Customer Reviews

Shock-O-Rama

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The poster was irresistible: "See Blood Thirsty Zombies! Space Aliens! and a Super Colossal Brain!" So it was that in October '05 I whimsically attended the New York screen premiere of Shock-O-Rama at the Pioneer Theater. Brett Piper's latest movie stars Misty Mundae, Julian Wells, AJ Khan, Caitlin Ross, and other EI Cinema regulars.

This is not a bare excuse for soft core porn as many of these actors' earlier vehicles have been. Shock-O-Rama is a lighthearted treatment of classic science fiction and horror clichés. Yet, it is not just a parody; it works as a stand-alone sci-fi/horror movie. Humor pervades without drowning the storylines.

Shock-O-Rama is actually three interconnecting tales. The central one, which holds the other two in place, is "Zombie This!" Misty Mundae plays a B-movie soft core scream queen (sound familiar?) who is fired by an independent New Jersey based studio, prompting a funny tirade from her that includes a biting and all too credible evaluation of her employers and her fans. Spending her first night of unemployment in the country, Misty's character accidentally unleashes a real zombie much like the ones she has battled many times in her films. Self-referential humor abounds as in the obligatory bathtub scene (as best as I can remember the line several months later): "At least I can get naked without someone filming it!" Meantime, back at the studio, the execs' ongoing search for a replacement actress causes them (and us) to view shorts involving junkyard aliens ("Mechanoid") and, yes, a super colossal brain ("Lonely is the Brain").

The film is creative, well scripted, well directed, and professionally acted. Given the shoe-string budget, the FX and post production are quite good. They include an effective stop action sequence with a robot (reminiscent of a War of the Worlds tripod) constructed in a junkyard by aliens.

Though it should not be approached with anything like the expectations one has of mainstream, high-budget, Hollywood productions, Shock-O-Rama is a great deal of fun and is an altogether impressive independent work.

...the cover come on, I could not say no to that. Well it is about three tales that end up being linked to one story. There's a story about a zombie, one about an alien, and another about a brain. They are all interesting and the way they linked them was interesting too. I didn't find myself bored with this one at all, it has a little bit of everything. Well done. I would recommend this one.

Good acting, good cinematography, good story. Shock-O-Rama is a fun, sexy, and gore filled spoof of E.I. Independent Cinema's films. A must see for horror fans.

This movie is separated into a few different story lines and cleverly so. Rebecca Raven (Misty Mundae-Yum) is a B actress who wants a meaty part and winds up losing her job. Her boss needs to find a new actress who isn't afraid to show her goods. So he begins reviewing tapes-these are the separate storylines.

The first takes place in a junkyard where an alien space craft lands and dukes it out with two lovers on the outs with hilarious results.

The second takes place at an isolated cabin where Rebecca is hiding out. She resurrects the corpse of a cultist. There is plenty of nudity and gore and humor in this section. Misty Mundae is a beauty that has that girl next door quality.

The last takes place at a house where a group of women are having their dreams studied and they start dying off. AJ Khan stands out and not just because of her good looks.

I don't want to give away too much other than to say that this movie is cheesy and definitely a B movie with an A+ grade. I enjoyed it whole heartedly. This is not academy award material but good fun.

This is director Brett Piper's third movie for the Shock-O-Rama studio, and once again he employs the wonderful Misty Mundae in a prominent role. Here, she plays B-movie actress Rebecca Raven. Tired of the movie-spoof-nudie- fests that her films are, she craves something more from her acting career and decides to leave the studio. Meanwhile the studio executives are equally tired of Rebecca's tantrums and have decided to trade her in for a younger model. Unfortunately for them, this (unseen) hottie has got herself into some rather intimate trouble with the police. With production about to start on the studio's next lowbrow production, the search is on for a new actress to take Rebecca's place.

This is the glue that holds this three-story slice of comedy/sci-fi/horror in place. The studio executives (David Fine and Michael Thomas) watch a couple of videos looking for their new talent and we watch along with them.

First up is `Mecharachnia' in which a bickering couple (Rob Monkiewicz and Caitlin Ross) are holed up in their junkyard while a Gremlin-like space alien tries to kill them. The level of special effects in this segment is displayed at the outset with a space chase that wouldn't look out of place in `The Clangers'. The story itself is a little plodding because of its single location, and the constant arguing between the lead characters is more grating than humorous. This is a story that needs to be fleshed out. Our studio execs think so too, because this video contains no nudity.

Of the three stories on display here, the most interesting, both visually and in terms of inventiveness is `Lonely Are the Brain' which features Seduction Cinema regulars A.J. Khan and Julian Wells. In this segment, the inmates at a sleep therapy clinic are treated to dreams full of sex and violence. The dream sequences are superbly realized and would not look out of place in a more upmarket movie. Strangely, Brett Piper, in his director's commentary, says that this story is his least satisfying part of the movie. For me, it's the most accomplished segment.

And what of Rebecca Raven? Having been turfed out of the studio, she decides to have some quality alone time in a creepy house in the middle of nowhere. After a bath time shaving accident (her legs in case you were getting too excited), the rickety plumbing allows the bloodied water to seep into the ground and, lo and behold: zombie! After her years in lowbrow horror, Rebecca is able to deal with the situation. Hiding in the woodshed, she sees a chainsaw . . .

Talk about life imitating art. At one point, a studio executive mentions that they own the name Rebecca Raven and that she wouldn't be able to use it. After Misty's departure from the Seduction Cinema fold, her subsequent films (`Sick Girl' and `Shadow: Dead Riot') have her billed as Erin Brown. Misty's segment here is great fun. She sends up her own career, B-movies in general and her fans ("Pathetic pimple-faced virgins sitting in their mummy's basement in front of the t.v., remote in one hand . . . ", well I think we can guess the rest!).

So, `Shock-O-Rama' is certainly a must-have for Misty Mundae fans. If you enjoyed Brett Piper's other films on this label (`Bite Me!', another comedy horror, or the slightly darker `Screaming Dead'), you'll probably enjoy this. You'll also want this if you follow Julian Wells and A.J. Khan who both turn in excellent performances.

SHOCK-O-RAMA is a fantastic, low-budget horror anthology w/ plenty of spice and hilarity. Misty Mundae plays horror icon, Rebecca Raven. Raven wants out of the horror business, putting her movie bosses in a jam. They must replace their star fast, so they view films from other companies w/ other actresses. The first film is MECHANOID. It concerns a junkyard owner and his battle w/ tiny alien invaders. Great stop-motion, including a gigantic killer robot! Next is LONELY ARE THE BRAIN, about a "hypnomorphic" experiment gone awry. This one's loaded w/ blood, gore, nudity, and a giant, disembodied brain-monster! Meanwhile, Ms. Raven's vacation takes a nasty turn when she inadvertently resurrects a satanic zombie! Great stuff for the B-movie fanatic! Director, Brett Piper is a practical fx guru!...

My first venture into Shock-o-Rama films was a pleasant surprise. Well acted and well shot, with some very good FX work. A great treat for fans of low budget, independent horror films.

Shock-o-Rama (Brett Piper, 2005)

Brett Piper is perhaps best-known for being the mind (and I use the term loosely) behind A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell. That may have to change, because Shock-o-Rama is simply more of everything that movie was. Not necessarily better, but certainly more.

This straight-to-video cheapie is actually comprised of three short films (presented in a manner more befitting a sampler of the studio's offerings than an anthology film). The frame story, "Zombie This," features B-movie actress Rebecca Raven (Erin Brown, better known as softcore adult star Misty Mundae), who is tired of making B movies and just wants to get away for a while. She buys a lovely suburban home that just happens to have a zombie living in the basement. Meanwhile, the guys at the studio are looking for new talent, and so they screen a couple of movies with prospective Rebecca Raven replacements in them-- "Mecharachnia", an odd little flick about tiny aliens, and "Lonely Are the Brain", which has to do with aliens and sexual goings-on in a sleep clinic. (Yeah, it really is as weird as it sounds.)

Let's be frank-- the main reason you're watching this is that Erin Brown and "Lonely Are the Brain" stars A. J. Khan and Julian Wells are getting naked. They don't do so nearly often enough, however, to keep the interest of the more prurient-minded audience for this (and Mecharachnia female lead Caitlin Ross bares nothing more than a shoulder). If you look at it more as a trip down a very disillusioned version of memory lane, you may get slightly more enjoyment out of it; the awful special effects are actually kind of fun now and again. The acting, however, is atrocious, even when you put it up against that to be found in bad fifties B-movie horror specials. That said, the over-the-top nature of this whole mess makes it fun enough that it's worth having on in the background at the next party you're having where everyone's planning on getting really drunk. * ½