Shock Cinema Vol. 1

Shock Cinema Vol. 1 (1991)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This first entry in the four part series takes a look at various "B" movie makers who were making their names during the boom of VHS during the 80s. Charles Band (Full Moon pictures), J.R. Bookwalter (SKINNED ALIVE), Jeff Burr (TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3), Fred Olen Ray and David DeCoteau (CREEPAZOIDS) are just some of the filmmakers interviewed by Scream Queen Brinke Stevens. Well, Stevens hosts and is said to be doing the interviews but I'm going to guess it was someone else since we never actually see her asking any questions. Either way, this is a pretty interesting, sixty-minute documentary that gives one a good idea of what it took to make a low-budget horror movie back in the day. Each of the men discuss how they came to Hollywood, their first movies and of course what it took to raise the money. There are some fun stories about having to come up with screenplays in the matter of days as well as the problems working with a limited budget. Fred Olen Ray takes a few shots at Roger Corman and his "style" of "cheap movies" from the 50s. We even get Burr discussing the difference of working with $250,000 on a low-budget movie compared to $3 million with a major studio like New Line. Scott Spiegel discusses how he got INTRUDER off the ground and how he got the directing job. Unlike a lot of documentaries, this one here doesn't contain any film clips from the movies they're actually talking about. Some will see this as a negative but then again we're given a lot of nice talk about the movies that makes you want to go search them out and revisit them. The best part of the movie is hearing the filmmakers discuss their "bad" movies and what they learned from them.

Horror movies told by the people that film them. They all speak the same language. I think they make horror movies because it is an easy genre to start out in. Let's face it they couldn't, with the actors they used, make a street car named desire because the drama, at a high level, needs Marlon Brando and the like and the writing is top notch too. In a horror movie get the best woman or man that makes the most scared/surprised face on camera and go with him because he is cheap. All has been done before.

Lastly, and this is about society in general, they, these film makers probably heard Ebert and his buddy say that the slasher film kills woman and that's old and wrong. Look at the films, Halloween and Friday the 13th and even Nighmare on Elm street, men get murdered just like the woman. But they have this in the back of their mind that only woman get murdered, just goes to show you that show business people are not smart, just have clout to help or not help you.

God Bless!!

This was a documentary that I checked out while working. It looked like one that I didn't need to devote my whole attention to, but to listen and when something interesting popped up. I treated this like the podcasts that I listen to. I'll end this opening here by saying that seeing Brinke Stevens as the host and seeing that this was a doc about direct-to-video directors, this was the era that I grew up in so that curiosity to learn more.

What is interesting here is that outside of Charles Band, this documentary wouldn't have been nearly as interesting to me when it came out. Now I would have also been four years old so there is that as well. Knowing more about the horror genre and recognizing the names due to their body of work, this was something that was fun to check out. Band is one of the people interviewed along with Fred Olen Ray, Jeff Burr, Scott Spiegel, David DeCoteau, C. Courtney Joyner and J. R. Bookwalter. There are more, but these are the ones that even if I haven't seen their movies, they're names I recognize for different reasons.

The focus here is each of the interviewees telling their story of how they got started in the industry. They didn't have an in so they just made things work for them. That almost seems to be the concept here. Whether it was Band whose father did work in the industry and he's started a few companies before creating the Full Moon empire. There is Ray who is similar to Roger Corman but coming out in an era where it was easier to get movies to people. He just had less resources. It is just interesting to see these guys while they were still working to where they are now and being able to use hindsight with a point of reference. That is something that intrigued me.

This documentary isn't working with the biggest budget and it isn't groundbreaking. What it is though is a fun time capsule of these guys who, for as far as I know, have had successful careers to varying degrees. I did like that they included the filmography of these people, up to that point. Helps frame it a bit more. Not great, won't be for everyone, but if you are a fan of lower budget cinema of this bygone era, I'd recommend it. It is only an hour long so you don't need to give up much time either.

My Rating: 6 out of 10.

This is totally awesome. I mean, I've always dreamed of a tape featuring interviews with the players of the B-movie industry. Dave DeCoteau, Fred Olen Ray, Jeff Burr, C. Courtney Joyner, and so on. These are the masters. Oh, and, of course, good 'ole Charlie Band is on it, too. Too bad they couldn't get Roger Corman and Jim Wynorski and the set would be complete. This has better interviews than volume 2, but I love all 4 of 'em. So if you wanna get into the industry, watch this first.