SHOCK CINEMA (1991)

 EARLY THIS YEAR, TEMPE DIGITAL RELEASED THE SHOCK CINEMA COLLECTION CONSISTING OF ALL FOUR VOLUMES ORIGINALLY RELEASED ON VHS IN 1991. 

Produced and hosted by scream queen Brinke Stevens, these were four hour-long 'talking head' documentaries featured a handful of horror filmmakers.  The style of the docs is not complete interviews which each person; a filmmaker will talk on a subject for a sentence or two then cut to another filmmaker talking on the same or similar subject for a sentence or two and on and on.  

VOLUME ONE features interviews with Charles Band, Fred Olen Ray, Jeff Burr, C. Courtney Joyner, Dave DeCoteau, Scott Spiegel, J.R. Bookwalter, Dan Peterson, Ernest D. Farino, Christopher Roth and Mark Thomas McGee.   This was incredibly dry even for me. There is nothing wrong with so-called 'talking heads' docs; it's what the heads are talking about which makes the difference. Unfortunately, these talking heads are not talking about horror or horror movies but instead are complaining about big budget studio constrictions, budgets and money problems and more the business end of movie making which is extremely UN-interesting to me. Anecdotes about what happened during filming or the genre of horror itself would've been preferred. Maybe it was the time (1991) but the decision to focus almost exclusively on the business end of filmmaking really has nothing to do with horror movies and what we horror fans are interested in.  This is more for someone trying to make a no-budget movie . . . but in 1991 so the whole thing is dated and not much use to anyone nowadays.   Rating: ⭐️⭐️ = Not So Hot

VOLUME TWO features interviews with Robert Quarry, Forrest J. Ackerman, Melissa Moore, Ted Newsom, John Goodwin, Deanna Lund, Michael Burnett, Frederick Bailey, Gary Graver, Joel Bender and Steve Neill.  This is a marked improvement simply because it doesn't focus on the business/technical end of filmmaking but actually DOES feature personal anecdotes on making horror films which would interest everyone who ISN'T an accountant of film producer.  F'rinstance, Robert Quarry telling how he convinced the filmmakers of COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE to make an actual vampire movie instead of the softcorn porn flick they were planning and then how, when he saw the very rough cut of the film, Quarry was convinced it was junk . . . until he saw the final film and the audience response to it.  We also get a sequence where Brinke Stevens goes to the Acker Museum (which still existed in 1991) to visit Forrest J. Ackerman and that really breaks up the 'talking head' aspect of this volume.  It was so nostalgic to see Forry telling his patented, famous anecdotes which we used to hear all the time but haven't heard since he stepped on the rainbow.  You never know what you've got till it's gone.  I don't know . . . this was just so much more interesting than the first volume because it's all about personal experiences from these horror maestros.  And seeing Ted Newsom here along with John Goodwin, it made me think WHY OH WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE PUT OUT A BLU RAY of Newsom's 1988 horror documentary MONSTERS & MANIACS hosted by Brinke Stevens?!?!?!  C'mon Tempe Digital!!!  Let's have a blu ray!!!!   Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ = A Good'n

VOLUME THREE features interviews with Linnea Quigley, Michelle Bauer, Judy Landers,  Michael Sonye, Billy Jayne, Olivia Barash, Jim Hacket and Arlene Golonka.  This time we have a subtitle:  BLOOPERS, BABES & BLOOD!  Whoa!, five seconds into this third volume we have bazooms!  I really wasn't expecting that.  But another BIG improved over the first two volumes is this time we have movie clips.  The first volume especially would've benefitted greatly from copious amounts of movie stills if not actual clips from trailers etc.  It would have livened up the dry financial talk.  Volume Two was so much better simply because the talking heads were talking about horror movies instead of balance sheets.  So yeah, opening volume 3 with wonderfully cheezy 80's synth music and horror flick clips was very much appreciated by this viewer.  Having said that, this volume is completely different from the first two volumes in that there are NO interviews here at all.  This volume is solely movie clips and trailers and a blooper reel.  So, it's best to know that from the beginning and not be waiting for interviews which will never come.  The volume is broken up into sections:  a sort-of Tribute to T&A, Blood & Gore, Trailers, Action & Special Effects and Bloopers.   Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ = A Good'n

VOLUME FOUR features interviews with Linnea Quigley, David DeCoteau, David Lange, Bill Morrison, David P. Barton, Rodger Burt, Karen Russell, Stephen Steward and Richard Sebastian.  We also have a subtitle here:  MAKEUP EFFECTS BEHIND THE SCENES.  This volume is also different from all the previous volumes and is more of what I'd call an actual documentary.  Film Clips are shown along with behind the scenes footage which is all narrated by Brinke Stevens.  Volume Three had pretty much no narration to speak of but simply showed the movie clips.  Here we have the scenes from the actual movies paired with special effects shots for that scene showing how it was all done.   Rating:  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ = A Good'n 

So, as an entire collection, I'd say yeah, if you're really interested, it's probably worth a look.  I'd say skip the first volume, though, because that was a serious trudge.  Volume Two is wonderful just to get a chance to hear from these great people.  Volume Three is for those who love trailer collections and clip compilations.  And Volume Four is for readers of FANGORIA who are really into special effects how-to's.