Eddie Romero on pre-cert

Original English title: MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND

I'll be getting a bunch of EDDIE ROMERO directed Filipino films on old pre-cert VHS from the UK. Awesome covers!!

Original English title: BEAST OF BLOOD

Different aka-title and different UK release but this is also BEAST OF BLOOD!

Original English title: BEAST OF THE YELLOW NIGHT

Poem from my upcoming book "Bow before me, mortal" (Dead Penguin Books)

I killed a rat today. He was still alive. He looked at me with big sad eyes. He said "Oh, please no". I bid off his nose and sucked out his brains. Oh, what a wonderful rat. Oh, what a wonderful plot. Oh, what a wonderful skat. Hey, I ain't talkin' 'bout no brown stuff. That's honey in Viking jargon. Skat, hat, baas, no that does not make sense but that's what you get when you're drunk on a dead rat's blood. Don't be a mouse. Buy a house. Of juicy rats called Claus!

PS: My previous book, "Take me to your leader, skitstövel" is still in print.

360 - "Boys like you" (featuring Gossling)

I'm not really into rap music at all but this video is pretty cool. It's a mix of rap and 60s pop music, and the accent helps too. Actually, I've had it in my head for the last couple of days. LOL. It's 360 from Melbourne with a track called "Boys like you" and the girl singer Gossling is also featured in the song. It's funny to see them walking around the streets of Melbourne, it used to be my home for quite a while in the 90s. The girl who plays 360's girlfriend is Ruby Rose who's a model and vj in OZ. She took her last name from a distant relative, the boxer Lionel Rose, which didn't make his widow too happy. But, hey, she looks great in the video. ^_^

If you want more there's also a (filmed) live version and an interview from (the way cool radio station) Triple J's studio.

MOM (USA, 1991)

Here's the trailer for an unfortunately rarely seen horror/splatter movie from 1991 called MOM. It's directed by Patrick Rand who (according to IMDb) has only directed this one movie. Fortunately - since it IS his only film - the movie is good fun!

The plot: Brion James (the nasty replicant from BLADE RUNNER who utters the immortal line, "Time to die!") is a vampire/demon who is in need of a place to stay. So obviously he rents a room in the private home of an elderly lady. At some stage he gets hungry and, well, you figure out the rest.

There isn't one boring moment in MOM but I reckon the title is rather unfortunate as I'm sure it causes a lot of people (myself included originally) to mistakenly think it's probably a lame horror comedy. Well, it's not! It's a horror flick in the tradition of the late 80s splatter genre. Something else equally unfortunate is the fact that there's no DVD release. You'll have to find a VHS! If I remember correctly, I found my own copy in a Video Netto store in Copenhagen quite a few years ago. The tape is from Holland and is presented in fullscreen.

Trailer:



I couldn't find a trailer on Youtube so I found one on some other site and reposted it on Youtube. Thanks to the original uploader.

More cool reprints from HARD CASE CRIME books

"BLOOD ON THE MINK" - By Robert Silverberg. This cool reprint from HARD CASE CRIME (2011) is the first reprint since the novel was originally published in the last issue of the American pulp magazine "TRAPPED" in 1960. I've just today received it. In the new afterword the author says he hadn't thought about that story for 50 years until the guy behind HCC found an old copy of the magazine. I love all HCC's covers. They're not old but new and made for these books. I wish more covers looked like in the 50s and early 60s. Covers today suck ass.

All-important Facebook updates...

Yesterday:
"A rotten day at the beach. I had imagined women would gather around yours truly with offers, and men would be eager to tell me how much they admire my work, and dogs would roll around. Flies were buzzing around my head and that was about all that happened. Damn beach."

Today:
"Poor Man's Air-conditioner (aka wet washer on your head). It's hot as hell here. Scandinavia is supposed to be eternal ice winter. They said on the news they expect 95% of all Scandinavian penguins to croak from strokes caused by the heat. Poor penguins. And poor polar bears. Will we ever see a snowman around here again. Probably not."

Bonnie's Kids (USA, 1973)

(click poster for full size)

I watched Arthur Marks' entertaining BONNIE'S KIDS on Danish VHS tonight and oh what a joy! Two young sisters kill their stepdad when he becomes a tad too horny and they set off to seek out their uncle who turns out to be just as rotten an egg as the stepdad. Oh, and you'll see where Quentin Tarantino got the idea for the one white/one black hitman team in PULP FICTION! At least the two guys in BONNIE'S KIDS look remarkably like the ones in Quentin's film. There's violence, nudity, cool action, and the acting is good. And the ending is pretty good (in a downbeat way) too!

The Danish VHS from VIDEO INTERNATIONAL is fullscreen but there's a letterboxed DVD out from DARK SKY FILMS. The two sisters are played by Tiffany Bolling and Robin Mattson who both played in other psychotronic films in the 70s. Among others Bolling was in CENTERFOLD GIRLS and THE KINGDOM OF SPIDERS, and Mattson was in lots of TV stuff like The Hulk. One of the hitmen is played by Alex Rocco who was in tons of stuff, often playing unpleasant characters (and he was good at that!). Highly recommended.

Hmm, I did a google and found a thread about the film on DVDMANIACS and it seems it was actually a good thing I watched the film on an unmatted video tape instead of the letterboxed DVD. Apparently the DVD cuts off way too much!

Unmatted VHS:

DVD from 35mm presenting the film in 1.85:1

Check the thread here (despite the lack of boobs in the 1.85:1 version I HAVE ordered the DVD anyway!). For a (great) longer review go here (that's also where I nicked the poster scan from).


Short trailer (incl. alternative footage to long trailer)

 

Long trailer (including old drive-in info videos):

update

I've updated the WOMAN HUNT post.

Wonder Woman - the VHS the Greeks wanted!

aka THE DEADLY AND THE BEAUTIFUL (Philippines, 1973)

I won the rare Dutch VHS release of Robert Vincent O'Neill's WONDER WOMEN (aka The Dead and the Beautiful) on eBay a few days ago (from one of Cinehound's Member-X's auctions). Apparently a certain Cinehound head-hound also wanted it. Sorry mate, it belongs here! LOL. The film may have been released on video in other territories but I've never come across any other release. Something Weird Video in the US have released a DVD-R of the films. Their print is taken from a good looking 16mm print. I posted about it quite a while ago (you can see the cover under the film's real index entry here). Code Red (also in the US) have announced a DVD release but knowing that label I wouldn't hold my breath until the DVD gets here. Sometimes their releases take a long (like in loooooong) while to materialise. I'm certainly happy to have won this tape. Oh, and Vic Diaz is of course in there somewhere!

Here's a scene from the film (monster people, yay!), there are more clips on YouTube:

From "STAY SICK!" to Canadian paperback stardom

Eleven years ago I published issue no. 2 of my zine STAY SICK! In addition to the usual psychotronic film reviews and articles on obscure pop culture I also chucked in something I'd never included in a zine before (or after): A horror short story!

The story was called "Mareridtet" [lit. trans: The Nightmare] written by one Metin Vardar. Metin got in touch with me because someone mentioned to him that he should write and suggest I publish his story. I did and the rest is fanzine history.
And now there's even more history! I got an email from Metin the other day to tell me that he's been published again - and this time it's a full length novel that has been released by BLOOD MOON PUBLISHING in Canada!! Good on ya, mate!

Blood Moon basically deal in eBook publishing, however they do offer paperback editions of their releases as well. Metin's book is called "Flesh Field" and I believe it's firmly located in horror/fantasy territory. You can order the eBook edition at a mere 6 dollars US (they take PayPal) or (like I did) as a paperback at $15 (yes-yes, I realise the eBook is under half the price but I don't give a flying fuck; I want a real book, goddammit!).

I have no idea of how well eBooks sell, or whether Metin's book is awesome or, well, less awesome but Metin was part of making my zine STAY SICK! fun a decade ago, and for that I thank him and I'll give his book a try - even if I don't even read horror literature usually!

You can check the book here (and read an excerpt if you wish).

Salvage (UK, 2010)

I watched the UK (well, Liverpoolian really) horror movie SALVAGE last night. A teen chick is (much against her will) going to spend Xmas with her mum but on arrival finds her mum banging some stranger so off she goes to stay at the neighbours. When her mum tries to get her out from the neighbours' house (by the good ol'e well tested way of yelling and banging on the door) all kinds of stuff happen. And later more stuff. Wild 'n' crazy shit. There's blood and carnage. I'm not gonna tell you what it's really about cos that would be spoiling it for you but it's really good. And you know there's a, well, you know one of those... and it's really creepy and stuff. Awesome movie altho the dialects are a bit thick. I think I'll write to the film company and ask them to have the film dubbed into Aussie or American English. I bought the UK DVD from Amazon, it was a second-hand copy but in perfect condition. It cost me 19 pence!!! xD

Boiled, please. Hard.

It's been a while since I last posted about new pulp novels, and since I know you're just dying to see what hardboiled trash from yesteryear that I pour my money into here's a couple of covers from today's purchase!

MICKEY SPILLANE's "The Delta Factor" I needed cos I recently bought HARD CASE CRIME's newly released "The Consummata" which is a follow up to "The Delta Factor". Spillane started writing the seqeul in the late 60s but he never finished it. Four decades later his friend MAX ALLAN COLLINS finished the book (with approval from Spillane). I'm trying to collect all releases from Hard Case Crime (but there's a long way to go yet!) so obviously I had to get "The Delta Factor" in order to read "The Consummata" properly. I saw a film poster (of "Delta") on eBay but I don't know anything about the film version.

"Sinfun Woman" was written by JAMES M. CAIN who did many hardboiled crime books, among others "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice". Needless to say, I have no idea how hardboiled "Sinfun Woman" is or isn't - but the cover looks great!

9 lives no. 3: THE GUN CLUB - "mother juno" lp, "the breaking hands" 12", "the berlin tapes"

I got THE GUN CLUB's fantastic album "MOTHER JUNO" yesterday. On CD. I bought that record on vinyl in 1990 but haven't been able to listen to it for a long time (as my record player died on me a few years back). This is really cool. I remember reading someone saying the GUN CLUB sounded like they came from the swamp but I always thought they sounded like the desert.

The CD set also includes the wonderful 12" single "BREAKING HANDS" as well. I remember buying that along with the LP back then. The same year I also got to see THE GUN CLUB at the Town & Country Club in London with my friend Michelle G. Unfortunately, lead singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce died a long time ago. The CD set also contains the unreleased "THE BERLIN TAPES". It's part of Flow Records' (in Holland) sadly aborted "9 LIVES" re-release series of GUN CLUB albums with extra CDs.


Two tracks from the LP and "Noboy's City" from the 12":



"The Breaking Hands"


"Yellow Eyes"

Ahh, the children of the night... they listen to me...

Okay, maybe that's not quite what ol'e Bela said but anyhow so happy to see people actually read my crappy posts and not least when that "someone" is Todd over at one of my favourite worldweird blogs, Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill! xD xD xD
Check his new post about THE SISTERHOOD which I wrote about the other day (and I haven't even bloody seen it yet!!! hahaha).

Another Woman Hunt for the bedpost

I wrote about Eddie Romero's Filipino movie THE WOMAN HUNT the other day. The film was slated for release from SHOUT! FACTORY but now it seems it may never get released from them. So like so often before we have to rely on old video tape releases. As I mentioned in the previous post, I already have the UK and Danish tapes but none of them present the film in a particular decent quality. The UK print looks washed out and the Danish video is simply too dark. I looked around for other versions and found the US NTSC tape on eBay. Unfortunately, these tapes aren't exactly popping up everywhere so I had to fight off other fans to get it (i.e. it wasn't all that cheap), LOL. But anyway it's mine now! I'll post info on the picture quality when I get the tape.


EDIT: I've received the NTSC tape now and watched it right away; And I'm happy to report that the picture quality is quite a bit better than the UK and Danish video tapes! In contradiction to the UK tape the picture is crisp clear and in contradiction to the Danish tape you can actually see what's going on during the night scenes! I still hope SHOUT! FACTURY are going to release the film on DVD but until that happens the US tape is so far the best option there is.

Oi, gov'! Zombies!!

There's a new zombie flick on its decaying way, COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES!! The CGI is annoying but I guess the days of proper fake spurting blood are gone. It looks like a fun movie. Not up there with the masterpieces, ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, NIGHT/DAWN/DAY, etc. but still. Funnily enough, despite its title I didn't actually hear anybody with a Cockney accent in that trailer. o_O

... >_< ...

Jack isn't very interested in what Ghita has to... by Z-cinema

A couple of years back I made this serious and well prepared video, and needless to say "somebody" in Finland (face palm) had to ruin it (face palm some more). Member-X, Kurt, please, just go and live with the trolls in the woods or something. >_<

Wake in Fright

I've just ordered this on DVD from OZ. Looks great! AU$26 incl. postage from Chaos.

When bootleg covers go wrong

Check the above bootleg DVD-R cover for "Lady Exterminator". The seller's plot description matched that of the Indonesian film LADY EXTERMINATOR. I would expect he got hold of a copy off the Danish VHS. Or maybe the American VHS (but in the States the film is called "I Want To Get Even").

And so he probably googled to find some cover art. And found a poster on Hong Kong Movie Data Base.

And used it.

Without checking if it were the SAME film.

The problem is just that... well, it ISN'T!!! Hahahaha.

The poster found on HKMDB is for the Hong Kong Shaw Brothers film LADY EXTERMINATOR!!!

Same title... but it's a completely different film with (obviously!!) different director and actors!!!

I guess the bootlegger even did some more googling and found yet another picture but this time it's actually from the right (Indonesian) film. It's on the back of the cover and it shows Eva Arnaz with the alternative American title of the Indonesian film written underneath (aforementioned "I Want To Get Even"). Hahahaha.

If the bootlegger had watched the damn film it would have taken 30 seconds to discover that the names in the credits in no way match the credits at HKMDb.

The poster from HKMDB for the Hong Kong film LADY EXTERMINATOR (it's a sequel to SEXY KILLER aka Drug Connection). The HK film has never been released to home cinema in any format.

The cover for the Danish VHS release of the Indonesian film LADY EXTERMINATOR

And the mainstreamers still claim nobody buys video tapes anymore. Hah!!

Here's a couple of cover scans of video tapes (and one cd) that I've bought lately. I'm still waiting for half of them. All very cool stuff (and some of them mega rare too). ^_^

NB: this isn't Mattei/Fulci's ZOMBI 3 but BURIAL GROUND.

Blind Vendetta coming this way

I decided to go to bed early for once and now it's 3:51 in the morning. Argh. Anyway, before I turn in here's the cover for an NTSC tape I won on eBay today. It's José Antonio de la Loma's little seen BLIND VENDETTA (aka Metralleta Stein) starring John Saxon and made in Spain, 1975. It's not released on DVD and apparently the only English friendly VHS is this US release. I won it at an auction on eBay UK. Only bidder. ^_^
I don't give two shits about IMDb scores but it's got a user score of 8.1 out of 10.

THE SKY HAS FALLEN

I watched THE SKY HAS FALLEN last night. It's a different indie take on the zombie film. It was almost a *quiet* zombie film if you can imagine that. It had lots of gore in it tho which is always good in a, eh, zombie film. LOL. Check out Jayson's incisive review here. And you can check the film's website (and order it at half the price than on Amazon).

The Sisterhood (Philippines, 1988)

dir: Cirio H. Santiago

VHS / USA / format? / English audio / no subs




Gee, wauw! Another unknown/forgotten/semi lost post-apocalypse film from the Philippines!!! This one has even turned up on DVD. :D

THE SISTERHOOD is listed as a strict American production on IMDb. I asked Henry Strzalkowski (who is in the film) about it on Facebook and he confirmed what I already suspected; The movie is made 100% in the Philippines!! Unfortunately, a lot of non-American films are listed on IMDb as American productions or co-productions if there's just one American actor in them. Needless to say this isn't correct. If it were the case about 75% of all American films would have to be listed as being British or European. The IMDb is all right as a starting point for research but it's not all that good on its own.

Henry Strzalkowski about shooting THE SISTERHOOD:

"Completely filmed in the Philippines, directed by Cirio Santiago. Great find, Jack! Haven't seen this one. That's me at 0:07 [in the trailer]. During a sword-fight rehearsal, [Lynn-Holly Johnson] accidentally struck one of our stuntmen. Actually she lopped off the end of his index finger. Since we were using dull aluminum prop swords, she more or less crushed it. The stuntman was Greg Rocero. I'll never forget seeing him just wince and stop. When he pulled out his hand, we realized what happened. He went straight to hospital and showed up about a couple hours later (with his severed finger in a bottle, I'm not joking). I asked him why he was back and he simply said, "I gotta drive my truck back." I asked him if it hurt and he said, "It just throbs a bit." What a guy... All in a day's work. The risks you take. Lynn-Holly was devastated. For the rest of the picture."
[Facebook 30/7/12]

THE SISTERHOOD is released on DVD in the UK and I believe the UK DVD is the only release on DVD. I haven't been able to find one single VHS release! It's available from Amazon UK. I've ordered a copy but haven't received it yet so I can't comment on the picture quality. The Amazon page lists the film as being in widescreen.

EDIT: SISTERHOOD was released on VHS in the US. See scan in the above. Thanks to GARY MILLER of DVDManiacs for the info and scan!