CineNiche

Burst City (1982) bursts through the screen with high-octane energy in a frenzy of fight scenes and anarchy. While I have no idea what I just watched, I do know that Burst City and I are now in a relationship. This insane film creates what would one day become the MTV aesthetic and does so the same year MTV launches with Video Killed The Radio Star . The MTV style would be known for quick cutting, mixed media, and flashy camera-work; however, it would soon be seen as style merely for the sake of style. Michael Bay would build his filmography upon this idea of no substance or little substance with a shiny ribbon. But here, pre-dating all of that is a strange Japanese punk film. I can now up my hipster game / pretentiousness by creating a Spotify list devoted to early 1980’s Japanese Punk. Here is said mix . The punk rock in this film is incredible. By 1982 we had Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, Misfits, Descendants, Black Flag, The Replacements, The Cramps, Circle Jerks, The Damned, The...

Jo John Russo who helped write the screenplay Night of the Living Dead went on to write his own sequel to the 1968 film, called Return of the Living Dead . Since both Russo and Romero owned the rights to Night each of them retained privileges to its title. Romero kept Dead and Russo was able to keep Living Dead . John Russo wrote his screenplay the same year Romero released Dawn of the Dead (1978) . An independent producer, Tom Fox, purchased his script and gave it to Dan O’Bannon. Return of the Living Dead was released in theaters one month after Day of the Dead and received an instant fan base and reputation as a punk inspired horror/comedy. Originally Tom Fox wanted Tobe Hooper to direct the film and supposedly it was to be in 3-D, but Hooper was tied up working on his film Lifeforce and could not take the job. Dan O’Bannon was connected to Lifefoce as the writer and had been interested in directing so Fox gave the script over to him. O’Bannon began his film c...