MadMax’s bastard child. A future where human birth rates are at an all time low and reptilian mutations have evolved into the new age. No, it’s not a David Icke lecture. It’s Roddy Piper starring in HELL COME TO FROGTOWN.

Roddy Piper is Hell, One of the last fertile men alive in the world and destined to help rebuild humanity. Sandahl Bergman is a government scientist assigned to Pipers’ HELL. Lost in the wastelands tethered by a shock collar to his escort (Bergman) and battling evil tribes of amphibious savages. When his companions are kidnapped by the Frogs he must navigate a nightmarish hellscape to free them and give humanity one-more-chance.

One of Roddy Pippers lesser known cult classics. Hell Comes to Frogtown is actually a very very good movie. Loaded with very convincing practical make-up and visual effects; with a story that actually looks like someone was thinking outside the box. Bergman is as beautiful and engaging as she ever was. And Roddy Pipper is just awesome.

Critical reception for Hell Comes to Frogtown has been mixed to positive. TV Guide awarded the film two out of five stars, calling it “Another of those futuristic, post-apocalyptic science fiction dramas”.^[4]

DVD Talk gave the film three out of five stars, writing, “Rowdy Roddy Piper has to save the world by diddling beautiful babes and squashing six-foot mutant toads with crummy attitudes. What’s not to like?”^[5]

Jason Cook from The Spinning Image rated the film a score of six out of ten stars, writing, “Cheap and cheerful its narrative lulls and directorial shortcomings are glossed over by a winning central performance and a smattering of witty dialogue. Its no cinematic masterpiece, but were there any talking mutant frogs in Citizen Kane?”^[6]

Though not received well by critics, producer Randall Frakes says he was glad the fans seemed to like it and “get all the jokes as intended”.

Hell Comes to Frogtown inspired the title of the “Hell Comes to Quahog” (2006) episode of animated television series Family Guy.

I really don’t want to spoil this one. So keep an open mind. Be cool. Be real. and always keep that finger on the REWIND button.

REV WYN is a psychedelic synth rocker banging a drum machine in the Sonoran Desert.
– REV WYN ( https://revwyn.bandcamp.com/ )

I’ve been a resident of Tucson, Arizona for about three years already and when it comes to a solid art scene there is a lot to be desired here. Of course, you have dozens of inspired and ambitious artists living within the city limits – however, there isn’t a lot of cultivation and networking happening here; and in some rare cases – lost causes.
So it was a nice and welcomed breathe of fresh air to find an artist living here in town with material that actually sparked some interest out of me and felt absolutely untainted by imitation.

Rev Wyn has a very charismatic aura to his work that feels nostalgic yet original simultaneously. According to his bandcamp he records his music using a 4-track recorder. I myself have a 4-track tascam in my arsenal so I can appreciate the patience and natural talent it takes to mix on one.

Rev currently has a bandcamp account with three singles uploaded for sale and they are very good. He also has been slowly releasing music videos on his youtube.

“Total Abandon” is an album produced in the spirit of Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska,” entirely on a 4 track tape machine in Covid-19 quarantine over the course of a few months in the Sonoran Desert of Tucson, Arizona. Initially planned as a series of lo fi demos, things evolved into a complete artistic statement. With analog drum machine, synthesizers, an SM57 mic and a vocal delay pedal, REV WYN performed and recorded these songs live in the depths of his isolation. The album is done, and for sale to the highest bidder. For now :“
– Rev Wyn

His physical persona is very flamboyant and animated- much as you would imagine a 1980’s television host with equal parts Bowie, Peter Murphy and hints of Nick Cave would be.
His vocal performance is very interesting as his voice carries a weight and a cadence that fluctuates and resonates which might make people say is inspired by the Thin White Duke himself. However, his delivery reminds me more of Joe Romersa’s voice on ‘Hometown’ from the Silent Hill 3: Origins soundtrack; as well as Barry Adamson. It is very unsettling and aesthetically engaging as he jumps back n forth in the pocket of his productions with an almost vaudevillian bravado. 

GO follow and see for yourselves what the desert has to offer.
Stay cool, stay safe, stay vigilant out there in America. Talk Hard and keep your finger on that REWIND button.
Signing out.
– SamHaiNe

Below are two music videos from his youtube channel –

‘Songs of Love & Death’ – The March 2020 E.P. features  Chaka playing all instruments and vocals (except on track #1 featuring Lady Red Ray on backing vocals) and crafting four very dark, introspective and synth riddled tracks.

I asked Chaka what inspired this album, Ghost Decibels he answered:

This record was inspired by my need to hear some new exciting music that has some emotional content combined with some excitement.

The first track opens up a soft series of tones that lull into comfort before the bass drops and all those familiar feelings of darkness and smokey emotions rush in the moment Chka’s voice speaks his first lines. The vocals are impressive and mixed very well against the driving production with a very new romantic delivery that reminds me of the 80’s bands: DAYS OF SORROW, THE WILD FLOWERS, SKINNY PUPPY, B MOVIE and, dare I say, a hint of George Lamont and Noel. Truly a fantastic opener to start any project with.

‘Celebrate’, the second track, follows after with a very Kraftwerk influenced vibe that carries a slight hint of that NY Freestyle element. Sue me, I can hear a subtle 80’s freestyle vibe on this track.

When asked what were his influences on this project, Chaka replied:

Bands that inspired my were YAZ, Pet Shop Boys, Human League, Joy Division, etc.

All those bands are some of my favorites growing up and essential for anyone looking to get into avant-garde music.

The third track, ‘Get Involved’ is the experimental delight of the album. Feeeling very Vince Clark with lyrics that resonate and permeate the disjointed rhythms .

The final track is ‘Giza Beach’ wtih distorted guitars and hi-claps descending into electro-synth boom baps; this is probably the song I will dedicate to my girlfriend ASAP. Truly dark imagery and isolating imagery highlighted by organs in the distant background. It’s the Candyman slowdance we’ve all danced in our heads when remembering someone, something or someplace. The guitars carry you out and close the E.P. with an abruptness that begs you to want more. more. more.

I recommend this album for anyone in the New Retro or Vapor scene that’s looking for something a lil more left of center and fleshed out than the revolving door of New retro and synth producers saturating the scene. It’s worth your listening ears intrigue and more than worth your dollar.

Go listen to SONGS OF LOVE & DEATH @https://wardancerecords.bandcamp.com/track/something-to-live-for

Until Next week, keep it cool and in house and your fingers on that rewind button.

Imagine Hobo with a Shotgun with a lower budget and spliced with Assault on Precinct 19 and you’ll get VFW. A 2019 action piece distributed by Fangoria and starring a who’s who of villains from your treasured 80’s Mount Rushmore and Fred Williamson; and that guy from CHEERS.

This little gem of nostalgia I found at my local WALMART was under $20.00 in the bargain bin and I figured “What the hell”, I had to have it.

As mentioned, this movie was done on a noticeably low budget and being filmed on a limited funding of money meant that the film has to utilize the positives it has:  1. Taking advantage of dialogue between its characters, 2. Letting their ensemble cast fly and inhabit their characters, 3. Just going for it.

The premise is kind of clever, take the opioid epidemic and make something of a zombie movie out of it. The junkies are basically living zombies.  Our heroes are veterans of the Vietnam, Korean and Iraq wars, trapped inside of a VFW post after a young woman runs through its doors being chased by drug pushers and they scramble to her aid. What follows is something that a young John Carpenter would’ve dreamt up if he were a thirty year old man breaking into the industry.

Stephen Lang is constant and authentic as a weathered Vietnam veteran running a bar and celebrating his birthday with his comrades. He is stoic, intense, humorous and delivers his lines with a true blue grit in his teeth that is reminiscent of the caliber of a Clint Eastwood. Willam Sadler is the scene stealer with his performance of a man who has to deal with his present situation the best way he knows how. Fred Williamson is great as well with a character performance very similar any of his legendary roles prior in his career.  Martin Kove from Karate Kid fame plays the atypical slick talking fish out of water character that give off the vibe that at any moment he is going to sell out our heroes.

The soundtrack is reminiscent of Hobo with a Shotgun with lots of synths and low bass vibes.

The lighting is immaculate with its uses of blues, reds and greens. However, the cinematography did come up short with framing the shots with this color palette leaving a lot of scenes looking too dark or hidden in shadows.

The length of the film is not a burden; short and sweet. After binging on S. Korean movies the night before, VFW was a quick injection of fun, humor, gore, violence and good cheer and should be viewed on either  video on demand or like I did on physical media.

Definitely a WATCH IT kind of movie; Smoke’em if you got them and keep your finger on that Rewind button.

It was a late night in Arizona.

I was just starting to relax and rest after a long shift at work as a cook when I decided to scroll and browse through Instagram for brain food or cerebral junk to consume. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary or exceptionally inspiring.

Until, I passed by a short clip of a music video with a well light car with a dapperly dressed MC spitting in the driver seat. The music didn’t quite fit what you’d expect from a contemporary Rap video or any underground HIP HOP video. It wasn’t that god-awful mumble trap rap and it wasn’t boom-bap. It was more vaporwave with hints of synth. It was the music video for Anthony Danza’s – “At All Costs” from his album The BBS Diaries (2019).

The West Coast producer that’s worked with such names as Nipsey Hustle, Torey Lanez and many more has just released his new project BBS Diaries vol 2 and it is fire.

From the opening track “The Way You Like it”, Anthony rewards his fans with exactly the same energy and vibe he unleashed on his previous BBS Diaries with crisp vocals over the S.O.S. Bands “Just the way you like it”. Perfect way to break the ice on a night in quarantine. I immediately switched on my blacklight and sat up at my work desk like I was in a Miami Vice scene.

The following tracks keep the momentum going with nostalgic productions that reference the underrated era of late 80’s & early 90’s R&B but, updated and saturated with synths and crisp mixing. The vocals are lovely as F*$%. The lyrical content is silk flows and metaphors about life on the streets. It’s uptempo rhymes and 80’s glam. “Big Body” with Larry June is perfect for the hookah lounge on Saturday night or a blacklit dance club hidden away somewhere in LA’s lurid nightlife.
There’s even small interludes to break up the progression of songs; all voice mail messages from an unknown promoter that sounds like Ken Kaniff from Connecticut. The two gems on the album is “We Follow” which features a piece sampled from retro artists THE MIDNIGHT. “We Follow” also showcases Danza at his most retrospective with lines like “We had no chance probably, we idolized Pablo/ Shawn Carter gave us the blueprint, we bravo/ Tony and Carlito, George and Alpo, they all come from nothing like us, so they sparkle/” painting a collage of real and fictious role models that most of us knew we wrong but, like they did, streets have to eat; disillusioned with an instinct to survive in the ruins.
“Away from the path of the system where we watched our mothers get pressed and our fathers get swallowed.” Deep and poignant lyrics.

And my second favorite track would be “Get Hot” feat. Che Blaq a optimistic and upbeat track about well keeping things above board and not letting anyone else’s misery get you down and pulses with the energy of Madonna’s “Get into the Groove” propelling it forward.

Definitely go and give this album a listen and his other two albums. I’d give this three thumbs up and a rewind.

To be honest, I was over it before I walked into the theater.

The GOOD:

Let’s get the good out of the way. It was faced paced.
It had moments of humor and it had moments (although some for nothing) of sadness and emotion.
The actors did what they could and had to do. I have no complaints about any of the acting from all three films in the new trilogy. Let’s be honest the acting in these films was better than the empty emotionless acting in the Prequels. They auditioned for these parts, they earned them and they did what they had to do. It’s not there fault.

The visuals were good but, it’s a DISNEY movie. I mean does having good visuals and effects really make a difference in a film funded by a multi-billion dollar media corporation.
“Wow, the aliens looks real!”
“Of course, they do. The studio spent as much money as a third world country’s economy on five minutes of footage.”

What else can I say that’s good about it? Well, they did try to wrap everything up nicely. They did try to remind us of the magic and message of hope of the whole franchise.

The BAD:

They basically all sat in a writer’s room and shat in the same burlap sack and took turns throwing clumps of shit at a bulletin board of McGuffins and fan service and duct taped the plot holes with Band-aids.
I’ll summarize because, this is a movie where the less said is better.

If you enjoy fast paced action and events happening just to happening and plot devices being pulled out of asses. Then you’ll like this film. If you were young when The Force Awakens and you love these new characters, then you’ll like the film (nothing wrong with that).

Younger audience members with enjoy the film because these are movies made for younger audiences. And these young fans will grow up and defend these movies much like a lot of twenty-somethings now defend the prequels. But, not me – To me this saga concluded with Return of the Jedi. Everything that has come after has been WEEKEND AT BERNIES.

The film does a poor job of avoiding questions raised in The Force Awakens while failing at ignoring the events of the Last Jedi. The story is just a convoluted mess of nonsense dressed in tattered rags of nostalgia and fan-service. The emperor is back but how, how did he survive Return of the Jedi? They movie never answers that. Why did he make some many Snokes? The film doesn’t answer that. How did all those Star Destroyers get buried on the planet? We don’t know. Why is he suspended on a life support harness that is attached to the sky? I don’t know. He looks like the Doctor Cenebite from Hellraiser too. I guess the makers have never seen Hellraiser. I don’t even think they’ve seen Return of the Jedi.

Is Kylo Ren now a supporting character? Yes. People use the force and die, why? We don’t know?
Did Carrie Fisher deserve better? Yes. The emperor was wasted. Now that I mention it, how does the Emperor in his decayed state look fresher than he did in Return of the Jedi? If he revived himself from the lifeforce of Rey and Kylo, why does he look like his scared self from Revenge of the Sith? Shouldn’t he look like Palpatine again?

What was the point of the very emotional scene of 3PO saying goodbye to his friends when R2 was just going to reboot his memory at the end? A good scene wasted. How good was it? Well three seats down from me in the front row was a middle-aged man sunken into his seat sobbing his eyes out with rivers of tears cascading down his face onto his Championship NY Jets Jersey.

There were good moments in the film and some good action set pieces but, with no defined plot to thread them together it was all for nothing.

Basically, Rey is a Palpatine grandchild. Palpatine is offering Kylo the entire ‘LAST ORDER’ fleet of star destroyers to Ren if he can bring the girl to him. Yes, the ‘LAST ORDER’. A fleet of hundreds of star destroyers armed with planet killer cannons. You know, because we people are tired of ultimate weapons in their star wars films, you give them a hundred ultimate weapons. Rey, Fin, Po, BB, 3po and Chewie go on a treasure hunt for a sith-finder. The sith-finder that resembles a throwaway prop from an episode of DOCTOR WHO can give its owner the coordinates to the secret sith fleet and Emperor Palpatine. The movie takes off from there and it does move. All these events and shenanigans leading our heroes to a fairly decent space battle and ground fight on the planet bumblefuck until, the big showdown between the ying-yang couple and Emperor Frankenberry.

From then on, it’s drek. And I was the first one out the theater during the smattering of applause.
It’s not complete garbage but, it’s not great. It’s decent for an ugly date. Like I said, the cast did their thing and did a decent job. The fault of all of this falls on the hands of Disney and JJ. Rian Johnson too but, he said, “You don’t like it, fuck it” and bailed a long time ago and is doing well with his own projects like KNIVES OUT which is a great movie.

This new trilogy was not planned out well, not executed well, not written well and taken for granted. They relied too much of the blind undying devotion and in some cases fanatical support of the Star Wars fans to send them laughing to the bank. But, their arrogance made them into villains for a confused and divided fanbase to decide how to justify or how to make sense of it all.

Good luck in a galaxy far, far, away. Better luck on the next trilogy or film. And thank your lucky stars that the writers of Game of Thrones aren’t involved with the next Star Wars movies. Because, this new trilogy may have been bad but, it didn’t suck like Season 8 did.

But, hey, you got The Mandalorian.

TIMECOP 1983’s recent release “NIGHT DRIVE” is available
@ https://timecop1983.bandcamp.com/album/night-drive

“Timecop1983 is back again with another album destined for greatness. Another huge release with many monumental tracks and features! Sit back and dream!”

Link:

Be advised: the following is merely me turning the themes of said movie on its head and putting a new perspective on it. I am not snowflaking on your childhood. In fact, I’m just having some fun and talking about a great movie from a great time in my life. So check your feelings in the butt.

The 1985 fantasy teen coming of age film starring Michael J Fox was the #2 movie at the domestic box office when it premiered in theaters. The number 1 spot went to Back to the Future also starring Michael J Fox. The film isn’t the best of times but, we all remember watching it on television and daydreaming about roof surfing, wolfing out and being “That dude” flexing your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

So what’s it all about? Teen Wolf was co-written by Jeff Loeb who would later go on to become a well-known comic book writer and producer of both television and film (Smallville, Lost, Commando, Heroes) and Executive Vice President of Marvel Television. It’s the story of a teen in the everyday ideal suburb of America. He’s got the picket fences, the mall, the pseudo-cool best friend, the cool female best friend and all the social anxieties of being a teenager. He’s smitten with the hot blonde in school who’s in love with the meathead with Peter Gallagher eyebrows. After a night out at a house party and seven minutes in heaven, Scott suddenly feels something strange happening to his body and rushes home to discover he’s more than just experiencing growing pains; he’s in fact going through his first full moon transformation as a Werewolf.

No, Scott wasn’t bitten by a stray lycanthrope behind the Jack in the Box. Scott received his affliction/blessing through his genes. Turns out, Scott is the part of a family of werewolves that have adapted to living among humanity and assimilated.

Now we can take this as an allegory for puberty at face value or, we can take things a little further and dive into the rabbit hole. Besides the obvious themes of growing up on Main Street, America, what else could we extrapolate and theorize? Well I’d like to throw my hatchet into the buffet and say “Teen Wolf can also be a film about accepting one’s own racial identity in America”

See, when I watch Teen Wolf and I like watching Teen Wolf every-so-often. I amuse my fellow audience members with the idea that Scott isn’t just discovering that he is a werewolf but, in fact he’s bi-racial; That his family somewhere in the past due to being fair-skinned made the choice of assimilating into mainstream society by keeping their mixed identity a secret; That these themes were either subconscious or just too clever for the time. For example look what happened when Hollyweird tried making a generic comedy about racial identity – They made Soul Man (1986). Soul Man being a movie I’ll probably never touch, unless I was ripped to the jugular on rot gut and pain medications.

But, think about it. Scott’s family is the cookie cutter square American family, even his cousin Todd in the bland but identically similar sequel Teen Wolf Too.

See when Scott transforms, he isn’t roaming the countryside feeding on the weak and transient; he isn’t terrorizing the community he lives in or feasting on human flesh. He’s still very civil and coherent. According to the film the only differences between human Scott and Wolf Scott is his enhanced athleticism and charisma and his obvious facial differences leaning more towards his wolf side than his “human” side and the hair a lot of hair. Nevertheless, he’s walking with a strut like a symbiotic Peter Parker, he’s the star basketball player, he’s picking up chicks, he’s breakdancing – he’s breakdancing. Breakdancing? See where this was going?

The true conflict of the film is not Scott beefing with the brushy eyebrow antagonist but, his conflict of should he just be himself  – the wolf within the young man or just the Wolf and all that dog and pony show that the wolf persona has elevated him into in the eyes of his peers. Should he be himself or exploit his heritage for swag and instant gratification.

Scott chooses to be himself and wins the big game by being comfortable within who he is. He doesn’t have to be who anyone else expects him to be or jump through someone else’s hoop. Even realizing the best friend at his side is the real love of his life. His self-confidence inspires his team and they all come through. It’s a story about being young and self-discovery. No matter how you paint it. It’s us and we’re all winners.

So think about it and enjoy yourselves. Be beautiful in your own eyes and let it shine outward.

Keep it classy, keep it fresh and keep your claws on that Rewind Button.

• S. H.

Warning: the following movie featured in this review may have some triggers for the sensibly vulnerable and the Charmin skinned elitists of social media.

At some point in the 80s independent film makers with few options and financing to get their creative projects into the consumer markets (this was before Sundance) gathered the few bucks they could rub together and took advantage of the VHS prices for direct to video distribution and the long forgotten and reminisced local video rental store to give us some of the worse aged, cult classic, terrible, future adult store shelf fillers of our lifetimes. There were some really really bad ones. Fortunately, to our benefit the majority of them were amazing, even if just campy low budget exploitation films.

One of the studios to make a big buck and still to this day distributes films is New Jersey’s own Troma Films.

Loyd Kaufman if you saw him in the street would just appear to be a regular mild-mannered Jewish man from Jersey. But to many of us, he’s the father of Tromaville.

The year was 1984 when Troma films introduced the world to the first radioactive superhero of superhuman size and strength, also a good Jewish boy from Jersey, named Melvin. Melvin the mop boy which sounds like some new-school Trap-rapper was just a nerdy, freckled faced, buck tooth, squint eyed douche-pit that worked at his local fitness emporium and spa. He was too awkward for his own good and food for the appetites of every bully that happened by.

His life sucked. The only person that could love his warm pudding face was his Mom; he lived with his mom. Until one day after a freak accident and a nosedive through a second story window into a batch of radioactive waste when he violently mutated into the incredible superhuman known as the Toxic Avenger, protector of all the little people of Tromaville, New Jersey.

Our story follows this deformed hero as he takes revenge on the persecutors that have tormented him and the residents of this town for long enough. Stomping out corruption from it’s roots in the streets up to local government officials.

When I say this is exploitation I mean that it falls in the same vein of pulpy low budget action films of that era and the previous. This is Dolemite meets the incredibly Kosher HULK. A chunky peanut butter filled with edible and entertainingly gratuitous violence and schlock. There’s head crushing, eyeball gouging, nut destroying, nudity, fat jokes and self deprecating humor. Not to spoil the most uncomfortably amusing dry humping scene ever filmed.

I give this a full hearted recommendation not just because it’s aged like fine cheese and wine but, because it’s a beloved film and still inspires a lot of people. Including those of who relish and create from a beautiful palette of nostalgia and good feelings.

Directed by Michael Herz and Loyd Kaufman with a budget of only $500,000. Starring Mitch Cohen, Mark Torgl, Andree Maranda and Pat Ryan Jr.

Scenes for the film were shot at various locations in New Jersey, including Jersey City, Boonton, Harrison, and Rutherford during the summer of 1983.

The Toxic Avenger received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film 2 1/2 out of a possible 4 stars, calling the film, “A funny spoof… Not without violence and gore but still entertaining.” Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 68% “fresh” rating based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. In January 2018, the film was re-evaluated by the Film Critic’s Association and was given a 100% approval rating based on appeal of the film and overall satisfaction of it’s production. The film will be inducted into the Library of Congress in 2018.

So stay clean and fit and tight and gorgeous and keep your damn fingers of that rewind button.

• Sam HaiNe.

Tune in Next Week as I review the 80’s classic high school film Teen Wolf and discuss it’s subversive subtext and message.

MOVIE LINK: https://youtu.be/P1zcf7H5AWM