If you haven’t noticed over the past few days, I’m a huge fan of anthologies. It probably stems from my love of short stories, an adoration born in my Tweens while digesting the work of Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov. H.P Lovecraft, and Poe. There’s something special about a short story, like a kiss in the company of darkness or a chilly breeze on a humid summer day. There for a moment, but not easily forgotten,
Anthologies are no different if done right. I could talk endlessly about the classics, titles such as Trilogy of Terror, Dead of Night, Asylum, Creepshow, From a Whisper to a Scream, and Trick’R’Treat to name a few, but despite my love for these films, I’ve never really been one to go the mainstream route. Instead I’d like to take a look at another hidden gem conjured by the twisted minds of Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Adam Green, and Joe Lynch, a film like no other, (mainly because it’s too bat shit ridiculous to come from anyone else) Chillerama.
Conceived while Rifkin, and Sullivan were working on Detroit Rock City, after the two discovered they had a mutual love for drive-in B-movies, creature features, and horror, the film was originally entitled, Famous Monsters of Filmland, a nod to a magazine they grew up reading.
Chillerama is split into four segments tied together by a wraparound story about a drunken, theatre employee who digs up his dead wife to commit necrophilia and is subsequently bitten by her on his genitals. Yep, you read that right. Each of the segments, (played out as different movies during a marathon screening at the theatre) pays homage to a different era in film.
Coming soon to a Uterus near you!
Wadzilla, a spoof of the drive-in monster movies from the 1950’s, follows a man who undergoes a procedure to increase his sperm count, but instead creates a single giant sperm that terrorizes New York City.
The creature effects were provided by the Chiodo Brothers, the boys responsible for creating the Critters, and Killer Klown’s from Outer Space to name a few.
Fun Times in the locker room.
I Was a Teenage Werebear, is a musical riff of Grease, Twilight, and Rebel Without a Cause, that follows a closeted teen who meets a group of boys who, when aroused turn into Werebears.
The short was later adapted by Sullivan, and Sean Abley as a stage musical.
Es Lebt!!! Es Lebt!!!
Diary of Anne Frankenstein is pretty much exactly what you expect
it to be, a combination of The Diary of Anne Frank, and Frankenstein. The story follows Hitler during world war II as he attempts to build an army of unstoppable killing machines.
The always amazing Joel David Moore, (from Hatchet, Grandma’s Boy, and Dodgeball fame) hams it up as Hitler, and Jason Vorhees himself, Kane Hodder plays his Jewish monster.
Zom-B movie is a spoof of 70’s, and 80’s zombie flicks that I’d really rather let you watch for yourselves!
I will say that the soundtrack for the segment was composed by the legendary Bear McCreary, who most will surely recognize as the man behind one of the few consistently amazing aspects of AMC’s The Walking Dead, its soundtrack, and theme song.
Chillerama is the kind of film that needs to be seen to be believed. It’s ludicrous, offensive, never takes itself too seriously, and is a shitload of fun! It’s also a treasure-trove of all things horror for fanatics like myself, featuring several cameos, and neat little winks to the films that inspired it.
Until next time skiddies.
Stay Scared!
Dean Sexton 