'GHOULIES' vs 'CRITTERS'

HORRORPHILIA's 'MUCH OF MADNESS/MORE OF SIN' PODCAST #4

    For our fourth episode, we've conjured up the 'Ghoulies' and squared them off against their arch-rivals, the 'Critters' for an epic battle between the two most successful "Gremlins' rip-off franchises. Will the 'Ghoulies' send their sworn enemies right back to outer space or will the evil space porcupines drop them into the fiery pits of hell where they belong? You can be sure that the blood will fly as Horrorphilia's Much of Madness/More of Sin podcast presents... GHOULIES vs CRITTERS

...we also discuss Ryan Convery's independent zombie-comedy 'Mourning Wood' from Fat Foot Films.

mourningwoodmovie.com

fatfootfilms.com

Music by: W.A.S.P., The Bloodhound Gang & The Cramps

Contact us at: theotherpodcast@yahoo.com

Listen to Episode #4 here or at Horrorphilia.com :

Repo Man (1984)

"…It’s 4 A.M., do you know where your car is?"

Synopsis: Frustrated punk rocker Otto (Elimio Estevez, "The Breakfast Club", "Maximum Overdrive") who quits his supermarket job after slugging a co-worker, and is later dumped by his girlfriend at a party. Wandering the streets in frustration, he is recruited in the repossession of a car by a repo agent (Harry Dean Stanton, "Alien", "Escape From New York"). After discovering his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist, he joins the repossession agency (Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation) as an apprentice "repo man". During his training, he is introduced into the mercenary and paranoid world of the drivers, befriended by a UFO conspiracy theorist (Olivia Barash, "Tuff Turf", "Fame"), confronted by rival repo agents, discovers some of his one-time friends have turned to a life of crime, is lectured to near cosmic unconsciousness by the repo agency grounds worker (Tracey Walter, "Batman", "The Silence of the Lambs"), and finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue concerning a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic government scientist, with Top Secret cargo in the trunk.

My Thoughts: The “cult film” tag is thrown out there way too often, much of the time undeserved. British filmmaker Alex Cox’s 1984 classic truly warrants that title. This fairly unknown low-budget sci-fi/comedy still holds up, even 27 years after it’s release.

Alex Cox’s debut is so full of strange characters and sub-plots that it’s a miracle it doesn’t completely fall apart half way through. I gotta attribute that to not only Cox’s script, but to the great acting from his more than competent cast. Harry Dean Stanton practically steals the show as Bud, a smooth talking low-life repo man who has done and seen it all. His scenes with Estevez are classic and are responsible for some incredible quotes like, "What are you? A fuckin' commie? I don't want no commies in my car … No Christians either!". Tracey Walter also has a hilarious scene where he explains to Otto about what he calls the “cosmic unconsciousness” and how flying saucers are really time machines.

Repo Man has as much sarcasm, dark humor and inside jokes as you will ever find in a film. I’ve probably seen it over a dozen times and I’m still picking up on things that I’ve missed. On my last watch, I just noticed that everybody who works at the repo yard is named after a beer (Bud, Oly, Miller, Lite).

…and how can I forget about the incredible soundtrack, which is includes the Suicidal Tendencies classic, “Institutionalized”. Not to mention, songs by The Circle Jerks, Black Flag and Iggy Pop. The highlight of the album has to be Burning Sensations cover of the 1976 Modern Lovers’ tune, “Pablo Picasso”. A song consisting of just spoken word lyrics over a “Peter Gunn” riff, that contains the lyrics: "Well some people try to pick up girls/And get called assholes/This never happened to Pablo Picasso/He could walk down your street/And girls could not resist his stare/Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole …not like you." The Repo Man soundtrack is practically a time capsule of L.A.’s hardcore/punk scene during the early 80’s.

My Rating: 9 / 10





This film falls into the must-own category. I don’t even know why I didn’t rate it a 10 out of 10. Don’t take my word for it, check it out on Netflix instant. A blu-ray version has yet to be released, but I definitely recommend picking up the collector’s edition DVD. It’s a high quality transfer with some great extras, including scenes from the network T.V. version that weren’t included in the original film and were left off the DVD’s original release.

"click here to see the trailer"

51 (2011)

a.k.a. Area 51
"Welcome to the future"

Synopsis: "51" chronicles what happens after political pressure from the American public forces the Air Force to provide a few well-known reporters with limited access to the most secretive base on the planet: Area 51. When one of the base's hidden 'long term visitors' exploits this unprecedented visit as a chance to liberate himself and his fellow alien captives, Area 51 turns from a secure government base to a horrifying destination of terror.

My Thoughts: I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. That's seems to be the best way to describe my feelings of the After Dark Originals that I've seen so far. After watching "Husk" a couple weeks back on SyFy Channel, I was stunned. This time around, I was a little more prepared. I mean, when you see an alien movie premiere on SyFy starring Bruce Boxleitner and Jason London, you know what you're gonna get. I won't even get into how bad they miscast Rachel Miner.

I'm really hoping that these two films (that were pulled from the theaters at the last minute by After Dark and given SyFy premieres) are just bad because of SyFy's involvement. "Husk" was a very poor film all-around, maybe 2.5 out of 10. "51" (or "Area 51") could've been worse, but it had the whole cheesy SyFy Channel movie feel. It had the SyFy storyline, the SyFy dialog, the SyFy sets, the Syfy effects/CGI, the SyFy acting and on and on and on.

Now don't get me wrong, I actually get a kick out of some of SyFy's original movies. They have their share of fun killer animal, giant insect and mutant fish flicks. I also realize that After Dark has had a good number of stinkers through the years, but I guess I was still expecting more.

My Rating: 4 / 10






Maybe worth a watch on SyFy channel. Let's hope the 6 remaining non-SyFy channel After Dark films can finish strong and save this year's horrorfest.

"click here to see the trailer"