INDIE FILMS YOU SHOULD BE STOKED FOR: VOLUME II
Article Posted on: April 21, 2010
When I wrote my last article about indie films you should be stoked for, I was feeling pretty sour towards the powers that be at Hollywood. Although mainstream cinema has vastly improved since 2011 began, I still turn to foreign and indie filmmakers to entertain me and give me something I've never seen before. And let me tell you, my latest list definitely contains a lot of awesomely weird movies that fit the bill.
But before I go into my list, let me do a quick recap of the films I mentioned last time:
Monsters - Gareth "I'm going to direct the new American Godzilla movie and not f*ck it up" Edwards' really got a lot of praise for his $15,000 indie epic, but it didn't really jive with me. I knew going in that it wouldn't be an action-packed creature feature, but still I wasn't prepared for the unrelenting boredom that would ensue. And what the Hell was up with the climax? I want to see giant monsters destroying cities, battling the armed forces, and terrorizing civilians, not having tentacle-sex behind a gas station!
The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu - I was ridiculously excited when Dark Sky Films finally released this film onto DVD and immediately snapped it up. While I did have fun watching it, I have to admit that it fails to live up to its epic trailer. Still it did answer the one quesiton I had burning in my mind: H.P. Lovecraft and humor do mix!
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale - I managed to get my paws on this and let me tell you, it more than lived up to the hype! Its got an intriguing premise, a great cast, and a dark sense of humor that totally works! If you ever have the opportunity to see this one then take it. I think we have a new cult Christmas classic on our hands!
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil - The film is still making its rounds at various film festivals (and a cross-country college tour starting in September 2011), but U.S. distribution still eludes Eli Craig's popular horror/comedy. WHY?! Damn it, I want to see this movie so badly! Join the official Facebook page and voice your support for this movie and keep up to date on upcoming screenings and events as well!
Men in Suits - This one is still in production but should be simply amazing when completed. They just finished up a panel recently at Monsterpalooza in Los Angeles (where they interviewed original Godzilla portrayer, Haruo Nakajima!!), and may at some point travel over to Japan to interview classic suit-actors. However, one has to wonder if that will happen now, what with the earthquake/tsunami devastation that has recently plagued the Land of the Rising Sun. To keep up to date on this project, and/or join the newsletter, visit the official site. And don't forget to "like" Men in Suits on Facebook while you're at it!
Hallow Pointe - This one is still in pre-production, but producer Bobby Ray Akers Jr. and Director Thomas Churchill are gearing up to start filming soon. Keep up to date on this project by joining the Hallow Pointe Facebook page.
Moving on then, allow me to introduce six more indie films that are in production, or in some cases, fully completed and ready to rock your world. Let's take a look, shall we?
BLACK DEATH (2010)
Release Date: Coming to DVD & Blu-ray on May 10, 2011.
Official Website: http://www.blackdeathfilm.com/
The Plot: During the time when the First Bubonic Plague is sweeping across Europe, the Church hears of a village that has remained untainted by the Black Death. A
holy knight named Ulric (Sean Bean) leads a small group of fellow knights to investigate the rumors, leading to bloodshed and torture. It is apparently a thought-provoking film that has been compared to both The Wicker Man and Witchfinder General, and the trailer definitely seems to back that up.
Director Christopher Smith (Creep, Severence, Triangle) delivers what appears to be an intriguing tale that asks the question "Who is the real villain?" Are the knights, who are acting on God's behalf the bad guys? Are their actions what the Lord truly intends, or are they carrying out the orders of a corrupt fundamentalist religious sect that will brutally wipe out anyone who doesn't follow their brand of organized religion?
Conversely, are the knights actually in the right here? Could the villagers be worshipping an evil entity, a pagan god, or just have become complete atheists? Well, looks like you'll just have to see it to find out. The movie certainly looks intense, and I for one am eager to give it a watch! Black Death has already done its small theatrical/video on demand run and will be coming to digital home video on May 10th. Give the trailer a look and get excited:
Why You Should Be Stoked For This Movie: Sean Bean, who played Boromir in the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the King should be right at home in a medieval, sword-wielding setting. I think he's a pretty great actor that is constantly underutilized, and I look forward to seeing what he does with his role. Also, this looks like it will promise some brutal gore, and perhaps get those rusty gears in our heads moving in order to figure out what will most assuredly be a twist ending. Toss in a bit of dark humor, and you have a movie that blows the bigger budgeted Nicholas Cage vehicle, Season of the Witch, out of the water.
HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (2011)Release Date: Now Available on Video on Demand. (Watch it on Amazon.com!) Catch it in select theaters on May 6, 2011.
Official Website: www.hobowithashotgun.com
The Plot: Hobo With a Shotgun is a strange beast indeed. The film was conceived as a fake "grindhouse" trailer for a contest and ended up playing in some international screenings for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez' Grindhouse. Then amazingly, in April of 2010, the trailer evolved into a feature film starring Rutger Hauer as the titular character. The rest as they say, is history.
In Hobo With a Shotgun, Rutger Hauer portrays a homeless man that hops a freight train to a place called Hope Town, that is ruled by a sadistic crimelord. Attempting to start a new life by saving up money and buying a lawnmower to start a lawncare business, the hobo instead purchases a shotgun and decides to bring his brand of brutal justice to the criminals terrorizing the town.
What follows is a bloody battle between the forces of good and evil involving a weaponized lawnmower, hacked limbs, armored psychos, and bullets galore! I am totally stoked for this movie now; it sounds so freakin' cool! And the trailer just hits the nail on the head. Seriously, watch it and tell me that you wouldn't love to see this "retrosploitation" flick:
Why You Should Be Stoked For This Movie: Rutger Hauer (the murderous hitcher from the original The Hitcher and the blind swordsman from Blind Fury) is an amazing actor and its great to see him in a lead role for a change. (The last thing I saw him in recently was the "didn't you get the memo?" guy from Batman Begins.) He will obviously bring a lot of class and emotional content to the role of a gun-toting hobo, and make this film so much better than you'd probably expect it to be.
Also, this movie promises horrifying, gore-soaked death to druggies, rapists, pedophiles, dirty cops, and two of the main villains in the film are decked out in armor! And have you seen the movie poster?! It's a breath of fresh air to see a poster that's hand-drawn and not horribly photoshopped, and truly gives you a feel for what you are about to watch. (Check it out HERE!) I'm totally sold on this movie and urge all of you reading this article to seek it out!
This film is (as of my writing this) available via Video On Demand services for X-BOX LIVE, Playstation Network, and iTunes and will make its (limited) theatrical premiere on May 6th. I figure we can expect the DVD & Blu-ray releases of Hobo With a Shotgun soon after; probably in July or August of this year.
PLAN 9 (2011)Release Date: N/A (Currently in production.)
Official Website: www.plan9movie.com
The Plot: Egads! Plan 9 From Outer Space is over fifty years old now? And someone is going to remake it?! (Egads again!) Yes, you read that correctly folks: Ed Wood's "classic" and supremely cheesy sci-fi epic is being remade. Lucky for us, the production company behind this modern redo is made up of huge Ed Wood fans who plan on paying tribute to the original, while creating something that's far darker and vastly scarier.
If you're unfamiliar with the original film (shame on you!) its revolves around an alien invasion by an "advanced" civilization. The invaders bring back the dead (AH! Zombie Tor Johnson!) in order to carry out said invasion. The aliens only manage to reanimate three corpses, and soon find their plans foiled by the "stupid" earthlings they planned to subjugate. And why did these moronic extrasterrestrials attempt to overcome us with radio-controlled zombies you may wonder? Well, to stop us from developing a "Solanite Bomb," (a bomb that would explode particles of sunlight or some such nonsense) which we, in our infinite idiocy, could very well use to destroy the solar system.
I'm not sure if the aliens' motives will be the same in the upcoming remake, but I can at least tell you that they will be using reanimated human corpses to help their invasion scheme along. Check out this nifty teaser for the upcoming remake, which features Conrad Brooks, the last surviving castmember of the original film, as a gravedigger:
Why You Should Be Stoked For This Movie: It is going to be hard to sell this one to you for at least two reasons. Reason one: It's a zombie film, which isn't inherently bad, but I think at this point, the world at large is pretty tired of zombie cinema. (And after seeing Romero's Survival of the Dead, I think the zombie sub-genre may soon be resting in peace. Then again... The Walking Dead is a really solid TV program....)
Reason two: It's a remake. If there's one thing people are more tired of than zombie films, it's remakes. While most are created to cash in on the nostalgic value of an older film, the production team behind this particular redo seems more worried about creating a worthy homage to Ed Wood's classic film. A lot of love is going to be poured into this project, and I think that these next-gen "Ed Woods" have the talent to create something truly unique that will not only respect the source material, but improve upon it drastically. I have high hopes for this film and look forward to eventually seeing it once it gets released!
RED STATE (2011)Release Date: October 19th, 2011.
Official Website: www.coopersdell.com
The Plot: Written and directed by Kevin Smith, and made for a paltry four million dollars, Red State is a cautionary tale, warning us of the evils of the internet and religious zealotry! Using the shenanigans of the Westboro Baptist Church to fuel the plot, Smith sets up a story where a trio of guys set up a sex date online and prepare for a weekend of gangbanging and debauchery. Unfortunately for them, IT'S A TRAP and all three of them end up bound and gagged by crazy Christian fundamentalists.
If that weren't bad enough, these religious types are violently against homosexuality, and seeing as how these three lads were going to get nekkid with each other and take turns plowing a single gal, that makes them a target as well. (I guess people that take part in gangbangs are half-gay in this religious group's eyes?)
Things eventually spiral completely out of control when two of the victims try to escape, leading to a climactic gunfight between the fundamentalist crazies and ATF agents. (ATF standing for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in case you were scratching your head.)
Why You Should Be Stoked For This Movie: Say what you will about Kevin Smith, but the man has made some pretty entertaining movies. And you just have to love how he snubbed everyone at Sundance this year by opening his film to bids and buying it from himself for a dollar. (Needless to say, all the prospective buyers were miffed.) It's nice to see someone going the really old school route of doing a roadshow to raise enough money to pay for the film and self-distribute it, and I truly hope he pulls it off.
All that aside, you should be stoked to see this because this satirical horror film is so controversial. It takes jabs at religion (particularly the sort of religion promoted by those morons from the Westboro Baptist Church) and politics, and is sure to make an impact on just about anyone who watches it. If you've missed your chance to see this movie during Smith's Red State Road Show, then you, like myself, will just have to wait until October 19th.
RUBBER (2010)Release Date: Coming to DVD & Blu-ray on June 7th, 2011.
Official Website: www.rubberthemovie.com
The Plot: Rubber is pure cinematic insanity. From the bizarre opening speech, which declares that the world of cinema is founded upon things that don't make sense, to the film's epic conclusion, you will be left scratching your head. The film revolves around a discarded tire that rises out of the desolate sands of a California desert and gains sentience. As is the case with any "newborn being" that has powers beyond human comprehension, the tire (who is apparently named "Robert" in the credits) has no concept of good or evil. Therefore, Robert rolls around, causing animals and human heads to explode at will with his psychokinetic powers.
While this is odd in and of itself, the entire tale of this treaded killer is being watched by a crowd of people who stand far off in the desert and view things from afar with binoculars. And for some reason, this confused audience is marked for death, because Robert's story won't end until they stop watching... or will it? This movie assaults your senses and refuses to explain what's going on, so it may rub many viewers the wrong way. ("Harumph! I don't understand this movie, therefore I don't like it!") However, if you're "tired of the expected," this movie will be a breath of fresh air and I think you'll totally dig it!
Why You Should Be Stoked For This Movie: Because it's a movie about a killer, psychokinetic tire that stars the awesomely named Wings Hauser! Rubber is a movie that strives to be different from the rest (and boy does it succeed) and it really challenges you to make sense of all the weirdness. And I can't be one-hundred percent sure, but I strongly believe that there's an anti-Hollywood message buried beneath the film's layers of strange visuals and plot twists. I can't confirm that at the moment, but once June 7th rolls around and I own this flick, I'll watch it again and attempt to decode its hidden subtext.
TROLL HUNTER (2010)Release Date: Available On Demand on May 5, 2011. Playing in select theaters on June 10, 2011.
Official Website: www.trollhunterfilm.com
The Plot: A group of young Norwegian film students discover that a recent slew of bear attacks in the countryside are actually troll attacks! (Someone, call Ernest P. Worrell on the double!) It turns out that trolls have been living in the forests and secluded areas of Norway, and anytime they wander out of their usual stomping grounds and cause a little havoc, the government rushes in to cover things up and sends in hunters to take care of the problem. Naturally, the aspiring film makers can't stay away from this story and attempt to film these awe-inspiring (and extremely dangerous) mythical creatures.
But, as the opening credits state, things did not go well for the film students, as the movie you are watching was edited from their "found footage." (Yeah, it goes the The Blair Witch Project route.) What happened to them and what did they discover? Well, you'll have to check this movie out when it becomes available to find out!
Why You Should Be Stoked For This Movie: This is the type of movie that Cloverfield and Monsters should have been. While both films boasted some truly impressive CGI effects, they both kept their mon-stars in the dark and out of frame most of the time. Here, we get to see the beautifully rendered mythical beasties in all their glory, and from what I've heard (and seen) it is truly breathtaking. While I am tired of mockumentaries based off of "found footage," I am most definitely ready to give this movie a chance. Bring on the trolls Norway!