| |||||
Gruesome
SCREENER/APPROX. 95 MINS/2007/USA MA15+
SCREENER/APPROX. 95 MINS/2007/USA MA15+
9
| All written material is © from 2006 to Present at DVD Resurrections. This website is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The opinions which are expressed within these pages are solely those of DVD Resurrections. No copyright infringement is intended or implied. |
| ||||||
Greg Lamberson should be familiar to a lot of you regulars here at DVD Resurrections. He’s the director of the 1988 cult classic SLIME CITY, and
there’s an interview with him on this site, as well as a review of SLIME CITY. Well, here's some news on his latest project.
Back in early 1985, Greg wrote a screenplay called JOHNNY GRUESOME, but it never got made. So he decided to make it his second novel, after
his Anubis Prize-winning book PERSONAL DEMONS. You can see evidence that JOHNNY GRUESOME started out as a screenplay, because it is
very cinematic. However, the novel format gives Lamberson a chance to flesh the characters out a bit more than he could in a 90-minute feature.
The plot is simple but effective. High school bad boy Johnny Grissom (nicknamed "Johnny Gruesome" by his enemies) is out driving his friends Eric
and Gary, and his girlfriend Karen, around town (he calls his car, a black Cutlass Supreme, the Death Mobile) when things get out of hand. After he
does a few things that convince his friends he’s trying to kill himself and them as well, Gary takes things into his own hands and tries to stop
Johnny. Things go from bad to worse, and Johnny ends up dead.
While Johnny ends up in the cemetery, Karen takes up with Gary, who seduces her with drugs. But Johnny doesn't stay buried for long. He kind of
"wakes up" from death. At first his spirit has a little trouble controlling his body again, but once he gets the hang of it, he's up and around again,
bent on revenge on everyone who's ever wronged him.
The concept of a head-banging teenage zombie works very well in the book, and he almost seems like he could have the same potential as familiar
characters like Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger if given half a chance.
To promote the novel, Lamberson has devised a kind of multi-media marketing campaign that’s really a lot of fun. First off is GRUESOME, a CD of
songs inspired by the book, by the band Johnny Gruesome (actually Giasone Italiano and his wife, horror writer Marcy Italiano). Featuring songs
with names like “Rigor Mortis,” “Gruesome” and “Death Mobile” the CD offers us a hard rock soundtrack that sounds just like the kind of tunes
Johnny would play in his car. I found the music to be pretty catchy on repeated listenings, especially the song “Gruesome.”
Secondly, Lamberson is a filmmaker, so he made a 9-minute promotional movie for the book. It also highlights two of the songs from the CD –
“Gruesome” and “Death Mobile” - and is in the form a music video. However, the loose structure allows him to condense the Johnny Gruesome
storyline into the length of a video, and he does a pretty good job of telling the story in such a short time. There are also some scenes that are a
homage to George A. Romero, especially black and white scenes in a graveyard that reminded me of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and a
bathroom scene where Johnny attacks a cheerleader which was lit with fluorescent lights and has a look similar to the mall scenes in Romero’s
DAWN OF THE DEAD.
In the film, Ryan O’Connell does a great job as Johnny, while Erin Brown (you may also know her as “Misty Mundae”) plays Johnny’s girlfriend
Karen. With Jennifer Bihl as the cheerleader and Dan Loughery as Gary.
There is also a Johnny Gruesome full-head latex mask available, as well as an online comic book.
While the novel is at the heart of all this, and definitely worth checking out, the entire package is pretty entertaining and I recommend you check
out as much as you can.
The novel is currently available for pre-order from Bad Moon Books at badmoonbooks.com. It features six full color illustrations by Zach McCain
and an introduction by Jeff Strand.
The Johnny Gruesome “Mini-Movie” isn’t for sale, but it’s free on the web! You can see it by going to the links on johnnygruesome.com or
gravethoughtsrdio.com. There is also a lesser quality version on ifilm.com, and YouTube is right around the corner. The CD is also available on
the johnnygruesome.com website.
The Johnny Gruesome mask, which is a full-head deluxe mask, hand painted with hair and sunglasses, is available from Matt Patterson at
mattymask.com. It’s a limited edition, only 500 copies will be made, and it goes for $45, the same as the novel.
there’s an interview with him on this site, as well as a review of SLIME CITY. Well, here's some news on his latest project.
Back in early 1985, Greg wrote a screenplay called JOHNNY GRUESOME, but it never got made. So he decided to make it his second novel, after
his Anubis Prize-winning book PERSONAL DEMONS. You can see evidence that JOHNNY GRUESOME started out as a screenplay, because it is
very cinematic. However, the novel format gives Lamberson a chance to flesh the characters out a bit more than he could in a 90-minute feature.
The plot is simple but effective. High school bad boy Johnny Grissom (nicknamed "Johnny Gruesome" by his enemies) is out driving his friends Eric
and Gary, and his girlfriend Karen, around town (he calls his car, a black Cutlass Supreme, the Death Mobile) when things get out of hand. After he
does a few things that convince his friends he’s trying to kill himself and them as well, Gary takes things into his own hands and tries to stop
Johnny. Things go from bad to worse, and Johnny ends up dead.
While Johnny ends up in the cemetery, Karen takes up with Gary, who seduces her with drugs. But Johnny doesn't stay buried for long. He kind of
"wakes up" from death. At first his spirit has a little trouble controlling his body again, but once he gets the hang of it, he's up and around again,
bent on revenge on everyone who's ever wronged him.
The concept of a head-banging teenage zombie works very well in the book, and he almost seems like he could have the same potential as familiar
characters like Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger if given half a chance.
To promote the novel, Lamberson has devised a kind of multi-media marketing campaign that’s really a lot of fun. First off is GRUESOME, a CD of
songs inspired by the book, by the band Johnny Gruesome (actually Giasone Italiano and his wife, horror writer Marcy Italiano). Featuring songs
with names like “Rigor Mortis,” “Gruesome” and “Death Mobile” the CD offers us a hard rock soundtrack that sounds just like the kind of tunes
Johnny would play in his car. I found the music to be pretty catchy on repeated listenings, especially the song “Gruesome.”
Secondly, Lamberson is a filmmaker, so he made a 9-minute promotional movie for the book. It also highlights two of the songs from the CD –
“Gruesome” and “Death Mobile” - and is in the form a music video. However, the loose structure allows him to condense the Johnny Gruesome
storyline into the length of a video, and he does a pretty good job of telling the story in such a short time. There are also some scenes that are a
homage to George A. Romero, especially black and white scenes in a graveyard that reminded me of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and a
bathroom scene where Johnny attacks a cheerleader which was lit with fluorescent lights and has a look similar to the mall scenes in Romero’s
DAWN OF THE DEAD.
In the film, Ryan O’Connell does a great job as Johnny, while Erin Brown (you may also know her as “Misty Mundae”) plays Johnny’s girlfriend
Karen. With Jennifer Bihl as the cheerleader and Dan Loughery as Gary.
There is also a Johnny Gruesome full-head latex mask available, as well as an online comic book.
While the novel is at the heart of all this, and definitely worth checking out, the entire package is pretty entertaining and I recommend you check
out as much as you can.
The novel is currently available for pre-order from Bad Moon Books at badmoonbooks.com. It features six full color illustrations by Zach McCain
and an introduction by Jeff Strand.
The Johnny Gruesome “Mini-Movie” isn’t for sale, but it’s free on the web! You can see it by going to the links on johnnygruesome.com or
gravethoughtsrdio.com. There is also a lesser quality version on ifilm.com, and YouTube is right around the corner. The CD is also available on
the johnnygruesome.com website.
The Johnny Gruesome mask, which is a full-head deluxe mask, hand painted with hair and sunglasses, is available from Matt Patterson at
mattymask.com. It’s a limited edition, only 500 copies will be made, and it goes for $45, the same as the novel.
| DOWNLOAD MOVIE @ OFFICIAL WEBSITE |
|
| "His back, and really pissed off" |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search Review Database: |