Metapost: Intermission.

Due to a variety of circumstances (mostly illness-related), the Desuko Movie Spot is forced to start its winter break a few days early. Thanks for reading in 2007, and we'll be back right after the New Year with some more great reviews!

Braindead (a.k.a., Dead Alive) (1992).

The Scoop:
This has been billed as the goriest film of all time, and for once, the hype does not lie. Early on, it manages to out-gross (and I don't mean box office here) everything that came before it, and it doesn't let up. The gore is pounded into you, becoming the ultimate parody of the genre. Reducto ad absurdum. By the end, when the hero is cutting down zombies left and right with a lawnmower, the gore has reached new comic heights. You gotta have a strong stomach for this one. (The movie has a strong stomach of its own, in fact -- and strong intestines that attack and devour anything that cross their path.)

Those New Zealanders are weird people.

But there's more to this early film by Peter Jackson than just the gore -- there's also a wonderfully funny script, a swashbuckling visual style and a bunch of head-long performances by a group of unknown actors. This one is a must for every horror aficionado, and a real eye-opener for those latecomers who only know Jackson for "Lord of the Rings" or "King Kong."

Best Line:
"I kick arse for the Lord!"

Side Note:
There are a few edited versions of this floating around which cut out the best parts, so double-check the box and accept nothing less than the full, uncut version.

Companion Viewing:
"Bad Taste" (1987) or maybe that helicopter scene from "28 Weeks Later" (2007).

Links:
IMDb.
Peter Jackson Online page.
Peter Jackson Fan Club page.
The Movie Cynics drinking game.

Take a Look:
Messing around in graveyards at night is always a bad idea. Shouldn't these kids know that by now?


Look out for that man with the lawnmower!

The Monster of Camp Sunshine (1964).

The Scoop:
This entry from the 1960s nudie cycle is somewhat of an oddity, featuring less nudity than expected, a semi-competent stab at a plot, a strange silent movie whimsy, and some fine black-and-white photography on location in New York City.

The story involves two young roommates trying to make their way in the big city -- one is a fashion model trying to decide whether to model a topless bathing suit, and the other is a nurse at a hospital that inexplicibly has a lot of caged rats hanging around.

First the nurse introduces the model to the swinging life of Camp Sunshine, a nudist colony upstate, then accidentally spills chemicals on the rats, turning them into killers that chase her out a window. Her doctor boss, being the responsible sort he is, disposes of the dangerous chemicals by throwing them into the ocean. The plot just gets more ludicrous from there, culminating in the filmmakers trying to destroy the monster with parachuting scientists, a couple different armies and an entire stock footage library. One of the goofiest things you'll ever see.

Best Bit:
The rat attack!

Side Note:
This was the first effort for producer Gene R. Kearney, who went on to a more respectable career as writer and director in television, working on such shows as "Night Gallery," "Kolchak the Night Stalker" and "Lou Grant."

Companion Viewing:
"The Thrill Killers" (1964).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
This purports to be the trailer, although it's just a randomly edited bunch of shots. (Warning: Thar be boobies 'n' booties ahead!):

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970).

The Scoop:
It's about time I got around to reviewing this classic.

Along with "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" (1965), this represents the apex of the Russ Meyer canon. Finally, Meyer's single-minded obssession with big breasts is coupled with a wonderfully campy plot -- an all-girl rock band called the Carrie Nations (played by, from left to right in the photo, Marcia McBroom, Dolly Read and Cynthia Myers) comes to Hollywood, where they find drugs, violence and lots of wild sex.

In the first film of his ill-fated stint as a major studio director, Meyer teamed with future film critic Roger Ebert to create a landmark work that celebrates the excesses of the free love '60s while also looking ahead to the crises and malaise of the '70s. Not bad for what is, at heart, a cheap sexploitation flick.

Read, Playboy's Playmate of the Year for 1966, is an especial revelation in her first starring role. So is John Lazar, who plays flamboyant record producer Ronnie "Z-Man" Barzell, a character based on the unhinged exploits of Phil Spector.

Fast-paced, joyous and filled with great music, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is definitely of its era and wonderfully loopy fun. It is very nearly the perfect movie, despite its shocking downer of an ending.

Meyer's joy ride as a major studio director would have a rough ending as well. Despite the smash box office success of the film, it draws controversy, too, particularly from Hollywood's old guard, who are aghast by its excesses (it was one of the earliest films to carry an X rating). After just one more film for Fox (the disappointingly straight "The Seven Minutes" in 1971), Meyer was dropped by the studio and he returned to the exploitation underground.

Best Line:
"This is my happening and it freaks me out!"

Side Note:
The "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" project originally began at Fox as a true sequel to their madly successful 1967 adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's trashy novel "The Valley of the Dolls." However, the script Susann submitted fell short of the studio's expectations, and their contract allowed Fox to go ahead with a sequel without her involvement in such a situation. The project went through a number of incarnations in the development process before finally being given to Meyer, who the stodgy studio had signed in an attempt to get a piece of the booming youth market. The rest is history, as they say, although Susann was able to get Fox to append the now-famous disclaimer to the beginning to warn viewers that "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is not, in fact, a sequel to "Valley of the Dolls" after all.

Companion Viewing:
"Spice World" (1997) and the "Josie and the Pussycats" cartoon series.

Links:
IMDb.
Official Site.
As a Side Note.

Take a Look:
The totally awesome trailer:


The cross-country trip:


"Marijuana cigarettes! Reefers!" Oh noes!


A little sumthin'-sumthin' for the ladies who love the ladies:

Blue in the Face (1995).

The Scoop:
The title is especially appropriate given how much the actors blab in this film.

Shot by Wayne Wang and Paul Auster along with their film "Smoke," "Blue in the Face" is nothing more than a series of improvised vignettes in and around the smoke shop run by Harvey Keitel's character in the first film. Keitel is the only holdover from "Smoke" and the film is entirely improvised.

And boy does it show.

Most of the scenes meander to nowhere in particular, and the only interest comes in seeing so many big name actors and musicians try to ad lib off each other. Some aren't too bad (such as Madonna delivering a singing telegram, or Lou Reed's discussion of his fear of travel), but most of them just plain suck.

It's like an acting class exercise gone wrong, but if you're in the mood for pointless indulgence, this is the film for you.

Best Line:
"Yes, I am smoking cigarettes and some of my friends have died of them, but I am not downing a quart of Scotch in fifteen minutes. Looked at that way, cigarettes are actually a health tool."

Side Note:
This was shot in just five days. Wang and Auster claimed to take their inspiration for the move from Roger Corman.

Companion Viewing:
"Smoke" (1995).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
This series of clips should give you a pretty good idea of the feel of the movie. And just because it's a random, patched-together string of clips, don't think that the full film is any more coherent. It plays just like this, but with more aimless cameos.