diverse cities as Austin, Los Angeles, NYC and Buenos Aires, these short content ‘faux trailers’ were inspired by the fictional horror and exploitation films described in Stephen Romano’s acclaimed 2008 novel, Shock Festival.

Co-producer Paige Kay Davis will be on hand to introduce the screening and conduct a post-screening introduction to attending content contributors. A limited number of seats will be available to the press and public. Details will appear on Alternative Cinema’s various social networking sites ( FaceBook, MySpace ) a few days prior to the event.

The 3-Disc collection, Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival, is available on DVD February 9, 2010 from Alternative Cinema.

Back to www.AlternativeCinema.com

Content © 2010 Alternative Cinema, LLC
Please do not re-print without written permission

SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD Interview with Dave Hartman

2010-01-25T18:39:00.006-05:00

Interview by Joshua T. Gravel

Part one of the SHOCK FESTIVAL DVD primer, preparing you for the experience!

Over the next five weeks we get down and dirty with the creative forces behind the Shock Festival tribute trailers.

The Shock Festival 3 Disc set (2 DVD + 1 CD) is available February 9th, 2010 at
Alternative Cinema and other DVD shops.

Meet Director & Illustrator David Hartman, who’s created some of the sickest and strangest illustrations and storyboards for ROB ZOMBIE, BUBBA HO-TEP, TENACIOUS D, and SPIDERMAN the animated series, to name a few. David shares with us his love for all things horror and how to have fun with your kids and firearms!

Could you give the Alternative Cinema audience some background information on your career in film and the arts in general?

Well, my main profession is as a director in television animation. Directing shows like GODZILLA, STARSHIP TROOPERS, JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES, WINNIE the POOH and tons of others. I also have done work with Don Coscarelli (PHANTASM) including visual fx for the film BUBBA HO-TEP and storyboards and design work for his MASTERS of HORROR episode on Showtime as well as a few independent projects. I also do tons of horror illustration. A lot of work for Rob Zombie including a couple music videos. Lots of comic book work and illustrations for various publishers. Basically I dabble in tons of stuff but my true passion is in horror.

I understand that you have made a couple of music videos for Rob Zombie, how did you get into making music videos?

Rob saw my art somewhere and got in contact with me about doing some illustration work. I did a bunch of illustrations for his re-release of HELLBILLY DELUXE. I sent Rob some of my cartoon work and he liked what I was doing with CODENAME: EMBRYO (a web series I started but only did 2 episodes). He had a new album coming out and asked if I would do a video for "AMERICAN WITCH". We had a lot of fun working on that and then did "LORDS of SALEM". I have some artwork in his forthcoming album "HELLBILLY DELUXE 2".

Video above:
This is the amazing American Witch video that can be seen on Rob Zombies tour screens. The animation is by famed Zombie artist Dave Hartman!

What got you into animation and particularly could you tell us about your work on the GODZILLA and the LENORE animated series?

I had an internship in high school working for a local animation studio in Ohio. I decided then that I wasn't really into animation and didn't like having to draw frame after frame of the same thing. A friend who moved to Los Angeles told me about a gig he had storyboarding for Sony Pictures Television and he basically got my foot in the door. From there I saw this other world to animation that included storyboarding, design work and directing while the frame by frame drawings were done by another studio. I always wanted to direct and was happily surprised by this work system that was never discussed in my internship. Form there I worked my way up storyboarding on various shows and then got my first directing gig on GODZILLA. Really from then on I have been directing action shows for animation. LENORE was a fun project. It was a series of web cartoons I did with Roman Dirge while at Sony Pictures. Roman brought the project there; we met, and became friends right away. I had a lot of fun while working on those. We were pretty much left alone and didn't have to go through huge approvals to get story ideas realized.

What brought you to the SHOCK FESTIVAL project and what drew your attention to the specific trailers you made?

I met Stephen Romano through Don Coscarelli while working on BUBBA HO-TEP. I had a horror movie I pitched to Don but had trouble getting the script going. Don introduced me to Stephen and the three of us worked on the ideas for the story while Stephen wrote this thing. It is really great and I hope to someday get it made. I'm sure Stephen would too.
So Stephen asked if I would help out doing some art for the posters in his book as well as direct a couple trailers. I absolutely love watching horror and exploitation trailers of the 70's and this was the perfect excuse I needed to make something similar.

DEAD BUGS ON THE CARPET looks like it could have fit right in with a giallo from the seventies while both EVOLVER and WARPMONSTER look like the type of creature features I would have seen on Saturday afternoon television in the early eighties, were there any specific trailers or films which influenced the look of the films or the pacing/editing of the trailers?

DEAD BUGS has an obvious early Argento feel to it for me. Of course this whole thing was shot in the matter of a couple hours in my family room and bathroom so it doesn't really convey the vibe completely but that’s what I was going for. EVOLVER is the one trailer I wanted to do the most. I saw the poster in the book and fell in love with the concept and the 70's "LEGEND of BOGGY CREEK" vibe it was surrounded in. It was also a good excuse to dress my daughter up as a feral child and give her a gun.

Can you tell us a little about the actors you worked with?

This is my usual gang of idiots. We all have been making short films together since the early 90's back in Ohio and then all eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers. Bryan Baugh is also a horror illustrator and usually always plays the killer. Mike Baker is my DeNiro. He always plays our straight man. Our wives love this stuff as well so it usually is just a fun way to hang out and make something rather than getting drunk and hating ourselves the next morning.

Who worked on the technical end of the production, specifically cinematography, music, and special effects?

That’s pretty much me. I do all the filming, editing, etc. Stephen Romano supplied me with the music with clips from old studio production cues and public domain stuff. This really added to the feel for me and worked out better than if I got someone to try and match the score.

Are there any current or future projects you would like people to know about?

You can always go to my website WWW.SIDESHOWMONKEY.COM to see my art, other short films and up to date info. I am currently directing a couple pilots for studios as well as art directing a pretty high-profile show to come out next year. Got some work coming out through Rob Zombie in the next year as well as a very cool series of shorts I have been directing for Don Coscarelli.

Thank you Dave for taking the time to answer our questions and you should all make sure to check out his above listed website to stay current with his many projects.

Back to www.AlternativeCinema.com

Content © 2010 Alternative Cinema, LLC
Please do not re-print without written permission

ALTERNATIVE CINEMA PODCAST - Episode 10 / January 2010

2010-01-03T17:33:00.013-05:00

Listen to feed by clicking the PLAY button here!

Hosts Michael Raso, John Fedele and Duane Polcou ring in the New Year with an exclusive interview with producer Ted Marr and director Richard Griffin – the team behind the low-budget nunsploitation film “Nun of That!” Richard and Ted give insight into self-distribution and playing your movie theatrical in the digital age.

"Nun of That" comes to DVD (from Camp Motion Pictures) on January 12, 2010.
Order it here!

www.AlternativeCinemaPodcast.com

Alternative Cinema Home
www.AlternativeCinema.com

STEPHEN ROMANO PRESENTS SHOCK FESTIVAL COMING TO DVD FEBRUARY 2010

2010-01-02T23:28:00.000-05:00

A 3-Disc Audio and Video Exploitation Extravaganza Featuring Over 7 Hours of the Most Rare and Unusual Exploitation Trailers, TV Ads and Radio Spots from the Age of GRINDHOUSE CINEMA!

Take a wild journey through the exploitation movie scenes of the 1970s and 1980s with this collection of hundreds of actual previews of coming attractions, television commercials and radio spots for the sleaziest, sexiest most off-the-wall films ever made - all digitally re-mastered from Original Film Elements.

Order the DVD
http://www.alternativecinema.com/index.php?pg=si&item_id=1041

Alternative Cinema Homepage