Coroner’s Corner
by John Bikowski
I noticed a new trend while attending the Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors hosted by Chiller Theatre in January. Back in the day, one of the biggest draws at these shows was the squadron of uncut gore bootleggers selling stuff that was only available overseas. For example, suppose you were unfortunate enough to buy Troma’s release of a little Dutch gem known as Rabid Grannies. Their version of the film is rendered truly pathetic thanks to the hacking out of all the exploitational violence. However, most sellers at your typical Fango show are likely to have the full, uncut version that has all the glorious amounts of multiple dismemberments and flesh-tearing that bumps the overall enjoyment of the film up from stinker to success. With the emergence of DVD companies like Anchor Bay and Image Entertainment, customers have become hard-pressed to shell out 20 bucks to the bootleggers for titles that may be on the verge of domestic release.
What we saw: A killer’s hand grabbing a victim’s hair and presumably pushing his face towards a wall and a mantle. What Europe saw: The same scene but the hair grabbing and facial steering was followed by a repeated pummeling of the victim’s teeth into all types of ornate furniture with blood and enamel a’flying.
What we saw: The killer’s necklace becomes entangled in an elevator door and the bloody chain implying that it was ripped through the killer’s throat. What Europe saw: The same scene, but the chain tightens around the killer’s neck and is pulled through the sinew and bone as the decapitated head spews bile. Can we live without these disgusting additional scenes? Of course… but we don’t want to.
Other titles in their stable include The Vampires Night Orgy (uncut letterboxed version), The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, and The Eerie Midnight Horror Show (a.k.a. The Sexorcist). These films are pretty much average quality or below and are must-sees for fans of the films only.
Here are a couple more recent releases that may tickle your fancy… For fans looking to reminisce with the early ’80s cheesy slice’n’dice genre, Substance Films has released Pranks (a.k.a. The Dorm That Dripped Blood). Hot Daphne Zuniga joins the crew of college kids getting hammered by power drills, machetes, bats, and whatnot. Fun in a low budget kind of way.
If that’s not for you, perhaps a little T & A and some truly wild streetcar action in Elite Entertainment’s release of Redline? Fans of Torque and the …Furious flicks will no doubt have a great time with this one. Elite also has just put out Syngenor, a sci-fi/horror flick that’s quite a bit better than I would’ve guessed. The story is about genetically-created monstrous killers who are bred to be warriors. They escape and go on a gory rampage in the corporate building. David Gale (from Re-Animator) steals the show as the main bad guy. Besides the film, you also get trailers, galleries, a commentary, four featurettes, and an Easter Egg. Good times.