Reviews, now in fun-size!
When I can't even be bothered to write a mini-review what's to do? How about some opinion McNuggets!
'The Legend of Hillbilly John' is a terrible name for
a damn cool little motion picture. An el-cheapo adaptation of Wade Wellman's
Appalachian tales, the film concerns a roving balladeer avenging his
grandfather's death by using pure silver guitar strings to fight the minions of
Old Nick. I've been looking for a copy of the film (or hell, even the book)
since Dr. Freex reviewed it quite a spell ago. The reason this is a blurb
instead a full review is that I'd probably just find myself parroting everything
he imparted on his site. You should go read it
now. Seriously, he's much better
at this than me.
Back so soon? Oh good. Though the good doctor's view of the film is far from
over-critical, I can honestly say I may be even a tad fonder of it. I've always
had an interest in folklore, and have a particular soft spot for the unique
supernatural yarns of rural American. The film does ramble quite a bit between
segments, and scenes of conflict tend to be resolved far too easily to justify
the long lead-ups, but the film is all together a charming little sojourn. While
there are several bits that really would have benefited from a larger budget,
the filmmakers work around tough spots amiably. (And yes, it goes without saying
that I loved the stop-motion Ugly Bird.)
No I couldn't recommend 'John' for a mainstream audience, but since when would
those types be caught dead on a site like this?
Speaking of oddity, I also had opportunity to check
out Something Weird's 'Extra Weird' sampler of film trailers and silly, silly
clips. I always hate to say anything disparaging abut SWV productions (No one
deserves more praise for preserving bizarre bits of film than they do.) but I
was pretty disappointed by the selection here. While the cover art is taken up
with decrepit zombies and other hideous hellspawn, only a fraction of the
trailers presented are from actual cult horror films. The rest is, let's be
honest, just graphic smut.
Why do I feel like I just increased this dvd's sales tenfold?
Now some of the old "nudie cuties" may be
worthy of cult interest. (Like say the pioneering-as it were-Russ Meyer films,
and Ed Wood's later junkola.) To be fair a few of the skin flicks showcased
feature rubber-masked monsters and some really goofy hooks, and thus garner some
odd appeal. But an endless parade of leering perverts and flopping mammaries
when you're all geared up for brain-eating sea monkeys or some such, gets very
old very quick. Pornography isn't cult just by the virtue of it being porn.
"Yeah see, it's Zorro but everyone's naked and fu*&ing. Weird
huh?"
Um, no. No more than 'The Sound of Music' is exploitation because it has nuns
and nazis.
By comparison Something Weird's 'Monsters Crash the
Pajama Party' collection is ten tons of bloody awesome!
It's worth picking up the disk just for the spookshow ads, some dating from as
far back as the 30's. (I came across a few of these previously on Youtube, and
let me tell you, they're totally mesmerizing.) The titular production was a
hugely pleasant surprise. I was expecting a god-awful jaunt through 'who gives a
damn' land, and instead found that the folks who made this possessed-gads-a
sense of humor! (You know, that thing that most contemporary directors seem to
have lost in a childhood bottle-rocket accident.) Another kewl addition is a
reel of silent b&w amateur send ups of classic horror movies, including 'The
Mummy' and 'London after Midnight'. (Well, at least we've got one version of
that on film.)
On the down side, while the disk features a pair of 3-d glasses, the effect in
their accompanying short doesn't work for beans. (Though it's still pretty
trippy to see a bunch of 7-year olds in Halloween masks making stabby motions at
the camera.) Even the disk navigation is yummy-happy. When you pop the dvd in,
you'll see a cool/cheesy hypnowheel introduction. ("Maybe you'll find
yourself turning into werewolf!") The menu itself is done in a wordless
pictorial haunted house style. Yep, in order to access the features and find
spooky little clips, you'll have to hunt through graveyards and crypts for
hidden icons.
Not too shabby, eh? Why doesn't Criterion do stuff like this?
August 02, 2008