Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 14, 1990 TAG: 9003133201
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: mike mayo
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
\ "Scream Dream" deserves a place of honor in the Hall of Shame. Written and directed by Donald Farmer (of "Cannibal Hookers" fame), this is the story of a heavy metal rock singer, Michelle Shock, who is everything Tipper Gore hates. Her songs lead good kids down the wrong path because she worships the devil. Sometimes she even turns into a monster, which leads her manager to kill her. But does that stop Michelle? Of course not.
She takes over the body of her replacement and goes after everybody who did her dirty. If this video had consecutive seconds of believability, it would be offensive and repulsive. But Farmer shows just how little you can do with no money and no talent. This is strictly amateur night in Cookeville, Tennessee, where this shot-on-video epic was made. That's why it's so much fun.
The tone is established at the begining when Michelle seduces this buttoned-down-collar kid from the suburbs. His facial expression, meant to convey blissful heights of sexual ecstacy, is worth the price of a rental all by itself. Overall, the level of non-acting and non-writing is Homeric.
Then, toward the middle of the tape, another evil monster shows up, and it's obviously a hand puppet. I could go on, but to tell any more would spoil the fun. "Scream Dream" is what bad video is all about.
\ "Welcome to Spring Break" is several points higher on the quality scale, but it's not as much fun. In Hollywood terms, the concept behind this one is simple: "Friday the 13th Meets Where the Boys Are."
Has Diablo, the leader of a vicious motorcycle gang, come back to life after his execution in the electric chair to terrorize a beach town during spring break? Was he framed by the crooked police chief (John Saxon) and the drunken doctor (Michael Parks)? Do the beer-swilling college louts care? It's up to our intrepid heroes, Skip and Gail (Nicolas DeToth and Sarah Buxton, who may have been recruited from the legions of actual revelers) to find out.
Writer/director Harry Kirkpatrick obviously shot a lot of film at a beach where a few thousand kids were whooping it up, and again, the violence is so silly and predictable that this one is more humorous than offensive.
\ "Masque of the Red Death" is the weakest of these three. It's a curiously slow and dispirited remake of Roger Corman's 1964 original treatment of the Edgar Allen Poe tale which starred Vincent Price and Hazel Court. Though I haven't seen that film in years, I remember it as being lively and vivid. Most fans agree that it and "The Raven" (1963) are the best of the Corman-Poe films.
Writer/director Larry Brand's version stays fairly close to Poe's story, though he tosses in some extra sexual angles in a vain attempt to spice up the action.
Prince Prospero (Adrian Paul) tries to defeat the plague of the Red Death by bringing all of his noble pals inside and sealing the gates of the city. He imports a few comely peasant wenches for entertainment and also invites his old teacher, Machiavel (Patrick MacNee). Prospero is a dark, brooding sort who's prone to sophomoric philosophical reflection when he's not paying more attention than he should to his sister Lucretia (Tracey Reimer). He worries about Life and Death and the Duty of the Prince and stuff like that.
Obviously, the film has all the right elements - inexpensive but atmospheric sets; silly costumes, wigs and dialogue; swordfights; boiling oil to pour on the peasants - but it lacks the two key ingredients that made the Corman movies so enjoyable: Speed and lack of selfconsciousness. Those films zipped along at a fast pace, and never for a moment did they take themselves seriously.
Corman was the producer of this "Masque," but it lacks his touch.
New release this week
`Millennium' 1/2 Starring Kris Kristofferson, Cheryl Ladd, Daniel J. Travanti. Directed by Michael Anderson. IVE. 100 minutes. Rated PG-13 for violence, mild profanity, special effects, sexual situations.
This is one of those quirky sci-fi movies that's bad in so many unusual ways that it's almost good. It's a slowly paced story of airline crashes and time travel with an odd plot that wanders in some strange directions. John Varely's script, based on his story, "Air Raid," could have been a particularly convoluted episode of "The Twilight Zone." It's certainly curious enough to be a must-see for fans of the eclectic and weird, but everyone else will probably be more irritated than amused by the slow pace and plodding direction.
\ THE ESSENTIALS:
\ `Screen Dream': minus 1/2 AEC. 90 min. Rated R for rough language, brief nudity, sexual situations, preposterous violence, facial expressions, hand puppets.\ `Welcome to Spring Break': IVE. 92 min. Rated R for profanity, silly violence, one wet T-shirt contest.\ `Masque of the Red Death': MGM/UA. 83 min. Rated R for violence, sexual content, brief nudity.
by CNB