SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE available on DVD from Anchor Bay

*** Originally published on Beyond the Marquee, 06/30/12 ***

Hey Doc, welcome back.  I was just thinking: You know the thing I love about low-budget films?  The creativity that often compensates for a lack of funds.  They’re also fun to watch if you love the production process, as you can catch little flaws that are harder to spot in big “hollywood” pictures.  These movies also provide great examples of clever marketing. Look no further than Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman (the modern day P.T. Barnum) if you want to learn promoting at a doctorate level.  So you can just imagine how happy I was when I received Some Guy Who Kills People from Anchor Bay… and it came with a promotional ice cream scooper!   Right from the start, I knew I was in for a treat – be it the movie itself or the bowl of Rocky Road I scooped before pressing play.  The film, about a random fellow who murders others, hits DVD on July 3rd, but is it worth an hour and a half of the freedom you’ll be celebrating at the next day’s barbeque? Read more

AUDITIONS available on DVD from Full Moon Features

*** Originally published on Ellenwood EP, 06/04/12 ***

If I have one pet peeve, it’s trendy words or expressions. The term “grindhouse” became very much in vogue (read: overused) after Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez collaborated on their Planet Terror / Death Proof double-bill in ’07. Up to that point, the average person might’ve thought it was referring to a meat packing plant or some sort of grain mill. While the label has been largely bastardized to represent anything cult-y or Tarantino-esque, true grindhouse cinema sits in this strange little dimension where blood, guts, sex and cheap laughs all sort-of intersect. With practically no budget, the movies have to exploit any little gimmick they can to grab an audience, be it a pair of naked breasts or smashing a melon made up to look like a human head. In many ways, you could say these films were the predecessors to YouTube… or at least America’s Funniest Home Videos, which is probably the most exploitative piece of mainstream pop-culture trash since Kids Say the Darndest Things. Read more