Author Archives: Steven Lewis

Eon Evil! Robert Rodriguez’s Predators first draft script!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

nature-game-predators-free-spot-482029

Robert Rodriguez’s 2010 Predators had a much angle than in 1996 when Rodriguez wrote the first draft that was much more a sequel to the first movie than a stand-a-lone movie. Did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character “Dutch” headlines this Predator sequel? But where Dutch makes a reappearance, the story itself is fairly grand, outlandish, and corky – in some scenes.

The story has a badass team of human military bounty hunters in Predator gear to hunt down Dutch and take him to an intergalactic prison planet called Arkus 6 before heading home. Upon landing, the group stumbles into a Predator meat grinder with a deep dark secret that leaves the soldiers expendable and vulnerable against the ultimate race of warriors.

I have to say that I’m not the biggest fan of Robert Rodriguez. His movies are rad riddled with great characters and awesome action sequences, but his dialogue just doesn’t do it for me. This is why I think From Dusk till Dawn is amazing because Taratino penned it and Rodriguez directed and turned out amazing. However, check out the below and this scenario just doesn’t mesh well as far as creating a feasible, more realistic scene.

AN UNDERGROUND HANGAR.
It’s tilled with a few PREDATOR SHIPS but mostly OTHER SPACECRAFT.
Possibly ships belonging to other alien spedes captured on the planet…
What they are looking at though is even more recognizable.
In the middle of the hangar is THEIR SHIP. The cargo door is open and it’s
being loaded up. Loaded up full with PREDATOR GEAR, WEAPONS,
EVERYTHING.
The LOADERS are HUMAN; they must be the prisoners. Only that on doser
inspection you can see that the humans are MODIFIED. Beside the lifeless
/*•*>> haunted eyes suggesting brain tampering, their bodies are ALTERED.
The ones loading the ships for instance have the arms of the MANTIS! Their
arms are fashioned into forklift shapes, which allow them to lift the goods
easily.

But then there are scenes that stand out with spectacular glory which in the Predator world is quite fitting.

EXT. ARENA
The Predator raises his arms, his forearm still streaming that fluorescent
blood, in a gesture of VICTORY.
Hardwick takes a deep breath and leaps up from the ground. She lunges her
weapon at the Predators midsection with the sharp end, running him
through to the hilt of the blade. The Predator lashes out with his arms at
Hardwick. making a wild cry of PAIN.
Hardwick turns the blade around inside the Predator’s guts with her one
good arm.
The Predator tries his last ditch effort by training his SHOULDER MOUNT
GUN at Hardwick s face. She looks pissed he even tried such nonsense and
presses her foot against the SIDE of the barrel, shoving sideways so it now
AIMS at the Pre

We can absolutely vision this sequence and seeing the Predator head explode into mush. The script barely resembles anything like what you see in today’s Predators film. The Predator tied against a makeshift stockade is the sole similarity, but Dutch, the bad ass marines, the conspiracy plot, etc., just doesn’t make the cut and thats a good thing because today’s film is way better in my opinion – worthy to be titled a Predator movie.

Read the entire script here and see how the first draft could have been a reality.

Toe Tagged: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Posted by Steven Lewis on

Philip-Seymour-Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman. An actor who may not have contributed much to the genre of horror, exploitation, and experimental, but an actor who gave his all in every performance – A performance that inspired us, that excited, that enlightened us, and that taught us.

Philip Seymour Hoffman died at the age of 46 in his apartment from an apparent drug overdose. A friend found Hoffman in his New York apartment Sunday night with a needle in his arm and an enveloped fill with what police to believe was heroin.

I will always remember Hoffman from some of his more lesser known roles as Dusty Davis in Twister, Scotty J. from Boogie Nights, or Sandy Lyle from Along Came Polly. But others will remember Hoffman for his Academy Award winning performance as the titular character Capote, or the L. Ron Hubbard inspired character Lancaster Dodd from The Master, or as the game master Plutarch in The Hunger Game films.

We hope you find peace, Mr. Hoffman. You’ll be missed.

A Snapshot of Evil. S.L.R. review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

SLR

S.L.R., or Single Lens Reflex, involves a man obsessed with online young girl voyeur porn, but when he discovers photos of his underage daughter being photographed and uploaded online by a shameless and anonymous user named ANORAK, the emotionally compromised man must engage the user while battling his own obsession.

Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham does a phenomenal job as the father searching for his daughter’s mysterious predator. Cunnigham’s struggle between being a voyeur porn enthusiast and a father is delivered systematically once the photos of the daughter, played by Amy Wren, become more frequent. The very plausibility of this happening is more than likely than we want to imagine. I’m sure we see ourselves or our close family as Saints who could do no wrong, but look at Saint Peter and his betrayal against Jesus.
Elliot-Liam-Cunningham-stares-at-a-computer-PHOTO-CREDIT-AIDAN-MONAGHAN
The short film, written and directed by Stephen Fingleton, also embarks on the question of accessibility of material and how fast the fire can spread online. The beginning of the short shows how an instant snapshot of a woman’s panty from an upskirt angle can be uploaded in two seconds without obstacle. In seconds, the photograph would hit a thousand views because, frankly, people are perverted. In seconds, that very photograph, of a young naive girl, would be the face of voyeur porn and what if that girl was your daughter and she was underage? That’s another question that pops to mind as you don’t really know what the age might be of these girls. Of course, the website hosting photos might describe the girl as a “barely 18 teen hottie.” We easily digest this as we believe anything on the internet as true.

Well delivered as well as the material is disturbing to think about. Fingleton captures a father’s fears, a perverts lust, and little girl’s innocence. The short film is open ended for the viewer to create their own ending; I for one wanted the ending to be more disturbing because porn addiction, like any other addiction, can be a cycle and the father’s vice won’t be suffocated that ease even if his daughter’s pictures were only a temporary obstacle. Check the Best Irish short film below according to Foyle Film Festival.

Get Down With Evil! The Disco Exorcist review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

dex1

Rex Romanski loves the ladies. His swinging disco fever charm dons no rival and the ladies, acknowledging his love’em and leave’em attitude, want his mojo even after he ditches them. But when Rex wines and dines and screws the wrong woman Rita Marie, his nightmare is only beginning. Rita is a black magic priestess with devilish revenge on the mind and Rex’s new play toy, mega porn star Amoreena Jones, becomes the host of an implanted demon to reek havoc among Rex and his groovy friends.

Director Richard Griffin did a decent job with this sleazy decadence of a screen play making the most of the nudity, the blood, the sex, and the utmost offensive nature that is The Disco Exorcist. I’m not too familiar with Griffin, but the native New Englander has been balls deep in horror and exploitation since the early 2000’s and his decade efforts really show the core of his passion. The Disco Exorcist won’t win Academy Awards, but have rock the shit out of horror film festivals including Rock and Shock 2011 and Killer Film Festival 2011 and rightfully so. This homage to the 1970’s includes super fueled drug and sex scenes that are, but probably not, the overboard culture of the 1970’s.

Rex Romanski isn’t a stereotypical hero. In fact, Rex is a bit of a wimp with a big love stick and he just happens to be in the right place at the right time when his ass needs saving. While the The Disco Exorcist wants to portray Rex the all mighty and strong hero, he doesn’t really do anything. Actor Michael Reed who portrays Rex makes you forget how pathetic Rex really can be by using his on camera charm. The guy is likable – what else can I say? Griffin and Reed have worked together previously in Griffin’s older work Nun of That and The Beyond the Dunwich Horror and I imagine their chemistry is similar to that of Stuart Gordon and Jeffrey Combs.
dex3
Ruth Sulterland is another of Griffin’s entourage and her role as the black magic priestess doesn’t spark as much likability as maybe Reed’s Rex does for the sheer fact that there resembles not nearly enough evil in Ruth to conjure any real threat to our hero and heroine. Rita is more in the background playing with her voodoo dolls and placing spells upon the grave to awake all scorn women from their tombs. Rita would have been more convincing if she was more hands on with Amoreena or Rex, but instead Rita resembles more like one of Rex’s whores and is easily forgettable.
dex4
The gore of The Disco Exorcist doesn’t really pick up until almost 45 minutes into the film when the porn shoot goes array with possessed, bare chested roller girls hacking away at the on-set production crew. The first 45 minutes were more about Rex mojo’ing the beaver from various ladies and snorting coke like his life depended on it. The retro fitting of The Disco Exorcist really helps set the stage for the homage to the exploitive films of that represented decade. What doesn’t hurt the film either is the mayhem after that initial cherry popping gore scene which follows up with castration, decapitation, and combustion!
dex2
Tons of fun, tons of drugs, ton of gore, tons of nudity – what is not to like about Richard’s Griffin’s sleazy and funny tale of Rex Romanski? Wild Eye Releasing and MVDvisual bring this film to DVD home entertainment and both companies are super pro-independent and company you can trust to give you a good time. The Disco Exorcist is a prime example of a good time.

Merry Evil Xmas! Caesar & Otto’s Deadly Xmas review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

codeadlyxmas
Just in time for the 2013 holiday season comes Caesar & Otto’s Deadly Xmas the sophomore sequel the original film humbly titled Caesar & Otto. Caesar and his half brother Otto embark on a religious cause to become a traveling Santa Claus and his buddy elf. Another Santa has other plans as the bodies of Caesar & Otto’s friends begin to pile up from his deranged thirst for blood. As the blood flows, Caesar & Otto’s oblivious nature doesn’t leave them one clue to the chaos that has been ensuing.
codeadlyxmas2
The indie horror comedy is a large homage to the genre that references mainly back to Silent Night, Deadly Night and just like Silent Night, Deadly Night, Caesar & Otto’s Deadly Xmas comes off just as cheesy as Cheez Whiz to where most scenes are not very funny and where very few scenes give a good chuckle. The main characters are whimsical, but immature to the point where the comedy makes my take teeth grit together painstakingly.

Dave Campbell directs, pens, and stars as Caesar and his love for horror shines through into his work, but Campbell also has his hand in editing and the his editing work leaves the film feeling too fast pace that if you look down for a second or blink your eyes, you’ll end up missing an entire sequence or a key part of the film. Also, I’ve never seen the previous two films, Caesar & Otto nor Caesar & Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre, and there feels to be that some portions of the movie carried over into Deadly Xmas. I was waiting for a flashback sequence or something else that would reference what had happened previously, but nothing came about leaving more confusion.
codeadlyxmas3
Like a good homage, Deadly Xmas involves a lot of great horror icons that also made an appearance in Summer Camp Massacre as well. Slumber Party Massacre’s Brinke Steven’s, Return of the Living Dead’s Linnea Quigley, Sleepaway Camp’s Felissa Rose, Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman, and Soultaker’s Joe Estevez make a b-list guest cameo appearance. Kaufman’s scene was particularly the funniest of them all, but I don’t want to discredit the others as they have bring something special to the Campbell’s film even with Joe Estevez making light and spoofing Doctor Phil with Doctor Pheel!
codeadlyxmas4
Wild Eye releasing and MVDVisual bring Caesar & Otto’s Deadly Xmas to life with some really good appeasing art work that will sure attract attention to the Christmas horror genre. Check out the bonus features that include alternate scenes, behind the scene featurette, a short film entitled Piggyzilla, another short film entitled Otto’s First Job, trailers, and a bonus short film starring Maniac Cop’s Robert Z’dar entitled The Perfect Candidate.