MastersOfHorror Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In case you weren't sure, Zombie Strippers is exactly what it sounds like: a horror comedy about zombified strippers. And like most zombie movies, it has political subtext, though you don't have to worry about it being headier than something titled Zombie Strippers should be. Sure, it claims to be based loosely on Eugène Ionesco's classic absurdist play Rhinoceros and, sure, it features allusions to a number of philosophers, including Camus and Sartre, but really it's dumb and silly and a heck of a good time. Particularly if you're anything but sober. And if you're just looking for a grindhouse sort of guilty pleasure to pass the time.

Zombie Strippers opens with a montage that sets the scene: it's sometime in the near future, and Bush has just been reelected to his fourth term. Already, we know this movie will be a complete farce, but the ludicrous exposition continues, explaining that government scientists have developed a virus that allows soldiers in Iraq to continue fighting after they're killed. Yes, these super soldiers are zombies, a minor twist on Joe Dante's anti-Bush short Homecoming, which was one of the more critically celebrated episodes of the cable series Masters of Horror, and which featured Iraq War casualties rising from the dead in order to cast their vote against Bush's reelection.

So I guess now vampire flicks are the new Western. No sooner did we get news on two new vamp flicks in development and now there is already another one to add to the pile. Shock Till You Drop is reporting that Mick Garris (creator of the Masters of Horror and Fear Itself series) will be at the helm for a remake of the obscure 1979 Australian vampire flick, Thirst. The story centers on two women who are decedents of the infamous Elizabeth Bathory and are caught up in a plot for a 'blood-harvesting' facility -- for the Buffy fans out there, just think back to the episode The Wish. Garris tells Shock, "Not many people know the film (Thirst). I love the take on it - the blood farm of acolytes, the sycophants who are willing to give blood to the regal, but setting it in something contemporary and American". Thirst was directed by Rob Hardy, who fans of the new Battle Star Galactica might recognize as director of a few episodes.

Thirst would be Garris' second attempt at directing a feature film; back in 2004 he had written and directed an adaptation of Stephen King's Riding the Bullet. Garris also told Shock that he still has designs on adapting another King title, Bag of Bones. Garris will also produce Tobe Hooper's adaptation of From a Buick 8 (another King story). Garris was keeping most of the details about Thirst to himself, telling Shock, "I'm not going to give anything away about it, but it's a really different take". Luckily, the original is not that well known, so most of us won't even know the difference. Well, those of us who don't have a thirst for blood, that is.

This is more TV Squad's territory than ours, so I'll just throw it out there quick and then move on to the movie news: It looks like Mick Garris' Masters of Horror series WILL be returning for a third season, only they'll be doing so with a new studio (Lionsgate as opposed to Anchor Bay) and a new network (as-yet-undisclosed, but it definitely won't be Showtime anymore). So there's some cool news for the horror fans!

Beyond that, Mr. Garris would like to kick-start an MOH horror movie franchise, kinda like Tales from the Crypt (almost) did with Demon Knight and Bordello of Blood. (Fun flicks, but I don't consider two movies a "franchise" -- and the less said about Ritual, the better.) And according to Fangoria, Garris also has three more Stephen King adaptations in his pipeline. (Previous King / Garris collaborations include Riding the Bullet, Sleepwalkers and network mini-series The Shining, The Stand and Desperation.)

Garris told Fango that he'll be producing and directing an adaptation of Stephen King's Bag of Bones, with screenwriter Matt Venne currently attached. He'd also like to have Tobe Hooper direct a movie version of King's From a Buick 8 (which, once upon a time, was going to be a George Romero project) -- and (this news made me particularly happy) the filmmaker would also like to bring Gerald's Game to the big screen. Garris calls it his favorite King novel -- and I'd definitely agree that it's one of the King's most underrated chillers.

Lastly, Mr. Garris will write, produce and direct an original horror flick called Dead. How long it will take for all these projects to his the streets is anybody's guess -- but I really do hope Garris does something cool with Gerald's Game.

The first time Lucky McKee and Angela Bettis got together, it was in the service of a project called May, a stellar little horror flick that I've been forcing on people since I saw it several years back. The film was well-regarded enough to earn Mr. McKee a spot on the roster during Master of Horror's inaugural season -- and the guy stuck with what works. He hired Ms. Bettis (again) and they delivered Sick Girl, one of the first season's very best episodes, if it's me you're asking.

So now comes the old switcheroo: The new movie is called Roman, and it comes from director Angela Bettis. Her leading man is her former director, of course: Lucky McKee. I was psyched to catch Roman at last September's Fantastic Fest, but I'll warn my fellow May-lovers right now: If you walk into Roman expecting just a gender-reversal take on McKee's first flick, you're in for a disappointment. Roman is a fairly slow-moving (yet still interesting) story of a lonely guy who accidentally murders a girl before, well, going off the deep end, emotionally.

I dug the flick well enough to offer a recommendation, if only to the serious genre fans, and now it seems I'm not the only one who liked the thing: According to DavisDVD.com, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment will be releasing the Roman DVD on March 27, and that's pretty good news indeed. Despite the presence of two very talented filmmakers, Roman is precisely what we mean when we call something a "tough sell," so it's cool to see the flick hit the streets in one form or another. Expect the requisite commentary, deleted scenes, etc., but (I'll say it again) do not go in expecting May Part 2 -- or you just might hate the movie.

Well, this is weird. For the bulk of my 30+ years on this planet, there's been no such thing as a "televised horror awards" presentation, and now, not 15 minutes removed from geeking out over the newly-announced Fangoria Chainsaw Awards nominations -- I come across the Spike TV Scream Awards nominations! Cool!

Now, with all due respect to Spike TV and their cool new concept, I gotta say the Fango Chainsaw noms are just a little bit cooler. But hey, there's no law that says the horror freaks can't hang their hat on TWO new awards presentations. Frankly I think we could use a few more enthusiastic celebrations of juicy genre filmmaking.

Anyway, the Screams seem to run a lot like the Chainsaws do: Check out all the categories and nominees (after the jump) and then head on over to SpikeTV.com and cast your own votes! This is particularly amusing for the horror nuts -- because we're nothing if not passionately opinionated on which horror flicks rock and which ones suck the proverbial egg. Spike TV broadcasts their Scream Awards on the evening of October 10th.

While chatting with iFMagazine about his entry in the Masters of Horror series (Homecoming), movie geek hero guy Joe Dante dropped word that a remake of his The Howling is almost certainly getting underway. The veteran filmmaker also expresses some confusion as to why people might want to remake his Piranha -- but as far as I know ... that remake is already in production!

Frankly the idea of a Howling remake is pretty darn silly, especially when you think back and remember how much of the movie had to do with those silly "new age group communes" that were all the rage in the late '70s. But hey, why let logic get in the way of the exploitation of a groovy title like "THE HOWLING"?

OK, OK, the Masters of Horror series plays on cable television, which means it's definitely more of TV Squad's domain than it is Cinematical's ... so I'll just share a quick press release, mention a bunch of horror movie directors, and then move on.

Bloody-Disgusting.com was kind enough to share a Masters of Horror Season 2 press release with us, and it's stuffed with genre names we all know and love. Returning to direct a second episode will be Dario Argento (Suspiria), John Carpenter (Halloween), Joe Dante (The Howling), Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and John Landis (An American Werewolf in London). Newcomers to the Masters roster include Brad Anderson (Session 9), Ernest Dickerson (Demon Knight), and Tom Holland (Fright Night). Writers/inspirations include include Brett Hanley (Frailty), Sam Hamm (Batman), F. Paul Wilson, Ambrose Bierce, Clive Barker, and Edgar Allen Poe.

IDT and Showtime are promising 13 new episodes, which is a little bit confusing since there are only ten directors mentioned, but I guess we'll be getting some new announcements soon. Hungry for some pre-release plot synopses? Check 'em right here.

A lot of people have taken to calling the Masters of Horror series a Showtime production, but the truth is that the experiment was born over at Anchor Bay. Series creator Mick Garris had the idea to snag a bunch of the finest horror-makers under the sun, have each one direct an hour-long mini-movie, and then let the Gorehounds devour the goods through the magic of DVD. But then Showtime got involved, and they aired 12 of the 13 episodes between last December and March of this year. (The 13th episode, Takashi Miike's Imprint, was deemed too harsh by the Showtime folks, which means you won't be able to see it till the DVD hits shelves.)

Unfortunately, Anchor Bay has taken a fairly money-hungry approach to releasing Masters on DVD: Two episodes hit stores yesterday, available individually or as part of a 2-pack. But with a list price of $16.98 apiece (which means a retail cost of about 11 bucks each), it seems that the horror faithful are expected to dole out about $150 if they want the entire season. (By comparison, my 13-episode collection of the brilliant Firefly set me back only about 40 bucks!) But hey, nobody's saying you have to buy 'em all, right? We horror geeks aren't ravenous completists and ferocious collectors ... are we? (To be fair, if the first 2 DVDs are any indication, each release promises to come stocked with loads of extra goodies, so at least we're getting some value for our money.)

Anyway, to commemorate the DVD debut of the series (well, the first two episodes) I thought it might be helpful to give our readers a Masters Guide -- despite the fact that I've seen precisely ONE episode of the show so far! Click below for a list of all the actors, the Masters, the release dates, all 13 plot synopses, and a variety of trivial hoo-hah intended mainly for the hardcore horror freaks.

 

 

Joe Dante is the least prolific of the 80s wunderkinds. The man responsible for Gremlins, Innerspace and a terrifying fourth of Twilight Zone: The Movie can direct at the same quality level as his contemporaries, but he hasn't been given a corner of Hollywood real estate to flesh out his signature style - less sugary than Spielberg and more cartoonish and mischievous than Zemeckis. This is the director who stopped Gremlins cold for ten minutes so that Phoebe Cates could give her classic "I hate Christmas" speech. He seems to pull together a feature film about once every five years, on average, so when you can catch him at work it's a treat. Witness his recent stint as a guest director on Showtime's Masters of Horror series, where he directed an hour-long episode entitled Homecoming. The homecoming in question: dead jarheads from the Iraq war, who pop out of their flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force base and up sticks for Washington, D.C.