Zombie Fuel

  by Bone Jawnson      While I was genuinely excited to watch "Zombie Pirates," it was a little short of my expectations. Initially, I was drawn in by the artwork (below) used to promote the Tubi TV app on my Roku television. "Zombie Pirates" looked like it was going to be a fast-paced, swashbuckling good time, however, the storyline was a bit drawn out. I feel that if some scenes were shorted and the zombies provided more action, this would have kept my attention a bit longer. Regardless of the pacing, I was intrigued by the plot of the film. Essentially, Sarah French's character Linda hunts various humans to kill and bring to zombie pirates in exchange for handsome treasure rewards. She has a mission to bring a certain amount to her "masters" and falls one human sacrifice short, so they come after her in an attempt to kill her. The redeeming part for me was the zombie pirates' makeup and such. I am a sucker for pirates and mixing it with zombies ...

  Photo courtesy of writer Mitch Hyman (pictured as The Devil) by Bone Jawnson "Holy crapola, what did I just watch," is what I said to myself after initially viewing "Bubba the Redneck Werewolf." My answer? A horror comedy masterpiece. I discovered this film much like how I found most of the films I viewed on Tubi TV. I have been having great luck finding extreme independent films such as this and "Odd Noggins" by Joe Sherlock and his team at Skullface Astronaut. When I discovered "Bubba the Redneck Werewolf," I said, "Yeah, ok, throw it on the list." The advertisement was striking enough to pull me into it. I initially thought this would be a throwaway viewing with a limited blog write-up, much like my viewing of "Uncle Sam." Boy was I way off during my initial assessment. "Bubba the Redneck Werewolf" is a fast-paced spiral into the maddening and intelligence-quotient-questioning world of writer Mitch Hyman. The fi...

  Photo courtesy of "Odd Noggins" writer and director, Joe Sherlock by Bone Jawnson This past weekend, I had the privilege of viewing the Skullface Astronaut film, "Odd Noggins." It was definitely "a strange trip into a small town where nothing is quite what it seems to be." Skullface Astronaut is a west coast-based production company with Joe Sherlock at the helm. According to his website, Joe is a veteran of over 30 feature and anthology films. Writing, directing, shooting, editing, and scoring most of his own projects. I really loved the feel of "Odd Noggins" and appreciated that Joe had a large hand in all aspects of its creation. His approach to low-budget horror reminds me of Rick Sloane (The Visitants, Blood Theatre). As I've said in the past, the lower the budget the more ballsy the production. Or in this case, the more boobs and bubble baths.  I first discovered "Odd Noggins" by searching for low-budget horror comedy film...

 by Bone Jawnson This past weekend, I viewed the appropriately titled slasher movie, "Uncle Sam." This film was written by Larry Cohen (It's Alive), directed by William Lustig (Manic), and released direct-to-video in 1990. In all honesty, I struggled to get my thoughts out about this movie. I wanted to really like it because the legendary Issac Hayes was in it, but it just fell short for me. There was one, perhaps two, good kills, and blood splattering.  The major redeeming factor in this movie was the cinematography. I really enjoyed some of the camera angles, the choice of camera, and the sound work. While I usually enjoy the practical effects of these types of horror films, there is not much to take away. Instead, I focused on how the movie was shot, composition, music accompaniment, and so forth.  Now, down to the brass tacks. Essentially, this movie is about a soldier who is "killed" by friendly fire during a war battle, shipped back to the United States, r...

      by Bone Jawnson This past weekend, I viewed the cult film from the mid-1970s, "Blood Sucking Freaks." Originally, the film was released under the title "The Incredible Torture Show," which was acquired by Troma in 1981 and retitled. At face value, this film is a misogynistic buffet of torture, murder, and bizarre sex acts. When examining it further, it can be seen as the beginning of what is currently known as "meta" currently. After viewing this film, I researched the history of horror theater. Through this process, I learned about Grand Guignol-style theater productions that originated in France in the late 1800s. This article will discuss the correlations between the "Grand Guignol" style and the modern splatter film while analyzing the production of "Blood Sucking Freaks."  Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol opened in Paris in 1897 and specialized in naturalistic horror shows. This type of horror show aims to create an illusion of re...

  by Bone Jawnson "Monster Mall" is the third short film from Zombie Fuel. This was filmed with no budget and with a team of one person, myself, Bone Jawnson. All scenes were filmed in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania with a Motorola smartphone and edited in the free graphic design program, Canva. All sound effects were filmed live or downloaded from the Canva foley fx files. All additional footage was downloaded from Canva's free-use video files, as well as all digital creations.

  by Bone Jawnson Through a serendipitous set of circumstances, "Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D." was born. Through some research I conducted prior to and after viewing the film, I discovered that, while filming "The Toxic Avenger 2" in Japan, the team from Troma was approached by the video game company NAMCO to create a Japanese superhero modeled after Kabuki theater. Supposedly, the idea of a Kabuki theater superhero was originally thought of by Troma's Lloyd Kaufman. Beginning with a budget of $1.5 million from Namco, the film began its production. Eventually reaching a budget of $4 million, it became Troma's most expensive film to date.  Now, down to the brass tacks. This film ebbed and flowed from the quirky and goofy to the exploitation and slasher. Rick Gianasi, who portrayed the main characters Harry Griswold and his superhero alter ego Sgt. Kabukiman definitely sold his performance. Through the eyes of a cocky New York City police officer, he undergoes a tr...