Lost Bigfoot, Killer Clown, Zombie Thanksgiving

The movie Sasqua (1975) has possibly the best plot ever: “A hippie commune is attacked by cryptids.” I read that and started crying tears of happiness. FINALLY, someone is doing something about all those stink hippies stinkin’ up the woods and, by extension, the entire world.

Before you break out the champagne (or Miller High Life — The Champagne of Beers™), you can’t watch this movie. Why? Because it only played for about two days at a local theater in Massachusetts back in the ’70s and was never seen again. (FYI: There were a lot of hippies in those days — and every day since.)

But dry your eyes — there’s a documentary called Sasqu — The Lost Bigfoot Film of Massachusetts being worked on as we speak. Here are the details: “Described by The Boston Globe as an obscure horror movie about a hippie commune attacked by cryptids,’ the elusive Sasqua has never seen the light of day outside of a brief and localized theatrical release back in the 1970s, and filmmaker John Campopiano has set out to uncover as much information, and as many relevant interview subjects, as he possibly can.”

While we wait for this Oscar™ contender and celebrate Bigfoot’s efforts for eradicating those who stink and have deprived themselves the glory of the washcloth, here are a few upcoming horror/sci-fi movies that may or may not be worthy of being spared by the glory of cryptids…

MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING / Out now (VOD, Apple TV™)

“A zombie-obsessed, special needs adult searches for his absent mom while a Korean family and gang compete to be his family. But he teaches everyone forgiveness with the help of his favorite zombie television show.”

Zombies are synonymous with forgiveness, so this one should be bloody heartwarming.

MISTER CREEP / December 5, 2022 (VOD)

“Three college students stumble upon a lost television broadcast of a deceased serial killer and search for its location. They discover a nightmarish cover-up of a clown-faced man who killed hundreds and may still be around long after his death.”

A clown-faced man who killed hundreds. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

THE CHRISTMAS TAPES / December 16, 2022 (VOD)

“In this Christmas horror anthology, a family’s movie night on Christmas Eve is interrupted by a stranger insistent on making the next Christmas ‘classic’ film himself.”

I’m ready for my close-up. Just let me quaff a few pitchers of “holiday cheer” to get in the zone.

#FLOAT / Release pending 2023 (VOD)

“When a vlogger and her crew embark on their annual river float to commemorate the untimely loss of their friend, they are plunged into a life and death battle with a mysterious local, a sinister paranormal force, and their own fears.”

YET ANOTHER “social media” horror movie. This means it #sucks.

40 Year-Old Horror, Literary Madman, Male Horror

Every since it was announced Jamie Lee Curtis was returning to reprise her role as Laurie Strode in Halloween (first released in 1978), fans have been clamoring in their pants. So much so, fan art for the as yet untitled Halloween sequel (scheduled for October 18, 2018), has been popping up like seasonal measles all over the Internet, the one featured here being one of the better examples. (Don’t know who to credit as they didn’t put their secret identity on it.)

Until the REAL title is announced, we’ll just have to be happy with the official plot: “Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.”

Meanwhile, here are a few upcoming horror/sci-fi movies that hopefully won’t make you wait 40 years for the sequel…

EDGAR ALLEN POE: BURIED ALIVE (October 30, 2017/PBS)
“Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive draws on the rich palette of Poe’s evocative imagery and sharply drawn plots to tell the real story of the notorious author. Narrated by Oscar — and Tony — nominated, two-time Golden Globe-winner Kathleen Turner, American Masters – Edgar Allan Poe: Buried Alive explores the misrepresentations of Poe as a drug-addled madman akin to the narrators of his horror stories.”

Looking forward to this one as it stars the brilliantly versatile Denis O’Hare from the American Horror Story series. That guy comfortably wears so many acting hats, I’m surprised his next movie isn’t about a haberdashery, which I believe is a British hat store. Hat is way easier to spell than haberdashery.

ATTACK OF THE KILLER DONUTS (November 17, 2017)
“A chemical accident turns ordinary donuts into blood thirsty killers. Now it’s up to Johnny, Michelle and Howard to save their sleepy town from…Killer Donuts.”

Yeah, but what kind of donuts? Bear Claws seem to make obvious sense. Not so much for maple bars — unless they’re thrown at your head as if a yummy, sticky brick. Still, we’ve already had Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978); what’s next — Attack of the Killer Hot Dogs? That actually might be cool, now that I think about it.

SCREAM QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2017/2018)
“A documentary film focusing on the gay experience in Hollywood horror, Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street explores how that experience has changed in the three decades since Mark Patton’s controversial portrayal of Jesse Walsh, the object of Freddy Krueger’s latent desire in Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985).”

Scream, Queen! examines the infamous homo-erotic subtext and the special place the film holds in the Nightmare franchise as well as the gay film canon. Partly in thanks to evolving social mores, Nightmare on Elm Street 2 — which was considered controversial at the time of its release — is now being looked back upon with a new appreciation and fondness by horror aficionados and fans of the series. While Freddy’s Revenge, dubbed “the gayest horror movie ever made,” cemented Freddy as a pop culture icon, Patton was never heard from again. After 30 years of living in near obscurity, Patton is back to talk about how his American dream became a nightmare during the homophobic AIDS crisis in Hollywood and why he had to give it all up.”

Just because they showed a male bare bottom being invisibly horsewhipped in Nightmare on Elm Street 2 doesn’t mean it’s a gay horror movie. It’s the scene where Jesse would rather crawl through a bedroom window to “crash” with his bare-chested buddy than have willing, carte blanche relations with his hot red-headed girlfriend.

RESTRAINT (2018)
“A disturbed young woman who plunges into a darkness after becoming unexpectedly pregnant, becoming a threat to her family and herself.”

So much for a second date. Then again, plunging into darkness just might re-heat the leftovers.

And the Award Goes To…Godzilla!

Add an Oscar to Godzilla’s list of accomplishments. It was just announced Shin Godzilla (2016) has been nominated for Best Picture in the Japanese Academy Awards (aka, The Japan Academy Prize). Okay, so Godzilla hasn’t won it yet, but how could it not happen? For those of us lucky enough to have seen it, Shin Godzilla is the Citizen Kane (1941) of giant monster movies.

Besides being the highest-grossing live-action Japanese movie of 2016, Shin Godzilla racked up a staggering 11 nominations in all: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Music, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Lighting Direction, Best Sound Recording and Best Film Editing. They left out one: Best Poop Yer Pants Awesome Destruction and Mayhem.

Even though the Japanese Academy Award/Prize trophy looks like a coffee table leg, it’ll sit nicely atop Godzilla’s fireplace, which just happens to be all of Tokyo.

Unfortunately, we here in the States will have to wait until later in 2017 to get the movie on a variety of viewing platforms. I’ll no doubt buy them all. Twice.

Death Cars, Death Aliens, Death Snow

Have you ever been watching horror movies in your underwear and see the mail man dropping off fan mail from the IRS and go outside to retrieve said marked “URGENT!” mail, all the while forgetting you’re not wearing pants? Yeah, me neither.

Some upcoming new ones to watch in your skivvies…

ROGER CORMAN’S DEATH RACE 2050 (January 17, 2017/DVD)
“It’s the year 2050 and America is controlled by an all-powerful corporate government ruled by The Chairman. The masses have been brainwashed with violent virtual-reality entertainment. The event of the year is the Death Race, in which a motley crew of violent drivers compete in a cross-country road race, scoring points for shamelessly running people over and driving each other off the road. The reigning champion and fan favorite, Frankenstein, who’s half-man half-machine, wants to take the crown, but his rebel spy co-pilot threatens his legacy.”

Corman’s Death Race 2000 (1975) is regarded one of the most iconic campy cult films of all time and space. This one recaptures that same hyper-violent/goofy destruction derby vibe. If the movie is as good as the NSFW trailer, I think we’re talkin’ an Oscar™ nomination.

THE PREDATOR (February 9, 2018)
This one’s a year away. A year. That’s something like 12 freakin’ months, dang it. No plot, but one can guess: The Predator shows up and kills people to death, using their head bones as bookends in his personal library. Works for me.

GET OUT (February 24, 2017)
“When a young African-American man visits his white girlfriend’s family estate, he becomes ensnared in a more sinister real reason for the invitation. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.”

Don’t want to spoil it for you, but the “disturbing discovery” is that her parents are actually purple vampires. Shameful that people are still so racist over purple vampires.

COLD GROUND (2017)
“1976: Two young journalists leave for the French-Swiss border to investigate a strange case of cattle mutilations and record testimonies for a TV channel. Yet, once they get there, the scientific team they were supposed to meet has gone missing. Escorted by a first-aider, a British biologist and an American forensic investigator, Melissa and David go looking for the missing team deep into the mountains; but their rescue mission soon turns into a fight for survival as they get caught in an avalanche. Lost in the wild and petrified by the cold, the team experiences the ruthlessness of the mountains. They realize that blizzards, frostbite and cliffs are not that bad once they find out that they are not alone in this snowy forest.”

Didn’t realize cows hung out in the snow. Grazing for snow balls doesn’t sound very gratifying. As for what else is in the woods, my guess is poisonous squirrels. Or werewolves. Probably werewolves since Hollywood doesn’t make movies about poisonous squirrels. They totally should, though.

THE HOLLOW ONES (2017)
“Samantha has lived her whole life in different foster homes. Now living in a small town, she never feels like she quite fits in, even with her own current foster family who might adopt her. So it’s natural that she doesn’t know what to do with Olivia, a curious, tag-along little sister. One day, Samantha callously ditches Olivia, who wanders off into the woods on her own and disappears.”

Olivia fell down an old well. Better call Lassie.

You’ve Got Poltergeists

Thanks to their hottie 15 year-old daughter whose drunk driving/baby-sitting skills left her three-year-old brother unable to talk, the parents wiped out their entire savings account on medical bills and were forced to move into a dumpy shack and grow sunflowers. (Personally, there’s more money in hamburger trees, but hey, what do I know?)

Transplanting from downtown Chicago to rural North Dakota is enough of a culture shock without having eerie ghosts crawling all over the walls like some transparent Spider-Man. Only the little boy can see them and is always staring at the ceiling and pointing.

The teen daughter suspects something is way wrong and her theories are proven to be better than her ability to operate a car when ghost arms come out of the basement and try to pull her in.

Of course, mom and dad think she’s dealing with “issues” after nearly killing her brother and not having enough baby-sitting juice to drink. No one knew about the house’s previous tenants, who were violently deathed in half.

Several kinda cool ghost moments, including the woman coming out of the stained wall. (Pine-Sol™ could easily get those stains out, if not the poltergeist.) The acting is solid, especially from the three year-old whose pointing could very well earn him an Oscar™. But the pay-off is standard issue horror lite and, if you didn’t see it coming, a total Hallmark™ ending.

I have a message for The Messengers (2007) for the sequel: use more blood, crows (give them guns), and have at least one character get scared out of her blouse.

Monsters, Deadites, Aliens and…The Tall Man

A few more notable horror movies/TV events I felt compelled to clog your eyeballs with: Gnawbone (indie creature feature), Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 2 (dancing in the streets), Aliens 30th Anniversary (with a billion extras) and a 4k remastered version of Phantasm. (Put my picture above the description of the word “glee.”)

Releasing October 2016, Gnawbone features no CGI creature, but rather a much preferred man in a monster suit. If the trailer is any indication, it fits him well. Here’s a plot to chew on: “A boy that witnesses something that takes the life of his grandfather. Thinking that the traumatic event created a false memory, a psychologist wants the now 21 year old young man to face his fears by trekking into the woods. With the help of friends, he might be able to process these memories and come to terms with that scared little boy. Or is that memory actually the truth…”

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s the truth.

The first season of Ash vs. Evil Dead was classically brilliant, massively entertaining and the best dang TV show in the history of ever. And I say that without hyperbole. Here’s what’s in store for Season 2, which premiers on Starz™ October 2nd at 8:00pm ET/PT: “ Since Season One, Ash has been living it up in Jacksonville with his loyal sidekick Pablo and the revenge-filled Kelly. Season Two kicks off with a double Deadite battle royale interrupting the party; Ash is forced to return back to his hometown of Elk Grove, Michigan…and as always, Evil follows him.”

I’m so happy I think I just downloaded.

Up next is the 30th anniversary release of Aliens, critically regarded one the best horror/sci-fi sequels ever made. This version comes with a Nostromo sized pile of extras. That’s the good part. The bad part is a Nostromo sized pile of this content has already been released in the The Alien Legacy collection, which I’ve purchased about seven or eleven times. But hey, it’s your bit coin, so spend away. Here’s another tidbit to help you loosen those purse strings: An all-new cover was created exclusively for this 30th Anniversary Edition. That’s exclusively, people.

As Oscar™worthy horror movie franchises go, I’m pant-fillingly excited about the September 24, 2016 theatrical re-release restoration of Phantasm (1979) in glorious 4k. I don’t know what 4k means, but I can only assume it means double awesome. Add one more scoop of awesome when its released on VOD on October 7, 2017.

You remember Phantasm, right? “A young boy enlists the aid of his older brother and an ice cream man to investigate the mysterious deaths plaguing his town. He soon learns that at the heart of all the death is the terrifying Tall Man.”

This bland press blurb doesn’t even come close to the mind-bending awesomeness therein. But you already knew that, right?

Retro Insects

Not even filmed yet, It Came From the Desert, a giant ant movie based on the 1989 Atari™ video game, already has to movie one-sheets, a Facebook™ page and a logo. All this before cameras start rolling for a scheduled 2016 release. Somebody ate a big bowl of optimism for breakfast.

No movie details yet, but if it follows the video game outline, a giant ant comes out of the desert and, like, attacks humans ’n stuff. (I never played with video games – I played with beer. And occasionally a girl who drank beer.)

But if all of that except my personal details seem familiar to you, this was spectacularly done with 1954’s Them!, wherein giant ants come out of the desert and come looking for the sugar cube that is your head.

Stuff about Them! I copied off of Wikipedia (which I already knew BEFORE there was a factually-dodgy online encyclopedia) reveals the iconic sci-fi masterpiece was universally lauded: Them! was nominated for an Oscar for its special effects and won a Golden Reel Award for best sound editing. The film has been nominated for two American Film Institute lists, AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills and AFI’s 10 Top 10 (science fiction genre).

Of course, you’d know that yourself if you cared to read my February 2, 2013 blog about it. [Click HERE]. So until It Came From The Desert arrives in the future, watch Them! to see how a real giant ant movie can bug you – in a good way.