Obviously we’ve been experiencing an 80s revival of sorts for a while now (everything from Stranger Things to Motley Crue’s Stadium Tour) but this one I really didn’t expect.
We at WM are giant fans of the old school Barbarian aka Sword and Sorcery films that unfortunately aren’t really made today (what happened with that King Conan movie that we’ve been waiting for for years now?).
But, seemingly out of nowhere we now have a new crowdfunded movie The Slave and the Sorcerer– that (even in it’s title) pays direct homage to the great, late Albert Pyun– his early movie Sword and a Sorcerer and is also inspired by other 80s Sword and Sorcery flicks such as Beastmaster and another favorite of ours, Roger Corman produced Deathstalker.
Now here’s a first poster and it definitely looks close to something you could see in video store when returning a VHS tape.
When Princess Meyra is kidnapped by the evil wizard Akaris, the slave Tyrol volunteers to lead a mission to his cursed dungeon lair to save her from his clutches. Along with a band of heroes of questionable loyalties, he must battle the ancient and diabolical creatures that protect Akaris’ fortress, and overcome his devious tests. Ultimately, Tyrol must slay a dragon to save the princess, and the realm, from a reign of endless darkness.
Movie is produced by Hex Studios & Needle’s Eye production, written by Lawrie Brewster & Sarah Daily directed by Romeo Franco and staring Chris Black as Tyrol with Megan Tremethick, Jon Vangdal Aamaas, Lawrie Brewster, Richard Pate and Briony Monroe.
As always for those interested in supporting the movie on Kickstarter you can do that righthere.
To anyone following our blog for any length of time it’s clear that beside watching strange B-movies we also spend a considerable portion of our time following cult directorAlbert Pyun‘s exploits. Just see Worse News: Albert Pyun strikes again (w/ Bad Ass Angels)! We did grow up in the 90s with stuff like Cyborg (Jean Claude Van Damme,Vincent Klyn ) and Nemesis ( Olivier Gruner, Brion James, Cary Tagawa) so it’s only natural.
But there’s another little gem of Pyun‘s career and this one doesn’t contain any Cyborgs whatsoever. You see in 1997 he directed an awesome John Woo meets Battle Royale (even before Battle Royale) style shoot-em-up called Mean Guns. With an impressive ensemble cast including the likes of Christopher Lambert (Highlander), Ice- T (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Thom Mathews (Friday The13th: Part 6) and Yuji Okumoto (Karate Kid 2) it was quite a treat to action aficionados everywhere. And even now years later it still has a considerable Cult following.
But, the story doesn’t end there– there’s a new addition to Mean Guns mythos with an Anthology Graphic Novel that acts as a prequel and helps flesh out some of the characters we know and love. And even better we have an exclusive interview with the writer Jeremy Frazier of Creamy Rat Studios who’ll share some insight into the process of making Mean Guns: Mistakes Have Been Made GN and what can we aspect from from the comic:
01. First things first, I would love to know more about your comicbook background. I actually have your Synthcore Dreams #01 right here, and it’s a great looking comic.
Thank you. I’m really proud of Synthcore Dreams. That one is a 30 band charity comic including Leaether Strip, Chemlab, Skrew and many more…comes with a CD. I’m working on the next issue now.
I also have… Meathook Massacre: First Hunt– A prequel for the movie series. Storming the Gates of Heaven– Official Rotting Christ comic Dave and Creamy– Comedy serial published in China. Electronic Saviors– Charity book that is a side story for Synthcore Dreams.
Then I have Mean Guns and a few other band projects being worked on.
02. So, I remember renting Mean Guns on VHS as a kid and enjoying it quite a bit. How did you initaly find that movie and what was your first reaction?
I was in Germany looking for something to watch. The cover stood out and once I saw Lambert I knew I had to rent it. We watched Mean Guns 3 times over the weekend. Rented it multiple times before we finally found a copy. First reaction? Amazing. So much violence, so little blood. Great dialogue and the soundtrack really set it apart.
One of the few scores I actually own. Got it signed by Riparetti too!
03. It would be interesting to know more about the process of getting the rights. How did you initially contact the director Albert Pyun and was he receptive to the idea of further exploring the Mean Guns world-in the form of a comic?
The rights process. I asked…just sent a message on Facebook to him. Pyun was receptive but I do have strict guidelines. It was an easy decision since Pyun was working on funding his new Cyborg film. I payed a very fair fee for 2 of the available properties.
04. Now, what is your favorite Mean Guns character or characters and how easy was it coming up with their back stories (beyond what we saw in movie).
The easy answer would be Moon (Ice-T) or Lou (Lambert), but I will say Hoss and Crow. In a movie with standout dialogue they do have the best. The actors look like they are genuinely enjoying the roles. I actually have something special planned with Crow (Thom Mathews).
Art by J.D. Santibanez
Back to the question! The cards with the character’s crimes are what made me want to write the comic. Those and a few random lines of dialogue gave me enough inspiration. I actually started with a no name character who only has about 1 minute of screen time. Start with a challenge.
05. If it’s OK, could you give as a little preview of the artwork (and say a few words about the artists involved) and tell us when and where can we expect to see Mean Guns on sale.
Three of the stories are drawn by J.D. Santibanez. Very talented artist from Ecuador. His 3 focus on Hoss, Crow, D and the unnamed character. One is by Zoran Jankovic… we wouldn’t be talking without him. His story is about Barbie and how she came to work for Moon. Jason Hehir is handling the shared past of Lou and Marcus. Robert January is working on Moon’s origin.
Art by Zoran Jankovic
I expect the book to be printed by May 2021. Half of the art is finished…all stories have been started. All depends on funding!
Since this interview was conducted, campaign for the comic has gone live, so if you want to support it, you can find it here: https://igg.me/at/NdzYvf8Cd4U/x/17885269#/
And for our previous interview with Albert Pyun himself, you can go right here.
If you know your MOTU history you’ll remember that Cannon Films planed to follow up their Masters of the Universe (1987) movie (featuring the all- powerful Dolph Lundgren in his first lead role) with a direct sequel. Hell, the movie even had a post- credit scene with Skeletor surviving to advertise it, and it the 80’s that really wasn’t a common practice.
Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg was to be written and directed by the Cannon regular, Albert Pyun and filmed concurrently with Canon’s never produced Spider-Man movie (but that’s the story for another time). Dolph supposedly moved on with his career by this point and was to be replaced by a popular surfer Laird Hamilton. The project supposedly fell trough when Cannon wouldn’t pay Mattel and unused sets and costumes were repurposed for a new low- budget SF- Action movie called, you guessed it- Cyborg
Now, Cyborg was originally going to feature tried and true Cannon star Chuck Norris but he was replaced at the last minute by then young and upcoming Jean Claude Van Damme and as they say- the rest is history! For the record I still consider Cyborg the best movie Pyun ever directed and an early Van Damme favorite too.
Now, we’ve talked about Pyun’s Bad Ass Angels and Demons, his most ambitious movie in decades before. But now thanks to the Alan Pirie, the designer working on the movie we have a confirmation that Bad Ass Angels is actually based on unused script for The Masters of the Universe 2: Requiem! This is something I never thought possible- it’s feels like Cannon is finally coming out of the ashes like a phoenix and I for one couldn’t be more happier.
Somewhat of a permanent fixture on our blog Albert Pyun is ready to strike again (hard, no mercy). Despite his battle with illness he completed his last movie Interstellar Civil War and is now holding a GoFundMe campaign for his newest: Bad Ass Angels and Demons. Knowing Pyun‘s oeuvre it will probably have a Post- Apocalyptic setting + Kickboxing and I’m not going to complain about that at all.
Cast is his largest since The Sword and the Sorcerer and so far it’s : Kelsey Carlisle, Cat Cakmis, Mindy Gilkerson, Brandy Mason, Fulvia Santoni, Ashley Campbell, Nathan Ferrier, Mark Justice, Mark Popejoy , Zach Muhls, Clint Beaver , Paul Gunn, Brad Thornton, Madeline Brumby, Dawna Lee Heising, Jennie Carroll, Sue Price, Glenn Maynard, Jackie Gerhardy, Julie Ann Philputt , Maria Lemone, Clare Kramer, Samantha Phillips, Trudi Forristal, Jerry Rector, Clare Hoak, Santy Luangpraseuth, Norbert Weisser, Morgan Weisser, Ryan Rhino Michaels, Sharon Bruneau, Tommie Vegas, Daniel Faust, Yuji Okumoto, Thom Mathews with more to come.
“The culmination of the End of Days is at hand. The Fallen sons of God (ancient Demons) have created a post apocalyptic earth in their bid to free their Angel, Lucifer, so he can win back the Throne of Heaven and destroy the Son of God. To stop the Fallen Sons of God, the Son of God created his own Angels on Earth. Born in every corner of the world, 20 Angels gather in Mount Zion to battle the Fallen Sons of God and their Dragon Beast Abbaddon for the fate of eternity.”
Despite his ongoing health issues over the last couple of years Albert Pyun managed to finish his 54th film, a crazy mix of Star Wars, Dune, Cyborg, Mad Max and his trademark Kickboxing action with a help of excellent cinematographer Michael Su and a score by his long time collaborator Tony Rippareti. I’ll always have a soft spot for Pyun trademark Cyborg/ Kickboxing action and I hope this could be a bit of return to form of our old favorite.
It stars Brad Thornton, Ellie Church, Kelsey Carlisle, Paul Gunn, Clare Hoak, Tommie Vegas, Jennie Carroll, Ashley Campbell, Nathan Ferrier, Nick Rush, Fulvia Santoni and Cat Cakmis as Leah C6 and you can enjoy the new extended trailer right here!
It’s always fascinating to think about the crazy, CRAZY movies that almost happened- like Tim Burton/ Nicolas Cage Superman or Albert Pyun’s Spiderman but that list now has a new and unexpected addition. Through the Blumhouse‘s horror podcast Shock Waves we found out about the script for an unprocessed (Charles Band’s) Empire Pictures Horror directed by Stewart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond) featuring none other but the The Governator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger!!! This was supposed to be Schwarzenegger movie after Raw Deal (1986) and it would have probably come out in between Predator and The Running Man (1987).
It turns out that Schwarzenegger’s Terminator stunt double also had a role in Re-Animator and that led to the friendship between Gordon and Arnold. They considered working together and came up with the idea of a wrestler that loses his mind because of super- steroids, and then naturally going on a murder spree all through New York city. I mean, Schwarzy yelling like a madman and ripping arms and legs left and right. I would so pay to see that! Thankfully there is one piece of promo artwork saved in the archives, so you can get the idea.
That also sounds a bit like the real murder- suicide of the famous WWF wrestler Chris Benoit. and Joe Begos actually found out about this movie talking about the case with Gordon.
Movie was originally going to be called STEROID but they later changed it to much more awesome- BERSERKER!
Trivia: Another cool, random Arnie-fact made a comedy/ drama Stay Hungry with the young Jeff Bridges in the 70’s!
’cause he’s finally done with cyborgs (Cyborg Nemesis) seemingly always present on our blog-Albert Pyun decided to return to his epic roots (Sword and the Sorcerer) in a 300 style retelling of Napoleon’s conquests starting Jean Claude freakin’ Van Damme!!! Now this is what I call news!
Sample page!
Since early 2000’s Pyun seemed satisfied to work on more experimental and almost zero budget films but now he finally decided to work on something more on the commercial side. Does he still got it? I don’t know but he even plans to film it in Bulgaria’s NU Boyana studios ( one of the largest European studios where they filmed 300: Rise of the Empire, Expendables 2 and 3). Van Damme still has a final saying and of course something like this is not easy to finance but for the sheer WTF factor- I would watch this in a heart beat!
After nearly retiring , and still fighting serious illness B (to Z) movie kingpin Albert Pyun found the strength to finish off his magnum opus (semi- sequel to both of his early career cyber- punk outings) CYBORG NEMESIS.
Final piece of the puzzle is completed as he cast (still unnamed) young actress that will open and close the movie. Final scenes will be shot in Ryolite (Nevada) and will officially signal the wrap of the lengthy shoot of CYBORG NEMESIS. Big part of editing is already done with sound designer Michael McCarty still working hard as we speak. Score will be handled by Pyun’s long time collaborator Tony Riparetti (Mean Guns, Postmortem).
With a cast of old favorites and new talent: Sasha Mitchell, Dru- Anne Perry, Joei Fulco, Joseph Cannon, Daniel Faust, Jessica Delgado and Kim Coture this films actualy has a potential to be not a swan song but a return to form of sorts for Pyun who spend last couple of years working on ultra- small productions, making unofficial sequels to films (of others as well as himself). Visibly enthusiastic he called this his firs balls out Sci Fi movie- in outer space. So, even thou he is rehashing the old themes here- there seem to be a silver lining as this movie shows a more focused Pyun who surrounded himself with a bigger, more professional crew to help him realize his vision.
P.S. He still promises a few surprises in the final movie (Gruner cameo perhaps?), so we’ll have to wait and see what future brings. Besides cyborgs and space stations and that kind of stuff.
I actually like this stylish “Sin City” style poster for a change…
After an unfortunate turn of events that saw Albert Pyun retire from movie making for foreseeable future (making effectively Cyborg Nemesis his last film) effort was made to organize Career Celebration event and provide theatrical release for one of his last directorial efforts Road To Hell. Road to Hell is a bizarre and psychedelic journey conceived by Pyun and Curnan as a illegal sequel of sorts , follow-up to the cult classic Streets of Fire (by Walter Hill) . Film was already making waves (one way or another) on festival circuits for years and now you can personally help Pyun finish his film career with a BANG he rightfully deserves for all the years of “anti- matter “(as he likes to call it) style film making he provided for us.
You can see the new, improved and (of course) R rated Theatrical Trailer for ROAD TO HELL right here…
…and then you can go to Indiegogo and if you are feeling generous today- donate right here!
We already talked about this one when we reviewed the original Nemesis film waaaaaay back but we finally have some concrete news… and they are not really promising. Or they are really promising if you want it reviewed on this page in the foreseeable future.
Anyway it seems that Albert Pyun failed to bring some of the old “stars” of his two franchises, namely Van Damme and Olivier Grunner. He also failed to bring ‘roided female MMA star Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and (I must admit an interesting choice that makes a lot of sense) Van Damme’s daughter Bianca Bree (aka Bianca Van Varenberg aka Bianca Van Damme) . It seems that all the weight is planted firmly on the shoulders of a newcomer and a lead actress a 16 year old Joei Fulco and in the MMA fighters crossover department we’re left with Kim Couture, 3rd rate fighter famous mostly for being an ex- wife of 5 time UFC Champion Randy “The Natural” Couture. The rest of the cast are Pyun regulars like Michael Pare (he’s really fallen on hard times did he?), Kevin Sorbo (the less said about his career- the better) and Sasha Mitchell.
Pyun predicts that Fulco will end up being a great star and for his (and everybody’s ) sake I hope he’s right ’cause without a charismatic lead this cheap, lo- fi SF action flick could easily end up being a complete train-wreck. Just behold insecure camera work and sub- par CGI bellow (coupled with a strange, STRANGE soundtrack choice).
Worsemovies 