Morticia Maguire-Broad (Twitter: @LadyLugosi) writes up her experience of Minicine’s Mini-Bloodbath. What she alludes to in the final paragraph, but politely downplays somewhat, is that although those who were there had a splendid time, the event itself – in terms of attendance – was a complete flop. This didn’t stop the Ash-love though. The image above is the Bloodbath themed cake made for the event by Tasha McKenny.
I love watching films in places other than cinemas (one of the best times I’ve had watching a film was watching Singing In The Rain outside Armley Mills Industrial Museum in the damp and the dark last year) so whenever the opportunity to see a film arises in a place other than a traditional cinema I invariably jump at it. So imagine my delight when the lovely folks at Minicine announced they were showing a film at Glyde House (Gumption Centre) in Bradford. Not only that, it was also going to be a Mini-Bloodbath!!! There was a choice of four of the finest, schlockiest, bloodiest horror films the eighties had to offer and you had to vote for which one you wanted to see the most.
The choices were Puppet Master – I haven’t seen this but will be adding it to my list of must-sees, Childs Play 2 – the later Chucky films really make me giggle and my hero the sublime John Waters plays a photographer in Seed of Chucky in which he utters one of my all time favourite lines in cinema ‘ masturbating midgets’ before an unfortunate encounter with developing chemicals but the earlier ones leave me cold, Evil Dead 2 – one of my favourite films as it has the divine Bruce Campbell in it and makes me laugh like a drain and last but not least Jason Takes Manhattan the eighth outing in the Friday the 13th series.
I know the Friday the 13th films leave a lot to be desired in terms of credible plot development, believable sympathetic characters and what have you but ever since seeing the first one at far too an impressionable age on VHS I’ve been hooked on Jason and his bloodthirsty rampaging. So I was faced with a voting dilemma – did I vote for Bruce and undead shenanigans in a lonely cabin or murderous sprees in a hockey mask?
Murderous sprees in a hockey mask won for me as I have Evil Dead 2 on dvd and I reasoned that I can watch it anytime. Alas it seems I am alone in my love of Jason and his throat slashing as Evil Dead 2 won the vote by a considerable margin. Reports that I was secretly relieved that I wouldn’t have to sit through a really terrible Jason sequel as opposed to just an averagely bad one though are correct though so rubbing my hands with anticipatory bloodthirsty glee I set off for Bradford giddy at the thought of seeing Ash despatch the Evil Dead again with help of an axe, a shotgun and a chain saw.
I’m old enough to have seen Evil Dead 2 at the cinema when it first came out (in what used to be the Odeon but is now Primarni on the Headrow in Leeds) – I went with chums, one of whom spent almost the entirety of the film hiding behind a cushion as she found it so terrifying. I didn’t find it terrifying (to my relief as I’d only seen The Evil Dead a year before and that had made me jump and the tree rape sequence is vile and still really unnerves me) but I did find it hilarious and occasionally stomach churning – it appealed to my love of slapstick and the fact that it had demons, decapitations and buckets of blood thrown in was all to the good.
Evil Dead 2 is kind of a remake, kind of a sequel to The Evil Dead and begins innocently enough with Ash played so marvellously by Bruce Campbell heading off to a lonely cabin in the woods with his girlfriend Linda, not knowing that an archaeology professor has been there before them and accidentally unleashed evil deadly forces by reading passages from the Necromonicon or Book of the Dead aloud.
Some elements of the first film remain – the terrifying growling sound of disembodied evil as it careers through the woods towards Ash and the cabin (this alone must have frightened the wits out of my chum who watched it from behind a cushion) Ash’s dress sense and amazing ability to survive injury, the tardis like tumble down cabin with enormous cellar and of course the book and demonic possession in the woods but Evil Dead 2 has far more wit and charm about it than the first. The violence is much more comedic – it reminded me of the Three Stooges and lots of Warner Brother cartoons and I also love Linda’s decapitated dance in the woods (which made me think of the Corpse Bride) and the creation of the stump adaptation to fit chainsaw has more than shades of the A Team about it . The scenes where The Evil Dead mutate into long necked fantastical demonic creatures also owe a lot to Ray Harryhausen films.
Ash doesn’t remain in the cabin alone with the evil dead for very long as the archaeology professors daughter and boyfriend come looking for him along with 2 hapless locals who show them where the cabin is. Needless to say they all meet unpleasant and somewhat sticky ends.
Overall I think my favourite bits of the film are: when Ash has to chop off his evil hand and imprisons it under a bucket laden with books, the top one being ‘A Farewell To Arms’, the bit where the entire room – moose head and desk lamps alike all laugh with him and where he questions how fine he is in the mirror after having to chop the head of his evilly infected girlfriend. The eyeball flying through the air also makes me chortle as does the end sequence when he is back at his day job in Homewares before once again being flung back into battle against the Evil (but quite funny and persistent) Dead.
Prior to the treat of the Evil Dead 2 Minicine also spoiled us with showing a delightful little film called Bride of Vernon made by students of the Northern Film School. A love story told by way of plasticine and stop motion animation it is the charming tale of Vernon’s fruitless attempts to make himself a girlfriend in a Dr Frankenstein stylee. When we first see him he is on unsuccessful attempt no 76 and his faithful owed wages to grumpy sidekick Fritz is pointing out to him he can’t really be living in a lair if it has a postcode. He finds love when disposing of his last unsuccessful experiment in the graveyard – a hippie like girl who he had been at school with whom somewhat forwardly invites herself round for dinner and although he then accidentally poisons her it all works out well in the end. It was beautifully made and the lair had lots of lovely little touches like a orange plasticine record player that looked like a Dansette and a rather 70’s looking kitchen. It was humorous, touching and funny and frankly knocked spots off many a professionally made film I’ve had the misfortune to sit through. Tantalisingly it teased us with the promise of a follow up called Vernon Meets The Wolfman but alas they’ve either graduated and this won’t be made or it was just a credit tease.
It was so lovely to see Evil Dead 2 again with fellow film fans – there weren’t many of us there which made for an intimate cosy showing and it was fab to be able to discuss our love of 80s schlock horror beforehand and the difference between films that make you jump at the time but don’t stay with you and the ones that make you switch on every light in the house as you go to bed – just to make sure there isn’t something unpleasant waiting for you in the shadows and then discuss the film leisurely afterwards over another slice of delicious bloodbath cake. If you weren’t there – you missed out big time.
You can find Morticia on Twitter: @LadyLugosi