Reviews: 6 Various Horror Musicals, Part I
Text © Richard
Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2023
Images from the Internet
Growing up, I was
as much a fan of musicals as I was of horror films. To some extent, I still am.
First a guideline on the reviews here. These are films where the music is narrative,
not just a band playing (e.g., 2009’s Suck) or music playing over the soundtrack, with one exception.
What we have here is horror films where characters break into songs that further
the story, or reflect on it in an unnatural way. It should come as no surprise that
most horror musicals are also comedies.
Some of these films
I have reviewed previously in a more extensive form, and I have hyperlinked to the
full review in these instances.
These films below
are not ranked, but are listed alphabetically, all from TubiTV, unless indicated.
Note that my snark is truly meant to be fun and rib-poking with a touch of stream
of consciousness for the shorter reviews. I had just the right low-budget expectation
for these films, so I was not blindsided by anticipating a theatrical extravaganza
experience. After all, when it comes to the cheese level, there are times when ya
want melted brie on toast, and at others, Cheez-Whiz on animal crackers. I enjoyed
these films for precisely what they are. Links to the coming attractions for all
of them are at the bottom of each review.
The Devil’s Carnival
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
56 minutes, 2012
There are three interlocking tales
based on greed/ego, blind trust (via lust is my interpretation) and grief/suicide,
mixed with the telling of Aesop’s Fables. That’s the basic premise, but there
is just so much going on at the same time. The carnival is the entranceway to hell,
and each person coming through is tested to get to the next step, making sure not
to break any of the “666 Rules.” Terrance Zdunich, the writer of the film and its
music, plays a very interesting looking Devil, who does not take the obvious road
when it comes to the songs. Yeah, “666 Rules” is kinda catchy, but most of the music
is dense, off-beat and dissonant. Not only are the songs odd, but so is the whole
production, and again, that’s meant complimentary. Everyone in the film seems to
be having fun doing it, and there are some “names” in the cast, such as Alexa PenaVega
(from the Spy Kids series), musician Emilie Autumn, and Bill Moseley (from
House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell).
The film is definitely dark in tone – though not overwhelmingly so – but that is
not surprising considering Darren Lynn Bousman also directed the likes of Saw
II through Saw IV, as well as Spiral. For the full review, go HERE.
Trailer is HERE
The Devil’s Carnival
Alleluia!
Directed by Darren Lynn
Bousman
96 minutes, 2016
This is the sequel to the film above, which is essentially the second war
of Satan vs. God (Terrance Zdunich and Paul Sorvino, d. 2022, respectively). Seems
the Debbil is dropping off lost soul that belong in Hell (i.e., The Carnival) and
shipping them to Heaven to distract God enough to take over. Meanwhile, we also
get to hear the devil tell a story about a group trying to get into heaven. Best
I can tell, it took place in the late 1940s, or very early 1950s. God is shown as
cruel, demanding, and conspiratorial, much as He is in the Old Testament. Also,
it addresses the lack of free will allowed in Heaven, something philosophers have
been arguing for centuries. It is nice there is a psychological element to the film,
rather than just showing black and white God good/Devil bad. The story is used as
the lynchpin to explain about the coming incursion, with the film ending just as
the war is about to begin. The set design, lighting, and cinematography definitely
has its own character, as did the first one.. There is some amazing casting here
including Ted Neeley (who played the title character in 1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar;
as a side note, there is a nod to JCSS when someone asks, “What’s the Buzz?
Tell me what’s happening”), Barry Bostwick (1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show),
Bill Moseley (Rob Zombie’s Firefly trilogy), and David Hasselhoff (“Baywatch”).
While this looks like the second of a trilogy (and it may yet be), Sorvino, who
both played God and was a producer, has passed away, and there is nothing listed
on the director’s up-and-coming that indicates that it will carry on, but still
an interesting piece to watch even as a standalone.
Trailer is HERE
Evil Dead the Musical
Directed by Christopher
Bond; Hinton Battle
101 minutes, 2007
Yes, this is a tape of the final night (February 17, 2007) of the Off-Broadway
version of the infamous Sam Raimi films. The camera is static and in the back (I’m
not sure if this is “official” or a cell phone taping), being further away than
the trailer indicates, and the sound reflects that. It is recommended to watch this
“full screen.” I did not know what to expect, though I knew the soundtrack is quite
popular. This play mixes Evil Dead (1981) in the first act, and Evil Dead
II (1987) in the second(though there is also a few bits from Army of Darkness,
1992), starring Ryan Ward (Ash), Jennifer Byrne (Linda, Ash’s girlfriend), diminutive
and amazingly energetic Jenna Coker (Cheryl, Ash’s sister), Brandon Wardell (Scott,
Ash’s best friend), Renee Klapmeyer (Shelly, Scott’s girlfriend/Annie, the professor’s
daughter), Tom Walker (Ed, Annie’s boyfriend), and Daryll Winslow (Jake, a local
yokel). Now that that is out of the way, let’s get back to the play. It is
loyal enough to the story to get Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell’s approval. The films
had comic elements, but this is solidly hilarious. I laughed often, and out loud.
Sometimes it is self-reflective (one character yells at Ash, you killed all the
demons except the one that makes puns?, for example). Sometimes the lyrics are a
bit hard to make out, but generally this is very enjoyable. I was a bit worried
about the first set (i.e., the woods), but the cabin and all its accoutrement
that plays into the story is great, right down to the moose head. The songs, the
dancing, beheadings, the demons, the blood-splatter (first couple of rows is not
the place you want to sit). The story is a bit jumbled a bit from its source material,
but I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised how much I laughed, as it is well-written.
There are lots of songs, with titles like “Houseware’s Employee,” “What the Fuck
Was That?,” All the Men in My Life Keep Getting Killed by Candarian Demons,” “Do
the Necronomicon,” and “Blew That Bitch Away.” This is available free on YouTube.
Trailer is HERE
Happiness of the
Katakuris (aka Katakuri-ke no kofuku)
Directed by Takaski Miike
113 minutes, 2001
A mixture of the love of family, death-death-and-more-death, horror, crime,
comedy, dancing, and a snappy soundtrack; yes, we’re off to a Takashi Miike off-kilter
special treat. The six-member Katakuri family moved out to the countryside to try
and make a go at a Bed and Breakfast called the White Lovers’ Guesthouse, but are
waiting for patrons to finally show up. The problems begin when they do eventually
come. And go. Through no fault of the Katakuri tribe, the customers rarely seem
to last a night without meeting their maker by different means. Since the family
doesn’t want to ruin their reputation before they have the chance to be successful,
they must figure out what to do with the growing pile of bodies. This is actually
very dark and humorous at the same time. For example, in Miike fashion, some the
characters include a sumo wrestler and his obviously underage uniformed schoolgirl
girlfriend, a TV announcer who has a bug climb into his nose, violence, zombies
of a sort, and as I said, a nice body count. And did I mention the Claymation yet?
For the full review, go HERE.
Trailer is HERE
The Incredibly
Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies!!? (aka The Incredibly Mixed
Up Zombie; Diabolical Dr. Voodoo; The Teenage Psycho Meets
Bloody Mary)
Directed by Ray Dennis
Steckler
82 minutes, 1964
Often Ed Wood is opined as “worst film maker,” though his films have become
cult classics. Lesser known for the same reasons is director Ray Dennis Steckler
(d. 2009). Along with this doozy, which cost $38,000 to make (about $370,000 in
today’s dollars), he also directed other “Grade Z” cults classics like Wild Guitar
(1962, with Arch Hall, Jr.!), Rat Pfink and Boo Boo (1967), and the music
video for Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” (1967). For this hot mess, shot in
“Bloody-Vision” and “Hallucinogenic Hypnovision,” Jerry (the director, using the
stage name Cash Flagg) and his best girl, Angie (Sharon Walsh, the director’s spouse
at the time), along with Jerry’s pal Harold (Atlas King, looking remarkably like
Arch Hall, Jr.) go to an Amusement park (The Pike, Long Beach, CA; closed 1968)
run by the evil fortune teller, Madame Estrella (Brett O’Hara). Her sister, Carmelita
(Erina Enyo), is a stripper at a music and comedy club called the Hungry Mouth that
is connected to the park, where much of the tunes in the film originate. She’s an
alcoholic on the verge of being fired, and so the Madame hypnotizes Larry to go
out and kill Carmelita’s competition. Eventually, the Madame’s acid-scarred “pets”
(previous hipnoteeze, i.e., the titular zombies) get loose and wreak havoc on the
dancers and patrons of the club. The acting is horrendous and the writing is on
equal level, but the filmmaking by Steckler is well ahead of its time, with twirling
images, weird editing, and playing with the film itself. This is especially true
during an extended dream sequence. Because of when this was shot, four years before
Night of the Living Dead (1968), the zombies were murderous, but not cannibalistic;
they are hunched over and disfigured (make-up by Tom Scher) but move quickly. Like
other films of the time, filmed just as the Beatles were hitting, the music here
reminds me a bit of the ballads that were sung often in the Avalon/Funicello beach
franchise, which was popular at the time. When I worked as an usher in a movie theater
in Brooklyn in the 1970s, the Bloody Mary version of this film played on
Halloween, and we minimum wage staffers had to run through the theater wearing masks
at the point when the monsters were loose on-screen. One of my fellow ushers got
punched in the face by a Tony Manero type, and that ended that. Things were different
a dozen years earlier when this was released.
Trailer is HERE
Little Shop of
Horrors
Directed by Frank Oz
94 minutes, 1986
Yes, I know, at a budget of $25 million, this is hardly an independent
work, but if you did not know, it is based on a black and white, low budget film
by the same name, put out by Roger Corman in 1960 (which included Jack Nicholson’s
very first role ever in the dentist’s patient/victim played by Bill Murray in the
remake). I fell in love with the off-Broadway soundtrack (on cassette) from 1982.
This film, though, is quite different in that many of the original songs are changed,
dropped, or new ones added for the film, though in an instant, I would take “Mean
Green Mother from Outer Space” for “You’re the One That I Want.”. This is a blast
with catchy music and fun acting, though it is incredibly bloated by “name” actors
to grab an audience, much like the film (1978) adaptation of the play (1972) Grease
(and both were huge successes). I was one of those snobs who was disappointed
in the new conclusion of the film, preferring its original ending, but director
Oz was too afraid to offend a sanitized general audience who would think it to be
too negative. Still the film is a beauty, especially scenes like “Skid Row” and
“Suddenly Seymour.” I thought Steve Martin was horrendous as the doctor (and I am
a Martin fan from his earliest of days of “The Ray Stevens Show" in 1970 (which isn’t even
listed on IMDB!). Surely everyone now knows the story of Seymour, his sweetie, Audrey,
and the ever-growing venus flytrap from outer space, Audrey II. This film was a
huuuuuge success and is beloved by many. I really enjoy parts of it, and
others, such as the dentist scenes and John Candy’s cameo (and I’m a Candy-man fan).
If you have not seen it, it is worth it. This film is available on Freebie TV, NBC,
SYFY, USA Network, Bravo, E!, Telemundo, OXYGEN, Prime Video, Redbox, or Vudu on
your Roku device; the non-musical 1960 original is on TubiTV.
Trailer is HERE
