So what makes a good B Movie?
It certainly isn’t the awesome special effects, which usually consists of a bunch of colored corn syrup and a chainsaw with the blade removed, or the acting, because just because your cousin will work for free, and owns his own cape (for some unknown reason), doesn’t mean he makes a convincing vampire.
Good B-movies have heart.
So here comes my first movie review on my new blog. Necroville. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1105289/
It isn’t out yet. I got to go to a special, invite-only, pre-release VIP screening. As in, I’m buddies with the executive producer, and he brought a copy by as he passed through Salt Lake, and we ate Papa Murphy’s Chicago Style pizza with fresh smoked New Mexico chili peppers, and watched the DVD. But I do have a relatively big TV, so it still counts.
Necroville is a cross between a slacker comedy and a monster movie. That’s the best way I can describe it. In a town that is infested with zombies, vampires, werewolves, and goth kids, two guys that are too inept to work at the video store end up killing pesky monsters for a living.
Now, like I said, a good B-movie has heart, they don’t have production values. But Necroville still managed to look really good. Having the producer there is also nice, as you get your own personalized commentary track, like “this is why we went over budget, because they messed up my truck.” Or “man, that piano was really heavy.”
Like a lot of B-movies, the acting varied greatly from person to person. I will say this though, Billy Garberina, the lead, is actually a pretty darn good actor. If you’re a monster movie geek like me, you’ve seen him since he’s the cameraman on Feeding the Masses. The rest of the performances were a little more hit or miss, but once again, that’s why I love this stuff. The lead villain hammed it up, and did an excellent job.
Mostly, I laughed my butt off. There are some truly great lines, funny scenes, and laugh out loud stupid moments. Even my wife, who prefers movies staring lots of British people with accents that I can’t understand, and names like Lord Devonshire Clevon-Smythe presents Jayne Austin’s Masterpiece Theater of Great British Angst and Scones, thought it was really fun.
Basically, Necroville has heart. It is the kind of movie that reminds me why I love this stuff.
So when this movie reaches distribution, throw it in your Blockbuster Que. Trust me, any movie that does something so horribly unspeakable with a twisty straw gets major bonus points.
Larry, it is great to see that you are blogging. My favorite people are all doing it; you, LawDog, MadOgre. Now you need to get Nightcrawler on board. That would be great.
I have been wondering about “Monster Hunter” and whether it was on the shelves yet.
I’m adding this blog to my bloglines tonight. It was MadOgre’s blog that tipped me of your new endeavor.
Keep ’em coming.
-qlajlu
I’m a long-time b-movie fan. I saw the world premiere of Basket Case II. People who don’t check out B movies once in a while simply don’t know what they’re missing.
Welcome to blogging- I’m sure you’ll find this an edifying exercise in writing.
Very cool. Found you via Mad Ogre, sir! Love the name of the gun store – I’ve seen the logo before, but didn’t make the connection. I’d be interested in seeing Necroville…
You might also like the 1971 film, “Omega Man” with Charlton Heston, Rosalind Cash & Anthony Zerbe.
I love it.
Omega Man totally rocked.
But anything with Charlton Heston in it sure don’t qualify as B movie. 😀
As for serious movies, I honestly think Ben-Hur is about the most impressive movie ever made.
Hey, Correia, this is Nolo from THR. I thought your take on B-movies was interesting. I personally have a hard time with them, but what you say is true. Anyway, I think that B-movies’ biggest thing is there doesn’t tend to be mediocre ones. You have the really crappy ones and the ones that become inside classics. I think that has a lot to do with the director (who is often also the producer). Anyway, cool to see your blog, I myself am making (hopefully) a movie over this next year before I go off to college. Maybe I’ll send you a copy. Unfortunately, it’s not a monster movie.
what about planet of the apes ,soilent green is people