“You can’t run from evil when it lives next door.”
Sam Raimi didn’t start out at the top directing three of the highest grossing blockbusters of all time with Spiderman. He started at the very bottom going door to door with his aspiring actor buddy Bruce Campbell, asking dentists to invest their Vegas money in a little project called “Book of the Dead.” That obscure project went on to become one of the most lauded horror films of the eighties and helped start the entire video nasty craze in England under the more well known name of “Evil Dead.”
Check out this great clip from Jonathan Ross’ Incredibly Strange Film Show as Raimi discusses the horror roots of his filmmaking career.
For more on Sam Raimi and the Evil Dead, be sure to check out Geo’s great article on Evil Dead here.
Rock star turned filmmaker Rob Zombie shared a look back at some of his filmmaking roots by sharing a link to a video he directed back in the 90′s. Rob posted a link to the Prong video on his official blog this morning.
“Here’s one I directed from way back in the day. This sucker is fifteen years ago. Crap, where does the time go. Prong were a great band and did a whole bunch of shows with White Zombie. I think this was their best line-up with Paul Raven on bass. Wacky low budget video. Enjoy.”
Visit Rob Zombie’s official blog here.
This week on Streebo’s Mid-week B-Movie Poster Watch – we feature an A list movie with B-movie roots! It’s johnathan Demme’s masterpiece – Silence of the Lambs! This is the variation of the classic poster art – featuring Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Check it out. If you like what you see – go buy it on eBay!
**Streebo
SILENCE OF LAMBS MOVIE HORROR 24″X36″ POSTER
While the phrase “grand-guignol” has become commonplace in describing anything bloody or gory, its origin has its roots in an almost forgotten theater at the end of one of Paris’ alleyways. This theater, which started out life as a Catholic church, became famous for showing blood, guts, dismemberment, thrown eyeballs, acid burned faces, and severed tongues.
The Théâtre du Grand-Guignol (literally, The Theatre of the Large Puppet) was born in a part of town well-known for its roughnecks and whores in 1897. By the time it closed its doors for good in 1962 it had entertained hundreds of thousands of people and had a lasting influence on the worlds of literature, art, film, and theater.
The theater did not start out with the blood and guts, but was a theater dedicated to showing reality; taking its stories from the local papers. The theater had been running for several years before it hit on the formula of turning the most salacious stories into popular plays. Once they began with murder and rape, their popularity soared.
via STAGE FRIGHT: THE GRAND-GUIGNOL AND THE POPULARITY OF HORROR.
