A quick glance at some of my DVD collection...

Please feel free to view these as recommendations or cautionary tales... your mileage varies...


PHANTASM (1979)
Plot: Something sinister is happening to the bodies buried at Morningside cemetery, 12 year old Mike Pearson and his pals decide to investigate.

Ok I’m just gonna put it out there. This is my favorite movie. It’s is as heartfelt as it is surreal, its a coming of age story and a tale of cosmic horror. How can you not love a movie that has transgendered morphing alien morticians, killer dwarves, fingers turning into bugs, brief nudity, random scenes lifted from the novel Dune and an ass kicking hippy ice cream man? I watch this one at least once a year, usually when I’m down in the dumps or on my birthday. Actually at 41 I am usually down the in the dumps on my birthday.



JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1974)
Plot: Oh come on!

This is one of my favorite animated films. Some 30 years after seeing it I still catch myself humming the songs to myself and I like the slight changes made to the classic fairy tale. In this version of the story the giant is the henpecked son of a nasty witch named Heccuba and the pair of them have taken control of the castle for the kingdom of the sky. There are some scary moments, some funny moments and some moments that are just so goddamn strange I don’t think you’d ever see them in a modern film. This along with The Mouse and His Child are the kind of movies they just don’t make any more.




POINT OF TERROR (1971)
Plot: 40 something singer screws his way to the top.

Now I have discussed this film in the Potentiality section of the board but I am going to talk about it here as well because more people need to see this movie. It ranks right of there in that strange TROLL 2 realm where the movie is so awful that it becomes endlessly fascinating.

This film was in a box set called THE HORRIBLE HORRORS COLLECTION but it isn’t a horror film- it’s the plot of SHOWGIRLS but starring Greg Brady and Ilsa She Wolf of The SS.

See the musical stylings of protagonist Tony Trelos rock out the Lobster House lounge!

Marvel at the tale of a man whose ambition leads him to sleep his way to the top!

Cringe at the sight of star Peter Carpenter bare butt!

Pick your jaw up off the floor after watching a twist ending that would leave M. Night Shyamalan weeping tears of blood!

When I saw this film I was sick with the flu, shuddering and near to retching with fever. I put a movie in the DVD player to try and distract myself. My stunned disbelief at what i was seeing soon became tears of laughter. This film may have saved my life.

And thanks to the wonders of Youtube, here is a taste of the film… it only gets more insane from here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsUFBEnW1nc