Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated – The Straight2DVD Review

Pity poor Night of the Living Dead. Out of copyright for years, the film that ushered in a whole generation of zombie films has had to suffer indignity after indignity, from cheapo public domain DVD transfers to an audio butchering by the ex-Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys who do the Rifftrax audio goofing (actually, that one’s pretty funny). Now comes Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated, a jam of what seems like hundreds of artists, creating new visuals (all in black-and-white, just like the original film) to go with the soundtrack of the movie.

It’s an inspired idea — let a bunch of cartoonists and filmmakers go nuts with the storyline and see what they come up with. But as a viewing experience, it’s — predictably — a mixed bag. One of the DVD’s saving graces is how it quickly transitions from artist to artist. No one visual approach lasts too long. Some run only seconds before the next guy gets his shot. Some bits are animated, some are still drawings, some are even puppets!

There are some very cool visuals; the computer animated sequences serve the material well, and some of the drawings we see are truly artful and original. Some folks contribute rough, punk-inspired art. Some of the art is pretty bad. But then you’ll get a stretch of what looks like Rotoscoping (the old process of painting over live action, championed by Ralph Bakshi in films like Wizards and the original animated Lord of the Rings). It’s a double-edged sword; the good stuff you want to see more of lasts as long as the bad stuff you want to end.

It’s really all over the map, and ultimately, kind of pointless. It’s an interesting experiment, and might be good to put on as background viewing at a Halloween party with some of your artsy friends. But as a “let’s sit down and watch a movie” DVD, its shtick gets old fast.

Sparkle: The Straight2DVD Review

Isn’t it about time someone remade The Graduate? Maybe not, but that’s sort of what you get in Sparkle — a modern-day, set-in-London spin on the tale of a young man trying to find his place in the world, and along the way finding romance with an older woman — and her daughter (no, not at the same time, this isn’t that kind of film).

Sparkle focuses on Sam Sparks (Shaun Evans), a twenty-something who picks up and moves to London with his wannabe-singer mum, Jill (Lesley Manville). Working as a waiter, he meets Sheila (Stockard Channing, sporting a decent English accent), a powerful PR pro who quickly begins a fling with him and hires him, in that order.

Soon after, Sam meets Kate (Amanda Ryan), a pretty girl closer to his age, and he’s instantly smitten with her. As his love for Kate grows, his passion for Sheila dims, and we learn Sheila is Kate’s mom. Then Sam learns the truth about Sheila and Kate, Sheila learns he’s dating her daughter, revelations abound all around … You can probably figure out where things go from there.

If you’re looking for originality, Sparkle’s not the ticket. Beyond the obvious Graduate influence, Sparkle is also yet another riff on the chick flick romantic comedy triangle: boys falls in love with girl/complications ensue/it all works out in the end.

What sets Sparkle apart, and makes it an enjoyable watch, is the sharp, funny dialogue by co-writers/directors Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter, which rarely rings false; and especially the delightful low-key performances from its impressive cast. Besides Channing (doing an impressive variation on her “evil woman with a heart of gold” Rizzo role from Grease as this film’s Mrs. Robinson), other welcome and familiar faces here include Bob Hoskins in an absolutely charming turn as Vince, a simple man who’s quietly in love with Sam’s mum, and Anthony Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) who turns in a sweet, understated performance as Lisa’s flamboyant, protective uncle.

Also excellent are Evans, who you can believe charmed everyone he came in contact with (a total 360-degree change from his chilling performance as the lead creep in Clive Barker’s Dread film, out on DVD); Ryan, who has a very natural presence and shows some good, real emotion; and Manville, who is a delight, loopy and lovable, mixes pipe dreams of making it as a singer with grounded concern for her son and his future.

Sparkle (no relation to the 1976 semi-biopic of The Supremes of the same name) won’t surprise you in the least — you’ll see every plot point coming from a mile away. And while it lifts a healthy amount of plot from The Graduate, it lacks that 1960s classic’s evocation of the dreams and dread of a lost generation.

Sparkle doesn’t want to do anything but make you smile, laugh a little, enjoy the quirky characters, and enjoy yourself for 90 minutes or so, much like Love Actually did a few years back. Hunsinger and Hunter should also be credited for making a handsome-looking film that captures the sights and sounds of modern London well. Light and fluffy as a souffle, it’s a very pleasant diversion, nothing more, nothing less.

You can find Sparkle on Amazon or Netflix.

Terror Inside: The Straight2DVD Review

There’s a terror happening here with Terror Inside, a new Corey Feldman-toplined straight-to-DVD horror film, but it’s not what’s occurring on the screen. The terror here is the experience of watching this stinker.

“What?,” you ask. “A Corey Feldman horror film? How could that go wrong?” Well, we’re a long, long way from the first Lost Boys (and its woefully inferior direct-to-video sequel) here. This film goes wrong in so many ways, most of all the acting. Ugh. I swear you’ll see better performances (or at least equal to the ones in this movie) at your typical high school play. Feldman, never really much of an actor to begin with, barely even tries here — when he puts on a faux southern accent to relate to his waitress girlfriend . . . it’s almost worth seeing for that. Almost. The rest of the cast (including Feldman’s former wife and Playboy Playmate Susie) is screamingly inept.

It doesn’t help that they are saddled with what may be the worst dialogue since the days of Ed Wood. There are moments I swear the cast was working without a script. It just seems like they’re just improvising their own (very bad) lines. And the story? What story? Terror Inside trucks along as pretty much a comedy for its opening scenes, introducing characters you won’t care about, before the “terror” element finally arrives — a virus (from some spooky soil samples taken for a university study) that’s going to make people act strangely and lose their inhibitions, ultimately turning them into self-abusing freaks. Science triumphs again!

Surprisingly for a low-budget production, it doesn’t look bad. It appears that Terror Inside was shot on film, not video. Director Joe G. Lenders gives the southern locales a nice texture recalling the location shots in a typical True Blood episode. But the resemblance to that excellent show ends there.

Salvage: The Straight2DVD Review

I’ve seen enough cheap and cheesy direct-to-video horror movies in my day to be able to spot a stinker a mile away, and that’s pretty much what I expected Salvage to be. After all, a low-budget, independently produced zombie movie? Hasn’t the genre been done to death already, via better productions?

But guess what? Salvage is a find — a well-done, intelligent and compelling thriller that rises above its humble means. Shot in Britain on a shoestring, it actually has pretty good cinematography. There are moments of hand-held herky-jerkiness that have become cliche in today’s horror films, but overall this is a handsome film.

Visuals aside, ultimately it’s the acting and directing that make this work. Salvage pulls a Hitchcock switcheroo, starting out with a focus on a teenage girl going to see her estranged mom. It seems like the film is going to be about the girl, but once we meet her mother, caught in mid-affair with a married man, the film switches focus to the mom, Beth (the excellent Neve McIntosh) and her beau. (We do find out what happens to her daughter later on).

Like in all of the best zombie films (the Zack Snyder-helmed Dawn of the Dead comes to mind), the horror comes out of the blue with no reason given. It just happens. Suddenly, the modest British neighborhood is overrun by special ops soldiers, and mindless undead folks start attacking. We watch as Beth and her boyfriend experience every step of the horror that’s overtaken their lives. The fine direction by newcomer Lawrence Gough and economical script by Colin O’Donnell make us believe it as it’s happening. There are very effective moments, such as when a key character is taken by one of the creatures and we don’t see what’s being done to him, but through pounding sound effects and a shot of the floor moving, we can guess.

That’s the kind of filmmaking that elevates a low-profile gem like Salvage, and makes it worth seeing. Sure, there are some deliberate horror movie “jolts” here and there, and plenty of gore, but never gratuitous, never at disservice to the story. We get to know the characters, and that makes the horror real. We’re scared because we care. Recommended.

I Need That Record!: The Straight2DVD Review

Granted, as documentary topics go, the demise of a small segment of retail stores may not have the gravity of 9-11, the economic crash, health care, or the food we eat. But the seeming end of independently owned record stores is approached with grave seriousness in the new documentary I Need That Record!: The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store—and with good reason.

To the customers and store owners interviewed onscreen, these stores were more than just a place to buy albums and CDs; they were gathering places where folks could discuss the songs that moved them, make recommendations, and just plain geek out on music. They were a way of life that is celebrated—and mourned—in this film.

My first impression was that writer/director/editor Brendan Toller would place the blame for the death of indie record stores squarely on Internet file sharing. And while that is covered, Toller presents a well-researched variety of factors that contributed to their demise, including record company greed, the influx of big-box stores, and corporate influence on rock radio.

I Need That Record is, overall, an intelligently done, well-crafted doc that wears its biases firmly on its sleeve (big business bad/indie merchants good). Along the way, Toller draws smart commentary from such music notables as critic/Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz, Minutemen bassist Mike Watts, and Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, along with many store owners who’ve closed their stores recently or are struggling to stay in business.

The only false notes here are the occasional attempts at comedy, such as the skit in which an obnoxious store clerk sells “s—-y records in a s—-y store”, or the clumsy animated bits that try to emulate the cut-and-paste style of Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam and South Park. But overall, this is a captivating, crisply edited, at times even moving look at a dying breed., a film that offers a small glimmer of hope—the quiet but encouraging re-emergence of vinyl—at the end of its dark journey.

I Need That Record! is available now in record stores and everywhere else on July 27th.

I Need That Record! Launches Exclusively at Record Stores

Does anyone remember record stores?

The once-commonplace retailer is a scarce commodity in the U.S. these days. Making a case for their survival and rebirth is the new documentary I Need That Record! The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store.

In his examination of why over 3,000 indie record sellers have closed in the past decade, director Brendan Toller interviews such music luminaries as Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, journalist/Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye and Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz, among many others.

Four years in the works, I Need That Record! will finally see the light of day on April 17, Record Store Day, when it’s released exclusively (and appropriately) to independent record stores for 90 days. It will be available through general retail on July 27.

I Need That Record! trailer:

Waveriders: The Straight2DVD Review

Who knew people surfed in Ireland? Certainly not this reviewer—when I think surfing, I think Hawaii or California. And while those are still the primary hot spots for the sport, Ireland is apparently joining that list, as evidenced by the new documentary Waveriders. Like the best documentaries, Waveriders (directed by Joel Conroy) takes a subject you may be unfamiliar with and tells you about it in a watchable, entertaining way.

More than just a doc on Irish guys hitting the waves, Waveriders also provides some history on the sport’s growth in the modern era, focusing on key people who have contributed to that growth, including George Freeth, the sports writer of Irish heritage who popularized surfing in Hawaii in the early 1900s; Kevin Naughton, an American journalist who led a group that traveled the world in search of the perfect wave in the Beach Boys-fueled 1960s; Kelly Slater, currently considered the world’s best surfer; and the Malloy Brothers, who merge Naughton’s surf-driven wanderlust with the commerce and technology that figure into pros like Slater. All of these figures have a connection to Ireland: Naughton, for example, ended up living there, and modern surfers such as Slater and the Malloys are making it a worldwide surfing mecca.

Ultimately, these threads converge in the final segment of the film, in which a powerful new wave is discovered at the hills of Glasgow. Along the way, we get some insight on the spiritual—as well as recreational—aspects of the sport. For its devotées, surfing is a near-religious experience, a one-on-one connection with nature. Conroy’s you-are-there camera work gives us some insight on how that must feel.

The photography and overall production work here is first-rate; there are many breathtaking shots of waves that rival the CGI-generated ones in films such as The Perfect Storm—and these are real! Editing is tight and the storytelling is sharp—the relatively short (75 min.) film never lingers too long on any one facet. The use of music may be heavy-handed at times; there is one segment about young Irish surfers that featured an annoying song called “Teenage Kicks” for what seemed like a half-hour. But overall, Waveriders is an entertaining, informative look at another world, one in which surfing is as much about the soul as it is about the waves.

Tony: London Serial Killer – The Straight2DVD Review

Tony is a quiet man—meek and unimposing, with a haircut that’s a cross between Adolf Hitler and Moe from the Three Stooges. But this seemingly “normal” everyman has a dark side, and it’s that dark side that’s the focus of Tony: London Serial Killer, a new independent film from director Gerard Johnson that appears to be an attempt to create a British counterpart to the seminal Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. But while Henry was compelling in its starkness and cinema verite approach, his UK cousin doesn’t come across as well.

This is a tough watch—not because of its violence. No, Tony is hard to take because of its cheapie production. Audio is poor to begin with, and the characters’ thick Brit accents made it downright incomprehensible and hard to follow. From what I can tell, it boils down to: Tony likes to watch action movies, he’s an observer of life—not an active participant, he falls in with some bad guys (for reasons I couldn’t fathom) and starts killing them. Shaky, grainy camera work doesn’t help matters much—that herky-jerkiness was effective in films like Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield, but here it’s just an indicator of a low budget. The thin storyline is also a downside. Tony is a sad guy—you almost feel sorry for him as he’s told his government support is ending, until you see him nonchalantly wrapping up body parts and throwing them in the river. Sometimes you’ll find a little gem from another land that knocks your socks off—Let the Right One In is a a great example of this in the horror genre—but this is just a bummer.

Tony: London Serial Killer arrives April 6th. You can pre-order it here.