New: Giant Monster Gomera

Posted on Monday, July 2, 2012 by Robert Hood

A Backbrain Exclusive

Well, the truth is finally out!

Back in February 2011, the Backbrain brought the following trailer to your attention, faithful daikaijuphiles. And perhaps created a few over-excited expectations in the process.

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This, however, was but a demo teaser, and now, at last, the actual thing rises and fully reveals itself to the world!

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Jumbo Monster Gomera [aka 傻瓜怪兽 哥美拉!] (Japan-2012; 12 episodes [5 min. each]; producer Junya Okabe) is in fact a kid’s show, Japanese-style. It features a giant monster from Monsterland named Gomera, who wants to be a fierce and brave monster like Godzilla and Gamera, but is rather too timid to effectively manage all that destructive rampaging (despite having big balls). His friendly and nervous disposition keeps getting in the way. In episode 1, which you can watch further down in this article, he even has trouble getting his “Gomera Ray” working — until those “big balls” I mentioned are brought into play.

Sadly then, this picture is but a dream:

and this is the reality:

Producer/director/writer Okabe describes the show as “a silly monster program aimed at 3-6 year olds” and commented to us:

Special effects character programs for modern children say they are aimed at 3-6 year olds, but they aren’t in reality. I wanted to create a comical monster program that 3-6 year olds could respond to and understand without complication. The current kids’ programs tend to be linked to the development of toys, but I feel the tendency has accelerated in recent times too much. I wanted to create a film in which the characters had forgotten they are toys. Rather, I want children to play toys with their character’s power. My idea would be considered silly by the modern-day industry, but it’s my challenge.

The first episode of Jumbo Monster Gomera was released internationally via Youtube — and here it is:

[youtube rsnaJ5n1wWc]

According to Yasumasa Kutami, Business Development Director / CEO of distribution company IDA’s US branch, 12 episodes “have so far reached production, thanks to a variety of creators”.

Then there’s the marketing. To quote the press release:

The production has been published from June 1 by Shogakkan, a major Japanese publisher, in a paper-format series called “Terebikun”. As well as further serialized paper-format publishing from June 21, “Korokoro Ichiban” (also from Shogakkan), all parts of episode one of GOMERA will be recorded on a DVD in advance of the internet video publication. “Terebikun” publishes 350,000 copies each month and “Korokoro Ichiban” prints 150,000 copies each month. The special DVD that comes with these magazines will be released four times a year and so 2 million DVDs will be distributed in total in the year.

The GOMERA soft-toy will also go on sale in connection with the release of the production. The figurine will be sold by IDA Productions. We will advertise on banners connected to net versions of the films, linking customers to independent sales websites such as Amazon, and we will sell production-use replicas based on the real GOMERA costume used in the films for 1.6 million Japanese yen (not including tax). We also plan to later sell toys and goods ourselves. We are creating a new business model that will obtain character sales income that exceeds regular character rights permission sales by 3-5%.

This production is the first part of IDA’s new creative expansion that does not rely on the government, “HEAT JAPAN” and we are expanding our figurine and toy sales within the internet sales infrastructure and internet video distribution throughout the world in multiple languages.

Video distribution with limited management of the viewing area within English, Spanish and Chinese. We will upload the video onto major video distribution sites such as Youku in advance of pirated versions in the Chinese language region.

He added that Gomera is the first project in IDA’s new strategy “to enhance Japanese creative culture” called HEAT JAPAN. This plan is not funded by or otherwise dependent on the Japanese government.  “Along with exploitation within Japan, we are extending its brand and market globally by utilizing YouTube and Amazon.”

FYI, IDA was behind the release of the left-field animation Cat Shit One in 2010, a series produced by the people responsible for Gomera. According to Kutami, the Cat Shit One DVD/Blu-ray sold over 20,000 units in Japan alone and was nominated for the short animation category at VES awards.

Further episodes of Gomera can be seen on IDA’s YouTube channel as they are released.

Source: Yasumasa Kutami via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood. Official website.

Posted in Animation, Demons, Giant Monsters, Humour, Japanese | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

B-Movie Celebration: Metamorphosis

Posted on Monday, June 25, 2012 by Robert Hood

Exclusive Images and First Release Trailer

One of the most anticipated films to screen at the 6th Annual B-Movie Celebration won’t be an exploitative monster flick or over-sexed gorefest, but a new version of a classic work of literature, existentialist Franz Kafka’s famous novella The Metamorphosis, first published in 1915. This absurdist masterpiece has been filmed by director Chris Swanton and will be a highlight of the independent film festival in Franklin, Indiana, in September.

For those unfamiliar with the novella, the story of The Metamorphosis is about transformation, as the title suggests — in this case a man changing into a large insect. There is no scientific explanation given for this as the change is as much metaphysical as it is physical, symbolic of the main character’s state-of-mind and his relationship to the world around him.

Metamorphosis (UK-2011; dir. Chris Swanton)

Synopsis:

Metamorphosis is the story of a traveling salesman, who wakes up one morning after disturbing dreams to find himself transformed into a giant insect-like creature. The narrative then traces the interaction of Gregor and his family as he slowly starves to death for want of the right kind of sustenance. But what effect does his life and death have on his family?

As you can see from the following exclusive trailer, Swanton’s film is more drama than horror — in fact, the writer/director has specifically stated that from his perspective Metamorphosis is unlikely to meet the expectations of those coming to the film looking for a good scare.

Our version of Metamorphosis, which tries to remain as faithful as possible to the original text, is not a horror film. It is a parable about human suffering, about minority groups, and tries to put across a plea for tolerance and understanding of those who suffer incapacitating illness, either mental or physical or both. If audiences want blood and gore or a screamy scare, this is not the film for them.

For myself, I define horror as a genre much more widely than “blood and gore or a screamy scare”, and have no trouble seeing it as existing within that general category, if at its more contemplative, fantastical edges.

Official 2012 Trailer:

[Addendum: Below is the Centennial Edition trailer for Metamorphosis, released in December 2016. It has replaced the previous 2012 version following an ungrade to the film itself. See the new Metamorphosis website.]

For an extensive report on the film and its background, see the Backbrain article Metamorphosis: Unleashing the Bug.

Screenshots:

Check out the Official B-Movie Celebration website at www.bmoviecelebration.com for more information of the film festival. And remember the Backbrain will be featuring the films to be screened there, making initial announcements as details are finalized.

Source: Chris Swanton via Avery Guerra. Rockkiss Digital Media Entertainment website.

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Posted in B-Movie Celebration, Big Bugs, Film, Horror, Independent film, News, Trailers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Update: It Grows Some More

Posted on Friday, June 22, 2012 by Robert Hood

Sydney artist Nick Stathopoulos has sent along a brief visual update on the film he’s working on with director Ryan Cauchi, It Grows. Undead Backbrain first released news of the film back in February and the boys have been working on it ever since, whenever they get the chance. From the image below, the film is getting more apocalyptic than I’d ever imagined.  It shows the Sydney skyline after the plant has well-and-truly taken root…

Click on it to see it bigger! Beautiful!

Nick commented:

“This is a blue screen composite test from my little Tropfest movie IT GROWS. The matte painting of an overgrown Sydney has a moving sky, and that’s a blue screen plant creature in the foreground.

It’s the first test composite, used to check fringing, colour matching and contrast between the live-action plant and the matte painting. As you can see, it’s pretty damn good!”

I can but agree! Cauchi says they’re doing some more filming this weekend. Get to it, boys!

Source: Nick Stathopoulos

Posted in Monster Plants, Short Films, Update | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

From Beneath Gets Under the Skin

Posted on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 by Robert Hood

A Backbrain Exclusive

Creepy-crawly things that get under the skin are a staple of a certain type of parasite-based horror film. Big or small, such slimy invaders prey on our fear of bodily violation and the movies that feature them offer one of the only “monsters” that are small — in fact it’s their diminutive nature that helps create the horror. This form of “body horror” was a favourite of Canadian horror-film auteur David Cronenberg — a theme he nailed in his classic film Shivers [aka They Came From Within] (1975).

Now fellow Canadian David Doucette is taking a stab at the subgenre in From Beneath, which he wrote and directed for Retaliation Films.

Released through Acort International, From Beneath is billed as “creepy and suspenseful” with a full dose of “skin-crawling horror” thrown in for good measure. It involves a young couple on vacation, an isolated rural farmhouse, a pond and an ill-advised dip in said pond after the long drive to get to the farm…

Synopsis:

Hot and sticky from the long drive to get to a relative’s rural farmhouse, and finding the place empty, vacationing couple Sam and Jason take a dip in a pond, only to be bitten by a strange leech-like organism which crawls inside Jason when he tries to rip it off. Back at the house, Sam’s sister and her family have yet to return. As time goes by, the injury on Jason’s leg worsens into a rapidly spreading infection, and strange clues begin to suggest that there may be more to their host’s absence than they’d previously suspected. It soon becomes a race against time to discover what happened to Sam’s sister and her family and what lies in store for Jason, faced with his physical and emotional disintegration.

[vimeo 41373661]

From Beneath, produced by Ashe Morrison, was completed in 2011, and stars Lauren Watson as Sam and Jamie Temple as Jason. The leech-like parasites play themselves.

Trailer 2:

[vimeo 30510075]

A North America DVD release of From Beneath is scheduled for October 2012 through Midnight Releasing, along with a slated North American cable/satellite VOD run that is soon to be announced. According to the press release, other distribution plans are currently in consideration and most worldwide rights are still available. Interested parties should email Acort International’s director of sales, Maureen van Mourik.

Source: Dustin Lowry and Reese Lester via Avery Guerra. Press release. Official website.

Posted in Film, Horror, Independent film, News, Teaser, Trailers | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

B-Movie Celebration: Gila!

Posted on Friday, June 15, 2012 by Robert Hood

Exclusive Backbrain Images

As those who have already seen the previous Backbrain post would realise, the world premiere of Jim Wynorski’s remake of the old B-movie The Giant Gila Monster (US-1959; dir. Ray Kellogg) will be the showcase of the festival. The film is titled Gila! and you should go to this Undead Backbrain article for more info on it.

Producer Bill Dever has provided the Backbrain with spectacular images of the titular monster, straight from the film itself, in order to celebrate this great news. Check ’em out below!

Start making travel arrangements now!

Source: Bill Dever via Avery Guerra (Program Director) for the 6th Annual B-Movie Celebration

Posted in B-Movie Celebration, Film, Giant Monsters, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery, Monsters in general, News | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

B-Movie Celebration: The Poster

Posted on Friday, June 15, 2012 by Robert Hood

As an exclusive release, the Backbrain can now show you the fantastic official poster for the 6th Annual B-Movie Celebration to be held during September.

The poster is the work of kaiju-artist extraordinaire, Todd Tennant, who has worked on the upcoming graphic novel, It Came From Beneath the Sea… Again, and is also currently developing his own comic series, American Kaiju, for Bluewater Productions. He’s certainly done a magnificent job on the above B-Movie Celebration poster!

Meanwhile, note the second line in the list of attractions on the poster. Yes, the world premiere of Jim Wynorski’s remake of the old B-movie The Giant Gila Monster (US-1959; dir. Ray Kellogg), Gila!, will be the showcase of the festival. [Go here for more info on Gila!]

In case you’re not sure what to expect from such a film, check out the Backbrain’s next post. If what’s there doesn’t convince you to get yourself along to Franklin, Indiana in September, come hell or high water, you urgently need to get your B-flick hormones looked into!

Source: Bill Dever via Avery Guerra (Program Director). Official Celebration website.

Posted in B-Movie Celebration, Exploitation films, Film, Giant Monsters, News, Todd Tennant | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

An Aussie Sasquatch?

Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 by Robert Hood

A Backbrain Exclusive Interview

Currently in production in Cairns, Far North Queensland, is Throwback, which might be the first film to feature a Yowie. For those who think a Yowie is one of the lesser known Muppets, it is, in fact, what a Sasquatch is called when it’s living downunder.

Director Travis Bain is nothing if not ambitious when it comes to making his Bigfoot flick a kick-arse entertainment.

I wanted to make a fun, suspenseful, retro creature feature that could be a descendent of the drive-in movies I loved as a kid. Throwback is kind of a fusion of the bigfoot films of the ’70s that scared the bejesus out of me as a kid (namely The Legend of Boggy Creek and Creature from Black Lake, as well as the telemovie Snowbeast and the Hammer film The Abominable Snowman, plus a healthy dash of Predator (which I saw when I was 14 and wow, what a masterful film!) plus elements from many other horror films and adventure movies I’ve seen over the years, like Val Lewton’s classic black-and-white chillers and Hammer films like She from 1965. I threw all of that in a blender and put my own creative stamp on it. The end result is Throwback.

Synopsis:

Two modern-day treasure hunters — Jack ( Shawn Brack) and Kent (Anthony Ring) — who go searching for the lost gold of a legendary outlaw in the remote wilds of Far North Queensland. But instead of riches, they find a different kind of legend, a ferocious Australian monster known as a Yowie, Australia’s answer to Bigfoot, and a savage battle for survival ensues. Thrown into the mix are a park ranger named Rhiannon and an ex-homicide detective named McNab.

Throwback is due for completion in early 2013. A full trailer and poster will be unleashed in late 2012. In the meantime though, we have a teaser trailer and a heap of screen shots for your enjoyment, not to forget insight into the film and what lies behind it straight from the director.

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Travis Bain: I was born in 1973 and raised in what many to be the golden age of genre cinema and TV. My first cinema experience was Star Wars and from that moment onward, I was hooked on all thinks geeky. My Dad bought one of the first VCRs and introduced me to a very eclectic range of movies, ranging from bona fide ’70s classics like Deliverance and Serpico to slightly more “disreputable” genre fare like The Legend of Boggy Creek. I devoured monster movies as a kid – Gorgo, The Land That Time Forgot, Creature from Black Lake (a major influence on Throwback, and lensed by the great genre cinematographer Dean Cundey, no less), even weird Japanese kaiju flicks like The X From Outer Space. I loved it all, and still do. My DVD and Blu-ray collection is chock full of creature features ranging from Deep Star Six to The Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds to Dinosaurus and loads of others. I have a special passion for stop-motion dinosaur flicks and worship at the altars of Messrs Harryhausen, Danforth and Allen.

So why a Yowie?

TB: In 2006, when HD video first started coming out and creating cinema-quality independent films suddenly became a reality for average Joes like me, I desperately wanted to make my own stop-motion dinosaur feature, but there was one major hurdle: I couldn’t get stop-motion dinosaur puppets from anywhere, for love or money. So I thought, “What kind of other monster movie could I make that would be cheap and achievable on a tiny budget?” I started remembering back to the bigfoot films of the ’70s, and I thought, “Why don’t I make a bigfoot movie, but an Australian one?” I was aware of the legend of the Australian bigfoot known as the Yowie and I found it amazing that no one had ever made a movie about the Yowie before, so I thought I’d give it a go.

So that’s how Throwback came about.

Above: Shawn Brack as Jack creeps through the jungle

Written, directed and produced by Bain, Throwback stars Shawn Brack, Anthony Ring, Melanie Serafin, Warren Clements, Andy Bramble, Mike Elliott and Trevor Garvey.

Above: Melanie Serafin as Rhiannon spots something unusual…
Above: Jack and Rhiannon both spot something they wish they hadn’t!

Above: Anthony Ring as Kent

Above: Bushranger Mike Elliott panics

Bain looks to the influences for Throwback wider than horror films, and those other influence say much about what we can expect:

TB: I also got into westerns in a big way a few years ago and decided to base the screenplay for Throwback on the classic western structure and themes. Even though Throwback started out life as a creature feature, I now consider it more like a western with a monster in it in terms of its DNA. I love the westerns of Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher. They’re tight, economical, brutal little features with fantastic depth and almost Shakespearean themes to sink your teeth into. Quite often there’s a struggle over lost gold and the stories play out in remote, lawless landscapes where the handgun rules, exactly like Throwback. Sam Peckinpah’s Ride the High Country is another great one. I’ve even drawn inspiration from the Duke’s 1973 film The Train Robbers. At the core of Throwback is a cautionary tale of human greed and how it can bring out the “savage” in any of us. It’s pure Treasure of the Sierra Madre (another massive influence). Very early drafts of Throwback were a little clichéd and focused (somewhat lazily on my part, I now admit) on the tried-and-true horror formula of introducing a bunch of (sometimes unlikeable) characters and picking them off one by one. But after getting some constructive feedback from various sources, including a prominent Australian producer, I went in a different direction: I made the story about a struggle for gold between several desperate characters, none of whom are squeaky-clean, and it really elevated the material to something more than just a slasher-movie-in-the-jungle, I have to admit.

 Above: Andy Bramble as bushranger Thunderclap Newman

What of the retro feel that is apparent in all this?

TB: When it comes to horror movies, I’m strictly a fan of the classics. I have enjoyed some modern horror movies (like The Descent, which I thought was fantastic), but on the whole, my heart lies with the great B-movies of yesteryear, from Creature from the Black Lagoon to Them! to my all-time favourite horror movie, Carpenter’s The Thing, which is in my top five movies of all time of ANY genre [I’m with you there, Travis – Rob]. I just haven’t been able to connect with more recent horror films like The Human Centipede. I’d rather sit down and watch I Walked With A Zombie or Valley of Gwangi or something like that.

That’s why the overall “style” of Throwback is going to be retro. The movie is not only ABOUT a throwback (in the evolutionary sense), the movie ITSELF is a throwback. I’ve always loved jungle adventure movies (Run for the Sun and The Most Dangerous Game are two more influences), so this is my love letter to the ones I watched growing up. Even the trailer fonts are retro and done in that shade of yellow that was so popular once upon a time, a colour that always evokes fond memories in me of movies like William Girdler’s great little movies Grizzly and Day of the Animals. The two-disc special edition DVD of Day of the Animals featuring the movie in TWO different aspect ratios (one a beautiful old beaten-up 2.35:1 print) is one of the most-prized movies in my collection.

According to Bain, the trailer has been a great success and it’s giving him hope that the film will go down well with its target audience and lead to bigger things.

TB: The reaction to the teaser trailer has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve had emails from all over the world praising the trailer and asking where and when they can see the film, so I couldn’t be happier. I just hope we get accepted into some film festivals next year. I really want this sucker to be seen by Hollywood acquisitions executives. I saw my fellow Aussie horror movie makers the Spierig brothers go from a couple of regular guys making short films in Brisbane to Daybreakers and I want some of that action!

Where is the prouction up to?

TB: We have about 20-25% of the movie left to shoot because we’ve had some really productive filming days in the last couple of months and I’m really looking forward to it. Some of the best stuff is yet to come. I hope to have a more detailed, “full” trailer ready by Christmas at the latest and the whole movie done sometime in 2013. It’s taking a while because I’m doing pretty much all of the post myself on a home PC, but so far I’m happy with the results.

Bain added that this Sunday (17 June) he and his team are doing some special location filiming. “We’re doing a shoot this Sunday at a location that is going to absolutely blow your heads off when you see it in the full trailer later this year,” he said. “I can’t wait for the reactions.”

We wish him well and look forward to seeing both the full trailer and the film itself!

In the Gallery below there are more pictures — and in the Addendum, Bain talks about some other aspects of Throwback and its production.

Source: Travis Bain via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood. Official Facebook page; Travis Bain’s website.

Gallery:

Addendum:

Travis Bain on the Writing of Throwback:

I find there’s often too much exposition and chitchat in modern movies so I worked very hard to make sure the script for Throwback was terse, much like Burt Kennedy’s wonderful old western scripts. The dialogue is intentionally pithy and there’s only just enough of it to propel the story forward. In Throwback, the characters aren’t defined by endless lines of dialogue; they’re defined by their actions, as genre movie characters should be. I mean, take a look at Alien. Hardly any dialogue in the movie, really, and yet it’s a masterpiece of suspense. That’s what I’m going for here.

I also went back to the basics of screenplay structure and looked at Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Saturday matinee serials that inspired it and I deliberately wrote a script in which there’s either a suspense peak or an action peak every 5-10 minutes. The movie opens with a pre-credits action/suspense sequence that could be straight out of an Indy movie or a Bond film. And then we have the opening credits (which many modern movies don’t have, unfortunately — I’ve always felt that they’re a great way to slide into the “vibe” of a movie), a bit of exposition and then we’re off to the races for 90 minutes. There’ll be stuff in this movie that I didn’t even want to hint at in the teaser trailer. I deliberately left a whole bunch of shots out of that trailer so as to keep the movie’s “Wow” moments firmly under wraps. I personally hate trailers which practically give away the whole movie (case in point: the recent Sherlock Holmes sequel – the trailer was like a mini-action movie in itself).

Travis Bain on the Influence of the Spierig Brothers:

I made my first feature Scratched in Brisbane around the same time that the Spierig brothers were making Undead. (We met a few times but we didn’t “hang out” together or anything like that, although we knew many of the same people and often shared cast and crew members.) When their film became a success any my modest little comedy-drama didn’t, I thought to myself: I have GOT to make a genre film next. So that’s what I’m doing. And I’m having a blast.

Travis Bain on Cameras:

We’re filming on a Canon HV20, first released in 2007. It records beautiful 1080p HD video to standard Mini DV tapes. If you know how to get the best out of it, you can achieve truly mind-blowing, razor-sharp footage. We’re filming in 16:9 but matting the movie to 2.35:1 CinemaScope to give it a more epic feel and show off our amazing landscapes.

Travis Bain on Stop-Motion FX:

If Throwback is successful and opens Hollywood doors for me, I’d love to do a stop-motion dinosaur feature as my next movie. I think there’s been a real backlash against CGI in recent years and I think audiences would really embrace stop-motion for its sheer artistry. I watched Phil Tippett’s stop-mo dinosaur short “Prehistoric Beast” on Youtube recently in 1080p and I think you’ll agree it’s just BEAUTIFUL. His Go-Motion techniques are state of the art, and while I loved Jurassic Park, I’ve always wondered what Tippett’s aborted, fully stop-motion JP would have looked like. Probably really cool. Someone once said that CGI looks real but feels fake, whereas stop-motion looks fake but feels real. I kind of agree. There’s a kind of magic to Harryhausen’s films, don’t you think? If Laika took on board a stop-motion dinosaur movie today, with modern HD technology, man, that’s something I’d love to see.

Posted in Australian, Cryptozoology, Horror, Independent film, Interviews, Monsters in general, News, Teaser | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dissecting Pazuzu

Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2012 by Robert Hood

The Exorcist: Studies in the Horror Film (2011), edited by Danel Olson, Centipede Press: Colorado

Reviewed by Robert Hood

In the general category of Good Horror Films, there are those that gain their status by the sheer exuberance of their handling of the tropes. These bring an illicit joie de vivre to the freakish monstrosity, darkness and unnatural threat, entertaining viewers with a special frisson that creeps us out, horrifies us, excites us and comforts us all at the same time. Such films are characterised as Lots of Fun.

Then there’s horror films like The Exorcist. Sure, as we learn in Danel Olson’s new and extremely comprehensive book on William Friedkin’s award-winning and influential movie, the director didn’t consider it to be a horror film at all — but reading what he does consider to be Horror, it’s easy to conclude that this denial is based on one of those idiosyncratic and limited definitions of the genre that all too commonly lie behind comments made about it even by practitioners. For me, as a horror writer and long-term fan of horror cinema, The Exorcist ticks all my boxes for not only being of the Horror genre but also for being up the top of its class. This is the real deal and I love it for that.

But how exactly does it differ from the first category I mentioned above? It certainly has a high creep-out factor. It horrifies with the best of them. It’s rather less exciting, in thriller terms, than many of its ilk, but it excites in other more profound ways. It doesn’t offer a lot of comfort, even though in the end it is an heroic, and redemptive, sacrifice on the part of the main character that saves Innocence, and such sacrifice tends to leave us, if briefly, feeling a little better about the fate of humanity. On the whole, however, The Exorcist is a difficult film to describe as “lots of fun”. In fact, watching it can be an emotionally grueling experience.

Let me tell you an anecdote. In 1973 when the film was showing in Sydney, the cousin of a close friend of mine went along to see what all the buzz was about. He came from a strong religious background and was reportedly a member of the ultra-conservative Opus Dei movement within the Catholic Church — an order given some considerable negative criticism in recent times for its alleged extremist tendencies as depicted in Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code and the 2006 film version of it. This particular viewer’s experience of seeing The Exorcist certainly proved to be a traumatic one. Reacting to the horrific manifestations of Pazuzu that the film depicts, he suffered some sort of fit during the main exorcism scene (or thereabouts) and fainted in shock, requiring cinema staff to help him from the auditorium so he could receive medical assistance. It’s hard not to see the influence of deep-seated conviction, expressed via the film’s powerful imagery, in this reaction. To his mind, the film’s reality couldn’t be interpreted as mere entertainment.

For me, however, it’s not the accuracy or assumed reality of its central subject matter that makes it a great horror film. What puts The Exorcist in the upper echelons of the genre is the emotional and thematic depth of it and the artistry that went into its creation. This is not some throw-away entertainment, but unequivocally a “serious” work of cinematic fiction — multi-layered, dramatic, character-driven and metaphorically powerful. There’s little wonder that it earned a reputation as the first horror movie to gain a Best Film Oscar nomination. Combined with its ongoing influence, it can be considered not just a “Cult Classic” but a genuine Classic.

In many ways The Exorcist transcends ordinary Horror films, thanks to its depth, resonance and proficiency as a cinematic experience — though I would argue that such transcendence is what all ambitious horror fiction should strive for. One doesn’t have to be a Catholic or even a Believer to buy into The Exorcist any more than one has to be a Royalist and an Elizabethan refugee to appreciate the artistry and emotional power of King Lear. The religious trappings of The Exorcist are important, as all details within good works of fiction are important, but at the heart of the experience they offer a metaphor that allows us to explore fundamental issues relating to life and its meaning. Like all great art, it is more than the sum of its parts and more than a depiction of surface realities.

The details, emotional depth, social context and thematic meanings that make The Exorcist the great work it is are what Olson’s book, The Exorcist: Studies in the Horror Film, explores. Film journalist David Bartholomew opens proceedings with a comprehensive history following The Exorcist‘s development from book to screen, outlining its production, opening and reception by both critics and general public, in an article reprinted from a 1974 edition of Cinefantastique. Interviews with the author of the novel (William Peter Blatty), the film’s director (William Friedkin), the man who starred as Father Karras (Jason Miller), Make-up artist Dick Smith and the film’s Editor Bud Smith, subsequently allow the reader to delve into the various aspirations and influences that drove the creative process and provide wonderful grass-root insight into its making.

In many ways, that’s all groundwork. Analysis follows from it, though of course hindsight interpretation of such a film is inevitably going to have a variety of foci. Articles by literary and film critics compare The Exorcist to other films of the period — in particular Don’t Look Now and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre — and examine its approach to metaphysical realities and themes of apocalyptic portent, sexual abjection, the breakdown of the family and the impact of generational conflict, redemption through sacrificial love, the value of human life, and more. Several articles examine the relative merits of the theatrical version and the latter-day “restorations”. The book then goes on to cast light on the disappointing The Exorcist 2: The Heretic, the creepily effective The Exorcist 3: Legion, and even the recent prequels — both of them. An interview with director Paul Schrader, who in a unique situation got to release his original version of Exorcist IV: Prequel (now known as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist) after it had been pulled by the studio and re-filmed by Renny Harlin as a blockbuster-style flop) is fascinating and would surely put anyone off film directing if they hadn’t already lost their soul to the Demon of Cinema.

Keep in mind that The Exorcist: Studies in the Horror Film is not an academic tome as such, one with a coherent argument to make. Indeed it suffers somewhat from a patchy tonal landscape and lack of a conceptual “storyline” — inevitable given the archival nature of the content. But it contains an abundance of worthy material, all collected here in one place for your convenience, and is fascinating to read. It should be seen for what it is — a compendium of entertaining pop-culture analysis and a reference point for further discussion, beautifully illustrated with excellent colour images of Linda Blair in extremis.

In short, Olson’s lovingly assembled book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in The Exorcist, either as fan or cinephile. Indeed for the former, I would say it is an essential acquisition. You will need to have this book at hand the next time you sit down to watch the film.

And if nothing else, it illustrates how powerfully relevant Friedkin’s film continues to be.

The Exorcist: Studies in the Horror Film, edited by Danel Olson
Published by Centipede Press
ISBN 978-I-933618-96-8
Full cover, Smyth-sewn, 500+ page PPB.

Published by Centipede Press

Posted in Demons, Film, Horror, News, Review | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

B-Movie Celebration Attacks the Backbrain

Posted on Saturday, June 9, 2012 by Robert Hood

 SPECIAL BACKBRAIN ANNOUNCEMENT

For the past five years, fans of the often maligned genre of B-movies have gathered in Franklin, Indiana – not just to watch classic B-films, but to, as the name implies, celebrate them! This year — the Sixth — looks like being the biggest yet. Why? Because Undead Backbrain’s B-film sleuth, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery (aka Avery Guerra), has been rampaging through the independent film underworld, ferreting out a host of new releases and soon-to-be-classics to be introduced into the Celebration’s film program. Yes, Avery has officially joined B-film Celebration Host Bill Dever and his team in a special role as Film Wrangler (and Program Director). What started out as a side job has appropriately turned into a monster.

“Avery is a super sleuth,” Dever commented. “A devout cinephile with a keen understanding of genre cinema. As a producer, I pride myself on understanding the nature of a true talent. Avery is such a talent.”

Many of the films currently penciled lasered in as part of the Celebration have been featured on Undead Backbrain and its B-film sister site Undead Brainspasm. As a result, and thanks to Avery’s prominence as news scavenger on these sites, Undead Backbrain has been asked to act as first port-of-call for announcements concerning the 2012 B-film Celebration line-up. We’ll being giving you the gruesome details, plus special interviews and maybe even the odd celebrity blog post.

This is an exciting development for all of us and as an Aussie I envy all those who live within logistically feasible traveling distance of Franklin, Indiana, which has really become the centre of independent film fandom. Established by Bill Dever a mere six years ago, the Celebration is not only a testament to Dever’s devotion to the B-film classics but also to independent filmmaking itself. Dever has been involved in the production of many B-films in a variety of roles, including Producer, Writer, Director and Editor. Recent films include Giant Gila Monster remake Gila!, Camel Spiders, Piranhaconda, Monster Cruise, Resurrection, and Blood Moon. One of these will premiere at this year’s B-Celebration Festival.

“I’m looking at a massive line-up,” Avery told the Backbrain. “I’ve managed to secure us lots of world and North American premieres of highly anticipated films. So far, it looks like there will be about 23 features and at least 17 shorts.”

I asked Avery how his involvement came about.

“Bill and I are great friends and are regularly in touch about happenings in the B-movie world. Last year when he was compiling the fest’s line-up, I sent him a handful of hotly anticipated B-flicks, just as a favor to help out. All of them were really well received. So this year he approached me about taking over the reigns of Program Director and being in charge of the entire line-up of films. Of course, my involvement most definitely means Backbrain’ s involvement, too.”

So what plans has Avery put in motion?

“I want to make it as special and as kick-ass as I can. This year, unlike previous years, we’re not screening classics but instead only new hotly anticipated B-movies from around the globe. This includes lots of premieres. This year we’ve also added short films to open for each feature. It’s going to be mind-blowing.”

“Several foreign filmmakers have even arranged for their films to include English subtitles just for this event. These world premieres include such films as Spores and Synevir from Russia and the Ukraine, which will screen at the Fest before they are released in their homelands. Others getting their North American premiere are Virgin Beach Creature [Jenglot Pantai Selatan] (Indonesia), Zombies from Outer Space (Germany) and Monkey Boy (Italy).”

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Other films already announced on the B-Celebration site are: Giant Squid, The Tentacle’s Claw, Giant Monsters Attack Hawaii!, Spores, Giant Monster Playset, Huhu Attack, The Legend of Ol’ Goldie, Waiting for Gorgo, Metamorphosis, Bygone Behemoth, Jonah Lives, and Lisl and the Lorlok. Click on the links to check out the details of these films in the Backbrain’s archives.

And be sure to bookmark this site to check out the news as it happens (we will be setting up a separate B-Movie Celebration page to make finding relevant stories easy) or sign into the Undead Backbrain Entries RSS feed to make sure you’re kept up-to-date.

Check out the Official B-Movie Celebration website  at www.bmoviecelebration.com.

Both Avery and myself are very excited to be involved in this outstanding event and would like to thank Bill Dever for this grand opportunity.

Source: Avery Guerra and Bill Dever; written by Robert Hood.

Posted in B-Movie Celebration, Daikaiju, Exploitation films, Film, Giant Monsters, Horror, Independent film, Kaiju Search-Robot Avery, News, Undead Brainspasm, Weird stuff, Zombies | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Giant Monsters in Award-Winning Drama

Posted on Thursday, June 7, 2012 by Robert Hood

Beasts of the Southern Wild (US-2012; dir. Benh Zeitlin) has been described as “a beautiful award-winning drama that just happens to include giant monsters”. In the aftermath of the film’s recent wins at Cannes and Sundance, words like “magical”, “moving”, “surreal” and “enchanting” tend to crop up when those who have seen it describe the experience. Set in a place “where little girls and mythical animals coexist in a bayou called The Bathtub, all intertwined in the cosmic mesh of the universe”, Beasts of the Southern Wild looks as “hauntingly beautiful” as the publicity says.

Monster-Focused Synopsis:

Faced with her father’s fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother.

Main Synopsis:

In a forgotten but defiant bayou community , cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.

Below is the official trailer and two promotional videos. Watch the trailer carefully. It gives a pretty good indication of just how “magical” the film promises to be — as does the wonderful website Welcome to the Bathtub. Be sure to run the cursor over the site’s visual display, and click on the words and icons that appear. Fantastic!

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Filmed on location in New Orleans, Louisiana, the film clearly centres around a tour de force performance by yet another amazing child actor, Quvenzhane Wallis.

An Interview with Director Benh Zeitlin:

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 Announcement of the film’s win at Sundance:

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Beasts of the Southern Wild gets a limited release in Australia on 12 June and in the US on 27 June. Look out for it!

Sources: Official website; Fox Searchlight page; Tumblr site; IMDb. Via Avery Guerra. Written by Robert Hood

Image Gallery:

Addendum: Courtesy of  Quiet Earth, here is a newly released clip from Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Posted in Apocalypse, Fantasy, Giant Monsters, Independent film, News, Trailers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment