Wishing all of Exploitation Retrospect's friends and readers a happy, healthy and safe New Year's Eve. Here's hoping that 2010 brings everybody a heaping helping of junk culture and fringe media. Cheers!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Years from Exploitation Retrospect!
Wishing all of Exploitation Retrospect's friends and readers a happy, healthy and safe New Year's Eve. Here's hoping that 2010 brings everybody a heaping helping of junk culture and fringe media. Cheers!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Chas. Balun RIP
Sad to read over at Fangoria that Chas. Balun lost his battle with cancer the week before Christmas. To a horror zine publisher in the 80s like me, Balun was the closest thing we had to a rock star. I still remember, in those pre-internet days, haunting my local comic and book stores to find a copy of DEEP RED HORROR HANDBOOK.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Eurospy Poster-Gasm (and Bonus VHS-Gasm)
I spend a lot of time in my office here at home. Probably a good six hours or so a day, even more when I get immersed in a big project like I'm working on now. So I decided that while I've loved assembling my Kinski Kollection I haven't really been appreciating it. Sure, I have a few pieces loitering on my bookshelf but I thought it might be fun – and help me push the Kinski guide along – if the mass of DVDs and VHS tapes, along with the magazines and a few choice collectibles, were on display for me to see each day.Hauling everything out and rearranging my bookshelf was a start, but I realized that I have so much Kinski stuff that's not on commercial DVD that I needed to replace my slimline cases and low-rent CD-style jewel cases with custom DVD cases.
Admittedly, finding poster artwork for some of these flicks, like THE PLEASURE GIRLS or MAN, PRIDE, VENGEANCE is easier said than done. But I had a fair amount of success last night and even stumbled upon two art archives that should appeal to a few of you trashers.
First up is this Eurospy Poster Collection. The guy who houses it -- David J Deal -- wrote a Eurospy Guide as well as a 70s TV horror movie book. If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can find the links to some Komissar X and Jerry Cotton posters, too. But it was the Eurospy collection I found most inspiring!
And for those of us who remember the good old days of standing in the video store and drinking in the trashy, goofy, stoopid, lurid and fun VHS box art, you can spend hours at CoverBrowser.com. I immediately recognized tons of flicks that I passed up back in the day, only to realize now that those boxes houses Eurotrash classics I've come to know and love.
NOTE: If you purchase an item via our Amazon links we receive a small referral fee, somewhere between 0% and 10% of your order, depending upon the item. Thanks for your support!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Huge Pre-Holiday Review Update at ER Website!
The holidays are here and all the good cheer in the air has put us in the giving mood at ER HQ. So, in the spirit of the season swing on over to the Exploitation Retrospect website and check out a baker's dozen of new reviews for...Don't say we never gave you anything...
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Go That Way Really Fast... If Something Gets in Your Way, Turn
Editor's Note: We don't normally feature a lot of travel movie reviews on Exploitation Retrospect but when the back-country ski documentary INTREPID DESCENT landed in our mailbox it seemed like a good fit. One, I'm sure some of our readers occasionally put down the remote and enjoy skiing or other outdoor winter activities. And, two, good pal Bryan Senn – author of A Year of Fear, Drums of Terror: Voodoo in the Cinema and Golden Horrors: An Illustrated Critical Filmography of Terror Cinema, 1931-1939 – is an avid skier who I knew would give this doc the proper look-see. For more from Bryan, check out his writings in The Hungover Gourmet #10 and 11, both available from THG's on-line store.
F
ull disclosure time: I've been a hardcore skier for nearly four decades, and I've no time for that newfangled "sport" of snowboarding, even though I do realize it has come a long way from its obnoxious "Dude-itude" beginnings, and that even grounded adults partake these days (one of my best ski-buddies is actually a boarder, and my own teenage son has gone to the Dark Side by abandoning the grace and beauty of twin boards for the dubious "thrills" of skateboard-on-ice). Hell, I've even tried it myself (though by noon I'd tired of boarding the blues and strapped my skis back on for some serious fun). So you'll forgive me if I've become hyper-aware of the fact that nowadays any "ski" movie seemingly devotes at least half its running time to snowboarding party tricks. Consequently, the inner skier in me was immensely gratified that this INTREPID DESCENT was taken solely by skiers, with the infrequent boarder seen only as background filler.
Ok, now on to the movie. Having logged my fair share of back-country hikes to score that elusive perfect powder field or tree run (from Crystal Mountain, Washington, to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to St. Johann, Austria), I can certainly relate to a movie subtitled Exploring Tuckerman Ravine, the Mecca of Backcountry Extreme Skiing. What took me totally by surprise was the fact that this film detailed the history, subculture and thrills of a particular extreme skiers' mecca in New Hampshire! Located just below the summit of the tallest peak in New England, the Tuckerman Ravine area has been drawing "extreme" skiers to its steep slopes since the 1920s.
Without glossing over the dangers (people have died on this mountain), the film refreshingly focuses more on the dedicated skier out to challenge him or herself rather than on the handful of elite cliff-jumping thrillseekers who populate Warren Miller highlight reels. Consequently, it's a movie that becomes far more identifiable – and real – for the viewer. We witness the initial uncertainty, hesitation, and outright anxiety of skiers unsure of just what's below them, followed by the "aw hell, let's just go" spring-into-action moment that all backcountry skiers know – and love – so well. Filmmakers Erik Osterholm and Zander Hartung find just the right mix of talking heads to punctuate their beautiful photography of the sometimes breathtaking and sometimes daunting mountain, mingling the thoughts of the "average joe" skier there to pursue their personal best with the comments of several "experts" (one of whom candidly admits to experiencing real fear). But perhaps the jewels in this cinematic crown are the fascinating snippets of archival footage of skiers from decades long past who accepted this challenge equipped with nothing more than edgeless boards and bear-trap bindings!
I have only two complaints. First, while watching, I rarely felt I was actually there. Missing are shots looking down the mountain to bring home the adrenaline rush of standing on – and descending – a 55-degree slope. And there's no "ski-cam" footage that would have brought home the immediacy – and thrill – of the descent. But given the low-budget, labor-of-love nature of the project, this criticism may be on the unfair side. Second, at 26 minutes long, the movie is simply too short. I wanted to see and learn more about this fascinating little corner of the skiing world that comes complete with its own local subculture.
Still, INTREPID DESECENT remains a tasty appetizer that, for me, serves its purpose by 1) making me ache to hit the slopes again; and 2) causing me – a native West-Coaster – to consider for the first time that there might actually be some real skiing to be had on the East Coast. Amazing. — Bryan Senn
NOTE: If you purchase an item via our Amazon links we receive a small referral fee, somewhere between 0% and 10% of your order, depending upon the item. Thanks for your support!
F
ull disclosure time: I've been a hardcore skier for nearly four decades, and I've no time for that newfangled "sport" of snowboarding, even though I do realize it has come a long way from its obnoxious "Dude-itude" beginnings, and that even grounded adults partake these days (one of my best ski-buddies is actually a boarder, and my own teenage son has gone to the Dark Side by abandoning the grace and beauty of twin boards for the dubious "thrills" of skateboard-on-ice). Hell, I've even tried it myself (though by noon I'd tired of boarding the blues and strapped my skis back on for some serious fun). So you'll forgive me if I've become hyper-aware of the fact that nowadays any "ski" movie seemingly devotes at least half its running time to snowboarding party tricks. Consequently, the inner skier in me was immensely gratified that this INTREPID DESCENT was taken solely by skiers, with the infrequent boarder seen only as background filler.Ok, now on to the movie. Having logged my fair share of back-country hikes to score that elusive perfect powder field or tree run (from Crystal Mountain, Washington, to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to St. Johann, Austria), I can certainly relate to a movie subtitled Exploring Tuckerman Ravine, the Mecca of Backcountry Extreme Skiing. What took me totally by surprise was the fact that this film detailed the history, subculture and thrills of a particular extreme skiers' mecca in New Hampshire! Located just below the summit of the tallest peak in New England, the Tuckerman Ravine area has been drawing "extreme" skiers to its steep slopes since the 1920s.
Without glossing over the dangers (people have died on this mountain), the film refreshingly focuses more on the dedicated skier out to challenge him or herself rather than on the handful of elite cliff-jumping thrillseekers who populate Warren Miller highlight reels. Consequently, it's a movie that becomes far more identifiable – and real – for the viewer. We witness the initial uncertainty, hesitation, and outright anxiety of skiers unsure of just what's below them, followed by the "aw hell, let's just go" spring-into-action moment that all backcountry skiers know – and love – so well. Filmmakers Erik Osterholm and Zander Hartung find just the right mix of talking heads to punctuate their beautiful photography of the sometimes breathtaking and sometimes daunting mountain, mingling the thoughts of the "average joe" skier there to pursue their personal best with the comments of several "experts" (one of whom candidly admits to experiencing real fear). But perhaps the jewels in this cinematic crown are the fascinating snippets of archival footage of skiers from decades long past who accepted this challenge equipped with nothing more than edgeless boards and bear-trap bindings!
I have only two complaints. First, while watching, I rarely felt I was actually there. Missing are shots looking down the mountain to bring home the adrenaline rush of standing on – and descending – a 55-degree slope. And there's no "ski-cam" footage that would have brought home the immediacy – and thrill – of the descent. But given the low-budget, labor-of-love nature of the project, this criticism may be on the unfair side. Second, at 26 minutes long, the movie is simply too short. I wanted to see and learn more about this fascinating little corner of the skiing world that comes complete with its own local subculture.
Still, INTREPID DESECENT remains a tasty appetizer that, for me, serves its purpose by 1) making me ache to hit the slopes again; and 2) causing me – a native West-Coaster – to consider for the first time that there might actually be some real skiing to be had on the East Coast. Amazing. — Bryan Senn
NOTE: If you purchase an item via our Amazon links we receive a small referral fee, somewhere between 0% and 10% of your order, depending upon the item. Thanks for your support!
Monday, December 07, 2009
BURDEN OF DREAMS on Netflix Instant View
I don't know if anybody reading this has purchased one yet, but I'm a big fan of the Roku, the little black box that lets you stream Netflix's Instant View titles right to your TV. I picked one up this fall and though I'm still tinkering with the signal strength from my Apple AirPort Extreme it's a great way to catch up on things when my daughter takes her increasingly infrequent afternoon naps.If you watch Netflix Instant View titles on your computer, Roku or other device capable of streaming titles to your TV, I highly recommend subscribing to the Netflix Watch Instantly blog which feeds titles that are available through the service. It's easier than working your way through NetFlix's recommendations and will surely lead to much queue-filling.
For my fellow Kinski fans, be sure to check out Les Blank's documentary BURDEN OF DREAMS if you don't already have the Criterion DVD. It's currently available via Instant View and presents a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the making of Werner Herzog's FITZCARRALDO. Here's their capsule write-up on the flick...
This feature-length documentary from filmmaker Les Blank paints a riveting portrait of megalomaniacal German director Werner Herzog as he worked against almost insurmountable odds in the Amazon jungle to craft his epic movie Fitzcarraldo. Besides capturing the seemingly hexed production's myriad adversities, Blank's camera exposes Herzog as a man obsessed with his art and pressed to the brink of insanity to see his cinematic vision fulfilled.NOTE: If you purchase an item via our Amazon links, we receive a small referral fee, somewhere between 0% and 10% of your order, depending upon the item. Thanks for your support!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
RIP Paul Naschy
I always hate when I log on to Twitter or Facebook and get smacked in the face by sad news. Especially when you know the news was inevitable even if you wish it wasn't.This morning's cold dishrag of reality came via the news that Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy (aka Jacinto Molina) had died at the age of 75. (Here's a link to a Spanish-language report of his death.)
Naschy, who starred in some of the most entertaining and original horror films I've ever seen, was instrumental in the rise of the Spanish horror film and a standout force in Eurotrash cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. A prolific writer, director and star, Naschy is probably best known for his frequent appearances as the cursed werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, but is also appreciated by this fan for roles like Alaric de Marnac in HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB and Gotho in the amazing HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE (whose DVD release was recently pushed by Mya from late November to January).
Do yourself a favor and discover some of Naschy's lengthy and entertaining filmography for yourself. No Eurotrash actor other than Klaus Kinski has brought me as much cinematic joy as Senor Naschy and that is high praise, indeed.
Check out our reviews of:
PANIC BEATS
NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST
WEREWOLF SHADOW
HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB
NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF
HUMAN BEASTS
EXORCISM
THE HANGING WOMAN
BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL
HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE
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