BRAINSCAN dvd review

the summer of 1996 was a transitional summer for me. i had just graduated highschool, spent two weeks abroad (spain and france) starting the day after graduation (not to mention i went with a fever and broncitis), and then two weeks after i returned, i started summer college classes. not to mention i was only just beginning to discover who i was and what i wanted to do. well, there was one thing i DID want to do - spend every day of summer vacation hanging out with my best friend keith.

keith is a great guy. i've known him for years because of school (he was a grade below me) and cub scouts, but i've been best friends with him since my sophmore (his freshman) year of highschool. keith and i were pretty much together all the time - watching movies, hanging out, helping each other through our various out-of-our league crushes on girl who would never give us the time of day, and discovering the fun of teenage rebellion - parties, underage drinking, drugs (keith and i both had our very first "after school special" moment together when another friend of ours, pat, got us stoned for the first time ever - spring break of 96). needless to say, keith and i know a great deal about each other.

so, taking my love of horror films into consideration, for my 18th birthday, july 1996, keith presented me with a video cassette of a horror film i'd never seen before. that film, of course, was brainscan.

wait wait wait... so this is a review of the 1994 canadian-shot horror flick brainscan. why the best friend worship?

this is why: keith went on vacation for 10 days following my 18th birthday. finally, no curfew to be had and no age limit keeping me from smokes and porn... and my best friend fucking takes off the very next day. what the fuck was his family thinking?!?!?!?!

so, when keith gave me the film, he said something like this: you've never seen this movie, and i usually would have a problem giving you a movie you've never seen. BUT - you're going to fucking love this movie. i saw it on HBO once and it scared me. you'll love it.

that night, after i returned from hanging with friends, i popped brainscan into my vcr and hit play. as i watched from my bed (ever since i got a tv and vcr for my room in seventh grade, i almost always fall asleep by movie), brainscan started. i only got halfway through the first murder scene before i stopped the film. i was so worked up, and so INTO the plot that i was scared. (note: this is the ONLY way one could ever get scared watching this film). the next day i finished the movie - realizing that i was totally dumb the night before - and totally fell in love with it.

keith was gone for the 10 days after my birthday. in those 10 days, i watched that movie 11 times.

i don't know why. i don't know why, and that why i'm writing this review.

first of all, the facts of the case (re: here be spoilers): brainscan is the story of high-school misfits michael bower (edward furlong, terminator 2 and various hollywood rehab clinics). michael is a lot like i was in highschool in some aspects - he's a surly teenager who hides away in his room, with only his computer, his horror films, and his rock music for comfort. he pines away for the kimberly, the girl next door (the totally hot in a realistic sort of way amy hargreaves - she was a guest star in an episode of law & order once), and runs a horror club at his highschool with his best friend kyle (james "jamie" marsh of the robot rampage movie evolver. michael is pretty much alienated by most of his classmates, and clashes with his principal who bans the horror club.

michael, under the advice of kyle, orders an "interactive horror" cd-rom called "brainscan." the object of brainscan is simple - commit a murder and don't get caught. michael realizes the murder is real, and the game is to blame - it controls him through the televisions "blanking signal." he tries to contact the makers of the game, and finds the explination he's looking for when a demon from the videogame, trickster (t.ryder smith in the only role of his career), comes into his bedroom via the tv. soon, michael is forced to play the game again and again in order to deal with potential witnesses - including kyle and kimberly. all this while detective hayden (frank "skeletor" langella in a wasted, but still cool 'cause it's frank langella. he was dracula, man. and skeletor! fucking skeletor!) is hot on his trail.

admittedly, brainscan is a mixed bag. it's not very scary (with the exception of one sequence, a dario argento inspired scene where the camera follows the gloved hand and knife of the unseen killer), lazily acted, and standard as far as a plot goes... however, i still find it to be a fun horror film. the thought of a video game controlling it's player is interesting. the main character being a misfit is also interesting, and it's cool to see that the dorky protagonist doesn't want to kill. usually, these characters are all following in the footsteps of carrie - too much bullying results in revenge. but here, michael just wants to play his horror games and watch his movies in peace - and maybe catch the eye of kimberly in the process. THIS SOUNDS LIKE ME! i want the girl! i want to be in adolesence for the rest of my life! slackers rule! the film also has an interesting subplot surronding the death of the mother and the fact that the father is often away on business. interesting commentary on the absentee father...

ok sorry. so yeah, brainscan. the acting is alright-not-great. edward furlong is an interesting actor in that he can't really act, but sometimes his raw, morose, lazy delivery works. he was good in slacker, he was good in terminator 2, and he's good here. amy hargreaves is good as the girl next door, and jamie marsh plays an excellent stoner second banana. at times i feel that frank langella just phones in his performance, but other times i think the restraint works. then we come to the trickester himself, t. ryder smith. now, i've read many reviews that trickster was supposed to be the next horror icon - kin to freddy and jason. some people think that trickster is derivitive of freddy - in that he is a wise-cracking demon. so what? all of the horror icons are reduced to comedians at one point or another - freddy, pinhead, the leprechaun, chucky... they all spout one-liners... and no, trickster is no different and he's not very original. that being said, t.ryder smith does an admirable job at creating a villain with personality. no foul in my book.

it's interesting to note that brainscan was written by andrew kevin walker - scribe of such films as se7en, sleepy hollow, and 8MM. so this movie isn't really in the same category as those other films, but it's ok... not every movie can be entertaining as brainscan. hahaha...

the DVD of brainscan is a mixed bag. as far as audio/video is concerned, the dvd rocks. the film is presented in anamorphic widescreen and looks about as good as it will ever look. the sound is crisp and clear, and you have your choice of english or french subtitles. the dvd REALLY REALLY drops the ball on the extras department, offering only three trailers - and none of them are for brainscan. c'mon, fuckers! do you think eddie furlong and t. ryder smith are too busy to take five minutes to talk abou this movie? throw on a trailer for christsake, you lazy fucks!

ok ok. sorry. at any rate, i think brainscan is a flawwed but fun horror film, and personally, it's one of my favorites. the dvd is horribly barebones, but it's cheap and it's widescreen, so buy it anyway.

i'm giving brainscan four out of five eddie furlong rehab trips. sadly, however, i'm only giving the dvd one dose of methadone our of a possible five... c'mon - good widescreen transfers should be REQUIRED on a dvd - it should not be listed as a special feature. give me some fucking extras, dammit!

RENT film review

ok. let me get this out of the way. i like RENT. a lot. i'm not a super freak about it... well, in 1996 i was probably the guy people wanted to hit the most, but even after the years has mellowed me and let me be objective about it, i STILL love RENT. it's a good musical, and if you don't think so... well, you really didn't know about the state of the musical in 1995.

the only new show ON broadway was andrew lloyd weber's sunset blvd. , and even though i enjoyed it, it wasn't getting your average young person singing the praises of musical theatre.

but then RENT got big, and it made theatre cool for a generation who probably for the most part thought theatre was the most wretched thing ever.

i'm not going to rehash the plot of RENT here. if you are reading this, you most probably know the show - even if it's just a little bit. i've seen RENT multiple times onstage. i saw it for the first time in chicago, with simone (daughter of blues/jazz legend nina simone) as mimi and some guy from sweet valley high as roger... manley pope, i think... anyway, of course i was blown away. it was the first time i saw it onstage (apart from clips of the original broadway cast on tv).

the second time i saw RENT was in indianapolis, and the time after was in bloomington. both shows were good, to some extent or another. i also piss people off because it's hard for me to totally hate something. i will always find something good about it. maybe i do it to justify the money spent, but i don't see any good just senselessly bashing something will do.

anyway.

the last time i saw rent was in 1998. i saw the first performance in london. anthony rapp (mark), adam pascal (roger), jesse l. martin (collins), and wilson jermaine heredia (angel) all reprised their original broadway roles... and the show was amazing. i can totally see why this show took broadway by storm, and yes a lot of it is writer/composer jonathan larson - but much of it has to do with a vibrant original cast - in particular these four performers (and truthfully, taye diggs who did not reprise his role of benny for the london cast). wow.

so when i heard the film was going to include most of the original cast, i was both delighted and puzzled. lord, these people will seem too old. and they did. but c'mon people - i come from an age where 30somethings always played teens... and at least these 30somethings are playing 20somethings. but i'll tell you this - for the most part, these people work in this film. for the most part. but i digress. let's look at this cast:

anthony rapp (mark) - if you've seen adventures in babysitting, you know anthony rapp. he played the best friend daryll who was obsessed with the playboy that looked like elizabeth shue. anyway, anthony works really well in the film. his character translates well (maybe because he's a filmmaker, ya think?), and he has good screen presence. his voice, while strong in the original cast, is double that here... and it's really his perfomance that makes the friendship angle work in this film.

adam pascal (roger) - adam pascal wasn't an actor until he auditioned for the stage version of RENT. he worked well onstage because a) he was a good looking, amazingly voiced rocker/actor and b) because he felt raw and real. in this film version, i hate to say, he feels forced and along for the ride. i never feel any of the pathos i felt for roger onstage during the film. if there was an actor onscreen responsible for making this film feel glossed over, he'd be it. and frankly, his hair has to go. in the original, his hair was bleach blonde and spiked (it's like that in the film during a flashback), and in this film, he resembles ron pearlman in tv's beauty and the beast. i'll talk a little more about his performance further in the review.

jessie l. martin (collins) - most people know jesse l. martin as dr. greg butters on ally mcbeal. what i remember most about the london performance of RENT was that i loved jessie martn so much... he was my absolute favorite onstage... and guess what, folks? he's STILL my favorite thing about RENT. his performance as collins is pitch-perfect. he has an amazing voice, and everything you need to know about the character radiates out of him. one of the two best performances in this movie. period.

wilson jermaine heredia (angel) - when i saw wilson in the london performance, i remember thinking "why did he get the best supporting actor tony nomination? why didn't jessie l. martin?" my friend roya, who went to the show with me, had the same thoughts... and i can pretty much bet it's because he was playing a drag queen. ooh, edgy. i have to say, i still liked him, but didn't love him. in the film version, tho - i really loved him. i though his performance was touching, funny, and very true to the character. i never really saw a sterotyped moment with him. good job.

taye diggs (benny) - i've always loved taye's perfomance of benny on the original broadway recording. i think he is a fine actor and an outstanding singer. sadly, much of benny's moments in the stage version were cut for the film, and it makes me sad. when he's onscreen, tho, he makes his moments really shine and are amoung some of the best parts of the film.

and the girls...

rosario dawnson (mimi) - when i heard that daphne rubin-vega wasn't going to be mimi, and this new up-and-coming chick was going to play her, i was really pissed. what the hell? i LOVE daphne's voice. it's so raw and fucked up. i saw her as magenta in the broadway revival of the rocky horror show and absolutely loved her. but... she was pregnant, so i understand why they replaced her... and then i saw rosario in sin city and thought "if this girl has the pipes, she may be able to pull it off." WOW. i mean fuck, man. she blew me away. in the other best performance of the show, rosario shines as mimi - she's beautiful, vunerable, tough, sexy, pitfiul, and man oh man can she sing. her "out tonight" was amazing.

idina menzel (maureen) - idina's career flourished after broadway RENT. she was in the critically acclaimed recording of the wild party, released her own cd, and married fellow RENT star taye diggs. how could it get better? by starring in, and recieving the best actress tony for, the musical wicked. and how does she fair in the film? excellently. idina rocks the house as maureen, and "over the moon" was one of my favorite pieces of the film. it's funny - i've always wanted to know what it would be like if sandra bernhart were to play this role, and i found idina to be (intentional or not) a little bernhart-esque.

tracie thoms (joanne) - tracie thoms is the other newcomer to the show. freddie walker was barely age apropo in the original show, although she did indeed rock, so i had no real problem replacing her onscreen. tracie thoms was great - she had a beautiful voice and did an excellent acting job. both "tango maureen" and "take me or leave me" were highlights of the film. they cut her solo song "we're ok," but they gave her the female solo in "seasons of love." rockin.

ok - so the cast is taken care of... for the love of god, what did i think of the film?

i liked it. not loved it. liked it. i think director chris coloumbus (home alone, harry potter and the sorcerer's stone) was a piss poor choice of a director. most of his choices are horrible horrible mistakes. opening the show with 'seasons of love" was probably one of two choices i really loved. the other was having "out tonight" start in the strip club. i know people are annoyed with the overplayed SOL, and i don't blame theme. it opens act II in the broadway musical. it works there. i'm glad they got it the fuck over with.

oh, i guess this would be a good time to talk about time progression. in the stage show, act 1 consists of christmas eve (ending with the reprise of "la vie boheme"). act II is christmas day for the opener SOL, then the rest of the songs are the full next year - notably valentine's day and halloween. in the film, much of the opening is both christmas eve and christmas, then speeds through the next year. i don't know if i liked this change or not. why include christmas day if you're just going to speed through the rest anyway?


the negatives:
so having the song "rent" end with many many slum tenants throwing their trash over the buildings all the while dressed as refugees from madmax really didn't sit well with me. i didn't like the fact that they made some lyrics into spoken dialogue. if you have a problem with singing - don't go see a musical. duh. rogers hair sucked. having roger sing "one song glory" with no emotion in his face and a stupidly acted flashback really sucked. like really sucked. having roger stand on rocks during "what you own" sucked even more. man i hated roger in this. i also thought the computer added "seeing your breath in the cold air" during the outside singing was a little much. yes, it would probably do that. but would it always be that visually perfect? and although i did think the fantasy sequence during the tango was cool, but i saw the same thing done a few years back in chicago, - a tango song in that show also featured a tango with meaningful uses of the colors black, white, and red.

the positives:
jessie l. martin and rosario dawson. hands down the best things in the show. the subway dance in "santa fe." angel's memorial. "take me or leave me" was amazing. i loved the choice to make collins a pothead. all of angel's humorous moments. "over the moon."

so yeah - it looks as if i listed more negatives than possitives... but the music of the show and the performances of most of the cast make this a pleasure to watch. it's no substitute for the stage show, for sure, but it's a much more satisfying movie musical than phantom of the opera. i think that they waited too long to make RENT into a film, and although the original cast - save for pascal (who i really really loved onstage - i'm sorry adam) really give great performances... i can't help but wonder if they'd cast some younger faces that the show would have been more successful.

at any rate, i'd see RENT again. i liked it, and although it wasn't perfect by far... i thought the cast did a good job with great material and a really poor director.

three out of a possible five singing prostitutes.

alkaline trio CONCERT review!

wow.

so alright, i've never tried to really REVIEW a concert, so be patient with me. i'm just gonna go with it... so, uh... yeah... by the way, sorry for the infrequency of posts - kara & i just finished moving to a different city, so getting my brain squared away will take a while (as per usual).

and wheeeeeeee.

alkaline trio, w/ guests mike park and colossal.
the place: jiliian's in louisville, ky
the date: april 28, 2005

kara & i were moving into our new apartment on the 28th, so we had to book ass to make the 2 hour drive to the venue. we go there in time to see the last half of colossal's set.

first off, let me talk a little about venue. i don't care who you see - which artist, what kind of music, what kind of crowd the band/musician will drawl... all of these things determine how a show IS, but none can make or break a show like where the fuck the band is playing. if you didn't know, jillian's is one of these uber-huge adult playgrounds that are basically "a hang out place for white suburban middle aged middle class types," or at least, it's how jillian's comes off to me. i didn't even know that jillian's housed a venue for live-artists, especially a venue apropo for a punk show. i figure artists like 3 doors down or some other stupid shitty mediocre band would play there before they got big. anyway, kara & i made our way through the casino, the bar, the resturant, the lounge, the gameroom, and the torture chamber (just kidding) before we made our way down a flight of stairs that opened into the venue. i wasn't really impressed. the venue was one where you can get really close to the band, which was a definite plus, but sadly, it was longer than it was deep. the way the crowd was placed and where the amps/speakers were stacked - it just didn't allow for the majority of punk kds to really get a good view of the bands. i would give the venue 2 out of 5 punks too short to see over your big fat head.

alrght the bands. i've never heard of colossal. i don't know if they have albums avalible at fine retail chains or what. i've never been interested enough to check out their website, if they even have one. i have to say though, i was fairly impressed they have the usual set up - vocalist/guitarist, lead guitar, bass, and drums. the songs were alright - a live performance is sometimes a hard way to objectively hear a song for the first time, but i dug what i heard. the most awesome part of this band is that the lead guitarist would sometimes play the trumpet while the vocalist played guitar. this was no weak attempt at ska, however... the trumpet played very jazz stuff and mixed unexpectedly well with the music. i may have to check them out afterall...

mike park hit the stage next. here's a little about mike park. mike is an activist who runs the plea for peace foundation - see sidebar for link - which is basically an anti-hate organization (anti-racism, anti-discrimination, anti-war) which does a lot of good work. mike is also a former (i think former - i've not heard anything new lately) member of the ska/punk outfit skankin' pickle. well, between running plea for peace and asian man records (his record label), mike made a solo cd. and wow - it's a good one. mike plays every instrument on the album - kind of a korean trent reznor. he hit the stage alone (he actually set up his equipment alone) with only an acoustic guitar and a projection screen which showed a short film about his heros, favorite albums, and his heros - along with a lot of info on plea for peace. the film had no sound, so mike played a few songs seamless connected as audio. i REALLY enjoyed his set, and felt bad for him too... the crowd was young, with more interest in fucking around and being disrespectful than wanting to hear an acoustic set by an artist who is political without being preachy. i dug the set very much - singing along when i knew the songs and basically trying to ignore the mickey mouse bullshit provided by the highschoolers around me.

alkaline trio hit the stage last. wow. this is my favorite band (tied with the misfits) and they did not dissapoint me. matt skiba's vocals are known to be throaty and, admittedly, a little flat. matt knocked me on my ass by sounding better than i've ever heard him sound (even when he forgot the lyrics - two or three times, actually). the band was tight - dan's bass lines were as tight as ever and his vocals (always the smoothest of the two vocalists - dan & matt) were outstanding. derek's drumming frenzy was also... well, fuck it - the band is as tight as it's ever been. they played a lot of songs from the new album, crimson (review coming soon), and they were badass. they played a few songs that were to be expected ("radio" and "this could be love" to name a few) and a few songs that were very surprising to hear - "jaked on green beers," which is only avalible on the first atticus comp, "warbrain," which is found on the first rock against bush comp, and "sorry about that," the closing song on their first album goddammit as the shows closing encore - an acoustic song as an encore for a big loud punk show - rad... fucking rad.

all in all, the show was very fun. the younger memebers of the crowd were pretty annoying - i'm a HUGE advocate of concert courtesy, and yes, even at shows were you mosh and rock the fuck out of each other, it CAN be done, but really, when alkaline trio hit the stage, all of my gripes disappreared and i was rocking out with my cock out, just like everyone else. (please note, rocking out with my cock out is a figurative express - do not, i repeat, do not take your cock out in the middle of a concert - unless it's a john mayer concert... you've gotta to have at least ONE thing interesting at the concert.) :o)

colossal - 2 out of 5 (minutes that i saw them)
mike park - 4.5 out of a possible 5 acoustic ass-kickin' asians
alkaline trio - 5 out of 5 forgotten alkaline trio lyrics' (sorry matt - you STILL rock!)

the whole concert experience? -- 4.5 out of 5 cock rockin' points

The Burning VCD review

sorry folks. i was going to bring you an actual DVD review (since my debut DVD review turned out to be a DVD-R review), but when i watched the intended film, i watched every feature on the disc EXCEPT the commentary. yep, i'm a dumbass. so instead of the intended film, i'll be reviewing the oft-unseen slasher, The Burning. the time: 1981. the studio: the fledgling film company, miramax.

some time in the late 70's, at a summer camp, some teens decide that they've had enough of maniacal camp caretaker, cropsy (lou david). cropsy is a drunkard who tortures, yells, scares, and allegedly has been violent with the campers (how this would be allowed, even in the late 70's, i'll NEVER know). so, some of the teens decide that they've had enough of ole cropsy and they pull a prank on him. sneaking into his cabin while he is passed out, they place a maggoty skull on his nightstand, with two lit candles in the eye sockets. they rush out of the cabin, peer in from a window, and bang on it until cropsy wakes up. he does, screams, and, of course, knocks the skull onto his cot. it quickly sets him on fire, and he the flails himself into a gas canister. the whole places goes up in flames, and cropsy rushes out of the cabin and collapses into the lake, with the kids looking on in fright to what they've just done.

fast forward some years later, and cropsy is released from the hospital, horridly disfigured from the prank. he then heads to the camp to take revenge on the present campers and their camp counselor (brian matthews), who was one of the original campers that messed him up in the first place.

first off, let me say that the burning is not going to get any awards in the originality department. spawed from friday the 13th, which was released a year earlier, the burning is full of cliches. teens have sex, they die. the bully dies. the killer lurks around the camp, and we watch this through murky POV shots. he follows the main set of campers on an all day trip away from the camp and basically starts offing them, either one by one, or in groups, as in one spectacular scene where some campers on a raft float up to a canoe they think belongs to them. as soon as they near it, cropsy arises from the canoe brandishing huge garden shears (his preferred weapon of choice) and, backlit from the sun, quickly dispatches them all. wow. what a scene. that being said, the burning is pretty much friday the 13th with a slightly different backstory and a slightly different killer.

however, this is not to say the film isn't enjoyable. it's TOTALLY enjoyable. who doesn't want to see horny obnoxious kids get stalked around by a freako with a huge set of garden shears?!?! this is a formula which, like it or not, that has been and will be used over and over again. it is the main plot on which the slasher film thrives, and i say god bless it.

this film is also famous for it's fresh faced cast. the burning is the debut of actors jason alexander (playing a character TOTALLY different from geoge costanza), holly hunter, fisher stevens, and fast times and ridgemont high's brian backer. wow. i wonder if any of these actors will be praised for their work in the burning on inside the actor's studio? haha. the film also has some pretty cool gore effects from maestro tom savini (friday the 13th, the originaldawn of the dead, and many, many others). it's also one of the earliest efforts from harvey and bob weinstein, who have continued to create slick hollow films at miramax. well done there.

alright, as i've previously stated, this is a VCD. it's bootlegged. the image is TOTAL CRAP. there are some good copies floating around (this is not one of them, however, this copy IS uncut, so there is gore and boobs all around) on eBay and such. too bad miramax hasn't released this on special edition dvd... and, seeing how the cast has gone on to bigger and better things, as have the creators, miramax probably never WILL release a special edition of this... who knows, they've released plenty of crap before. anyway, i digress. the image is grainy, full of artifacts (compression artifacts, not the holy grail or the ark). it also features unremovable japanese subtitles that are very annoying on a pan & scan transfer. yech. oh well, it's as good as it's going to get for me at the moment, so i'll take it however i can get it.

the sound is alright. mono, but fairly clear. and the extras on the disc... hahahahahahahahahahaha... not even a menu.

the VCD comes in a jewelcase with slipcover, featuring a cool image of cropsy as he emerges from the canoe, gardening shears over his head. except for the title, all of the writing is in japanese.

overall, the burning is a cliched, we've-seen-it-before slasher flick, but really, that's good news. it's fast paced, gory, and well crafted. it's also a hoot to see some familiar faces in a film that they probably don't ever acknowledge. the image sucks and the extras are non-existant on this VCD, but i'm SURE you can find a better transfer somewere else.

i give the burning three jason alexanders with a full head of hair out of a possible five.

shock treatment - dvd review

most people know of the rocky horror picture show. it's probably one of the most well known and most commonly viewed "cult" flicks (the film is cult-ish, but c'mon - a film as widely seen as this can hardly be called "cult")... but did you know there was a sequel?!?!?! YES! 1981's shock treatment is the sequel to rocky... that is, to be more accurate, the further adventures of brad and janet. there is no mention of their encounters with transexual aliens in this film!

rather, the plot centers around the home of happiness itself, the town of denton, usa. this is no normal town, however. in true 80's avant-garde fashion, the town of denton is one huge tv studio, and all of the main happenings are television shows, i.e. the hospital - dentonvale. we find brad (cliff de young) and janet (jessica harper) having marital problems - brad is emotionally detached (presumably from his experiences with frank 'n' furter?), and janet is trying to deal with his passive behavior.

so she turns to burt schnick (barry "dame edna" humphries), who hosts marriage maze - a marriage game show - to sort out their problems... and he, in turn, commits brad to the hospital of dentonvale to cure his problems. under the care of doctors cosmo & nation mckinkley (rocky horror's richard o'brien - who wrote the film - and patricia quinn), nurse ansalong (rocky horror's little nell), and "rest home" ricky (the wild one's - and drop dead fred's - rik mayall), brad is kept under lock and key... all of this a plot to seperate him from evil film sponser and denton television control freak farley flavors (de young AGAIN!).

sound crazy?!?!? all of this is. not to mention a subplot involving ralph and betty hapschatt (jeremy newson - the only rocky cast member to reprise his role in this film - and tv sensation ruby wax) and judge oliver wright (rocky's criminologist with no-fucking-neck charles gray) and a score of GREAT GREAT SONGS by richard o'brien... this film is INSANE. i mean, it's dripping with style - more actual style than rocky horror, really, and it features some of the craziest performances i can recall. cliff de young is great as brad/farley, jennifer harper is a funny beautiful knockout, and barry humphries is probably the best actor in the whole stew... this film has to be seen to be believed.

the dvd i viewed was a burnt bootleg, no doubt from the vhs that has been an eBay favorite for quite a while. the image quality, as well as the sound, were as good as you can get from a dvd from a vhs - a step up in quality from a regular vhs (no tracking problems), but the image was in dreadful pan & scan, the colors severely muted, and the sound in drab mono. not the way this film should be viewed.

all in all, shock treatment is a great way to continue the brad and janet story without trying to bring frank 'n' furter back from the dead (a proposed sequel dealing with something of that nature, "Revenge of the Old Queen," never saw fruitation - pardon the pun). while not as popular as RHPS, and definitely not as well-loved, i found shock treatment to be a totally enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes.

i give shock treatment four bald heads of richard o'brien out of a possible five.

soon...oh so soon...

alright...
so i'm going to be posting some reviews soon.

i guess this should be my mission statement:

to review, in depth, dvds (including, but not limited to: horror, spaghetti western, cult, explotation, or any dvds of a freakish nature - the complete seasons of The Simple Life are not included, for they are TOO STUPID for review - and this is coming from a guy who has films about killer tomatoes, nuns, and midgets...) and music... and even other types of media, should i see fit.

and to have a good freaking time. so there.

-n