The Living Deads

You have to respect a band that takes the do-it-yourself style to a whole new level, as well as having the kind of passion for music that they do. How many bands that you know of would just drive off across America in an RV and book shows as they go? How many bands that you know of wouldn't miss a beat (pun intended) when their singer/guitarist quits on them at 3am? How many bands that you know of would resort to kidnapping guitarists in order to carry on touring? I know of one, and they're called The Living Deads!

     The Living Deads are a rhythm section hailing out of Denver, Colorado who I had the pleasure of seeing and hanging out with when they played at The Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ on May 25, 2012. The Record Collector is an actual record store that hosts regular performances by a diverse range of bands and musicians. The place is not a huge hall, but you wouldn't have known it from the energy drummer/vocals Randee, bassist/vocals Symphony, and new guitarist/singer Nasty Nate Harris put into it. I was afraid it was going to be a low-key event. That fear was totally obliterated as soon as they launched into their first song, Ronnie Dawson's Rockin Bones. In sharp contrast to The Cramps' slowed down version, this one went off like rocket fuel. The pace occasionally slowed down, but their energy and enthusiasm never did as they went through a list of songs including several originals and classics from artists such as Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Three Blue Teardrops, and The Ramones.

     The incredible thing I couldn't help but notice was how tight and polished their sound was. Not a huge feat in a touring band, but quite an achievement when you've only been playing with your guitarist/lead singer for about a month and a half.
     After having their original guitarist suddenly quit on them, Randee and Symphony went on a "kidnapping" spree where they would actually recruit  local and established guitar players to help them continue the tour, such as Danny B. Harvey, Chuck Hughes, and James Hunnicutt. They would commonly enter the venue with whoever the "victim" was at the time, haul him up onstage, and make him play the set.

     The guitarists were all temporary but gracious enough to help Randee and Symphony out. True musical heroes, in my humble opinion. The idea was a pretty cool one, but booking gigs on the fly must be nerve-wracking enough. On top of that, not knowing who your guitar player will be for the next show, or even if you'll have a guitar player, must be enough to push anyone over the edge. Enter one Nasty Nate Harris. As fate would have it, he was looking for a new band and The living Deads were looking for, well... a guitarist. What they found was a gem. One plane ticket later, and Nate was the new member of The Living Deads.

     His impressive guitar playing and vocals left nothing to be desired. He put his heart into all the music, and you could tell. There was no holding back with Nate. I even think he would have done fine without a microphone during some of the songs. He gave it his all and gave us a spotless performance. When you see him locked in with Randee and Symphony, and you see how much the band is enjoying what they're doing together, you can't help but enjoy it that much more yourself. This is what true music is about.

     Like i said at the beginning, you have to respect a band that takes the do-it-yourself style to a whole new level, as well as having the passion for music that they do. Not only do they tour in their RV, they live in it. It is their home. Literally. They do their own bookings. They design, print and sell their own t-shirts. They have no road crew. All the driving is done by them. All the gear setup and breakdown is done by them, and maybe whatever help the venue can offer. It ain't easy and it's not a comfy lifestyle. You've really got to love music to continue on like this. And i have no doubt whatsoever that these three wonderful people love music. And also like i said before, this is what true music is all about!

     Rock `n Roll!




Please visit their web page for tour dates and information at: The Living Deads

Underworld: Awakening

Much like Kate Beckinsale, the Underworld franchise is starting to show it's age.

     The not unexpected plot of Selene and the not-appearing-in-this-film Michael Corvin's (Scott Speedman) daughter being born is advanced when the unnatural couple are cryogenically captured after fleeing government forces bent on wiping out all lycans and vampires, and kept on ice for 12 years. Ok, Michael does appear in the film but for maybe all of 30 seconds.Selene, also known as "Subject 1" is released from her cryogenic sleep by "subject 1". Having the ability to see through Subject 2's eyes, Selene fights her way out of the mysterious lab she's being held at, run by Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea), and tracks down her rescuer who turns out to be her 12 year old daughter, played by then-17-year-old India Esiley, Eve (groan). The lycans and vampires still haven't made nice. Instead of banding together to fight the humans, they contine to fight each other and the humans at the same time. Sounds good, but personally, I liked it better when the vampires and lycans were still the stuff of nightmares. Kinda sucks when humans find out about them and bring them to the brink of extinction. Seriously, do these things have any really good powers?

     The lycans, are now focusing their attention on acquiring Eve for their evil plans and soon have her in their clutches. Selene, the protective, if somewhat cold, mom enlists the help of Detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy) and fellow vampire David (Theo James). Turned out by Davids disapproving father Thomas, played without the personality of previous head vampires, by Charles Dance, Selene and Detective Sebastian set out to recover Eve and find out what the lycans want with her. Shenanigans ensue.

    Am i missing something or are these the lamest vampires ever? It seems they get their darkness-dwelling butts handed to them in every fight. Seriously, they may as well be special forces commandos that drink blood. If it weren't for their extensive firepower, they'd have been annihilated by now. There's a reason you never see Selene (Kate Beckinsale) not dual-wielding those pistols of hers. It's because they add to what seems to be these vampires' most important trait, their clothes! I think the producers were more interested in getting the right angles of Selene's flapping black trench coat then in making a better movie. Ok, we get that vampires land on their feet from great heights. I don't need to see it multiple times in every Underworld film. And what's with the lycans this time around? They look kinda skinny and big-headed.
     Regardless of the negatives, the movie is still good enough to entertain you for it's 90 minute run. In general, it didn't make a good movie bad, but rather stopped a good movie from being better. The action was well-paced if somewhat silly in places to the point of Selene using a very similar escape from the first film, though much more sloppily. Most of the acting was good, with the exception of some lame performances.
     The visuals, color, and special effects all complimented each other. The scenes were a rich black but never to the point where detail was lost. Indeed, they were a major part of the look of the film and added great contrast to many a scene.
     The audio is a bit tricky. The bass was rumbly enough that it kept overloading my subwoofer. Yes, time for a new one, I know. Due to that, I had to lower the volume at certain points. Even when I had the volume at my normal high level, the center channel dialog seemed a bit low. Perhaps too much focus was spent on the booms rather than on the subtleties.  But then again, Underworld isn't about being subtle. Is it?

The blu-ray comes packed with these extras:
Filmmaker's Commentary
Blooper Reel
Heavy Prey Music Video featuring Lacey Stum of Flyleaf and ex-Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo
5 Behind the Scenes featurettes
Cracking the Underworld: A Picture-in-Picture feature
  
Specs:
Video: 1080p High Definition 2.40:1 aspect ratio
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD MA, French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Audio Description Track
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French Spanish

Father's Day

 You haven't lived until you've seen a Troma movie in a theater hosted by the legendary Lloyd Kayfman. I was able to do just that this last Thursday at the NJ premiere of Father's Day at The Showroom in Asbury Park.

     Made by the Talented guys at Astron-6, Father's Day packs everything you'd ever expect from a Troma movie; horror, humor, gore, over the top characters, insane plot, a cameo by Lloyd, and boobs!

     The story revolves around Ahab (Adam Brooks), who as a child witnessed the murder of his father, and then had one of his peepers cut out, by the antagonist of the film Chris Fuchman (Mackenzie Murdock). And now Ahab is looking for revenge. Problem is, Eric Fuchman is not some ordinary killer. He has become an urban legend and about as easy to track down as any urban legend could be. Following the trail of raped and disemboweled and eaten fathers, he takes on the help of a naive but determined Father John Sullivan, charmingly played by Matthew Kennedy, and a street twink named, appropriately enough, Twink (Conor Sweeney). How is this urban legend still around and causing such paternal carnage? Well, there's also a Fuchmanicus involved. Yep, a Fuchmanicus.

 
     The film looks like crap. And that's a beautiful thing. If this film had been shot in flawless HD, it wouldn't feel authentic, it wouldn't work. It's essence would be lost much the same way I believe the essence of a really old blues recording would be ruined if they remastered it and took out all the hisses scratches and pops that give it it's unique personality. Now, I'm not saying that the film looks like crap on accident. I'm saying the movie looks like crap because that's exactly how Astron-6 wanted it to look. All the scratches and blemishes unquestionably add to the look rather than take an ounce away.

     The sound of the film was surprisingly good. Loud and satisfying shotgun blasts, car engines, gurglings, and just about every kind of gross noise you can think of, were all very clear and well-defined. The spatial sound of the score had me look to my left several times thinking some knucklehead had left his cellphone on and was getting a call using some odd ringtone.

     Father's Day is a conundrum. Although it undeniably has grindhouse elements, it's too good to fit comfortably into the grindhouse category. And although it has incredible moments of disturbing horror, there was also an equal amount of laugh-out-loud comedy and Astron-6 did an impeccable job of balancing everything. The only semi-controversial are of the film is about two-thirds into the movie when it breaks for a commercial. The commercial is a Astron-6 made trailer for a bogus movie called Space Raiders. Lloyd Kaufman suggested they leave it out of the final cut, but they decided to leave it in. Some may find it to be to jarring a change of scenery. Admittedly, it does offer a nice jolt of culture shock to be watching a dark horror movie one moment and then alien blasting interplanetary travelers the next, but I found it as entertaining as the rocket ship sequence in Monty Python's Life of Brian.

     So what do we have here? A horror? A comedy? A black comedy? An "A" movie? A "B" movie? A Grindhouse movie? A Mainstream movie? I think it's all these things and it's Astron-6 saying look, we can do anything, and do it well! In the end, what it is is a good film! and that's all that counts.

Father's Day homepage

Astron-6 homepage

The Innkeepers

Writer/Director/Editor Ti West did it again. He created another modern horror masterpiece while still giving it a classic feel.

The Innkeepers is a ghost story. No doubt about that. The film opens with actual photos of the building, the movie was shot in, throughout the years. Right away you get the feeling that this is an old building with plenty of history, so naturally, your mind already accepts the possibility of ghosts and sets the tone before the opening credits are even done rolling.

     The movie centers around the innkeepers of the Yankee Pedlar Inn, Luke (Pat Healey) and Claire (Sara Paxton). A nerdy un-attached couple finishing their last weekend working at the inn before it goes out of business, with an interest in ghosts. Particularly trying to find one at the inn before it closes for good.
     Healey and Paxton fit perfectly into their roles. Luke, who for whatever reason looks like Tin-Tin, is a not-overly-brave slackerish kind of guy who doesn’t give the impression of being much aid against any type of supernatural force. Claire has a fun-loving air about her. However, her fragile looks, and constant use of an inhaler give her an added sense of vulnerability. You just want to protect this girl! Four inn guests and one coffee shop attendant round off the rest of the cast.
     One of the guests, Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), is an older movie star who now is more involved with metaphysics and giving lectures in that field. She notices Claire trying to contact the ghost of the hotel and offers to help. And while Leanne does not open any doorways, she does an excellent job of interjecting a feeling of impending danger into the film. Now you know these two innkeepers are in trouble. And it effectively gave me a feeling of pathos towards the unsuspecting innkeepers.

     Maybe part of the classic “feel” of the movie has to do with it’s being filmed on actual film! The beautiful lighting is captured in all it’s shadowy gloominess. Many of the scenes are accentuated by Jeff Grace’s fantastic score which sounds at times like a John Carpenter film and Alfred Hitchcock at others. And the wonderful thing is that it always swells and leaps in at the appropriate time. It serves to enhance, not distract. For the most part, the overall sound of the movie is somewhat low-key. Not in volume, but in attitude, making the peaks that much more effective. Before the movie even starts, this is the first thing you see: “FOR OPTIMAL SOUND REPRODUCTION, THE PRODUCERS OF THIS BLU-RAY DISC RECOMMEND THAT YOU PLAY IT LOUD.”. I did, and there were quite a few moments when I thought my heart exploded, and other moments when the silence was so deafening that I was on the verge of passing out from holding my breath.

     I did, however, find one element missing in this movie that is so prevalent in most movies today, CGI. I’m sorry, but as soon as I see that a creature, or even just blood, is CGI, it takes away a lot of the belief I had in the movie. No matter how good it’s rendered, you can still tell it’s fake. There was none of that in The Innkeepers. The makeup artists, the lighting department, and Ti West all worked together to create a scenes that not only scared you, but made you uncomfortable. You believed that what you saw was organic and supernatural at the same time. That is a noteworthy accomplishment.

     The Innkeepers seems to follow such a simple formula that I can’t understand how so many other directors make such crappy “horror” movies. West’s writing is believable, his directing is right on target, and his editing is flawless.There were no cop-out ending or situations here. The movie left me with a feeling of satisfaction that I haven't felt with a movie in quite a while.

The Innkeepers is right up there with The Shining and The Others as one of the best, if not the best, ghost movies I have ever seen.

Technical Stuff

This blu-ray is presented in anamorphic widescreen in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio.
Audio is presented in dts-HD Master Audio 5.1.
There are two additional audio tracks. One with Ti West and Stars Pat Healey and Sara Paxton.  The other with Ti West, Producers Peter Phok and Larry Fessenden, and 2nd Unit Director/Sound Designer Graham Reznick.

Included in the Bonus Section is a Behind the Scenes Featurette and film trailer.

Website: The Innkeepers