Over the course of this week, we will uncover twenty titles you need to seek out at your local DVD store. Here is Part 4.

The list is laid out something like this. The title, year it was made, genre, synopsis and finally my rating. I hope to do more of these lists as I uncover some of the treasures hidden at the local videostore.

5. Still Breathing (1998) (Romantic – Drama)

Two lost soul-mates: Rosalyn (Joanna Going) is a cunning con-artist in L.A.and Fletcher (Brendan Fraser) is a secure puppeteer in San Antonio have the same dream linking each with the other.

Fletcher travels to L.A. to find this woman he can’t get out of his mind. “Still Breathing” is the perfect example that man still believes in destiny and true love.

The brilliant use of color, passionate dialogue and soft tones accent Fletcher’s quest for true love. What this film seems to have that a lot of romantic films don’t is a heart and a flawed true love.

Because of those two elements there is a little bit of reality in what the film is saying.

Fall in love with this little movie and always remember the ivy. (4 of 5)

4. Swingers (1996) (Comedy – Drama)

This is Mike’s story. Mike (Jon Favreau) is a left his girl in New York and came to LA to be a star. It’s taken six months longer than Mike would like and he’s not doing so well. Mike’s friends Trent (Vince Vaughn) and Rob (Ron Livingston) take Mike to Vegas to forget about life’s problems.

During that trip Mike is going to find out a little about himself. “Swingers” has a brilliant script, brilliant cast and it’s a lot of fun.

This little cult film made movie stars out of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. It’s so laid back and true to the world that you really relate to these guys.

Vaughn is utterly brilliant as the trio’s leader. He is quick-lipped, charismatic and makes the whole film flow. “Swingers” is a great little comedy to sit back and relax with. (4 of 5) .

3. Unholy, The (1988) (Horror)

A priest (Ben Cross) battles a demon that kills sinners in the act of sinning. “The Unholy” is one of those horror films that blur the line between religion and horror.

Imagine if you were faced with your ultimate temptation, would you give up all you are to have it?

The priest in this film is faced with that temptation and he is just a man. He also is protecting an innocent from the greatest evil man has ever known and being faced with his temptation may condemn that innocent for all time. I used to adore a short-lived television series called “Dark Shadows”.

It was a 1990s revival of a 1960s overly clever gothic soap opera of the same name. The star of that show was a cursed vampire named Barnabas Collins, who was played by Ben Cross.

That show and “The Unholy” are the two pieces of work that stand in my mind when I think of Ben Cross. Sure Cross was in “Chariots of Fire” but these two roles in the macabre are the ones that meant the most to me. If you can get into the mind of this priest and see his internal battle this film will challenge your mind like none other in this genre. (4 of 5)

2. Quigley Down Under (1990) (Western)

Sharpshooter Matt Quigley (Tom Selleck) claims to be the best long distance shooter in the world and is hired from America by Elliot Marston, an Australian rancher (Alan Rickman).

When Quigley arrives in Australia and confronts the rancher he finds a devious and cunning man. Marston’s plan for his employment shocks Quigley and he refuses. Marston tries to kill Quigley as he tries to escape Australia. Quigley finds that Marston is doing the unspeakable deed without him and it looks like Quigley may be the only man to stop him.

A western is a perfect setting for star Tom Selleck. He looks so at home as Quigley and his showdowns with Rickman are ripped right out of the classic westerns. The story is simple and that’s the way westerns should be.

Director Simon Wincer uses Quigley’s marksmanship with intensity and suspense that you are blown away when Quigley picks up his rifle. Rickman plays his villain with panache like he did in “Robin Hood” and “Die Hard”. “Quigley Down Under” is a great little western. (4 of 5) .

1. Pumpkinhead (1988) (Horror)

A group of renegade teens take a trip to the country where one of them is involved in a motorcycle accident. The accident kills the son of the local storekeeper (Lance Henriksen).

Filled with rage, the storekeeper pleads to a witch to unleash an unstoppable demon on the renegades. During the killing spree, the storekeeper realizes he may have a closer connection to the beast than previously thought.

“Pumpkinhead” is as close as one can get to the perfect modern monster film. The film was created and directed by “monster-creator” extraordinaire Stan Winston, who delivers one of the most original creatures ever to grace the silver screen.

Winston also gets an incredible performance out of veteran horror actor Lance Henriksen who brings a lot of passion to his lead character. This is one of the greatest monster-creature films of the horror genre. (4 of 5) .

(Possible Spoiler): A little known realization about this film occurs towards the film’s finale. Look ever so closely at the creature as it faces off against Henriksen. If you look close enough you will see the creature’s face echo Henriksen stating that in fact Henriksen’s soul was apart of the voodoo that created the demon. It’s awesome!

Ir a Aliens, el regreso.

PapáCapúllo-Capúllo-Capúllo 3:

PREDICTOR (JUAN MCTIERNO, 1987).

1- MÁS RIPOFFS COPIOTAS: Jaime Camarón pirateado.

Algo que todos los niños hemos aprendido gracias a estos arti-culos enladrillados sobre la saga de Alien es que en el mundo del cine sólo hay un tío que va un día y hace algo bueno, y que luego todos los demás hacen otra vez la misma película con otro nombre y cobrando ellos. A esto como ya sabemos lo llamamos ripoffff que es como tirarse un pedo de esos que huelen a gato muerto, nombre muy apropiado teniendo en cuenta que absolutamente todas las imitaciones que se hacen suelen ser putas mierdas.

¿Todas? ¡No! A veces surge una imitación que resulta que está muy biem y que acaba trascendiendo la etiqueta de ripoff copiota para alzarse como película bonica por derecho propio. Tal es el caso del flim que encabeza el titulo de este nuevo capítulo del ladrillaco, pelicula que analizaré sin vaselina más adelante. Pero ahora voy a centrarme en todos los demás cagarros que emergieron a raíz del exitazo de la secuela “INMIGRANTESS DE MIERDA, ONEMORETIME” de nuestro amado votante del PP Jaime Camarón.

Realmente fueron (y siguen siendo) infinitos los pajeros que copian la peli de Camarón hasta la puta demencia.

Una de las primeras (en 1986, el mismito año que el estreno de la de Jaime Camarón, ahí aporvechando el fuelle a saco sin contemplaciones) fue “EL INMIGRANTE VIOLADOR” –no, no que vuela… a ver si leemos bien: que VIOLA- (kaka “LA MUETE QUETEATACA” kaka “BRIDERS”) que va de un halieno que viene a la tierra para follarse a todas las vírgenes que encuentra. (Y es que como bien dice mi amigo el “Pelao”, los extranjeros no vienen na más que pa quitarnos a las pibas y el trabajo, por eso es bueno pegarles y también matarles pero sin que nadie se entere. ¡Ti!). El caso es que este inmigrante de la peli no parece que esté muy interesado en el tema del trabajo… El póster de la peli era muy graciozo porque salía una tía con un chumino en tó la cara, mirazlo:

También salían pelazos ochenteros que jamás debieron existir:

Un culo:

Un culo con sangre:

Y momentos de musical de Nacho Cano (ojalá-te-salga-cáncer-de-ano):

Tras el exitazo en 1986, los niños de Camarón se juntaron todos y sacaron una peliculita al año siguiente, en 1987, donde el grupo de marines se había pasado al lado oscuro (o sea que llevaban sin bañarse un año) y además les gustaba muchísimo de hacerse infusiones con compresas usadas. Efeztibamente y no, se habían trasnformado en BAMPIROSH!!!!!!!!!!!! La peli se entituló “LOS PAJEROS DE POR LAS NOCHES” y salen: Jazson que ahora es como Jazson pero en malote de verdaz, la Bástez que seguía siendo machurra pero llevaba pelucón de Madonna y Bichof que ahora era el jefe de los chupapijas y había sido un vaquero vampiro o no se qué puta mierda. La peli, para postre, imitaba a cascoporro a “ACABATOR” resutando en una mezlca extrañuza entre la peli del Chuache robox y la de “INMIGRANTES DE MIERDA ONEMORETIME”. A pesar de tó, y aunque no es que sea para meterse un dedo en el culo (ni dos), (ni tres), (ni cuatro), (ni cinco no porque ya entonces en un auto-fistfucking) la peli tenía muncias cosas bonicas y es la primera que presentó vampiros guarros y punkarras hijos de puta (hasta ahora habían sido todos putos condes pijos de mierda repeinaos y religiosos). A estos se las sudaba el requesón que les enseñases una cruz, y le daban al JB y al tabaco lo mismito que al sorbo de hemoglobina. Fueron inspiración directa para el personaje vampiro más genial jamás creado: Sean Cassidy del comiz de “PREDICADORL”, y también inspiraron algún capítulo de BAZOFY jamelga cazabanpiroz.

También en 1987 a MEL(acomes) BRUCS (salud) se le ocurre otra de sus ideas geñales: hacer una peli que sea un ripoff copiota de un montón de pelis anteriores, pero hace como que es de risa para que no parezca que tiene mucho morro. A veces es de risa y a veces es del nivel de un episodio de Omaíta pero en general la peli que sacó ripoffeando a pelis de esziencia-ficsión “ESPEISPELOTAS” es de las mejores, o sea, de las que si que hacen risa. Concreta de bakalao mente hay una escena que homenajea la primera de “INMIGRANTE” de Ridelio Escroto con el mismisimo aztor JUAN JURT en la cuala tiene de nuevo a su bebesito en un mcdonalds, el cual esta vez tiene inquietudes similares a Concha Medasco y se pone a bailar y cantar como en un musical de Nacho Cano (ojalá-te-salga-cáncer-de-ano, joder).

En 1988 sale un ripoff copiota que verdaderamente es mucho más que eso, resultando en una cosita que a mi me gustó muncio y que está muy bien hecha. Los efeztos speshpeshiales son una hobra de harte hecha por ESTANISLAO GÜÍNSTONS que tras haber fabricado a los halienos para Camarón y ver que le salían bien, se decidió a dirigir su propia peliculita con un haliensito de protagonista llamado PUNQUINJEZ (cabeza-pepino) el cual era en realidaz LANAS JENRICSEN, el aztor que había hecho del robox Bichof. Cuando se cabrea muncio se transforma en este Punquinkez y mata a tó dios. Os la recomiendo, es muy buena (va en serio cabrones). En nuestro país de gañanes la entitularon PAZTO DE SANGRES.

Más mierdas: a algunos copiones se les ocurre que para que no se note que es una copia, en vez de situar la historia de INMIGRANTES en el espacio, pues la ambientan bajo el agua.

Sí, ya sé que es pa cojerles y no sé qué hacerles, pero reprimid vuestra violencia para cuando vayáis luego a pagar fantas a la zorra que os mola y centraos en el presente, por favor, gracias. Hay un dato MUY IMPORTANTE aquí. Y es que estos hijos de puta estaba MEZCLANDO 2 PELIS DISTINTAS DE JAIME CAMARÓN en UNA SOLA!

Y es que no se puede culpar a los copiotas, porque el primer copiota fue el mismísimo JAIME que se copió a si mismo Y VOLVIÓ A HACER “INMIGRANTESS” bajo el océano pacífico. La peli se entituló “EL ABIZMO. Los protas eran EZ JARRIS y MARIAELISABEZMASTRANTONIO que aparte de tener un nombre que merece que le den de ostias a sus padres, estaba más buena que el pan bimbo sin corteza. Aquí los halienos no eran malos, sino que eran blanduzcos y querían advertir a la jumanidaz que así vamos mal y que no tiremos colillas encendidas por la terraza y mierdas asín… pero toda la jodida ambientación y la fotogradía, tios, era calcada a “INMIGRANTESS” y además salía MIGUEL BIEN (el Quepo Jics que se enamoraba de la Riply) que ahora era un marine psicótico y con bigotito.

A pesar de ser un copiota de si mismo, lo cual es francamente triste y repugnante, a mi es una peli que siempre me ha bustado muncio, pero es porque yo también soy francamente triste y repugnante.

De modo güei que los niños sin talento fundieron ABYSSSSSS e INMIGRANTESSSSS de Camarón y brotaron pedazos de cachos de trozos de caca como:

OJETE PROFUNDO SEIS en el mismo año 1989:

LESBIATÁN, EL DEMOÑO DEL LESBIANISMO también de 1989:

Ésta última tenía como potra-gonista a PEDO GÜELES que era el aztor que había hecho de ROVOCOZ. También salía un pedazo de pibón de la ostia fina, miraz en el poster y veréis acercándoos un huevo que está muy chiquitico que sale una chavala con un pedazo de culo de cortar la digestión. Bueno, pues no está falseado, la propietaria de ése ojete es AMANDAR PAJOTES (Amanda Pays), y aquí tenéis unas muestras de lo buenaca que está para que os podáis desahogar tal como su propio nombre ordena:

Aquí un doctor que claramente tiene una pedazo de erección que le hace arrugar el entrecejo de dolorcito y esfuerzo por la contención:

Y finalmente unas fotitos de su cara para que os imaginéis que culmináis vuestro trabajo manual como en la filmogradía de las películas entre la “W” y la “Y”:

Otra de estas mierdas tipo “halienos en el mar” fue “ALIEN DEGLI ABISSI”, kaka “HALIENO FROM THE DIP” kaka “EL INMIGRANTE DE MIERDA DEL ABISMO”, que emergió del mar como troncho de caca el año 1990.  Ni qué decir tiene que era de marca espagueti y que los protagonistas cuando hablaban hacían tuatos con la mano y los balanceaban adelante y atrás, como si eso diera mayor expresividad a sus palabras.

El final de esta peli incluía a un halieno gigante de color negro con pinzas de cangrejo y cabeza de R2-D2 que los buenos matan con un lazallamas y una excavadora, imitando la lucha final entre Riply-MaikelLlacson y la Reina Haliena Puta.

Es maliísima de cojones. Sí, la he visto. Sí, en fast forward. Sí, tengo micropene.

Pero posiblemente no tan mala como el nuevo regüeldo que viene a continuación. Resulta que en a principios de los años 90 había muncios rumores sobre que Jaimito estaba rodando la selacuela de “EL ACABADOR” y los copiotas más espabilaos no se hicieron de rogar. Mezclaron otra vez 2 películas distintas de Jaime y el resultado fueron flipantes basuras como:

1990, “EL ACABADOR 2 FALSO” kaka “ALIENATORS (con 2 cojones)” kaka “CHOQUIN DARC”.

Efeztibamente y sí!!!!! Se trata de la segunda parte de “El Acabador” hecha antes que la oficial de Jaime Camarón. Si habéis leido las entregas anteriores de este ladrillaco, como todos podréis recordar (a no ser que ahora mismo estéis muy fumaos, o seáis una carpa, o seáis gilipollas, o las tres cosas same time) esto ya había ocurrido con la peli de Ridelio Escrito en Tanolandia. Pero esta selacuela pirata no está hecha en Italia, sino en los Estados Juntitos por Bruno (no, no el gran Dios Brüno, otro gelipuella) Mattei y va de: un HALIENO muy malo viene y mata mucho. RIPLY se hace amiga de una niña-puta llamada NUT. Los MARINES van a matar al Halieno pero mueren todos porque no se repliegan por escuadras…. (hasta aquí, todo obvio que tiene más que ver con INMIGRANTESS que con ACABADOR… hasta que…) TACHAN! Un marine decide que la única manera de acabar con el moztro es convertirse en un ACABADOR. Y va y lo mata.

Ya.

En este bidio podéis ver el resumen de esta marabilla:

En 1995 –sorpresas con rima para tu desagüe- aparece otra preciosidad del séztimo harte denominada “ALIEN TERMINATOR”… increíble lo que se han currado el título. Es una mezcla de 2 pelis de Jaime Camarón que voy a dejar que adivinéis vosotros solos porque no os lo voy a dejar yo todo en bandeja, y demás ya estoy viendo que empezáis a hacer mayores y estoy hasta los cojones ya de manteneros a ver si os buscáis un trabajo hijos de puta y dejáis ya de vivir en mi casa comiéndoos mi comida y encima sin traer un duro. Copón.

Luego aunque estas que vienen a continuación realmente no se inspiraron en INMIGRANTESS sino tan sólo en EL ACABADOR, pero creo que así y todo por estar basadas en la obra de Camarón pueden ser intelectualmente interesantes. Son esta de 1985:

Y esta de 1991:

“INMIGRATESS DE MIERDA ONEMORETIME” siguió produciendo ripoffs copiotas no sólo en los años posteriores a su existencia, sino que acojonantemente siguen apareciendo hasta hoy en día. La mayoría de los estúpidos teens de nuestro mundo aztual no han visto “INMIGRANTESS” de Camarón porque ellos nunca ven pelis hechas antes de que nacieran porque es cutre. En su mente llena de tontunas, las pelis hechas en el momento presente son buenas. Y además Tokyo Hotel tienen talento. El caso es que han debido de tragarse como 300 peliculas que eran nada menos que copias de la peli de Camarón mientras que la buena no la han visto por algun motivo de esos raros suyos. Los teens me dan asco, un día los voy a matar a todos y me las voy a follar a todas. ¿Lo he dicho bien? Si, creo que si. Un ejemplo de mierda copiota del año 1997:

Y ya.

Aioo.

Por: Truño Llameante.

There have been oodles of monster countdowns. There have been ones about “giant monsters”, “sea creatures”, “classic monsters” and “human-sized monsters” so where was all love for the little monsters!

In the spirit of Halloween, we will take a look at those small monsters people quickly forget.

#10 C.H.U.D.

There is no real way to describe what a CHUD is. I think that is why they came up with the name being an acronym for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller.” These beings of the sewer terrorized New York citizens including John Heard, Daniel Stern, Robert Vaughn and June Lockhart in two films. At first glance you might call them tiny cousins of Morlocks from The Time Machine. But really they are just ugly, slimy nasty little buggers.

#9 Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

First of all I wanna meet the guy that thought up the idea that Killer produce was a marketable idea in Hollywood. This indie movie became an indie sensation with multiple sequels in the 80s and I can still hear the theme  song in my head. If you can forget the idiocy of the plot and the illogical idea that a tomato can become conscious and crave blood then you will laugh your butt off at this flick. The tomatoes make our list because these tiny psychotic produce may be funnier than hell but they are still monsters. Not to mention they harass George Clooney in the sequel.

#8 Quatto

Who in their right mind can forget Quatto when seeing the movie, Total Recall. Man lifts up shirt goes into trance as his stomach starts talking to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now that is one creepy beer belly.

“Quuuaaaaiiiiidddd, release your mind!”

Quatto is also the most powerful small monster on our list as he is the leader of the Martian resistance and he asks for Arnie’s help. My question is which mouth does he eat through? Does Quatto have a social life? Are there female Quatto? Oh and those freakish baby arms creep me out!

#7 Ghoulies

These little guys know how to party! Their slimy, crawl up through toilets and are summoned by Satanic worshipers who have no idea what they are getting themselves into. The first film was directed by Charles Band who was also responsible for many of the Puppetmaster and Trancers sequels. The effects were also one of the earlier works of the late Stan Winston who did Ghoulies a year after his work on the first Terminator.

The infamous toilet crawling scene was actually added into the film after it had wrapped. It came from the mind of Charles Band when he was trying to come up an idea for a promotional campaign for the film.

These little demons spawned three sequels which just got worse and worse as they went. In one sequel they harass a dumbfounded Andrew McCarthy at college. Sure this is a Gremlins rip off but Ghoulies really took the concept into another arena of the B-Movie. Ghoulies did help Charles Band become one of the most successful B-Movie makers of the 1980s. During the late 1980s and early 1990s he even rivaled Roger Corman.

#6 Basketcase

Ghoulies may have been a more successful franchise but when you think about the complications of making our next monster believable I think you have to see why he slips past those tiny little hell-raisers.

Basically Basketcase looks like a tumor with arms who lives in a basket and is psychotic. He also has a name, Belial. What he is actually is the remnants of a conjoined twin. His very naive and attractive brother, Duane, cares for him and well leads victims to Belial. The film’s plot revolves around the conjoined twins hunting down the doctors who separated them.

Belial came from the mind of Frank Henenlotter, who wrote and directed the film. He was also the hands of Belial when he grabbed his victims. Henenlotter guided the series into two sequels.

In future episodes, the twins meet an assortment of freaks, Duane tries to reattach Belial, Duane goes to an asylum, Belial gets a girlfriend and they have offspring. Another reason Basketcase ranks above Ghoulies is that with each sequel they continued the story and believe it or not. Belial became a character you wanted to know what happens to. I am not sure a love interest was the way to go but that is just something you have to see.

Oh one last question, could Belial and Quatto be cousins?

See you back here Thursday as we reveal the top five “pint-sized” monsters.

So Says the Soothsayer.

In honor of Fred Dekker’s October 15 appearance at the American Cinematheque with a director’s cut of NIGHT OF THE CREEPS, here’s one highlight of his delightful uber-80’s cult film, THE MONSTER SQUAD. This was a bad period of over-produced and under-whelming spfx sci-fi horror as Dekker and co-writer Shane Black’s affectionate tribute to creature features got lost in the shuffle. Even I missed this one in the theater. But I rented it the second it hit home video, pleasantly surprised by the fun, nostalgic script and impressed with Dekker’s stylish, dynamic direction. Here was a genuine Sam Raimi fully formed and informed of the genre.

To that end, THE MONSTER SQUAD features a reel fangtastic four such as Dracula, Wolfman, a proto-Creature From The Black Lagoon, and of course, Frankenstein’s monster, wonderfully portrayed by Tom Noonan. The late, great Stan Winston designed the superior make-up, probably the finest cinematic tributes to the Universal series. Like the ABBOT AND COSTELLO monster mashes, Dekker blends comedy and horror as this tense, cathartic scene above demonstrates. Although THE MONSTER SQUAD has since received its due, I’d love to see Fred Dekker directing again as his two films showed such visual genre promise and passion. Bogus!

Al menos eso es lo que pretende la 20th Century Fox: estrenar en Estados Unidos la nueva entrega dedicada a los alienígenas cazadores de hombres, el 7 de julio del año que viene.

Las peli ya está en preproducción; la dirigirá Nimród Antal, del que hemos podido ver la original “Kontrol” (2003), o el entretenido (sin más) film de terror “Habitación sin salida” (2007). Robert Rodríguez, que anda inmerso en la pos-producción de su “Machete”, y con el proyecto en marcha, de realizar la secuela de “Sin City” junto a Frank Miller, asume las labores de productor, y no las de director, como se preveía en principio.

Con esta, serán cinco las películas en las que habremos visto en acción a la criatura creada por Stan Winston (contando las dos de la saga “Aliens vs. Predator”), aunque de momento, la mayoría recordamos con especial predilección la primera aparición del depredador en 1987, en el film protagonizado por Arnold Schwarzenegger, al que por cierto, parece que se pretende convencer de que realice un cameo en este nuevo film.

El guión estará escrito por Rodríguez, junto a los noveles Michael Finch y Alex Litvak, y si las informaciones que hemos podido ver sobre este guión, son más o menos ciertas, la historia nos situaría en el planeta de los predators, al que sería trasladado un grupo de humanos a los que han secuestrado, y que estará compuesto por seres desarraigados y violentos, con los que organizarán una sangrienta cacería.

Danny Trejo, que está confirmado para interpretar a “Cuchillo”, será un mexicano mercenario del narcotráfico, especializado en utilizar armas afiladas. “Hanzo”, otro de los personajes, es un esbirro de la Yakuza japonesa, y va armado con dos katanas; “Stans”, es un despiadado guerrillero de Sierra Leona; la francesa “Isabelle”, la única mujer del grupo, es una experta francotiradora; “Nikolai”, un desalmado asesino ruso, que utiliza como arma una ametralladora Gatling, Edwin, uno de los criminales más buscados por el FBI, y el protagonista, “Royce”, de cuyo perfil no se sabe nada, completan el grupo que tendrá que luchar por su supervivencia en contra de los predators.

Como he dicho en la cabecera, los depredadores atacan de nuevo. Pero… ¿Era necesario ese ataque? Siempre mas de lo mismo, cansa.

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Fuente: Latino Review

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Swanson 

Im Weltall nicht Neues.

Lange Zeit machte man sich in Hollywood ausführlich über diejenigen Kapitalzuschüsse lustig, die ein findiger Spaßvogel dereinst auf den wenig rühmlichen Namen „Stupid German Money“ taufte. Dahinter verbargen sich Gelder aus zahlreichen seidenen bis halbseidenen Medienfonds, mit denen sich trefflich Steuern sparen ließ – bis der Gesetzgeber sich hierzulande als Spielverderber erwies und dem Fiskus mit der Abschaffung des Modells ein paar müde Euro rettete. Vorbei war es mit den schnell zusammengezimmerten Abfallprodukten, die produziert werden mussten, um den Investoren einen Beleg für ihre Zahlungen zu liefern. Uwe Boll etwa gehörte jahrelang zu den fleißigsten Profiteuren der Fondsfinanzierung und bereicherte die Filmgeschichte mit ihrer Hilfe um Titel wie „Bloodrayne“, „House of the Dead“ oder „Alone in the Dark“ (einer der seltenen Fällen, in denen Tara Reid ausnahmsweise nicht das schlimmste Element war). Nun muss man Boll immerhin zugute halten, dass er die Finanzierung jederzeit mit seinen eigenen Kommanditgesellschaften gesichert hat, und sich damit merklich von all denen unterscheidet, die lediglich die Hand aufhielten, wenn irgendwo Fondsgelder zu verteilen waren. Das Modell ist mittlerweile in gewissem Sinne verstaatlicht und heißt nun DFFF. Und während man sich auf Initiatorenseite zufrieden auf die Schulter klopft ob der großen Erfolge und ausländischen Produktionen (etwa „Antichrist“ oder „Inglourious Basterds“), die das neue Modell seit Einführung ins Land geholt hat (und denen man dankbar mehrstellige Millionensummen hinterherschmiss) beweisen die Amerikaner, dass sie es nicht verlernt haben, sich auch ihre ABM-Projekte vom deutschen Steuerzahler mitfinanzieren zu lassen. Früher indirekt durch die Medienfonds, jetzt direkt mithilfe des DFFF und anderer Förderinstanzen. Ein schulbuchmäßiges Beispiel dafür ist „Pandorum“ – ein millionenschwerer B-Film, der seinen eigenen Dilettantismus so uneingeschränkt zur Schau stellt, dass selbst Uwe Boll neidisch werden müsste.

Eine Zukunftsvision vom Reißbrett: Die Ressourcenknappheit auf der Erde zwingt die Menschheit, das Sonnensystem nach geeigneten Umsiedlungsmöglichkeiten abzusuchen. Auf einer solchen Erkundungsmission befindet sich die Elysium, ein riesiger Raumgleiter, auf dem offenbar einiges schiefgelaufen ist. Zwei Besatzungsmitglieder erwachen ziemlich unsanft aus dem Hyperschlaf, ohne sich zunächst an Details ihrer Reise erinnern zu können. Schnell wird ersichtlich, dass die Situation an Bord ganz gehörig aus dem Ruder gelaufen ist. Die Lage spitzt sich zu, als sich herausstellt, dass die versorgenden Energiesysteme in Kürze versagen werden. Um das zu verhindern und den verursachenden Fehler zu beheben, muss einer der beiden über ein enges Netz aus Luftschächten und labyrinthartigen Tunnelsystemen zum Antriebsreaktor vordringen. Doch was ihn unterwegs erwartet, lässt seine schlimmsten Alpträume wahr werden. Grausam zugerichtete Leichen, feindlich gesinnte Überlebende und eine Horde blutrünstiger Kreaturen (Aliens?) auf Menschenjagd machen die Tour zum Himmelfahrtskommando.

Welche einschlägigen Genre-Vorbilder hier am Werk waren, braucht man kaum explizit aufzulisten. Vom Set-Design bis zur Motivation einzelner Kerncharaktere steht dieser Film unübersehbar in der Tradition der vergleichsweise großen Anzahl von „Alien“- Plagiaten. Ein bisschen „Predator“ hier, ein bisschen „Resident Evil“ da, und insgesamt jede Menge „Event Horizon“ – das muss niemanden wundern, denn zu den Produzenten von „Pandorum“ gehört mit Paul W. S. Anderson eben jener Initiator der beiden letztgenannten Filme, der bislang zweiteiligen „Alien vs Predator“-Reihe, sowie anderer artverwandter Beiträge (etwa das Kurt-Russell-Vehikel „Soldier“). Anderson hat seine Nische als moderner Roger Corman (mit größeren Budgets) gefunden, und er bedient sie verlässlich.

Dagegen ist nun zunächst einmal nichts einzuwenden. Was Anderson produziert, ist weder sonderlich originell, noch gar in irgendeiner Weise anspruchsvoll, bietet aber handwerklich solides Genre-Kino, das die Wartezeit bis zum Start des nächsten echten Großereignisses (etwa James Camerons ungeduldig herbeigesehnter „Avatar“) leichter ertragen hilft. Warum genau das bei „Pandorum“ wenn überhaupt, dann nur äußerst eingeschränkt funktioniert, lässt sich an wenigen Punkten ziemlich exakt festmachen. In erster Linie aber hätte diesem Film vor allem ein Funken Selbstironie gut getan, denn während die Charaktere an manchen Stellen unfassbar dummes Zeug von sich geben, nimmt sich das teils arg abstruse Handlungsgefüge so bierernst, dass einem selbst der Spaß an den durchweg gut gelungenen Effekten und leidlich ansehnlichen Interieurs vergehen kann.

Zu Beginn ist die ganze Sache äußerst vielversprechend. Die ersten Einstellungen wecken Hoffnungen, die der Film unmöglich erfüllen kann. Außenaufnahmen des Raumgleiters, die so plastisch wirken, dass man meinen könnte, hier sei ursprünglich eine 3D-Version in Planung gewesen (das holt die eingespielte Produktionstruppe Anderson / Constantin dafür demnächst mit „Resident Evil: Afterlife“ nach), Traumvisionen in gleißend weißem Licht, und schließlich eine bemerkenswert überzeugende Variante des allzu oft gesehenen Hyperschlaf-Prinzips: Wenn die beiden Astronauten vom Bordcomputer ins Leben zurückgerufen werden, dann ist das kein sanftes Erwachen, wie man es sonst zu sehen bekommt. Schmerzen, tiefsitzende Übelkeit, Gedächtinisverlust – die Figuren winden sich heftig, bis sie wieder einigermaßen zu sich kommen. Damit ist der Realismus dieses Films aber dann auch bereits erledigt. Wie überraschend der Auftakt gerät, so sehr verliert sich der Rest in gähnend langweilige bis enervierend ärgerliche Klischees.

„Pandorum“ weist alle Symptome von Produktionsbedingungen auf, bei denen mit spitzem Bleistift kalkuliert wurde. Gedreht in den Babelsberger Studios, hat man offenbar frühzeitig dafür gesorgt, dass der einzige Name mit international leidlich verwertbarer Reputation, Dennis Quaid also (nach „G.I. Joe – Geheimauftrag Cobra“ noch eine Chargenleistung), möglichst wenig Drehtage bekommt, damit bezahlbar bleibt und trotzdem präsent genug ist, um noch mit einigem Goodwill als Hauptdarsteller durchgehen zu können (auch wenn das der unbekanntere und deshalb wesentlich budgetfreundlichere Ben Foster ist). Seine Figur bleibt im Wesentlichen auf ein einziges Set beschränkt, die Kommandozentrale des Raumgleiters. Von dort aus wird er zwar immer mal wieder zwischenmontiert, seine Funktion beschränkt sich aber lange Zeit fast ausschließlich darauf, mit dem zweiten Protagonisten in Funkkontakt zu bleiben (und als dieser abbricht, muss er trotzdem permanent nachfragen, ob sein Astronautenkollege ihn noch hört). Erst im letzten Drittel ändert sich die Lage, und Quaids Figur bekommt noch einen zweiten, ebenso haarsträubenden wie leicht durchschaubaren Handlungsstrang ins Nest gelegt.

Set-Design, Look und Kreaturen (aus den Stan-Winston-Studios – kriegt man in Deutschland also anscheinend nicht hin) können sich sehen lassen, doch das hilft wenig bei einem Drehbuch, das aus der vielversprechenden Grundidee mit einer Ausgangslage, die bereits in Produktionen mit weitaus geringerem Budget Überraschendes zutage förderte („Cube“ oder „Saw“ etwa nutzen das Potential des Amnesie-Motivs wirksam aus), nicht besonders viel anzufangen weiss. Die Charaktere sind allesamt eher eindimensional gestrickt. Psychologische Tiefe wird ihnen lediglich unterstellt, den Beweis bleiben Buch, Darsteller und Regie jedoch schuldig. Für echte Identifikation reicht das kaum, und so kann einem auch ziemlich egal sein, was mit den einzelnen Figuren passiert.

Ob Regisseur Christian Alvart zudem mit der Inszenierung von Actionsequenzen entweder sichtbar überfordert war oder dem Rohmaterial erst am Schneidetisch der Todesstoß versetzt wurde, lässt sich zwar nicht endgültig entscheiden, das Ergebnis fällt aber in jedem Fall katastrophal aus. Wer bisher geglaubt hat, man könne Zweikämpfe und Verfolgungsjagden nicht unübersichtlicher inszenieren als Michael Bay, darf sich hier gerne eines Besseren belehren lassen. Über weite Strecken wird es unmöglich, dem wie mit Willkür montierten Geschehen auf der Leinwand zu folgen. Wer wen gerade angreift, niederstreckt oder attackiert, lässt sich vielfach auch beim besten Willen nicht sagen. Das ist vor allem deshalb bedauerlich, weil es auf diese Weise fast unmöglich wird, einen genaueren Blick auf die Kreaturen zu werfen, die zumindest vom Schauwert her einiges zu bieten haben (und ganz offensichtlich im engeren Verwandtschaftsverhältnis zu den Humanoiden aus „The Descent“ stehen).

„Pandorum“ ist der archetypische Fall eines Films, der unter anderen Bedingungen direkt auf DVD gelandet wäre und dort im Grunde auch hingehört. Und das ist noch nicht einmal negativ gemeint. Das Kinoformat an sich setzt nun einmal per se höhere Erwartungen frei als eine Produktion wie diese sie erfüllen kann. Man darf mit einiger Sicherheit davon ausgehen, dass die Zweitverwertung per Silberscheibe gut funktioniert, an den US-Kinokassen spielte das Genre-Vehikel jedoch bei geschätzten 40 Millionen Dollar Produktionskosten lediglich laue 4,4 Millionen um. Geplant ist laut Alvart eine Trilogie. Ob es dazu tatsächlich kommt, steht derzeit jedoch eher in den Sternen. Und dass dort nicht alles zum Besten bestellt ist, genau das belegt der (vermeintlich?) erste Teil immerhin perfekt.

Artikel © 2009 Thomas Lenz. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Filmplakat / Fotos: Constantin Film Verleih GmbH

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Som bekant sålde Bukowskis nyligen ut Ingmar Bergmans gamla möblemang till sagolika priser. 11 000 spänn för en papperskorg av rotting? Nog för att Ingmar kanske slängt kluddar till Scener ur ett äktenskap där, men ändå?

Jaja. Jag har egentligen aldrig varit särskilt mycket för det där med memorabilia och samlargrejor så jag ingår väl inte riktigt i målgruppen. Men om jag råkade ha en massa pengar som låg och skräpade och kände för att spendera på lite filmmemorabilia så skulle jag nog snarare lägga dem på ett fullskaligt endoskelett av en Terminator snarare än Ingmar Bergmans promenadkäppar.

Japp, det är alltså den gamle specialeffektsmästaren Stan Winstons efterlämnade grejor som ska auktioneras ut (kolla in grejorna här) den 8-9 oktober. Winston, som gick bort i maj 2008, gjorde modeller, masker och effekter till filmer som Predator, Aliens, Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands och – förstås – Terminator-filmerna.

En papperskorg är trots allt bara en papperskorg, oavsett vem som ägt den. Men ett Terminatorskelett bredvid hatthyllan i hallen – det är det inte alla som har.

(Via Science fiction-bloggen.)

Andra bloggar om film, ingmar bergman, memorabilia, stan winston

By Krystal Clark – ScreenCrave.com

An honest and legit decision has been made in regards to the Robert Rodriguez reboot Predators. The original film featured the alien design of the late great Stan Winston, a look that has undergone several changes over the years. According to an article over at Moviehole, Winston’s original design will be honored in the new film, and Predator fans everywhere will be more than pleased with the improvements.

Moviehole sat down with Howard Berger, the head of the shop in charge of Predators‘ visual effects to discuss the old and new look of the film.

“We wanted to have the Predator look as it did in the original film. We went back and looked at the original. I actually worked in the shop with Stan Winston on the first film. It was great to be able to go back to the series having not been involved in any of the sequels, and it was also great to be able to make sure we built them as Stan Winston did,” said Berger. “They look really fantastic. There’s a whole bunch of cool [Predator's] in the film, and everyone’s going to be very happy that we’ve been very faithful to the Stan Winston designs. It’s out next year. It’s shooting very soon.”

James Camerons Avatar

Background and details about Avatar:

The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race, who are considered primitive, yet are more physically capable than humans. Standing three meters tall (approximately 10ft), with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora’s forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.

Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. The Avatars are living, breathing bodies that are controlled by a human “driver” through a technology that links the driver’s mind to their Avatar body. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake can be whole once again. Sent deep into Pandora’s jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora’s beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri, whose beauty is matched only by her ferocity in battle.

Over time, Jake integrates himself into Na’vi’s clan, and begins to fall in love with Neytiri. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth, and the Na’vi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of an entire world.

In 1994, director James Cameron wrote an 80-page scriptment for Avatar. Cameron said his inspiration was “every single science fiction book I read as a kid”, and that he was particularly striving to update the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter series. Cameron saw his story as being about how advanced civilizations supplant indigenous cultures, in either actively genocidal or more unpremeditated ways, and was influenced by the story of Pocahontas. In Avatar, humanity extends that practice to entire planets. The premise of a paralyzed man whose mind is remotely controlling an alien body is very similar to Poul Anderson’s 1957 short story “Call me Joe.” In August 1996, Cameron announced that after completing Titanic, he would film Avatar, which would make use of “synthetic”, or computer-generated, actors. The project would cost $100 million and involve at least six actors in leading roles “who appear to be real but do not exist in the physical world”. Special effects house Digital Domain, with whom Cameron has a partnership, joined the project, which was supposed to begin production in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 release. However, that was not to be, due to the special effects he wanted ran the budget up to $400 million, which made the film impossible to be made.

In June 2005, director Cameron was announced to be working on a project tentatively titled “Project 880″, concurrently with another project, Battle Angel. By December, Cameron said that he planned to film Battle Angel first for a summer 2007 release, and to film Project 880 for a 2009 release. In February 2006, Cameron said he had switched goals for the two film projects – Project 880 was now scheduled for 2007 and Battle Angel for 2009. He indicated that the release of Project 880 would possibly be delayed until 2008. Later that February, Cameron revealed that Project 880 was “a retooled version of Avatar”, a film that he had tried to make years earlier, citing the technological advances in the creation of the computer-generated characters Gollum, King Kong and Davy Jones. Cameron had chosen Avatar over Battle Angel after completing a five-day camera test in the previous year.

Cameron’s early scriptment for Avatar had circulated on the Internet for years. When the project was re-announced, copies were subsequently removed from websites. In June 2006, Cameron said that if Avatar was successful, he hoped to make two sequels to the film.

From January to April 2006, Cameron worked on the script. Working with Paul Frommer, linguist and Director of the Center for Management Communication at USC, he developed a whole language and culture for the Na’vi, the indigenous race on Pandora. In July, Cameron announced that he would film Avatar for a summer 2008 release and planned to begin principal photography with an established cast by February 2007. The following August, the visual effects studio Weta Digital signed on to help Cameron produce Avatar. Stan Winston, who had collaborated with Cameron in the past, joined Avatar to help with the film’s designs. In September 2006, Cameron was announced to be using his own Reality Camera System to film in 3-D. The system would use two high-definition cameras in a single camera body to create depth perception.

Filming and effects

Avatar was filmed using newly developed 3D virtual cameras, which would produce stereoscopic 3D images simulating human sight. In December 2006, Cameron explained that the delay in producing the film since the 1990s had been to wait until the technology necessary to create his project was advanced enough. The director planned to create photo-realistic computer-generated characters by using motion capture animation technology, on which he had been doing work for the past 14 months. Unlike previous performance capture systems, where the digital environment is added after the actors’ motions have been captured, Cameron’s new virtual camera allows him to observe directly on a monitor how the actors’ virtual counterparts interact with the movie’s digital world in real time and adjust and direct the scenes just as if shooting live action; “It’s like a big, powerful game engine. If I want to fly through space, or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a living miniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale.” Cameron planned to continue developing the special effects for Avatar, which he hoped would be released in summer 2009. He also gave fellow directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson a chance to test the new technology. Spielberg and George Lucas were also able to visit the set to watch Cameron direct with the equipment.

Other technological innovations include a performance-capture stage, called The Volume, which is six times larger than previously used and an improved method of capturing facial expressions. The tool is a small individually made skull cap with a tiny camera attached to it, located in front of the actors’ face which collects information about their facial expressions and eyes, which is then transmitted to the computers. This way, Cameron intends to transfer about 95% of the actors’ performances to their digital counterparts. Besides a real time virtual world, the team is also experimenting with a way of letting computer generated characters interact with real actors on a real, live-action set while shooting live action.

In January 2007, Fox announced that the studio’s Avatar would be filmed in 3D at 24 frames per second. Cameron described the film as a hybrid with a full live-action shoot in combination with computer-generated characters and live environments. “Ideally at the end of the day the audience has no idea which they’re looking at,” Cameron said. The director indicated that he had already worked four months on nonprincipal scenes for the film. Principal photography began in April 2007, and was done around parts of Los Angeles as well as New Zealand. The live action is shot with the proprietary Fusion digital 3-D camera system developed by Cameron and Vince Pace. According to Cameron, the film will be composed of 60% computer-generated elements and 40% live action, as well as traditional miniatures. The performance-capture photography would last 31 days at the Hughes Aircraft stage in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. In October, Cameron was scheduled to shoot live-action in New Zealand for another 31 days.

To create the human mining colony on Pandora, production designers visited the Noble Clyde Boudreaux drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico during June 2007. They photographed, measured and filmed every aspect of the rig, which will be replicated on-screen with photorealistic CGI. Around 1000 people worked on the production.

Music

Composer James Horner will score the film, which will be his third collaboration with Cameron after Aliens and Titanic. Horner recorded parts of the score with a small chorus singing in the alien language Na’vi in March 2008. He is also working with Wanda Bryant, an ethnomusicologist, to create a music culture for the alien race. The first scoring sessions were planned to take place in the Spring of 2009.

Esta encuesta ha llegado a su fin. Después de unas cuantas semanas los votantes han reflejado cual es la entrega que más les ha gustado de la saga Terminator. Y evidentemente no ha sido ninguna de las partes en las cuales no ha intervenido James Cameron. Y es que “Terminator 2: El Juicio Final” siempre se ha considerado como una de las secuelas que ha conseguido eclipsar en cierta medida a la película de origen. Y no es para menos. Aunque a mí siempre me ha costado poner a una por encima de la otra. En la primera entrega los humanos tenían que arreglarselas como podían, sin ayuda externa. Pero en la segunda tambien pudimos ver a un Terminator enfrentándose a uno de sus congéneres, lo cual sorprendió a propios y extraños.

Los resultados han arrojado el dominio absoluto de la segunda entrega de Terminator, consiguiendo más de la mitad de los votos. La primera entrega sólo superó por nueve a la dirigida por McG. Y Terminator 3 se ha tenido que contentar con un mísero seis por ciento de los votos (16 en total).

Bueno, en breves incluiré una interesante encuesta, ya que con lo que llevamos de año no faltan muchos blockbusters por estrenarse. ¿Os oleis de qué va verdad ?

Cruel, devious, pure as venom. All hell’s broken loose

Sendo o primeiro filme que o mago dos efeitos especiais Stan Winston fez, até que nem saiu muito mau. Partindo de uma crença Redneck das profundezas do Sul dos E.U.A., (aquele sitio de onde normalmente saem as pseudo-criaturas dos filmes de terror em que prociam entre elas e se masturbam sobre as fezes e fazem outras coisas que nem vale a pena referir) que diz que se pode conjurar uma criatura para vingar os nossos entes queridos. Ora vejam lá que uma cambada de jovens não se lembram de atropelar o filhote do nosso Lance Henriksen. Safados. E como o Lance, já habituado as barras de tribunais portuguesas e sabendo que iria tudo ficar em águas de bacalhau, decide então lançar a maldição entre a rapaziada. Mas depois arrepende-se do que fez, provavelmente porque até tem um coração mole ou porque lhe prometeram um lugar nos filmes de Uwe Boll. É então que começa a caçada ao bicho de nome Pumpkinhead. Com um fim daqueles que a malta começa a dizer ” Queres ver que isto ainda vai dar pano para mangas” é sem sombra de dúvida um filme a não perder. De Stan Winston, com Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D’Aquino, Kimberly Ross, Joel Hoffman, Cynthia Bain, Kerry Remsen, Florence Schauffler, Brian Bremer, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Matthew Hurley, Lee de Broux, Peggy Walton-Walker, Chance Corbitt Jr. e Dick Warlock.

Com licença. É aqui que estão a fazer o casting para o filme "Musica no Coração 2 - O Regresso de Hammond"?

Arranje um emprego como vendedor de pipocas para ver o filme no cinema

The Monster Squad is a comedy/horror film written by Shane Black and Nicholas Hill and directed by Fred Dekker (who also wrote/directed Night of the Creeps). It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. The film features the classic monsters (re-imagined by a team of special effects artists including Stan Winston), led by Dracula (Duncan Regehr).

Tagline: The End of the World Starts at Midnight

20th Anniversary Edition

A 20th Anniversary Reunion of The Monster Squad was held with cast members and Director Fred Dekker in attendance in April 2006 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse. This reunion was put together by the staff at Ain’t It Cool News, who were longtime fans of the film and on a whim decided to reach out and try to connect the cast for a special screening. Two shows were held at the theatre; both sold out with lines formed around the block; some audience members flew from as far as California to watch the film. It was at this screening that Dekker had urged any interested fans to write the copyright holders via snail-mail.  Aint It Cool News also broke the news of the dvd release in January, 2007. Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures approached Lionsgate Studios to produce and release the 20th anniversary edition.

The Monster Squad two-disc 20th anniversary special edition DVD was released by Lionsgate on July 24, 2007, and contains a wide range of special features including a 5-part 90 minute retrospective documentary, 2 audio commentaries, deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, a tv spot, animated storyboards, and more.  

Movie Poster 27x40

Make Up Department
  Janice R. Alexander … hair stylist
  Katalin Elek … makeup artist
  Zoltan … makeup artist
  Matt Rose … special makeup effects artist
  John Rosengrant … special makeup effects artist

Special Effects Department
  David LeRoy Anderson … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Grant Arndt … creature effects crew: Stan Winston Studios
  Grant Arndt… monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Phil Cory … special effects
  Eric Fiedler … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Alec Gillis … head monster maker: dracula and bat transformation, Stan Winston Studio
  Emilio M. Gonzales … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Steven James … monster mechanical department: Stan Winston Studio
  David Kindlon … monster mechanical department: Stan Winston Studio
  Richard Landon … monster mechanical department: Stan Winston Studio
  Leonard MacDonald … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Lindsay MacGowan … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Shane Mahan … head monster maker: Mummy, Stan Winston Studio
  Dave Matherly … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Hans Metz … special effects
  Thaine Morris … special effects foreman
  David Nelson … monster mechanical department: Stan Winston Studio
  Steve Patino … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Matt Rose … head monster maker: Gillman, Stan Winston Studio
  John Rosengrant … head monster maker: Wolfman, Stan Winston Studio
  Anton Rupprecht … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Shannon Shea … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Brian Simpson … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Wayne Sturm … monster mechanical department: Stan Winston Studio
  Ray Svedin … special effects
  Michiko Tagawa … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Jackie Tichenor … monster art department: Stan Winston Studio
  Steve Wang … head monster maker: Gillman, Stan Winston Studio
  Stan Winston … monster creator
  Tom Woodruff Jr. … head monster maker: Frankenstein, Stan Winston Studio

Friday the 13th Part III is the third film in the Friday the 13th series. The 1982 movie was the first film in the series to feature Jason Voorhees wearing a hockey mask that has become his prominent trademark. The film was released theatrically in 3-D. Much like its sequel Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, this film was intended to end the series. Unlike its sequel and the later film, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, this film did not include a moniker in its title to indicate as such.

Tagline: A New Dimension In Terror…

Mrs. Voorhees getting made up

Some of the deaths were edited in order to avoid an “X” rating, including: Andy’s death, which showed his right leg being cut off and his stomach being torn open; Vera’s death was cut of bloodshed and her subsequent reaction (this was cut for supposedly looking “too real”); Edna’s death was cut of excessive blood flow; Chili’s impalement with the red-hot poker was cut of steaming blood hitting the floor; Debbie’s original death showed blood spraying across her chest and face.

Alternate ending dream sequence (cut from film)

Blueray Edition $19.99

Make Up Department
  Allan A. Apone … special visual makeup effects
  Larry Carr … assistant makeup artist
  Shannon Ely … hair stylist
  Carl Fullerton … makeup effects
  Louis Lazzara … assistant makeup artist
  Cheri Minns … makeup artist
  Kenny Myers … assistant makeup artist
  Frank Carrisosa … special visual makeup effects
  Douglas J. White … special visual makeup effects
  Stan Winston … makeup artist (uncredited)

Special Effects Department
  Martin Becker … special effects

Movie Poster 27x40

Krishnamurti Martins Costa, mais conhecido como Antropus, brasileiro, artista CG, vive na California (EUA) e trabalha com modelagem e escultura tradicional.

Profissional à mais de 5 anos, se especializou em texturas, animação de personagens, modelagens organicas e escultura tradicional.

Teve como seus principais projetos os filmes Labirinto do Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth), O Nevoeiro (The Mist), A Volta do Todo Poderoso (Evan Almighty), O Segredo dos Animais (Barnyard), Zathura – Uma Aventura Espacial (Zathura – A Space Adventure), Serpentes a Bordo (Snakes on a Plane), Transformers – A Vingança dos Derrotados (Transformers – Revenge of The Fallen).

Atualmente trabalha nos estúdios ILM (www.ilm.com), estúdio focado em efeitos especiais, com forte atuação em filmes como Iron Man, Harry Poter and Half-Blood Prince, India Jones and the Kingdon of the Crystal Skull, Speed Racer e muitos outros.

Entre os softwares mais usados pelo Antropus estão Photoshop, After Effects, Maya, ZBrush.

Abaixo, vocês podem conferir duas imagens que o Antropus fez para um tributo ao Stan Winston, o qual foi o grande criador dos modelos de Predator, Jurassic Park, Aliens e o famosíssimo Edward Scissorhands.

Este trabalho foi realizado em um fórum, em uma homenagem póstuma á Stan Winston, e Antropus foi o vencedor da melhor obra.

Se quiserem saber mais e ver outros trabalhos, visitem o blog do Antropus (http://www.antropus.com/).

Espero que tenham gostado.

Até a próxima.

Tim Lawrence shows the zombie teeth he created and wore in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. photo by BOB SELF/The Times-Union

Roger Bull  - Jacksonville.com

Tim Lawrence has spent just about all his life playing some serious make-believe. He calls it “character design,” but it’s really just make-believe.

He helped turn Michael Jackson into a zombie and played one of those who rose from the dead in “Thriller.”

He made T-Rex models for “Jurassic Park.” He was in on the original work to figure out exactly what Shrek would look like.

When Bigfoot broke into that big grin in “Harry and the Hendersons,” that was Lawrence operating his mouth.

Or how about this: In “Caddyshack II,” Lawrence was the puppeteer who moved the arms of what is probably the most famous gopher in movie history.

Lawrence is 50 now. He came back home to Jacksonville a few years ago to take care of his ailing parents in their last years. Now he’s working on starting a new career — writing and illustrating children’s books.

But he’s got a scrapbook and a couple of decades of Hollywood memories. Of “Beetlejuice” and “Shrek,” of “Ghostbusters II,” “Aliens” and even “Howard the Duck.”

It started early for him in his Murray Hill neighborhood.

“As a kid, I had a small circle of friends from elementary to high school,” he said. “We were geeks, but we were movie geeks. More specifically, we were movie monster geeks.”

So the group of them — Lawrence, Kenneth Hall, Cleve Hall, Steven Sleap and Richard Sykes — started making stuff on their own. Godzilla suits, spaceships, stop motion models.

“It was a matter of ‘I want to make a dragon, what do I have in my garage?’ And once we got rubber and molded latex, we could really go.”

Even before he graduated from The Bolles School (on scholarship, he points out) they created a little business they called Imagimation and put on shows at the old Alexander Brest Planetarium. Halloween shows, of course.

Someone at the Times-Union heard about them, wrote a story and Sally Industries gave him a call. That’s where he started designing, sculpting and programming animated characters.

In 1981, he got a job in California, making animatronics for restaurants. “Like Chuck E. Cheese,” he said, “only more

Tim Lawrence works on a fiberglass injection mold for Michael Jackson's "Change-o" head for the "Thriller" video in 1983.

 expensive.”

And then came the call that really changed his life. He’d met Rick Baker, who was already well on his way to becoming Hollywood’s leading craftsman with special effects makeup.

Baker was going to make a music video, one that was expected to be kind of special. Did Lawrence want in on it? Yes, he did.

So Lawrence joined the crew that spent eight weeks creating zombies for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

“We didn’t know who the dancers were going to be,” he said, “so we had to make all the masks and acrylic teeth ahead of time, then fit them when the dancers got there.

“Michael was there all the time,” he said. “He was very polite, the consummate professional. But he’d be off in the corner by himself, working out moves.”

The five or six in the makeup crew also got to turn themselves into non-dancing zombies. Watch the video and you’ll see Lawrence. He’s the heavy bald one patterned after Tor Johnson in the cult classic “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” (Watch the music video.)

The video went on to change music videos, Michael Jackson went on to become … Michael Jackson, and Lawrence went on to work in a long list of movies, TV shows and commercials.

Sometimes it was still monsters, but for other films it was something as benign as stars twinkling in the night sky for “Mystic Pizza.”

Through all his work, though, Lawrence is always careful not to simply say “I did that.”

“There were too many people involved in anything for one person to get credit,” he said. “You start off working small and fast. We’d make clay models for Shrek, and Jeffrey Katzenberg [the producer] would walk by saying ‘No, no, no, that’s one’s close.’

Tim Lawrence makes plaster impressions of the paw of M'Shoni's, a 350-pound lion at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

“And then we’d start again.”                                                             

There were the Scoleri Brothers, the dead criminals in “Ghostbusters II.” He was asked to come up with what they looked like, but the only description he got was a script that said “Big in life, bigger in death, the Scoleri Brothers erupt into the courtroom.”

“I knew that Dan Aykroyd wrote it for him and John Belushi,” Lawrence said. “So I figured I’d made one tall and thin and the other short and fat.”

If you’ve seen the film, it looks like the ghostly brothers were completely animated, but Lawrence said they were actually actors filmed and special-effected into looking like ghosts. And he was the short, fat one — under 80 pounds of costume, of course.

He’s taken part in some movies that he hasn’t even seen.

“The first 10 years,” he said, “I went to the movies four or five times a week to see my work and everyone else’s. But after a while, you quit. You’re the magician; you know the tricks. And all you can see are the faults.”

And when his mother started dying from breast cancer, and then his father struggled with Alzheimer’s, Lawrence came home.

“When the folks get sick,” he said, “there’s not a whole lot you can do. I shut down my operation there and came home. But it was worth it. My father got hot meals every day and got to stay in his home.”

He still thinks he may go back. In the meantime, he’s teaching himself new skills on the computer, and he’s working on his children’s books.

And he still puts some of his old skills to work, volunteering at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. When an animal is knocked out for some other medical procedure, he drives up and takes a plaster casting of its paws or its ears. In time, the zoo will make bronze castings of them to put out around the zoo.

“There’s nothing like putting your head next to the chest of a 300-pound lion,” Lawrence said, “and hearing its heart.”

And that is not make- believe.

1987. Directed By John McTeirnan.

Before John McTiernan become an action movie darling for directing the seminal Die Hard, he proved himself with Predator, an action movie that fuses elements of sci-fi, horror, and war films. Predator was a financial success and certainly helped launch the career of one of Hollywood’s great architects of action.

Predator tells the story of an alien being in a remote jungle picking off American commando’s one by one. What a cast! Of course we have Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader Dutch, but we’ve also got Jesse (the body) Ventura, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, and Kevin Peter Hall (Harry, of Harry and the Hendersons Fame!) as the Predator.

I saw Predator at a midnight showing at our local multiplex. Which is a major change from the home video viewings of it I’d grown up on. It’s much funnier on the big screen. Arnold overacts to the point of parody, there’s an under tension of homoerotic imagery that juxtaposed with the decidedly masculine action is quite humorous. But despite it’s camp value, Predator is also still gory as hell, exciting, with a monster that is more of a three dimensional character than the story really requires.

No wonder the Predator has stayed in the hearts of fans. The character transcends the movie. He’s now the star of comic books, video games, action figures, and cross over films fighting H.R Giger’s alien design. This isn’t because he fought Schwarzenegger in a jungle, but because he’s intriguing, scary, multi-dimensional and most of all, well designed. The late Stan Winston is probably the true hero of Predator, his design and special make up and prosthetic effects are what makes the Predator alien so special.

End of Days 1999
Director: Peter Hyams
Writer: Andrew W. Marlowe
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollak, CCH Pounder, Udo Kier and Rod Steiger

This film was really the last gasp of good Arnold films. It is not a great film, in reality Arnold was the wrong person to eschew the lead role. It seemed more suited to actors like Bruce Willis or Michael Douglas. What saves the film from mediocrity is the performance by Byrne as Satan. He really chews up the scenery and is a delight to watch. This film is another good genre piece from Hyams, who has given us modern classics like Outland and The Relic. The film moves at a rapid clip and Arnold utilizes the action pieces very well. It is just hard to by him as a suicidal and down on his luck ex cop. But the more I watch this film, the more I enjoy it. It is a good hybrid of the action and horror genres.
The plot basics are this, it opens in 1980 where a prophecy says that the girl who will bear the anti-Christ is born, the Vatican searches for her, but it is already too late she has been accosted by the dark disciples of Satan. Flash forward 20 years and we find a malevolent spirit possess a man (Byrne) at dinner and Stan is walking the earth once again. Next we meet Jericho (Schwarzenegger), a ex cop who is suicidal and a alcoholic. He works now for a security firm with his friend Bobby (Pollak). They are hired to escort a investment banker and are soon attacked by a sniper who happens to be a priest. Soon Jericho does some digging and figures out that the priest was trying to save a girl (Tunney), who it seems is groomed to be taken as Satan’s bride and he must consummated before the end of the millennium. The rest of the film is a race against time and insurmountable odds to keep the girl safe and to beat back the forces of hell.
The more I watch this film the more I enjoy it. It is fast paced and suspenseful. Hyams directions is frenetic and you never see where the next scene will take you. The writing is good with some great one liners for Arnold and it combines the tropes of the action and horror film and plays with them adeptly. The cast is quite good, I always thought Arnold was miscast but the more I view his performance I feel he really pulls off the role. Byrne is great as Satan and my favorite scene has to be when he tempts Jericho in his apartment, by far my favorite scene in the film. Tunney also does a good job as the damsel in distress, she isn’t your typical beauty but does a admirable job in the part. The creature effects are done by Stan Winston and as always he does a phenomenal job. This is a fun film and worth seeing for both horror fans and Arnold fans.
This one gets 3 out of 5

Kit: Horizon Velociraptor – 1:5 Scale

Kit Number: Not known

Price: circa £60.00

Decals: None!

Reviewer: Steve Budd

Notes: Vinyl kit

History: Absolutely prehistoric!

The Abridged Autobiography – I am a born again modeller – in more ways than one.

Like many others I nailed kits together as a kid as fast as my pocket money and tube cement would allow. Then one day, somewhere along this linear period of plastic heaven, came the advent of raging teenage hormones and an unquenchable interest in girls. Plastic modelling ceased and took its place in my childhood past.

Fast forward to 1994. I succeeded in finding a girl who couldn’t run as fast as all the others so I caught her, married her and persuaded her that she’d really appreciate the opportunity to experience child birth twice (later three times), especially since I could deliver the fun part while she got all the pain and ‘where’s the bloody epidural?’ as I stood through every agonising minute with her thinking ‘I’m glad I’m a boy, I’m glad I’m a boy’.

I’m on a train station. I need something to read and idle into a book store. Glancing over the titles of the monthly publications my attention is caught by Tamiya Magazine’s front cover. Staring back at me with a compelling and thoroughly baleful glare is a model (a very, very good model) of a Velociraptor. I temporarily become one of those irritating band of people whose adopted purpose in life is to combine together in order to throw up an impenetrable screen around news stands, thus preventing the paying public from actually buying anything from the vendor. I read the article inside. I read it again. Disengaging myself from the ‘Why-Buy-It-When-You-Can-Read-It-Here-For-Free’ brigade, I decided that I’d better pay for the (now) well-thumbed pages. I stand astonished by how far modelling has come in the intervening years since my childhood. Before my eyes was evidence of the magic that an airbrush could produce in the hands of someone who definitely knew which end was which.

Like a Woolly Mammoth caught in a tar pit there was no going back – I had to have a Raptor of my own and in that short space of time my dormant interest in modelling was back ‘n burning! And so it came to pass that I pleaded at the time of my birthday that I receive rapturous (er…Raptor-ish) thanks for being brought into the world in the form of hard cash, thank you very much. So with £60.00 odd pounds sterling in my hand I snatched the last 1:5 scale Horizon Velociraptor kit off the shelf of my nearest stockist and skipped happily all the way home.

The Operating Table (non-sterile) – Now to bring the beast to life.

I cut off the moulding plugs and held the various bits up to each other to test the fit. As this was my first vinyl model I was discovering lesson one the hard way – when the parts come out of the mould they’re put to one side to cool. As they chill on the manufacturer’s work bench they deform. Not a little but a lot. So the parts don’t fit even vaguely well. This is a disappointing culture shock when you’ve forked out sixty plus beer vouchers for something that appears to be a hopeless case. Still, every problem has a solution or three and on this occasion (ok, ok – as it’s been for 99.99% of my married life!) it was my wife who possessed the answer.

I cunningly left a partly opened bar of chocolate open in the house and with her guard momentarily dropped, I robbed my wife of her hair dryer (after waiting for her to finish using it of course – I do have some sense of my own mortality) and shot hot air over the ends that needed to be reformed. Suitably warm, the vinyl was pulled and pushed into shapes that ultimately mated together very well. The trick is to avoid getting it too toasting and to be near cold water so you can plunge it in (not the hairdryer) and instantly set the new form.

Before long I had a nearly complete animal. Well, the head was missing (which is a bit of a disadvantage for a dino) but for a good reason – the eyes. You see, Marcus Nicholls (editor of Tamiya Magazine) had cut out the vinyl eyes of his Raptor and replaced them with glass taxidermy substitutes. The effect on the front of the magazine was electric. The eyes simply give life to the model in a way that paint over vinyl can’t touch.

Blithely disregarding the natural fear accompanying actually speaking to one of scale modelling’s foremost deities, I rang Marcus at the magazine’s office and he was very helpful and patient in explaining what he’d used and so on. I ordered a pair of identical eyes for my kit and was astounded that the effect ‘in the flesh’ was even greater than the pictures conveyed. So out came the vinyl and in they went. The Raptor grew a head and all she needed (mine’s a girl – must be some left over teenage hormones still kicking around) was paint and a base.

A Date With Destiny – I had an airbrush. I had a compressor. I had paint. I had three cats. I had a wardrobe. I had my Raptor on top of it. I had the weekend looming to spray the beast.

‘I’m home dear’, I said in the best Walton’s tradition as I came in one Friday evening. ‘Do you want the bad news or the really bad news or the tiny amount of good news first dear’? My wife looked grim but then she always did when I’d gone out wearing one of her dresses.

‘As it comes please’ I replied, gripping the stair rail. ‘Well you know your dinosaur thingy, one of the cats has had it off”. I reeled in horror. “One of the cats has attempted an obscene act with my Raptor? Those cataracts will have to come out’! ‘No you dipstick – the cat jumped; the dino fell – it’s a kit again – the good news is I think I got all the pieces before I vacuumed the floor’!

When I tearfully examined the slaughter I found the forearms had shattered like glass leaving head, body, rear legs and tail intact. The original parts count was around twenty-five. Feline interference had lifted this to around thirty-five….

Back Into Theatre – You know the advice experienced modellers always give – keep the sprues? Well, I had some left over from a couple of aircraft kits and these were transformed into bones of sorts that allowed the multitude of fragments and chunks to reform into limbs.

The bit that really struck me was the very clean way the vinyl had fractured, not at all as I had expected. Careful re-assembly therefore meant relatively easy clean up of the warty skin until it was impossible to believe that the Raptor’s short and unsuccessful attempt to make like a Pterandon was anything more than a bad dream.

Jurassic Park – Horizon’s Raptor is part of a series the (sadly now defunct) company ran following the film Jurassic Park. It seems they were given access to the moulds used by Stan Winston and his team in the creation of the special effects and as such, it represents the movie Raptor, not the real animal that ran (we think) in packs in prehistoric times.

The film Raptor is depicted at some six feet tall, rather than the four feet of the living Velociraptor. I guess the film makers figured man size was more scary so applied 33% artistic licence. In actual fact, Dinonychus (a relative of Velociraptor) was six feet tall with similar habits but doesn’t have the ‘Raptor’ name advantage and didn’t therefore make the cast list. However, it will always remain my favourite dino but not one I’d have liked to meet as it’s believed it had (among other talents) binocular night vision capability – now that is scary!

Spray Day – The lower jaw is a separate part so the mouth and teeth were painted and washed in advance of the main event before being attached and masked off with the eyes.

It is exquisitely pleasurable to report that there are no FS or RLM colours for dinosaur models so freedom of choice, born of imagination, is the order of the day.

The kit was primed with a grey acrylic car body spray and left to cure as a barrier to the Tamiya paint thinned with cellulose that was to follow. Ignore Horizon’s insistence that vinyl needs an acrylic primer coat at your peril – use an alternative and it’s odds on the kit will perish as the solvent attacks the vinyl some way down the line.

This was my first major airbrush project so I made plenty of mistakes to the point where evidence of my failure meant I was better off starting again with the top coats. Second hit was more in line with where I wanted it to be so it was satin varnished and later dark washed before getting the satin sealer treatment.

Back To Base – I’d planned a simple base that suited the very animated running attitude of the kit. With the right leg raised I visualised my Raptor negotiating a fallen Jurassic tree.

My problem was solved when I was on holiday visiting Crackington Haven beach in Cornwall. The world was a pretty okay place, especially as I’d earlier downed several pints of Sharp’s Doom Bar beer with a particularly splendid Sunday lunch. My eldest boy ran up, his arms behind his back (don’t worry – we always untie him before bedtime) before revealing a bit of battered and eroded drift wood that was as Jurassic as ever I was likely to find. ‘You could use this with the Raptor’ he said and I did.

I love children. I just couldn’t eat a whole one, that’s all.

The Verdict – At a couple of feet long Horizon’s Raptor has serious presence. If you have one on the bench or find one in a model store buy some taxidermy eyes for it – these are a must!

A base of some kind is also imperative – it won’t stand up without one! A hole was drilled in the leg closest to the ground (today’s top tip…) and some threaded brass studding rod was cut to a suitable length and left protruding so’s it could be secured with a 10mm nut under the base. This arrangement meant that the base itself had to grow legs too – these are simply wooden cabinet handles.

I’ve heard the WWI fraternity protest for ages that they’re not as well served as the Luftwaffe WWII crew and that’s true – however, check out the range of available quality dino kits and suddenly the Jasta Meisters are in gravy! This is a shame so get yourself an E-Bay account and see if you can snaffle one of these great but now discontinued kits. Be prepared for your bank balance to go a bit light headed and weak at he knees if you succeed.

All told, the kit’s 65 million years worth of fun – so after such a patient wait you’d better get one!

References:

Jurassic Park (the movie).

Dum, dum, dum, dum-dum.

Right, that’s that out of the way.

I didn’t have high hopes going to see Terminator: Salvation. For me, the series seems to have suffered from the law of diminishing returns, never really matching the heights of the original (and 25-year-old!) James Cameron movie. T2 was perfectly enjoyable in a fairly brainless, action movie kind of way, but it also seemed a little too glossy, special effects-driven and soulless. As for Rise of the Machines…well, at least it had a fairly bleak ending…

Of course, the other thing Terminator: Salvation had going against it is the seemingly bizarre choice of director, the sharply abbreviated  McG, director of…Charlie’s Angels. And Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. And some music videos. And the TV show Fastlane. On the plus side, surely Christian Bale knows how to pick a good movie to star in, so Salvation can’t be all bad, can it?

Well, it’s not as bad as it could have been. Or at least, I don’t think it is; to be honest, I really can’t make up my mind, because it seemed for every bit that was good, there was another bit that was equally bad that cancelled it out.

I’ll start with the good stuff. It looks great. Bleak, bleached and grainy, with lots of gunmetal grey. It actually sort of reminded me of Three Kings and, oddly enough Gears of War. The effects are uniformly top-notch as well, the CGI blending seamlessly with some good old-fashioned honest to goodness explosions and Stan Winston animatronics (the film is dedicated to that man’s genius). Anton Yelchin makes a convincing Kyle Reese. Sam Worthington is also terrific as Marcus Wright, a man given the most bizarre of second chances. His presence on screen is commanding, to say the least, and it’s mainly thanks to him that some of the movie’s more glaring problems get papered over.

In a way, it’s a pity he’s not on screen all the time. Arguably the film’s main problem is that he has to share the limelight with John Connor, who serves absolutely no function at all. He has no arc, no character development, he doesn’t even do anything that’s particularly interesting. His scenes feel like they’ve been shoehorned in, and all they really do is distract from Marcus’ far more interesting journey. It’s not Christian Bale’s fault, he gives it his all (even if that gravelly Batman voice is wearing a bit thin), it’s just that the story can’t decide who or what it really wants to be about.

There are other problems too. The filmmakers have decided to go down the “Big Fucking Robots” route to portray some of Skynet’s murderous machines, which for whatever reason, just isn’t as scary as a single, unstoppable, human-sized machine relentlessly pursuing its target. It’s just impossible to relate to a character’s fear when the thing there supposed to be afraid of is a ten storey monstrosity with no real basis in reality. This might also be why many of the action sequences, despite the excellent effects, are strangely uninvolving. Meanwhile, there’s also some unbelievably clunky dialogue and some tiresomely lengthy exposition towards the end as Marcus’ true nature is revealed, while one really, really, really stupid story point is kept for the very end.

In a strange sort of way, this doesn’t feel like a Terminator movie at all, even with the very effective cameo from a digital likeness of Arnie. Sure, there’s the occasional nod towards events in the franchise (in a nice reversal on T2, motorbikes chase a truck; we get the “I’ll be back,” and “Come with me if you want to live,” lines) but McG’s vision of the post-Judgement Day future is very different to the glimpses we got in Cameron’s movies. With a better story, maybe this could’ve been the Salvation the franchise needed after Rise of the Machines and the recent cancelling of the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but as it is, I’m just not sure.

Though if there’s a sequel and it has Summer Glau in it…

Invest in the right technologies now: Was it just me, or did that motorbike-shaped Terminator John Connor “hacker-jacked” have a USB port?