Calgary
Movies Review 2005
Synopsis:
Flesh
Eaters from Outer Space: Something strange is
afoot in the suburbs of New Jersey! Carnivorous
entities from out of this world have invaded the
Garden State, seeking out the tastiest dish in
the entire universe: human flesh! Now only a
gang of burnt-out metalheads and one sexy
psychic starlet can stand up to the alien
invaders devious plans of world domination and
human consumption! But can anyone stop the
bloody weath of Flesh Eaters from Outer Space?
Invasion
for Flesh and Blood: A soccer mom is turned into
a cyborg alien killing machine on the hunt for
extraterrestrials hell-bent on destroying the
human race. With a trusty teenage Metalhead at
her side, the fate of the world is held in the
balace, as sexual tension oozes from the
once-human, now soulless, creature killer.
Featuring an appearance by Marilyn Ghigliotti of
Clerks.
Holy
freakin' moley. That's about all I can say after
watching these two unheralded cinematic gems. I'd
never heard of the mighty Warren F. Disbrow before
sliding this shiny DVD into my player to enjoy
this b-movie combo, but after having seen his
videotaped artistry first-hand, I am impressed -
this guys is the real deal.
Are
these shot-on-video, low-budget productions with
half-assed acting and gratuitous do-it-yourself
special effects? Yes. Are they thoroughly
enjoyable exactly because of these points? Hell
yes!
With
plots that only barely hold together, gallons upon
gallons of fake blood, and one of the goofiest
looking monster costumes I've ever seen, I have to
say that I thoroughly enjoyed these films. Disbrow
knows exactly what he's trying to achive with his
limited budget and limited acting abilities of the
main cast ("Clerks" starlet Marilyn
Ghigliotti excluded, of course), and he manages to
meld 2 intertwined stories with a rubber suit,
fake blood, numerous death scenes, numerous still
photographs inserted to create dramatic moments
(the space shuttle being my favourite)... wow. My
eyes are still reeling - if you get a kick out of
do-it-yourself b-movies, or just want to see one
man's celluloid dreams on your own little screen,
check this DVD out - you won't be disappointed.
Video:
How's it look?
Both presented in fullscreen (1.33:1) ratios,
these films look fantastic. Yes, they were (very
obviously) shot on Super VHS, and yes they have
quite a bit of bleeding reds (no pun intended) and
lousy lighting - but all of this only adds to the
ambiance and fantastic vibe created by these
stellar videos. The presentation is as good as
they're ever going to get, and they look pretty
darned good, all things considered!
Audio:
How's it sound?
Dolby Digital Stereo mix is equally as enjoyable
as the video - for shot-on-video productions,
these films have really strong audio mixes, with
crisp & clean dialogue, nice background music,
and some groovy sound effects as icing on the
cake.
Extras:
What all's on the DVD?
- Voracious
introduction by Lloyd Kaufman
- Behind-the-scenes
footage from the making of Invasion for Flesh
and Blood
- Original
theatrical trailer for Invasion for Flesh and
Blood
- Commentary
tracks by writer/director Warren F. Disbrow on
both Invasion for Flesh and Blood and Flesh
Eaters from Outer Space
- The
Radiation March!
- Make
Your Own Damn Movie DVD commercial
- Webmonkey?
Bananas
- Tromatic
trailers and much more!
Closing
Thoughts
Fantastic 1-2 b-movie combo + loads of Troma
extras = stellar DVD offering for all you b/sci-fi
movie fans out there!