Third Dimensional Monsters, Mystery Rash, Famished Freaks

Thanks to the expanding universe of AI, you can now get classic horror and sci-fi movies converted into 3D. Well, two of ’em anyway…for now. Gammera The Invincible (1966) and Carnival of Souls (1962), fair game in the public domain, have been given the 3D treatment by Cinefantastique magazine, IFC.com, Reelz.com writer/editor Dan Persons. And you can get the signed DVDs — with included 3D viewing glasses — on his SpaceBrains3D Etsy™ page (click here) for $15.67 US smackos.

From Persons’ statement: “This is by no means a fly-by-night, cash-in type of operation,” he says. “I come to it from a lifelong passion for how tech can be used to create more experiential forms of art, three years of experimentation born of a dissatisfaction over how mainstream studios were utilizing stereoscopic presentation as a cynical way to apply a premium upsell to the same-ol’ same-ol’, and a 30-year background in film journalism and criticism. This is a very personal and intensely creative project for me — so much so that I sign and number every DVD I send out, and include with each order a copy of my Rethink 3D Manifesto,” which you can see below. Keep an eye on the Etsy™ page for future titles!”

Just so the purists don’t freak out, the Gammera The Invincible 3D edition is the Goodman cut, which runs 63 minutes, and “removes all the talk-talk-talk of the American-shot footage, so you can get to the monster carnage you crave sooner!” If only that kind of editing could be applied to certain loud neighbors.

So while we rush to buy these 3D DVDs because hey, why not, here are a few upcoming horror/sci-fi movies that may or may not be better served in public domain…

THE STRANGE CASE OF JACKY CAILLOU / April 11, 2023 (VOD)

“When Jacky’s grandmother, a renowned healer, suddenly passes away and a particularly compelling young woman with a mysterious rash arrives on his doorstep, he has no choice but to stay and try to help. As her condition worsens, it becomes clear that she’s afflicted with no ordinary illness. She’s transforming into something dangerous before his eyes, but he’s already in too deep to abandon her.”

Mysterious rash. I’m pretty sure they have products that’ll fix that.

BURY THE BRIDE / April 22, 2023 (Tubi™)

“Bride-to-be June’s bachelorette getaway turns deadly when her blood-thirsty fiancé and his backwoods friends show up to crash the party. What follows becomes a living nightmare of unholy proportions as June, her sister Sadie and their closest friends fight for their lives, and avenge the ones who don’t make it through the night.”

A party-crashing, blood-thirsty fiancé with backwoods friends. He seems nice.

THE ARTIFICE GIRL / April 27, 2023 (VOD)

“A small team of special agents discover a revolutionary computer program that uses a digital child to catch on-line predators. After teaming up with the program’s troubled developer, they soon find that the AI’s inevitable advancement is far more rapid and incalculable than they could have imagined, posing unforeseen challenges and unsettling consequences for the future of technology and mankind.”

I liked this better when it was called M3gan (2022).

FEEDERS 3 — THE FINAL MEAL / Release pending 2023 (VOD)

“23 years have passed since the last feeding. Now, they have returned to Earth for the final meal.”

The Creeper in Jeepers Creepers (2001) feeds every 23 years as well. Talk about intermittent fasting. I can’t go 23 minutes without shoving soylent green down my snack hole.

The Horror of Being Rich

The Curse of the Living Corpse is social commentary horror movie made in 1964 about spoiled aristocrats in 1893. Spoiled aristocrats is an oxymoron.

After their disgustingly rich father dies, the surviving family members go after the inheritance like me at an all-you-can drink buffet. The millionaires’ sons and daughters are the ultimate Republicans: snobbish, greedy, manipulating and scheming.

But even though he’s dead, dad has the last word. Each relative must perform a task lasting one year, after which they get their money. These tasks are simple and designed as safety measures in case dad needs to come back. (Being buried alive was his greatest fear.) Failing to do the tasks results in each of the ding-dongs being done in by their own worst fears: burning, drowning, having their aristocratic face scarred and disfigured, made to eat Hamburger Helper™…

The playboy, needing cash to pay off his gambling debts, looks like Clark Gable, but not quite as handsome. Kinda like a used car salesman version of Clark Gable. He makes out with the hottie servant (“You would carelessly deny rank its privilege?”) and schemes to speed up the inheritance process. This results in the servant’s head being cut off and served on a dinner platter. Eeww!

Roy Scheider is a full-blown alcoholic playboy and taunts the family members with alcohol-fueled taunts. Soon, each starts dying in the fashion they fear most. (For me it’s being forced to drink Zima™.) The caped figure roaming the mansion and estate grounds suggests dad has come back from the grave and is supremely p*ssed. After 30 minutes you should be able to figure out who’s doing all the burning, cutting, drowning, stabbing. The trick is doing it without falling asleep (guilty as charged).

This was Roy’s first movie. He did others, but the only one that matters is Jaws (no, not Jaws II/1978 because that one sucked hard). Candace Hilligoss plays a terrified crying wallflower. You may remember her from the 1962 horror creeper, Carnival of Souls. You don’t? Then I just now lost all respect for you.

Clowning Around With Horror

Circuses and/or circus clowns are no strangers to horror movies, which I find to be an odd sub-genre given that a circus and subsequent clownage is supposed to bring joy and laughter, not die kill bleed.

The first such horror movie featuring circus-y stuff that gooned me out was Carnival of Souls (1962). That creepy dude who kept following the freaked out blonde chick gave me nightmares about blonde chicks for years.

But that’s sorta all behind me now. Ahem.

So a new themed horror movie being prepped for 2014 is titled Circus of the Dead. I like the title. Here’s more to like…

“A man becomes entangled in a deadly morality game when the circus comes to town and a sadistic clown forces him in the most horrific ways to examine the things in life he takes for granted.”

I need to be careful here; the things in life I take for granted are toilet paper (for dabbing purposes and what not), my toaster (I just think those things are so darned neat) and air. I do not want a sadistic clown to take away any or all of those things from me. So to all clowns out there, I repent my wicked attitudes.