Sundown Follow-up: Fangoria #88 Nov. 1989 Article - The Town that Dreaded SUNDOWN by Larry Barsky

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Given the near total lack of information about Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (aside from the DVD), I thought scanning this old Fangoria article chronicling aspects of the production might both educate and entice. This Fango has Halloween 5 as its cover story. Click the pics for full readable sizes!

Click for the other three pages»

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Some quick thoughts on Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (shot in 1988/released in 1990)

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In a small desert town reside a populous comprised of ex-bloodsuckers trying to live in relative peace with humans while repressing their true nature. Wearing 100 SPF sunblock and drinking synthetic blood (sound familiar?), the residents resist temptation by directing most mortals away at a tiny gas station (ran by M. Emmet Walsh) along the only road into their sanctuary. But, as always, tensions are escalating within between elder vamps Jefferson (John Ireland) and Count Mardulak (David Carradine). Jefferson is fed up with denying instinct and is secretly assembling a thirsty legion of fresh fangs for a coup d'état against all opposition with "specialized" bullets. The situation boils over when the bookwormish great-grandson of Van Helsing (Bruce Campbell) arrives in an attempt to seal the fate of the entire town.

Anthony Hickox's Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat is quite the non-cult classic anomaly. Not given a theatrical release, the film was picked up by once-home video giant Vestron Video for a tape debut and then virtually vanished. Sundown never even had a niche cult following championing for a DVD release; even with the presence of B-flick icons Carradine and Campbell. I figured this horror/comedy/western had to be terrible or something given this lackluster obscurity, so I pegged scoping out the tape as a low priority. In spite of all this, probably spurred by the success of their long awaited re-issue of The Monster Squad, Lionsgate rolled out a special edition disc approaching two years ago. I popped this in last evening just to spot-check and ended up watching the whole damn thing. Sundown has problems, but it's nearly invisible status among horror fans for almost two decades is unjustified.

It's funny how the cover and back synopsis barely make light of the main character, David Harrison, played by a robotic Jim Metzler. Harrison, unaware of its actual use, developed the fake blood and is invited into town to assist in getting the manufacturing facility running to full capacity to met demand. Inevitably, his wife and two young daughters tag along coming into peril as the story unfolds. It's the same family man in otherworldly circumstances crap we've seen over and over. While watching one rapidly gets the sense that with a few tweaks, the entire Harrison character and his who cares? plight could have been totally jettisoned in favor of Bruce Campbell as the lead. As it stands, Harrison's family seems impervious to harm and they're waved off into the sunrise by infinitely more interesting supporting characters. Maybe their car got hit by a bus on the way home?

Otherwise, we get a good dollop of Campbell fresh off Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987). His nerdy, limp-spined character never approaches the badassness depicted on the above cover, but his spastic screams ala Ash show up and are still humorous. The dependable regardless David Carradine was thoroughly in the drunken nadir of his career as the "Count". Deborah Foreman is cute as a pale vixen smitten with Campbell, Maxwell Caulfield looks like the lovechild of Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, and it's always a joy seeing M. Emmet Walsh and George 'Buck' Flower work.

Sundown came after Hickox's debut feature, Waxwork (1988), and is a bold 2.35:1 scope widescreen follow-up in hard-to-market concept. It's what initially damned the film and the modern day gangbusters western motif hurts the inventive underpinnings of wooden bullets and when becoming a vampire isn't always the worst fate. Late composer Richard Stone's full-on orchestral romanticized western score is also so tremendously great that it usually overshadows the modesty on-screen. Gorehounds will be disappointed as well with Hickox delivering a yarn pretty much suitable for young ones with no sexual content, a rubbery severed head, shootouts, and mildly lasagna-faced vampires at the climax. Unimportant quibbles though. Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat is worth your time and its neglected state for so long is a real shame. Lionsgate's anamorphic widescreen DVD has a commentary by Hickox and the film's DP, great interviews with Campbell, Carradine, and Walsh (all think warmly of the project), and photo gallery.

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Click for my thoughts on 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams at Blood Sprayer!

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This Island Earth Metaluna Handmade Wall Hanger(?)

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Just got back from another expedition in Pennsylvania. Scored some tapes, discs, and more horror mags, but this is by far the best find. This is the iconic Metaluna mutant brain alien from This Island Earth (1955). The seller's tag at an antique mall stated it was an "Alien Head Wall Hanger/Artist Made". It's indeed "artist made" weighing in at four pounds of hand painted/molded plaster. There are no artist markings whatsoever on the piece, but whoever made it did one helluva job on the sculpt and paint. The back is painted black with brush marks and slight lumps in the plaster. Two little rings are "baked" into the back for hanging (no way I'm going to risk hanging it). Needless to say, this thing is completely bad ass, and appears be to unique. At least I can't find it through my searches online. Fifteen bucks well spent!              

Waxwork (ワックス・ワーク) (1988) - Japanese Vestron Video International VHS

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Being one of my childhood favorites (old thoughts here), this one had to be mine upon seeing it spring up on eBay.

Some quick thoughts on My Bloody Valentine (2D Flat Blu-ray) (2009)

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You've probably seen it already, so here's the outline from the IMDB: "Tom (Jensen Ackles) returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, however, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame is the only one will believes he's innocent."

Details of the wrangling between Tom, his "old flame" (Jaime King), her present husband/sheriff (Kerr Smith), and his infidelity with one of his wife's co-workers are thrown in for taste into the above plot sketch. Oh, and a decade prior Tom fucked up big time as a green coal miner and flambéed a couple of his fellow laborers that was the catalyst for the following massacre by one of the victims. You really won't care as this 3D re-imagining of the 1981 Canadian slasher of the same name lumbers through the histrionics of who struck John. 

To be honest, I've never quite warmed to this CG-laded hacker's nearly thirty-year-old source material. I can't place why, perhaps a lack of personal "spark", despite watching it straight through multiple times over the years. Maybe I'll come around, but for now I'll differ to fellow horror blogger extraordinaire Kevin over at Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies for his thoughts on yesteryear's My Bloody Valentine. As Kevin points out, director George Milhaka focuses on simple follow-through, a measured pace, and character development above gushing arteries. This is certainly a spot-on assessment, and to director Patrick Lussier's credit, his "MBV3D" takes a valiant stab at refining its own important narrative tips.

Something clogs up along this ride of airborne pitchforks and the story arc involving the identity of the murderous miner quickly hits a wall with the climax arriving with that distinct "Oh, so this is the end" feeling. The entire midsection doesn't have any appetizing mini-revelations which most slashers use to hook the audience along to the conclusion. Everything kinda binds up into something you expect to conclude in a more "weighty" fashion than merely the secrets between the three principals being revealed. The fourteen deleted/extended scenes included on this Blu-ray (and DVD) might speak to My Bloody Valentine's structure being ironed out in the editing room instead of bolted down pat on paper beforehand.

I'm not meaning to make this offering sound terrible; it has a few redeeming points even at a lengthy 103 minutes. Horror favorite Tom Atkins gets a solid minor role as the town's retired sheriff who witnessed the original slaughter and put an end to it outside the law. Atkins's role and performance here is very natural and works as a perfect example of a pointed wink at aware genre fanatics not sticking out like a sore thumb. The wet red stuff is exceptionally wet n' red considering the R rating. The mix of borderline shitty CGI for the sake of 3D effect does distract though. The totally naked chick running around for a whole stalk sequence, 'nuff said. The pathos with the reveal of the killer's identity is a nice touch and is really the only thing to say about the particular actor's turn. And it should go without saying that the unchanged look of the pissed off miner complete with gas mask and head lamp is still as unsettlingly as it was in '81. Ultimately, not bad, not great...but still rather blah...    
                                   
I watched this on Lionsgate's 2D Blu-ray, bought at Wal Mart, which appears to not be available everywhere. All the extras are retained from the 2-disc 3D Blu, just without the three-dimensional version and a cover that lacks the "3D" after the title. Lussier certainly isn't known as a great director and the HD video shooting method only exacerbates this stigma. The director seems to frame most shots with too much useless room around the centered action. That might be a side effect of all the specialized conditions of filming, but the dull look of My Bloody Valentine along with the dull sheen of HD video doesn't make this Blu-ray worth it for the picture quality alone. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio track fares better. Considering the glut of dirt cheap used copies of the DVD; it might behoove those interested to drop three or four bucks instead of buying this new on either format in-store.  

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Monogram's Freddy and Jason Rubber Key Rings

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I'm not trying to officially endorse Monogram International after posting about their cool resin Freddy bank, but here's another neat-o New Line Horror license product from the company. I found these this afternoon at F.Y.E. for $2.99 each. They also had an all metal Elm Street key ring for $5.99 as well. These two are cooler though with nice color and "3D" detail. The backs are black with each character's name and franchise in red lettering. Being rubber, it's probably not a good idea to ever use these as actual key rings if you want to keep them as future collectibles.

More Thanks to Horrifying Destinations Yonder!

Just wanted to thank Joel over at Porkhead's Horror Review Hole and Zach from Z for Zombies for honoring this vapid place as a Versatile Blog! Always much appreciated! As for today's entry, this is it, as I'm impatiently awaiting the weekend. In the meantime, scope out the tweaks made to BoGD's columns and alignments!

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BOG (1983) - 1987 Air Video/Ariel International Releasing Big Box VHS

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I've been forced to resort to the top shelf from my laziness over the past few days. Don Keeslar's eternal masterwork for all man, Bog, isn't itself rare at all. Its horrid stench has long lingered on tape with a plethora of mostly crap EP-speed cheapies and naturally a terrible looking transition onto digital disc. Though this AIR Video big box is certainly the rarest of any of Bog's releases. Not merely super rare, but more like mega-über rare with a cherry on top just like any of the titles from this long extinct fly-by-nighter. 

The Halfhearted (Fumbled?) Video Distribution of The Collector (2009)

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This is one of those entries where my speculation is probably entirely untrue and mostly unfounded, but I've observed some odd things regarding the video distribution of Marcus Dunsan's The Collector. Over the past weekends, even almost the weekend of the film's video release, I noticed folks at several different swap meets selling legitimate DVD copies. Okay, spotting a couple of new releases of dubious origin in places like that isn't new. Yet, these different peddlers had what seemed like piles of copies. I'm aware that this potboiler didn't ignite the box office or particularly go gonzo on video, but it's simply unheard of to find such an abundance of "real" overstock of any film at a swap meet.

Then we have Amazon.com. The world's largest e-tailer simply doesn't sell either the DVD or Blu-ray directly. Other online merchants do (i.e. - DVDEmpire, DeepDiscountDVD), but Amazon only offers both editions through their seller Marketplace. The film's distributors, Vivendi Entertainment and Genius Products, are powerhouses in terms of video properties and you probably own a slew of discs from their stables. So it just doesn't calculate that Amazon, at least for the weeks I've been checking, never has and still doesn't carry the video releases. What gives?

The Blu-ray edition also appears afflicted. I can remember contemplating buying the BD upon its day-and-date release with the DVD. The DVD arrived on April 6th, but the high def release couldn't be found anywhere in-store. Checking around online yielded the same deal. It was only after a few weeks that I noticed the Blu-ray popping up for sale. Either Vivendi screwed the pooch on readying the BD on time or lost interest in releasing it. If they indeed figured it wasn't worth the trouble, deciding to sell off the initial run (usually numbering 3-5k), the Blu-ray might become rarer over time. Could be worth bumping this up on your purchase list if interested before seeing it quadruple over retail in a couple years.

Of course, I'm more-or-less throwing out hearsay, and the reality of the situation is probably much milder. I've personally never seen such strange circumstances surrounding a video release. It seems Vivendi doesn't particularly care or totally bumbled the handling of this film's home debut. You can certainly find The Collector, but something is off with its availability (or non-availability) through certain channels. As for the flick, I stand behind my prior assessment. With the plausibility of a polka dotted elephant, it's a nice little slice of overly stylish sadism and exactly the kind of horror junk food I can't resist from time-to-time.

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Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (死霊のはらわた2) (1987) - 2006 Universal Studios Japanese DVD

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After waiting over a month, this one finally arrived in the mailbox. I was planning on a capture comparison between this Japanese disc and the two Anchor Bays, but the transfer is the same as the Anchor Bay THX edition--just interlaced. Despite that, the image quality still kicks the shit outta AB's Necronomicon-packaged abomination. The quality here is pretty much identical to the interlaced Hong Kong Panorama disc with better encoding. Zero supplements with Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese subtitles on either English 5.1 or 2.0 tracks. Universal Japan is set to debut a Blu-ray on September 23rd. So maybe, just maybe, we'll finally see a real high definition presentation instead of the garbage North American, British, and French Blu-rays.

Shock 'Em Dead (1991) - 1990 Academy Entertainment Promo Screener VHS

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Be sure to check out my article on the new "director released" Shock 'Em Dead DVD release over at The Blood Sprayer!

The Hills Have Eyes, Part 2 (1985) - Thorn EMI/HBO Video Betamax

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This one is from those moldy Betas from PA and hurts the most out of them all. The cover, case, and cassette are in excellent shape, but the damn tape looks like someone dunked it in a box of white powdered Munchkins. I haven't actually seen this sequel since I've always heard it's pretty mediocre. This cover rocks though and it's one of my favorites from Thorn EMI. It's bold and colorful handdrawn design recalls a series of the video company's releases from the British studio HandMade Films. When Cannon bought Thorn EMI's film catalog in 1986, HBO/Cannon Films re-released this in a regular cardboard case as opposed to a white clamshell.     

 

BREAKING: The Return of the Living Dead (1985) Announced for Blu-ray

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Amazon.com have just posted a new Blu-ray sales listing for Dan O'Bannon's The Return of the Living Dead from MGM Entertainment on September 14th for $24.99. The specs will likely change being a brand new listing, notice the 1.33:1 full screen ratio, but the number of discs is currently pegged as two. 

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Some thoughts and factoids about Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (1995)

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With BoGD going through an impromptu spat of demonic horror viewing, an entry about Ernest Dickerson's Demon Knight was inevitable. The Cryptkeeper's first "official" foray onto the big screen is one of the best contemporary horror films of the '90s and the last great studio genre picture before Craven's postmodern slasher meanderings. Although some of that might be the sentimental value talking. This is one of the first "new release" features from my early days of discovering the genre. My mom even allowed me to watch it upon first renting the tape--a huge event for a 12-year-old.

I knew I had to revisit this one last night after flipping through the radio and landing on Pantera's Cemetery Gates on my way home from work. A song that you just don't hear on standard FM, let alone any Pantera, that's on Demon Knight's soundtrack along with groups like Ministry, Rollins Band, Sepultura, and Gravediggaz. I spend many a night listening to that battered CD doing homework.

Anywho, Demon Knight still holds up exceedingly well today despite never being particularly frightening. It's a brand of horror that steadily went straight-to-video after the effects of Scream and its malaise of derivatives. Demons just aren't winning box office fodder anymore and this outlandish screamfest inadvertently hammered in the final nail. A shame really, as some of the scariest and some of the most easygoing of modern horror involved Satan's servants. Preppy teens in self-aware peril and agonizing torture became the average movie-goer's new scare fare.  

The presence of strong, non-racially motivated African American characters is what might be the most refreshing aspect. There's no urban settings or Tyler Perry Madea stereotype bull here; just black and white characters desperately trying to maintain a unified front against man-about-Hell Billy Zane. Well, all except Thomas Haden Church's Roach. The actor then primarily known as the bumbling mechanic on the sitcom Wings delivers a perfect backstabbing asshole...with smokin' nipples. William Sadler, veteran of two episodes of HBO's Crypt series, conveys his lead's generations of divine right merely through his grisled visage. God of character actors Dick Miller gets a very meaty part, any film that does this automatically earns good boy points, and Miller should have patented the "loveable drunk" bit role which he can pull of masterfully in his sleep. Of course, the self-deprecating coolness of Zane's Collector steals the show out from everyone. It's performances like this that make one wonder why Zane never seemed to gain the popularity he should have, but then again, his abilities evoke those of Bruce Campbell and we all know of his "limited" mainstream status nowadays.

Onto the trivia, Demon Knight (along with Bordello of Blood) had the unfortunate fate of being one of Universal's horror titles licensed out to Image Entertainment for distribution on DVD while Uni handled the VHS and Laserdisc. Image didn't produce any special features, so Universal didn't feel the need to do so or have the option to port anything over from Image for their independent DVD re-release in 2003. Although a short EPK video was made (seen here). The following tidbits are from Tales From The Crypt: The Official Archives by Digby Diehl. An excellent, full color coffee table book covering (most comprehensively) the original EC comic run, HBO's television series, Crypt collectibles, Demon Knight, Bordello of Blood, and more. The book is out of print and can be pricey, so I felt the need to share these facts about Dickerson's film for those who don't have it.

• Writers Reiff, Voris, and Bishop first penned the screenplay in 1987 while in college.
• The Collector was originally known as The Salesman. 
• The screenplay was shopped around Hollywood with director Tom Holland (Fright Night, Child's Play) initially interested with wishes for Chris Sarandon as Brayker and Tommy Lee Jones as The Collector. Holland instead went on to bomb with 1987's Fatal Beauty.
• Pet Semetary director Mary Lambert was then interested, but after Semetary's sequel bombed her chance to helm was dashed.
• The writers started to think their creation was cursed until their screenplay was optioned by Universal with Ernest Dickerson, a fan of the Crypt comics and Famous Monsters magazine, joining up with the writers to iron out the script.
• Dickerson initially wanted Willem Dafoe and Val Kilmer as The Collector and Brayker respectively.
• The way the demons are born was inspired by Hydra's teeth forming the skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts (1963).
• Shooting the demons in the eyes was inspired by the old adage "the eyes are the window to the soul"
• EC Comics pioneer Max Gaines and comic censorship crusader Fredric Wertham would have particularly taken issue with the ocular violence in the film.
• The original idea for the look of the demons was guys in black suits and sunglasses until effects man Todd Masters thought that was dumb.
• Masters's extremely lean demon design was economical with batteries placed in the crotch piece for the radio-controlled tail.

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The Convent (2000) - Japanese Albatros Film DVD

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I'm tired as hell today from the blistering heat, so please excuse yet another scan. I think this is a good one though. I've always enjoyed Mike Mendez's demonic nun, ass-kickin' Adrienne Barbeau-starring indie The Convent. Mendez exhibits great tact in delivering a brisk, funny, and gory ode to Night of the Demons with smatterings of The Evil Dead. This one has a freeing sense of not being afraid to be itself instead of either demanding or unrealistically believing in a trumped up self-importance--an attribute shared with the two '80s classics mentioned above. It's simply harmless fun--even with the appearance of Coolio.

The cover art of this disc doesn't quite have anything to do with the actual content. Only goes to show how the Japanese possess an unfailing knack to make anything look like a must-own. I'd recommend throwing this flick in your collection even without this wild art.

Click for my thoughts on Necromentia over at Blood Sprayer!

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