The Death Wheelers(1973)

Directed by Don Sharp (The Brides of Fu Manchu(1966), Curse of the Fly(1965), Bear Island(1979))

Starring Nicky Hensen (Old Drac(1975), Witchfinder General(1968)) and Ann Michelle(Virgin Witch(1972), Young Lady Chatterley(1977))







I have been praising the Midnite selections over at Williamsburg's Spectacle Theater for months now. Who ever is doing the programming over there obviously knows what the fuck is up, and there is usually something good going on at least once a week for fans of cult trash. Even though budget and social restrictions typically prevent me from going, there have several movies on their roster that I had never heard of but made it a point to seek out. The Death Wheelers(1973) was one of these films I knew I had to see even if I couldn't make the screening. Biker Gangs, Devil Worship and the Living Dead all rolled into one little British package. What more could a man want?

After months of having a copy, I was finally able to sit down and watch it with friends and loved ones. Movies like this I like sharing with the Girlfriend. It also helped that we had a guest and there is currently nothing available on primetime for the next couple of weeks, so the evening's entertainment totally ended up in my favor.

And it was completely worth it.

Granted, it didn't go exactly as described. There was a biker gang, The Living Dead, and they aren't the friendliest bunch. Antisocial is a bit tame of a word to describe their actions. The Devil Worship wasn't really "worship" per se. It was more of a "Deal with the Devil", or a "Deal with the Toad Demon". That's right, I said Toad Demon. In fact, in Death Wheelers toads are the reason for the season. How very odd, but I know I've seen stranger storylines in movies from the 70's.

Then we get to The Living Dead. To most people, "living dead" refers to mindless, rotting husks of humanity who sustain themselves on the brains of the living. Not so much here. To be "living dead" in the Death Wheelers pretty means having all the benefits of higher undead, like a vampire, but without many of the drawbacks (I think there is something bad with crucifixes). To become the "living dead" all one must do is want to die to live. Sounds confusing, doesn't it? Well I can't give everything away.

I had fun watching this film, although there were a couple lowpoints. Namely, the lack of gore. I'm assuming it had more to do with British censors than artistic direction, but I could have used more blood and guts. It also felt slow at parts, which could have been considered a good set-up for all the road action, which I thought was nicely filmed and proper. I was also a huge fan of the music, from the cheesy little acoustic numbers to the psych/mod/soul rock that made up most of the background even if it was pretty repetitive.

If you like Hammer Horror with a higher budget and JD/biker movies, you would probably get a kick out of the Death Wheelers. Even if you don't, but are still a horror and action fan, it's still worth at least one watch.

Trailer Release for Cuba's 1st Horror- Juan of the Dead

As far as zombie movies are concerned, I'm just as burned out as the rest of y'all motherfuckers. Truth be told, with the market oversaturation since the release of Land of the Dead several years back, I could go years before entertaining the idea of watching a new zombie movie. The exception being, of course, The Walking Dead, but that doesn't really count because it's a television show. As of today, I have found a new exception: A zombie movie from Cuba. Never before have I seen a movie from Cuba, much less a horror movie. I feel like I'm committing a federal crime just by talking about it.

According to Slashfilm and Dread Central, Juan of the Dead(2011) takes place 50 years after the Revolution. Cuba has become overrun with zombies, a blame which is being placed on the US Goverment(go figure!). Our hero Juan, decides the best way to use this lemon is to make lemonade, and takes it upon himself to start slaughtering animated corpses, but for a price. As far as I can tell from the trailer, Juan of the Dead could be compared to Sean of the Dead(duh) but with the social commentary of a dying totalitarian regime. I can live with that, despite the politics. I'm just glad to see Cuba finally become a productive member of film society, at least film that I'm in to.

Here's the trailer, courtesy of Latin Film Reviews:

Colin(2008)

I'm a huge fan of low budget movies if you couldn't already tell. I would say that the majority of the films I've reviewed don't even come close to having a budget of 1 mil. Most of them are probably made for less than 100 grand. I do have standards and try to steer clear of no budget cinema though. There are some Troma flicks that I won't touch or have had to shut off within minutes of hitting the play button. I do have some taste, despite what you may have read. I recently discovered a movie with a budget so low it scared the shit out of me. Less than 100 bucks! How can anything worthy of a public viewing be made for under 100 bucks? It made me curious to see what kind of movie could be made for less than the price of my bar tab on a bad night. Not only was it made on shoestring budget, it also showed at Cannes. After finding this out there was no doubt in my mind I had to track down Colin(2008), even though I have almost reached the point of saying goodbye to zombie movies for good, I had to watch it.

Colin is the story of one young man's struggle with the loss of his own humanity. The movie starts with our name character discovering, in shock, that he has has some type of wound inflicted upon him. This is quickly followed by an attack of the undead variety, in which Colin comes out victorious, even though said victory is worth very little. You see, we quickly learn that Colin has been infected, and slowly begins the process of kissing life as he knows, goodbye. not that it really mattrs much , considering that London is currently going through a zombie apocalypse. As Colin begins his slow-moving voyage through the dead-infested streets of London, we start to see the metamorphosis from life to (un)death. The whole time seeing, despite the flesh eating, robbing of his shoes, and a run-in with his sister, there are still aspects of Colin's humanity that he is trying to hold onto.

The fading humanity is theme that kept my interest the most. Sure, empathizing with the undead has been done before (I heart Bub), but never have I seen a movie that follows the poor little zombie boy down the path of the damned, like this one does. In movies like Land of the Dead and Day of the Dead the poor, wittle flesheaters are secondary characters, and nothing but. Colin provides us with a first-person perspective on how much it sucks to be a zombie. It's a life constant starvation, shambling, and fighting for your food while under the constant threat of angry, human hordes. Doesn't sound like any life I would pay to have.

I read a couple of reviews over at IMDB(my best friend) from viewers who didn't think as highly of Colin as I did. Complaints about the camerawork, the acting, and comparisons to a student film. No shit, Sherlock!! This movie was made for less than 100 bucks, what do you expect? Yes, shaky cam is an annoying technique, but it was used to incite anxiety and wasn't used too much. As far as the acting was concerned, you don't need to be a fuckin' thespian to groan and shamble. This is flesh-eating, not a Shakespeare production. The actors were all volunteers and most under the age of 21, so it of course wreaked of student film. It damn well could have been a student film, but I don't give a shit. It was a damn good time and I will watch it over and over, and probably tell others about it.

Enough ranting, I think this is a must see for any fan of the horror genre. Lack of quality camera equipment was compensated for with quality digital filters and decent editing. The special effects were realistic and never lacking, and the soundtrack was creepy and kept the film intense. I wish the director well and can't wait to view future endeavors. I'll gladly give him 90 minutes of my time in the future.