Rocketship Weird Retro Captain's Blog - Weird Retro

Cult Film Friday: Nekromantik (1987)

5/6/2015

One of last month's Cult Film Friday selections wasDer Todesking by German director Jörg Buttgereit. But the director is best known for his earlier controversial film NEKRomantik, which found itself on banned lists around the world. In Britain it made its way onto the infamous Video Nasties list of the 1980s, and wasn't released uncut until 2014.

The film tells the story of a street cleaner, who works for a company that clears up dead bodies found in public. As part of his work he collects the corpse of a dead gardener, killed in a shooting accident and takes it home for his girlfriend. They are both necrophiliacs, and engage in all kinds of depraved acts with the human remains that litter the house. Eventually his girlfriend leaves him, to start a romantic relationship with the corpse. Despondent the man, tries to get over his loss by seeking out a prostitute, who he murders in a cemetery and has sex with the corpse. Discovered laying with the corpse by an old man, he cuts the man's head off with a shovel.

This jolly little film ends with the infamous scene (as if some of the scenes aren't bad enough already), of him committing suicide by stabbing himself while ejaculating. And they wonder why it was banned.

NEKRomantik is a nasty film. The subject matter is disturbing and it is presented in the most disgusting way possible. And that's the point. This is a horror film with arthouse pretensions. Buttgereit is purposely pushing the boundaries of shock film-making. There are more disturbing films, more gory films, more disgusting films. But there aren't many films that have been made that are genuinely something you can simply describe as being "nasty".

The Dark Art Of Martin van Miele

18/5/2015

Martin van Miële was a renowned French illustrator of bizarre erotic drawings, often with religious (or should be sacrilegious themes). He did a lot of illustrations for the noted British erotica publisher Charles Carrington, but found more widely acclaimed fame as the illustrator of H.G. Wells's First Men On The Moon in 1901 (Les Premiers Hommes dans la Lune), which was turned in to the early silent-era classic movie by Georges Méliès, Le Voyage Dans La Lune in 1902. Miële also illustrated for the French translation versions of the Sherlock Holmes series, but it's his strange satirical erotic illustrations that he has become most well known for.

Cult Film Friday: They Call Her One Eye

15/5/2015

Also known as Thriller - A Cruel Picture (Thriller – en grym film in Swedish), is a controversial Swedish exploitation film, that was the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino when he made Kill Bill. A brutal rape and revenge saga, it was originally banned in Sweden and the USA on release, only allowed to be shown after major cuts were made to the film, including the removal of the infamous hardcore sex scene.

A sex trafficked and brutalised prostitute takes revenge on those who have wronged her. Muted after after being raped as a child, and forced into heroin addiction and pimped out by a man she meets. She is blinded in one eye by her pimp for refusing to take a client. She eventually escapes, and begins to take bloody revenge on the men who have taken her life from her.

The film stars 70s porn starlet Christina Lindberg, who had starred in the even more controversial Swedish exploitation porn film, Dairy Of A Rape in 1971. A film that was pretty much banned in all countries.

Despite its full on exploitation credentials They Call Her One Eye is actually a above average revenge thriller. It is slow paced and actually carefully handled. It's easy to see why Tarantino fell in love with this film and paid heavy homage to it in Kill Bill. It has become an absolute classic of cult cinema. And although it isn't a film you would go back to time and time again, it is a must watch for anyone that claims to be a fan of cult cinema.

Mid-Week Movies Massacre: The Godfather Of Gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis

29/4/2015

The self-titled "Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gorgon Lewis is credited with creating the splatter or gore genre of horror movies. Although by today's standard of gore, Lewis's movies are little more than low-budget high-camp quirky exploitation these days. But when he started making his gore movies, nothing the likes of had been seen before. Saturated colours, and buckets of bright red blood, his movies flew under the radar of the MPAA. Who simply weren't prepared for this kind of movie.

Working outside of the system, he usually worked with exploitation producer David F. Friedman. Initially making nudie-cuties, and screw-ball comedies, like The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (1961), a film made for a shoestring budget of $7,500.

Lewis and Friedman entered wanted to tap markets that their nudies couldn't or wouldn't reach, andso in 1963 they made Blood Feast. Now a cult classic, that is considered by many to be the first ever "gore" movie. The simply buckets of blood and cheap special effects trickery found a willing and ready market, especially in the drive-ins. So the pair followed up Blood Feats with Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964) and Colour Me Blood Red (1965). They'd hit on a formula, and they were going to milk it for all it was worth. As soon other exploitation film-makers picked-up on the movies Lewis was making, and started making their own gore movies. After Colour Me Blood Red, Lewis and Friedman stopped working together, but Lewis continued to make gore movies. His next were A Taste Of Blood and The Gruesome Twosome, both 1967. He still continued to make nudie and softcore movies, as well as a couple of children's films. But it is his gore movies that he's most well known for. He started using the word in the titles of his movie. In 1968 he made Doctor Gore (also known as How To Make A Doll), followed by 1970's The Wizard Of Gore, and in 1972 Gore Gore Girls. Most recently after a gap of nearly 40 years, in 2002 he made a sequel to Blood Feast, Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat.

Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather Of Gore (2010): A great documentary charting the career of Lewis, and the creation of the gore movie genre. The film gives viewers a fun ride through the mind of the mad genius that is Lewis, as well as the people he worked with. Giving an insight into independent and exploitation film-making of the period, taking you on a journey through the genres of nudie-cuties, roughies and ultimately gore.

Through interview, rare footage, clips and even a recreation of lost footage. The documentary is lovingly handled by exploitation horror writer and director Frank Henenlotter, who credits Lewis's movies as starting him on the path towards becoming a film-maker. Henenlotter himself, has made some classics of 1980s and early 90s horror, with the Basket Case series, Brain Damage and Frankenhooker.

Mid-Week Movie Massacre: Pieces (1982)

22/4/2015

Following last week's Mid-Week Movie Massacre: Top 70s Massacres Not From Texas With Chainsaws, we jump into the bloodied pool that is the 1980s. Based on a single image that I came across, while looking up last week's posters. The image (below) of a woman cut in half, slumped in the corner of a bathroom in a pool of her own blood. I've seen a lot of horror movies, but I couldn't place this one. Turns out I'd not seen the movie, a 1982 splatter-fest called Pieces. How this one had slipped under my radar is utterly baffling, but hey even the most hardcore cinephile can't see literally every movie out there can they?

Pieces is a US/Spanish exploitation slasher flick, (original title: Mil gritos tiene la noche translation: A Thousand Screams in the Night), which was apparently a "drive-in favourite", according to Wikipedia. A chainsaw weilding serial killer collects body parts from his victims to create a grisly human jigsaw puzzle. Even the clips of YouTube make this look like an all-out over-the-top awesome blood and guts roller coaster ride of gore.

I dug through YouTube to find the scene related to the image I had come across. And it has to be said that the close-up of cutting the girl on half was pretty realistic looking for such a low budget movie. It turns out that the film makers actually used a pig carcass, and cut through it with a real chainsaw. Nice and obvious touch that really worked. Right I'm off to see if I can get my hands on a copy of this film...

I saw this image and just had to look up the movie.

A full release version only made it to the UK few years ago. It had a "limited" release in 1984, and from what I can see was never offically released on video in the UK. If it was released on video in the 80s, it would have certainly made the BBFC Video Nasties list. All of which I have, and it isn't among the schlock, gore and awful nonsense that did make it on the list. In the United States, an uncut and uncensored director's cut wasn't released until 2008.

Retro Gaming: Softporn (1981)

18/4/2015

In 1981 On-Line Systems released the very first commercially available pornographic computer game, Softporn. A fantasy text adventure game for adults, where the player had to seduce three women, while avoiding hazards, like being killed by a nightclub bouncer. With text commands as odd and creepy as BUY WHISKEY, WEAR CONDOM and SCREW HOOKER, the game was about as erotic as being slapped in the face with a wet fish.

Unlike most early text based adventures, or interactive fiction of the the time, you didn't delve into caves or fight trolls. You hung-out in either a casino, a bar or a disco, on your quest to score with the ladies. Originally developed by a lonely computer geek, as a way of teaching himself Basic programming, the writer was encouraged by his friends to release the game commercially. Initially failing to gain any interest, the game was picked up by Ken Williams, 26-year-old president and co-founder of On-Line Systems, a software company he and his wife Roberta had launched with the 1980 release of their graphical adventure game Mystery House. Which Roberta had designed and Ken programmed.

They went full steam ahead marketing the game, with the now infamous hot tub advertising photo, which was taken in the Williamses' own backyard. The photo even featured employees of On-Line Systems, with Roberta herself appearing in it, on the far right. The hot tub ad first ran in the September 1981 issue of Softalk, an Apple II enthusiast magazine, and instantly became controversial, among early computer hobbyists and readers of the magazine.

Softporn was pulled within months from On-Line’s advertised catalog, but the circulation of the game was sustained through pirated versions for years between friends and computer communities. Within a year, On-Line Systems would re-brand itself as Sierra On-Line, now better remembered for games like King’s Quest, Phantasmagoria, and Space Quest. Sierra On-Line never sold another text based adventure game. Softporn itself however would find new life in the graphical adventure world of Sierra’s Leisure Suit Larry series, first released in 1987. The game’s designer, Al Lowe, added character and colour, and additional descriptions, but Leisure Suit Larry is, almost puzzle for puzzle, a direct copy of Softporn.

Mid-Week Movie Massacre: Top 70s Movie Massacres Not From Texas With Chainsaws.

15/4/2015

Stick "massacre" in the title of a horror / slasher film and your in for a winner! Or not, as the case maybe. In 1974 Tobe Hooper brought us the most well known slasher film that used "massacre" in the title to attract audiences. But throughout the 70s, there were a good number of bottom rung b-movies that also used massacre as marketing. Here's three of the best, worst or simply weirdest of the bad b-movie bunch.

Demented Death Farm Massacre (1971): AKA... Shantytown Honeymoon

What started out as the obscure b-movie Shantytown Honeymoon was taken by producer/director Fred Olen Ray, and spliced with new footage of famed b-movie actor John Carradine as the Judge of Hell, who narrates the story. A group of jewel thieves on the run, wander into a backwoods farm, hoping to hide out for the time being. However, when the farmer returns home only to find the thieves taking over the house, he hatches a deadly plan.The film was re-released with the 5 minutes of Carradine footage, destined still to be an obscure b-movie. Released under the various titles of Honey Britches, Moonshiner's Woman, Hillbilly Hooker, Little Whorehouse on the Prairie, and finally Demented Death Farm Massarce. It still made no impact, until 1986 when Olen Ray sold the film to Troma Entertainment, and they released it on VHS as part of their back catalog of schlock horror movies.

Naked Massacre (1976): Original title, Die Hinrichtung (AKA Born For Hell)

A German / Canadian / French / Italian co-production, directed by Denis Héroux. Loosely based on the notorious Richard Speck murders, which is transferred inexplicable from America to Northern Ireland, during the Troubles. This is the grim tale of a disturbed Vietnam vet returning home via Belfast, who invades a house shared by eight nurses and proceeds to terrorize and murder them. This is the closest telling of the Speck story. Others that were likely inspired by it I have mentioned before are the controversial Japanese flick Violated Angels, and possibly to some extent the infamous Canadian cult slasher Black Christmas. The film, which has the potential to be a cult classic, is somewhat ruined by the bad dubbing. For some reason all the actors have been dubbed over with painful foreign accented voice actors. Rather than having Irish, British or American accents. Or it did on the version I watched.

Drive-In Massacre (1977): ... Your Nightmares Are About To Come True!!

In essence a cheap hack-and-slash reworking of Peter Bogdanovich's 1968 cult classic Targets. Two police detectives try to catch a serial killer who is stalking a rural California drive-in theater, randomly killing people with a sword. Co-written by George "Buck" Flower, who has appeared in films as diverse as Back To the Future II, Ilsa: She Wolf Of The SS and many of John Carpenter's productions. The movie has all the right elements for a cult slasher b-movie, and even harks back to schlock horror marketing tactics of the like of William Castle. With it's viewer discretion WARNING!!!, and claim to have been "filmed entirely in bloodcurdling Gore-Color." It's a movie that was designed to be seen in a drive-in cinema, and loses something on the small screen. With it's tired old "he's coming for you" twist ending, designed to put the willies up drive-in audiences.

Exploding Out Of The Closet: The Chuck Norris Transgendered Action Sex Doll

1/4/2015

We had the massively popular Japanese Chuck Norris Action Sex Doll, and the Never Released Pammy Barbie Wire Doll. Now may we present the ultimate action figure, the twisted plastic progeny of the two, The Chuck Norris Transgendered Action Sex Doll.

South Korean Alcohol, Soju Commercial

26/3/2015

Me and the Soju Man, ice fishing in South Korea.

Soju (소주) is not only the most popular alcoholic drink in Korea, but the best selling in the whole world. Never heard of it, or at least never drank it? Well that'll be because Koreans have the highest consumption of spirits per capita in the world. And soju, and in particular the Jinro brand is the most popular drink of choice. Jinro soju regularly sells 3 times as much as popular whiskey brand Johnny Walker, and over twice as much as Smirnoff vodka, globally! On highest selling brands of spirits globally, two soju brands have held 1st and 3rd place for may years. And most of it is consumed in South Korea.

Traditionally made from rice, wheat or barley, soju is essentially water and ethanol. That's it! In fact these days, with the high consumption, manufacturers have tankers pure ethanol shipped in, which they water down and filter. ABV varies from around 16.7% to 45%, with 20% being the most popular.

Soju was first distilled around the 13th century, during the Mongol invasions of Korea. The Mongols brought the technique of distillation with them, and the Koreans quickly adopted the technique, and have been getting hammered ever since. These days everywhere in Korea posters advertising soju featuring young sexy ladies, enticing Koreans to drink the liquor (not that they need enticing). Back in 1959, they used frogs, sailors and of course sexy ladies!

Never Released Pammy Barbie Wire Doll

9/3/2015

Released in 1996, Barb Wire was a sci-fi action flick based on the Dark Horse Comic Book series of the same name, starring Pamela Anderson. The movie bombed, as did any of the potential merchandising that the producers had lined-up to be released as a tie-in to the movie.

In a bizarre confluence the Dark Horse Entertainment and movie distributors Gramercy Pictures struck a deal with the toy giants Mattel, to produce a Pammy doll to merchandise alongside the release of the movie. The "Barbie-Wire" doll never made it onto the shelves of Toys R US, but avid collectors are still searching out prototype versions of the doll that are believed to exist on dusty shelves somewhere in the bowels of Mattel.

Weird Retro Fact: Read about the equally bizarre Japanese Chuck Norris Action Sex Doll.