Zombies vs. Ninjas III (A SMF Party)

Since we started doing the SMF Parties (coming up on 3 years soon) there have been certain themes and ideas that have gotten done once a year since their conception, my favorite out of these themed parties is without a doubt "Zombies vs. Ninjas"!

The program is usually split into three groups, two Martial Arts films, two Zombie films, and two films that feature Ninjas and Zombie doing battle in the Ultimate Showdown of the Kung Fu Living and the Flesh Eating Undead! Now finding two that fit into that last category (that are also worth watching) is usually a problem. So I am actually introducing another supernatural element this time around to make things more interesting for this third helping of ZvsN 3. (See choice #4)

Our lineup is not set in stone. Chris still has a couple picks in the works, but these are a some films I'm bringing and that you can look forward to seeing on the 16th!

El Lucha Monstruo (When The Universal Monsters became Mexican Wrestlers!)

So last week was our most recent SMF Party. This particular party was going to be wrestling themed with the main event being WrestleMania 29, but I sorta dropped the ball because one of the movies I wanted to show "Monster Brawl" never made it to me in time from Netflix. I heard mixed reviews, and I replaces it with the always awesome "Road House", so everything worked out for the better I guess you can say! Any way in my search for Wrestling and Horror mash-ups I stumbled upon this 2009 Art Exhibit by Justin Erickson! Justin titled this exhibit "El Lucha Monstruo" and it features some the beloved Universal Monsters in Luchador masks! 

Eat The Turnbuckle "El Lucha-Tour"

Thursday "The Champions of Deathmatch Hardcore" Eat the Turnbuckle kicked off their "El Lucha-Tour" in Philadelphia, PA. I was on-hand to interview the band and film the show (with heavy lifting from Kevin Gallagher and Woodshop Films Philly). The band will hit LA, Vegas and New Orleans before coming back east to Middletown, NY to battle ECW original Balls Mahoney. 

Eat the Turnbuckle are a mixture of extreme music and ultra-violent wrestling. I did a write-up on them last June when they were just starting out (check it out!) and we even did a shirt and album give-away for their E.P "Fans Bring Weapons" (here). Now they have a new record, a new tour AND now a new video! 

The whole thing was shot at Kung Fu Necktie, the premiere spot for independent live music in the city. This is a promo piece for the band, made from the heart. Hopefully people like it. Please be aware that the content is extreme; think ECW/backyard wrestling mixed with Entombed. The band are friends, but I can truly call myself a fan. They have separated themselves from the homogeous hardcore and metal scenes of today; a gargantuan feat all by itself. Take a look at the new video and STEP IN THE RING

Alien Vault

“Alien Vault” is an in-depth book chronicling the LONG creation of the original Alien film. The book starts with two friends wanting to write a simple monster story and it ends with the release of the most artistic science fiction/horror film of all time, not to mention a mega franchise that has turned those two friends into millionaires.

The most interesting element of "Alien Vault" is that the film would have only been a fraction of what it eventually became if the two friends stayed selfish, held onto their vision and thought of themselves as “auteurs”. Thankfully they didn't. One of the friends, Dan O’ Bannon had just come off an insane collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowsky and several European artists on the cancelled film adaptation of Dune. He took that teamwork concept with him to Alien. O’Bannon and his co writer Ron Shusett wrote a B movie with a simple but effective concept. It was nothing exceptional and they had a deal for Roger Corman to produce it (with O'Bannon directing). But almost immediately O’ Bannon enlisted H.R Giger for concept art, which got them into a lot of doors in Hollywood and well beyond the offices of Mr. Corman. 

The Saddest Men in Metal

There are few acts in metal that are beloved by fans who take everything they do 100% seriously and are still enjoyed by listeners who rejoice in a metal band's straight-faced silliness. Norwegian Black Metallers "Immortal" have somehow maintain both sets of fans effortlessly. Other bands like Manowar can only be enjoyed as parody (although their musicianship is second to none) and Death Metal vocalists like Glenn Benton and Chris Barnes will never get the joke. Immortal are sincere enough in their "Blackened Warriors from the Forests of Hell" shtick that the fantasy in always maintained, but they have enough fun with their image that they never come off as boring or out of touch with their audience. Below are clips and images from the band's career.

But first, here are a few things that have never changed throughout Immortal's 20 years of Brvtality:
1. The black and white war paint never comes off. NEVER.
2. Guitars are not instruments, they are weapons and should always be carried as such.
And
3. They never smile, FUCKING NEVER. If you catch even a smirk they will be cast back into the frowny abyss from whence they came.

Either Way You're Fucked

Boobs and Hammer!

Last year I bought “The Hammer Vault”, an incredible art book cataloging the promotional material, production stills and behind the scene photos of the most well known Hammer horror films (and not so well known). Originally I wanted to write a full book review, but my extreme laziness got in the way. So instead today I will focus on the book’s most eye-catching images, the ones with boobs.

The illustrator Tom Chantrell made dozens of concept paintings for Hammer. His art was a way to visualize a developing project and sell the potential film to investors and sometimes even actors. The way he usually sold his ideas to the studio was with excessive female nudity. The man was a true genius.

Most of these scanned images from “The Hammer Vault” are Mr Chantrell’s sexy water colors, but there are some other artists included, in addition to the racier production stills from some of Hammer’s later Exploitation films. I hope you enjoy this trip back to the swinging '60s and sleazy '70s; a time where women were becoming liberated…from their shirts.