Lianne Spiderbaby (Lianne MacDougall) is a writer for Fangoria, Cineplex, Famous Monsters, FearNet, Film Journal International and Video Watchdog magazine. Her new book, Grindhouse Girls: Cinema’s Hardest Working Women, is being published by St. Martin's Press. Lianne is also the host of Fright Bytes, and her journalistic force has started to "bleed" out of the horror genre and into the mainstream. Lianne Spiderbaby holds an honors degree in Film Studies, University of Toronto.
The latest YouTube horror-show sensation, FRIGHT BYTES, has just uploaded it's 14th episode!
This time your horror-hosts Lianne Spiderbaby and Steve Mac take you to the TORONTO AFTER DARK FILM FESTIVAL where Lucky McKee's THE WOMAN is screening! THE WOMAN has been a controversial film on the festival circuit this year, and it is
probably the most anticipated and talked about horror film of the year.
Lianne Spiderbaby interviews lead actor, SEAN BRIDGERS, about his role as Chris Cleek, the film's villian, as well as producer ANDREW VAN DEN HOUTEN on how the film came together, and where you can get the amazing soundtrack on limited edition red vinyl.
Also in this episode is a special interview with the Toronto After Dark man himself, festival director ADAM LOPEZ.
Watch for bloopers/outtakes at the end of the show, and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to the channel and "LIKE" FRIGHT BYTES on Facebook!
Corman and Shout! Factory have done it again, and this time it’s too hot to handle!On October 25th a triple feature DVD box set entitled LETHAL LADIES was released by Shout! Factory, and it includes three Corman-produced cult classics T.N.T JACKSON (1974), FIRECRACKER (1981), and my personal favorite of the three: TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1977).
TOO HOT TO HANDLE stars the tough-talking, waifish, blonde beauty Cheri Caffaro (you may remember her from other exploitation favorites such as the GINGER series and/or SAVAGE SISTERS).Caffaro is Samantha Fox, a contract killer who accepts a mission to kill a group of gangsters in the Philippines.Problems arise for the young beauty when she falls for a Manila-based detective who is investigating the murders she committed.
Director of TOO HOT TO HANDLE, Don Schain, was actually married to Caffaro at the time and he also directed her in GINGER (1971), GIRLS ARE FOR LOVING (1972), and THE ABDUCTORS (1973). Cheri divorced Schain and eventually remarried (she is still married today, and a very happy woman, I might add).Schain is now a major producer for the Disney Channel, of all things.Even odder, he was the head producer on HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL (2006).It is a common thread in exploitation films that the directors receive all the praise while the actresses receive very little money and are quickly typecast in their careers, making it extremely difficult to move outside of exploitation/genre films into roles that are well respected and high paying. Caffaro grew vastly tired of the Hollywood business early in her career, fed up with type-casting and the reputation she carried with her after starring in films that had her fist-fighting in bikinis and getting down n’ dirty with male and female co-stars onscreen.
After the re-release of the GINGER series (which was considered part of the porno-chic movement in New York City in the early 70s along with Damiano’s DEEP THROAT even though GINGER is not pornographic), exploitation fans yearned for more Caffaro, but there was little to be found. For years, Caffaro’s fans thought she had disappeared off the face of the planet, some even believed her to be dead. Caffaro’s co-star in THE ABDUCTORS, Jeramie Dreyfuss, believed Caffaro had been murdered, and she was almost certain she had read an obituary in the New York Times.
Caffaro wasn’t aware of her new found cult popularity, and her other films were not as readily available.Now for the first time, TOO HOT TO HANDLE is ready and waiting for your home television screen and Ms. Caffaro is back in business!Only this time - instead of B-movies - Caffaro is into BEE-keeping, raising money for her honey bee charity, and maintaining her brand new Cheri Caffaro website.
I had the lucky pleasure of meeting with Ms. Caffaro at Fred 62 in Los Angeles, California in July.She is as sharp as a tack and she tells the most fabulous stories with great detail. As we ate and chatted together, I knew how lucky I was to be speaking with Caffaro – she has given few interviews since she left the business, and she agreed to speak to me after receiving a recommendation from a close friend, and the fact that I was a woman.Cheri holds women in a very high regard, she told FANGORIA: “I wanted women to love the characters I played in films so I consciously chose strong female roles. I also performed my own stunts and advocated martial arts for women.My role as Samantha Fox in TOO HOT TO HANDLE is just one example of that.”Caffaro also had a role behind the scenes as a wardrobe coordinator; she picked many of the outfits in TOO HOT TO HANDLE out herself.
Filming TOO HOT TO HANDLE in the Phillipines was an experience that Caffaro loved; she had worked on SAVAGE SISTERS (1974) in Manila as well and enjoyed every minute of it.Caffaro: “I loved shooting there, it was fun, very different and unusual.There was a dictatorship government at the time, which was strange being born and raised in the United States myself.I really loved working there, though.You had to have a good sense of humor to shoot a film there, you had to be really laid back; it was so hot on most days.It could be as hot as 120 degrees!It was a completely different experience shooting in the Philippines and everyone onset became really closely knit.”
Today, Caffaro prefers a quieter life, but she is using her cult popularity to help create awareness for her favorite species: honey bees.She told me, “Well, I have two websites, cheri-caffaro.com and Hollywood Honey.My website serves a very important purpose.I’m selling a lot of my memorabilia and autographs, pictures, etc.The money goes to WWW.HOLLYWOODHONEY.ORG.Hollywood Honey is a company I started to encourage, enlighten, and educate people about the honeybee.I’ve become a beekeeper and it’s important to me to raise consciousness about the importance of the honeybee and colony collapse disorder (a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North American since the late 2006s).We lost 40% of the bee population all over the world.This is a disaster because bees pollinate agricultural crops all over the world.Hollywood Honey is for people of all ages, people can donate to the project, and they can adopt a bee. My husband and I have a lot of experience and we have incredible observatories my husband built here at our home; you are even able to adopt a honeybee and we will send adoption papers.The bees give us amazing things – flowers, food, fruits, and honey.Nothing is better than natural honey products. It seems unusual to go from Ginger to honey – but when I put it that way, it really seems fitting, doesn’t it?I’ve gone from B-movies to beekeeping!”
Although Caffaro herself disappeared for many years (albeit she did a brief voice gig for the cartoon Extreme Ghostbusters in 1997), she is back in full force pursuing her new passion, as well as writing and working with a few film ideas on the side.Cheri Caffaro is as busy as the bees in her yard – and she’s definitely too hot to handle!
(Los Angeles, CA) Fresh off the announcement of its distribution relationship with Alamo Drafthouse, Image Entertainment has entered a U.S. Distribution deal for Eduardo Sanchez’s critically acclaimed LOVELY MOLLY. LOVELY MOLLY made its debut in the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto Film Festival last month. The title character, played fearlessly by newcomer Gretchen Lodge, is a newlywed who returns to her long abandoned family home and is hit with scary reminders of her nightmarish childhood that quickly color her new life. She descends into an evil that is one part psychosis and another part possession. The film’s produced by Robin Cowie, Gregg Hale, Jane Fleming, and Mark Ordesky.
This marks another strong move into the theatrical distribution marketplace for Image who beat out several competitors vying for the project fueled by the critical response to film and to actress Gretchen Lodge’s breakthrough performance.
“We are thrilled to release Eduardo’s film which marks a return and evolution to the genre that he created” commented Mark Ward, Vice President of Acquisitions at Image, “We look forward to partnering with Haxan and Amber to maximize the truly robust transmedia marketing campaign they’ve put together to make the film a huge success.”
“The whole team is excited about working with Image to release LOVELY MOLLY into theaters across the country,” commented Cowie and Fleming. “Their entrepreneurial thinking and robust infrastructure give us the perfect platform to bring our film to the widest audience possible.”
The deal is being negotiated by Mark Ward and Jess De Leo, Associate Director of Business and Legal Affairs on behalf of Image; Rob Cowie of Haxan Films, Jane Fleming of Amber Entertainment, Stuart Rosenthal of BHDRL and Graham Taylor of WME Global on behalf of the filmmakers.
Content Film is handling international sales currently at AFM.
Visit the website: http://www.lovelymolly.com
Check out my review of the film: http://www.liannespiderbaby.com/2011/11/review-eduardo-sanchezs-lovely-molly.html
Two days after its screening, this writer finally feels appropriately equipped and of right mind to review and discuss Eduardo Sánchez ‘s LOVELY MOLLY with you, FANGORIA followers. Needless to say, the film deeply affected my psyche; following the lead character, Molly (Gretchen Lodge) around for 99 minutes, in and out of her point-of-view, is no easy task. LOVELY MOLLY will capture your attention and have you completely immersed from start to finish, but be warned: aligning yourself with Molly and her story will lead you into the deepest, darkest depths of humanity (and hell).
Molly is an ex-drug addict who was sexually abused by her father as a child (although this isn’t explicitly said; the film maintains an aura of ambiguity throughout its entire plot line in several aspects of the story).She’s managed to salvage a life for herself, however, happily marrying her sweetheart Tim (Johnny Lewis), with her sister, Hannah (Alexandra Holden), by her side as the maid of honor.Molly and Hannah’s parents are both dead, and the cost of living in the United States isn’t cheap, so Molly and Tim decide to move back in to Molly’s childhood home. Hannah is completely against the idea, knowing that Molly battled drugs and psychiatric issues after the death of their father, but Tim is a truck driver and Molly works as a custodian at the local mall, thus the newlyweds can’t afford to buy a new house.Besides, Molly seems healthy, happy, and beautiful, just like any bride should be on her wedding day.
It’s not until Tim has to leave on business the day before Molly’s birthday that all the troubles start. Molly’s painful childhood memories and the isolation she feels in the house start to penetrate her psyche, but there appears to be an evil and overwhelming presence that physically and mentally breaks her down as well: demonic sounds in the house, the low murmured humming of a man’s voice, and loud footprints on the stairs like horse hooves.
Is it the house that is haunted? Could it be the ghost of Molly’s father? Is Molly shooting heroin again? Perhaps she is just overwhelmed with her new marriage and the reality of sober life? These are questions that are never really answered in LOVELY MOLLY, ultimately making the film more painful to watch. You sympathize with Molly who is clearly desperate for help, yet she commits such horrendous and atrocious acts that become increasingly difficult to digest and understand.
The dark and frightful tone in LOVELY MOLLY is set almost instantly, and the film conjures a sense of realism that many working class families experience.Molly would like to see a doctor, but can’t afford health care. Not a particularly religious couple, Molly and Tim seek the advice of a religious pastor, but they don’t invite him over to perform an exorcism.LOVELY MOLLY is different from other possession films in the sense that we’re not ever really sure if Molly is possessed and the film feels like real life, especially with the use of Sánchez’s masterful hand-held, shaky-cam POV during moments of Molly’s deepest distress.
A truly talented director (and editor), Eduardo Sánchez (who also co-wrote the script with his frequent writing partner, Jamie Nash) is exceptional at taking a simple concept and a small budget, and turning it into something visceral, haunting, and meaningful (we’ve previously witnessed this with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT).He’s also a master of online marketing; creator of the BLAIR WITCH website that convinced audiences that the film was a documentary, Sánchez is up to his old tricks by using the LOVELY MOLLY website as a tool to create ongoing communication with the film’s spectators (before and after seeing the film, I highly recommends that you visit its official site on a regular basis).Over the course of several weeks, more and more information about the film and its storyline will be revealed through the website, perhaps shedding light on some of the film’s spooky ambiguities.
Sánchez understands how to create true fear in regular, everyday people. He shakes up the safety of the household, and makes the comforts of marriage and family life anecdotal.The house where the film was shot is naturally menacing and also seemingly otherworldly is the talented abilities of newcomer, Gretchen Lodge.LOVELY MOLLY is her first film role to date and she carries the film with such intensity, complexity, and splendor.The girl is truly talented (on par with the 2010 possession starlet, THE LAST EXORCISM’s Ashley Bell) and LOVELY MOLLY would not have worked without her natural aptitude and skill.The film and Lodge’s performance definitely warrant several viewings.LOVELY MOLLY will confuse, trouble and terrify you, and your heart will ultimately break for Molly and those who love her.And while that may sound awful to you, isn’t that what we truly love about good horror films?
Watch the LOVELY MOLLY episode of FRIGHT BYTES for exclusive interviews:
