Eye Crave Network

Yesssirrreeeeee Bob! Did I ever get a happy surprise and a blast from the past in the mailbox today. A beautiful new Blu-ray copy of my all-time favorite 90′s video naughty, Frankenhooker! Courtesy of the fine folks at Synapse Films.

Coming to Blu next month, this Frank Henenlotter classic of the VHS era is one of my most beloved teen memories. Round about 1991, when I was at the height of my love for Z-grade horror, every corner video shack and cut-rate retailer of trashy magazines had the big ol’ VHS box , wrinkled and crinkled and abused, with the worn spot on the streetlamp, where the little button was hidden. Hundreds of greasy teen-hormone dripping fingers had eroded the “press here” sticker that made the box screech out “WANNA DATE? WANNA DATE?”. Even better was the Video Station that had it in the backlog titles where I could rent it every few weeks, along with 5 other flicks for a week. A week, for $5. Hot damn, but those were the days… Sleazy, lurid nudie horror trash like Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Return of the Living Dead, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-a-rama, Deadmate, Re-Animator and anything with the Troma label gracing its cover. Those movies led directly to my friends and I taking over the High School broadcasting class, hijacking the VHS equipment and filming our own blood-drenched sagas, like Zombies Zombies Zombies, Killer Ed and Slash13 (You can see the trailers I reconstituted for our informal ‘reunion’ a couple of years ago, right here) It also led me to pine for Film School, while slogging my way through the Education, Psychology and English departments of the U of C. It haunted me with the painful echoes of regret through a myriad of awful management ‘careers’, menial jobs, and ill-advised ventures. It dogged my steps and whispered in my ears until I fell back in love with DVD and the illicit, forbidden-candy wonderousness of Z-movie making in the new millenium.

None of these films ever influenced me more than the tale of Jeffrey Franken and his unfortunate fiancee, Elizabeth (the gorgeous and comedically brilliant Patty Mullen, in the worst excuse for a fat suit ever put on film – seriously – it’s a 90′s sweatsuit with some trashbags stuffed in the front of the pants). Frank works for the New Jersey power company, but dabbles in “bioelectric engineering” in his spare time, which means he’s an all-around mad scientist who fuses eyeballs to pickled brains and battles fatigue by jamming a Black & Decker power drill into the soft spot behind his ear. Long story short, Frank designs an automated mega-mower for his soon-to-be Pops-in-law, which Lizzy (of course) accidently fires up and turns herself into coleslaw. Frank has her head preserved in the strange purple goo in his freezer and soon sets about building her a new body from New York’s most physically perfect streetwalkers. Perfect, as in he puts them all in a room and measure them with calipers and tapes. What follows is a smorgasboard of cartoony violemnce, exploding hookers, super-crack, and the greatest Frankensteiner monster of all, a 6 foot tall wonder woman with a club foot and a facial twitch that would put Curly Howard to shame. To paraphrase the mighty Joe Bob Briggs, blood, breasts and beasts are in full effect.

Really, what else would you expect from the man who brought us grindhouse classics like the Basket Case flicks and Brain Damage, the best boy-and-his-giant-hallucinogenic-alien-penis story ever told? Henenlotter brings his trademark surreal body horror, slapstick comedy and love for boobies to the Frankestein mythos and succeeds in creating one of the most bizarrely hilarious films of the era. James Lorinz, who Henenlotter “discovered” as an usher at New York’s Cinema 1,2,3, is perfect as the blue-collar nutjob genius, with his bleary eyes, Jersey accent and mumbling delivery.  Mullens, who retired after knocking this one out of the park, is at turns sexy, funny, sweet and bloody terrifying. Her facial expressions and dedication to the schtick (stomping down the street, shoving giant pimps out of her way, shouting “Wanna date? Got any money? Wanna Party?”) make the film the gem it is. Admittedly, the ending feels a little slapped together and too ridiculous, even for this movie, but just like Frankenhooker herself, the sum of the parts is so much greater than the skanky bits it started with. Also keep an eye out for appearances by Louise Lasser, David Lipman, porn star Heather Hunter and the legendary horror host Zacherley.

The Blu-ray looks amazing, sounds perfect and features the original theatrical trailer, 4 featurettes (including the first appearance of Patty Mullen in 22 years) and a commentary track with Henenlotter and FX designer Gabe Bartalos, who created a dozen exploding hookers and a mess of mutant leftovers for this surprisingly gore-less piece of video art.

Check it the F out come November 8!

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Aim High is the new web project from producer McG (of Terminator Salvation). The series, which debuts on Facebook on October 18th, follows the life of a high-schooler who tries to get the girl of his dreams while he moonlights as a government spy in constant danger. The element that makes Aim High unique is that it will integrate personal details from each viewer’s Facebook profile into the world of the show as part of the experience, making it interactive.

The series also boasts a surprisingly strong cast -- Jackson Rathbone of Twilight fame, Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights, Prom) and Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) among others. The actors had plenty of experience in film and TV, but for most of them it was their first time doing anything web-based.

I had the opportunity to sit down with the series’ leading actors recently, and they had a lot to say about about their experience with new media and movies. “It’s a scripted show. We’re all starting to watch things differently. I’ve only had my iPhone for five months. When I first heard that you could watch movies on your phone, I thought I could never do that, but now I do it all the time. It’s funny how you adjust; you put your earphones in and you have a great time”, said Greg Germann, who plays vice principal Ockenhocker.

Aimee, a veteran of the popular Friday Night Lights, explained how she came into Aim High. “I auditioned, I read the script and got the break downs about what they were planning on doing with it. Technology is something I’m passionate about, it’s changed so much in my lifetime alone. I love the idea of doing a social series.”

When talking with Jackson Rathbone I had more of a chance to discuss the project, the implications of the social and technological aspect of it, and his personal connection to Aim High.

EyeCrave: How did you get involved with the project?

Jackson Rathbone: Wonderland, which is McG’s company, told me about the web series aspect of it. I’ve been interested in doing a web series, but especially something a little different, that utilizes integration technology, where you can be involved in the show, and see yourself in it. Once we were finished with it, we presented it to Facebook and they loved it.

EC: I think this is sort of revolutionary.

JR: We’re breaking new ground.

EC: Web series seem often branched off from TV, but this is different.

JR: It’s an hour long, if you put it all together, it could be a film. It’s almost like a BBC television show in a sense. It’s a long story line. This isn’t a show where we clean the slate after every episode--it’s an over arching plot. It’s exciting, new media and the internet are like the Wild West; I’ve always been kind of a cowboy at heart. It’s exciting to be involved. It’s a ground breaking show, and we’ll see many more shows like this.

EC: Are there any similar projects in your future?

JR: Yes. We have some other ideas in the works for other shows. We want to further that, and possibly do a season two of Aim High. We would like to, hopefully. If we can do that, we have some interesting and cool ideas of advancing the integration further.

EC: How so?

JR: Oh, I can’t really talk about it. I really am just fascinated by technology. I’m not a techno-savvy guy, but my dad was an engineer, so I know things that aren’t computers. But you come up with these ideas, if you can dream it, they can make it. It’s really all about outside-the-box thinking.

EC: How has this been different from the movies?

JR: It is different. It also felt very free. Warner trusted us to make what we wanted to make. They wanted it to be kind of hands-off. We were always having fun on set, even if it was stressful. We lost an action sequence, because we wanted to make it in 9 days--it was really sad. But we still retained the two big ones. I think you have more freedom, but at the same time, the risk factor is much higher. If we hadn’t been able to get the aesthetic quality of Aim High to the level of a network show, Facebook wouldn’t have taken it.

EC: Could you tell us a little about your character?

JR: Nick Green is a high school student that doesn’t really fit in, since he’s an operative for the US government. He doesn’t know his place in life, because he has these special abilities, and he has this huge secret he keeps from the world. At the same time, he kind of feels like a hero then kind of feels like a killer...he doesn’t know what to feel. He’s that high schooler that we’ve all been, trying to find his way. He’s got the girl he loves...she has a boyfriend. But he’s really awesome at his job.

EC: Do you connect to Nick in any way?

JR: I was always the new kid. My family traveled around. I’ve always felt like that. The ones who always accepted me first were the oddballs. Nick found a friend in this guy Marcus, and they have this weird friendship together--they are both the kids who no one else wants to talk to. They don’t have that much in common, but that ties them together. I didn’t really fit in growing up, but once I found art, that was my place.

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One of the things I've come to love about Blu-ray's is that they come with a digital copy. Most of the time I'll download the digital copy before plopping in the Blu-ray disc to watch the movie in all its HD glory.

Some of you may wonder why but as someone with a movie addiction I love to load up movies to take on the go. I'll watch them during my lunch, while taking care of business (if you know what I mean), or use them to keep my littles quiet while out for a bit at restaurant. I've even been known to use them while we wait in the emergency room from time to time.

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Word around the campfire is that there's competing films being prepped based on the character of Captain Nemo, from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (as well as The Mysterious Island), including one to quite possibly be helmed by McG. This week’s book report comes courtesy of the good folks at Titan Books who have just rereleased Kevin J. Anderson’s Captain Nemo: The Fantastic Adventures of a Dark Genius, and you better believe a Victorian gentleman can pilot a Submersible! Read on, Book Clubbers!

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