Tag: musical

Sundance Film Review: ‘The Lure’

by AllieHanley

In the mood for something strange and different? Polish film maker Agnieszka Smoczynska’s “The Lure” played at Sundance last week to a mixed  (but mostly positive) crowd.

The story is definitely a doozie. Two young mermaids decide to take a land vacation and end up in Warsaw, Poland where they join a night club band as singers. It’s set in the 80’s so the costumes, music, and set stylings reflect that era.

Golden and Silver are looking for fun and when one of them finds love for a human and the other  for human flesh, two worlds collide. Even a visit from Triton (as a heavy metal reveler) warning them of the consequences of their folly isn’t enough to put the brakes on these two mermaids.

There are a few challenges in watching the film. First off, it’s a musical and the Polish to English translation of the lyrics doesn’t always seem to make lyrical sense, so there’s that. There’s also some confusion going on for me as to the character motivations. I’m not sure if it was the language barrier, scenes being deleted for this cut, or not fully flushed out characters – but there were numerous times where dream sequences, cut scenes, and side stories did more to confuse than move the story forward. That uneven flow made the film less enjoyable despite some wonderful performances from the cast.

“The Lure” has a certain attraction. As a first time director, Smoczynska does a intriguing job with essentially a unique story, set in a place not often seen in modern movies, and using music as a medium to tell the tale, it certainly falls into the spectrum of weird but good.

However, due to poorly executed character development (and translation issues) the film barely rises to above average. The film screens great as a Midnighter and will certainly find its audience.

2.5 out of 5

https://youtu.be/vxhi_3hDUPE

Horror Movie Night – Retroactive Episode 6: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

by Saintmort

This week, the guys are digging an oldie but goodie out of the archives and watching from the rafters as their past selves discuss Brian De Palma’s inimitable 1974 rock opera Phantom of the Paradise! If you’ve followed the show in any capacity, odds are you’ve heard this film brought up at least once, and here is the seed of HMN’s collective obsession. Fall in love with Plain Jane, get your teeth knocked out, your voicebox smashed and your face horribly disfigured by a record press, then try to foil your abuser’s sexy plot on this week’s retroactive episode of Horror Movie Night!

Feel free to join in discussion at on our Facebook Group or in the comments below.

Do you have a movie suggestion for us or just want to tell us stories about your experiences with the movies we’ve watched? Send them to us at HMNPodcast@gmail.com

Also subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud and iTunes

Horror Movie Night – Episode 45: Forbidden Zone (1980)

by Saintmort

This week’s episode reveals a dark truth of this world, that there are 2 types of people on Earth: those that like 1980’s Forbidden Zone, and those that have taste. Matt picked this one, so that basically answers that question (if there was any doubt), and surprisingly, Scott is the most verbally abusive person on the show for once, while Adam is uncharacteristically ambivalent. This is the power of Danny “Satan-guy” Elfman. Bring your blackface and incessant need to hump strangers, it’s Horror Movie Night!

Feel free to join in discussion at on our Facebook Group or in the comments below.

Do you have a movie suggestion for us or just want to tell us stories about your experiences with the movies we’ve watched? Send them to us at HMNPodcast@gmail.com

Also subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud and iTunes

Horror Movie Night – Episode 41: Stagefright (2014)

by Saintmort

Hey theater geeks, do you feel like you’ve been underrepresented in horror films? Do you demand to be killed off like the jocks that make your life miserable and the beautiful 27-year-old high school girls who won’t give you the time of day? Then look no further than this week’s pick, the sleek 2014 remake of Stage Fright! The guys are divided, as Matt and Scott were theater kids in their younger days and Adam was probably out smoking behind the school (or wherever kids go to do their tick-mutating marijuana cigarettes in Canada). There are spontaneous dance numbers, brutal murders, and some pretty obvious connections to Todd & the Book of Pure Evil. What more could you ask for? It’s Horror Movie Night!

Feel free to join in discussion at on our Facebook Group or in the comments below.

Do you have a movie suggestion for us or just want to tell us stories about your experiences with the movies we’ve watched? Send them to us at HMNPodcast@gmail.com

Also subscribe to our podcast on Soundcloud and iTunes

‘Hamilton’ creator Lin-Manuel Miranda wins a Pulitzer Prize for Drama!

by Alexandra Gallarza

“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” A question posed in the musical Hamilton, the story of the man on the ten dollar bill.

“‘Hamilton’ consistently finds muted, blurring shades – of feeling, of morality, of character – within its incident and fact packed story without ever sacrificing narrative clarity” says the New York Times. Adapted from the book penned by Ron Chenow’s autobiography on Alexander Hamilton, the first five minutes of the musical covers the first hundred pages. In it’s fast, hip-hop style, the title song Alexander Hamilton settles you into the world of the man himself. hamiltonbway0109r2-phillipa-soo-ren-e-elise-goldsberry-and-jasmine-cephas-jones-d23a8b0bc760d91027213a96953d4e78d22a3927-s900-c85

Taking Hamilton out of the Carribean, where the man was born, and bringing him to America, Lin Manuel shows how an immigrant strives on the shores of America. Specifically New York. Even more so, ‘the greatest city in the world’ Manhattan. It was in Manhattan that he met the Schulyer Sisters, who are played by Renee Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, and Jasmine Cephas in the show. It was in Manhattan that he met Elizabeth Schuyler (Soo) the woman who became his wife, the woman who was taken out of the narrative and put herself back into it in order to tell her husband’s story.

Hamilton grows up to be an American War Hero,  George Washington’s right hand, and joined the ranks of Thomas Jefferson (Daveed Diggs)  and James Madison (Okieriete Onaodowan) in the founding of America. As an author of the U.S. Constitution, the document that states ‘We the People, Hamilton strived to establish justice among the people, insuring calmness among his friends and calmness when in time of war, and attempted to 07HAMILTON-slide-UX39-jumbo-v2promote happiness. In the end, against all odds, Hamilton meets his fate at the hand of Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom Jr.) who did not waste his shot.

Playing to sold out crowds night after night and will continue to do so every night for at least the next nine months, Hamilton has been collecting accolades one after another. No stranger to awards, Lin-Manuel won 4 Tonys and a Grammy for his show ‘In The Heights’. In addition to those awards, Miranda was named a ‘Genius’ receiving a grant by the MacArthur Foundation, a Grammy for Hamilton, and now a Pulitzer Prize.

Miranda joins the ranks of George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bock and Harnick, Frank Loesser, Marvin Hamlisch, Stephen Sondheim , Jonathan Larson, and Brian Yorkey and the other partners these men collaborated with. Seeing as Miranda was the composer, lyricist and book writer, he was the sole winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Take a look below at the cast’s opening night perspective. You can get tickets for Hamilton when it comes to LA through the Pantages and try your hand at the Hamilton lottery in New York.

The 15 Best Cannibal Movies (That Aren’t Cannibal Holocaust)!

by scottevil

Eli Roth’s long-awaited cannibal flick The Green Inferno hits theatres tonight, so of course I thought it’d be appropriate to list off some people-eating-people movies that may not spring to mind as quickly as the film Roth is aping – 1979’s Cannibal Holocaust. Skip the popcorn and grab one of those plastic bibs, this might get messy.

15) Soylent Green

The obvious first choice when you’re hungry is a big helping of Soylent Green. If you’ve been living under a rock since 1973, you may not know this, but the secret ingredient is people. Shocking!

14) Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUyEaYxTI2U

Human meat is a central theme in all of the TCM films, but especially so in the second installment. The current ruling member of the hungry Sawyer clan, Drayton, mixes people parts with other animal parts to make his award-winning chili. Totally ridiculous and over-the-top, this one is more about what they could get away with than how scared they could make you.

13) Motel Hell

“It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent’s fritters!”

If you’re wondering, most of those critters are people planted up to their necks in a “secret garden” and fattened up foie gras style. If the last film didn’t make you swear off Slim Jims, this one might.

12) Cannibal! The Musical

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86rxyJMXv5o

Before hooking up with Matt Stone and creating South Park, Trey Parker wrote and starred in a musical about eating people. Thrill to the song and dance produced by consumption of human flesh, and laugh at the horror of it all. There’s gold (and half-eaten skeletons) in them thar hills!

11) We Are What We Are

It’s sort of a spoiler to put this one on the list, but yep, family of cannibals. I mean, it’s heavily implied from the very first scene, so I don’t feel bad dropping that bomb here. This is the American version, adapted from the Mexican original, which borrows heavily from the Donner Party (much like Cannibal! The Musical) and the legend of Sawney Bean.

10) Ravenous

Another tale of murder and the other white meat during the U.S.’s early days. Wendigo lore, some black humor and a drunk David Arquette make for a wholesome viewing experience. I bet that stew they made was delicious.

9) The Road

If the movies mentioned so far haven’t been sufficiently bleak for your palette, take a bite of The Road. Viggo Mortensen and his son spend 2 grueling hours evading cannibalistic gangs in a post-apocalyptic America; Guy Pearce shows up later on after apparently surviving Ravenous. Who knew? This is not what I’d consider “lighter fare,” so come to this one ready to dig in.

8) The Hills Have Eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edn5EzHXVBU

Didn’t get enough roaming cannibals in need of a bath yet? Then Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes should fill you up. Less bleak than Last House on the Left, it still leaves you with a similar feeling after watching. You may want to grab the Tums right about now.

7) Wrong Turn

Most of these cannibals seem to be degenerates with no understanding of basic hygiene – how are they not dying of food-borne illness? These are the thoughts I use to numb myself from the depravity inflicted upon poor Eliza Dushku in Wrong Turn. More gross hillbillies than you can shake a human femur at!

6) Wolf Creek 2

While the first installment of the Wolf Creek series dramatized actual crimes committed in the Australian Outback, this sequel serves up a juicy slice of fantasy by fleshing out Mick Taylor’s sadistic appetites. Imagine Freddy Krueger with a thick accent (but the same hat) and a lair full of booby traps, that’s all you need to know about WC2.

5) Parents

I love the use of 1950s suburbia for social commentary, so of course Bob Balaban’s Parents is perfectly seasoned for my tastes. The film is both plucky as Leave it to Beaver and as dark as blood pudding. I’m sure you’re salivating over the Blu-Ray on Amazon already.

4) The Burbs

Another suburban satire, this time helmed by the mighty Joe Dante and starring Tom Hanks, this one is low on gore and high on social commentary. If you’ve never sat down to this smorgasboard of a movie, you’re in for a treat.

3) Delicatessen

Take equal parts Amélie and Sweeney Todd, and you get 1991’s Delicatessen. The film is also directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (of later Amélie fame) and is set in a similarly abstract place and time, except everyone here is very hungry and people go missing quite frequently…

2) Silence of the Lambs

This one’s a gimme, as I’d never live it down making a list like this without Silence of the Lambs near the top. You’ve likely all seen it so there’s no point skinning the plot for you. Toss on Bach’s Goldberg Variations, let that chianti breathe and chew someone’s face off with Dr. Lecter.

1) Fried Green Tomatoes

The only cannibal movie I can say I’ve watched more than Silence of the Lambs has got to be Fried Green Tomatoes. You know the only thing better than the Whistle Stop Café’s fried green tomatoes is its open-pit barbeque – just ask that nice investigator from Georgia, he’ll tell you.

So, barring Cannibal Holocaust and the rest of the Italian exploitation flicks it spawned, how does this list hold up? Did I miss anything? Will you be checking out The Green Inferno? What does human flesh really taste like? Asking the important questions here.

Brony Breakdown: Season 4, Episode 12 – ‘Pinkie’s Pride’

by Shane O'Hare

Whoa damn fellow Scapists! Last minute Brony Breakdown before the newest episode hits the airwaves, so I better get this up and going like lickity split Virginia. If you eye spied our article last Tueday, then you know this episode has a super duper special guest star. DATS RIGHT! Weird Al himself! Enough horsing around, let’s breakdown “Pinkie’s Pride”

The episode opens up with an establishing shot of what appears to be Appleloosa, the stereotypical Western town in Equestria. We get a nice shot of the town during what appears to be the yearly UMF. Camera moves back and we get eyes on Weird Al’s character, Cheese Sandwich (that name still bugs me, reminds me of that school yard joke about “pulling apart a cheese sandwich”).  He exclaims that those ponies have never partied so hard in their lives. Yeah, definitely UMF style, poppin mollies. I guess ketamine would be more apropos, what with the horse motif. Just as he gets the words out, he gets a twitcha twitch. He get’s a feeling that he is needed in Ponyville! Roll that intro!

Before we get too far into this Breakdown, I’d like to point out that Cheese Sandwich here looks like a certain Western Film character.

Brony Breakdown Man With No Name
I cannot give more props to the animators in this show.

I mean, look at that stranger. So fierce.

The moment we are whisked back to Ponyville, we are met with a song by our Pink Pony, as she gallivants through town collecting supplies for Rainbow Dash’s party. As she goes from store to store, the townsfolk reminisce about all the parties Pinkie has thrown.

I should really say that this episode is a heavily musical one. The majority of the episode is in song. One of the show’s composers, William Anderson, used to play in Weird Al’s band! So they were a perfect match when recording the songs for this episode. This also makes my breakdown for this episode pretty thin. The songs really need to speak for themselves. With that, lets take a listen to the first tune. “Pinkie the Party Planner”

I really liked all the different background characters singing voices, I was most impressed with Chantal Strand. Yeah, the voice of that right bitch Diamond Tiara. Her line about her “cutesanera” put a little smile on my face. Yeah, she’s still evil.

If this tune sounds familiar then it’s because the episodes writer based the song off of Belle. Yeah from Beauty and The Beast.

Just out of the singing we find the Mane 6 enjoying Pinkie’s work on her Banner for Rainbow Dash. We get a quick glimpse of the serious side of Pinkie. She get’s all up in Rainbow’s grill, reinforcing the fact that “Parties are serious business.”. Just then the Horse with No Name appears on the scene, and he gives his name to the group right away. He informs them that his cheese senses have alerted him to Ponyville, and that a party is about to get underway. This is when we find out that not only is it Rainbow Dash’s Birthday, it is also the anniversary she came to Ponyville! A birthdaversary! Cue the  next song!

Now this is what I am talking ’bout! Weird Al is right in his element in this song, I found myself involuntarily bobbing to the tune. Again, Amy Keating Rogers based this song off another famous tune. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (yeah I spelled that right, FROM MEMORY), but with a nice hint of Polka. I would also like to note that my main man Daniel Ingram had his fingers on this. He helped with the lyrics and wrote the music for this one. Sadly, Weird Al did not play the accordion for this. Now, now. I know you’re a sad pony over this, but it’s okay. It’s still good!

As we all saw at the end of the song, Pinkie Pie was feeling like her party throwing abilities weren’t up to snuff. THIS IS CALLED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOLKS! After the music interlude, the whole town is worshiping Cheese Sandwich and his potential party abilities. We see our beloved Pinkie Pie LITERALLY holding back tears as her mane deflates and she goes back home. Twilight interrupts her sulking, just enough for Pinkie to wonder out loud if she isn’t cut out to throw parties. CUE ANOTHER TUNE!

This is a great example of how music can really evoke emotion. We went from full blast, balls to the wall Weird Al Polka to this down tempo sadness. I honestly felt myself feeling pretty bad for Pinkie. Amy Keating Rogers said she and Daniel Ingram based this song off “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” from the musical Evita. Having seen Evita multiple times by different groups, I can safely say I am not hearing it. What I am hearing is exceptional performance by Shannon Chan-Kent, who does the singing for Pinkie Pie. I am really blown away by her in this particular song.

We quickly cut back to the festivities being put together, and we get a glimpse of a certain background pony indulging in a chocolate fountain.

Brony Breakdown Chocolate Derpy
Dat chocolate smile. Totes adorbs.

With her new found confidence, Pinkie is on the scene. She demands that Cheese Sandwich compete in a GOOF OFF! We are then presented with literally polar opposite faces from Pinkie Pie.

Brony Breakdown Cheese Challenged
Mean muggin Pinkie, then suddenly…
Brony Breakdown Stroke Victim Pony
Stroke victim Pinkie.

This is an excellent example of how creative the teams that work on this show are.

So you may be asking, “Da fuck is a Goof Off?”, well bookworm Twilight has the answer. She appears on the scene with a dusty old book, which just so happens to be the official rulebook of the Goof Off. Basically the rules say the competitors have free range to goof about in attempts to make the judge laugh, smile, chortle etc. etc. etc. Who is the judge you are saying? Well Rainbow Dash of course, and she is none too pleased about it. As Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie post up, we are met with yet ANOTHER SONG!

Now THAT is a party song. This is more a medley of a bunch of songs, even two of Weird Al’s songs (Beer Barrel Polka and W.A.Y. Moby Polka) can be heard throughout this jam. Heck we even got a Pinkies Smile cover by Al, and a Spanish Pinata song by Pinkie? It’s really all over the place here. I particularly enjoyed the live action clips. That alligator went ballistic!

The song comes to a sudden end when Pinkie see’s that Rainbow Dash is having a bummer of a party. Crushed by a giant pinata cake, Pinkie Pie quickly forfeits the competition. She’d rather see her friend happy than fight over the chance to throw the party. After the commercial break, we find the Mane 6 catching up on the edge of town. Pinkie has packed up her party gear and is planning on leaving town! Mutual apology’s are exchanged. Pinkie is sorry that she put her pride over Rainbow’s happiness. The other Mane 5 express their own apologies, letting Cheese Sandwich woo them and have them forget their friend. FRIENDS AGAIN!

After the air has been cleared, Cheese Sandwich hits the frame. He explains that he never meant to take Pinkie’s place as party pony in ponyville, he just wanted to impress her with his skillz. Why may you ask? WELL…

WHAT?! WHAAAT?! Did anyone see that ending coming? That was some next level twist. Like the ending of Sixth Sense, or Bioshock Infinite, or Primer (did primer have an end?). I actually went “OH! DAMN” out loud.

The melody in this tune had a real big Disney feel. The lilting at the end was top. I also can’t gloss over the animation during this tune. The dynamic movements really show off the power of Flash 8 and the expertise of the animators.

Rainbow quickly interrupts the sappy bullshit, and demands a party! CUE ANOTHER TUNE!

Now that is right up my alley, dat four on the floor break beat. Daniel Ingram really shows off his chops with this one. Amy Keating Rogers says the inspiration for this song was Pink’s “Raise Your Glass”.

Just outside the party we find Pinkie Pie writing in the group diary, as Cheese Sandwich gives her a little memento. No, not a Polaroid picture that says “John G” on it. He slides her a box, and inside is his rubber chicken. How…sweet?

He dons his Fist Full of Dollars cosplay and wanders off into the sunset, as Pinkie says “I never did get that pony’s name”. Perfectly book-ending this episode with Clint Eastwood references.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This episode, was a blast. I was very much looking forward to it after all the hyper surrounding it. Weird Al really blew me away with his performance. Since it was a musical, I can’t gloss over the musical team. Daniel Ingram really was on point, all the different songs really showed his range as a musician. That ending song, I would pay big bucks to hear him write a EDM inspired pop song, I absolutely loved it. We also cannot forget Steffan Andrews, who played a mean accordion.

This is easily my current favorite for Season 4. I’d love to hear what everyone else thinks about this episode, so please leave a comment below!

It’s Here! Magic the Gathering: The Musical

by S.J. Borger

After months of speculation–and a successful Kickstarter AND Indiegogo campaign–Zombie Cat Productions has released “Magic the Gathering: The Musical,” a 27-minute romp through the geekiest of geek hybrids: Magic, Puppets, and random singing for no real good reason.

It’s free, and embedded below. Watch it, you know you want to!

‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ Being Adapted… For Stage?

by Derek Kraneveldt

This might be the most unexpected piece of news you’ll read all week.

A stage musical based on Guillermo Del Toro’s acclaimed 2006 fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth is in the works. Deadline broke word of the project, which Del Toro has been working on in secret for over four years in an attempt to find just the right production team.

That team has now in place. Paul Williams is set to write lyrics while Brokeback Mountain’s Gustavo Santaolalla will compose. Few other details of the project are known at this point. Whether the play will be a direct adaptation or a new plot completely is still unknown. Based on the writing team however, there’s a very good chance that the musical will first premiere in English, unlike the Spanish feature film.

In speaking of the announcement to Deadline, Del Toro spoke very highly of his chosen crew, stating “I admire and love Gustavo and Paul wrote the perfect album in Phantom Of The Paradise, which I have loved for decades.”

With a team like this, whenever Pan’s Labyrinth premieres, I can confidently say that viewers are in for a treat. I better start saving for my plane ticket.

What do you think of the news? Were you a fan of Pan’s Labyrinth?

Guilty Pleasure: The Apple

by Saintmort

This Friday people will be getting their 80’s Cock Rock on through the newest musical-turned-movie Rock of Ages. The 80’s was a great time for rock, but few remember it was also a great time for bad-musicals. No I’m not about to talk about unexplained cult-classic Xanadu. I’m talking about a musical so bad, so confusing that at it’s premiere the screen was damaged by audience members throwing their complimentary soundtracks at the screen. I’m talking about 1980’s confusing futuristic disco religion allegory The Apple.

The Apple takes place in the distant future of 1994. Compared to most science fiction predictions of the future… 2001: A Space Odyssey was a closer prediction… by a lot. For starters 1994 (based on this film) the world is still dominated by disco.

The film starts off in a futuristic convention center where an American Idol like singing contest is occurring, the winner will get a record contract to BIM (so I guess they got that right). Voting is based on heart-beats (sure).

Disco group Pandi and Dandi are the fan favorites but it’s a close call when canadian hippie duo Alphie and Bibi. Their song is about Love. They look like they’re going to win until they are sabotaged and booed off the stage. Alphie and Bibi refuse to take this sitting down and mark up to BIM owner Mr. Boogalow’s after party.

He’s impressed by their spunk and signs them. Quickly they are introduced into a world of drugs and sex. Alphie storms off but Bibi sticks around and drinks up the stardom. Eventually she realizes the evils of BIM (and the fact that Mr. Boogalow is clearly the devil) and returns to Alphie in a hippie community.

Now what happens next is what makes this movie fantastic. If you haven’t seen this film, but plan on it then don’t read the next paragraph because it’s so magical it will cause your brain to explode. In fact stop reading and watch the movie because I’m posting a picture too.

Mr. Boogalow and BIM arrive to arrest the hippie community when God arrives in a flying white Rolls Royce lands form the sky. He takes the hippies to ‘somewhere new, away from Mr Boogalow’s influence’ and flies away.

I can’t wrap my head around the writing and pitching of this movie and this sequence specifically but I don’t care. It’s the most magical moment in film history.

I’m a huge fan of The Apple. It’s cheesy and admittedly bad but I adore it. The music is surprising decent, the acting is… passable and the costume design is beyond flamboyant. The star of the show is how terrible the choreography is. Specifically since it was done by So You Think You Can Dance head judge Nigel Lythgoe.

This movie is one of those special films where they fail at almost everything. You must see it to believe it.

When he’s not watching Rock and Roll Musicals Matt Kelly is hosting The Saint Mort Show, Co-hosting the Reddit Horror Club Podcast, Writing in his blog Pure Mattitude, Tweeting and running Dollar Monday Promotions. 

Geekscape Visits The Theater To See ‘Re-Animator The Musical’!

by Matt Blackwood

You may wonder what to expect when going to see a musical play based on a horror movie. Yes, there are jaunty tunes. Yes, there are dance numbers. And oh yes, there will be blood.

Re-Animator the Musical, re-opening for a limited engagement at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles today before beginning its international tour, is a perfect adaptation. It is at once a completely faithful re-imagining of the 1985 cult classic and a brilliantly original stage production.

The reason for this smooth transition is probably due to multi-talented director Stuart Gordon. Not only did he co-write and direct the original film, but he also has a strong background in theatre, having founded Chicago’s legendary Organic Theatre Company over 40 years ago.

Gordon directs a brilliant roster, including the entire original cast reprising their roles from last summer’s premiere run. Chris L. McKenna and Rachel Avery give charming and poignant performances as corrupted couple Dan and Megan; Jesse Merlin is a hilariously creepy Dr. Hill; George Wendt is, as usual, adorable; the chorus members are somehow chameleonic and notable.

But the star here is Graham Skipper as the titular re-animator himself, Dr. Herbert West. It’s an uphill battle taking on a role immortalized by the irreplaceable Jeffrey Combs, but Skipper makes the character truly his own. Whether singing or staring quietly, Skipper’s West is delightfully egomaniacal, but also cuter and more likable than the film version.

Graham Skipper as Herbert West and Jesse Merlin as Dr. Hill

The songs are bouncy and fun, but you probably won’t hear a standout number that will survive past the production. The music is catchy but pretty much never ends, giving the impression of a 90-minute medley, and the lyrics are almost too seamlessly interwoven into the story for the audience to appreciate their cleverness the first time around.

Of course, one of the unique things about this particular musical is its horror aspect. Gordon has re-teamed with the special makeup effects crew of the original film to reproduce all the decapitation, evisceration, and exsanguination that horror buffs will expect. In fact, there is so much gore that the first three rows are designated as a “splash zone”, complete with complimentary ponchos.

It should be noted that the effects here are ingenious, but this isn’t movie magic; it’s closer to a circus act. The wonder is not in the production’s ability to hide the strings, but in their ability to walk the ropes. Being up close and personal, you will see exactly how an effect is achieved, and you will appreciate the results all the more for it.

If you’re a fan of horror or musical theatre, and you’re planning on being in Los Angeles in the next two months, you can’t pass up your chance to see Re-Animator The Musical. You can buy tickets at http://www.reanimatorthemusical.com/tickets.html, and as a special bonus to Geekscape readers- if you buy tickets for this opening weekend, use the discount code 008 for 50% off ticket prices!

Now You Can Vote To Help Our Geekscape Guest’s Film Get Made!

by Jonathan

Geekscape listeners might remember the March 1st podcast, where Jonathan interviewed stars Steve J. Palmer and K. Harrison Sweeney about their “RED DEAD REDEMPTION” experiences, as well as details about “FROM THE TRAILER TO THE GRAVE’s” pre-production. As a refresher for those who may have missed, or have yet to listen to the episode, the most frequently asked question to BIG HORN SAMURAI SINEMA has been, “Why Wyoming??”. Many films that are set in Wyoming’s great wide open (“Brokeback Mountain,” “An Unfinished Life,” “Did You Hear about the Morgans?”) end up being shot in Wyoming stand-ins, like New Mexico, or even Vancouver. As a Wyoming native who grew up in Worland, K. Harrison Sweeney and his production company want to change that. Wyoming offers unique geographical locations, like Devil’s Tower (which was used in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”), or Hell’s Half Acre (used in “Starship Troopers”), which would fit with this particular genre of film. Mr. Sweeney’s mission: greatly boost the film industry in the Cowboy State… and here’s how YOU can take part:

Starting back on Thursday, April 5th, 2012, voting began for The Wyoming Short Film Contest! Register at the contest site and vote for UNDEAD LOVERS!

From Actor/Writer/Producer K. Harrison Sweeney comes “FROM THE TRAILER TO THE GRAVE”, a film that will birth the new genre of RedZomRomCom (Redneck Zombie Romantic Comedy). Currently in pre-production, filming of this Magnum opus of camp-n-blood begins in Wyoming in August of 2012, and will star five lead alumni of 2010’s Game of the Year, “RED DEAD REDEMPTION”, as well as FANGORIA magazine’s frequently featured “Scream Queen” Lindsay Goranson, Mark Fite of “Mr. Show with Bob & David” notoriety, Jim Turner from HBO’s “Arli$$” and Ken Campbell from FOX’s 90’s sitcom cult hit, “Herman’s Head”. Also on board is comic/graphic novel artist Guy LeMay (Image Comics’ “Dead@17”, Viper Comics’ “The Rabid”), who will be providing storyboard/end credit art, as well as Los Angeles-based band The Peculiar Pretzelmen, who will be using their early 20th Century blues/rag-rock sound to score the film.

BIG HORN SAMURAI SINEMA has entered “Undead Lovers”, a short film (which also serves as a music video to Jalan Crossland’s song of the same name) that is based off the brothel dream sequence from “FROM THE TRAILER TO THE GRAVE”. With a grand prize of $25,000 to possibly add atop their budget, BIG HORN SAMURAI SINEMA could have that much more to assist in their efforts to bring future productions to such a unique, magnificent state and overall filming landscape. Simply follow the above link to the voting page, and follow the instructions. It will require you to open a voting account, which is quick, easy, confidential and literally takes 2 minutes, tops. Cast your vote for “Undead Lovers”; you’ll have until Thursday, April 26th!

You can follow all the latest casting news, production pics, interviews and general “Zombie-ness” by visiting www.fromthetrailertothegrave.com!