RAND
MOVIES TO MUNCH BIRD BY
by Marc Shapiro
Here's the beef: you're back in school, it's getting dark sooner, it rains all the time
and TV sucks. What to do? I know what you're thinking. But say your main squeeze
is hitting the books. What else to do? Rant and Reel to the rescue with some post-
summer, pre-winter flicks.
Phantom Of The Opera
This umpteenth remake of Phantom Of
The Opera features everybody's favorite
dream killer, Robert Englund as an equally
double ugly music composer named Erik
Destler who runs amok when a buxom 80s
babe stumbles into the mad one's composi-
tions and flashes into unconsciousness and
1890s London.
The Phantom Of The Opera, directed by
Dwight (Halloween 4) Little, was filmed in
Hungary and New York. Handling Englund's
super disgusto makeup is long-time Freddy
puss pounder Kevin Yaghir.
"There's a strong sense of sex-
uality about this Phantom,"
says Englund. "There's also
a lot of Jack the Ripper in
him. This character
has been wronged
in just about
Far Right: Funky
face of the new phantom.
Right: Buggin' out in the
Vineyard. Left: Pistol packin' Pat.
every way possible, so it should come as no
surprise that he has a lot of rage and
paranoia in him that must come out."
The Phantom Of The Opera is distributed
by 21st Century Films.
Back To The Future 2
You should have seen this one coming..
The further time travel adventures of Marty
McFly (Michael J. Fox), Dr. Brown
(Christopher Lloyd) and his mother Lorraine
(Leah Thompson) find our heros hopping into
their DeLorean and heading for the far future.
What they find is Marty grown up, Marty's
kids in a world of doo-doo and a trip in time
to undo the doc-doo.
Bob Zemeckis, who directed Back To The
Future uno and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
directs this sequel. And here's a kick: Back
To The Future 3 was filmed back to back with
Back To The Future 2. Look for the third film
sometime in late 1990. From Warner Bros.
National Lampoon's Christmas
Vacation
Never let it be said that Chevy Chase is
above getting blood out of a turnip. The
Griswalds are back and on the road for the
Yule. Also includes appearances by Beverly
DeAngelo and Randy Quaid. Produced by
John Hughes for Lorimar.
Shocker
Wes Craven is back and attempting to build
a better Freddy in this tale of a killer TV
repariman, Horace Pinker, who kills, goes to
the electric chair, gets all juiced up and
comes back to continue the carnage.
Brownie points for giving Pinker the ability.
to travel in and out of human bodies and elec-
trical appliances.
Shocker, written and directed by Craven,
stars Michael Murphy, Peter Berg and that
household name Mitch Pileggi as Horace
Pinker
"Pinker is not Freddy" declares Pileggi.
"and so I was warned not to play him as a
screamer or a smart ass. When I went in to
audition I played him very extreme but in a
controlled manner. About halfway through
the audition I noticed the producer was get-
ting up from her seat and slowly but surely
moving to the other side of the room. I figured
at that point I got the part."
Shocker is coming your way from
Alive/Universal.
Martian Go Home!
It's not often that alien invasions are played
strictly (and deliberately) for laughs. This one
is. A struggling jingle writer (Randy Quaid)
accidentally tinkles a happy tune that allows
a group of real live comics (led by real life
comic Barry Sobel) to come to earth and
drive everybody crazy. Directed by David
O'Dell.
Nightbreed
As many as 200 gross-out monsters cavort
in director Clive Barker's latest epic. A young
man, convinced he is a psychopathic serial
killer, escapes custody and flees to a place
that houses all the physically deformed out-
casts of society. In a major left field casting
choice, Barker has cast horror film director
David Cronenberg as a psychotic shrink.
Also featuring Doug Bradley,
who played Pinhead
in the Hellraiser movies. Anybody hip to what
a Clive Barker horror film can be like should
line up right now. From 20th Century Fox.
Next of Kin
be
Patrick Swayze must have a death wish or
contemplating a career in comedy with
this latest excuse to flex and go shirtless.
Swayze playes a hillbilly who has become
one of Chicago's finest. When his younger
brother gets offed by the mob, he does what
anybody in his position would do: goes back
to the mountains, gets his family out of sleepy
hollow and they all go mafia bashing. John
Irvin directs this Lorimar release.
Set Up
Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell are two
cops who get set up by the mob, framed into
a jail sentence, escape and set out to even
the score. Where's Patrick Swayze when you
need him? Also by Lorimar.
CHOPPING BLOCK
The Vineyard (New World)
Next time you're feeling like pouring
some brew down your wazoo, slip this in-
to your VCR instead. A mad scientist hot
on the heels of immortality creates an
atomic cocktail that's equal parts
women's blood and wine fertilized by the
dead bodies of young men. If this doesn't
get you on the wagon, nothing will.
The Jitters (Prism)
A chop suey horror item that pits
Chinese zombies against street gangs in
Chi-town. Trust me, I'm not making this
stuff up! Directed by the guy who brought
you Black Rose.
Flesh Eating Mothers (Academy)
To make a long story short: Mothers eat
their kids. Sounds real Freudian to me.
Revenge of the Living Zombies
(Magnum)
Ghouls eat teens on Halloween. Not the
total barker you might expect because
original Night of the Living Dead producer
Bill Hinzman directed. Hey, who are we
kidding? Put this near a fire plug and it's
liable to get pissed on.
Evil Altar (Southgate)
Devil worship, blood letting and the ac-
tor who played Maniac Cop. Sounds like
a deal.
Gorgon Video Magazine (VPI)
No holds barred in this first time ever
video magazine designed for the hard-
gore addict. Contains a short, sweet inter-
view with Wes Craven on location with
Shocker, and gruesome scenes from Last
House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes.
There are interviews with KNB EFFX
(Nightmare on Elm Street 5) and TROMA
director Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger I
& I). Other features include reviews and
graphic scenes from current gore flicks
and Footage of Gwar (entrepreneurs of
metal shock rock)-a total blood bath.
Hosted by Michael (Hills Have Eyes) Ber-
rymore, this violent video will wreak havoc
and possess mind, body and soul.
Impact Video Magazine (VPI)
Music, animation, art, comics, can-
nibalism and club hopping are just part
of the first installment of Impact, a bi-
monthly video collage produced by Stuart
Shapiro and written and directed by Alex
Winter and Tom Stern. Public Enemy,
Jane's Addiction and Robert Williams in-
terviews, Butthole Surfers brain-warp
home movies, Survival Research Lab-
oratories annhiliation robots...Can't wait
to see the next one. Call 1-800-338-7710
for more info on both Impact and Gorgon.
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