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THE EPITAPH VOL. 56 - SHUDDER ORIGINAL SPOTLIGHT!
THIS IS GWAR (2021) - THE AMUSEMENT PARK (1973) -
- THEY LIVE IN THE GREY (2022)
This edition of The Epitaph were spotlighting not just a trio of Shudder Originals but the UK distributor Acorn Media International, an outfit who have been single-handedly delivering physical discs of the Shudder Original films to fans in the UK.
Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert: 18
Duration: 113 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Scott Barber
I have loved the heavy metal-art- collective monster-band known as Gwar from since I lucked across their first full-length cassette 'Hell-O!' on the Shimmy Disc label in the late-80s. This was the pre-metal iteration of the band when they were still punky but absolutely still over-the-top humorous with songs like "Time for Death",
"Americanized", and my personal favorite "I'm in Love (With a Dead Dog)". A few years later they released their sophomore platter 'Scumdogs of the Universe' which had a more sharply honed metal edge, with vastly superior production, and the songs were tighter. They were still bonkers lyrically, but the music was fine tuned, glorious metal, which our group of friends would drive around listening to in our car singing along to it Wayne's Wirld style. We were lucky enough to catch caught them live on the Scumdogs tour at The Lost Horizon in Syracuse, New York - it was everything we expected and more with Oderus's demon-phallus, the infamous cuttlefish, spraying blood and body fluids into the audience, while up on stage the carnage was non-stop, naighty priests were being raped, audiences members were put through the slave pit meat-grinder, and there were multiple decapitations - it was wild stuff. I remember afterward we stopped at a Perkins doner in Geneva, New York for breakfast and coffee, we were all encrusted in various Gwar sauces, our skin and clothes were stained bloid red from the front row shellacking we recieved - we must have looked like we'd just committed a mass murder - those were good times.
This Shudder Exclusive documentary about the bands early days starting in 1984 on through to present day was quite an entertaining watch, while I loved the band I was never well-read on them or privy to a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that went on, so this was pretty eye-opening stuff. The story of the band is told through interviews with key members of Slave Pit Inc. intercut with some terrific live performance footage, scenes from their nutso long form videos movies, and loads behind-the-scenes footage, and vintage Interviews, which are candid, sometimes shocking, and in-depth as the participants recount their success, excess, tragedy and triumphs. We also get some cool talking heads by way of Jackass’ Bam Marger, actors Ethan Embry, Thomas Lemmon and Alex Winter, plus ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and director Adam Green. The heart of the film are the Slave Pit Inc. crew, who gives a pretty detailed accounting of the revolving band members, the reason behind various member departures and the circumstances surrounding how some joinied the band, which sometimes involved the actual death of key players. We also hear about touring the country in a converted school bus, how a Gwar song ruined their label Metal Blade's chance for a distribution deal with Warner Bros., and so much more. The testimony is enthusiastic and sometimes, but other times they're in tears as they talk about the death of their band mates, near death experiences, and the loss of friendships, including the fight for control of the direction of band between founding members Dave Brockie and Hunter Jackson, which resulted in hard feelings on both sides for years.
The Blu-ray from Acorn is chock full of extras, over two-hours worth, including a half-hour tour of the Slave Pit, additional interviews, featurettes, and and an audio commentary. It's a great doc with plenty of rewatchability, ill be watching this again soon to check out the commentary next.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary track with Derks and Bob Gorman
- Behind the scenes of a GWAR Show (4 min)
- GWAR on Empire Records (5 min)
- The legend of GWAR (3 min)
- Last interview with Dave Brockien (11 min)
- A message from the Scumdogs of the Universe (2 min)
- Four pillars of GWAR (6 min)
- Slave Pit walk through with Michael Bishop (30 min)
- GWAR from the Outside (9 min)
Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert: 12
Duration: 54 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: George A. Romero
Cast: Lincoln Maazel, Harry Albacker, Phyllis Casterwiler, Pete Chovan and Sally Erwin
The Amusement Park (1975) is a "lost film" by George A. Romero, the iconic director of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. That's pretty exciting news, but as a fan of Romero and of this film, I will say you need to have tempered expectations coming into to get the most enjoyment from it. This is not a Romero passion project, this was a film he was commissioned to make by the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania as an educational film about elder abuse and the effects of aging, filmed in-between Romer's Season of the Witch and The Crazies.
In it an elderly man (Lincoln Maazel, Martin) spends a day at the amusement park, only to find himself in the middle of a hellish nightmare of mistreatment, misunderstanding and second class citizenry because of his age and cognitive decline. It's wild nightmarish PSA about the way the elderly are treated in society, and sad fact, they're still mistreated today, the elderly are one of the largest group of the disenfranchised, and its getting bigger everyday - none of us are getting younger. It might not be a Romero passion project but the subject matter is still quite affecting, its chock full of experimental editing and surreal imagery, that is quite unlike anything Romero made before or after, which is what makes it so interesting to me, it might not be a Romero classic but its certainly an obscure gem of a flick. The Blu-ray from Acorn has over two-hours of extras including an Audio Commentary with Michael Gornick, interviews with Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, Bonnie Hinzman, and artist Ryan Carr, plus a panel interview featuring Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, Sandra Schulberg, Greg Nicotero and Daniel Kraus, moderated by Shudder’s Samuel Zimmerman, in addition to several galleries. It's a packed edition and if you're a hardcore Romero fan or just a completest this is absolutely a must-own gem.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Michael Gornick
- ‘Re-opening The Park’ with Suzanne Desrocher-Romero (12 min)
- ‘Bill & Bonnie’s Excellent Adventure’ with Bonnie Hinzman (10 min)
- ‘For Your Amusement’ with artist Ryan Carr (11 min)
- Panel interview with Suzanne Desrocher-Romero, Sandra Schulberg, Greg Nicotero and Daniel Kraus, moderated by Shudder’s Samuel Zimmerman (23 min)
- The Amusement Park Official Brochure
- The Amusement Park Script
- Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery
THEY LIVE IN THE GREY (2022)
Label: Acorn Media International
Region Code: All
Rating: Cert. 18
Duration: 124 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
Director: The Vang Brothers
Cast: Michelle Krusiec, Madelyn Grace, Ken Kirby, Ellen Wroe
The deeply melancholic They Live in the Grey (2022) is written and directed by The Vang Brothers – best known for Bedeviled – which I've not yet seen. In it a clairvoyant social worker Claire (Michelle Krusiec, Hollywood). The film set her up as deeply troubled from the get-go by an undisclosed darkness that has enveloped her, creating an emotional shroud that not only creates a void between she and her husband, but drives her to attempt suicide.
At work she is assigned a new child protection case, that of a young girlnamed Sophie (Madelyn Grace, Don’t Breathe 2), a child reported to CPS by the her school as being potentially abused at home, evidenced by bruises and scrapes. Whole investigating the case the spirit-connected Claire sixth-senses something in the house of the child, and believing that a malevolent spirit is the true culprit chooses not to remove the child from the home, keeping her with her parents
Giles (Ken Kirby, Good Trouble, Dynasty) and Audrey (Ellen Wroe, Shameless), and taking it upon herself to stop the malevolent force before it’s too late. I found the film a bit over-long at over two-hours, thats a long time to meditate on grief and the darkness it brings, but I cannot deny that the film is handsomely put together and the emotional toll of it is quite effective, plus we get a bone-snapping finale that will have you squirming in your seat. This DVD-only release is slim on extras, offering on a Still Gallery.
