Documentary Review - Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Never Sleep Again:  The Elm Street Legacy

Directed by Daniel Farrands and Andrew Kasch

Courtesy of 1428 Films and CAV Distribution

Released:  2010

For those of you that didn’t already know, I am a huge film geek.  By this I mean I love watching movies and then seeing how they made them.  So, obviously, I get geekly excited when a DVD or Blu-ray has multiple Special Features options.  With NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY, I found myself in geek heaven; this documentary is one of the best behind-the-scenes looks at a film franchise, ever.

If you are not familiar with NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY, here is the synopsis courtesy of the DVD case:

Murderer.  Dream demon.  The bastard son of a hundred maniacs.  Any way you slice it, there can be only one man - one monster - who epitomizes these words:  Freddy Kruger.  For decades, he has slashed his way through the dreams of countless youngsters and shows no signs of ever resting in peace.  A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET star Heather Langenkamp is your dream guide in this thrilling ‘shockumentary’ that takes you deeper into Freddy Krueger’s realm than ever before, featuring exciting clips, never-before-seen photos, behind-the-scenes footage, conceptual art, publicity materials and exclusive new interviews with over 100 key cast and crew from every NIGHTMARE, including Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Jack Sholder, Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Chuck Russell, Jennifer Rubin, Renny Harlin, Lisa Wilcox, Tuesday Knight, Stephen Hopkins, Kelly Jo Minter, Rachel Talalay, Lisa Zane, Alice Cooper, Patrick Lussier, Miko Hughes, Monica Keena, Brendan Fletcher, Ronny Yu and many more.  So get ready for Freddy in the definitive account of modern cinema’s eternal bogeyman and what has been called the most frightening and imaginative horror franchise in motion picture history!

NEVER SLEEP AGAIN is an amazing documentary that takes the audience far, far behind the scenes of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET films.  It gives so much information that you will truly feel like a member of the production team once you finish watching it.  You will learn things that only die-hard film geeks would know, such as the true inspiration behind Craven’s original masterpiece, the ideas for the sequels, the complexities about filming them, and much, much more.

The amount of data compiled for this documentary is almost dizzying in scope.  The size of this project is massive and making this film was a monumental undertaking.  The filmmakers must have amassed hours and hours of footage, as the total runtime for NEVER SLEEP AGAIN is 240 minutes.  But the result is a spectacular visionary look into the nightmarish world of Freddy Krueger and beyond.  

Some of my favorite aspects to this documentary are the ‘making of’ segments, specifically those that discuss how certain shots were achieved.  For example, there is a scene in the first film where a girl is hauled up a wall and onto the ceiling by an invisible Freddy.  To do this scene, the production team created a room that they could literally spin around as the camera filmed.

I also like the claymation-style intros that preface each new section of the documentary.  These are skillful recreations of key scenes from each film. It is amazing to see the attention to detail that went into these intros.  They are almost as entertaining as the NIGHTMARE films themselves.

NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY is a Must-Have for film buffs like me.  Insightful and entertaining, the documentary looks at each individual NIGHTMARE film and interviews the cast and crew for a unique perspective of the production.  The Special Edition 2-Disc Collector’s Edition of the documentary even features a free poster inside that doesn’t disappoint.

Check this one for sure.

MSB

Movie Review - Helldriver (2011)

Helldriver

Directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura

Courtesy of Sushi Typhoon and Well Go USA Entertainment

Released:  November 22, 2011

I absolutely LOVE over-the-top Asian cinema.  I mean, how can you not?  Massive blood sprays that look like geysers, bizarre love triangles (and rectangles) that involve humans and nonhumans, zombies, robo-anything, swords, gore...and comedy.  It just doesn’t get much better than that!  And HELLDRIVER is a perfect example of how much fun you can have with these kinds of films.

If you are not familiar with HELLDRIVER, here is the plot synopsis courtesy of the Blu-ray cover:

An alien-spawned, mysterious mist blankets the norther half of Japan, transforming those who inhale it into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies hell-bent on devouring the surviving human population.  Plunged into chaos, Japan is torn in two - the southern half of the country, where the populace remains untouched by the deadly gas, lives behind a heavily-fortified wall, while the northern half is a lawless, zombie-infected wasteland.  Hope arrives in the form of Kika, a beautiful high school girl armed with a chainsaw sword powered by an artificial heart.  Recruited by the government, Kika leads a ragtag group of desperados on a secret mission into the zombie-infected wilds to exterminate zombie queen Rikka and put an end to the plague of the living dead.

Sounds like fun, right?  And let me tell you:  it is!  I had the privilege to see HELLDRIVER at the Texas Frightmare Weekend earlier this year and it was a blast.  But I have to admit:  watching it in HD on Blu-ray is soooo much better.  Granted, the video quality was not as good as I was expecting, but it was still impressive and the sound was just downright awesome.

The main aspect of this film that stands out is the gore.  I have to hand it to Japanese filmmakers:  they certainly know how to let the red stuff flow!  And flow it does, usually by the gallon.  We also get to see many dismembered body parts and partially eaten corpses.  

Aside from the special effects, the film itself is way over the top but in a definite good way.  I will admit that I saw things in HELLDRIVER that I have NEVER seen in other films, such as a giant monstrosity made out of the bodies of thousands of zombies that tries to kill Kika.  Some of my other favorite aspects of the storyline are:

• When Kika comes home and finds her biological mother and her uncle eating her biological father’s legs.
• A pickup truck that fights like a sword (you have to see it to understand)
• A car made out of zombies
• An enormous, multi-storied zombie “being” that is made out of thousands of zombies

And I could go on and on.  Honestly, though, HELLDRIVER is one of those must-see-to-believe-it films.  It is an entertaining jaunt into insanity, full of fighting and gore.  And it will leave you breathless in some parts.

The Blu-ray version of HELLDRIVER has some great Special Features, including an introduction by director Yoshihiro Nishimura and three short films that are set in the HELLDRIVER universe.  From what I understand, these short films are exclusive ONLY to the Blu-ray, so you might want to pick up this version if possible.

My sole complaint about the film is that it is so long.  Clocking in at 116 minutes, HELLDRIVER tends to drag at the beginning and certain spots in the middle.  I think it could have been shaved down to 95 minutes or so and still been awesome.  Otherwise, I think the film is excellent.

HELLDRIVER won’t be for everyone, but it was a must-see for me.  If you look insane Japanese cinema (i.e. Tokyo Gore Police, Mutant Girl’s Squad, Robo-Geisha, etc), the you will absolutely love HELLDRIVER.  Definitely give this one a look if you think you can!!

MSB

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MSB