Meet The Feebles (1989)

Every once and a while I need a good dose of shock, and shocking humor is usually how I go about getting it. This was the second film by Peter Jackson (yes that Peter Jackson) before he started winning Oscars and directing elves and hobbits. To those unfamiliar with his early work Dead Alive (one of goriest movies of all time AKA Braindead (1990)) Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners, and Meet The Feebles are the most famous of his early works. His early movies all have shockingly grotesque cartoonish element to them, similar to the shocking films of Ralph Bakshi ( Fritz the Cat, Coonskin). Meet The Feebles is supposed to be an adult humor parody version of The Muppets. Meet The Feebles is definitely a cult classic much in the way Team America World Police (2004) is becoming a modern cult classic, both movies rely on shocking and offensive humor using puppets, but while Team America has some actual clever and hysterical moments to it, Meet the Feebles comes off as all shock and no humor. The movie has little to no plot, mainly just being about an up and coming puppet variety show where everything goes wrong during the production. I discovered this movie in a book I own called "500 Essential Cult Films" and it sounded bonkers and worth a view, and I will say the movie had potential to be funny but it has more of the "train-wreck effect" where no matter how horrible it gets you can't help but look 

away. There's multiple puppet sex scenes, including puppet rape, a puppet violently vomiting all over the stage, a vietnam vet frog with PTSD and a heroin problem (they use him to recreate the famous russian roulette scene from The Deer Hunter (1978)), multiple puppet murders (including a murder spree with an AK47), puppets melting, a puppet that supposedly has AIDS, a puppet fly eating feces, puppet porn, puppet S&M, puppet racism, a musical number about sodomy, and several other horrible sequences. When the movie was over I just sat there with my jaw dropped. Even the most simple of jokes that could have worked were overpowered by shock such as when a walrus charactertricks a fish into being eaten, but just as you're about to laugh, the walrus vomits up the fish character's

half-eaten corpse which is now begging to be killed. The puppets themselves were kind of cool but overall I enjoyed my friend's story about how he watched this movie while on absinthe (the real stuff mind you, not the kind sold here in the U.S.) much more than the actual movie. If you must witness the craziness that is this movie I highly recommend just watching the trailer. I give it a 2/5. You can watch the trailer here.

Wolf Cop (2014)

I'd been waiting for ten months to see this movie, and the wait was worth it. Canada has a recent wealth of talent when it comes to new independent horror movies, and this instant modern Cult Classic is one of the many fine new entries Canada's indie film scene has to offer to the horror world. Wolf Cop pays tribute 80s movies, both horror comedies like Night of the Creeps, and "so bad they're good" horror/horror action movies like Maniac Cop. Wolf Cop presents itself as a "so bad it's good" action/horror-comedy, and it delivers in every sense even managing to be clever and actually "good" at times. The visual quality of the film is very low budget ( I was reminded of fellow indie Canadian horror film Suck (2009)), the acting for the most part is either adequate or over the top (done intentionally though) and the movie actually has surprisingly effective and decent practicalspecial effects. The tagline for the movie is "half wolf, half man, all cop!" and I must say the movie delivers. The movie never takes itself too seriously which is why it is so much fun to watch. The movie has a decently surprising plot that involves pagan rituals, lunar eclipses, and shape-shifting lizard creatures. The main character is given super powers such as super strength and agility, not only from just "being a werewolf" but also from alcohol, how cool is that?!  I'm a die hard 80s movie fan in general but I also LOVE 80s horror movies and from time to time 80s action movies, and Wolf Cop pays homage to the best qualities of all of those. The movie becomes a buddy cop movie at one point in the film, has THE best homage

-paying mock 80s sex scene ever, the sex scene is worth the price of admission for this movie alone. The sex scene takes place in a jail cell after a "little red riding hood and The Big Bad Wolf" sex joke, and just all of a sudden there's dozens and dozens of candles all over the jail cell and a great 80s Canadian one hit wonder tune playing on an also seemingly appearing out of nowhere boombox. The movie also has a pretty decent soundtrack, and more wolf puns and "Big Bad wolf" references than you can shake a stick at. My major beefs with this film are 1) They show a man's penis falling off (either partially real or all prosthetic, it did not add anything to the film and I didn't need to see that), 2) There's a horrible Wolf Cop "theme rap" at the end of the movie, which I think

paid tribute to the Maniac Cop 2 rap at the end of its credits, but was still horrible, 3) some of the acting was legitimately bad and some of the characters (like the main character in human form) are completely uninteresting husks of human beings lacking any personality. The movie is still a lot of fun though and best enjoyed amongst a group of friends after having a couple drinks. The movie is currently streaming on Netflix, and I give it a 4/5.You can watch the trailer here.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)

The world's first Iranian Vampire western is fantastic. The movie is based on a graphic novel and the title character has vigilante qualities making her similar to Batman, ready to avenge the mistreated women of Iran. The movie has gorgeous black and white cinematography (that echoes classic German expressionism), and a heartwarming quirky romance (very different from the sappy melodramatic likes of Twilight). The movie also has great commentary on the state of Iran's youth abandoning tradition, the youth's relationship with their parents, drugs and addiction, as well as commentary about loving one's self and finding one's self worth. Plus the movie has great shots of a Vampire skateboarding, and a fantastic soundtrack. My only problem with the film is the cynism expressed by the title character, though the cynical dialogue she spews is similar to dialogue from other modernized vampires in film such as from Lestatt in Interview With the Vampire, Let the 

Right One In (2008) or some of the dialogue from the main vampire's in Neil Jordan's most recent vampire film Byzantium (2012). I did like how the main character seems to see her cynicism questioned by the romantic interest, and the ending was refreshingly different from some of the other most recent vampire films. While the movie is set in Iran, it is filmed

in southern California. Most of the cast and crew though are from Iran though and the movie is shot in the authentic language. This movie is a must see for all horror/vampire fans, as well as festival favorite at artsy film festivals winning many awards and should appeal to art-film fans. The movie has a "certified fresh" 96% critic rating out of 91 reviews and only four of those being "rotten" or bad, and a 76% fan rating.The movie is currently available on instant streaming on Netflix. I give the film a 4.5/5, and you can watch the trailer here.