Death Row Diner (B. Dennis Wood, 1988) Review

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“Smash their skulls, chop off their heads, it's all the same.” What does a 'straight project' from a guy who has made a long career for himself in pornographic movies look like? Perhaps it's some sappy drama about unrequited love, or a half-baked polemic masquerading as art, or just maybe it's a shot-on-video schlock horror comedy where a ping pong paddle is put to eye-popping use?...

 

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Sleaze Fiend Magazine #5 pre-order now!

The brand new issue of Sleaze Fiend Magazine has arrived and is available to pre-order now from the SFM Store Envy page. My contribution for this issue was the "Sleaze Fiend's European Vacation" article.

Sleaze Fiend Magazine returns for 2021 with another massive issue! We're bringing you a sleaze drenched mag with articles such as:

El Topo: A Mythological Acid Trip
Sleaze Fiend's European Vacation
The Mysterious Life Of 40DD Superstar Uschi Digard
The Astrological Connection and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun with Brooke & Taylor Young
Danny Steinmann Interview
Loopty Loop: My Early Life As A Smut Peddler
The Legend of the Spider Pool
The First Porn Star From Down Under: Kristine Heller
Bo Arne Vibenius Interview
Remembering the Fallen
+Packed with new Reviews!

154 pages B&W

You can pick up SFM #5 HERE or you can grab the SFM Bundle (issues 3, 3.5, 4, and 5) HERE.

Flavours of the Month: October/November 2021...

Escapades into action adventure, a tonal tightrope act, and a shedload of synth is just some of what's been setting the tone of my October/November 2021...

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Dude Bro Party Massacre III (Tom Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet, Jon Salmon, 2015) Review

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“What's taking you bros so long to shower?” If a Dude Bro could Bro Dudes, how many Bros would a Dude Bro Dude? This is the mighty question laid forth by 5secondfilms' Kickstarter-funded comedy slasher flick, in which the Delta Bi fraternity must once again face off against the crazed killer Motherface – all while shotgunning every beer in sight and dialling the homoeroticism up to a burly boy level 69...!

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OCD Film Fest Vol. 2 - Full Streamed Event Video...

The International OCD Foundation's second film festival took place via live streaming platforms, and For Want of a Nail was included amongst the selection of films.

 

The recording of the stream is now available to view online via YouTube - CLICK HERE TO WATCH - and features Q&As with the filmmakers.

 

Event organiser Ethan Smith recorded a Q&A with me (the screenwriter) and Ali Causion (the producer), which can be seen after FWOAN is played - you can find us at 1:16:00.

 

 

FWOAN at the OCD Short Film Festival 2021 & OCD Film Fest Vol. 2...

For Want of a Nail will be appearing as part of the line up in the 2021 OCD Short Film Festival, organised by the OCD & Anxiety Center of Minnesota.

OCD and Anxiety Center of Minnesota is a mental health clinic in the Twin Cities that specializes in treating obsessive compulsive disorder using evidence based methods. Our mission is to decrease the amount of time it takes to be diagnosed with OCD and receive effective treatment, expand treatment accessibility, and spread awareness about what it means to have OCD.

We are looking for films to help fulfill this mission, as well as:
- Help others understand the depth of OCD
- Fight OCD stereotypes
- Challenge mental health stigma
- Raise awareness on the more taboo forms of OCD

FWOAN will also be showing as part of OCD Film Fest Vol. 2, put on by the International OCD Foundation.

The event will be streaming live online via the IOCDF's social media channels, including YouTube, on Friday 15th October between 8pm and 10pm (EST), which will be 1:00am Saturday 16th October for UK viewers.

Hell Squad (Kenneth Hartford, 1986)

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“Is this a joke?” Dig this. The son of an American Ambassador in the Middle East has been kidnapped and the government wants nothing to do with it. He has a problem, and there's no-one else who can help, so he hires The A-Team … no wait, he doesn't. Indeed, his assistant figures it'd be a waste of time employing mercenaries so, using his connections in Las Vegas, he hires a gaggle of showgirls to stage the daring rescue. Yup!

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Flavours of the Month: August/September 2021...

Crazy island-based goings on, returning to E-Corp, and Maurizio Merli's flyin' fists are just some of what's been setting the tone of my August/September 2021...

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Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund, 2018)

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“This incident is starting to turn into a happening.” The original 1989 film Puppet Master, produced by low budget genre cinema icon Charles Band, birthed a franchise that encompasses fourteen films (including spin-offs and reboots) and a raft of other media (comics, games, toys etc). However, trying to follow the story of the series is like walking on shifting sands. The original film is, chronologically speaking, the seventh story, while Puppet Master II is the ninth, and Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge is the second … baffled enough yet? How about a remake that fundamentally changes the overarching character of Andre Toulon, kills off most of the supporting cast mere moments after you've just met them, and features far too many sloppy wet kisses?...

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FWOAN - My Statement of Intent...

#FWOAN Screenwriter Nick Thomson answers the important, ‘Why’s’ behind the motivation for creating the series of For Want Of A Nail...

#1 - to create a series that mixes drama and humour in a way that feels unusual and entertaining, introducing the audience to characters that they will care about and enjoy spending time with ... and

 

#2 - to finally represent Obsessive Compulsive Disorder on-screen as it has never been shown before... accurately and encompassing as many of the varied facets to the condition as possible.

 

“The series will allow the audience to learn more about the condition and gain a new appreciation of what OCD is and how it affects the 1-2% of the population who suffer from it. Importantly, never ‘wagging a finger’ at the audience (I hate that approach).

 

"For Want of a Nail" will be approachable, accessible, and entertaining - while never mocking the condition, or those (such as myself) who suffer from it..."

 

Continues after the jump...

FWOAN - an official update...

I've mentioned bits here and there about working on the FWOAN project, but now's time for an official update...

After its successful festival run, our short film, ‘For Want Of A Nail’ was released in February 2020. Behind the scenes, Director Lucy Barnes, Writer Nick Thomson and Producer Ali Causon, were already developing the idea of progressing the film to a series and started pitching the idea… Then the pandemic hit.

 

Like many, it was a massive setback for us. With the world in chaos and no one really knowing how or when to move forward… we kept our creative minds busy. The 3 of us continued working on the series.... Almost a year and a half later, we are in a strong position to move to the next stage of production and get the green light.

 

Now feels like the right time to tell you a bit more about the proposed series, to raise awareness for the subject matter. To give the OCD community a voice and a more honest representation of a misunderstood mental health condition.

Thanks for your support. - Ali Causon [Producer Oakhill Productions]

Continues after the jump...

Willy's Wonderland (Kevin Lewis, 2021) Review

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“He's not trapped in here with them, they're trapped in here with him!” Nicolas Cage goes into a full-blown 'Cage Rage' against a gang of animatronic mascots in a children's party restaurant. It's like every stressed-out parent's fantasy at a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party – to rip the head off one of those bug-eyed monstrosities during one of their maddening pre-recorded melodies...!

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Flavours of the Month: June/July 2021...

Adventures in Nouvion, squealin' Italian wheels, and many a trip into the printed word are just some of what's been setting the tone of my June/July 2020, if you know what I mean and I think you do...

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The OCD Chronicles Podcast

I was recently interviewed for The OCD Chronicles Podcast by journalist James McMahon and you can listen to the episode by following this LINK. We talk about For Want of a Nail and experiences with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

TV and films ongoing struggle to depict and represent OCD authentically is a subject that matters to me greatly. I've written about it extensively in the past, most recently for The Guardian. It's a subject I'm sure The OCD Chronicles will return to down the line.

But I'm always keen to get creative voices from The OCD Chronicles on this podcast. If we can see ourselves authentically in the media we consume, then we're one step closer to OCD not being so misunderstood. Filmmaker and sufferer Nick Thomson is the latest creative to attempt to capture the condition - his short film For Want of a Nail is available to watch now. We have an enjoyable conversation on this episode.

You can find more of James McMahon's interviews with creative people who have OCD here and find out more about him here.

Hired To Kill (Nico Mastorakis & Peter Rader, 1990) Blu-Ray Review

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“Murder, blood, and paranoia are gonna make fine company where you're going; 'cos ladies, you're going to hell.” A shady American agency has grown tired of the tinpot dictator they helped elevate to power in the nation of Cypra, so they want their best man – a muscle-bound killing machine – to go undercover and help the revolutionaries spring their leader from a fortress prison. The mercenary's cover? This brute with the bulging biceps will be posing as fashion designer Cecil Thornton – a most believable ruse, to be sure!...

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Dial Help (Ruggero Deodato, 1988) Review

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“I'm expecting an important call – a call that never comes.” Directed by Ruggero Deodato, the rogue journeyman filmmaker behind the notorious video nasty Cannibal Holocaust, this is, put simply, a movie about killer telephones jealously menacing a fashion model – why would you need a longer introduction than that?...

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Flavours of the Month: April/May 2021...

Polite Kiwi paranormal activities, more alternative history, and some acrobatic aerial explosive chaos is just some of what has been setting the tone of my April and May 2021...

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The Zero Boys (Nico Mastorakis, 1986)

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“Eat your heart out, Sly.” You know how it is with so many slasher movies – pretty people making dumb decisions and splitting away from the group only to end up with a butcher knife through their face. But what if those genetically gifted college kids weren't so dumb? What if they did their utmost to stick together? What if they were armed with semi-automatics and TNT?...

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Joysticks (Greydon Clark, 1983) Review

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“We are here to extinguish the filth and the decadence that is commonly referred to as videogame entertainment.” It's 1983. You're a filmmaker and wondering what's popular with the youth right now. Well, on the one hand you've got raunchy comedies like Porky's that have been doing boffo box office on small budgets, and on the other hand you've got the unbridled popularity of videogame arcades which has seen eager gamers queuing up en masse to blast invaders from space. So, what better thing to do that mash those two hands together and come up with Joysticks?!

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Flavours of the Month: February/March 2021...

Spooky doings, doublethink, and an alternative history are just some of what has been setting the tone of my February and March 2021...

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Return to Savage Beach (Andy Sidaris, 1998) Review

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“How many endings can this story have?” Over the course of 13 years, writer/director Andy Sidaris (plus his son Christian) launched a dozen 'L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies' movies into the world, and with 1998's Return to Savage Beach, an era of explosive RC toys and bared flesh came to a close. After so many movies over so many years, one might have expected the final entry to feel stale, even a little limp – but Sidaris bid adieu to the 20^th Century with a bang, certainly a familiar one, but a bang nonetheless...

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Death Smiles On A Murderer (Aristide Massaccesi, 1973) Blu-Ray Review

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“So many corpses, and every death a mystery.” Most commonly known as Joe D'Amato, the prolific director Aristide Massaccesi (Emmanuelle and The Last Cannibals) only attached his real name to just one of his cinematic endeavours, the turn-of-the-century ghoulishly Gothic supernatural giallo Death Smiles On A Murderer. The Italian giallo movement wasn't best known for rock solid plotting logic, but Massaccessi's film dives head first into a zone of storytelling that can only be described as utterly baffling. Prepare for copious plot holes, taboo subject matter, an ethereal sense of time, and Klaus Kinski 'doing science'...

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Flavours of the Month: December 2020/January 2021

Demon slaying, hammering the keyboard, and a litany of streaming darkness is just some of what's been setting the tone of my December 2020/January 2021...

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Day of the Warrior (Andy Sidaris, 1996) Review

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“Bring him in from the cold? That's real spy talk – I love it when you do that.” Having sat out the previous two entries in the 'L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies' franchise (handing the reigns over to his son), writer/director Andy Sidaris returns to wreak merry havoc across America as the buff dudes and buxom gals of 'The Agency' take on a mastermind smuggler, who just so happens to be a full-blown championship wrestler...

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