USA/Mexico Laredo (2017)

Released at the end of June, USA/Mexico's debut Laredo is without question my favorite album of 2017. Noisy, fuzzy, rumblings that will hypnotize and cauterize your mind + ears.

This comes from their Bandcamp bio: "The long-awaited/rumored/feared debut recordings from Austin, TX trio USA/MEXICO are finally upon us. Guitarist Craig Clouse (Shit & Shine, Todd), drummer King Coffey (Butthole Surfers, Rubble, Hugh Beaumont Experience) and bassist Nate Cross (Marriage, When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth, Expensive Shit) have somehow created a musical landscape that exceeds present day reality for absurdity and nightmarishness. There's faint (oh ok, try "loud") echoes of their past works but their combined forces have resulted in an album as bludgeoning and all-encompassing as any that's occupied shelf space in my home or yours."

Elves (1989)

Wow!

"A department-store Santa Claus (Dan Haggerty) discovers a neo-Nazi plot to mate a nice girl (Julie Austin) with an elf in Colorado." 

Happy Holidays 

and 

Happy New Year!

the trailer

the feature

Kenny & Company (1976)

As a Halloween treat, presented here is a favorite coming-of-age movie of mine from 1976, Kenny and Company. Produced, scripted, and directed by Don Coscarelli; this film features several folks who would also go on to work with the director again in his career making horror classic from 1979 Phantasm. Perfect for this time of year and universal in appeal, this movie will especially resonate with those of us whose childhood included the 1970s.

Kenny and Company highlights a chunk of time in the life of Kenny (Dan McCann) leading up to Halloween. Along the way this comedy/drama finds Kenny interacting with his family, neighborhood bullies, first crushes, nerdy tagalong neighbor kid Sherman, his sympathetic teacher (Reggie Bannister), a foreign transfer student, an ailing beloved pet, and his mischievous best pal Doug (A. Michael Baldwin) plus his fun loving Dad Big Doug. The boys get into all sorts of other escapades culminating with an exciting Halloween night in which they get revenge on their tormenting bully by involuntarily involving the neighborhood scary/cranky old man played by Phantasm's big bad Angus Scrimm.

 the trailer

the feature

MST3K – Squirm (1976) - Re-post

Director Jeff Lieberman's worm revenge tale Squirm (1976) is one of those movies that I could watch a zillion times (and probably already have) and still dig it, so adding the ongoing commentary from our MST3K pals adds to the entertainment factor. Enjoy!

The Evil (1978)

Directed by Gus Trikonis (who was married to Goldie Hawn from 1969 to 1976), The Evil was produced and distributed in 1978 by Roger Corman's New World Pictires. Trikonis directed several exploitation films for Corman, including The Swinging Barmaids (1975), Nashville Girl (1976), and Moonshine County Express (1977). After working on the feature film Take This Job and Shove It (1981) he moved on to prolific directing work for television on series such as Baywatch, Hunter, Wiseguy, and Quantum Leap.

In The Evil, a psychiatrist and his wife (Richard Crenna and Joanna Pettet) ignore old stories and bad vibes when they purchase a long empty mansion with the intention of refurbishing it for use as a rehab center. Once the pair and their crew are inside the house the bad feelings increase until they stumble upon a trap door in the basement. Of course they open it which causes the house to seal them inside as the conflict with unknown forces increases with frightening and deadly results. Victor Buono hams it up (as does an increasingly unhinged Crenna) as the personification of the evil.

the trailer

the feature

From a Whisper to a Scream (1987) aka The Offspring

This horror anthology was directed and co-written by Jeff Burr. Burr went on to direct numerous horror movie sequels, such as: Stepfather II (1989), Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), Puppet Master 4 (1993), Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter (1994), and Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings (1994).

The film's stories are introduced by horror icon Vincent Price, a Tennessee town historian speaking to a reporter played by Susan Tyrrell. Familiar genre faces Clu Gulager, playing a grocery worker with an eye for his female boss, and Cameron Mitchell, as a Civil War era Union soldier, are found in two of the film's segments. Martine Beswick, Rosalind Cash (who would make her final film appearance in the 1995 horror anthology Tales from the Hood), and Lawrence Tierney (known to many as gangster Joe Cabot in Reservoir Dogs) also have roles in the movie.

the trailer

the feature

Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters (1965)

Originally released throughout Mexico in 1962 as Caperucita y Pulgarcito contra los monstruos it was directed by Roberto Rodríguez as a sequel to two earlier Little Red Riding Hood children's films. Then in 1965 K. Gordon Murray picked up the film for U.S. distribution, dubbed it in English, retitled it Little Red Riding Hood and the Monsters, and added it to his stable of bizarre matinee fillers from South of the Border.

the trailer

the feature

Melt Banana - 2016 - Boston

Here's footage of Melt Banana playing in Boston, Massachusetts at The Paradise 16 April 2016. I attended this show and it was out of sight. Also on the bill were the Melvins and Napalm Death.

Napalm Death - 2016 - Boston

Here's footage of Napalm Death playing in Boston, Massachusetts at The Paradise 16 April 2016. I attended this show and it was out of sight. Also on the bill were the Melvins and Melt Banana.

Beyond and Back (1978) Re-post

Re-post with updated feature 
plus the addition of a trailer + lobby cards.

Beyond and Back (1978) 

This Sunn Classic Pictures documentary made the rounds of cinemas, drive-ins, and early cable television for some time before fading from wide viewings.

Sunn Classic Pictures was an independent production company based out of Utah; where this was filmed. They put out a number of movies, including In Search of Historic Jesus (1979), In Search of Noah's Ark (1976), The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977), The Bermuda Triangle (1979), and Hangar 18 (1980).  

James L. Conway directed this and some earlier titles for Sunn before trying R-rated horror with 1981's The Boogens, then moving to an ongoing and successful career in television work. In spite of Sunn Classics heavy Christian editorial stance; this was shot by cinematographer Henning Schellerup, who had also filmed pornography in the late '60s/early '70s and continued to work on many exploitation/horror films.

 

the trailer

the feature

Hardly Working (1980)

To commemorate the recent passing of 

Jerry Lewis, presented here is Hardly Working. 

 

Filmed in 1979, it was released to Europe 

and South America in 1980 

and then throughout the U.S. in 1981.

the trailer

the feature

The Cramps - 1978 - Napa State Mental Hospital

The Cramps

live at 

Napa State Mental Hospital 

1978

Mystery Plane 

Way I Walk 

What's Behind The Mask 

Human Fly 

Domino 

Love Me 

Twist & Shout 

TV Set 

Black Flag - Target Video

Black Flag

Target Video

Footage from 1979, 1980, and 1981

Death Rides a Horse (1967)

Directed by Giulio Petroni, Death Rides a Horse (aka Da uomo a uomo) begins with a pummeling rain storm replete with copious thunder and lightning. A young boy watches as a gang rides in and murders his father and brutally assault his mother and sister. Most gang members have distinct characteristics, such as a specific tattoo, and he even sees the face of one. As fifteen years pass, the boy grows into a sharp shooter (John Phillip Law), now hell bent on avenging his slain family. In pursuit of the gang, he meets up with a crusty gunsman (Lee Van Cleef) who just served fifteen years in jail after being framed by the same gang of outlaws. Ennio Morricone supplies standout music to the proceedings. A recommended Euro-Western!

the trailer

the feature

Heavy Traffic (1973)

Ralph Bakshi initially developed the storyline concerning a tale of gritty, inner city life in the late sixties and approached producers with the idea of it as an animated feature film. With his experience primarily in industrial short subjects and commercials, producers balked. It was only after some success as the director of the X-rated animated feature Fritz the Cat in 1972 that Bakshi was given a green light on this more personal project which would also go on to receive an initial X rating. Samuel Z. Arkoff produced and distributed this for American International Pictures, as he earlier had for Fritz the Cat.

Heavy Traffic centers on Michael, a troubled underground cartoonist, living at home with his Mob connected Italian father and Jewish mother as they verbally argue and physically fight constantly. His outside world is equally chaotic and filled with odd and interesting characters, many prone to violence and profane outbursts. Live action gives way to animated scenes while photographic or filmed backgrounds often have animation overlayed.

the trailer

the feature

House (1986)

After directing Friday the 13th Part II and Part III  but just before Soul Man, Steve Miner directed the curious film House.

William Katt (forever known as the Greatest American Hero to some folks) stars as a troubled horror writer who moves into his Aunt's home after her death. Things rapidly go downhill as chronic nightmares give way to hallucinations culminating in attacks from other-worldly creatures.

As he did on the Friday the 13th films, Harry Manfredini provides the musical score.

House did good business at the box office, ensuring sequels. It's opening weekend it made $5,923,972 and came in a very close second to Pretty in Pink.

the trailer

the feature