Jason watches SHEvil Dead

Way back in 2004, the Primitive Screwheads won my heart and soaked my undies (perhaps I should rephrase that...nah!) with their first show, Evil Dead Live, a comic adaptation of the famous horror/comedy trilogy. What they lacked in production value, they more than made up with using a combination of insanity and tons of fake blood, sprayed all over the audience. Over the years, that insanity has stayed, although a few of their shows have eschewed the blood. Seems it's getting harder and harder for them to actually rent a show space in the city--too many people know how much of a mess they make.

Well, after a bit of an absence, the blood is back! And they're back to their roots, once again going after the EVIL DEAD trilogy, but this time with an awesome, sexy twist--an all-female cast. An excellent excuse to have some fun with party girls alone in a cabin. They fight, they love, they make fun of Bruce Campbell. Julie Antti is just excellent as Ash(ley). And I don't mean to be a pervert, but her possessed hand scene was aaaawesome...definitely the best part that didn't involve me getting soaked with blood.

Oh, and as always, thank you for aiming at me as much as possible! I love you guys, too.

My only miscalculation is that I chose to see this last Friday night, which I didn't realize was the start of Yom Kippur. I'm not very Jewish (or even legally Jewish, as only my dad is Jewish), but for some reason I still fast on Yom Kippur (and break the fast with a big pile of bacon). So possibly for the first time ever I saw their show sober. I'm happy to confirm that their show still rocks sober. But I might have to make time to see it drunk, too...you know just as a control experiment.

Jason watches the Primitive Screwhead production of Much Ado About Lebowski

A revival of their hit show from last year. Still hilarious, still has that great no-budget but let's go crazy anyway style. And the new knave of Lebowski (Alfred Muller) has a more laid-back, very 'knave' attitude, while being a little more frisky with interacting with the audience. Especially in the early dunking-his-head-in-the-commode scene (note: I played the commode. Awkward...and hilarious fun!)

Other than that, it's been about a year since I saw their previous run, so it's hard to compare. I got the sense that there were Lebowski scenes added that weren't there last year, and the importance of the two escaped prisoners from Raising, Arizona was lessened (that may have had something to do with Paul Trask, who normally plays Gale Slade, was out and so we had a stand-in for him).

The play runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through the end of June. Tickets here. The knave abideth, and no person furketh with the Jesus.

Oh, and rumor has it their next project with be an all-female version of their first show, titled Shevil Dead. Let's hope that happens. I've also been petitioning for a while for them to do The Exorcist live.

Jason watches the Primitive Screwheads production of MUCH ADO ABOUT LEBROWSKI

Not Lebowski, or Lebronski, or Leb-don't-sue-ski.

The Primitive Screwheads, famous for dousing audiences in gallons of fake blood, have toned it down and just threw a bit of water on the fans (mostly me) for their take on a completely original 9-pin playing slacker comedy in the style of William Shakespeare. Jokes abound, a rug (i.e., me) gets pissed on, minstrels serenade us, pornographic playwrights run amok, and there's even a plot in there (something about a kidnapping, which may be fake...you know how complex this Shakespearean stuff is). They've also got the hottest cowgirl Greek chorus ever, and there's some comic relief from a couple of escaped jailbirds trying to get in on the ransom. They're from some place called Raising in Arizona.

You know, as much as I love getting blood dumped on me, (and I have it on good authority that their next production is a reprise of their first one--Evil Dead Live), once again the Screwheads show that when they put the blood away they can make a good (and wonderfully interactive) show with their comedy alone.

They've added a few more shows, at Cell Space on July 31 and August 6, 7, and 20. More info here, and tickets here. Go see it!

Jason watches the Primitive Screwheads do BRAINDEAD ALIVE

It's been a long two years since the Primitive Screwheads drenched me with blood, but last night they were finally back, and with a vengeance.

Their show was an adaptation of Peter Jackson's Braindead (aka Dead Alive), often called the goriest movie of all time. First, I have to make a diversion because this movie is very important to me.

Some of you might have noticed that I watch a lot of movies, and in particular I go to a lot of film festivals. So a lot of people ask me what my favorite movie of all time is. I can't answer that question, but instead I explain the Braindead/Dead Alive is the movie that really started my obsession. You see, when I first saw the American cut of DEAD ALIVE (someone played it in the lounge at college), I loved it. I hadn't even really seen a gory movie before (Seriously, I grew up without watching a lot of movies and kind of a chicken. I made up for it fast). Well, I loved the movie enough I sought more information about it on the ol' Internets, and I found it was originally called BRAINDEAD. I also found there were a number of sites where I could get bootleg VHS copies of the New Zealand/European cut called BRAINDEAD (many of these sites, like Gorehound Video or Blackest Hearts Media, folded their VHS copy business once a lot of these cult films started being released on DVD). Well, the BRAINDEAD cut has a few extra minutes of footage that tie up a few loose ends and just make for some good gags. It's still my preferred version and thanks to Indiefest 2003 I'm one of the few American audiences to see that version on the big screen. Anyway, in searching for the best copy of BRAINDEAD on bootleg VHS I learned about a lot of other cult movies available at these sites. One that impressed me greatly was CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. In 2001, shortly after I had moved to the SF Bay Area, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST did a tour of the U.S. on the big screen. In San Francisco, it played at a little theater in the Mission called The Roxie. After watching it there, and thoroughly enjoying it, I figured I should keep tabs on what's playing at a theater that's cool enough to play such an extreme movie. Well, the next February they played something called Indiefest. By this time I was already seeing a movie or two every weekend, and was gravitating towards independent film rather than the blockbuster of the week release. But I hadn't really done a film festival before. And I also figured out that in the 2002 Indiefest schedule it was possible--but not trivial--to see everything. I figured that's the thing to do. Sure, some people would go just to see the movie their friend made, or see a few that seem interesting, but there would be a number of people who were there to see everything. Turns out, I was the only one (by now, there are at least one or two more people who do that), and now I've seen everything in Indiefest since then (the streak is still alive!) And the rest, as they say, is history.


So this rambling tale of my personal history is just an introduction to say, I KNOW THIS MOVIE PRETTY DAMN WELL. So I can tell you, the Screwheads did a very faithful, and pretty damn funny adaptation of it. Actually, they did a stage parody of a radio-play parody of it. That's right, they present it as a radio play, and make jokes about 1950's style radio. The old-timey microphones are a nice touch, and the joke about cigarette advertisements never got old (okay, they got old, but I still liked them. Makes me want to get a pack of Sammy's cigarettes). And the live Foley effects were really cool. It does mean that a lot of the action is narrated rather than acted (as anyone who has seen the movie knows, there's a lot going on that would be rather difficult for a non-profit theater troupe to put on stage) and so I think it helps a lot to know the movie beforehand (I'd be interested to hear from anyone in the audience who hadn't see the movie).

Oh, but let's be honest, I was there for one thing--blood. Gallons and gallons of blood dumped on the audience. Reportedly, their previous record was 80 gallons of blood in a show. Last night, they used 200 gallons. I believe it. My soaked hair believed it. My soaked clothes (all the way to my freakin' taint) believed it. I was literally left with no bit of surface area not soaked (something that hasn't actually happened since their Chainsaw Massacres show back in 2006). So, Mission 100% Accomplished! My only complaint, I got plenty soaked, the rest of the audience (including my friend Ira) got plenty soaked, but the cast members got away relatively clean. They're playing 4 more shows--on the 10th, 24th, 29th, 30th, and 31st (my birthday, and the extra-bloody closing show!), so hopefully they'll find a way to soak the cast more before then.

Then of course, was the walk to the BART (that blood is cold, by the way), and the long ride back to Fremont. I got a few odd looks, but given that the blood shows up more pink than anything, maybe they figured I had dressed myself as a giant breast cancer awareness ribbon or something.

Anyway, you should all see their show. Tickets are only $20, and are available here.

[Update: I completely forgot to mention how much the Primitive Screwheads love me back (I am, after all, an honorary Screwhead). They made my involvement a little bit of the show, including making me an example of a "not-well-maintained frontage." I <3 @primitive_screw]

Jason watches the Primitive Screwheads "Kentucky Jones and the Carpet of Doom"

I think a functional indicator of addiction could be when you fly home from vacation and instead of going home you go straight out to get your fix. Guess what, I didn't go straight to the movies from the airport...I went to a live stage play.

Another Hole in the Head presented a Primitive Screwheads production of "Kentucky Jones and the Carpet of Doom". The Primitive Screwheads, of course, are the (in)famous San Francisco theatre troupe who do blood-soaked comic adaptations of famous horror movies. Well, they've showered the city in so much fake blood that they can't get a performance space anymore, so for their Indiana Jones parody they took a whole new direction and went dry (and as a result, could book the beautiful Brava Theater). Sure, they still throw (fake) rocks and (also fake) snakes at the audience, they run through and over the audience, and I did get misted with water from a giant snake (which was nice and refreshing on an unseasonably hot night), but there are no pictures of my blood soaked underwear coming from this show.

To be honest, I was a little worried about the idea of a "dry" Screwheads show. Their comedy definitely falls to the corny and juvenile side, and I didn't know how well it would carry a show without the carnage of spraying blood. But an interesting thing happened. I think without the blood they forced themselves to tighten up the writing, acting, everything and actually put on a better comic performance. Previous Primitive Screwheads shows have been a pretty equally balanced combination of laughs (at the good jokes), groans (at the bad jokes), and shrieks (at the blood and guts). This show took out the shrieks, but also upped the laughs and minimized the groans. There was a large, raucous audience and from what I could tell everyone enjoyed it. You do have to know what you're getting into, as I said before their humor runs towards the corny and juvenile. There were many jokes about balls ("Belloq" became "Balzac/Ball Sack/Nut Sack"), ass ("very dangerous...I'll go first"), teabagging, etc. in this story of disgraced archaeologist Tiberius K. "Tucky" Jones and his mission to find the mythical flying carpet of Solomon. But I think there comic timing was tighter than ever before. And I can't put my finger on it, but for some reason the map sequences--where they replaced the classic red dot with a toy Millennium Falcon--still crack me up.

I'm just a little sad that I caught the last show of this run, since I can't tell all my loyal readers to go out and see it. However, I have it as a solid rumor that they might try to revive this show sometime in the August/September time frame, for a longer run. So I'll keep my eyes open, and let you know. Especially if you've been intrigued by the Primitive Screwheads shows before, but are afraid of getting soaked with blood.

By the way, you shouldn't let the fact that I'm the recognized #1 Screwhead fan make you think my review is somehow unreliable. Or maybe you should, I don't give a crap. You know I don't like tooting my own horn, but I'm going to go right ahead and do that anyway, because it's pretty fuckin' cool. First, they actually held the start of the show for 30 minutes to give me time to get to the theater (BTW, thank you Ira for picking me up and driving me there, I owe you). Then they introduced me as a special guest before the show (and I apologized for making everyone wait). Then the show. Then many drinks and hugs with the cast at the after party. Then they took me in a back room where they made me drink a foul green liqueur called Chartreuse, making me an honorary Primitive Screwhead--the only audience member ever honored in this manner. Despite the hangover the next morning, I'm deeply honored and only hope I prove able to bear this honor with distinction. Thank you guys!

Jason discovers that the Primitive Screwheads have Korean copycats!

http://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104673&article=3465855

I guess since Sam Raimi didn't sue the Primitive Screwheads, they probably shouldn't bother getting worked up over this. Still, weird. They even chose "Evil Dead" for the basis of their show.

But the real question is, do they have their fans posting pictures of their bloody underwear on the Internet?

Jason watches Night of the Living Dead--Live!

Yes the Primitive Screwheads, in a partnership with Holehead, have a new show that started last night, "Night of the Living Dead--Live!" (or should it be, "Undead!") Anyway, they have a great new space, an old warehouse that they can trash as much as they'd like. And they did. How great was the show?

Well, here I am before the show:


And here I am after the show:


It was pretty fun riding the BART home looking like that. Especially once we got to the Oakland Coliseum, where a Police concert was just getting out. So I tried to pitch the show as best as I could to Police fans. But the best was the girl who saw me, asked if I was coming from a Primitive Screwheads show, and then said she was going to be there Friday. The Primitive Screwheads are totally famous!

Now how far did the blood-soaking go? Well, here's proof that it went all the way into my socks:


And in fact, there was no spot on me that wasn't red. It even thoroughly soaked my underwear:


Is there another blog where the author posts pictures of his bloody underwear? Are my readers lucky or what?

Jason previews Hole in the Head

The past few years the good people at Indiefest have put on my favorite film festival/week long party of the year--Another Hole in the Head (as in, SF needs another film festival like it needs....) Details will be up soon at sfindie.com, but since I'm extra-cool I got a preview of the schedule. Some quick impressions.

The rumors are true, holehead is 2 weeks this year, June 1-14! However, they have about as many films as before. There are no weekday matinee shows, and the weekends start at 3 pm instead of noon (more on that in a moment). There are also more repetitions of each movie (most play 3 times). All this means it's really easy to be like me and see everything.

This is particularly good for me because back when it was penciled in for June 7-14th, I already planned another event on June 2 (soccer, USA vs. China in San Jose). Now I can go to that and still see everything. I just have to be up at the Roxie for the midnight show that night, since it's one of the rare shows that only plays once.

Other than that, I'll plan to try to see everything at it's first show, so as I blog I can alert my local readers of subsequent screenings. No more reading here about an awesome movie that you'll never get a chance to see. This time, most of my reviews will be for movies that still play another time or two.

"Blood Car", one of my favorites from Cinequest, plays 3 times. Everyone should see it. Hell, everyone should see it all three times. I plan/hope to. I know nothing in advance of how good the other movies are, but the lineup looks like it'll be fun (and I don't want to give away things that aren't already up on their site).

The other big new wrinkle this year is Indiefest Gets Animated. The early shows on the weekends and some weekdays will be animated movies instead of genre fare (although it looks like there will be some overlap). I know the economics of this--holehead never had good attendance at the matinees, and so lost money. This is an attempt to try something different and see if it'll work. I don't know if it will, but it'll be interesting. SFFS (the organization that does the SF International Film Fest) puts on their own animation festival in October (starting last year, and they've been pushing it as a membership benefit at the festival this year), so it'll also be interesting to see the differences and if SF can sustain 2 (or 1.5) animation festivals.

Finally, the Primitive Screwheads are putting on another show, "Night of the Living Dead--Live", which is concurrent with the final two nights of holehead and continues the following weekend. Primitive Screwheads are always freakin' cool!

That is all.

Jason loves the Primitive Screwheads

I love legitimate theater!

So the Primitive Screwheads, the fine people who brought you (or me) Evil Dead Live, Re-Animator Live, The Texas Chainsaw Massacres, and the Crazy Go Nuts Show, are wrapping up their run of H 3-D: The True Tale of the Haddonfield Babysitter Murderer (last show tonight, March 24). I skipped out on the SJ opening night of Asianfest to see it, and it was a blast. Based loosely on the Halloween movies, but with lots of silly humor (like Michael Meyers isn't his real name, Michael was his middle name, but his real first name is Oscar), and buckets of blood. Oh yeah, and beer. Yeah, that's the important stuff--blood and beer.

Anyway, here's what I looked like after the show:


And here's some other fans, with cast member Chris Bowen (who played retarded boy Gilhooley Verkamp, and is a very convincing retard)


And, in keeping with my new-found interesting in publishing upcoming cool stuff, look for them to put on Night of the Living Dead...Live, this June!