The Movie:
Making independent films is often a hard slog. There's usually little money to be made, to go along with the miniscule budgets, and that lack of funds can often hamper creative expression, and even cripple it. This is not the case, however, with ultra-weird, low budget horror effort Dropping Evil. This is bravura independent filmmaking at its gonzo best.

The story revolves around four high school students. The two cool ones, Samantha and Mike (Rachel Howell and Tom Taylor) ask their significantly less than cool former friends Nancy and Becky (Zachary Eli Lint and Cassandra Powell) to go on a weekend camping trip, more out of pity than anything else. (Yes, Nancy is a guy with a girl's name, for reasons that are hinted at in the film.) Nancy happens to be a devout Christian, and is constantly lecturing the girls on their whorish ways, and overly concerned about his apple j...Read the entire review

The Movie:
The producers of The Disco Exorcist certainly have a love for seventies exploitation films, perhaps too much love. Their dedication to recreating the warp and weft of that genre leads to a little too much self awareness and winking, and not quite enough coherent plot or drama. There's plenty of bared breasts and blood, though, if that's what you're looking for.

Rex Romanski (Michael Reed) is carefree seventies swinger, spending his free hours between sleeping with beautiful women and indulging in narcotics at the disco, dancing the night away. He cares little for the women, spending a few sexy nights with each and then moving on, and most of them grumble about it, but don't really hold a grudge. Until he meets Rita Marie (Ruth Sullivan). Rita, in addition to being touchy about ill treatment by men, is a voodoo priestess of some sort. She and Rex meet on the dance floor...Read the entire review

The Story of Rock 'N' Roll Comics:
It's hard to know if this documentary is a full-blown case of First Amendment (In)Justice ala The People Versus Larry Flynt or just a fairly interesting story for a limited group of people. The subject of the story, Todd Loren - publisher of Rock and Roll and Revolution Comics - would have you believe the former, even if in action it seems like Loren himself chose to ride the truth train for convenience only. In which case, director Ilko Davidov should have been advised to take his own stand with this movie - to come out swinging either for, or against, Todd. It's advice he seems to have cautiously hedged against. This fundamental lack of mooring, combined with a super-specific, limited market of interested viewers, means that many of you who think you're interested now will wonder later if you're still as engaged.

Detroit-born Loren started his min...Read the entire review

The Product:
Like one of his signature bits, comedian Andy Kaufman's death always seemed sort of...surreal. It was never meant to be funny (lung cancer never is) and yet, even with all the seriousness and fatalism surrounding it, there was a sense of put-on, a sneaking suspicion that what was happening was nothing more than the greatest meta-prank ever attempted by likeminded lunatic performer. Of course, as decades have past and the Kaufman mystique has been supplanted by today's shrill confrontational stand-ups, few are focusing on the possibility that the man may have faked his own death. Sure, there are websites dedicated to the idea and long standing theories that hold little water, but it's time, not a lack of truth, that has hindered any real investigation or revelation. If writer/director Christopher Maloney has his way, however, his new documentary will answer the question once and ...Read the entire review

The Electric Chair:
As the box says, this is "a lost treasure of New York City filmmaking." So what's up with New York City filmmaking anyway? Why so dark, bubby? It's not that there isn't a spark of hope and humanity, it's just draped in cynicism and despair. Full of loathing and rage, (not to mention a little bit of humor) this 80-minute black and white arthouse feature will first challenge your patience before kicking you in the crotch.

Notable New York character actor Victor Argo (Taxi Driver, Ghost Dog) plays The Comic, a beleaguered shoe salesman who's been nursing the avocation of stand up comedy for too long. Receiving a last-minute call for a 10PM gig at a dive on the Jersey Shore, The Comic reluctantly comes, loaded ...Read the entire review

Gold: Before Woodstock. Beyond Reality:
As I try watching Gold through the eyes of a hippie or a square in 1969 - as opposed to the jaded 21st Century aesthete that I am - I still can't help wondering what kind of thing I'd need to be on to not only truly enjoy it, but to tolerate it at all. Uppers, downers, speed, coke, bennies, reds, 'ludes, 'shrooms, pot, acid, mary jane, sugar cubes, banana peels, grass, weed, cross-tops, hooch, dope, LSD, smack ...

Without such a life-ending pharmacopoeia coursing through my veins, I'm left to taxing my appreciation of unintentional camp to make it through. It's a living, right? However, I'm pretty sure no amount of intoxicants can enliven or justify this ride. No offense, but Gold's "let's make a movie!" film-school excesses surely didn't play well then, and 40-plus years in the future, only nostalgia and curiosity can ease the painful f...Read the entire review

The Product:
Growing up in the '70s, we kids had several water cooler (or in our case, playground) debate subjects. A few of the more formidable included the annual Saturday Morning Cartoon Preview (would Scooby-Doo be back? Would the Kroffts new live action slice of surrealism be worth watching?), the tastiness of space food sticks, and the weekly roundtable on the ABC Movie of the Week. Like all impressionable youth, we couldn't get enough of the gratuitous genre workouts, most of the infamous TV films revolving around ghosts, demons, the paranormal, and the people who worship same. After a preplanned viewing, you'd shuffle off to school the next day, insightful review inside your head and collection of awesome/awful scenes at your disposal for ease of impressing. Most times, you struck paydirt - Duel, Trilogy of Terror, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Th...Read the entire review

The Product:
Growing up in the '70s, we kids had several water cooler (or in our case, playground) debate subjects. A few of the more formidable included the annual Saturday Morning Cartoon Preview (would Scooby-Doo be back? Would the Kroffts new live action slice of surrealism be worth watching?), the tastiness of space food sticks, and the weekly roundtable on the ABC Movie of the Week. Like all impressionable youth, we couldn't get enough of the gratuitous genre workouts, most of the infamous TV films revolving around ghosts, demons, the paranormal, and the people who worship same. After a preplanned viewing, you'd shuffle off to school the next day, insightful review inside your head and collection of awesome/awful scenes at your disposal for ease of impressing. Most times, you struck paydirt - Duel, Trilogy of Terror, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Th...Read the entire review