Last night I witnessed Rubber at its NYC premiere. The film will be divisive, to say the least. When director Quentin Dupieux came out before the screening he asked why the hell everyone was there, and stated that “It’s a short film, but it feels long because it’s so boring.” The audience nervously laughed, not sure what they were getting themselves into.

Half the people who watch it will undoubtedly hate it, but if you “get” the film it’s an absolute blast. The trailer really does it no justice whatsoever, and it’s probably better to go into this one blind. The killer tire is only half the story here, the other a metaphysical examination of film and the meaning of film (and film without meaning). Besides the killer tire we also see an audience watching the film through binoculars and even getting involved personally, as well as a cop trying to put on a good show for the crowd. The movie breaks the fourth wall constantly, and while yes it does drag on a bit with endless shots of the tire rolling down the road (80% of the time rolled by hand, according to the director. No CGI here!) if you’re in the right frame of mind you’ll be laughing throughout. Especially when you see how many heads explode.

I can see this one becoming playing midnight screenings for a long time to come, as it’s clearly destined to become a cult flick. It’s too weird not to be.

Fun fact! Director Quentin Dupieuxis also known as Mr. Oizo, of Flat Eric fame. He also worked on the music for the film, which really is fantastic and only adds to the hilarity.

On to the news for the week!

ZOMBIE LORDS – The Lords of Salem gets a shooting date and not much else. Joy. Remember when Rob Zombie was an exciting director? When House of 1,000 Corpses and (to a much greater extent) The Devil’s Rejects promised a director that knew and understood what horror was? And then the Halloween films showed us how wrong we all were? Yeah.

I’ll still give the man a shot as I’m a huge fan of his music, but it’s hard not to be hesitant.


THE DEAD SPIN– The Walking Dead is coming to DVD and Blu-ray in March. It’s a little bit early for a second viewing but I’ll probably pick it up before the second season kicks off. I can’t help but dig the show, even if they ended it on the worst episode. Here’s a trailer to help you remember what you just watched-

MONSTER IN YOUR CLOSET– Monsters is on dvd and blu-ray this week, finally. Pick up Gareth Edward’s flick and see for yourself if the man is ready for Godzilla. (Hint- the answer is yes.)

BUBBA FREE-TEP In the first installment of this column I mentioned how Joe R. Lansdale puts up a new short story every week on his site for your free reading pleasure, and today it’s none other than Bubba Ho-Tep. Read it and be amazed at how much came straight from the story- most of your favorite lines from the film are right there. It’s hard not to read it now and think of Bruce Campbell’s stunning performance, of course, but the story still is one of Lansdale’s best. Read it now! It’s just a shame the page is formatted so bizarrely but hell, you should own this anyway.

OPEN UP SOME ZOMBIES – Yesterday Microsoft announced that they’re working with new developer Undead Labs on a new zombie videogame. Yawn, ho hum, and all that, but wait- it’s actually an open world survival horror game. The XBLA title will have a huge focus on online co-op play. Expect third person action that will give you everything from hand-to-hand combat to guns to cars, and a reliance on your friends for help and planning. From the press release- “Players choose where to make their stand, designing and fortifying their settlements, performing daring raids for valuable stores of food and ammunition, and rescuing other playable survivors. The open world develops in real-time, shaped by player actions, with content determined by their choices and the ever-increasing zombie threat.

Nice. More as we hear it.

HORROR IN THE BIG APPLE– New Yorkers, the Film Comment Selects series is back, and this year they’ve got a few big offerings for the genre fans. The big one is HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, which should be an absolute blast with a crowd. Also showing will be John Landis’s Burke and Hare, James Wan’s Insidious, Jim Ji-Woon’s I Saw The Devil and Sion Sono’s Cold Fish. The latter two are presented by Subway Cinema and the New York Asian Film Fest, so you know they’ll be great.

Tickets go on sale today so jump on that.

That’s it for now. See you in seven.