Daily Dead is proud to debut the music video for “Ratimis,” the title track from the full-length album by electronic artist Brahm, available beginning today from Swedish Columbia Records. Directed by cult filmmaker Damon Packard, a lifelong independent director known for movies like Reflections of Evil and Foxfur, the “Ratimis” video is comprised of clips from a number of horror films all set to the pulsing electronic score of Brahm's music.
Brahm (aka Chaz Barber), a lifelong fan of horror, exploitation, and genre films, incorporates his passion for cinema into his songs in ways that are both understated and overt, but always unique. “Whenever I work on music, there is always a film, TV show, scene, score from a film, or even some simple bit of TV nostalgia that I remember seeing as a kid,” Barber says. “I always attempt to create some kind of visual through my songs and...
Brahm (aka Chaz Barber), a lifelong fan of horror, exploitation, and genre films, incorporates his passion for cinema into his songs in ways that are both understated and overt, but always unique. “Whenever I work on music, there is always a film, TV show, scene, score from a film, or even some simple bit of TV nostalgia that I remember seeing as a kid,” Barber says. “I always attempt to create some kind of visual through my songs and...
- 2/24/2017
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
The New STYLEThis is the second year that the New York Film Festival has presented Projections, its extensive showcase of experimental film and video that for years had been called Views From the Avant-Garde. The name change (or "rebranding," in the parlance of our ugly times) corresponded, of course, to the departure of longtime programmer Mark McElhatten. Under his stewardship, Views became one of the premiere experimental film festivals in the world, a long weekend of high caliber dispatches from established masters, alongside bracing discoveries by up-and-coming makers whose work somehow caught Mark's eye. His programming partner, Film Comment's Gavin Smith, often brought along selections that complemented Mark's, even as they were out of his usual bailiwick.The Views era was not without its dissenters. Some complained that McElhatten rounded up the usual suspects year after year, sometimes without regard to the relative quality of their latest offerings. Others, most prominently Su Friedrich,...
- 10/2/2015
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
Going UNDERGROUNDEverybody and their dog, it seems, feels this off imperative to try to identify common themes in the handful of festival films they (we) (I) see in a given year. It's the Ghost of Hegel, I suppose, demanding that we make sense of our times by referring to some Zeitgeist. (Zeitgeist? Isn't this just as likely to Strand the FilmsWeLike in some oh-so-precious Music Box, to be unearthed years later by members of some as-yet-unassembled Cinema Guild? But I digress.) There may or may not be tendencies running through this year's feature selections, and if there are, that could have as much to do with the people who selected them than with any global mood. But there does seem to be a generalized turning-inward, with filmmakers making works about themselves and their immediate lives, the cinematic process, and the very complexities of communicating with other human beings. There are...
- 9/17/2015
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
There are few real-life figures more beloved in American cinema than Steven Spielberg. He’s earned that adoration without question, but his worship retards the dialogue around his work. Like his buddy Colonel G. Lucas, Spielberg is a brand first, a businessman second, and a filmmaker last.
It’s time to loosen up the conversation. Spielberg is less an auteur and more Hollywood’s greatest journeyman, a master craftsman whose natural talent allows him to tackle almost any material. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t common themes that run throughout his work. A lot of breath has been devoted to his sense of wonder and awe, his parent’s divorce, his love of children. But there’s a darker current to his work, one that appears less subtly in thrillers like The Conversation, Three Days of the Condor, and other conspiracy films of the New Hollywood era. It’s a sense of paranoia,...
It’s time to loosen up the conversation. Spielberg is less an auteur and more Hollywood’s greatest journeyman, a master craftsman whose natural talent allows him to tackle almost any material. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t common themes that run throughout his work. A lot of breath has been devoted to his sense of wonder and awe, his parent’s divorce, his love of children. But there’s a darker current to his work, one that appears less subtly in thrillers like The Conversation, Three Days of the Condor, and other conspiracy films of the New Hollywood era. It’s a sense of paranoia,...
- 8/7/2015
- by Nathan Smith
- SoundOnSight
Take any standard Hollywood action thriller and strip out all convoluted backstories, remove all romantic subplots, shoot down any unnecessary exposition, eviscerate all special effects — CGI and practical — and film the whole thing with Super 8 and camcorders. Do all that and you’ve got yourself another Bob Moricz masterpiece.
In Krimi, a mysterious stranger rolls back into town searching for a missing family member and becomes embroiled in the seedy criminal underground that he’s tried so hard to escape. That’s the kind of set-up that’s fueled a zillion movie plots. Here, though, writer/director/editor Moricz has boiled that plot completely down to its absolute essentials and filmed the whole thing in his trademark surrealist lo-fi style that the end product is a trip into a nightmarish netherzone that bears absolutely no resemblance to reality.
Moricz himself stars as that mysterious stranger — the awesomely named Vic Slezak...
In Krimi, a mysterious stranger rolls back into town searching for a missing family member and becomes embroiled in the seedy criminal underground that he’s tried so hard to escape. That’s the kind of set-up that’s fueled a zillion movie plots. Here, though, writer/director/editor Moricz has boiled that plot completely down to its absolute essentials and filmed the whole thing in his trademark surrealist lo-fi style that the end product is a trip into a nightmarish netherzone that bears absolutely no resemblance to reality.
Moricz himself stars as that mysterious stranger — the awesomely named Vic Slezak...
- 8/3/2015
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Along with partners the American Cinematheque and Jumpcut Cafe, the Underground Film Journal is thrilled to be co-presenting the first ever Hollywood Underground Film Festival, which will be a one-night event at the Egyptian Theater on Saturday, February 21.
The festival will include two screenings. First, there will be a short film program at 7:30 p.m.; followed at 10:00 p.m. by the world premiere of the exciting new anthology film Betamax, which features new work by Los Angeles underground filmmaking legend Damon Packard.
The shorts lineup will include the U.S. premiere of the latest film by longtime Journal favorite Brian Lonano, Crow Hand!!!, which is bloody and fantastic; and Mike Olenick‘s visual epic Red Luck, which won the Best Looking award at the 2014 Chicago Underground Film Festival and the Best Experimental Film at the 2015 Slamdance.
Other shorts include a blazingly fun biopic of Hollywood icon Russ Meyer,...
The festival will include two screenings. First, there will be a short film program at 7:30 p.m.; followed at 10:00 p.m. by the world premiere of the exciting new anthology film Betamax, which features new work by Los Angeles underground filmmaking legend Damon Packard.
The shorts lineup will include the U.S. premiere of the latest film by longtime Journal favorite Brian Lonano, Crow Hand!!!, which is bloody and fantastic; and Mike Olenick‘s visual epic Red Luck, which won the Best Looking award at the 2014 Chicago Underground Film Festival and the Best Experimental Film at the 2015 Slamdance.
Other shorts include a blazingly fun biopic of Hollywood icon Russ Meyer,...
- 2/10/2015
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Licensed distributor of shorts by renegade filmmakers such as Damon Packard (Reflections of Evil) and Rodney Ascher (Room 237), The Druid Underground Film Festival is proud to distribute their first feature film: Hipster Holocaust.
Hipster Holocaust is a “Dark… Visceral… impressive film” (Horrornews.net) that plunges you into “all the hipster carnage a boy could ask for” (Pet Gorilla) as two depraved killers crash a party full of obnoxious snobs in a night … Continue reading →
Horrornews.net...
Hipster Holocaust is a “Dark… Visceral… impressive film” (Horrornews.net) that plunges you into “all the hipster carnage a boy could ask for” (Pet Gorilla) as two depraved killers crash a party full of obnoxious snobs in a night … Continue reading →
Horrornews.net...
- 12/2/2014
- by Horrornews.net
- Horror News
Watch the universe scream when the planet’s top UFO experts go missing in Damon Packard’s dizzying sci-fi adventure Foxfur.
The titular character, Foxfur, is a concerned young woman who springs into action when she discovers that two iconic UFO conspiracy theorists, David Icke and Richard Hoagland, mysteriously vanish. Her journey to find the missing men takes her on an otherworldly journey across a past and present Los Angeles landscape in which reality is quickly breaking down.
Foxfur is a deliriously enjoyable romp in which Packard swirls together a hodgepodge of sci-fi concepts along with his usual arcane knowledge of obscure pop culture artifacts. (Does anybody else remember a TV show called Wizards & Warriors?)
From the Underground Film Journal’s original review of the film:
Foxfur’s fragmentary nature, though, is perfectly suited to the film’s themes of time travel, space travel and other dimensional activity. On the one hand,...
The titular character, Foxfur, is a concerned young woman who springs into action when she discovers that two iconic UFO conspiracy theorists, David Icke and Richard Hoagland, mysteriously vanish. Her journey to find the missing men takes her on an otherworldly journey across a past and present Los Angeles landscape in which reality is quickly breaking down.
Foxfur is a deliriously enjoyable romp in which Packard swirls together a hodgepodge of sci-fi concepts along with his usual arcane knowledge of obscure pop culture artifacts. (Does anybody else remember a TV show called Wizards & Warriors?)
From the Underground Film Journal’s original review of the film:
Foxfur’s fragmentary nature, though, is perfectly suited to the film’s themes of time travel, space travel and other dimensional activity. On the one hand,...
- 7/23/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Nb: Films by Robert Beavers, Peter Hutton, and Luther Price were unavailable for preview. However, I said some very nice things about these men and their work in general over at The Dissolve.
In years past, I have attempted to present this extended article as a preview; my aim has been to send it off into the world either the day before of the day of Tiff's kick-off. That has proven impossible this year, and, dear reader, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee... But the fact that Wavelengths is a beat that is becoming harder and harder for one person to adequately cover is undoubtedly a sign of good health. Since last year, when Tiff enfolded the former Visions section (a space for formally adventurous narrative features) into Wavelengths (Tiff's experimental showcase), not only has interest in the section grown exponentially. The section can now more fully reflect...
In years past, I have attempted to present this extended article as a preview; my aim has been to send it off into the world either the day before of the day of Tiff's kick-off. That has proven impossible this year, and, dear reader, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee... But the fact that Wavelengths is a beat that is becoming harder and harder for one person to adequately cover is undoubtedly a sign of good health. Since last year, when Tiff enfolded the former Visions section (a space for formally adventurous narrative features) into Wavelengths (Tiff's experimental showcase), not only has interest in the section grown exponentially. The section can now more fully reflect...
- 9/9/2013
- by Michael Sicinski
- MUBI
Hope everyone in the U.S. had a nice holiday weekend! I’m thankful I actually got this week’s edition done, even though I guess most folks were busy as I only have a few links:
This week’s Must Read is an oldie, but a goodie. And by “oldie” I don’t mean two weeks ago in Internet time! This is an article from 1948 by filmmaker Lewis Jacobs that is considered the first substantial history of American avant-garde filmmaking called “Experimental Cinema in America.” It was published in the Hollywood Quarterly and is broken down into a couple chapters, exploring the typically little written about period of 1921-41, then gets into the post-war boom of Deren, Anger, etc., as well as a brief bit on Amos Vogel’s groundbreaking Cinema 16. Plus, lots of great pictures!Here’s some Dirty Pictures for you to look at. Plus, Cockfighter and...
This week’s Must Read is an oldie, but a goodie. And by “oldie” I don’t mean two weeks ago in Internet time! This is an article from 1948 by filmmaker Lewis Jacobs that is considered the first substantial history of American avant-garde filmmaking called “Experimental Cinema in America.” It was published in the Hollywood Quarterly and is broken down into a couple chapters, exploring the typically little written about period of 1921-41, then gets into the post-war boom of Deren, Anger, etc., as well as a brief bit on Amos Vogel’s groundbreaking Cinema 16. Plus, lots of great pictures!Here’s some Dirty Pictures for you to look at. Plus, Cockfighter and...
- 11/25/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This week’s Must Browse is a collection of VHS box covers created by modern cartoonists, including the brilliant The Holy Mountain II: Code Name: Alchemist. (Pictured above.) All artwork created for a silent auction to benefit Scarecrow Video. You can also browse some stuff at Facebook.At Fandor, Nelson Carvajal writes up Damon Packard’s Dawn of an Evil Millennium film trailer/film and places it within its appropriate lo-fi indie horror context.Robert Maier gives details on the casting of Ricki Lake in John Waters’ breakout hit Hairspray, where she was discovered in a case of rare luck.Temple of Schlock discovers that Seattle, Washington was a hotbed of indie film premieres in the early ’70s. Plus, Supersonic Supergirls! (Gotta love that title.)One+One Filmmakers Journal has notes on Peter Whitehead’s controversial statements about terrorism superseding cinema as art.Chopping Mall runs down a few horror...
- 11/4/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This week’s Must Read is a rarity: Underground icon Damon Packard being interviewed in a major newspaper, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, on the occasion of his genius new film Foxfur screening at Craig Baldwin’s Other Cinema last night.And, you know it, it’s also not every day an underground film is profiled in the New York Times, so super congrats to director Adam Rehmeier and particularly Rodleen Getsic for this Nyt piece about the controversial nature of their The Bunny Game.Here’s a new “Must Bookmark” blog: A movie journal site by Melanie Wilmink, formerly of the $100 Film Festival, where she now hopes to open up discussion generated by indie films — and she’s doing a fantastic job so far!Also to bookmark: Eric Krasner has a blog regarding his in-progress documentary on legendary Yiddish comedian Mickey Katz.The Huffington Post reports on the totally...
- 9/16/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The main objective of the films of Damon Packard seems to be to induce a nervous breakdown in the viewer. The chaotic rush of plot, the flashing special effects, the densely layered sound design, the complete abandonment of logical cohesion add up to provide a literal experience of the old hyperbolic catchphrase “senses-shattering”!
Yet for all of Packard’s blustery whirlwind of pop culture references that he layers upon layers in each outing, it’s clear that the heart of his films comes from a deeply personal place, whether it’s the spiritual and cultural anxieties felt by the main character — played by himself — in Reflections of Evil or the woes experienced by a sci-fi filmmaker in SpaceDisco One.
Foxfur, Packard’s latest offering, revolves around a heretofore unconfessed obsession of his: UFO conspiracies. Well, who’s to say if it’s an “interest” or an “obsession,” but either way...
Yet for all of Packard’s blustery whirlwind of pop culture references that he layers upon layers in each outing, it’s clear that the heart of his films comes from a deeply personal place, whether it’s the spiritual and cultural anxieties felt by the main character — played by himself — in Reflections of Evil or the woes experienced by a sci-fi filmmaker in SpaceDisco One.
Foxfur, Packard’s latest offering, revolves around a heretofore unconfessed obsession of his: UFO conspiracies. Well, who’s to say if it’s an “interest” or an “obsession,” but either way...
- 9/10/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Ah, the dog days of summer. Links a’slowin’ down:
For this week’s Must Read, for Fandor, Jonathan Marlow interviews the usually very reticent Quay Brothers, divulging all kinds of details about their entire career, from their early days working as dishwashers in Philadelphia all the way up to their latest feature Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. (The image above, taken from the article, is of the Quay’s Street of Crocodiles.)The Brisbane Underground Film Festival muses on the notion of “forgiveness” in film, from Todd Solondz’s Storytelling to Lee Dong-Chang’s Secret Sunshine and more.Radio Mysterioso conducted an awesome podcast with Damon Packard regarding his new film about alien abduction/visitation theories, Foxfur. (One tip: The podcast player doesn’t show up for me on this page, so you might have to click through to the homepage to actually listen. Well worth finding it!)Alfred Eaker continues his Doris Wishman lovefest,...
For this week’s Must Read, for Fandor, Jonathan Marlow interviews the usually very reticent Quay Brothers, divulging all kinds of details about their entire career, from their early days working as dishwashers in Philadelphia all the way up to their latest feature Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. (The image above, taken from the article, is of the Quay’s Street of Crocodiles.)The Brisbane Underground Film Festival muses on the notion of “forgiveness” in film, from Todd Solondz’s Storytelling to Lee Dong-Chang’s Secret Sunshine and more.Radio Mysterioso conducted an awesome podcast with Damon Packard regarding his new film about alien abduction/visitation theories, Foxfur. (One tip: The podcast player doesn’t show up for me on this page, so you might have to click through to the homepage to actually listen. Well worth finding it!)Alfred Eaker continues his Doris Wishman lovefest,...
- 8/12/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Written and directed by Damon Packard
Featuring Paris Wagner, Rigg Kennedy, Khris Kaneff, Yvonne Kirsten, Amanda Mullins, Stef Dawson, Erica Rhodes, Angel Corbin, Cassie Yeager, Sarah de la Isla, Marita Gumsrod, Tessie Tracey, Lori McShane, Cassandra Nuss, Bob Ellis
Damon Packard’s newest heavily-edited masterpiece is the (almost) feature-length fantasy film Foxfur, about a young woman and her dangerous obsession with dolphins, Plieadians, energy, and new age book shops.
However, because of a constricted budget which led to an inability to shoot the entire narrative script, and thanks to Damon’s irrepressible genius for utilizing editing techniques and special effects, Foxfur becomes a non-linear experience about alternate realities starring a bevy of charismatic, and very different-looking, actresses all playing the same character in various and often unrelated scenes. Foxfur has probably the most cohesive narrative structure of all of his films, but it is definitely not linear and is more...
Featuring Paris Wagner, Rigg Kennedy, Khris Kaneff, Yvonne Kirsten, Amanda Mullins, Stef Dawson, Erica Rhodes, Angel Corbin, Cassie Yeager, Sarah de la Isla, Marita Gumsrod, Tessie Tracey, Lori McShane, Cassandra Nuss, Bob Ellis
Damon Packard’s newest heavily-edited masterpiece is the (almost) feature-length fantasy film Foxfur, about a young woman and her dangerous obsession with dolphins, Plieadians, energy, and new age book shops.
However, because of a constricted budget which led to an inability to shoot the entire narrative script, and thanks to Damon’s irrepressible genius for utilizing editing techniques and special effects, Foxfur becomes a non-linear experience about alternate realities starring a bevy of charismatic, and very different-looking, actresses all playing the same character in various and often unrelated scenes. Foxfur has probably the most cohesive narrative structure of all of his films, but it is definitely not linear and is more...
- 7/25/2012
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
Written by Ross Patterson
Directed by Garrett Brawith
Featuring Barry Bostwick, Ray Wise, Ross Patterson, Lin Shaye, Bruce McGill, Richard Riehle, Kevin Sorbo
The third collaboration between Ross Patterson and Garret Brawith is, if it is humanly possible, even better than their previous genius Pool Boy: Drowning out the Fury.
This is the kind of film that, like The Fp, and everything ever made by Chris Seaver, or Damon Packard, or the fine people at Everything is Terrible!, is its own brand of modern absurdist humor. And it is my favorite kind of story.
I usually get a mildly similar sense of joy out of only the most inane of The Asylum’s releases, but this is a feature-length full-blast of incredibly tasteless, and therefore heroically funny, humor. It also manages to have a cohesive storyline, developed characters, and in the end Franklin Delano Roosevelt still manages to maintain his...
Directed by Garrett Brawith
Featuring Barry Bostwick, Ray Wise, Ross Patterson, Lin Shaye, Bruce McGill, Richard Riehle, Kevin Sorbo
The third collaboration between Ross Patterson and Garret Brawith is, if it is humanly possible, even better than their previous genius Pool Boy: Drowning out the Fury.
This is the kind of film that, like The Fp, and everything ever made by Chris Seaver, or Damon Packard, or the fine people at Everything is Terrible!, is its own brand of modern absurdist humor. And it is my favorite kind of story.
I usually get a mildly similar sense of joy out of only the most inane of The Asylum’s releases, but this is a feature-length full-blast of incredibly tasteless, and therefore heroically funny, humor. It also manages to have a cohesive storyline, developed characters, and in the end Franklin Delano Roosevelt still manages to maintain his...
- 7/23/2012
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
It's no secret that Damon Packard is an undisputed genius. The trailer for his new feature-length sci-fi-fantasy film Foxfur is no less any geniusness than his previous geniusnesses.
Packard is best known for his surreal, 1970s-inspired, homage/mockery of Steven Spielberg, Reflections of Evil, which included the best thing I've ever seen: Schindler's List: The Ride (in the original version; the Netflix version is somewhat less fun).
Foxfur, on the other hand, looks shockingly more linear. It features a bevy of young and fragile-y goregous actresses playing the same character: Foxfur. She's caught up in some kind of alien cult involving women with Efquest names, dressed as fantasy warriors in an alternate world, I think. I'm fucking stoked. I love this kind of contemplative, energetic, editing-heavy filmmaking (see Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez). Speaking of Doggies and Poochies, I am a sucker in a big way for cute shit in movies,...
Packard is best known for his surreal, 1970s-inspired, homage/mockery of Steven Spielberg, Reflections of Evil, which included the best thing I've ever seen: Schindler's List: The Ride (in the original version; the Netflix version is somewhat less fun).
Foxfur, on the other hand, looks shockingly more linear. It features a bevy of young and fragile-y goregous actresses playing the same character: Foxfur. She's caught up in some kind of alien cult involving women with Efquest names, dressed as fantasy warriors in an alternate world, I think. I'm fucking stoked. I love this kind of contemplative, energetic, editing-heavy filmmaking (see Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez). Speaking of Doggies and Poochies, I am a sucker in a big way for cute shit in movies,...
- 7/3/2012
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
UFO conspiracy theories, new age mysticism, time travel and obscure ’80s TV references collide in a whole mess of fun in Foxfur, the latest feature film by Damon Packard. A “mentally unbalanced” young girl — played by several different actresses — finds herself thrown into a swirling vortex of confusion and competing philosophies as she’s pursued by malevolent entities through time.
The film will be making its World Premiere on July 21 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Click here for tickets and more info.
The film will be making its World Premiere on July 21 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Click here for tickets and more info.
- 7/2/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Here’s the official trailer for the 8th annual Portland Underground Film Festival, which is curated and run by Portland filmmaker Bob Moricz for the first time this year.
The trailer includes clips from films showing at the fest, such as Damon Packard’s amazing SpaceDisco One and Bob Moricz’s controversial Bumps.
For more on the fest, please check out it’s official lineup. It runs June 29 to July 1 at the Clinton Street Theater — and looks to be total effin’ blast!
Promotional still from Bumps:...
The trailer includes clips from films showing at the fest, such as Damon Packard’s amazing SpaceDisco One and Bob Moricz’s controversial Bumps.
For more on the fest, please check out it’s official lineup. It runs June 29 to July 1 at the Clinton Street Theater — and looks to be total effin’ blast!
Promotional still from Bumps:...
- 6/29/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 8th annual Portland Underground Film Festival is back with a vengeance and under new management! Superstar Portland filmmaker Bob Moricz has assumed total control of Puff and promises to keep the fest’s traditional raucous spirit, but covered with a more artful sheen. The shenanigans will once again take place at Puff’s beloved home, the Clinton Street Theater.
Things kick off on June 29 with a live Skype appearance by none other than sex guru Annie Sprinkle as part of the “Ecosex Symposium,” a frank celebration of sex in the natural world. This will be followed with the traditional “Bike Smut” program of short films celebrating the power and the glory of the bicycle.
Then, on June 30, there will be a selection of short films by some of the most notorious names in underground film today, including Carey Burtt, Neil Ira Needleman, Greg Hanson and Jim Haverkamp, plus filmmakers Jenn Keyser,...
Things kick off on June 29 with a live Skype appearance by none other than sex guru Annie Sprinkle as part of the “Ecosex Symposium,” a frank celebration of sex in the natural world. This will be followed with the traditional “Bike Smut” program of short films celebrating the power and the glory of the bicycle.
Then, on June 30, there will be a selection of short films by some of the most notorious names in underground film today, including Carey Burtt, Neil Ira Needleman, Greg Hanson and Jim Haverkamp, plus filmmakers Jenn Keyser,...
- 6/28/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This is an old behind-the-scenes video for a TV pilot on the making of Damon Packard‘s underground film classic Reflections of Evil. It stars Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank, capitalizing on their fame from the hit documentary American Movie. The official description of this video says its been edited down from its original version, which may explain why it focuses more on Borchardt than on Packard. Still, for fans of Packard’s work, or for those who need to be introduced to it, it’s an interesting little peek into his world.
While Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film has never formally reviewed Reflections of Evil — which is mighty stupid on our part — we did choose it for one of our Most Outrageous Moments in Underground Film. The way Packard transformed the Universal Studios and Knotts Berry Farm theme parks into “Schindler’s List: The Ride” is a...
While Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film has never formally reviewed Reflections of Evil — which is mighty stupid on our part — we did choose it for one of our Most Outrageous Moments in Underground Film. The way Packard transformed the Universal Studios and Knotts Berry Farm theme parks into “Schindler’s List: The Ride” is a...
- 3/23/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez
Directed by Commodore Gilgamesh and Ghoul Skool
Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez is not a film; it is an experience unlike any other.
Other filmmakers have only hinted at what Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez is; Damon Packard, with Reflections of Evil comes close, but the people at Everything Is Terrible take it further than Packard could ever have dreamed. Packard still uses his own footage when he edits; these guys don’t film a thing. They take forgotten VHS tapes and edit out the worst/best parts of them into separate videos. And it’s genius, which is why they’re still doing it.
Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez is their third feature-length endeavor (the first two are kind of-movies, mostly their shorts strung together) and it’s absolutely unfathomable how anyone has the patience that these people have. There are literally thousands of cuts between different videos,...
Directed by Commodore Gilgamesh and Ghoul Skool
Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez is not a film; it is an experience unlike any other.
Other filmmakers have only hinted at what Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez is; Damon Packard, with Reflections of Evil comes close, but the people at Everything Is Terrible take it further than Packard could ever have dreamed. Packard still uses his own footage when he edits; these guys don’t film a thing. They take forgotten VHS tapes and edit out the worst/best parts of them into separate videos. And it’s genius, which is why they’re still doing it.
Doggie Woggiez, Poochie Woochiez is their third feature-length endeavor (the first two are kind of-movies, mostly their shorts strung together) and it’s absolutely unfathomable how anyone has the patience that these people have. There are literally thousands of cuts between different videos,...
- 2/17/2012
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
The Plot: When two strange dudes are kicked out of a mansion party, they take revenge on their hipster hosts with a roll of duct tape and a switchblade. Featuring Damon Packard as “Mushy”
Background: About two years ago, Hipster Holocaust director William Burgess’ life was in shambles. He lost his job, got dumped on his birthday and his mom had a heart attack. At the time he was living in a hip Los Angeles neighborhood surrounded by over- privileged white kids who would rather act cool in the corner than expose their heart. Hipster Holocaust was his reaction.
… More...
Background: About two years ago, Hipster Holocaust director William Burgess’ life was in shambles. He lost his job, got dumped on his birthday and his mom had a heart attack. At the time he was living in a hip Los Angeles neighborhood surrounded by over- privileged white kids who would rather act cool in the corner than expose their heart. Hipster Holocaust was his reaction.
… More...
- 11/4/2011
- by HorrorNews.net
- Horror News
The 2nd annual PollyGrind assaults Las Vegas during an epic length film festival that runs Oct. 8-17 at Theatre 7 with enough sleaze and violence to make Sin City residents feel right at home.
Actually, the fest does open up on the 7th with a concert at Neon Venus with local acts like Monster Zero, Creepersin and many more.
However, the film portion of the fest opens on the 8th with Stuart Simpson‘s acclaimed Australian gorefest El Monstro Del Mar!, one of the best Russ Meyer/Roger Corman mash-ups with a Down Under twist. Read the Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film review of this gem here.
Other Bad Lit favorites in the lineup are Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson‘s The Taint, which is still completely grossing out audiences on the festival circuit, and The Uh-Oh Show, the splatter-filled horror comedy by the Godfather of Gore himself Herschell Gordon Lewis.
Actually, the fest does open up on the 7th with a concert at Neon Venus with local acts like Monster Zero, Creepersin and many more.
However, the film portion of the fest opens on the 8th with Stuart Simpson‘s acclaimed Australian gorefest El Monstro Del Mar!, one of the best Russ Meyer/Roger Corman mash-ups with a Down Under twist. Read the Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film review of this gem here.
Other Bad Lit favorites in the lineup are Drew Bolduc and Dan Nelson‘s The Taint, which is still completely grossing out audiences on the festival circuit, and The Uh-Oh Show, the splatter-filled horror comedy by the Godfather of Gore himself Herschell Gordon Lewis.
- 10/6/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
It’s lucky 13 for the Boston Underground Film Festival as they celebrate their raucous 13th annual edition this year. Opening with the much buzzed about bloody feature film Hobo With a Shotgun starring Rutger Hauer and directed by Jason Eisener, the fest then barrels on for eight wild nights and days from March 24-31.
While there’s plenty of underground goodness from the U.S.A., this year Buff feels like it’s a much more international affair with several sick features from around the globe. There’s gory horror and quirky black comedy from Japan in the guise of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Helldriver and Sion Sono’s Cold Fish; the Argentinian freak-out Phase7 by Nicolas Goldbart; David Blyth’s Wound is a psychological thriller from New Zealand; and Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a look at Philippine exploitation cinema from the ’70s.
Stateside there’s Usama Alshaibi‘s Profane,...
While there’s plenty of underground goodness from the U.S.A., this year Buff feels like it’s a much more international affair with several sick features from around the globe. There’s gory horror and quirky black comedy from Japan in the guise of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Helldriver and Sion Sono’s Cold Fish; the Argentinian freak-out Phase7 by Nicolas Goldbart; David Blyth’s Wound is a psychological thriller from New Zealand; and Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a look at Philippine exploitation cinema from the ’70s.
Stateside there’s Usama Alshaibi‘s Profane,...
- 3/10/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This is the 9th post in a series covering the most outrageous moments in underground film history. You can follow the entire series here.
Film: Reflections of Evil
Director: Damon Packard
Year: 2002
With usually very little money to work with, underground filmmakers have to come up with ingenious ideas to bring their grand visions to life on the cheap. In that regard, perhaps it was Damon Packard who pulled off the underground film world’s most daring stunt.
Packard’s 2002 film Reflections of Evil is an epic-sized deconstruction and commentary on the world of pop culture, featuring a mish-mash of ’70s ABC TV Movies of the Week, Steven Spielberg adoration, California cults, junk food addiction and more.
To create a nightmare world of existence spiraling out of control in the modern age, Packard filmed several extensive sequences at various Los Angeles area amusement parks, most notably the world-famous Universal Studios.
Film: Reflections of Evil
Director: Damon Packard
Year: 2002
With usually very little money to work with, underground filmmakers have to come up with ingenious ideas to bring their grand visions to life on the cheap. In that regard, perhaps it was Damon Packard who pulled off the underground film world’s most daring stunt.
Packard’s 2002 film Reflections of Evil is an epic-sized deconstruction and commentary on the world of pop culture, featuring a mish-mash of ’70s ABC TV Movies of the Week, Steven Spielberg adoration, California cults, junk food addiction and more.
To create a nightmare world of existence spiraling out of control in the modern age, Packard filmed several extensive sequences at various Los Angeles area amusement parks, most notably the world-famous Universal Studios.
- 1/27/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
So, I’ve been thinking a lot about that Douglas Rushkoff video interview I embedded the other day, the one in which he counters the myth that all online content is “free.” However, prior to discussing the issue of “free,” Rushkoff also mentioned how the Internet has evolved over the past 20 years or so from a free-form place of personal expression to a highly-structured, commodified marketplace.
In many ways, Bad Lit follows exactly the evolution that Rushkoff maps out, from being a goofy HTML-based hobby of self-expression to a very rigid website that delivers advertising to its visitors. (And by “rigid” I mean in navigational structure and in that I only write about one topic anymore.)
But, on the other hand, as Internet technology has improved over the years, the ability for underground filmmakers to share their works of personal expression with a large and nearly infinite audience has increased dramatically.
In many ways, Bad Lit follows exactly the evolution that Rushkoff maps out, from being a goofy HTML-based hobby of self-expression to a very rigid website that delivers advertising to its visitors. (And by “rigid” I mean in navigational structure and in that I only write about one topic anymore.)
But, on the other hand, as Internet technology has improved over the years, the ability for underground filmmakers to share their works of personal expression with a large and nearly infinite audience has increased dramatically.
- 3/2/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
If you weren’t at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on Jan. 27, 2010, you missed out on what was one of the most epic underground film screenings and Q&A sessions in history. During this marathon 4-hour session, two titans of filmmaking — Clu Gulager and Damon Packard — screened and discussed their work, including Packard’s Reflections of Evil and Gulager’s Fucking Tulsa. Unfortunately, the event went straight to Packard’s head, as evidenced in the above clip from Packard’s Q&A.
Read More:American Cinematheque: Hollywood Outlaws: Clu Gulager and Damon PackardFucking TulsaOn DVD: Craig Baldwin’s Mock Up On MuOther Cinema: Animal Charm...
Read More:American Cinematheque: Hollywood Outlaws: Clu Gulager and Damon PackardFucking TulsaOn DVD: Craig Baldwin’s Mock Up On MuOther Cinema: Animal Charm...
- 2/15/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Feb. 11
8:00 p.m.
Echo Park Film Center
1200 N. Alvarado Street (@ Sunset Blvd)
Los Angeles, CA
Hosted by: Other Cinema
San Francisco underground filmmaker Craig Baldwin will attend this special screening of his latest magnum opus, the genuinely epic collage narrative Mock Up on Mu.
Mock Up on Mu has more going on in it per square inch than any other film ever made. It is also the most in-depth futuristic history of the weird state of California. L. Ron Hubbard (Damon Packard) is planning to build a resort on the moon called Mu, but to initiate the project he must dispatch Agent C (Michelle Silva) to convince an amnesiac Jack Parsons (Kalman Spelletich) and Lockheed Martin (Stoney Burke) to build a rocket launchpad in Las Vegas.
The film combines new footage shot by Baldwin with an immense library of found footage from the filmmaker’s massive private stash, some...
8:00 p.m.
Echo Park Film Center
1200 N. Alvarado Street (@ Sunset Blvd)
Los Angeles, CA
Hosted by: Other Cinema
San Francisco underground filmmaker Craig Baldwin will attend this special screening of his latest magnum opus, the genuinely epic collage narrative Mock Up on Mu.
Mock Up on Mu has more going on in it per square inch than any other film ever made. It is also the most in-depth futuristic history of the weird state of California. L. Ron Hubbard (Damon Packard) is planning to build a resort on the moon called Mu, but to initiate the project he must dispatch Agent C (Michelle Silva) to convince an amnesiac Jack Parsons (Kalman Spelletich) and Lockheed Martin (Stoney Burke) to build a rocket launchpad in Las Vegas.
The film combines new footage shot by Baldwin with an immense library of found footage from the filmmaker’s massive private stash, some...
- 2/8/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
One of the things I’ve been thinking about recently is how weird it is that an actual “underground” of film still exists in the world when films that once had been scarce and rare and extremely hard to see are now available to view on demand on the web or via DVD rental and sale websites. There’s nothing “underground” about these delivery systems. They’re mainstream and everywhere!
Yet, films remain in the theoretical “underground” because they’re hard to find because not that many film websites are writing about or linking to them. A film blog that can write easily about Avatar, Iron Man 2, An Education, etc., can just as easily put up a link to or embed a feature film by Bob Moricz, Damon Packard or Georg Koszulinski — but they don’t! Why not? Why not give the “little guy” a chance?
Oh, they will...
Yet, films remain in the theoretical “underground” because they’re hard to find because not that many film websites are writing about or linking to them. A film blog that can write easily about Avatar, Iron Man 2, An Education, etc., can just as easily put up a link to or embed a feature film by Bob Moricz, Damon Packard or Georg Koszulinski — but they don’t! Why not? Why not give the “little guy” a chance?
Oh, they will...
- 2/4/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Bumps, by Portland-based underground filmmaker Bob Moricz, is a brutally raw and honest fictionalization of the infamous “pregnancy pact” made by a group of teenage girls several years ago at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts. The film is a true collaboration between Moricz and his cast of six extremely talented, natural young actresses, all of whom share writing and directing credit with the filmmaker.
Actually, whether there ever was a real pregnancy pact made in Gloucester is up for debate. While several girls did get pregnant simultaneously at that high school, the idea that they did it in collusion may have just been a fever dream conjured up by the principal.
However, Moricz and his cast fiercely forge ahead as if the story is true and come up with a troubling tale of wayward girls gone wrong. I’m assuming the entire film was improvised through its painfully genuine and naturalistic overall feel.
Actually, whether there ever was a real pregnancy pact made in Gloucester is up for debate. While several girls did get pregnant simultaneously at that high school, the idea that they did it in collusion may have just been a fever dream conjured up by the principal.
However, Moricz and his cast fiercely forge ahead as if the story is true and come up with a troubling tale of wayward girls gone wrong. I’m assuming the entire film was improvised through its painfully genuine and naturalistic overall feel.
- 1/31/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Jan. 27
7:30 p.m.
Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
Hosted by: American Cinematheque
Prepare for a night of intense weirdness and cruelty with films directed by underground filmmaking legend Damon Packard and veteran character actor Clu Gulager. Screening will be Packard’s magnum opus strangus, Reflections of Evil, as well as the world premiere of Clu Gulager’s Fucking Tulsa; plus two of Gulager’s older shorts, John and Norma Novak and A Day With the Boys.
Packard and Gulager will be in attendance to answer questions — oh, and there will be questions — between the films. Also in attendance will be Gulager’s sons Tom and John; plus John’s wife Diane Avala Goldner.
Reflections of Evil is a feature-length head trip about an obese watch salesman (Packard) who is haunted by the ghost of his dead junkie sister and who wanders the streets of Los Angeles in an angry,...
7:30 p.m.
Egyptian Theater
6712 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
Hosted by: American Cinematheque
Prepare for a night of intense weirdness and cruelty with films directed by underground filmmaking legend Damon Packard and veteran character actor Clu Gulager. Screening will be Packard’s magnum opus strangus, Reflections of Evil, as well as the world premiere of Clu Gulager’s Fucking Tulsa; plus two of Gulager’s older shorts, John and Norma Novak and A Day With the Boys.
Packard and Gulager will be in attendance to answer questions — oh, and there will be questions — between the films. Also in attendance will be Gulager’s sons Tom and John; plus John’s wife Diane Avala Goldner.
Reflections of Evil is a feature-length head trip about an obese watch salesman (Packard) who is haunted by the ghost of his dead junkie sister and who wanders the streets of Los Angeles in an angry,...
- 1/24/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
Indie moviemaker Don Adams gave Fango the exclusive first look at the updated trailer (with additional zombie action) and some photos from Dozers, his latest collaboration with fellow writer/director/producer Harry James Picardi. You can see them all below the cut.
{rokbox size=|650 480| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews1.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|435 450| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews2.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|650 500| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews3.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|650 460| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews4.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|450 450| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews5.jpg{/rokbox}
Dozers is the third feature on which the duo have teamed on those three key positions, after 2001’s Vengeance Of The Dead and 2002’s Jigsaw; they’ve also edited numerous flicks for Charles Band and David DeCoteau. “A few years ago, our homeless-zombie script Urban Decay was shot [by director Harry Basil] with Dean Cain,...
{rokbox size=|650 480| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews1.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|435 450| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews2.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|650 500| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews3.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|650 460| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews4.jpg{/rokbox}{rokbox size=|450 450| title=|Dozers| album=|dozers|}images/stories/news/dozersnews5.jpg{/rokbox}
Dozers is the third feature on which the duo have teamed on those three key positions, after 2001’s Vengeance Of The Dead and 2002’s Jigsaw; they’ve also edited numerous flicks for Charles Band and David DeCoteau. “A few years ago, our homeless-zombie script Urban Decay was shot [by director Harry Basil] with Dean Cain,...
- 2/27/2009
- Fangoria
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