CineBlog

The End

Screenings: March 7, 9:15pm (Cam 12); March 8, 4:30pm (Cam 12); March 9, 12:01pm (Rep)

This is a peculiar film. Part existential crisis, part lighthearted horror movie, it defies a description which does justice to its story without spoiling the surprises scattered through the second half of the film. What I can tell you is this: the story revolves around high school English teacher Joseph, who sixteen years ago saved a young girl because he could see what no one else could. Now he is having visions again -- but they are far more difficult to understand. As his friend, police detective Clara, struggles to solve a series of mysterious kidnappings, Joseph's curiosity drives him to understand his visions, no matter what the cost.

Blood Car

3/02 10:30 pm San Jose Repertory Theatre, 3/04 8:30 pm, Camera 12 3/10 1:30 pm Camera 12

It's a little bit in the future, just a few weeks. Gas is over $30 a gallon, and nobody bothers driving anymore. But sweet, vegan Archie Andrews has an idea: a car that runs on wheatgrass. But then one night, he discovers through an accident that his would-be wheatgrass engine won't run on wheatgrass alone: it needs human blood. Soon his car is running smoothly and he's attracting the attention of both the ladies and the government.

This surreal romp is something of a cross between a horror movie and a satire about just how far people will go to keep their cars running. It's a little on the rough side, but for a first-time director it is a solid, entertaining hour and a half. Provided you're into movies with plenty of silly, cheap-special-effects violence, at least.

Long Pigs

3/9 10:00 PM Camera 12, 3/10 11:59 PM Camera 12

"Long Pigs" is a strange film. It feels like it's supposed to be a black comedy, but it isn't quite funny enough. Possibly because your humble reviewer is terribly, terribly cynical. A mockumentary, it tells the story of two young filmmakers who follow a cannibalistic serial killer as he goes about his business. Intercut are interviews with a liberal police psychologist and a conservative detective, who each offer their takes on serial killers. it's interesting, sure - especially from a special effects standpoint. The dummies used for the long how-to shots as the killer dissects the corpses for their meat are fantastic, provided you have a strong stomach.

There is an uneasy reality to the film - I suspect the filmmakers were going for the over-the-top kind of humor present in Sean of the Dead's final reel, where we see how the living dead are integrated into daily life. However, they didn't quite push the envelope far enough and the final act is predictable enough that I was itching for it to wrap up so we could all go home.

Bloodhead

Director Christopher Coppola (yep, same family)
Cast Andre Ware, Steven Hedden, Frank Gorshin, Bernie Kopell, Lynda Carter, and Shirley Jone

According to director Coppola, he would like to rename "Bloodhead" so as to emphasize the 50's drive-in B-movie tongue-in cheek style in which he created the film. And "Bloodhead (aka "Curse of the Bloodhead") is just that - campy tongue-in-cheek. Coppola also wanted to address the serious issue of racism as a not so hidden subplot. Take two racists, one white and one black. Have them discover each other to be brothers. Require them to work together to receive an inheritance and overcome the demon killing everyone in sight.

According to Coppola, the cast got into the campiness of the film and had a lot of fun. Hosting a cast from the top TV shows of the 70's, the film doesn't take itself seriously, thought it is a serious effort. Carter (Wonder Woman), Kopell (Love Boat), Jones (Partridge Family) and the great Frank Gorshin (Batman), played with the film and toyed with us. It was a pleasant kick of a ride.

The film is a bit rough on continuity editing, but nothing that hurts the b-movie enjoyment. Watch for the film, possibly under a different name, get some popcorn, a soft drink, and pretend you're at a drive-in. You remember what a drive-in is, don't you?
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Bloodhead

Director Christopher Coppola (yep, same family)
Cast Andre Ware, Steven Hedden, Frank Gorshin, Bernie Kopell, Lynda Carter, and Shirley Jone

According to director Coppola, he would like to rename "Bloodhead" so as to emphasize the 50's drive-in B-movie tongue-in cheek style in which he created the film. And "Bloodhead (aka "Curse of the Bloodhead") is just that - campy tongue-in-cheek. Coppola also wanted to address the serious issue of racism as a not so hidden subplot. Take two racists, one white and one black. Have them discover each other to be brothers. Require them to work together to receive an inheritance and overcome the demon killing everyone in sight.

According to Coppola, the cast got into the campiness of the film and had a lot of fun. Hosting a cast from the top TV shows of the 70's, the film doesn't take itself seriously, thought it is a serious effort. Carter (Wonder Woman), Kopell (Love Boat), Jones (Partridge Family) and the great Frank Gorshin (Batman), played with the film and toyed with us. It was a pleasant kick of a ride.

The film is a bit rough on continuity editing, but nothing that hurts the b-movie enjoyment. Watch for the film, possibly under a different name, get some popcorn, a soft drink, and pretend you're at a drive-in. You remember what a drive-in is, don't you?
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GraveYard Alive

GRAVEYARD ALIVE: A ZOMBIE NURSE IN LOVE

Directed by: Elza Kephart;

Starring Anne Day Jones, Karl Gerhardt, and Samantha Slan.

Screens: 03/12/04 7:15pm SJSU University Theater.

With images of previous, well-worn comic parodies (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes) and off-the-wall Sci-Fi horror films (Plan 9 from Outer Space), I approached “Graveyard Alive” with a heart filled with hope. I do enjoy a good nuts-o story now and again. Maverick filmmakers have taken this test before and I've been delighted with some of their products. However, I can sum up this flick in a single, painful sentence I uttered when the film hit fin', "I cannot believe I watched it completely through to the credits!"

Nurse Patsy, living in the land of the lonely, falls for a patient, who happens to be a walking, talking zombie. He seems quite normal, except for the scaling face, lobotomized expression, and an appetite for flesh flavored carcass parts. He dies (again?!) at the hands of the janitor (and closet doctor), but not before passing to Patsy the curse of joining the un-dead. She begins to share her condition with everyone including her heartthrob, Dr. Dox, who is engaged to Nurse Goodie Tueschuze. Well, the film goes downhill from there.

The film was shot in 50's black and white dementia and that sort of worked. Almost. But the baggage of poorly protracted acting, a pitifully unsatisfying script, and having to endure some under-the-top direction simply overcomes such slim, one-dimensional praise.
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GraveYard Alive

GRAVEYARD ALIVE: A ZOMBIE NURSE IN LOVE

Directed by: Elza Kephart;

Starring Anne Day Jones, Karl Gerhardt, and Samantha Slan.

Screens: 03/12/04 7:15pm SJSU University Theater.

With images of previous, well-worn comic parodies (Attack of the Killer Tomatoes) and off-the-wall Sci-Fi horror films (Plan 9 from Outer Space), I approached “Graveyard Alive” with a heart filled with hope. I do enjoy a good nuts-o story now and again. Maverick filmmakers have taken this test before and I've been delighted with some of their products. However, I can sum up this flick in a single, painful sentence I uttered when the film hit fin', "I cannot believe I watched it completely through to the credits!"

Nurse Patsy, living in the land of the lonely, falls for a patient, who happens to be a walking, talking zombie. He seems quite normal, except for the scaling face, lobotomized expression, and an appetite for flesh flavored carcass parts. He dies (again?!) at the hands of the janitor (and closet doctor), but not before passing to Patsy the curse of joining the un-dead. She begins to share her condition with everyone including her heartthrob, Dr. Dox, who is engaged to Nurse Goodie Tueschuze. Well, the film goes downhill from there.

The film was shot in 50's black and white dementia and that sort of worked. Almost. But the baggage of poorly protracted acting, a pitifully unsatisfying script, and having to endure some under-the-top direction simply overcomes such slim, one-dimensional praise.
###

Bloodhead

Directed by Christopher Coppola
Starring Andre Ware, Steven Hedden, Frank Gorshin, Andre Marcus, Bernie Kopell, Lynda Carter, Shirley Jones
Screenings 3/12/04 9:30pm at SJSU Morris Dailey Auditorium and 31303 at 11:30pm at Camera 3

Doug and Donny are about as different as two men can be and still be related. One's black, one's white. One's a self-starter and business owner, the other shares a dingy apartment with a bunch of potheads. But they're also both big, strong, and intent on claiming the property - and money - their recently deceased birth mother left them. There's a couple of catches though, starting with the fact that neither knew about the other until they both showed up to claim their inheritance and ending with the rather large and bloodthirsty monster that inhabits the hills near the property.

"Bloodhead," aka "The Curse of Bloodhead" is an above-average B monster movie. It does have plenty of cliches: the feuding brothers, the family secret, the "appearances can be deceiving" subplot, and so on, but it also has surprisingly good production values and some solid acting. Director Christopher Coppola (part of the extended family which includes Nicholas Cage and Francis Ford Coppola) has put together a quality piece of entertainment here, one that will make you laugh and make you cringe. It's also a real pleasure to see Frank Gorshin (remembered for his comedy work and his stint as the Riddler on the old Batman show) back in action.

Bloodhead

Directed by Christopher Coppola
Starring Andre Ware, Steven Hedden, Frank Gorshin, Andre Marcus, Bernie Kopell, Lynda Carter, Shirley Jones
Screenings 3/12/04 9:30pm at SJSU Morris Dailey Auditorium and 31303 at 11:30pm at Camera 3

Doug and Donny are about as different as two men can be and still be related. One's black, one's white. One's a self-starter and business owner, the other shares a dingy apartment with a bunch of potheads. But they're also both big, strong, and intent on claiming the property - and money - their recently deceased birth mother left them. There's a couple of catches though, starting with the fact that neither knew about the other until they both showed up to claim their inheritance and ending with the rather large and bloodthirsty monster that inhabits the hills near the property.

"Bloodhead," aka "The Curse of Bloodhead" is an above-average B monster movie. It does have plenty of cliches: the feuding brothers, the family secret, the "appearances can be deceiving" subplot, and so on, but it also has surprisingly good production values and some solid acting. Director Christopher Coppola (part of the extended family which includes Nicholas Cage and Francis Ford Coppola) has put together a quality piece of entertainment here, one that will make you laugh and make you cringe. It's also a real pleasure to see Frank Gorshin (remembered for his comedy work and his stint as the Riddler on the old Batman show) back in action.

Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love

Directed by: Elza Kephart, Starring Anne Day Jones, Karl Gerhardt, and Samantha Slan.
Screenings: 3/8/04 9:45pm at SJSU Morris Dailey Auditorium, and 3/12/04 7:15pm at SJSU University Theater.

“Graveyard Alive” is one of those zombie movies that is either incredibly stylish, witty, and cutting-edge or typical, stereotyped, and poorly made. It’s hard to tell when this low-budget horror film is mocking its cheap predecessors and when it’s falling prey to the same problems.

This is the story of Patsy (Jones), a lonely nurse who is transformed into an undead sex kitten when a zombie patient infects her. She learns to get by in spite of her condition, but is soon spreading the disease and making enemies by coming on to her old sweetheart, Dr. Dox (Gerhardt). Dox is engaged to snotty nurse Goodie Tueschuze (Slan), who veers between the classic cruel popular girl and the virginal horror movie heroine stereotypes.

Shot in stylish black and white Techniscope (a technique used in old 60s westerns and horror movies), “Graveyard Alive” is unquestionably a visual pleasure to watch, particularly for fans of surrealist German cinema. However, for those who expect dialog to match the actor’s mouth movements or small details to be realistic (a Russian diploma in English? doctors who don’t notice their zombie patient has no heartbeat?) it will be a disappointment.

Graveyard Alive: A Zombie Nurse in Love

Directed by: Elza Kephart, Starring Anne Day Jones, Karl Gerhardt, and Samantha Slan.
Screenings: 3/8/04 9:45pm at SJSU Morris Dailey Auditorium, and 3/12/04 7:15pm at SJSU University Theater.

“Graveyard Alive” is one of those zombie movies that is either incredibly stylish, witty, and cutting-edge or typical, stereotyped, and poorly made. It’s hard to tell when this low-budget horror film is mocking its cheap predecessors and when it’s falling prey to the same problems.

This is the story of Patsy (Jones), a lonely nurse who is transformed into an undead sex kitten when a zombie patient infects her. She learns to get by in spite of her condition, but is soon spreading the disease and making enemies by coming on to her old sweetheart, Dr. Dox (Gerhardt). Dox is engaged to snotty nurse Goodie Tueschuze (Slan), who veers between the classic cruel popular girl and the virginal horror movie heroine stereotypes.

Shot in stylish black and white Techniscope (a technique used in old 60s westerns and horror movies), “Graveyard Alive” is unquestionably a visual pleasure to watch, particularly for fans of surrealist German cinema. However, for those who expect dialog to match the actor’s mouth movements or small details to be realistic (a Russian diploma in English? doctors who don’t notice their zombie patient has no heartbeat?) it will be a disappointment.