Movieline Online

With the annual “art vs. entertainment” argument in full swing thanks to the Oscars, there’s probably no better time to explore the cultural schism between critics and the average moviegoer - not the least of which is the use of words like cultural schism and referring to the guy sitting next to you as average . It’s not that critics are a more highly evolved species of man (although I’m sure several believe that to be so) which demands they champion the obscure over the inclusive, the low-budget indie over the blockbuster. It’s just a natural evolution of watching so many variations on the same formula, so many explosions, so many romantic misunderstandings, so many parties gone wrong, so many remakes, so many reboots and so many re-imaginings. I don’t even think that last one is really a word. This isn’t a cry for sympathy, but maybe for understanding. At least it will help explain why critics would champion a film like Holy Motors , a chaotic yet sublimely introspective, barel...

Although the modern gut-munching zombie is undoubtedly made-in-America, European producers were much quicker to cash in on the living dead. Romero’s first film ( Night of the Living Dead ) produced a few imitators like 1974’s The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue , which played up the gore for international audiences. But it was 1978’s Dawn of the Dead , Romero’s sequel co-produced with Italian horror impresario Dario Argento that opened the undead floodgates overseas. Needless to say, most of them were terrible. But few are as deliciously bad as Zombie Lake (1980). Directed by exploitation artist Jean Rollin after original director, Jess Franco, failed to turn up on the first day of shooting, there is so little cinematic skill on display in every department (acting, directing, make-up, probably even craft services) that it coalesces into one of the most enjoyable “bad movie” experiences ever made. After a troop of dead Nazis are dumped unceremoniously into a local French lake, th...

Scrolling through Viggo Mortensen’s acting resume on IMDB, one is reminded of all the work it takes to become a “name” actor. The bottom line? You need a lot of talent and even more luck. Before The Lord of the Rings franchise, Viggo slugged his way through 36 roles in minor (and a few major) films. But he actually had his first lead role way back in 1988 playing a nearly mute – but undeniably cool - convict in Prison , a slick horror vehicle directed by Renny Harlin who would move on to the big-time two years later with Die Hard 2 …and leave Viggo in the dust. A collaboration between cheapie-horror producer Charles Band and independent big-shot Irwin Yablans ( Halloween 4, 5 and 6 ), Prison seems to exist for one reason only: up until that point there had never been a horror movie set inside a penitentiary. That gimmick seemed enough to greenlight a confused script that involves a previously executed prisoner whose spirit seeks revenge against the mentally unbalanced warden (...

The adage “You can’t intentionally create a cult movie” is still true, by and large. Original midnight movies like Rocky Horror and Eraserhead were financial flops that found an audience almost by accident. Attempting to recreate that sort of “accidental success” takes away most of the magic, leaving an unpleasant manufactured aftertaste. That certainly doesn’t stop people from trying, though. Producer Charles Band – founder of Empire Pictures and later Full Moon Entertainment – churned out dozens of cheap, fast and quirky pictures that crowded video shelves in the ‘80s. Reanimator (1985) was his biggest hit. By comparison, TerrorVision was a colossal failure. A strange set-bound production about a mutant alien “pet” that is accidently beamed into a family’s new satellite dish and proceeds to devour everyone in sight, TerrorVision looks like the illegitimate love-child of Tim Burton and John Waters. Actually, it was directed by long-time Band collaborator Ted Nicolaou, wh...