The LA Film Festival kicked off this week and B-D reporter SpookyDan was on hand for the world premiere of Jeremey Kasten's remake of The Wizard of Gore, which puts an up-to-date spin on the tale of an underground illusionist (Crispin Glover) who may be performing more than just sleight-of-hand tricks since volunteers from his audience keep turning up dead. Read on to see Spooky's quick thoughts on the movie, along with stories from the event. Watch for an official review next week.
Last night I was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of Jeremy Kasten’s latest horror film, the remake of The Wizard of Gore. It was an exciting night with a fun movie and loads of Suicide Girls! But before I talk about the movie itself, I just want to say what a great time I had at the pre-party and the film itself. Armed with gift bags at the overpriced and swanky bar in Westwood, CA, the crowd was absolutely in high spirits in anticipation for tonight’s show as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival. It was so crowded that the local fire marshal arrived because the patio was at capacity and the party could be heard from the street - fortunately for the horror fans he didn’t shut it down.
At the fiasco a live magician was performing his exotic and risqué act for the crowd… where I am pretty sure I saw him pull a 20 foot ribbon out of a chicken ass, snort a line of invisible coke off of his magic trunk and other various adult-themes tricks. He was accompanied by his trusty furry/wicker man costumed bunny that set the tone with a drum kit and some wacky music. Libations inhaled the whole crowd who went a few blocks away to the red carpet premiere, hosted by the LA Film Fest at the Majestic Crest Theater. The Butcher Brothers (The Hamiltons), Mark Senter (The Lost), Jeffrey Reddick (writer Final Destination and the latest Day of the Dead remake), and a whole whack of studio execs, agents, filmmakers and press were all seen running around making this a night that won’t soon be forgotten!
The sold out show was in full effect as midnight grew near. As the line grew to cover almost the entire block Bijou Phillips (Hostel: Part II) arrived looking as hot as ever while Nixon, Fractal, Amina and a variety of other Suicide Girls were causing a whole lot of people (and me) to become drooling idiots. Then director Jeremy Kasten introduced his film and said his obligatory thank you-s. (Side note: Crispin Glover was oddly across town doing a performance of “What Is IT?” his bizarre art film that he directed, so he was a no show.)
Unlike the original Herschel Gordon Lewis film, this one definitely made sense while keeping the decidedly oddball tone. Kip Pardue and Bijou Phillips play an unlikely couple in the near future Los Angeles, slowly uncovering a murder mystery which involves a peculiar magician named Montag the Magnificent. Every night over the course of a week Montag - played gloriously over the top by Glover - hosts a forbidden and disgusting magic show, in which he gets chicks naked and in the most possibly disgusting way, mutilates and dismembers the unsuspecting victims only to then reveal it as a trick. The catch is that each morning the girl that he “fake” mutilated actually ends up dead. The film plays out as it slowly becomes more and more of a head trip that Purdue is cruising through.
This film has “Cult Classic” written all over it! Using his signature stylistic camera work, Kasten paints an over the top film rich of colors and gobs of texture. The main thing that stands out in Wizard was the character performances by Brad Douriff, Crispen Glover and Bijou Phillips. Each of them basically “steal” every scene that they are in, which is no small feat considering that a good chunk of the cast is rounded out by the ultra hot Suicide Girls! The mix of blood, colorful landscapes and wackiness is sure to please even the most jaded horror fan. A load of wonderfully grotesque special effects deliver what is sure to be a festival favorite.
Although the film is a great time, it’s not without its flaws; it felt a bit over long in the final act and I really did not like the score. The fun tone of the film certainly seemed mismatched with the weak score, which didn’t enhance the visual eye candy that was all over the screen. (Note: I have to mention that the mix did not seem final as some of the dialog was a bit muddy, which was probably the fault of the theater.) When you have a midnight movie, the film should be louder than the audience. I also thought that Jeffery Combs (buried beneath his make-up and long dreadlocks as a smelly vagrant) definitely felt a bit under used. But none of these things stopped the crowd from really getting into the fun of the film, cheers and laughs at the gross outs and even a few “in” jokes centering around a local seedy nudie bar called Jumbos Clown Room.
I have to say that I had a great time tonight pounding Red Bulls, drooling over Suicide Girls and watching what is sure to be a film that will stand out in the collective resume for all those involved. So what is next for Kasten? I say it should be “SG vs BD” or (Suicide Girls vs. Bloody-Disgusting) in a blood wrestling match refereed by Jeffery Combs! Bring it on Kasten!!!
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Last night I was lucky enough to attend the world premiere of Jeremy Kasten’s latest horror film, the remake of The Wizard of Gore. It was an exciting night with a fun movie and loads of Suicide Girls! But before I talk about the movie itself, I just want to say what a great time I had at the pre-party and the film itself. Armed with gift bags at the overpriced and swanky bar in Westwood, CA, the crowd was absolutely in high spirits in anticipation for tonight’s show as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival. It was so crowded that the local fire marshal arrived because the patio was at capacity and the party could be heard from the street - fortunately for the horror fans he didn’t shut it down. 
Unlike the original Herschel Gordon Lewis film, this one definitely made sense while keeping the decidedly oddball tone. Kip Pardue and Bijou Phillips play an unlikely couple in the near future Los Angeles, slowly uncovering a murder mystery which involves a peculiar magician named Montag the Magnificent. Every night over the course of a week Montag - played gloriously over the top by Glover - hosts a forbidden and disgusting magic show, in which he gets chicks naked and in the most possibly disgusting way, mutilates and dismembers the unsuspecting victims only to then reveal it as a trick. The catch is that each morning the girl that he “fake” mutilated actually ends up dead. The film plays out as it slowly becomes more and more of a head trip that Purdue is cruising through.
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