Category: 2000s

The Devil’s Rejects (2005)

Published on by Geoff Arbuckle3 Comments

Welcome to the very exact midpoint of this year’s Rob Zombie Spookshow here at B-Movie Enema.

In 2003, after a couple of years of trying to find a distributor or studio willing to take a chance on his grindhouse throwback, Rob Zombie introduced a terrifyingly raw and visceral form of horror that, maybe ahead of its time, really put audiences through more of a horrifying experience than a form of entertainment. This was his debut movie, House of 1000 Corpses. It really played like the nightmarish and realistic grit that was seen in movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. At times, it felt like you were watching something you weren’t supposed to see. It was equal parts a movie narrative and a window inside a scattered and deranged mind.

What made the movie terrifying were the members of the Firefly family. Specifically, Otis, played by Bill Moseley, himself a veteran of the TCM franchise, Baby, played by Sheri Moon Zombie, and friend and accomplice to the family, Captain Spaulding, a deranged clown played by Sid Haig. They were violent. They were antisocial. In the case of Captain Spaulding, he was charismatic. In the case of Baby, she was sexy – a honeypot waiting to reveal a psychotic who liked to play with her prey.

While working on House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie would have what he called a “vague” idea for a story that featured the brother of a sheriff the Fireflies killed coming back for revenge on the family. This revenge plot leads him on a manhunt for the three most interesting characters to complete his revenge. Thus was born what is undoubtedly Zombie’s masterpiece, The Devil’s Rejects.

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The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009)

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Welcome back to Rob Zombie’s Spookshow at B-Movie Enema!

Last week, we looked at Rob Zombie’s take on The Munsters. While that movie ended up with some mixed results, it showed something that I don’t think many people realize about Zombie by looking at him, listening to his music and his on-stage persona, and the films he’s made over his movie career. Zombie has a real love for stuff he grew up with too. He isn’t all exploitation, foul-mouthed characters, and disgusting redneck murderers. No, he still likes comic books, the family-friendly TV shows he grew up with, and animation.

This brings us back to two elements of Zombie’s early influences and career that I hinted at last week. One of the guys he wanted to be was Stan Lee. Obviously, Lee is best known for his work in Marvel Comics, but it’s clear that Zombie sees Lee as a showman, something he would end up becoming in his music career. He also sees Lee as someone who created a shared universe of characters that seem to naturally fit in when they interact with one another. Zombie’s films have that shared universe feel to them. They all kind of show a darker side under the surface of the rest of the world’s brighter shine.

Now, when it comes to this week’s movie, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, it’s clear this is taking on that love of comic books that were directly from guys like Stan Lee. This is Rob Zombie’s animated feature that is much more on the action and superhero side than the horror. It’s the yin to his horror yang growing up. It also features another famous Bela Lugosi element.

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Return to Sleepaway Camp (2008)

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Welcome back to B-Movie Enema’s summer-long exploration of camp movies (movies that actually take place at a camp, not campy horror movies), Camp Crappabuttawipe!

Oof magoof, we are really in the dregs of this theme series now. Okay, we’ve had some real bangers here this summer, but the last couple of weeks have been pretty shaky. But now, it’s time to completely pull the rug out from under all of us because this week, we have a movie that is truly, outrageously awful. It’s one of those situations in which I hate putting myself into – the commitment to an entire franchise. For every Sleepaway Camp in a series, there is also a Return to Sleepaway Camp.

Alright, so a quick catch-up here, once again. 1983’s Sleepaway Camp from writer/director Robert Hiltzik became a surprise hit and a bit of an instant cult classic among horror and slasher fans. Its blend of over-the-top performances, repetitive slashings seen by an off-screen murderer (a la the original Friday the 13th), and a truly unforgettable climax instantly made this the classic it is largely regarded in the genre today. Five years later, director Michael A. Simpson and writer Fritz Gordon revived the series with two hit-or-miss sequels, thanks to original producer Jerry Silva still owning the rights to the franchise. The most memorable thing about either movie was the performances by a new woman being cast as killer Angela Baker, Pamela Springsteen. Sleepaway Camp II and Sleepaway Camp III mostly focused more on the lighthearted touches and comedic use of slasher tropes in a time when serious slashers were largely dying out. While being far more goofy and less interested in true horror, viewers’ mileage may vary on those first two sequels.

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Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

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Hello and welcome back to Camp Crappabuttawipe at B-Movie Enema!

What do you get when you bring together a couple of stars from the 90s with some of the biggest and funniest people in comedy of the 21st century together in a single movie? Well, you get this week’s movie, Wet Hot American Summer! A couple of weeks ago, I talked about Ivan Reitman’s 1979 comedy that launched both his career as a director AND Bill Murray’s career as a leading man in comedies for decades to come, Meatballs. While I think it’s safe to say that Wet Hot American Summer and Meatballs are kind of in the same vein of a camp movie that focuses on the shenanigans the adult counselors get up to, Wet Hot is not as much of a straight comedy. No, this is meant to be more of a satire or parody of the archetypes of the adult counselors.

Wet Hot American Summer was directed and co-written by David Wain. Wain was influenced to make this movie based on his experiences as a kid going to Jewish camps. He specifically thought back to time spent at Ohio’s Camp Wise and Maine’s Camp Modin. Now, I’m glad I held off doing this movie until the middle of July (even though it would have been a much better choice for July 4th weekend with “American” in the title and all) because this movie does parody some movies we’re very familiar with and ones we’re especially recently familiar with. Yes, this is a bit of a homage to Sleepaway Camp, Little Darlings, and Meatballs.

See? Maybe I do know what the fuck I’m doing with scheduling movies at this site.

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Nine Dead (2009)

Published on by Geoff Arbuckle2 Comments

It’s another Melissa Joan Hart Month review here at B-Movie Enema!

By 2008, our lovely leading lady was married, a mom, and no longer Sabrina the Teenage Witch. For the most part, she was exploring other interests while still doing some TV work in guest appearances, like on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in TV movies like 2007’s Holiday in Handcuffs. The latter, I suspect, started the work she did with ABC Family on cable and later led to lots of other holiday-themed TV movies. It also probably led to her being cast in 2009 on the main ABC network competition, Dancing with the Stars.

I digress. As part of her more grown-up roles that came after her work as Sabrina Spellman, we have the movie that is getting reviewed this week, 2009’s Nine Dead. Nine Dead was filmed over a few weeks in the summer of 2008. Hart is playing an Assistant District Attorney and has ditched her usual blonde locks for darker hair because she has a dark secret. In fact, everyone in this movie has some dark and serious shit to deal with. After the completion of filming, the movie kind of sat around until New Line Cinema would pick up the distribution rights and get this movie out on DVD and streaming.

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Backflash (2001)

Published on by Geoff Arbuckle3 Comments

Welcome to B-Movie Enema, my Enemaniacs.

It’s February. What happens in February? Well, it’s the last month we all have to deal with winter… if you aren’t in places like Miami or, I dunno, Calgary. That’s a good thing. It’s also the month that is basically dominated, at least in the first half of the month, by the lovey-dovey bullshit that is Valentine’s Day. That’s not such a great thing. It’s a Hallmark holiday. You should celebrate love and what have you every day…? Eh. Anyway, when it comes to Valentine’s Day, you do get those Conversation Hearts, and that’s a good thing.

But the best part of February is that on February 11, every goddamn year, I turn a year older. I get more and more detached from marketing campaigns. I get more and more gray, in the handsome, distinguished way. I get to have lunch with my dad at one of my favorite restaurants. And I get a lot of messages wishing me a good one. I used to not be a big fan of my birthday, but, dammit, I’ve kinda grown to like it the older I get.

So, for my own birthday, I’m celebrating here at B-Movie Enema with something I’ve been known to do from time to time. I’ve done it for Alyssa Milano, Phoebe Cates, and Jacqueline Lovell. It’s time to do what I’ve should have done a loooooong time ago, and do it for someone I’ve got a very long history with – Melissa Joan Hart. Yes, it’s Melissa Joan Hart Month for February! And we start with her in a supporting role in 2001’s Backflash.

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Dangerous Men (2005)

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What is it with these damn movies with “Men” in their titles?

Welcome to the 500th review at B-Movie Enema. Holy shit, 500! That’s the number of miles they go at the Indianapolis 500, or half the number of miles I would walk to be the man who falls down at your door! That’s how many dollars it would take to get me to… I dunno… visit Delaware or something. Nah, I’m just messin’ with ya, Delawarians.

Anyway, 500 reviews and it’s time to tackle one of the all-timers when it comes to being batshit insane – 2005’s Dangerous Men. This movie was mostly under the radar for a very, very long time. In fact, it had to because it took 21 years to make it! Production started in 1984 when director-producer John S. Rad (the pseudonym for Jahangir Salehi Yeganehrad) decided to try his hand at making movies. Yeganehrad/Rad was from Iran and worked as an architect on films. He came to the United States during the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Five years later, he began to audition actors for his first American film.

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Honorable Men (2004)

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Happy Independence Day, you dirty, dirty, dirty rebel Americans!

Okay, yes, I’m also an American, but I’m kind of trying to downplay that right now because, frankly, we’re kind of in our suck era, but whatever. That said, welcome to a new review at B-Movie Enema! This week, we have another film that was made somewhat infamous by the fine folks at RedLetterMedia. Those hacks and mega-single white boys have that show Best of the Worst each month, in which they feature bad movies and pick which one they find the most entertaining. Sometimes, they get one that’s fun. Sometimes, one of the movies is just utter shit. Sometimes, they are special.

That’s what we’re looking at today. That last one… The special classification. A couple of weeks ago, I looked at a movie that was a James Bond ripoff with a guy who has a partner who is a baboon. That was one that got featured on Best of the Worst. This week, we have one that would blow the balls off that James Bond ripoff and likely leave a lot of people staring blankly and saying, “Whoa…” if they took the time to watch it.

It’s a movie about guys, and girls, and cops, and bad guys… It’s Honorable Men.

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