DVD Review: All Hell Breaks Loose

All Hell Breaks Loose is a comedic horror film that tries to reproduce the feel of some classic low-budget horror and exploitation flicks from the 1970s and 1980s, and does so with varying degrees of success. It’s about a group of satanic bikers looking to sacrifice some virgins, and a young husband who tries desperately to save his bride.

It establishes a somewhat comedic tone almost immediately, when in the first scene a group of college friends gather around a fire, and one tells the tale of a killer who perhaps was never caught, a killer who could be out in the woods at that very moment “getting ready to sodomize us.” But it is an evil motorcycle gang that shows up, looking for a virgin. And though Tina (April Mai) looks like she hasn’t been a virgin in ages (perhaps never was a virgin), she’s the one the leader chooses. They take her along in a coffin which is attached to a trailer.

We then go to the wedding of Nick (Nick Forrest) and Bobby Sue (Sarah Kobel Marquette), and the scene reminds me of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, partly because of the music, partly because the opening shot pans down from the tower to the small, kind of crummy church, and partly because of Nick’s glasses. And uh-oh, it soon becomes clear that the young couple hasn’t yet done the deed. And so the motorcycle gang shows up, killing Nick and abducting Bobby Sue. But don’t worry, God happens by, re-animates Nick and hands him a gun, telling him to go get his girl. So Nick tucks in his intestines and begins his quest. The only problem is he has no idea what he’s doing (and at one point it looks like Bobby Sue might be better off against the gang on her own).

Obviously, this film is meant to be purely fun, with over-the-top lines like “I’m thirstier than a child molester in hell” and “Two on one, now that ain’t fair, unless you’re talking about sex” and “For all I know, you spend your evenings raping bunnies in the woods” and “I like to stick chess pieces up my butt.” There is some nudity, of course, though Tina’s tattoos are off-putting. Is she really supposed to be a virgin? Geez, Bobby Sue has a tattoo also. It’s never a good idea for an actor to get a tattoo, but casting directors should really avoid using actors with them to play virgins.

I could do without the fake flickering on the screen in a pointless attempt to imitate the look of a scratched old film print. It’s distracting. And it’s a shame they went with CG instead of practical effects at times, like that odd close-up of a guy getting shot in the chest outside the bar. It’s just a splatter shot over his shirt, which looks stupid. Why do that in close-up? Plus, if you’re going for the look of old films, then that pretty much eliminates the possibility of using CG, doesn’t it? You have to make a choice, folks.

But there is some nice gruesome stuff involving a bartender’s fingers. And I love the scene of the small bag of Nick being prayed over by a less-than-enthusiastic, less-than-holy priest. And there are some good lines, like the priest’s “Lord, I know I don’t ask for much, and clearly you’ve obliged.” And of course, “Jesus saves, motherfucker!” And hey, any satanic ritual that’s accompanied by a cool bass line and involves a Village People record can’t be all wrong, can it?

Special Features

The DVD includes a commentary track by director Jeremy Garner and the writer, who irritatingly goes by the name The Vocabulariast. But he mentions that he modeled the first scene after a scene in Neon Maniacs (a terrible movie that I happen to love, partly because my uncle is in it). They also talk about shooting with a low budget, and how the dialogue is done completely as ADR.

There are also two deleted scenes, both involving Bobby Sue once she’s been brought to the bar, as well as the film’s trailer.

All Hell Breaks Loose was directed by J. Garner, and was released on DVD on March 22, 2016 through Wild Eye Releasing.

DVD Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXV

Do you love cheesy, bad movies? Do you hate them? Either way, you’re in luck, for a new volume of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes is about to be released. Volume XXXV contains four episodes previously unreleased on DVD – two Joel Hodgson episodes and two Mike Nelson episodes. And if you’ve never seen this show before, don’t worry about trying to watch the episodes in order. There’s no need. Volume XXXV is as good a place to start as Volume I.  This four-disc set includes “Teenage Cave Man,” “Being From Another Planet,” “12 To The Moon” and “Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell,” as well as bonus material.

Disc 1: Teenage Caveman

“Teenage Caveman” is a Joel episode from 1991 that opens with two shorts. Aquatic Wizards is about the joys of water skiing, and includes references to The Go-Go’s and Monty Python. Tom Servo tells us, “And the incentive to stay up is… crocodiles!”  The second, Catching Trouble, is about a man named Ross who captures wild animals, with Joel and the robots firmly on the side of the animals. Joel says, “Guys, I’m deeply ashamed of my race right now.” And afterward, during a break segment, the gang puts on a wonderful skit about catching Ross and torturing him. The main movie was directed by Roger Corman, which leads Crow to quip, “Well, this must have been filmed painstakingly over the course of three days.” When a hunting party starts shaking rattles, Joel asks, “What, are they hunting babies?” Crow tells them, “Throw your spears at the monster stock footage!” And when the monster shows up, Joel says, “Something goofy this way comes.” The gang criticizes the dull, repetitive scripts, with Crow noting: “This is why the dinosaurs died out. You bored them to death.” This episode contains lots of pop culture references, including references to Bruce Springsteen, The Monkees, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Doors, The Warriors, Westside Story, Grease and Jaws.

As for bonus material, the first disc contains I Was A Teenage Caveman, a short documentary about the film, including an interview with Roger Corman.

Disc 2: Being From Another Planet

“Being From Another Planet” is a Joel episode from 1992. The invention exchange in this episode is particularly good. I love the Tragic Moments figurines. Someone ought to make those. As for the film, the gang is off and running early on, making jokes about each of the opening credits. The first scene is terrible, so Crow says, “So far this movie looks like a dramatization of a movie.” When a student points to an X-ray and asks, “What’s this,” Tom Servo answers for the professor: “No idea, I’m a complete phony.” When a woman on screen says, “I myself can’t take a quantum leap into the supernatural,” the gang adds, “Not in these clothes, anyway.” At one point Crow quips, “Oh no, it’s that thing again, the thing that’s been driving the plot to nowhere.” And Joel says, “Okay, we’re all going to join hands now and try to contact the script.” At the end Tom Servo says, “You know, I think this is the worst movie we’ve ever seen here.” That sure is saying something! The episode contains references to Badfinger, The Cars, Neil Diamond, Hart To Hart, Get Smart and My Dinner With Andre.

The bonus material contains the original film, titled Time Walker. It is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio. There are short bits included that were cut from the MST3K version, such a little more of the scene after the reveal of the injured hand, and a bit of nudity. Also, the opening credits sequence is different. This is a great bonus feature, and I hope that future MST3K DVD releases will include more original films. This disc also includes Richard Band On Time Walker, in which composer Richard Band talks about the film. And the Time Walker trailer is included.

Disc 3: 12 To The Moon

This is a Mike episode from 1994, and it includes the short film Design For Dreaming, a weird musical about a materialistic woman. Crow tells us, “I had a near-death experience like this.” After the woman decides she wants a series of expensive vehicles, the gang jokes, “This is a rebuttal to Roger And Me.” I love that it includes a reference to Happy Birthday, Wanda June. At the beginning of the main film, a man introduces the twelve astronauts. He goes on and on, so that when he says, “During the entire flight-” the gang jumps in with “I’ll be talking.” And the twelve characters being from different countries gives the gang a chance to practice various accents while poking fun at the film. When one character is speaking into a handheld microphone and says, “I am now switching over to my helmet microphone,” Tom Servo comments, “I’d love to get the storyboards for this scene.” And during a seriously poor-looking special effect, Mike announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, the budget just ran out.” During a break, the gang pretends to be on a trip to the moon, and they’re interrupted by the singing materialistic chick from the short film. This is a particularly hilarious episode, and it contains references to The Muppet Show, Star Trek and Romeo And Juliet (and contains a great joke about those Wall Drug signs).

And for bonus material, we get You Are There: Launching 12 To The Moon, in which Jeff Burr talks about the film.

Disc 4: Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell

“Deathstalker And The Warriors From Hell” is a Mike episode from 1996, in which Dr. Forrester suffers a visit from his mother, Pearl. The first of the opening credits of the movie reads, “New Classics Presents,” leading Tom Servo to observe, “Oh, so you can just declare something a classic, huh?” I love that, especially as idiots do that all the time. When one characters says, “He gets around, one village one day, one the next,” Mike says, “So two villages.” When their village is attacked during some sort of festival, the guys remind the characters to grab the gate receipts. Afterward, when a princess dies, the gang jokes, “If I knew your name or anything about you, this would be sad.” When another princess says, “That’s not the way love’s supposed to happen,” Crow adds, “It should be secret and shameful and leathery and dirty.” During a particularly inept fight sequence, Crow quips, “It was a good idea to film the walk-through.” This is the movie with an entire scene dedicated to potatoes. And the villain seems to like furs almost as much as I do. During the breaks, the robots make fun of Renaissance festivals. This episode has references to the Grateful Dead, Neil Diamond, Annie Hall, Life Of Brian and Chinatown.

The bonus is Medieval Boogaloo: The Legend Of Deathstalker III, which features an interview with actor Thom Christopher in which he talks about the movie, including preparing for the fight scene.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXV is scheduled to be released on March 29, 2016 through Shout! Factory. In addition to the bonus material already mentioned, the box set includes four mini-posters by artist Steve Vance.

DVD Review: When Bette Met Mae

When Bette Met Mae is an unusual film about the first meeting between Bette Davis and Mae West. On November 13, 1973, director Wes Wheadon recorded the conversation they had at a dinner party, and this film uses that audio recording, with actors performing the roles, lip-synching to the real audio. The film also uses some old footage to explain and illustrate some of the things they mention, and to add more information. Also providing more information is some narration by Sally Kellerman (and at the beginning by Wes Wheadon), as well as a few short interviews (including one with Waris Hussein, who directed Bette Davis in Little Gloria…Happy At Last).  It’s such an unusual film in the way it presents the material – part documentary, part dinner theatre. But it works surprisingly well, in part because the actors do a really good job with what I imagine is a rather difficult task. Karen Teliha is particularly impressive as Bette Davis.

Wes Wheadon sets up the scene at the beginning. Bette was in town to do a film, and was staying with Wes’ neighbor, Chuck Pollock. And one night Bette asked Wes to be the bartender for a dinner party with Mae West. And yes, he did get permission to record the conversation. Because the recording has some background noise, subtitles are provided.

Bette Davis and Mae West are two fascinating women, and the conversation is not only interesting in the light it sheds on their personalities and demeanor, but also for the information they provide. For example, they talk about writing dialogue for their own films, though Bette didn’t get screen credits for that. There is also some information about the beginning of the Screen Actors Guild, and Bette, bless her, talks about how Ronald Reagan (then president of SAG) sold them out. She even says, “I almost killed him.” Oh, if only she had! Then we wouldn’t have had to deal with him as President.

A lot of this is quite funny, like when Mae West talks about wanting to be a lion tamer. She also talks about her secret marriage and public divorce, and about her plays, Sex and The Drag. She is particularly funny when talking about The Drag. Bette talks about her marriages, and tells a hilarious anecdote about trying to be a lesbian. They also discuss the drag impersonations of them, and there is a great bit which uses split screen to show us What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? next to the same scene in What Really Happened To Baby Jane, a parody which in the course of the conversation Bette became aware of.

At the end, Wes Wheadon speaks again, which is unnecessary. I think it would have been better to end the film with the tape running out and the photos from the meeting. But that’s certainly not a major issue or complaint.

When Bette Met Mae was directed by Wes Wheadon, and was released on DVD on February 23, 2016 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Friends Across Equestria

Bronies and Pegasisters, a new collection of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes is now available for your enjoyment.  Friends Across Equestria contains five episodes, all from the series’ fifth season, including the show’s one hundredth episode (holy moly!). All of your favorite ponies are here, as well as Discord and Countess Coloratura.

“Make New Friends But Keep Discord”

Discord (John de Lancie) is hanging out with his good friend Fluttershy for their weekly tea, but is upset to learn that she has invited a new friend, Tree Hugger (Nicole Oliver), to an upcoming gala rather than extending the invitation to him. This episode shows us Discord at home, where he sulks about not being invited, and where mail is difficult to deliver (that’s probably my favorite scene). Discord eventually receives his invitation, but his choice of guests is not applauded by the ponies, though the main problem is his jealousy regarding Fluttershy’s friendship with Tree Hugger. After all, he is only beginning to learn about the magic of friendship. There is a reference to the comedian Gallagher, and a hilarious moment when Tree Hugger looks into another dimension.

“Slice Of Life”

“Slice Of Life” is the series’ one hundredth episode, and it’s an interesting episode in which a mistake on wedding invitations sets up a series of events involving some of the show’s supporting characters. “Oh, the horror! The horror!” A musical scene goes on too long, but there are lots of cute moments in this episode, like the delightful pondering of the alligator.

“Amending Fences”

Twilight Sparkle goes back to Canterlot to mend things with those she knew before she moved to Ponyville and learned about the magic of friendship. She goes to apologize to her old friends and reconnect with them, including one who has given up on the idea of friendship. Twilight rightly enlists the aid of the always-delightful Pinkie Pie. “We’ll need fifteen bags of confetti.”

“Made In Manehattan”

Rarity and Applejack are summoned by the map to go to Manehattan. Rarity is overjoyed, but Applejack is less thrilled with going to the big city, where things move rather fast. “Butter my biscuits, I can barely cross the street in this town.” They learn they must help revive the spirit of community in the city by bringing back its outdoor theatre tradition. It’s a sweet episode, and there is a cute reference to the Peanuts cartoons.

“The Mane Attraction”

Pinkie Pie has booked a big pop sensation for the town’s music festival. Applejack hasn’t heard of her, which shocks the others; more shocking is that Applejack was friends with her before she became a star. Applejack is sad to see how stardom has changed her, but it is at least partly the fault of her manager, who makes ridiculous demands on Pinkie Pie. Lena Hall provides the voice for Countess Coloratura (known to Applejack as Rara).

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Friends Across Equestria was released on March 1, 2016 through Shout! Factory. The DVD includes a bonus sing-along of “The Magic Inside,” a song from “The Mane Attraction.”

DVD Review: Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, The Road Is All

Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, The Road Is All is a documentary about writer Nelson Algren, who is probably most well-known for his novel The Man With The Golden Arm, and for writing about folks who are marginalized by mainstream society, including criminals, the poor and prostitutes. Much of his story is fascinating, as his life is closely tied to many of the social and political situations of the twentieth century, including the Great Depression and the Joseph McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s.

The film begins with Nelson Algren himself reading a passage from one of his works. (Passages from several of his books are read by Warren Leming at other moments throughout the film.) And the film includes footage from interviews with Algren. Some of that material is actually quite funny. For example, early on he talks about looking for a job in journalism during the Depression, and of course not finding one. He says: “I never went voluntarily into the world of pimps and thieves and wandering people. I was pushed into it.” And then, when talking about his work with the Federal Writers’ Project (part of the New Deal), he says, “I don’t recall doing any real work.” He mentions being fired from it, then re-applying. It’s humorous, but the information about the Writers’ Project, as told by some of those actually involved, is also truly interesting.

There are several interviews with fellow writers, including Kurt Vonnegut, Paul Buhle and Studs Terkel. It’s interesting to hear other writers talk about his writing and about the characters he’d create. There is some great stuff with Studs Terkel talking about how A Walk On The Wild Side was picked apart by the critics. And we learn about the troubles Algren had, beginning with his books being banned from the Chicago libraries because of the portrayal of certain Polish characters. Polish politicians in Chicago actually wrote to Hoover at the FBI, asking that organization to keep an eye on Algren. And hey, the FBI was never an organization to turn down such requests.

There is also information about his relationships, including that with Simone de Beauvoir which began in the 1940s, and how existentialism crept into his work as a result. The film does include a portion of an audio interview with Simone de Beauvoir. By the way, throughout all of this, old footage is shown to give us a sense of the political and social climate. That’s particularly important when we get to the material on the House Un-American Activities Committee, with footage of Hoover testifying about communism. There is also some audio from an interview with Algren about that time, and about the fear that people had.

His story is interesting, and at times funny, at times depressing (particularly toward the end, with his financial troubles). Kurt Vonnegut calls Algren “the loneliest man I ever knew.” You certainly don’t have to be familiar with his work to appreciate and enjoy the story told here.

Special Features

The DVD includes Algren’s Last Night, a short film by Warren Leming and Carmine Cervi. It’s about Algren’s Chicago, and some portions of it are used in the feature. There is also some bonus footage, including more with Studs Terkel telling an anecdote about Algren and the police, as well as biographer Bettina Drew talking about Algren and de Beauvoir. The bonus features also include a photo gallery.

There is also a segment in which Denis Mueller and Mark Blottner talk about the documentary on The Heartland Show recorded live at the Heartland Café. They talk about how the documentary was started quite a while ago, which is how it happens to include interviews with Kurt Vonnegut and Studs Terkel, and they talk about Nelson Algren himself, and how they became interested in him. This is approximately thirteen minutes.

Nelson Algren: The End Is Nothing, The Road Is All was produced and directed by Mark Blottner, Ilko Davidov and Denis Mueller, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on March 8, 2016 through First Run Features.