// Category Archive for: Underground/Cult

The Best Cult Movie You’ve Never Heard Of: “Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except”

By Jeffery X Martin

There are plenty of people who love bad movies, the ones where the budget is low and aspirations are high. The kind of films where the creators do whatever they can to tell their story. These are the movies that inspire rabid cult followings, titles like Troll II or Miami Connection.

With that in mind, it’s time to talk about Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except.
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Music Review: Various Artists, Close To The Noise Floor

By Less Lee Moore

Cherry Red Records has done it again. This time, their triumph comes in the form of Close to the Noise Floor, a four-disc set which gives music junkies a taste of the “quiet electronic revolution that took place across the UK in the late 1970s and early 1980s.” The contents are staggeringly impressive and endlessly fascinating, with each disc flawlessly sequenced and boasting its own unique essence.

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Music Review: Tiny Tim, Tiny Tim’s America

By Hanna

The 20-year anniversary of Tiny Tim’s death continues with an absolute treat for fans in the form of Tiny Tim’s America. This release is special because it’s comprised of new material, from recordings Tiny made in 1974 when he was in between recording contracts. Using this demo tape, a number of songs were chosen to compile a vinyl album (plus mp3 download). The original entire demo recording is also included on the mp3 download.

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TV Review: Lucha Underground S02, E22-24, “Ultima Lucha Dos, Part I”

By Sachin Hingoo

This whole batshit season of Lucha Underground, starting with the rise and fall of Mil Muertes, the introduction of the monster Matanza, and everything in between, has led to this moment. The final three episodes for the year comprise “Ultima Lucha Dos,” Lucha Underground’s season finale, and all the pieces are in place for some wild confrontations.

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Book Review: Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion

By Christine Makepeace

I like the idea of collecting the musing and essays from individual Arrow releases into a single bound book. In theory, that is. In reality, if I’m interested in reading analysis on a specific film, like Dressed to Kill, wouldn’t I already have that Blu-ray in my collection?

There’s a chance the answer to that tug of war will color the amount of value you’re able to find in Cult Cinema: An Arrow Video Companion. I flip-flopped on this as I meandered through its pages. When faced with a piece on Zombie Flesh Eaters I struggled to muddle through. Perhaps a mix of topic and writing style, I just couldn’t commit to paragraph after paragraph on a movie I didn’t have much interest in, and that was my reaction to the majority of this book.

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New On Vinyl: Soundtracks for Basket Case 2 / Frankenhooker

By Tim Murr

You know, I don’t talk enough about Frank Hennenlotter. He made six insanely funny body horror/exploitation films including the cult favorites Basket Case, Frankenhooker, and Brain Damage. If you take the heady, wet horror of David Cronenberg and the gleeful sleaze of John Waters and drag them through the gutters of 1970s 42nd Street, you’ll still be surprised at how crazy a Frank Henenlotter movie can get.

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TV Review: Lucha Underground, S2 E16-21, “The Prelude To Ultima Lucha Dos”

By Sachin Hingoo

This arc of Lucha Underground is the beginning of the drive to Ultima Lucha Dos, the second season finale of the show. It’s where all the established storylines are set to climax and, in some cases, converge. Last year’s two-part finale was the best episode of Lucha Underground so far, and did a great job of setting the wheels in motion for Season Two. Ultima Lucha Dos should be at least as explosive, based on the pieces being put into place.
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Music Review: Shoot Your Shot: The Divine Anthology

By Eric Weber

The time was 1991; the place was Wax n Facts in Atlanta, Georgia.

Flipping through the packed cardboard box, my jaw dropped when I saw the huge white letters emblazoned across the top of the record sleeve: DIVINE.

I quickly snatched it up, examining every inch of the album. I couldn’t believe it. Divine: Greatest Hits. He had hits?

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TV Review: Lucha Underground, S2 E11 – 15

By Sachin Hingoo

Hey, I just met you,
and this is crazy,
Robert Rodriguez
loves lucha libre!

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve visited the Temple, and with Dario Cueto back in control and his feral brother Matanza as champion, the whole show has a different feel. Gone is Mil Muertes looming over the Temple on his throne and the candles and other spooky touches Catrina put in Dario’s office. Instead we’re back to having live bands play us into the shows and a general feeling that chaotic violence can erupt at any time. I have to say that I’m glad to have Dario back in the backstage vignettes in particular, because he’s a much better actor than Catrina and has his sadistic douchebag character down pat.

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Blu-Ray Review: The Stuff

By Sachin Hingoo

All stills courtesy of DVDBeaver

A genuine curiosity, even for B-movies, The Stuff was one of the first horrors I was ever exposed to when it randomly came up on cable one night when I was a kid. Though it may not be scary (a pretty terrible metric for the quality of a horror film anyhow, since everyone is scared by different things) to anyone but althaiophobics, it definitely had a way of getting under my skin. Its singular style and off-beat premise sucked me in almost immediately. It has a much brighter palette and tone than most horrors, and has a charming slapdash quality about it that makes it feel like it’s always just about to go off the rails. Of course, you’ll realize at some point during the film that it was never on rails to begin with.

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