Innovations in filmmaking and publishing have created a new terrain for artists who are creating and releasing works without the past practices of asking for the approval of a motion picture or publishing house.
That includes regional creators who have recently released new works.
One is a new film release by Trenton-based filmmaker Anthony Catanese, creator of the New Jersey Film Festival pick “Girls Just Wanta Have Blood” (released as “Blood Sucking Teenage Bimbos”).
Produced by his D I Why? production company, the director has pulled from his experience interning at Troma Films (home of the Toxic Avenger and other tongue-in-check films) to create “Caddy Hack.”
The result is an unapologetically impolite feature film that recasts the 1980 comedy feature film “Caddyshack” into a low budget horror film.
Here is what you need to know. There is a rich Trump-like golf course owner (complete with a golden mop of hair and red tie), an upcoming gathering of ultra-rich golfers the owner is trying to impress (and make money), and a squad of dysfunctional golf course workers. That includes one who has concocted a fertilizer that’s chemically transformed a brood of gophers into glowing fiends with an appetite for blood. .
Things get cooking with the course owner’s clueless niece arrives to whip the hapless crew into shape, falls the crew’s biggest misfit, the guy who reads and thinks about life, and discovers they are in a war with the ravenous rodents.
And just to keep things spicy, Catanese throws in a heaping handful of juvenile jokes, broad character types (such as the traumatized Viet Nam Vet and the solidary Goth kid blogging away in a bedroom), and references to other films (“Gremlins” and “ET”).
While often top heavy with dialogue and groaners, the film consistently shows the director’s visual chops. Sometimes, it’s with small flourishes, such as quick layering of closeups, and quick cuts. Sometimes, it is a steady hand to set up the scene and keep the story visually unfolding.
But, hands down, Catanese is at this best when he goes full mad-gopher and gives the horrendous critters their due. Created by Amanda Strauss (the director’s wife) and Chrissy Cavallo (who plays the dumb niece), such moments deliver on the film’s honest promise of providing the viewer nothing but a low budget heap of wince-inducing irreverence.
Adding to the goofy fun is a musical number co-written by Catanese, (who is member of the Trenton band Honah Lee) and some wink-in-the-eye commentary that adds more guilt to this guilty-pleasure kind of film.
In addition to filming locations in Morrisville, Trenton, and Bordentown, the area also is well represented with performers Jim Gordon, a non-actor involved with various Trenton projects, Ewing actress Ilene Sullivan, Scott Miller of the Trenton-based Exit 7A creative services, and others.
“Caddy Hack” is for sale as a DVD, $10. It also shows up as part of regionally horror film festivals, both in theater and streaming. For more on the film and the company, visit www.diwhyfilms.com.
“Stary Nightmares” is Hamilton-based author Jason Marinko’s recently released book of short stories. It’s a follow up to his 2022 novel “Time of the Avenger.” Both have been produced and printed through “Palmetto Press.”
With a greeting quote by “Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling appearing at the opening, one gets a sense that this collection of 15 stories and several dark themed poems are designed to have a similar impact – that is, as Serling notes, “to menace the public’s conscience.”
Often laded with exposition that undercuts a reader’s engagement to make discoveries, some of the tales provide interesting and unsettling twists and surprises in approach.
To get a sense of what Marinko is up to, take the following example from his tale, “Border in the Floorboards.” In this tale reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe’s internal narratives, such as the “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the prosaic narration turns poetic in a manner that conjures the sound and imagery of Poe’s “The Raven.”—or perhaps Dr. Suess.
“One late afternoon I sat in my study to avoid the wretched scent of the boarder and the never-ending complaints of the woman. I gazed out my study and a red-breasted robin crept up to my windowsill and, to my terrified amazement, it squawked at me.
“’I am the spirit of the previous owner of this house. That dirty old boarder, you must throw him out.’ I leapt backward in shock and gasped as the enchanted creature continued, ‘if he is still here in the next coming day, all in my house shall discover what true suffering’s about!’ The robin took flight and left me troubled and trembling. I went out for a walk. Then the woman began harassing me, ‘he is remiss of hygiene, putting our own health at risk. His toes had to be amputated. I cannot bear this!’ I hurried outside, slamming the door shut. I stormed out of the house and made my way down the street, then the enchanted robin cawed out to me, ‘I haunt your boarder and poison his dreams. I want him gone from my home. You must make him leave!’”
While not to everyone’s taste, Marinko is demonstrating his commitment to developing works that pull from a variety of unsettling and dark influence.
“Starry Nightmares” by Jason Marinko, 124 pages, $13.99, Palmetto. For those wanting to know more about the author and book, visit starryknight.us2.authorhomepage.com/jason-marinko.
