Really Awful Movies: Ep 46b – Director Henrique Couto

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coutoWe first came across Dayton, Ohio filmmaker Henrique Couto’s work in Babysitter Massacre. He’s a guy with the talent to do a lot with a little.

In this special episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, we chat with the indie director about Scarewaves, Calamity Jane’s Revenge, The Faces of Schlock, A Bulldog for Christmas and Haunted House on Sorority Row. We talk about Alternative Cinema, how he made his first feature at 18, how he casts, shoots and scores film and his battles with depression.

Couto started out as Dr. Freak, “the world’s youngest horror host,” which he started at the age of 12 on cable access. He graduated (though not literally) to selling his work in high school halls, much to the chagrin of his principal.

Now a full-time film maker who works at a prodigious rate, he’s branched out from horror into romantic comedy and period Westerns. Can’t wait to see where he’ll go next.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 46 – Crackerjack 3

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This beguiling, uber-cheap political thriller startled us, even as two seasoned bad movie aficionados. This is a real stunner, epically awful and should be included in anyone’s Top 10 list of the worst films of all time.

It “defies description, is extremely inept, an espionage thriller with no thrills and a mise en scene of a Mexican soap opera.”

This stars the legendary Swede Bo Svenson (The Inglorious Bastards, the original) and French kickboxer Olivier Gruner.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 45 – Darkman

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Darkman is a 1990 superhero flick directed and co-written by Sam Raimi, one of our Horror Movie Heroes.

The film is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal’s horror films of the 1930s.

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, a deep dive into Darkman and what makes it so f-ing memorable.

Peyton Westlake is a scientist who has discovered a way to produce synthetic skin. First off, you gotta love crazed scientist movies. That conceit alone carries many a genre film, especially the ones that influenced Raimi and company here.

Dr. Westlake’s discovery could revolutionist skin grafting, except for one minor kink they’ve gotta work out: the synthetic skin degrades after 100 minutes of exposure to light. Whoops. When gangsters attack Peyton, he is horrifically burnt, and left for dead. In his quest for revenge, Peyton, aka the Darkman, is able to take on the appearance of anyone (using the synthetic skin,) but with that time constraint.

Your hosts Chris and Jeff discuss similarities to the Batman franchise, happy endings and the dark spirit of Darkman’s aesthetic.

This film is early in Liam Neeson’s career. He was not the first choice for Dr. Westlake. They considered Bill Paxton (not to be confused with Bill Pullman!). Raimi felt Neeson was the right fit to show the monster’s soul. The film also features Larry Drake as the villain. He’s best known for Dr. Giggles and many other roles.

Tune in for smart genre chat on our show!