My colleague Scott Fitzgerald at Fairport Pictures has made a witty little thriller that will be hitting the festival circuit this fall. Check out the trailer.
Keep up with what's next for Disingenuous at The Fold.
Tell 'im Ronald sent you!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Bad Ronald Press Release: SXSW Sensation Cold Sweat Aquired by MPI
press release:
MPI MEDIA GROUP ACQUIRES ARGENTINE HORROR SENSATION ‘COLD SWEAT’ FOR NORTH AMERICA
Fall Theatrical Release Planned for Film by
Leading Genre Director Adrián García Bogliano
Oh no... I'm in a Bogliano film. I'm in for it!!
MPI Media Group today announced it has acquired all North American rights to COLD SWEAT, a new horror film featuring a pair of villains who raise the bar in cinematic evil. A sensation at the South By Southwest film festival, the film, directed by Adrián García Bogliano, will receive a theatrical release in fall 2011, to be followed by DVD and Video on Demand availability.
COLD SWEAT (Sudor Frio) is a co-production of Pampa Films, a leading studio in Argentina, and indie house Paura Flics. Pampa’s previous productions include the local box-office hits The Signal and The Legend. The COLD SWEAT distribution deal was negotiated by Greg Newman, executive vice president of MPI Media Group, and Antonio Riopredre of Pampa.
Of García Bogliano’s latest stylistic triumph, MPI’s Greg Newman said: “Adrian has been making innovative films for over a decade, and with COLD SWEAT he has delivered a highly original and unforgettable entry in the horror genre. This film is a pure crowd pleaser.”
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
And the Winner is...
... by random pick -- raculfright_13!!
Wahoo! You da champ!! You will be the envy of every kid on your block.
Enjoy your Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack of Vampire Circus... but first you gotta get me your email address, so I know where to send the map of where your prize is buried.
Drop me a line at: popcereal@msn.com
Congratulations!!
Wahoo! You da champ!! You will be the envy of every kid on your block.
Enjoy your Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack of Vampire Circus... but first you gotta get me your email address, so I know where to send the map of where your prize is buried.
Drop me a line at: popcereal@msn.com
Congratulations!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
PEEPHOLE INTERVIEW: James Bickert - Dear God No!
Jimmy Bickert, the twisted mind behind the crazy drive-in homage Dear God No! talks bikers, drive-in love, shooting film stock, bigfoot, and boobies. This should be good!
JAMES BICKERT: Hey, thank you very much. DGN! is balls out. It could also be classified as an action film. [laughing] I’m addicted to the drive-in and growing up in the south you would often catch some pretty interesting regional exploitation curiosities. Most of the biker films we saw were California based and I wanted to create something with a Georgia flavor that was more antagonists driven than anti-hero. When I was young the Pagans and Outlaws were terrorizing the Southeast and they didn’t look like Peter Fonda or Adam Roarke! As a snot nosed kid, this fascinated me.
Bigfoot has always been a staple of ozoners so it seemed a perfect match. The characters and their dialog all represent a larger theme working throughout the film but that element is purposely overshadowed by the insanity of the action, sex and violence. I made a conscious effort to shy away from any crazy post 70’s style camera setups. There are some experimental shots but they are more in the realm of 60’s LSD and Biker cinema.
Since we were making a lost drive-in film and not a 42nd street homage, I didn’t see any way digital would look correct for the period. It was important to me that the final film looked remastered instead of put through a blender. Luckily producer Nick Morgan agreed with me and worked some good deals with Fuji. I can’t say enough great things about their Vivid film stock. Shooting film isn’t a time constraint when you have Jonathan Hilton (cinematographer) and Dave Osborne (gaffer) but it does eat a budget. The only way to compensate is to preplan shots and hope everyone remembers their lines. (laughing) RED cameras are great but there is a different feeling of satisfaction that film brings. The look is more natural and almost becomes a character itself. Especially when you have as much female nudity as Dear God No! I‘m now dying to shoot exploitation in 35mm.
Who are the filmmakers you look to for inspiration -- not just in genre, but in all aspects of storytelling and film technique?
Roger and Gene Corman are the biggest influences. If they produced a movie in the 70’s, I had to see it. If it meant watching it without sound through a drive-in fence so be it. They delivered thrills and I had to have it. Executive Producing a film is such a complex time consuming process and the sheer number of productions they had going at a time is jaw dropping. There are so many influences when it comes to technique and storytelling. Monte Hellman, Larry Cohen, William Girdler, Luis Bunuel, Jack Hill, Terence Fisher, Don Siegel, Seijun Suzuki, Leon Kilmovsky, Jean Rollin, John Carpenter and Russ Meyer. This could take years to assemble. Can we narrow it down to a sub genre like Indonesian flying head movies? [laughing]
You know how it is. As a complete film geek, you get immersed in one aspect of genre film for awhile. I got so obsessed with seeing every film that Filipino actor Vic Diaz was in that I got him tattooed on my leg! How sick is that? There probably isn’t a single person in the Philippines with a Vic Diaz tattoo but this goofball is walking around Atlanta with one.
I was drinking beer watching a movie on my backyard drive-in screen called “Three Way Weekend” one night. It had a Forrest Ranger pervert wearing Nixon and Gorilla masks peeping on some young topless ladies. At the time I was trying to think of a way to get some models I know topless in my film without showing their faces. I didn’t want to damage their career but they were the only women I knew without modern tattoos. Then it hit me to make the strip club owner a huge Nixon fan who forced his strippers to wear masks. FX artist Shane Morton also came up with some crazy Mexican monster masks we used as well. The girls had never stripped before so I gave them copies of Orgy of the Dead, Mondo Topless, Cassandra Peterson’s strip tease from Working Girls and some old Something Weird Video go-go loops. It was important to stay away from modern booty shaking and grinding. Still they were not strippers so their nerves were pretty high. After a few shots of whiskey they were fine and some of the masks even came off. They did a fantastic job of catching that era.
There’s incestual lesbian rape! (laughing) We have that going for us. I think the biggest surprise for viewers will be how fast paced it is and how many layers there are to the dialog. I always liked that in Russ Meyer and Jack Hill’s scripts. Every 2-5 minutes I also include what I call a “Dear God No!” moment. Something that just has the audience offended, laughing or shaking their head. I try to steer clear of sophomoric humor opting more for subtle gallows humor. Everything is played straight but many scenes contain something pretty over the top. Hopefully audiences will respond well, this is the kind of drive-in movie I’ve always wanted to see. The first half is action/ sexploitation and the second half is horror. You get it all.
What are the plans for Dear God No! -- theatrical releases, DVD/Blu-ray? Festivals, no doubt. Any landed yet?
We’ve been accepted to Pollygrind 2011 in Vegas based on the trailer alone so that’s refreshing. I’m working up a screening locally at the oldest Independent theatre in Atlanta called The Plaza and obviously the Starlight Six Drive-In!
Screening in Austin, TX and Toronto is my current goal. We have a few more weeks of post sound mixing. I would love to find a distributor who wanted to invest in a print so I could tour movie houses and better yet, drive-ins! I’m sure it will hit iTunes, Blu-ray, Pay per View, etc. within the year. We’ll keep everyone up to date on our Facebook page and website.
And what's next on your to-do list?
I did take two actresses to a very dark place. They seemed really shook up after we wrapped. You never know what kind of past trauma might rear it’s head on set. I’m very easy on actors but something in the script was a trigger once it was performed. It did go too far and that scene has been trimmed down. If Chas. Balun were alive, he would still give us an 8 on the Gore Score. Everyone seems to be doing much better now and the wrap party was legendary. The Dear God No! trailer is playing at The Plaza Theater in Atlanta on June 10th before Hobo With a Shotgun.
BAD RONALD: First off, this film looks like it'll be friggin' balls out. So many films and filmmakers want to make these kinds of films, but they end up being metered and overly directed. To me, the beauty of these kinds of films are their imperfections... meaning that the filmmakers aren't trying to adjust the mold by tweaking what they've seen in other films, and expecting their work to rise above. I like the films where you can see the filmmaker taking risks -- real risks. Where did this idea spring from?
JAMES BICKERT: Hey, thank you very much. DGN! is balls out. It could also be classified as an action film. [laughing] I’m addicted to the drive-in and growing up in the south you would often catch some pretty interesting regional exploitation curiosities. Most of the biker films we saw were California based and I wanted to create something with a Georgia flavor that was more antagonists driven than anti-hero. When I was young the Pagans and Outlaws were terrorizing the Southeast and they didn’t look like Peter Fonda or Adam Roarke! As a snot nosed kid, this fascinated me.
Bigfoot has always been a staple of ozoners so it seemed a perfect match. The characters and their dialog all represent a larger theme working throughout the film but that element is purposely overshadowed by the insanity of the action, sex and violence. I made a conscious effort to shy away from any crazy post 70’s style camera setups. There are some experimental shots but they are more in the realm of 60’s LSD and Biker cinema.
 |
| I need to make a movie, goddamit |
Why shoot film? And was it a difficult route to take, budget wise or otherwise?
Who are the filmmakers you look to for inspiration -- not just in genre, but in all aspects of storytelling and film technique?
Roger and Gene Corman are the biggest influences. If they produced a movie in the 70’s, I had to see it. If it meant watching it without sound through a drive-in fence so be it. They delivered thrills and I had to have it. Executive Producing a film is such a complex time consuming process and the sheer number of productions they had going at a time is jaw dropping. There are so many influences when it comes to technique and storytelling. Monte Hellman, Larry Cohen, William Girdler, Luis Bunuel, Jack Hill, Terence Fisher, Don Siegel, Seijun Suzuki, Leon Kilmovsky, Jean Rollin, John Carpenter and Russ Meyer. This could take years to assemble. Can we narrow it down to a sub genre like Indonesian flying head movies? [laughing]
You know how it is. As a complete film geek, you get immersed in one aspect of genre film for awhile. I got so obsessed with seeing every film that Filipino actor Vic Diaz was in that I got him tattooed on my leg! How sick is that? There probably isn’t a single person in the Philippines with a Vic Diaz tattoo but this goofball is walking around Atlanta with one.
 |
| Are You There God? It's Me Ms. 45 |
What is this twisted tale about?
Foremost it’s an Outlaw biker film but it’s also about a socially awkward young girl trying to find herself and flee her oppressive father. She just happens to be stuck in one seriously fucked up sexploitation/action/horror film. We follow her life and the outlaw bikers until they collide. The underlying theme running through the film is pretty complex and personal. That’s about all I can say without giving too much away. Not to worry though, it’s no Twilight or Judy Blume tale. ([aughing] It’s carnage from the first frame.
 |
| The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight |
The Tricky Dick masks... it's like a thing now, from Point Break to Sugar & Spice and Aqua Teen Hunger Force to iCarly. It's a grand cinema and television tradition. But NEVER with nekkid chicks and guns!! What the fuck inspired this bit of pure cinema delights?!
I was drinking beer watching a movie on my backyard drive-in screen called “Three Way Weekend” one night. It had a Forrest Ranger pervert wearing Nixon and Gorilla masks peeping on some young topless ladies. At the time I was trying to think of a way to get some models I know topless in my film without showing their faces. I didn’t want to damage their career but they were the only women I knew without modern tattoos. Then it hit me to make the strip club owner a huge Nixon fan who forced his strippers to wear masks. FX artist Shane Morton also came up with some crazy Mexican monster masks we used as well. The girls had never stripped before so I gave them copies of Orgy of the Dead, Mondo Topless, Cassandra Peterson’s strip tease from Working Girls and some old Something Weird Video go-go loops. It was important to stay away from modern booty shaking and grinding. Still they were not strippers so their nerves were pretty high. After a few shots of whiskey they were fine and some of the masks even came off. They did a fantastic job of catching that era.
 |
| Loaded and ready and loaded |
Outside the nekkid Nixon grrls, what other surprises are audiences in for?
There’s incestual lesbian rape! (laughing) We have that going for us. I think the biggest surprise for viewers will be how fast paced it is and how many layers there are to the dialog. I always liked that in Russ Meyer and Jack Hill’s scripts. Every 2-5 minutes I also include what I call a “Dear God No!” moment. Something that just has the audience offended, laughing or shaking their head. I try to steer clear of sophomoric humor opting more for subtle gallows humor. Everything is played straight but many scenes contain something pretty over the top. Hopefully audiences will respond well, this is the kind of drive-in movie I’ve always wanted to see. The first half is action/ sexploitation and the second half is horror. You get it all.
What are the plans for Dear God No! -- theatrical releases, DVD/Blu-ray? Festivals, no doubt. Any landed yet?
We’ve been accepted to Pollygrind 2011 in Vegas based on the trailer alone so that’s refreshing. I’m working up a screening locally at the oldest Independent theatre in Atlanta called The Plaza and obviously the Starlight Six Drive-In!
Screening in Austin, TX and Toronto is my current goal. We have a few more weeks of post sound mixing. I would love to find a distributor who wanted to invest in a print so I could tour movie houses and better yet, drive-ins! I’m sure it will hit iTunes, Blu-ray, Pay per View, etc. within the year. We’ll keep everyone up to date on our Facebook page and website.
And what's next on your to-do list?
Ultimately it’s to shoot on 35mm and go from a 7 day film shoot to a 20 day. Maybe even add a few crew members. (laughing) I have several 70’s horror hybrid drive-in scripts written. Hopefully the interest in Dear God No! will be high enough to get them into production. I’m dying to get the crew back to the 70’s where we belong.
Any inside scoop that genre fans would like to know, please dish.
Any inside scoop that genre fans would like to know, please dish.
I did take two actresses to a very dark place. They seemed really shook up after we wrapped. You never know what kind of past trauma might rear it’s head on set. I’m very easy on actors but something in the script was a trigger once it was performed. It did go too far and that scene has been trimmed down. If Chas. Balun were alive, he would still give us an 8 on the Gore Score. Everyone seems to be doing much better now and the wrap party was legendary. The Dear God No! trailer is playing at The Plaza Theater in Atlanta on June 10th before Hobo With a Shotgun.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Dear God No! Dear God... Yeah!!
 |
| Sleazy Rider |
Now, this is Grindhouse!! Shot on 16mm. Looking like warm shit rolled over it, and then shit on it. Bad acting. Nekkid chicks with Nixon masks. Dope fiends. Drawn on Frankenstein stitches. Bikers. And Bigfoot!! Dear God... Yeah!! Dear God No! looks like a complete dream come true for genre flicks.
 |
| Tricky Dickies |
I don't know what to do with my life if I can't see this movie!
Holy red band trailer!!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
PEEPHOLE REVIEW: Killer's Moon (1978)
Redemption! Redemption Films has been pretty quiet for awhile, as they reorganized. But now they're back to releasing some of the strangest, most bizarre little artifacts from horror film past.
To keep up with the movie-going crowd, as they moved from the 60s to the 70s, British film producers recognized that the audience was growing younger. Teens and twentysomethings were looking to identify with the people on the screen, so the movie world reacted, skewing their popular brands towards the kids. Horror films were growing increasingly popular, and were easier to adapt to the young generation than, say, the comedies (which still had a strong hold with adult viewers). The results of this major switch seemed to have shaken up the status quo. The grown ups in the press were not always so kind in their reviews, and the British Board of Film... well, they were stunned, and reacted harshly (they would later form the list of "video nasties," videotapes of films deemed unfit for regular consumption).
Producer/Director Alan Birkinshaw wanted to ride this so-called "New Wave" of British Horror, after having grown restless in the television industry. Hammer Horror, with the help of a new set of producers, had broken the mold of using mature and established named actors, and started gearing their films towards the younger generation with films like Vampire Circus. Birkinshaw wanted in on that crowd. The result: Killer's Moon. A movie so notorious it was once said, by the British press, to be "the most tasteless movie in the history of the British Cinema." Now, if that's not a proper invitation, I don't know what is!
What makes Killer's Moon stand out so much is not the reputation it got from the censors, but killer script. On the surface, this bloody thriller sounds like any other of a long list of horror scenarios: a bus load of nubile schoolgirls are stranded after their coach breaks down, finding refuge in a remote hotel, where they are stalked by a trio of escaped inmates, all tweaked on experimental drugs (read LSD). However, Birkinshaw enlisted the assistance of his sister, the noted feminist writer Fay Weldon, to turn this standard issue horror flick into a smart, subtle satire. Together Birkinshaw and Weldon weaved together elements of A Clockwork Orange with bits from the popular sex comedies of the day, to take a visceral punch at some of the social hypocrisy and outdated morays of the day.
Of course, like any good horror movie, these bits of satire are well groomed nuances peppered throughout a tightly wound, and brutal thriller. The "droog" like thugs are vicious as they are properly British, doling out sadistic punishment just as easily as they can. The mayhem is bloody, the girls are sexy, and the dialogue from Weldon is killer.
In an interview, Weldon (who was uncredited in the movie) had this to say about her Killer's Moon script work: "In the original script, the girls were ciphers. I gave them characters, which had the unfortunate effect of turning the film into a cult movie. I should have left it as it was." Oh, how wrong she is! It's true -- her dialogue catapults this movie from being just another horror flick, but that's good fortune, not bad. Not sure why she's bitter -- maybe it's because she later wrote the Rosanne Barr disaster She Devil.
A taste of some of the fantastic dialogue:
 |
| coolest poster ever |
Producer/Director Alan Birkinshaw wanted to ride this so-called "New Wave" of British Horror, after having grown restless in the television industry. Hammer Horror, with the help of a new set of producers, had broken the mold of using mature and established named actors, and started gearing their films towards the younger generation with films like Vampire Circus. Birkinshaw wanted in on that crowd. The result: Killer's Moon. A movie so notorious it was once said, by the British press, to be "the most tasteless movie in the history of the British Cinema." Now, if that's not a proper invitation, I don't know what is!
 |
| Oh, the games girls play |
What makes Killer's Moon stand out so much is not the reputation it got from the censors, but killer script. On the surface, this bloody thriller sounds like any other of a long list of horror scenarios: a bus load of nubile schoolgirls are stranded after their coach breaks down, finding refuge in a remote hotel, where they are stalked by a trio of escaped inmates, all tweaked on experimental drugs (read LSD). However, Birkinshaw enlisted the assistance of his sister, the noted feminist writer Fay Weldon, to turn this standard issue horror flick into a smart, subtle satire. Together Birkinshaw and Weldon weaved together elements of A Clockwork Orange with bits from the popular sex comedies of the day, to take a visceral punch at some of the social hypocrisy and outdated morays of the day.
Of course, like any good horror movie, these bits of satire are well groomed nuances peppered throughout a tightly wound, and brutal thriller. The "droog" like thugs are vicious as they are properly British, doling out sadistic punishment just as easily as they can. The mayhem is bloody, the girls are sexy, and the dialogue from Weldon is killer.
 |
| Goodness! This will just ruin my social standing! |
 |
| Now, where did I leave my wife? |
- After an assault, one girl consoles the victim, "Look, you were only raped, as long as you don't tell anyone about it you'll be alright. You pretend it never happened, I'll pretend I never saw it and if we get out of this alive, well, maybe we'll both live to be wives and mothers"
- The police chief retorts, after hearing about the effects of the drugs on the lunatics, "You mean this criminal lunatic is walking around believing he is in a dream? In my dreams, I murder freely, pillage, loot and rape!"
- "Mr. Jones: Mr psychiatrist, are you there?
Pete: Go to hell you bastard you're mad!
Mr. Jones: What sort of reply is that from a National Health psychiatrist? I should have gone private."
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Win a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack of Hammer's Vampire Circus!!
Be the First Kid On Your Block to Own A Vampire Circus!!
Who doesn't like a circus? And who the hell doesn't like vampires!? Most of all -- who doesn't like to win free movies!!?
And by vampires, I'm not talking about the pasty white Debbie-downers from Twilight. Yeesh! Or the angsty, oh-so-fit hot bodies from Vampire Diaries. Well... um, yumm!! I'm talking about vampires that would chew a hole in your throat, rather than chew your ear off with boring chatter about their feelings and bummer stuff like that. "Oo, but that werewolve's abs are soooo like rippled, and the undead guy's hair is to die for. Who do I choose?" "I don't know... If I'm gonna live forever, how am I gonna like update my wardrobe all the time?" "Oh my gawd -- did you just like kill my best friend? That's so sweeeet."
No, I'm talking about the creepy, sexy, mod Hammer Horror kind. The kind that have no problem snatching your kid brother up and taking him to the dark side. The kind that don't play nice. The kind that don't have feelings, let alone a heart!!
Vampire Circus is the classic Hammer vampire picture that changed everything. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were icons at Hammer Studios, but the 70s needed a new twist on the vampire lore. Vampire Circus introduced a new, young generation to a young, hipper blood-sucker.
How To Win Your Copy!!
So... blah blah blah .. Enough of the filler. Here's how to win your very own Blu-ray/DVD combo of Vampire Circus!! Simply become a follower of the Bad Ronald blog. It's easy and fun! Just click on the "follow" button over on the sidebar to the right. Then drop a comment in on this post, lettin' me know you wanna win the movie. If'n you're already a follower, then good for you -- you're half way there! Just drop a comment. Now, if you're not the joinin' kind, and are a little leery of the cult like mentality of followers... well, then you're gonna have to work harder to win. Bad Ronald will have to move into your place and live in your walls for a week, and you'll have to let me know just what he'll see, watching through the walls!! Mwwwooohahahahahahhaaa! Just click on "follow" and join the fun. It's soo much easier.
Deadline for entry is Sunday, May 29, 2011
And now the disclaimer: The Blu-ray/DVD combo Pack of Vampire Circus is provided by the very cool and ultra mod folks at Synapse Films. The discs are not the retail discs, but early prints for press screenings. Never fear, though! Each disc has ALL the goodies on it that you'd get from the retail discs, except there's no fancy image on the disc itself and the packaging is complete. Winner of the contest will be chosen by a random drawing. There now... that wasn't so bad. Was it?
Now, go "follow" my blog and win!!
Who doesn't like a circus? And who the hell doesn't like vampires!? Most of all -- who doesn't like to win free movies!!?
 |
| If I don't win a Kid's Choice Award, I'll just go crazy!! |
Vampire Circus is the classic Hammer vampire picture that changed everything. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing were icons at Hammer Studios, but the 70s needed a new twist on the vampire lore. Vampire Circus introduced a new, young generation to a young, hipper blood-sucker.
 |
| Bella. when you're done with those wimps over there in Lalaland, call me |
So... blah blah blah .. Enough of the filler. Here's how to win your very own Blu-ray/DVD combo of Vampire Circus!! Simply become a follower of the Bad Ronald blog. It's easy and fun! Just click on the "follow" button over on the sidebar to the right. Then drop a comment in on this post, lettin' me know you wanna win the movie. If'n you're already a follower, then good for you -- you're half way there! Just drop a comment. Now, if you're not the joinin' kind, and are a little leery of the cult like mentality of followers... well, then you're gonna have to work harder to win. Bad Ronald will have to move into your place and live in your walls for a week, and you'll have to let me know just what he'll see, watching through the walls!! Mwwwooohahahahahahhaaa! Just click on "follow" and join the fun. It's soo much easier.
Deadline for entry is Sunday, May 29, 2011
 |
| Send in a reenactment this stunning little dance sequence and you'll win INSTANTLY!! No kiddin' |
And now the disclaimer: The Blu-ray/DVD combo Pack of Vampire Circus is provided by the very cool and ultra mod folks at Synapse Films. The discs are not the retail discs, but early prints for press screenings. Never fear, though! Each disc has ALL the goodies on it that you'd get from the retail discs, except there's no fancy image on the disc itself and the packaging is complete. Winner of the contest will be chosen by a random drawing. There now... that wasn't so bad. Was it?
Now, go "follow" my blog and win!!
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