Tag Archives: list

DJ’s on the big screen…

December 4, 2016 Kisha Leave a comment

After watching Vanishing Point (1971) I was amazed by the connection between Kowalski and Super Soul (Cleavon Little) a resident DJ fighting to support and inform the lone driver, I remembered that I had started a list and now it needed to be completed.

01.The DJ (Lynne Thigpen) The Warriors (1979)

Possibly the most iconic DJ in cinema history and all we ever saw of her for the entire movie was her mouth. Her golden tones over the radio played out as a narrative of the hellish night that the street gang called the Warriors we’re having after being framed for taking out a rival gang leader. It quite insane how her character comes across when we barely see anything of her but it’s a vital role which really brings the movie together and keeps the fast pace up. It looks particularly amazing in the director’s cut as it splices the “comic” chapters together well.

02.Blue Heart (???) Zombi 3 (1979)

I’m hoping I can find the details of this chap before I publish but so far NO clues on who the actor is who played this amazing happy Dj who becomes the only Zombie DJ in cinema history.. (if you know of any others please inform me). BlueHeart is a happy carefree hippy who promotes love with his music, but after an outbreak of “Death One” his beloved island becomes a nightmare in paradise as the locals are becoming mindless zombies and being slaughtered by the military. His messages of peace and love soon become a dark signal of safe havens, hospitals and military advice, and eventually his final message is a warning from the dead themselves.

03.Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) Pontypool (2008)

This unusual infection movie revolves around the fearless and quirky Grant Mazzy who arrives to do his shift at a local radio station just as his town begins to go crazy and acting like mindless cannibals. After barricading himself and staff into the station they attempt to keep people informed as they piece together the cause of his mass hysteria. Great movie with a superb actor taking the reins and delivered a realistic role.

04.Angry Bob (Iggy Pop) Hardware (1990)

A long all time favorite movie on mine (got a tribute tattooed on my leg) and filled with some of the UK’s best musicians, including Lemmy (RIP) and Carl MacCoy playing his own brand of psychonaut and Iggy Pop makes a guest appearance as Angry Bob who gives random updates about the apocalyptic shitty weather, radiation count and to inform us that there is NO FUCKING GOOD NEWS!! Unlike the rest of the movies this DJ is just a voice over the airways but his updates do provide a host of interesting background information.

05.Super Soul (Cleavon Little) Vanishing Point (1971)

The enigmatic person what prompted me to finish off this list, Vanishing Point is about a speed racer out for some kicks transporting a car to a new owner and surviving on a cocktail of uppers he doesn’t sleep and doesn’t lift his foot from the pedal. While ploughing through police barricades and racing brave challengers, he has an unspoken one way communication/bond with Super Soul, a blind DJ played by the late Litt, he helps guide and warn Kowalski about upcoming dangers and tries to guide him to safety and even takes a brutal police beating in the process.

It’s brilliant how DJ’s are often portrayed on the big screen, obviously through the ages styles and music, formatting of shows have changed the game but the players are very much the same. I do love the connection between Vanishing Point’s SuperSoul and BlueHeart from Zombie.

Horror, Lists, News, Spotlight

Spotlight – Wes Craven Movies RIP

September 1, 2015 Kisha Leave a comment

There have been a lot of RIP lists I’ve missed due to a lack of time in updating but I couldn’t let ANOTHER one go by without making an attempt to put something together. Hopefully this will spur me on to finish the other lists.

So the powers that be have decided to take one that shined so bright and left us with a few bottom feeders who we could so easily do without. Wesley Earl Craven passed away from Brain Cancer last Sunday, 30^th August 2015 aged only 76.

I’ve really loved a lot of Cravens early works, I have a soft spot for 70’s horror and thrillers and I adore his early works a lot more than the recent films, I dunno why, maybe in 30 years I’ll grow to love those as well!? I think he took a lot more risks back in the day but it was easier to shock and disgust and he was probably high as a kite too as apparently everyone was.

Anyway I’ll write an amazing piece in honor of a great director and man one day, in the meantime here are 5 Selected Craven movies. In no particular order…

01.Last House on the Left (1972)

Banned and still famed for one of the most “memorable” and upsetting rape scenes ever, Wes certainly meant business when he started making films. With a few added elements of lowbrow comedy and a lot of lurid and disgusting behaviour, the amazing David Hess and his rebellious entourage rape and kill a young girl then stumble upon her parents’ house. The parents soon realise what’s happened and revenge is a dish best served with a lot of pain. The film undoubtedly considered dated now by many, it yielded a lot of good things, inspiring such horrors as Night Train Murders (1975) and a not so bad remake in 2009. 9/10 Continue reading Spotlight – Wes Craven Movies RIP →

Lists

Selected dysfunctional family movies

April 1, 2015 Kisha Leave a comment

We all have that one person who ruins family celebration, a black sheep of the family, an uncle you don’t leave alone with the children and maybe a grandma who bakes swastika cookies. What would happen if everyone in one family were all kooky and we’re not talking about the Addams Family. Here is a selected few dysfunctional families.

01.Mum & Dad (2008)

This was recommended by a friend many moons ago, it’s a curious movie, starting out with a cleaner at the airport who goes to her friend’s house after work, only to get kidnapped by the “parents” and is forced to become part of the family as a new obedient daughter. This film is hidden British treasure, there are some gut wrenching scenes and some very questionable actions from loving parents. What is the meaty thing the father is romancing when the girl is sent to him to be punished? Pulling some aspects from People under the stairs but with a lot more torture and guts. 6/10

02.5150 Elms Way- 5150 Rue De Ormes (2009)

One of my newer favourites in dysfunctional family horrors, an unsuspecting student is abducting by a family and held captive, he becomes obsessed with the father figure who finds him a suitable son and a callous hate/admiration battle commences both physically, mentally and via a series of chess matches, while trying to equal his new father figure, pander to the possible kindness of his wife and avoid the violent beat downs of his new-found sister who’s trying to impress psycho dad, It’s gritty, nightmarish and violent and well worth a watch. 8/10

03. People under the stairs (1991)

A mother’s search for the perfect child and a supportive gimp partner they manage to abduct and amass a collection of “people under the stairs” It’s a dark comedy horror, but delivers some claustrophobic scares. The couple themselves are deep in a fetish relationship but really need some parenting 101. After the family home is infiltrated by Fool (Brandon Adams) things get weird while he crawls through crawl spaces and uncovers the families many secrets in the basement. It’s one of the better early 90’s horrors playing on some of the urban myths about where bad children end up. 7/10

04.House of 1000 corpses (2003)

I hate to call this family dysfunctional as I have often been described as being a part of their family namely Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) not for my looks I will add, I think for my general knife addiction, painfully annoying laugh and well I like to play with dolls and cheerleaders. Rob Zombie’s infamous cult family of killers, perverts, hookers and people who like to get fucked up and do fucked up shit, have a blast on Halloween night when a group of unsuspecting teens find themselves stranded and needing help, what they get is not expected, and then things get strange… very strange, this film is a darkly comic, experimental gorefest and the best Rob Zombie film ever. 10/10

05.The Loved Ones (2009)

Not so much a dysfunctional family but a doting father and psychotic daughter. While being the unpopular loner at school Lola AKA Princess (Robin McLeavy) asks out her crush Brent (Xavier Samuel) to the prom, this escalates into the bemused Brent being held captive at Princess’s home twisted homemade prom party. While daddy ensures that his lil princess gets everything she wants, no matter how perverse, or disturbing, there are some brilliant torture scenes in this nightmarish and strange movie. 8/10

06.Dogtooth – Kynodontas (2009)

Epitome of black, surreal, nightmarish drama Dogtooth is as important for Greek cinema as Theodoros Angelopoulos’ 1970 film Reconstruction and is slightly based on Castle of Purity – El castillo de la pureza (1973) by Arturo Ripstein. Both films tell a story of a family hidden away from society and who start to internalise and become surreal monuments to mankind. Without many external influences the family in Dogtooth seem to adopt very unusual behaviour, the father regularly hires a prostitute for his son, planes are thought to be paper aeroplanes, and language is tousled around. The parents, especially the father have a full understanding of the outside world and the agenda to keep the children locked away and why they are acting in such a way while at home is beyond me. but it’s beautiful to see everything unfold in a dream like state. a film filled with surreal situations, dark sexuality and questionable lifestyle choices….10/10

07.Skinned deep (2004)

An indie off the wall comedy horror in a similar vein as Dear God No! (2011) starring Aaron Sims and Warwick Davis, a totally bizarre set of characters make up this fucking weird family, a friendly psychopath lemonade making moma, Warwick is a plate throwing dwarf menace, and Brains/Brian who has a very large brain that he tried to hide under a brown paper bag, Aaron Sims plays a surgeon general who is very similar to Dr Satans/ Dr Satans Snotty Henchmen in House of 1000 Corpses, with a headless bodybuilding father in the basement they manage to kidnap a girl for Brian to marry but for some reason after they kill her family and pull her from the crawl space she doesn’t want to marry him!? this is just the tip of the iceberg…. I adore it 8/10

08.Visitor Q – Bijitâ Q – (2001)

A perverted family are intruded on by a mysterious stranger who seems to find a balance with their disturbing nature’s. During his unique teachings and insights he adjusts all the family members and helps liberate them to find their true happiness, the film documents their strange taboos that includes incest, poo, necrophilia and a lot of body fluids, nothing can really prepare you for this crazy surreal ride that never let’s up. 9/10

09.Woman (2011)

A family bound by it’s private perversions, Woman tells a story of a bizarre family unit secluded in a rural home, putting on a false and brave public face. Behind their happy american facade there is a multitude of sins, headed by a righteous and violent father, the women in the family are controlled by his fierce rebuttals and micro managed lifestyle. He discovers woman, last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast, and he attempts to civilize her in his warped ways. It’s gorey, messy, bizarre and a thrilling film from beginning to end, with a custom soundtrack made by Sean Spillane. Personally I can’t find a lot wrong with it. 9/10

10.Down Terrace (2009)

I had to pick an item one of my favourite directors Ben Whealely and this one encompasses one of the most bizarre and deadly families in England. Detailing a crime families attempt to unmask a police informer among them, this crooked, violent, disturbing family, take out hits while having their tea. Filmed in an almost documentary style, Down Terrace unmasks the average British family as a set of experienced, brutal and heartless killers in a (black) comic, bleak and hard-hitting style. Not to be missed 10/10

Honorable mention

We need to talk about Kevin (2011)

This is always mentioned in the disturbing movies category and rightly so. this is very disturbing, and while I had it on my list, it’s hard to add it to a dysfunctional family list as it really was just one person who basically destroys everything and everyone around him. But still it needs to be mentioned here. The strange psychopath child Kevin, is basically the antichrist (not actually him but.. well you know how people say that children can embody pure evil.. this kid does) from his early childhood he learns to manipulate people and is just beyond bizarre and disturbed. As he matures so does his need to be a very bad boy, with his grand finale shocking his entire community. It’s gross and seen from the viewpoint mostly of his mother (Tilda Swinton) who despite being on the rough end of Kevin’s outbursts and who takes the flack from the surrounding community, she does try to lover her son. It’s hard to prepare anyone for watching this but it’s worth it, if you can stomach it. 9/10

Lists, Spotlight

Spotlight – James Caan

March 27, 2015 Kisha Leave a comment

I’ve always appreciated the hairy Bronx beast’s film presence over the years, despite him being one of the few actors who seem a little too relaxed playing the bad guy. He really does have that edge of bigot but I’ve never witnessed any faults in his acting so it was hard to narrow things down to 5 selected performances out of the 120+ titles he’s worked on. So in no particular order… Continue reading Spotlight – James Caan →

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