GRINDHOUSE GIRLS: CINEMA'S HARDEST WORKING WOMEN

I'm currently back to work on my book, Grindhouse Girls: Cinema's Hardest Working Women and a heavy publishing company is interested - special thanks to my friend Justin Beahm for mentioning my book to his editor.  My may have found my book's soulmate!  There is much work to do, and I've been rewatching films, writing a lot (so much so that my wrists hurt, I guess it's beginner's carpal tunnel syndrome). 

My brother, Steve Mac, and I are gearing up to shoot another episode of Fright Bytes this weekend as well, so there will be new episodes starting in August.  We decided to take the month of July off because we were both on vacation in Los Angeles, and I've been traveling a lot lately.  We just needed some down time, please forgive us!

I've been traveling to New Orleans a lot in the last 4 months and the reason is - well - there are several reasons, but one being my Django Unchained set visits.  Fangoria has an extra something special brewing for you, so keep in touch, there is a lot of exciting things to come.

I watched The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) recently and I loved it.  If you've never seen it, do everything you can to find it and watch it.  It was recommended to me, and I'm thankful for that.

On a completely un-related topic, I'm completely head over heels in love with a horse named Donna and I'm completely in love with a new song by one of my favorite singers/band, Bat For Lashes.
Let me share it with you.







xox
Lianne Spiderbaby

Goodbye, Sage Stallone. RIP

I will never forget my first article for Fangoria.  In 2010, Chris Alexander took me on as a writer, and my first assignment was to run a phone interview for a print piece in the magazine.  It was a Friday evening and I was over eager, scared as hell, and to be honest with you, I was a lil’ tipsy.  Naturally, I had done what every grown woman does when she’s feeling a little nervous before the first “date” and I’d had a glass of wine. Or three.  After all, I had been instructed to call the famous exploitation enthusiast and founder of Grindhouse Releasing, Sage Stallone.  However, the minute Stallone picked up the phone, I knew I would be okay.

Stallone was kind, calm, chatty, and completely in love with the films his company had worked so hard to restore and distribute.  My primary interest for the Fangoria article was the release of Bill Lustig’s MANIAC.  Stallone explained that I hadn’t really seen MANIAC until I’d seen his new print, completely uncut.  With great conviction, Stallone told me that I had to see the “clams casino” sequence that had been added, and after seeing that, I will have officially experienced what MANIAC always should have been on the big screen.

When I saw the new 35mm print at the Toronto Underground Cinema, I was impressed by how beautiful and pristine it was – Stallone was right, although the uneventful “clams casino” scene didn’t blow me away.  However, the scene just proved to me what kind of man Stallone was – a purist, a true lover of cinema and anything caught on camera by request of the director (or as Stallone would call Umberto Lenzi, the auteur).

After the interview was over (Stallone and I discussed MANIAC and GRINDHOUSE RELEASING for about an hour), Stallone wanted to continue talking… for a total of four hours that evening.  I didn’t mind, he was full of fascinating film knowledge, and I was thirsty for more.  We talked about film noir, neo-noir, exploitation, horror, and Can-con classics.  Stallone schooled me in low-budget Canadian classics from the 1970s.  He told me, “You have to see GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD directed by Don Shebib.  You haven’t seen Toronto until you’ve seen it in that film”!   Despite the fact that I’ve lived in Toronto my entire life, I agreed with him.  Around midnight, Stallone and I hung up the phone and I wondered if all of my future interviews for Fangoria would be like that.

Two years later, I can tell you that the answer is no.  I didn’t know him that well, but I think it’s safe to say that no one was quite like Sage Stallone. 

After the article came out, Stallone called and thanked me.  After that, he would call me every now and then just to chat about movies.  As we know, Hollywood can be unkind to children who grow up in the spotlight.  Stallone’s father, Sylvester Stallone, is one of the biggest action film stars of our time.  Sly is also a writer, director, and producer.  Sage Stallone had big shoes to fill.  Stallone starred in ROCKY V (1990) and DAYLIGHT (1996) with his father, amongst other films.  In 2006, he also wrote and directed a short film called VIC for which he won the award for Best New Filmmaker at the Boston Film Festival.  And us horror lovers wouldn’t have beautiful 35mm prints of CANNIBAL FEROX, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, THE BEYOND, or most recently, MANIAC and GONE WITH THE POPE without Stallone (and Bob Murawski, Chris Innis and David Szulkin)’s hard work, passion and dedication to genre excellence and their company, GRINDHOUSE RELEASING.

Sadly, Sage Stallone passed away today, on July 13^th, at the too-young age of 36.

I have a few e-mails that I’ve saved from Sage (I often keep the feedback I get from those I interview/write about).  In an e-mail after my article was published in Fangoria #299, he wrote to me, 

“Hey Lianne!
Your article was brilliant. YOU did a GREAT job. I'll try to make the majority of the Maniac screenings, maybe I will just see you there.  I hope you've done the research into the Shebib/Pearson films!!!  Dorian Gray with Helmut Berger lives on!!!  From Sage, to the Superb Spiderbaby!”

I’m both stunned and saddened by Stallone’s death.  I had wanted to talk to him about the GOIN DOWN THE ROAD sequel that Shebib made just last year, GOIN DOWN THE ROAD AGAIN.  To be honest, I don’t think he would have liked it. 

From all of the comments, pictures, and messages being shared on social media, it is clear that Stallone will be deeply, and greatly missed by his close friends and family I’m so sorry for their loss, as I am sorry for our (the horror and exploitation film community) loss as well.  Rest in peace, Sage Stallone.  And please give the godfather, Mr. Spinell, our regards.  We’ll miss you.

xox

Lianne Spiderbaby

Movie Rant: CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS (1972)

CHILDREN PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS is about a theater director (Alan Ormsby) who takes a bunch of actors to a remote burial island.  The gravestones are made from styrofoam which explains why they look fake to the audience, but the actors claim them to be fake as well.  The names written on the tombstones are actually the names of crew who worked on the film.  Alan intends to just play a joke on the troupe, so when they dig up their first body, it’s just a scheme, and the “dead” body and his friend turn out to be two homosexual actors (Roy Engleman and Robert Philip).  CHIRLDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS is one of the first horror films that employed gay males in leading roles. It also was one of the first films that attempted to capitalize on the success of Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (Ormsby admits to this on the DVD commentary). Others in the troupe include macho Paul (Paul Cronin), flirty Terry (Jane Daly), wise-cracking Jeff (Jeff Gillen), strange Anya (Anya Ormsby, who was married to Alan at the time) and no-nonsense Val (Valerie Mamches), who really has issues with their socially strange leader.  When the group takes the freshly dug body of Orville Dunworth (Seth Sklarey) to shelter for a night of morbid antics, they soon come to the hard realization that… children shouldn’t play with dead things!!

But that is exactly what they do – once the group takes Orville back to the shack, they dress him up as a bride and Alan marries him in a disrespectful lil' ceremony.  This is the first scene where it occurred to me how wrong this concept really is – which is what makes the film so amazing!!!  This group of drama-loving weirdos dig up a human being and they literally play house with him!  The film takes its sweet time before it gets to the point, CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS is an exercise in patience with a grandeur pay off.  While Alan’s upstairs at the house whispering sweet nothings into Orville’s decomposing ear, the rest of the cast argue amongst themselves.  This seems to go on forever until the zombies finally gather the strength to rise from the grave and lay siege to the house – and then zombies start playing with living things!

Considering the script was written in ten days, CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS delivers on all accounts and the dialogue is clever and witty, especially when Alan cusses out Satan.  The film was shot in Miami on a very tight budget, and director Bob Clark (credited as Benjamin Clark in the film's opening credits) does a good job making the most of what he has to work with.  Most of the actors are quite good as well, although the lines aren’t always delivered masterfully.  Alan Ormsby in particular isn’t terribly "believable" in his role.  He is a talented writer (he also penned DERANGED and POPCORN) but he’s no awesome actor, despite being so over the top and odd in the film. 

  

Clark went on to direct several big films such as A CHRISTMAS STORY, BLACK CHRISTMAS, and PORKY’S.  He tragically died in 2007 in a car accident, and there were plans for him to remake CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS prior to his fatal accident.

The brightly coloured and gaudy 70s clothing that the actors wear contrasts nicely against the dark settings of the graveyard and the rat infested shack that the actors inhabit.  As Alan is chanting the satanic passage, the editing techniques used in conjunction with the music create a sense of dread and doom – a feeling that anything could happen at any moment.  The score in the film is droning and uncomfortable – it really gets under your skin.  Ormsby also created all of the zombie makeup effects on his own, and they look great for a small budget.  The characters in this film remind me a bit of those in the 1970 flick I DRINK YOUR BLOOD (a film I prefer over CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS).

The film also has an interesting commentary going on – this hippie drama troupe has no respect for the dead and the history that precedes their current, all-important lives.  Only the crazy one (Anya) has any sense to ask forgiveness from Orville, the dead body.  She is aware of how wrong it is to not respect the dead.  During the 1970s, the youth were doing all kinds of things to disrespect their parents’ and older generations, like Alan disrespects Orville.  1960s/1970s youth held very strong anti-war beliefs, which some older generations took offense to, since they had fought through World War II for future generations and the freedom of their country.  Also, 1960s/70s youth were strongly against the Vietnam war, and occasionally soldiers who fought in Vietnam faced disrespect as well.  

The typical “Leave It To Beaver” family with a patriarchal head and a stay-at-home mother was all a sham to the youth as well.  Sex, drugs, free love and rock n’ roll were all the rage, the older generation didn’t understand.  The past was dead and gone and the youthful generation was over it.  Orville represents the past, and Alan represents the future – before it begins to haunt him.

It has just been announced that Fangoria Entertainment is partnering with Anchor Bay and producer Steven Stabler to remake the film. Drew Daywalt has rewritten the script and horror legend Tom Savini is set to direct.  I can’t wait to find out who will be cast as Alan, Alan Ormsby’s character!  I’m embarrassed to tell you that it took me until today to see the film, even though I’ve had it on my watch list since Bob Clark died in 2007.  I was finally inspired by two original CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS posters that a friend has adorning his walls to watch it right now and I’m happy I did!  CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS very well could have inspired THE EVIL DEAD and it is a horror fan must-see!

xox

Lianne Spiderbaby