give Demon points for showing a bit more of the monster than Up From the Depths, although this mainly consists of shadowy shots of the thing half- emerging from the water to go “Blurrrgh!” and wave a paw at us in a supposedly menacing fash- ion. Said points, however, must be subsequently deducted for the excruciatingly authentic 1987 sub-Miami Vice/Beverly Hills Cop synth drivel music score. Shout! Factory, we love you for the Corman reissues, but please try to steer clear of the stuff that only sullies his good name, ’kay? JOHN W. BOWEN


Cosmic Critics MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000:


BEGINNING OF THE END (1957) DVD Starring Peter Graves, Peggie Castle and Morris Ankrum Written by Fred Freiberger and Lester Gorn Directed by Bert I. Gordon


MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP


Up From The Depths: A bit of monster, a lot of boredom.


ZOMBIES (1964) DVD Starring Ray Dennis Steckler, Carolyn Brandt and Brett O’Hara Written by E.M. Kevke, Gene Pollock and Robert Silliphant Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler Shout! Factory


The quips come fast and


furious in these episodes from MST3K’s fifth and eighth sea- sons as the Satellite of Love’s crew – Mike Nelson, Crow (Trace Beaulieu/Bill Corbett) and Tom Servo (Kevin Mur- phy) – are faced with two ex- ceptional pieces of cinematic trash: 1957’s Beginning of the End and the mind-blowing 1964 programmer The In- credibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Be- came Mixed-Up Zombies. In Beginning of the End, a


series of experiments into producing enlarged foods (using radiation!) by the US Department of Agricul- ture results in gigantic mutant locusts running amok after the insects consume an irradiated wheat sup- ply. The gargantuan grasshoppers then head out to munch on Chicago and it’s up to scientist Ed Wain- wright (Peter Graves: TV’s Mission: Impossible) and a headstrong reporter to save the day. Along with their usual acerbic observations, the


MST3K crew put on a skit about Graves attending the University of Minnesota, and demonstrate di- rector Bert I. Gordon’s special effects approach for the film: putting grasshoppers (albeit in this case, plastic ones) onto still photos in order to give them the illusion of great size. For director Ray Dennis Steckler’s iconically inept


The Incredibly Strange Creatures, a trio of friends – Jerry (Steckler, under the pseudonym “Cash Flagg”), his squeeze Angela and roommate Harold


– decide to get their fortunes read by a mystic named Madame Estrella (Brett O’Hara) at a seedy carnival. After Angela receives an ominous predic- tion, the three leave, only to have Jerry hypnotized on the way out by the mystic’s stripper sister, Carmelita. Thinking he has eyes for the peeler, An- gela leaves in a huff (with Harold in tow), and Jerry is further entranced by Estrella into committing several murders. An off-the-wall flick complete with campy song-


and-dance routines, outrageously bad dialogue and a hackneyed storyline, it’s a stunning example of so-bad-it’s-good. Taking the trash talk to new levels, the MST3K gang rips apart everything from King’s accent to Steckler’s then-wife Carolyn Brandt (who appears here as an alcoholic dancer), calling her a transvestite and spouting lines such as, “Shots ring out; yet the people of Bosnia bravely go on with their peepshows.” Wisecracks aside, while these are entertaining


films in their own right, MST3K fans should love them even more.


JAMES BURRELL Murder and Muzak


BAZAAR BIZARRE (2004) DVD Hosted by James Elroy


Written and directed by Benjamin Meade Troma


I’m always amazed at the way certain serial


murder cases immediately and permanently enter the collective consciousness while others – despite being more gruesome, bizarre and/or involving bigger body counts – never get beyond the level of local history. And for reasons unknown, Bob Berdella, perpetrator of one of the most gruesome killing sprees of the 1980s, falls squarely into the latter category. Sexual sadist Berdella was convicted in 1988 of


murdering six Kansas City-area male prostitutes – raping and torturing them for days and sometimes weeks on end before killing them – and remains suspected in more disappearances. He died of a


heart attack in prison four years later at the age of 43 amid rumours that he was denied medication by his warders, although no official investigation was ever undertaken. Berdella admitted to the murders and yet, in a fashion similar to his con- temporaries Ted Bundy and Canadian child murderer Clifford Olson, managed to raise public ire even further by attempting to deflect re- sponsibility with ludicrous claims that law enforcement and the judicial system were somehow complicit in his crimes. Veteran documentarian


Benjamin Meade (American Stag, Brakhage: The Final Word) mostly comes up aces with Bazaar Bizarre, the title derived from the name of the vending booth Berdella ran at a local flea market, where he hawked various macabre artifacts and may have even served up human meat chili to his co-workers during potluck lunches. Meade deftly blurs the lines by intercut- ting re-enactments with doc footage, although his bids for authenticity are occasionally derailed by out-of-sync hairstyles and tattoos. Importantly, Christopher Leo, the actor portraying


Berdella in the dramatic footage, bears a fair re- semblance to the killer and turns in a remarkably strong performance. In fact, Meade’s only misstep is in his choice of composer Bill Gladden, who pro- vided music scores for several of Meade’s previous films; Gladden’s faux band, the Demon Dogs, dumb down the proceedings with horrible, mun- dane faux-roots rock, faux-funk and faux-pretty much everything else you can imagine, cheapen- ing an otherwise sober and well-crafted documen- tary. (Included on the DVD are deleted scenes and a “post-mortem” featurette with cast and crew members.) Bazaar Bizarre takes an unflinching look at a modern-day atrocity without ever resort- ing to exploitation, but the soundtrack may put your tuning-out skills to the test.


JOHN W. BOWEN R E I S S U E S 45RM


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