Musical Monday with The Correspondents

On this Musical Monday, The Correspondents & Friends are here to entertain us Coronavirus shut-ins with their 2009 song "Washington Square"

This music video also presents an educational opportunity, as well as a way to keep yourselves busy well beyond its running time. As you watch the video, make note of how many times the characters violate the best practices of Social Distancing and write a 200 - 300 word essay on how you're going to stop from making the same mistakes.


Share your essays via email with your friends and family, along with a link to this post. Let's entertain and educate the world!


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Musical Monday with Beyonce

"Single Ladies" is Beyonce's 2008 smash hit that is still well worth listening today; it's a song that will have you dancing your way into your work week. Meanwhile, the video for the song is another perfect illustration of this blog's unifying theme. Enjoy, and Happy Monday to you!



(Valentine's Day is coming up later this week, so maybe someone out there will find this song inspiring and "put a ring on it"!)

Plain White T's do 'Pet Sematary'

The month-long Halloween celebration is in full-swing over at my Terror Titans blog. In addition to daily short films, I'm posting a different band's interpretation of the immortal song "Pet Sematary" by the Ramones every few days.

This particular cover by the White T's seemed to fit in better here, however. I hope you enjoy it (even if the connection with "Frankenweenie" doesn't make much sense to me), that it will stir the Halloween spirit within you, and that it might inspire you to check out this year's 31 Nights of Halloween at Terror Titans!

The tragedy of 'One Cookie Left'

Taken for what this is, "One Cookie Left" is an amusing pastiche of early silent comedies. It's not brilliant, but it's also not bad, and there are several chuckle-prompting moments that you can enjoy right now, because I've embedded the film below. (That said... where did the guy's mustache in the first scene disappear to?)


One Cookie Left (2012)
Starring: Jessie and Max
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

'Table for One' is a great read

Table for One (2004)
Story and Art: Bosch Fawstin
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Will's obnoxious boss bet him that he wouldn't last one year as a waiter in his restaurant. It's now one year later, and Will intends to collect the money owed and leave the place behind. Unfortunately for Will, his boss won't let him go quietly...

"Table for One" is a small story that deals with a single night, but it's a night that will looms large in the lives of most of the characters. Although I appreciated the film-noirish aestitic of the book's art and tone from the first pages, I felt it was a little on the talkie side. I was drawn into the story by the artistic style and the fact that Fawstin is a good enough writer that each character had a unique voice, but I felt that what I was reading might have been better served by the film medium. I've been saying that more and more about modern comics, because, increasingly, artists and writers don't seem to understand the difference between film and comics. That wasn't the issue with Fawstin's book; here, I just felt that maybe comics wasn't right vehicle for the story he wanted to tell.

But then I hit the spread on pages 21 and 22.

I have read thousands of comic books and graphic novels. I have edited hundreds of comic book pages. That two page spread is one of the very best examples of comic book storytelling that I have ever seen. It captures the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant dining room and tracks Will's movement from table to table as he waits on the guests and hears parts of their conversations. Those two pages capture both movement and the passage of time in such an artful way that it puts Fawstin on a level of skill that few creators reach. Those two pages also proved that my feeling about Fawstin choosing the wrong vehicle to tell his story were absolutely wrong.

That fantastic two page spread also marked the point where the story kicked into high gear and the dramatic stakes were raised and then raised again. While I wished I knew more about how the diner who insisted he be called God by the restaurant's owner fit into the picture, there was more than enough drama and brilliant storytelling to satisfy me. I loved the way Will and his relationship to the various characters unfolded as I turned the pages. The book even came to a perfect end that contained elements that I knew were coming and other elements that were pleasant surprises... but all of which were perfectly conceived and expertly executed.

"Table for One" is available at Amazon. com via the link below, or directly from Fawstin's online store at this link. I recommend getting it, and I recommend getting the autographed version so you can send a few more dollars in the direction of this brilliant creator.

Musical Monday: 'Hey Ho' by Gin Wigmore

"Hey Ho" was a single from Gin Wigmore's 2009 "Holy Smoke" album. It's cool song with an even cooler video, shot entirely in black and white.

You can read more about this fantastic talent from New Zealand here. You can also visit her official website here.

Movie Monday: Monster

Every day this month, there's a new short film over at the Terror Titans blog for the annual 31 Nights of Halloween celebration..

However, we want to prepare lovers of black-and-white movies and drawings for the coming Big Day, so today we're offering a short horror feature here as well. It's a little tale of Mom vs. Monster.

Monster (2005)
Starring: Susan Prior and Luke Ikimis-Healy
Director: Jennifer Kent
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Halloween is coming...

... and there'll be a different horror short film every day for you to be spooked by over as the annual 31 Nights of Halloween celebration returns to the Terror Titans blog!

 And while the short film embedded below didn't make the cut over there, it's being featured here, because it's kinda fun, and the kids who made it recognize that the vast majority of truly great horror movies are in black-and-white!

Tommy (2009) 
Starring: Becky, Liam, and Rachel
Director: Natalie
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

The impossible HP Lovecraft movie got made!

The Call of Cthulhu (2005)
Starring: John Klemantaski, Matt Foyer, Noah Wagner, Patrick O'Day, Dan Mersault, and John Bolen
Director: Andrew Lehman
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

While trying to get his uncle's estate in order, a scholar (Foyer) discovers a web of horror and madness that spans the globe.

"The Call of Cthulhu" is the most famous story by pulp fiction horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and it's one that conventional wisdom (and, frankly, common sense) said could not be adapted to the screen. And certainly not on a low budget. It's a story that literally covers five decades and spans the globe with four plot-lines--one featuring a demonic cult performing human sacrifices deep within a swamp and the police officer who interrupts them, of a doomed ship's crew who encounter an uncharted island and a gigantic monster during a savage storm, one of a mad that is driven mad by strange dreams, and finally the tale of the narrator himself and how he was driven insane by completing research started by his uncle and discovering how those other three events were connected in a terrible chain of cosmic cause and effect.

It's a story that's both grand in scope, with world-spanning travel and dimension-spanning devil-worship, and yet subtle and intimate in the sources from which it draws its horror, because the tale ultimately deals with a man driven insane when he realizes that humans are insignificant cogs in a machine that hums along as it creates through through actions that have no obvious connection yet are bound together through unseen and unimagined forces of fate and destiny. To top it off, even though humans are incapable of comprehending the vast cosmic destiny unfolding around us, if we get a glimpse of it, we are then driven to attempt to understand it or become part of it, lured to madness by the titular "Call of Chuthulu."

But the filmmakers and cast behind this movie managed to do the impossible. They not only created the most faithful screen adaptation of a Lovecraft story I've yet to come across, but they did while capturing the tone and flavor of Lovecraft's layered writing style.

And they did it for around $50,000... delivering a horror movie far better than ones made with 100 times the budget level.

Part of the success of this film actually grew out of its low budget. It caused the filmmakers to settle on the idea of making the film as if it had been made during the time Lovecraft's original story had been published. It let them build sets and props for less than it would have cost them to do in color--because there are things that can be more easily hidden in black-and-white than when shooting in color--and it let them take approaches to special effects that are perfectly acceptable in a movie with apparent 1920s production values but which would have been outrageously laughable if used in a film with a modern feel.

The shot a silent movie, with the actors doing their level best to capture the gestures and performance styles of performers from that that time and making the movie using a mix of vintage and modern techniques--working at the intersection of digital compositing, stop-motion photography, miniatures, and forced perspective camera angles.

The filmmakers were mostly successful in creating a movie that feels like it dates from the 1920s. I'm sure uber-geeks would be inclined to nit-pick it for featuring things like zooms and pans and otherwise having the camera moving during shots, but I didn't find those obvious bits of modernity distracting from the overall effect. Heck, they even avoided the pitfall that has ruined several other contemporary films made to look old... they didn't go overboard with the digital "aging" to the film. There's just enough here to create the illusion that I'm watching some almost-lost film transferred to DVD Alpha Video rather than something made in 2005, but they don't go overboard to the point where it becomes distracting and obnoxiously fake.

In fact, the only thing I that hurt my impression of this film is that they were not able to afford was film stock but instead shot on video.

The biggest weakness of the film is that it has that it has that slightly bland look that I've found to be the hallmark of so many shot-on-video films, with the highlights and the shadows not being as starkly contrasted as they need to be. And that harms this film is some places. It's not a fatal flaw, but it takes knocks it down from ALMOST PERFECT to just GREAT (and from a Ten-star rating to a Nine-star.)

That said, this is a great recapturing of a cinematic style that's been gone for almost a century now. It's also a film that makes one dream about what Robert Weiene, Guido Brignone, Fritz Lang, or even Alfred Hitchcock, might have with H.P. Lovecraft.

Adam Warren presents great superhero funnies

Empowered Vols. 1 & 2 (Dark Horse, 2007)
Story and Art: Adam Warren
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

"Empowered" is a series of graphic novels featuring stories of varying length that revolve around the young, sexy superheroine Empowered. She gains her power from an alien "supersuit" that, while bullet-proof and capable of letting her shoot energy beams from her hands, it is also fragile in the extreme when it comes to sharp objects. Any possible chance, it tears, and each tear robs Empowered of some of her powers, until she is just a normal woman again. And a woman who is naked aside from scraps of skin-clinging clothing at that.

To make matters worse for Empowered, she is very insecure about her body, yet her skintight supersuit reveals everything about it, and she can't cover up for the suit to function--she can't even wear a cape to cover what she considers to be her big butt. Even more embarrassing, Empowered continues to get captured and tied up by even the lamest of villains, so her teammates in the Superhomies must sped nearly as much rescuing her as they do fighting crime.


The first two volumes in the "Empowered" series dishes out commentary and spoofs of conventions in the superhero genre, of the conventions and storytelling styles of Japanese comics, observations about society, advertising messages, the comic book business and comic book readers, personal insecurities and triumphs, love, life in general, and a whole lot more. It's downright amazing how much writer/artist Adam Warren manages to cram onto each page of these books. Even the "superheroes have to deal with real-life issues" material is well done, which was the biggest and most pleasurable surprise in the books for me, as I haven't really liked most of that type of material that's been generated in recent years. For a while, I've been of the opinion that the only writers who could do thse stories well were Steve Gerber, Cary Bates, and Archie Goodwin (three old timers who are either no longer with us or barely working in comics anymore), but Adam Warren proved that there are some current creators who can match their talent for binging the mundane to bear in their stories.

As might be expected in a superhero spoof about a stacked heroine who gets her clothes torn off and is tied up on a regular basis, there are a number of sexual related jokes and a high level of sexual content, particularly in Vol. 1. This means these books are meant for adults, and then only adults that aren't offended by drawings of and stories involving adults having sexual relations. (And I do mean these books are for adults. These books are a cut above the usual "mature" comics, as aptly illustrated by the fact that the Vol. 2 has far less sexually charged content than Vol. 1, yet it is just as funny and perhaps even more interesting because more time is spent on character development. (Vol. 1 was very episodic in nature, with very little carry-over from chapter to chapter. Vol. 2 developes a couple of running plotlines, some of which are continued in Vol. 3.)


The stories in these books also work because every character within them has something about them that's likable or that the readers can relate to, sympathize with, or chuckle at. While these often relate to secret insecurities possessed by the characters, the characters just as often become likable because they are revealed to be goodhearted, despite appearances. Even the neigh-omnipotent comsic entity that lives imprisoned and now-powerless in an alien device on Empowered's coffee table has a degree of twisted charm and outsider nature that makes him sympathetic to the reader.

The heart of the tales is the friendships shared by Empowered boyfriend Thugboy (a con-artist and killer who used to prey primarily on supervillains, but who is now retired, reformed, and attending open-bar parties hosted by the Superhomies whenever he can) and her best friend Ninjette (a ninja-for-hire with a drinking problem). Watching the ups and downs of their relationship with each other is what really makes these books worthwhile.

I've been enjoying Adam Warren's writing and artwork for years, but "Empowered" is his best work yet. Artwise and storywise, it's top-notch stuff, and I think it's a series that should be read by lovers of superhero comics and Japanese-style comics alike. Warren states through Empowered in one of the many hilarious fourth-wall chapter introductions that there's little crossover between "manga" fans and superhero fans. These books will, hopefully, become a common ground for both camps to stand on. They should be read by every adult comics fan with a sense of humor.

Emerging from the city's shadows: John Law

Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking (IDW, 2004)
Story and Art: Gary Chaloner and Will Eisner
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars


"Dead Man Walking" is an 80-page anthology that serves as a reintroduction to a classic Will Eisner character who never really saw publication until 1983, but whose creation led to a couple of the most celebrated stories in Esiner's famous 'The Spirit' series. The volume contains three all-new tales by Chaloner; the fully restored original John Law tales from the 1940s, by Eisner; and a short, but informative, essay about the character's publication history.

The original John Law tales, which make up the last 25 pages of the book, that are spectacular displays of when Will Eisner was at his finest. The art is fluid, with the action and motion in the panels virtually leaping off the page, and the stories are solid noir crime tales with quirky characters and femme fetales that could only have sprung from Eisner's mind and pen. They're great reading, and anyone who's admired Eisner's graphic novels or his Spirit work should read these tales, too.


The bulk of the book consists of Chaloner's new John Law stories, which capture the flavor and tone of Eisner's Law stories, as well as the elements that made the Spirit stories so fantastic. Chaloner also captures Eisner's writing style with quite a bit of flair. He does these things, however, without aping Eisner, but instead retains a style of his own. In fact, Chaloner's tales are a little darker than Eisner's, and while they definately set in a film-noir world of the 1940s, they also have a modern vibe to them. ("Law, Luck, and the Dead-Eyed Mystic" is a perfect fusion of that film-noir flavor with modern story-telling--and Chaloner throws in some cool backstory elements for John Law, as well as a couple of superhero-type characters.)

The flaw with Chaloner's work is that he, like so many modern artists, doesn't quite have the talent for layouts and pacing of a comic book story that older artists had. No matter how packed with activity that Eisner's pages were, the eyes of the reader always moved easily across the panels and pages; Chaloner's work is less clear and his layouts less easy to follow. In the bigger picture, he doesn't end each page with a "mini-cliffhanger" the way Eisner and other classic comic book artists did... and I think that Chaloner's tales suffer because of these factors.

Despite my complaints relating to Chaloner's mastery of the basics of comic book art above, I think "Dead Man Walking" is a comic book that everyone who loves comics should read. Chaloner's weaknesses as an artist are all too common these days, and his strengths more than make up for them. And vintage Eisner is always worth the price of admission.

(This graphic novel was follewed by a single issue of what was supposed to be a "John Law" ongoing series. That was 2005. I've not seen a second issue. I can only assume this means John Law's second chance for an extended publishing life was only slightly more successful than his first.)

'Terror in the Tropics' isn't what I wished

Terror in the Tropics (2005)
Starring: Mark Redfield, Jennifer Rouse, Jonathan Ruckman, Wayne Shipley, Kimberly Hannold, and Bela Lugosi
Director: A. Susan Svehla
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

A group of strangers are summoned to the reading of a will that names them as beneficiaries of a multi-million dollar estate. The trip is dangerous to all, not just because of the murderer and thief hiding in their midst, but because the insane Tesla Brothers (Redfield and Lugosi) await at their destination with murderous intent.


I really, really wanted to like this movie. The idea sounded excellent--taking scenes from Poverty Row movies of the 1930s and 1940s and incorporating them into a new movie by shooting scenes with modern actors. I still think it's an excellent idea... I just think Svehla and the fine folks at Midnight Marquee failed to execute it properly.

The biggest problem with the film is the story, or, more accurately, the stories.

There are two distinct stories here, and they are completely unrelated... we have a thief who stole the real map to Skull Island (King Kong's home) and who launched a failed expedition to it, and then we have the will-reading storyline. Both also feature unnecessarily subplots and characters... the Skull Island story treats us to a unnecessary (and, in context, utterly illogical) flashback to the failed expedition, and the will-reading story sees the shoehorning of a the archetypal fiery girl-reporter and sexist photographer into the going-ons. If the filmmakers had focused EITHER on the Skull Island/detective storyline OR the will-reading/evil Tesla Brothers storyline, the end product would have been far better.

(The filmmakers seemed to have recognized this problem as some point, and they write out a trio of characters in a lame fashion at about the 3/4 mark.)

Another problem is with the actors. For the most part, they aren't bad. They are about what I'd expect in a production like this... if it hadn't been billed as a tribute to the low-budget films of the 30s and 40s.

There's no sign that ANY of the actors here bothered taking the time to examine how actors of that time performed the characters they were playing. I saw no sign that any of the performers were making any attempt to bring the sort of energy to their parts that just about EVERYONE displayed in the films back then... and that includes the two actors who came closest to feeling like they belonged in a Monogram Picture--Jonathan Ruckman (who was playing the typical dishwater love interest) and Mark Redfield.

Then there's the new footage. The incompatibility of the acting styles aside, a number of bad decisions were made when the new footage was filmed. Prime among these was the string of cheap plastic party flags featured prominently on the ship-board set. On the flip-side, however, the first scene with the city editor was very impressive in its use of green-screens. (Later, when a ballroom scene uses similar tricking-in of backgrounds, it's badly done... but old-time office that wasn't actually there looked GREAT.)

Finally, there's the film's main selling point... the re-use of Lugosi, Karloff, and Lon Chaney Jr. footage in new and fun ways. Observant readers may already have noticed that when I listed the stars of the film, I didn't mention Karloff and Chaney, even though they're listed on the DVD case. Well, that's because Karloff is featured in some "Mr. Wong" footage that's incorporated in a very awkward and gratuitous fashion--and the Chaney is featured only in some bits taken from "The Indestructible Man" and it's almost as pointless as the Karloff bits.

Lugosi is used very cleverly in the picture, and his "new" character of Vitus Tesla is incorporated quite nicely. The footage from "The Devil Bat" and "The Invisible Ghost" is put to good and fun use. It's a glimpse into what the entire film could have been like if perhaps the filmmakers had chosen to focus a bit more on story rather than trying to cram as many different B-movie elements as possible into one film with a running-time of just above one hour.

I also contend that the film has too much new footage and not enough old. There's also too many instances of the same bit being used more than once, given how little old material is actually incorporated. More thought and time should have been devoted to using and incorporating the archive footage.

For all my complaining, I do want to mention that the filmmakers did blend old and new footage in a very impressive way during the film's climax as the hero attempts to get his hapless new girlfriend (Hannold) safely away from the Tesla Brothers. If the rest of the film had been this good, you'd be seeing a Fresh Rating instead of the measly Three Tomatoes I've giving it now.

I can't really recommend the film "Terror in the Tropics", and the rating I'm giving it probably on the generous side... a reflection of what I hoped it would be rather than what it is. There is a mostly botched attempt at creating movie in the spirit of the old Monogram and PRC films, but I can't help but appreciate the attempt.

However, while I can't recommend the DVD for the "Terror in the Tropics" film, I can recommend it for the extras. There's a very interesting lecture by an expert on the Poverty Row studios about why great actors like George Zucco, John Carradine, and Bela Lugosi did so much work for them.

Jesus smote zombies for our sins

Jesus Hates Zombies (Alterna Comics, 2009) 

Writer: Stephen Lindsay Artists: Various 

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars 

After flesh-eating zombies overrun the Earth, God sends his Only Son to save a small group of faithful. Unfortunately, Jesus is, once again, sent to Earth under-equipped for the job ahead of him, and he must fight his way through zombie hoards as he treks across the United States. This is one mission where there is no Love to be had from the Christ, because Jesus HATES zombies!

     "Jesus Hates Zombies" is a collection of short stories drawn by various artists and written by series creator Stephen Lindsay. The art varies tremendously in quality, but, as a lover of the old-time anthology comics, I still appreciated the format. (Not enough to cut the editors any slack; some of the art really is at such a low level that I can help but wonder if it was drawn by someone's Significant Other.) 

The stories, however, are of consistently high quality. While the idea of Jesus wandering a "Dawn of the Dead"-style world looking for the final pure souls so that he may bring them God's word while sending zombies back to their graves is fun in-and-of-itself, Lindsay manages to infuse every story with dark comedy that had me smiling at every page and even laughing out loud at more than one occasion. Jesus' initial arrival on Earth, his acquisition of a car, and his later acquisition of a zombie sidekick (appropriately enough named Lazarus) are all funny high points of a very funny book.

  However, there are a few almost sad moments as well, such as the one where Jesus encounters zombies in an abandoned amusement park (in a tale that may remind some readers of the hit movie "Zombieland"*, but they should be aware that Lindsay's story was originally published in 2007.) And then there's the horror. You can't have a zombie comic book without SOME horror. Here, the most chilling moments arise when Jesus thinks he is at the end of the quest but instead finds himself facing something very different than lost sheep waiting for his help; and the story where he's trying to get a good night's sleep and instead is cornered by hungry undead. But even the horror is delivered through a snappy script and funny artwork.

 

*Sidenote: As I watched "Zombieland," it reminded me both of this graphic novel and of "Zombies Calling," another great graphic novel of comedic zombie antics. I wonder if it was a case of great minds thinking alike, or if someone on the "Zombieland" writing team likes reading the sorts of books that get reviewed here at "Shades of Gray"?

Welcome to 2010!

If you need help surviving a zombie attack, read on.

In the Event of a Zombie Attack (2008)
Starring: Claire Cassidy, Telisa Steen, Dennis Hoffer, and Nicholas Stender
Director: W.L. Wittstruck
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

"In the Event of a Zombie Attack" is a cute short film made up of vignettes designed to look like old education films designed to inform the audience about how to survive should they find themselves in the middle of a "Night of the Living Dead"-type situation.

The first of these shorts features a stereotypical, droning 1950s educational film scientist (portrayed by Claire Cassidy) explaining why flesh-eating zombies exist, how they multiply, and how to avoid being attacked by them. The second has a survialist (portrayed with great zeal by Telisa Steen) explaining the ins and outs and proper etiquette of surviving as society crumbles under the onslaught of zombies. In both of these shorts, a pair of campers appear as object lessons to illustrate the points being made, along with a couple of animated segments drawn by the creator of the concept behind the film, Jeff Freels. All the elements add up to a very funny spoof of educational films and zombie movies alike.

Interspersed during and between the educational segments are advertisements for products from a certain well-diversified large company that may or may not also be the ones responsible for whatever toxic waste it is that is causing zombies to rise. Just because they're an evil megacorp that crossmarkets their cigarette brand during an ad their Zombie Chunks kid's cereal doesn't mean their sponsorship of the "In the Event of a Zombie Attack" educational films means anything other than their being responsible members of the community! (The ads for the various Ziggurat Chemicals products are almost funnier than the main features themselves.)

All the various bits that make up "In the Event of a Zombie Attack" add up to a unique and amusing viewing experience. Plus, the film conveys some very important information. (My favorite zombie survival tip? "Decent, Respectable Grooming Habits May Just Save Your Life!")

For more information about this film and tips on how YOU can survive a zombie attack, visit the website by clicking here.

Most impressive vomiting scene ever filmedis highlight of 'Jack the Vomiter'

Jack the Vomiter (2006)
Starring: Jon Swanstrom
Director: Derrick King, Mike Corrigan, Travis Hiibner and Gary McLeod

A killer (Swanstrom) is stalking through the shadows of a Victorian-era city, butchering prostitutes and leaving a... um... most unusual signature at each brutal slayings.


The film's title gives away part of this strange little short's punchline, but you still won't be prepared for what actually happens, and you'll be laughing despite yourself... laughing until you almost puke. But you won't puke like Jack... no one pukes like Jack!

The filmmakers shot "Jack the Vomiter" as if it was a silent movie, and they used various methods to make the film appear as if it was a ill-used silent movie, with missing frames, badly done splices, scratches, and burn- and mildew-damage. When I originally posted this review to Rotten Tomatoes, I commented that I thought they filmmakers had gone a bit far with the "aging" of the film, that the damage appeared so severe that I doubted it could even run through a projector if it had been real. At the time, I assumed the damage was computer generated.

However, Mike Corrigan contacted me with the following technical information about the film: "The 'missing frames, badly done splices, scratches, and burn- and mildew-damage" were actually the result of hand-processing the 16mm sections in a bucket without any regard for correct procedure. Hence, the film came out stuck together and half processed in spots. Then we dried it in my back yard where it picked up even more crud. We actually DID run it through a projector (amazingly) and parts of it were transferred at home. Just thought you'd be interested in our 'process.'"

"Jack the Vomiter" is a very interesting bit of film, although the inconsistent narrative tone is a weakness that bothers me. In some scenes, the filmakers do a good job of capturing the feel of a real silent movie (even if the subject matter would never have appeared in one), yet in others not even a halfhearted attempt is made. However, the effective use of an occasional sound and the strategically placed, deadpan-humours title cards go along way to make up for the inconsistent cinematic styles. And the projectile vomiting. I've never laughed so hard at vomiting in my life! It's a scene that must be seen to be believed!

As far as the vomiting goes, Corrigan added this: "The Vomit Canon? Well, that's a trade secret!"

I must admit that I don't understand the point of this film (unless it was to create the most impressive vomit scene ever displayed on screen), but it entertained me and that's ultimately what matters most when it comes to movies.

Click here to visit the official HeadJuice Production website. You can even purchase your very own DVD copy of "Jack the Vomiter" while there.