Cinema Shock

SANTA SANGRE (1989) | Alejandro Jodorowsky, Part 4

After a years-long absence from the world of filmmaking, Alejandro Jodorowsky made his return to movies with the help of Italian producer Claudio Argento.
Their collaborative effort, 1989's SANTA SANGRE, is often considered Jodorowsky's best work. But its journey to the screen was not always an easy one. In this, our final episode in our series covering the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky, we'll take a detailed look at the story behind the production of the controversial director's most accessible film.
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973) | Alejandro Jodorowsky, Part 3

After EL TOPO became a cult sensation in New York City and beyond, the doors were open for Alejandro Jodorowsky to begin work on his next film.
The resulting film — largely funded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono! — is one of the director's seminal works, a metaphysical journey through the Tarot and the other esoteric practices that Jodorowsky surrounded himself with. It's also, in keeping with tradition, really, really weird.
And like its predecessor, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN proved to be, and continues to be, a highly controversial work. In this episode, we'll trace the film's origins through production and release, and discuss its divisive legacy 50 years after its original run.
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

EL TOPO (1970) | Alejandro Jodorowsky, Part 2

In the 2nd part of our series on Alejandro Jodorowsky, we'll discuss the creation and release of the controversial director's most notorious film, EL TOPO.
With EL TOPO, Jodorowsky effectively invented the Midnight Movie as we know it. In this episode, not only will we recount the history of EL TOPO's production, but also a short history of the Midnight Movie circuit of the early 1970s, including the introduction of its chief architect, the legendary Ben Barenholtz!
Trigger Warning: This episode includes a discussion of sexual assault.
Show Notes:  
📰Read: Is 'El Topo' A Con? by Vincent Candy (The New York Times, 1971): https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/23/archives/is-el-topo-a-con-is-el-topo-a-con.html📰Read: Should 'El Topo' Be Elevated to 'El Tops'? by Peter Schjeldahl (The New York Times, 1971): https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/06/archives/should-el-topo-be-elevated-to-el-tops.html
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

FANDO Y LIS (1968) | Alejandro Jodorowsky, Part 1

It's time for another series here on Cinema Shock, and we're getting weird with this one! 
We're kicking off our 4-part series on cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky with a look at his debut film FANDO Y LIS. 
In this episode, we'll discuss Jodorowsky's life growing up as an outcast in Chile, through his travels with Marcel Marceau, his work with the Panic Movement and avant-garde theater, and everything else that led to his work in film.
Show Notes: 
 
📺Watch The Severed Heads: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1rhIqZDs2Q
📺Watch scenes from Sacramental Melodrama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jIkgB76LY
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

MIAMI CONNECTION (1987) | Cinema Shock Roulette #4

It's time for another exciting game of Cinema Shock Roulette!
If you've never listened to a Roulette episode before, the idea is simple: Using a list of films that we've compiled, we allow a random number generator to pick a movie off the list to be the next subject of these standalone episodes.
For this episode, the universe must have been smiling at us, because the randomly-selected film was Y.K. Kim's infamous late-80s ode to friendship, rock-n-roll, and Taekwondo: MIAMI CONNECTION.
The story behind this film — and its creator — is a fascinating one, but the story behind its resurgence may be even more interesting. We can't wait to share the story of MIAMI CONNECTION with you!
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Cinema Shock Roundtable #15 | Announcing our next Cinema Shock Roulette entry!

Well, we just wrapped up our 7 episode series on the career of Sam Raimi, and you know what that means: It's time for another Cinema Shock Roulette episode!
Roulette episodes are randomly selected from an ongoing list (which you can find over on Justin's Letterboxd) and are designed to function as standalone episodes, not part of a larger series. It allows us to explore the history behind cult films that may not fit into a larger theme or filmmaker's filmography.
What's our next Roulette episode gonna be? We don't know! We'll choose it during the course of this episode, so you'll have to listen to this week's Roundtable to find out what it is!

Sam Raimi: The Entertainer | DRAG ME TO HELL (2009)

When THE QUICK & THE DEAD failed to make a splash at the box office, Sam Raimi blamed himself. Or rather, he blamed his inability to adapt his filmmaking style to fit the film that he was creating.
This led to some soul searching, after which he directed three dramatic films that are conspicuously void of the type of bold visual flourishes that we've come to expect from Raimi.
After that, he was pulled into a nearly decade long endeavor to bring Spider-Man to the big screen. But that's a story for another day.
In this episode — the conclusion to our Sam Raimi series — we're focusing on the development and production of Raimi's follow-up to the SPIDER-MAN trilogy, his return to the type of Spook-A-Blast films where he made his name: 2009's DRAG ME TO HELL.
GoFundMe for Alyssa Fowler: https://gofund.me/60e5d127
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Sam Raimi: The Entertainer | THE QUICK & THE DEAD (1994)

In the early half of the 1990s, the Western suddenly became popular in American cinemas again, thanks to films like UNFORGIVEN and TOMBSTONE.
Coming near the end of this cycle was Sam Raimi's THE QUICK & THE DEAD, a stylish interpretation of the genre that whittles the Western down to its basest elements, all while using a visual style that's distinctly Raimi-esque.
In this episode, we'll track the development of the film, including how Sam Raimi wound up being hired to direct one of the most star studded casts of his career, in the first film he'd made in which he had no hand in writing.
The Playboy Interview with Keanu Reeves: https://www.playboy.com/read/the-playboy-interview-with-keanu-reeves
GoFundMe for Alyssa Fowler: https://gofund.me/60e5d127
The Love-Alive Charity: https://love-alive.org
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Cinema Shock Roundtable#14 | The ARMY OF DARKNESS Extended Comic Book Universe

In this Roundtable discussion, we're talking bout the many (many, many) ARMY OF DARKNESS spin-off comics, which see Ash facing off against the likes of everyone from Dracula to the band KISS in what we'd like to refer to as The ARMY OF DARKNESS Extended Comic Book Universe (otherwise known as the AODECBU).

Sam Raimi: The Entertainer | ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992)

After the success of DARKMAN, both Universal Pictures and Dino De Laurentiis — who'd produced EVIL DEAD 2 — were willing to move forward on a new entry into the EVIL DEAD franchise.
The third EVIL DEAD film, which would eventually be titled ARMY OF DARKNESS, moved the franchise even further from its gritty exploitation horror roots and into the world of Harryhausen-inspired fantasy adventure, but with Raimi and Campbell's signature humor intact.
In this episode, we'll discuss the creation of ARMY OF DARKNESS, including all of the ups and downs of its production, delayed release, and eventual ascension to cult classic status.
GoFundMe for Alyssa Fowler: https://gofund.me/60e5d127
Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.
This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.