In addition to the usual reviews and comments you would find on a horror movie blog, this is also a document of the wonderfully vast horror movie section of the video store I worked at in my youth.
Man, as if there wasn't enough bad news going around. I was really sad to hear about the passing of iconic filmmaker Stuart Gordon yesterday. He was 72.
Director Stuart Gordon 1947-2020
Gordon was a horror staple. He was one of those mavericks that really flourished during the video store boom of the eighties. Even if you are not a horror fan, you must recall the cover boxes of such seminal films as Re-Animator, From Beyond and Dolls. That is one hell of a trio and where I was first introduced to both Jeff Combs and Barbara Crampton.
His career went far beyond that era though. His work with Full Moon provided two of its best efforts in Pit & The Pendulum and Castle Freak.
Gordon also impressed with his post-millenium efforts, such as Dagon (still one of the best Lovecraft adaptations imo), Edmond and my personal fave, King of the Ants. If these titles are unfamiliar to you, now is the perfect time to discover them.
I was gutted to hear about the passing of actor Max von Sydow yesterday. He was 90. Von Sydow was a ubiquitous figure of my childhood. Whether it was as Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon, Brewmeister Smith in Strange Brew, Doctor Novotny in Dreamscape or his turn as Ernst Blofeld in Never Say Never Again, he was a mainstay on my television.
Max von Sydow 1929-2020
Von Sydow seemed ageless to me, as a teen, mainly because Dick Smith's make-up on him in The Exorcist was so convincing that I thought him was older than he actually was. This man was a giant, not only in stature, but also in character. His career in film and television spanned eight decades, more recently appearing as the Three-eyed Raven in Game of Thrones and Lor San Tekka in The Force Awakens.
Last Sunday, I checked out a little movie called VHYes.
This movie had been rolling around the festival circuit and I was overjoyed that my pal Landry was able to set up a screening locally at the Revue Cinema. If you're not familiar, the premise of VHYes is that we're watching an old home video tape. Originally a wedding video, it has subsequently been recorded over with all manner of late night TV shows, adverts and the childhood shenanigans of Ralph (Mason McNulty) and his best friend, Josh (Rahm Braslaw).
VHYes is the brainchild of Jack Henry Robbins (son of Tim & Susan Sarandon who also cameo in the movie) and he's created a hypnotic vortex of nostalgia here that I was, of course, on board with. Over the course of its seventy minutes, it crosses back and forth through about half-a-dozen narratives, even incorporating one of Robbins earlier works - Painting With Joan from 2016 - into the mix.
Though this idea is not new - mavericks like Ross Sutherland, Chris LaMartina and even Adult Swim have been experimenting with VHS iconography for years - Robbins has definitely harnessed its power with wonderfully entertaining results.
In addition to the screening, there was also a VHS swap where I was able to snag these babies, in exchange for my big box of The Big Brawl and Centennial Collection copy of The Great Dictator.
And then if that wasn't enough, there was ninety minutes of vintage eighties stuff after the movie, including choice cuts like the Spider & His Amazing Friends episode featuring the X-Men (you know, the one where Wolverine has an Aussie accent for some reason) and Mr. T's PSA special Be Somebody!
A fantastic night! If you dig VHS culture - and I assume you do or else why would you be here? - be sure to check out VHYes.
