Awesome independent filmmaker Brett Piper, acting on his mission to “keep B-movie clichés alive”, has released some new images from his upcoming Muckman. No news, just a couple of pics — but they’re looking good. As usual, click to enlarge.
Check out previous Backbrain articles here (for influences and general background on “swamp monster” stories); and here (first images).
First World (US-2007; dir. Adam Starr) is a both a short scifi film and an on-going project that aims to result in a full-length feature. I first interviewed writer and producer Mark Lund back in 2007, when I was programming the short version into the film festival stream of Conflux 2007. He explained then:
The short is a 25-min “sampling” of what is more than likely going to be a two-hour-and-30-minute production. The story is vast and in-depth and while there exists a good amount of special effects to really bring the viewer in, the focus is on the story through the characters that start off in a seemingly calm but troubled world and ends in the establishment of a new world order. Presently only a 2-minute trailer and the 25-minute short exist. My goal is to create interest in the premise with the short and introduce the project to producers and investors so that the script could be developed through to production of the long version. (Read the full interview here).
The short film screened well, its alternative history vision of the Space Race and speculative political background offering a refreshingly different approach to the creation of a scifi blockbuster, and I’ve been wondering how the larger project is going. Just the other day Mark Lund sent me some newly created conceptual artwork — the design of the S.S. Constitution, which you can see below — and I took the opportunity to get some more information about the ongoing production from him. The description of the images he provided gives you a pretty good idea of the film’s underlying narrative.
The S.S. Constitution (click on the images to get the full effect):
The S.S. Constitution plays a pivotal role in the overall story of First World. We learn early that this second generation space shuttle has been under development since the Reagan Administration. Although President Reagan officially canceled its development, a substantial covert military faction in cooperation with civilian contractors, took over development. This covert group has been growing since they first learned of this advanced civilization from an Arctran crash in 1947 and confirmation with the Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969. The true facts of each of these events, kept under wraps from the world population.
When the Chinese announce they are going to the Moon in 2018, four years ahead of schedule, the completed, albeit untested, S.S. Constitution is immediately launched from Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and lands at Cape Canaveral in Florida. This launch causes an immediate public relations nightmare for NASA and a major distraction for U.S. President Robert Anderson who just learned from Prime Minister Allison Colby of Great Britain that Apollo 11 discovered a domed installation on the Moon and whose inhabitants have been part of our world society since 3003 BCE. When Anderson’s predecessor President Helen Colton secured $200 billion to complete NASA’s Orion Program, those funds were largely diverted to finish this covert shuttle program.
Specifications of the S.S. Constitution remain murky to both Anderson’s Administration and the inhabitants of the Moon installation until the shuttle launches via remote operation from sources unknown. With the demonstrated firepower of an F-22 Raptor, the ability to carry and deploy nuclear ordnances like that of a B-2 bomber along with a nuclear fusion-pulse rocket drive, the S.S. Constitution is not a vehicle of peace and exploration, but a weapon of mass destruction that can be deployed anywhere on Earth and space.
When the S.S. Constitution breaks Earth orbit for the Moon, a decision is made to save humanity and its origins. But that decision will violate the very Decalogue of Commandments they have been set forth on Earth and our known way of life.
Q & A with Mark Lund:
Who created the concept designs for the S.S. Constitution and what is that person role in the production?
The images were created by artist Peggy Chung. I first saw her wonderful work on www.io9.com and contacted her to see if she would be interested in developing some concept art for First World. It has been great working with her on this project. As I mentioned to her during our first introductions, my goal with this concept art is to continue developing interest in First World to work toward making the feature-length version. We have the short and we have the trailer. But it was time for some updating and Peggy is the right artist at the right time. Her work can be viewed at www.PegChung.com. The next piece she is doing will be a “painting” of Lunaria, the domed installation on the Moon first discovered by Apollo 11 in 1969.
How about an update on where the production stands now and the current game-plan?
First World was VERY close to receiving feature production funding from producers in China, New York and Germany. Then the global recession hit and projects literally came to standstill. The producers in Germany were hoping to get First World on their latest slate of films, but was still having difficulty in closing financing on their previous slate. So it was a set of circumstances sadly not in our control and not reflective of the project itself. But there has been some very substantial progress since First World screened in Australia at Conflux in 2007. The screenplay has received some wonderful nominations Finalist, California Independent Film Festival (2007), Top 10, Science Fiction, The Movie Deal (2008) and I just learned that First World made the Top 10 at the recently concluded Fantastic Planet Sydney International Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival in Australia. In 2009, First World was released to DVD by IndieFlix, which released it to Hulu. So distribution and awareness continues. At present, there are five producers reviewing the project for possible production. So hopefully while we see our respective economies recover (mostly here in the United States), projects such as First World will be moved to the front of some of these production slates.
Any other interesting news?
Last year I wrote a prequel to First World titled First World Covenant that is designed as a limited run web series introducing a couple more characters — in particular, the bank of Shinar International, which is operated by one of the Disciples and is covertly the largest banking institution in the world, which quietly regulates the financial system behind the scenes to keep things in relative order.
I am also nearly completed with the sequel to First World titled First World Final Solution. In the sequel, the secret kept from humanity since Apollo 11 and the last three thousand years has revealed itself full circle. Governments are falling apart, the world population is doing nothing but questioning and revolting, the military in most developed “First World” nations are unstable. But through this all, U.S. President Hadrian, who succeeded President Anderson in a coupe, means to rid the world of these “people” once and for all. To do so means to expand the high altitude nuclear tests of the 1950s — for these people brought something with them when they arrived on Earth in the year 3003 BC. But Cedric, Elisabeth and the rest of the Disciples will now have to employ the very God-like and fearful powers that are only read about in scripture to stop Hadrian and to prevent a repeat of what happened on their homeworld 15,000 years earlier — a holocaust of fear.
Finally, there is a sci-fi fan group that is interested in making an audio presentation of First World. They are largely Space 1999 fans (one of my personal favorite series) but have really enjoyed the First World story and want to participate in its development.
Fish Bait (US-2009; dir. Jeff Joslin, Darby Lynn Totten)
Tales of monster cat-fish inhabiting US lakes provided inspiration for Fish Bait, an independent comedy horror monster flick that is, in the words of the directors, “a cross between Deliverance and Jaws using the improv acting technique of Blair Witch Project“.
Personal experiences growing up on a lake set the stage for this film written and co-directed by Jeff Joslin and Darby Totten. While boating not far from Fort Loudon Dam in Knoxville, Tennessee, Jeff, who was just a high school student at the time, saw a man at Choto Marina with his arm ripped to shreds by a 50-pound catfish. Jeff recalls that the man didn’t seem nearly as bothered by his bloody arm as he did about the size of that fish. Darby grew up on Lake Powell in Arizona, hearing similar stories from her father, who claimed to have seen catfish the size of a grown man. “But don’t worry,” he’d say, “They stay down by the dam, and they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.” As much as she wanted to believe him, she could not bring herself to swim in deep waters until she was in high school and even then, she never could stay in very long. (Official website)
Claiming inspiration story-wise from tales of mysterious man-sized catfish like the one above, and cinematically from the oeuvres of Alfred Hitchcock and Roger Corman, co-writers/directors Joslin and Totten sought to bring new life to the genre by using a group of actors from the improvisation group, Einstein Simplified to star in the film. They felt that this approach would ensure that their black comedy would be a fresh addition to the horror genre, and give it cult appeal.
Our goal for this film and the production company [3 Legged Dog Productions] is to provide the entertainment industry with fresh and creative films which help launch the careers of Directors, Actors and Writers in the entertainment industry, while providing a good investment vehicle for interested individuals and investment groups.
Shot in seven days at the Flat Hollow Marina fishing resort on Norris Lake, north of Knoxville, TN, the low-budget independent film premiered on 23 October in Knoxville, and on the following night at Flat Hollow Marina itself. It is now available on DVD from the website store.
It features music by Billy Bob Thornton and Brad Davis of the Boxmasters, Tommy Shaw of Styx, new artist Jeffrey Joslin (the director’s son, who also wrote the title song “Fish Bait”), Jim Silvers and Joel Weaver.
Synopsis:
Frank books a luxury weekend fishing trip online for his three friends Dave, Jaybo and Paul in hopes of hooking the fabled man-sized catfish, but Jaybo has different plans. Bored with fishing, and wanting to spice up the trip, he invites his girlfriend Julie and her friend Kristie. When they arrive and see a beautiful lake, a marina filled with luxury houseboats, jet skis, water-skiing and plenty of good fishing, they can’t wait to get out on the water. Soon they discover their reservation is not at Flat Hollow Marina but at Fear Hollow Marina, which lives up to its name, and the only way to get there is by boat. They’re dropped off at Fear Hollow, and quickly discover that the rundown, rusted-out houseboat they’ve been given is the least of their problems because they have no way back to Flat Hollow. It turns out to more outhouse than penthouse. Reluctantly, they decide to make the best of a bad situation, which turns out to be the worst decision they could make. They travel up-lake, trying to find a hot fishing hole, a place to relax and hook that big fish. Little do they know they’re about to become fish bait.
Trailer:
There is an alternative version of the trailer here.
In case you were wondering, a sequel already appears to be in the pipeline, one that might have a bigger budget and could focus more on the special effects. “Yes, we’re planning Fish Bait 2: The Whiskered Beast,” reports Joslin. “It has a plot that includes a ‘Man-fish’ and his catch, that help him do his dirty work on the lake …”
Gallery (including screenshots, location and production pictures and cast):
Kaiju artist Todd Tennant reports on his four-issue contribution to the Bluewater Productions series It Came From Beneath the Sea … Again, which is an extension of Ray Harryhausen’s classic five-tentacled giant octopus movie of nearly the same name:
Well, the good news and there’s bad news…
The BAD News:
I recently found out that Bluewater Productions and the Ray Harryhausen’s representatives (not Ray himself, who has reportedly not been in good health) have parted company, and there will not be a “Ray Harryhausen presents: It Came From Beneath the Sea … Again!” Bluewater comics series. But allow me to quickly add…
The GOOD News:
Bluewater Productions will still publish a graphic novel of the entire four-comics series, but with “Ray Harryhausen Presents” removed from the title.
Meanwhile, be looking for a BIG surprise in the last panel of this graphic novel!
Click on the image to see it full size!
Good luck with this, Todd. I for one will be waiting in line (a virtual line) to grab a copy of the book!
We’ve met Amphibious before, though it was a brief meeting and you may not recall it. It’s a giant monster film made by genre veteran Brian Yuzna, who rose from the demise of Fantastic Factory to film under the auspices of firstly Halcyon Entertainment, then his own company Komodo Films, having been absent from the cinema as director since the not-overly-successful ghost flick Beneath Still Waters (2005). Previous directorial efforts, however, represent a major contribution to the Horror Film canon, and include the very weird Society (1989), the Re-Animator sequel Bride of Re-Animator (1990), the excellent Return of the Living Dead III (1993), and the just okay second Re-Animator sequel Beyond Re-Animator (2003). Since then, he has given us a series of diminishing returns in Faust: Love of the Damned (2000), the robo-dog film Rottweiler (2004) and the aforementioned Beneath Still Waters, though as “Creative Producer” on Paco Plaza’s Romasanta (2004) he had some input into one of the best, and least-known, werewolf movies of all time.
Now this:
Amphibious 3D (Indonesia-2010; dir. Brian Yuzna)
Synopsis:
Marine biologist, Skylar Shane [Janna Fassaert], hires an expat charter boat captain, Jack Bowman [Michael Paré], to help her find prehistoric life form samples in the north Sumatran Sea. During the expedition, they run into some of Jack’s ‘friends’, a gang of smugglers headquartered on a fishing platform in the middle of the sea. Tamal, an orphan sold into servitude on the fishing platform by his uncle, a ‘Dukun’ [sorcerer and master of black magic] shaman, begs Skylar to take him away. She empathizes with the boy, who reminds her of her lost daughter, Rebecca, and is determined to help him, not knowing what lurks beneath the dark inky water, waiting to surface. Once Tamal arrives on the scene, mysterious things begin to happen, until one by one the smugglers are killed by a terrifying creature from the deep. In the middle of an eerie, violent storm, the animus inside Tamal grows stronger, calling for the ancient creature of his nightmares. Now Skylar and Jack must battle the terror – once locked deep in the abyss by an old civilization, as it is now about to resurface… (Celcius website)
The film is currently in post-production, was shot in Stereoscopic 3D, polarized for TH release in Real D / Dolby 3D and will also be available in anaglyph and interactive polarized shutter for video release. It is being distributed by Celcius Entertainment, with an announced release date of May 2010.
First images for the film:
More few more images are included in the Gallery below.
Production images:
Above: Director Yuzna (third from left) and crew
UK company Inition 3D Productions’ Melbourne company was in Jakarta during August, “providing on set 3D production expertise” for Amphibious 3D. 3D filming equipment was provided by Widescreen Media. Personally, I have little interest in 3D as my eyes just don’t see it properly and the image tends to look blurred and murky, at least on DVD — even with the increased clarity of Blu-Ray. But then again I haven’t been exposed to the latest advances in polarising lenses, so maybe they work okay theatrically.
Nevertheless, I’m liking the sound of this film so far and look forward to seeing it, preferably in 2D.
For reference, here is the previous poster:
Previous Backbrain article.
Gallery:
Courtesy of the director, Undead Backbrain has a new image and first view of an SFX moment from Jim Wynorski’s Dinocroc vs Supergator, which is due for release to TV in the near future.
Click image to enlarge
SFX Sequence:
Ba’al [aka Ba’al: the Storm God] (US/Canada-2008; dir. Paul Ziller)
Existing somewhere in the vast mid-range of cinematic quality, Ba’al is an entertaining B-film that aspires to originality (or maybe just deviation from the norm of low-budget genre films), even if in the end little is achieved beyond a fairly competent use of its meagre resources. A diverting mix of Indiana Jones-style archeological adventure fantasy, caper thriller and disaster flick, the direct-to-video monster movie at times feels like two films woven somewhat tenuously together — though to be fair the script strives to divert our attention from the fact that the two character sets involved never meet, one group being confined to a meteorological command centre and only experiencing the larger events of the film via monitor screens.
In the primary plot thread a famous if unstable (and dying) archeologist masterminds the theft of rare Sumarian scrolls that he plans to use to find and excavate four amulets. These artefacts are not only of great historical value but may hold the key to unleashing a terrible ancient power — the power of the Storm God Ba’al, exiled from the world for millennia by his more beneficent father, El. Naturally the ethically unstable professor draws into his search a younger, better-looking and more heroic archeologist and a beautiful esoteric-language expert, who together give him the extra information he needs to bring his quest to fruition. With the discovery of each of the amulets, Ba’al gets more powerful, a revitalisation signaled by the sudden appearance of mega-storms that not only draw power from the Van Allen Belt but are sentient, every now and then (when dramatically useful) manifesting a savage face with glowing eyes and fiery mouth — the likeness of Ba’al himself.
There is a minor plotline involved here as the mad archeologist has implicated his younger comrade in the theft and resulting murder and the latter is being hunted by an investigating government agent. This thread doesn’t come to much, but it’s there to add suspense and variety for a while — and it does this without much elaboration. It ends quickly when the Federal agent, who has captured the innocent protagonist, comes face-to-face with Ba’al and thereupon decides there may be more to events than he’d be led to believe.
In the second major plot thread a rogue (but spunky) meteorologist tries to convince her typically boneheaded military ex-superiors (query: why exactly is the military in charge of weather monitoring?) that the mega-storms appearing over various parts of the globe are of apocalyptic potential — though they only believe her when a surveillance plane is destroyed and vast storms rip through various major cities. As the climax looms, separate mega-storms begin to join up and threaten to plunge the world into total annihilation.
With generally reasonable acting that only in some instances plunges into caricature, Ba’al‘s narrative drive builds effectively, working an archeological mystery-solving scenario that is vaguely credible, at least in fantasy terms — even if real archeologists rarely find themselves running around the world furiously digging up ancient relics while being chased by ancient deities. The military/meteorological disaster thread is rather less convincing, partially as a result of the limited budget. If Emmerich’s climate-change blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow left you unconvinced politically, the minimalist political decision-making processes of Ba’al certainly aren’t going to win you over. But that’s the B-film world (whether big-budgeted or not) — and it lets the plot zoom along with the appearance of an occasional CGI lightning strike, tornado or snarling cumulus deity.
The film does falter somewhat as it nears the end, the narrative threads becoming rather ragged and the solution to the protagonist’s problems too easily dealt with. Yet as B-exploitation films go, Ba’al isn’t bad at all, being both technically competent and relatively spectacular — to be scorned if only multi-million dollar digital FX as seamless and detailed as those of Hellboy 2 will satisfy you, but more than tolerable for those willing to adjust their expectations according to realistic budgetary possibilities, script flaws notwithstanding.
This review was first published on Horrorscope.
In this second issue in the sensational new comic series by Thomas Hall (writer) and Daniel Bradford (artist), Robot 13: Colossus!, our strange robotic hero must face up to an important ontological question, one directed at him by a crew member of the fishing trawler that, in the previous issue, dredged him up from the bottom of the sea. Why is it, the man asks, that in all their years of going to sea the fishermen had never come across anything like the kraken that just attacked them until, that is, Robot 13 boarded the ship? Is there a connection?
Is there indeed? To be a monster magnet or not to be a monster magnet… that is the question.
Before he can dredge up an answer, Robot 13 is attacked by a phoenix (pictured above) and an epic battle ensues!
Already, in this second 29-page issue, there are hints of what revelations are to come as regards our bone-and-metal hero’s true nature — or at least questions that may not be answered but which suggest the general metaphysical area in which answers will be found. Part two ups the ante on both the series’ surreal imagery and the potential complexities of Robot 13’s nature, with a beginning that features Medusa, the statue-making Gorgon, and an ending that reveals something of the mythological otherworld’s interest in Robot 13’s activities.
After some shipping delays, Issue 2 is now available. You can order a copy on the Blacklist Studios website or nag your local comic store to get in a stack of them!
See the Backbrain’s comments on issue one here. More information can be found in the two-part interview I conducted with the comic’s creators.
You’d think that the need for difficult SFX work would be daunting to ultra-low-budget filmmakers and would lead them to work in intimate, less spectacular genres than kaiju eiga.
Well, not everyone takes the easier route. Check out this new feature-length giant monster flick from Germany.
Nagira (Germany-2009; dir. Florian Schröder)
Synopsis:
1986 — A mysterious meteorite crashes on Earth. High-level scientists find traces of extraterrestrial life on the rocks and set about deciphering the genetic material. Years later, the breakthrough occurs — and the lab burns down to its foundations. The leader of the team is murdered shortly afterwards in hospital. Investigators set their sights on a billionaire arms mogul after a towering monster appears, leaving an entire neighborhood in rubble. Even the Army with its tanks and missiles doesn’t stand a chance. But rescue comes from faraway Japan in the form of a professor who arrives in Germany with his assistant to work with the Crisis Team toward finding a solution to the monstrous problem. It turns out, however, that there is a traitor in the ranks of the Crisis Staff. Someone seems to be putting the destructive force of the monster to profitable use for themselves … With a budget of only 3400€ director and screenwriter Florian Schröder has produced an affectionate homage to B movies and the Japanese monster films of the 70s.
Trailer:
The Monster:
As you can see from the pictures above, Nagira is a strange monster if ever there was one — a chimera concocted of a number of different critters. Kaiju Search-Robot Avery spoke to the director Florian Schröder on behalf of Undead Backbrain.
Kaiju Search-Robot Avery: First of all is Nagira made of a piranha and a crab?
Florian Schröder: The Monster is made of a piranha, a snake, a crab, some modeling compound, some wire and hot glue.
Avery: Was it dead already before you guys started the mutation process?
FS: Yes. I bought everything on eBay, except for the crab. That came from a Chinese grocery store. But it was dead, too. I had to buy three packages of different crustaceans, until I had all the bits I needed. The girl in the store thought I was a great fan of seafood…
Avery: The SFX are achieved through stop-motion animation, I believe. That technique is rather difficult and takes considerable time. How often did the creature prop have to be replaced?
FS: There were problems. I created the SFX in a special room I made just for this purpose, and shot the monster in front of a green screen. The monster wasn’t able to stand by itself, so I had to build a framework for it. But then the framework threw a shadow onto the green screen. Believe me, it was really annoying work, because the wire broke often, the crab components crumbled and I had to work with non-professional lighting equipment. But finally it got done.
Avery: How many FX shots in all were there?
FS: Nearly 7000.
Avery: That’s a lot! Didn’t your mother tell you not to play with your food?
FS: Yes, she did. But she also told me to become a teacher. And I didn’t do that either.
Avery: Surely mucking around with dead things for so long is a health hazard? How did you deal with that?
FS: All the biological matter was preserved in formaldehyde. There wasn’t really a problem with smell or decay. Do you know Gunther von Hagens? [an anatomist who invented the plastination technique for preserving biological tissue specimens – ed.] Something similar, just with a fish.
Avery: So who designed the creature and what in the hell were they thinking?
FS: I did the movie completely alone except for a camera man and of course the actors. I built everything I needed: the creature, the giant robot, costumes and all the stuff.
FS: In Germany it is not as easy as it seems to be in the USA to get money for an unususal movie project. You have to break down barriers to get financing. But the money for German films nearly all comes from national sponsorship. And believe me, nobody in Germany will support a monster movie. So I spent my own money and was able to do the movie my way. My money — my movie. I like the monster films, but I wouldn’t say that I was a fan. What I liked was the visual style and the designs and I wanted to give my stamp to this theme.
The Director:
Florian Schröder hails from a small town called Ulm in Southern Germany. He has worked in the areas of design, music and cinema for over ten years and Nagira is his debut full-length movie. Previously he has been involved in making some short films and music clips.
FS: What I wanted people to see is that it is possible to make a movie yourself with little money and just the will to do it. Of course under those circumstance you won’t be able to create a Hollywood-type blockbuster, but you’ll move a small step closer to becoming a real filmmaker. A “real” film with a “real” team, a “real” set and “real” budget … I think it will prove impossible to do it in a big way if you can’t do it the smaller way. And I wanted to show that a trashy monster movie can still entertain an audience.
Avery: What is your goal for the film?
FS: First of all, the goal was to finish this project… I had times in which I thought that it would be impossible. If you see the stop-motion effects, you’ll think first it looks cheap. But it took two months and tons of nerve to do it like that. I wanted to use only the kind of SFX that were used in the 70s, to give Nagira a B-movie flavour.
Avery: Can you name some influences and inspirations — in terms of other directors, FX artists, and other films that might have influenced the making of this film?
FS: In the end I was influenced by all the trashy monster movies of the 1960s and ’70s — all the B-movies and the Grindhouse material I could get in my fingers here in Germany. Almost nobody knows about that stuff here. Everybody wants to be cool and pretend to have a knowledge of all these movies. But if you don’t order DVDs and VHSs via eBay or through US mail-order, you won’t know about them at all. They are not shown on TV and are mostly not distributed locally. They think they can watch Tarantino and then will know all about B-movies. The actual king of fantasy movies for me is Guillermo del Toro and his right hand man, Mike Mignola.
Avery: Do you ever plan to make any other giant monster films? Any other new films you’re working on now?
FS: No, definitely not. But like James Bond said: “Never say never”. I think the next “science fiction thing” I’ll do will be just a music video. Not a 80-minute extravaganza like Nagira. I would have a heart attack….
The Cast:
Kruder: Christian Peters
Frenz: Henry Braun
Oberst Schöndorf: Dirk Linke
Gefreiter Becker: Sven Clos
Von Klünkin: Janina Fahrner
Professor Kurosawa: Günther Lü-Matheis
Osato: Paul Magiera
Maranzano: Gun Aydemir
Philipp La Croix: Christian Hageleit
Avery: Were there any particular difficulties in casting?
FS: We needed a Japanese professor in the movie. He knows how to handle the creature. But I couldn’t find a Japanese actor in the two-month of preparation we had for the production. So I took a 28-year old Chinese friend (Günther Lü-Matheis), gave him grey hair on his temples and an eye patch. Problem solved. But the guy wasn’t an actor. However, I am. So I wrote the character of Osato (Professor Kurosawa’s assistant) for myself. Osato deals with the army, protects him.
Above: Günther Lü-Matheis as Professor Kurosawa
Above: Janina Fahrner as Von Klünkin
Film Facts:
The movie is a guerilla project by director Florian Schröder. He wanted to demonstrate that it is possible to produce a movie as a solo project and with nearly no money. Something similar to what Robert Rodriguez did in the 1990s with El Mariachi — but in the vein of a monster movie and a homage to the Grindhouse and B-Movies of the 1970s. (Daniel Schneider)
Sources: Daniel Schneider; Florian Schröder; Official Website; Upinthesky Productions
Gallery (where there are some additional images, including an alternative poster):
OK, we haven’t had a Weekend Fright Flick for a few weeks, so here’s one for Halloween — and in one of my favourite sub-genres.
Living Dolls (US-1980; 9:36 min]; dir. Todd Coleman)
Mannequins are creepy at the best of times, but what about at the worst of times? This short horror film about a harassed worker in a bridal shop, who takes out his frustrations on the mannequins kept in the storage room, commonly ran as a filler on the USA Network during such programs as Saturday Nightmares, Sci-Fri Theater, Night Flight, and Commander USA’s Groovie Movies. While I’m not sure it ever ran here in Australia, US correspondents report scary memories of seeing this one…
