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For its opening night on Wednesday November 28, Holehead offers the newly remastered 30-year anniversary of Forbidden Zone In Color with Richard Elfman and the beautiful "Frenchy" (Marie-Pascale Elfman). Both are expected to attend the Q&A after the film, which screens at Terra Gallery, followed by a celebratory party featuring the music of Oingo Boingo and the Depeche Mode tribute band For The Masses. The closing night film on Sunday December 9th will be the 2012 German documentary Zero Killed, likewise screening at Terra Gallery.
Lead Kristopher Turner—with a touch of Steve Carell—does a fine job as our put-upon protagonist Steve dealing with his buzzkill fiance Tina (Crystal Lowe, the girl you love to hate and hate to date), his resentful sister Sarah (Kristen Hager), her thick-necked squeeze Craig (Shawn Roberts), a stinging zombie mosquito that won't die no matter how many times you slap it (uncredited), Steve's developing appetite for human brains, a countryside crawling with zombies, and a vigilante duo: out-of-control living-dead hunter McHattie and his lovely assistant Penelope (Emilie Ullerup). A shout-out to a brief but always welcome appearance by Robert Maillet (Monster Brawl). Hunk Shawn Roberts steals the show with impeccable comic timing (it helps that he has the best lines); but, even eye candy can't ward off the tiresome gay jokes that deflate Trevor Martin and Christopher Bond's otherwise buoyant script. Perhaps if they'd written in a gay zombie mosquito I'd have been a bit more gratuitously amused? My transcription of the Fantasia Q&A can be found here.
The film's ambition is weakened by an uneven command of green screen. Lurid sunset backgrounds waver a bit as the actors deliver their lines. Yet despite these technical flaws, the film has a sufficiently engaging stylishness to offset its failed grasp. The interplay between Paré and murderous vixen Caitlin (Kramer) rewards the patient viewer, even as the protracted musical sequences suggest a shameless promotion of The Roxy Gunn Project. Paré retains his chiseled good looks, albeit in one too many close-ups delivering all-knowing facial expressions. You could do worse for your buck. Concurring with Debi Moore at Dread Central, while Road to Hell will certainly not appeal to everyone, "it carries on its predecessor's highly stylized tradition with vivid surrealism and a healthy dose of over-the-top carnage thrown into the mix. And who knows? Maybe it'll reawaken enough interest in Streets of Fire that the trilogy its creators had in mind back in the 80's will finally come to fruition after all!" At Flickering Myth, David J. Moore articulates the forgiving nature of Pyun's fanbase. [Ed. Note: Please see the comment below in the comments section.]
Protagonist Kurt Wendell (Jonathan Hansler) gets axed from his job and picks up an ax to vent his frustration in Ryan Lee Driscoll's Axed (2012) [official site / IMDb]. Shades of The Shining abound as Wendell aims his frustration (and his ax) at his family in a tale that encourages President Obama to come up with a solution to the country's unemployment before a rash of indie genre films emerge on the festival circuit thinly guising this social ill.
Justin Paul Ritter's The Amazing Adventures of the Living Corpse (2012) [IMDb] involves "a somewhat self-aware zombie [who] takes it upon himself to keep the rest of the walking dead at bay." Though not as cohesive a narrative as one might wish for, the animated visuals are satisfying, especially the Living Corpse himself who achieves an iconicity comparable to that of the Crypt Keeper.
What makes this documentary all the more entertaining is its wry flourishes. When, for example, the film documents the product placement of J&B scotch whiskey, it recognizes the opportunity to list its own sponsors. Or when Fred Williamson discusses the Italian penchant for dubbing, his lips are purposely off-synch. Welcome interviews with dubbers Michael Forest and Ted Rusoff skillfully bring into focus the pros and cons of this Italian shortcut. Reminisces of how actors performed their own death-defying stunts is equally riveting.
Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay a survey such as Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s is that I'm now gnashing at the bit to see the films featured: Franco Nero in High Crime (1973), Chris Mitchum in The Mean Machine (aka Ricco, 1973), Henry Silva in The Death Dealer (aka Almost Human, 1974), Maurizio Merli in Violent Rome (1975), Fabio Testi in The Big Racket (1976), and Ursula Andress in Loaded Gun (1975). It's a pity that one or two of these titles weren't included in Holehead's lineup.
For more information on Holehead, please call (415) 820-3907 or click on www.sfindie.com.
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