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 Refused
Are Fucking Dead DVD (Burning Heart)
There’s an alternative universe where Refused are
one of the most important things to ever happen
to punk, and that’s the post-hardcore community, if
such a community even exists. Surely, in that underworld
of black-clad and bespectacled young men
clutching Antonio Negri books under their arms,
draining their cigarettes to stubs, and
with fire in their eyes, Refused meant as much
to changing the manual for what hardcore could do, as
did Fugazi. They mixed the energy of hardcore with revolutionary
calls, thrash metal, emo, even some free jazz: In a
way, you could call them the fathers of screamo,
if it didn‘t sound so preposterous, or pre-post-hardcore.
If that didn’t sound plain stupid. They’re
dead now, anyway, fucking dead, as the title goes:
Exploded in 1998 on a failed US tour on the back of their
masterpiece, “The Shape to Come”, singer Dennis
Lyxzèn going on to form The (International) Noise
Conspiracy, maintaining the guerrilla-rhetoric, but setting
it to a much more conservative garage rock.
Originally planned for a fall 2004 release, at last
this short documentary
sees the light of day, mixing interviews with
the old members about their
origins, their visions, and about that ill-fated US
tour, with melancholic
dramatizations of the events, some stock footage,
and a handful of raging
live performances that makes you
realize again what a fantastic band
Refused was. This one is not
just for the fans, it also works as an
introduction to the band and their legacy,
as well as being an efficient
documentary about that fascinating
point in a band’s history when they
break up; in a way, this is the “Some Kind of Monster”
of hardcore.
The film closes with Refused’s last show in the
basement of a squat, which
is interrupted three songs in by the police which, in
the footage, you see
pushing their way through the crowd to pull the plug.
The morale, Refused
never got to play their last show, now it’s up to you
to continue what they
started, is fitting: the legacy of Refused lives on in bands
like The Mars
Volta and our own Lack. http://www.burningheart.comWithout
them, the world would have been a dumber place.If you dig:
At the Drive-In, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Nation Of Ulysses
Jon A
 Forbidden
Zone (1980. Richard Elfman)
Mondo fuckin’ Bizarro! I finally caught this ultra weird
flick on dvd (Fantoma), and man, I’ve never seen anything
remotely like it. Like George Kuchar meets German 20s expressionist
cinema on acid meets John Waters
directing a DEVO video? Strange surreal (black & white)
cartoonish stuff with musical numbers, nudity, Oingo Boingo
muzik, satire, drugs, crude slapstick humor, Hervé
Villechaize as King Fausto of the Sixth Dimension
and the wonderfully eccentric Susan Tyrrell as Queen Doris.
Beyond 'cult' cinema, been reading about this mindfuck movie
for 20 years and now I've seen it, it lived up to all my expectations...and
then some. By Richard
Elfman, his famous composer brother plays satan. ”Forbidden
Zone” makes
”Eraserhead” look like ”The Sound Of Music”!
Jens
 The
Ordeal aka Calvaire (2004. Fabrice Du Welz)
A Belgium arthouse redneck comedy take on ”Texas Chainsaw
Massacre” and ”Deliverance”? A traveling singer,
Marc Stevens (Laurent Lucas), experiences his van breaking
down in the middle of nowhere. A strange guy looking for his
dog leads him to an isolated place where the friendly Paul
Bartel (played by the amazing Jackie Berroyer) lives at his
farm and let Marc stay for a couple of days while they fix
the van. Before you know it, Marc has witnessed retards having
sex with animals and is turned into Paul’s wife, apparently
there’s no women in this remote area!?! “The Ordeal”
is extremely twisted and not just an European tribute to American
drive-in movies, though the characters Marc Stevens and Paul
Bartel is a neat homage, and of course there’s euro horror
cult star Brigitte Lahaie, but plays more like a perverted
arthouse comedy with some truly deranged touches that made
me think of “Singapore Sling” (1990. Nikos Nikolaidis).
Highly recommended. The Tartan dvd also has the Du Welz’s
nutty short “A Wonderful Love”.
The French title, “Calvaire”, refers to Christ’s
crucifixion on Calvary.
Jens
 American
Hardcore (2006. Paul Rachman)
Steven Blush’s book of the same name made a huge impression
on me, and Rachman’s docu is pretty good, though not
as controversial as the book.
Some might call the docu a hectic overkill session with 10-20
seconds clips of live action from 30 or so bands, but when
you cover a whole country's hardcore punk scene 1980-86 in
96 min. its hard to do it any other way I reckon. Good interviews,
'cept for Phil of Pantera and Moby (whats the point?), illustrate
the pressure of growing up Reagan’s 80s. Sadly I've
only seen Bad Brains once in 1989, there's some crazee live
footage of them and HR. Other highlights include Black
Flag, Minor Threat, Circle Jerks,
MDC, DOA., Void, etc. Jack Grisham of TSOL seems like a complete
nut, haha. I’m looking forward to the dvd and the extras,
maybe there’s more live footage.
Jens
 The
Tomb Of Ligeia (1965. Roger Corman)
The last of the Edgar Allan Poe movies Corman directed with
Vincent Price, and although it’s not as gimmickery and
ghoulish as ”Pit And The Pendulum” or as arty and
beautiful as ”Masque Of The Red Death”, ”The
Tomb Of Ligeia” offers a poetic charm of it’s very
own. It’s more of a tragic gothic love story than strictly
a horrorfilm, and since Vincent Price is my favorite actor
bar none, I’m please to say that this is all Price all
the time, if he’s not in every frame then his deep characteristic
voice is the narrator. Vincent plays Verden Fell, a reclusive
Egyptologist obsessed with his dead wife, who marries an aristocratic
lady, while he thinks the spirit of his
former wife has possessed a black cat, and later in his new
wife. Unlike Corman’s former setbound Poe flicks this
is mostly shoot outside in English locations, cemeteries,
even Stonehenge, which gives “Tomb Of Ligeia” a
unique feel not equaled by the best of Hammer films. Visually
it’s also impressive, especially a surreal dream sequence
in the end. Robert Towne (“Chinatown”) wrote the
script from Poe short story. A minor horror classic.
Jens
 Chained
Girls (1965. Joseph P. Mawra)
Unnatural love of women for women! A daring film about lesbianism
today! Today is 1965 and the forbidden world of Lesbos is
treated like some kind of strange disease. Our ‘guide’
informs us that all lesbians seem to have normal jobs (!)
and consist of femmes and butches. By the way, teenage
dykes are called babybutch! Staged scenes are shown to inform/scare
us with the help of ‘actual’ statics (25% of all
school girls have dabbled in lesbianism etc.). From the producer
of Ed Wood's "Glen Or Glenda" and the director of
“Olga’s House Of Shame” so you know you're
in for a mindboggling treat with this hilarious mondo dykesploitation.
Jens
 Satanik
(1968. Piero Vivarelli)
Things don't get more vintage 60s than this groovy and sexy
pulp shocker. Aged deformed female assistant kills a scientist
and drink his 'regeneration' serum and turns into the shithot
Magda Konopk ("When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth").
"Satanik" is based on an Italian comic strip (fumetti
nero) and has plenty of nudity, violence, catfights, international
jewel thieves, cool R&B tunes and outrageous dresses -
a must for any cultfilm deviant! Sorta like a crude
version of "Danger Diabolik".
Jens
 Dr.
Feelgood Going Back Home dvd
The Who claimed to be Britian’s ‘Maximum R&B’
band, which probably was the case with their “My Generation”
album, but for me it will always be Dr. Feelgood who’s
the true ‘Maximum R&B’ band of the land of fish’n’chips
and
funny walks. This new dvd captures the band at a sold out
1975 show in their home of Southend with the classic lineup
of Lee Brilleaux, Wilko Johnson, John B Sparks and The Big
Figure. String strummer Wilko runs all over the place while
an intense Lee works the crowd like a pro with his gruff vocals,
you sure don’t wanna fuck with this bloke at his local
pub.
Sadly the dvd is on the short side with a great half hour
of live footage
(8 songs), but we get scorchin’ versions of “I’m
A Hog For You Baby”,
“Roxette”, “Route 66” , “I Can Tell”,
plus a bonus promo video for “Back In
The Night” (Lee plays a mean slide geetar) which shows
why Dr. Feelgood
were one of the best rock’n’roll band on face of
the earth, and not just a
‘pub rock’ group. Bands like 101ers (later Clash)
and The Pistols learned
their trade supporting Dr. Feelgood, who meant as much to
Brit punk as
Stooges and NY Dolls meant to the US punk scene. Included
with the dvd is a
cd with the full concert (19 tracks) and 5 other live tunes,
some of these
are also on their excellent “Stupidity” live record
of 1976. The dvd is a
worthy testament to the memory of Lee Brilleaux who passed
away in 1994.
Jens
 Spermula
(1975. Charles Matton)
The 'mother' of the Spermula planet needs semen from earthlings
to save her
planet (echoes of "Devil Girl From Mars") so she
sends off an expedition of
'Spermu-Lites' (!) to France dressed in 30s fashion. This
wacky but visually impressive (the editing rocks!) erotic
sci-fi recalls the works of Jodorowsky, Bunuel and Arrabal.
The word 'surreal' doesn’t do the film justice, its beyond
surreal. There's lotsa nudity and sex (not hardcore, 'cept
for a blowjob in the beginning of the film), and the women
looks stunning. The movie also includes dwarves, dragqueens,
big afroed disco dancers, transsexuals, and a Goblin-like
score. Many consider this an vampire film with cum instead
of blood. Made in France. The dubbed dialogue is completely
insane: "Spermu-Lite! You took the Cardinal's dingdong
in your mouth?." I'd think the female narrator ('mother')
had some trouble keeping a straight face while saying her
ridiculous lines. Udo Kier is in the cast, and seems to have
a lot of fun as an alien women transformed into a man. Highly
recommended for psychotronic film freaks lookin' for outrageous
thrills.
Jens
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