I The Behrend Beacon
Re-issue of "Slime City" takes public by storm
By ('hris tivizdak
opinion editor
cdti
The VHS boom of the late ;ifs created a ',L112.e
in low budget horror production due to distrihu
tors' need for content and the tenacity of artists to
produce. The current DVD boom has sparked a
similar renaissance and is perhaps e\en better for
viewers as it, in conjunction with the Internet.
allows for greater audience awareness of non-stu
dio films, as well as greater access to such films
Repulsive is an understatement for the film
Phoenix,
By Annie Sevin
editor in cheil
rdirorinnc~rit« ~nu.cJu
Most fans only know Johnny Cash as the "Man
in Black, - but today everyone has the chance to go
behind the scenes of he and June Carter's life.
"Walk the Line" has opened in theaters across the
United States today. Director James Mangold
("Kate & Leopold, - and "Girl. Interrupted - I told
the most dramatic, transformational and unknown
part of Cash's story - the years spanning his
impoverished boyhood, his rocketing rise to star
dom, his fall from grace and his remaking himself
as a legend.
Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee
Joaquin Phoenix was cast as Cash. From the
minute he got the part, Phoenix began carrying a
guitar. He immersed himself in Johnny Cash's life
and music reading his autobiographies, watching
documentary footage of his earliest recorded per
formances and listening to every Cash recording.
"Johnny moved on stage in very specific ways, he
had a specific guitar strum that contributed to the
energy of his performances. - observed Phoenix.
"I had to familiarize myself with the guitar
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(irq! Lainherson is a director who has ridden both
of these waves with his 1986 horror/comedy
"Slime City. - Originally screened as a midnight
movie in New York City grindhouse theaters,
Shine City found it's way into a wide, yet troubled
video distribution deal that rounded out the first
phase of it's life cycle. Almost 20 years later, the
picture has found a new audience thanks to DVD.
Lainherson was first spurred to pursue filmmak
ing by childhood fascination with any form of sci
fi / fantasy / horror entertainment, from Ray
Harrvhausen movies to comic hooks and Aurora
monster model kits.
Despite the positive environ
ment of the Institute of Visual
Arts, Lamberson quickly grew
tired of his surroundings, as is
often the case with directors (i.e.
Sam Raimi and Michael Moore).
( . (iNt Rim I [I) mum)
and moved on to greener pastures.
Slime City. -
"I was not impressed with the
Witherspoon play legends
because it was almost like a physical extension of
John. It was his best friend. and I think he felt vul
nerable whenever he didn't have it in his hands.-
Anyone fearing that "Walk the Line" will be
nothing more than a lip-syncing contest between
Phoenix and Golden Globe Nominee Reese
Witherspoon (June Carter) will be pleasantly sur
prised. Both actors were required to take singing
lessons to make their roles as authentic as possi
ble. Judging from the movie trailers, it is hard to
distinguish between Phoenix's voice and Cash's.
This film is not going to be reminiscent of George
Clooney's scene in "0 Brother Where Art Thou"
when he lip-synced "I am a Man of Constant
Sorrow.-
"(Mangold] wanted a raw approach to capture the
intimacy that comes from someone writing a song
and then singing it in that moment," said Phoenix.
"You can't lip-sync that kind of scene because it's
so integral to the character. Music is always part
of how John communicates what he's feeling and
seeing and it couldn't be faked."
As for the film's title, Mangold sees the concept
of "walking the line" as central to Cash's own
struggle. "I think the song 'Walk the Line' means
so much to so many different people because it's
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"Anything that stimulated my
imagination, I became obsessed
with. When you have that kind of
obsession for something, you must
become involved with it,"
remarked Lamberson.
Lamberson chose to attend the
New York Institute of Visual Arts
as it focused on filmmaking
practicum rather than humanities
general education, as is the case
with many filmmaking programs.
At the institute of visual arts
Lamberson had the opportunity to
he instructed by "filmmakers not
film academics" whom he person
ally admired such as Roy
Frumpkes, writer of the acclaimed
horror/comedy "Street Trash" and
director of the cannon of George
Romero documentaries
"Document of the Dead. -
"There was no discrimination
against someone who wanted to do
horror instead of art films.''
"'
~s~"~~'
Super X film shorts being made in film school. I
wanted to work on features."
Lamberson had a number of factors working in
his favor, among them a keen awareness of the
- Video Bubble" that had created a market for con
tent and residence in New York City. The film
making community of New York City was partic
ularly fruitful with horror/comedy essentials, such
as Frank Hellenlotter's "Brain Damage'' and
James Mum's "Street Trash. - This created a work
ing environment that generated a pool of skilled
individuals willine to work on each other's films.
Lamherson hatched a plan to produce a feature
film with his friend Richard Clarke, and from this
partnership "Slime City" was horn. After penning
the screenplay for "Slime City, - both Clarke and
Lamherson joined the crew of "I Was A Teenage
Zombie.-
"We used it as a training ground. We learned a
lot from the mistakes that were made on that film,
hut still made a lot of our own.-
Lainherson succeeded in raising $35,0(X) to get
"Slime City" through rough editing and began
shooting in June of 1986.
Looking hack on the experience of lensing
"Slime City." l,amberson recalls many fond mem-
"I was a kid making a monster movie with lots of
effects. It was probably the most exciting thing
I've ever done
Although the shooting of "Slime City - was
rapid and efficient, the films completion was a
more extended process, "Life tends to get in the
way of postproduction - said Lamberson.
After a year of editing, interrupted by other
projects that paid the hills and life in general,
"Slime City - was complete and ready to run. The
film was exhibited over a number of weeks in the
summer of 1989 as a midnight movie in the
sprawling network of New York City theaters that
existed prior to the Guiliani led "Disneyfication
of the city.
"Slime City - reached it's largest audience on
VHS through an arrangement that was marked by
distinct eccentricities. Twenty-live hundred copies
of the film were sold to video stores throughout
about the effort we all have to
make in order stay on the path.
The song doesn't deny evil or pre
tend the singer is above tempta
tion. John simply sings his per
sonal truth, the act of being a good
man is a job you have to work at
every day, - Mangold says.
Cash's life was full of struggles
and long nights. He had been
addicted to various drugs. His
addiction to drugs eventually
resulted in a famous arrest in El
Paso in 1965 for attempting to
smuggle amphetamines in his gui
tar case across the border. With
Cash's career and future threat
ened, June Carter turned his life Phoenix and Witherspoon as Cash and Carter in "Walk the Line
around, helping him kick his
dependency and renew his religious faith. He
divorced his wife Vivian in January 1968.
Cash won ten Grammy Awards, including a
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and he
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and the Country Hall of Fame - becoming the
only person other than Elvis Presley to be accept-
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the nation by film's video distributor, which dupli
cated another twenty-five hundred copies that
were to he sold. The problem was that the man in
charge of the film's video distribution was impli
cated in some vauge organized crime activity, the
end result of which yeilded the seizure and whole
sale off all his property, which included the afore
mentioned copies of "Slime City."
Lamberson has no hard feelings regarding
"Slime City's" video fiasco. The twenty-five hun
dred copies that were sold equated to a substantial
release during the 80s video bubble and to this
day, viewers offer up worn VHS editions of the
film for Lamberson to autograph.
Lamberson kept busy, directing a second feature
in 1991 ("New York Vampire") and a third in
1999. Lamberson considers his third feature,
"Naked Fear," to he his best. Viewers have had the
opportunity to develop their own opinion on
"Naked Fear" and many share Lamberson's, as the
film is available as a bonus feature on the DVD
release of "Slime City."
This current re-issue of "Slime City" includes
not only "Naked Fear," but a number of other
enhancements as well. The original video release
of "Slime City" was presented in the full frame
format in which the film was shot. The problem
therein was that Lamberson shot the film with the
intent of it being cropped to a letterbox format and
thus the VHS version did not reflect his vision.
This has been resolved for the DVD transfer,
which has been properly cropped to conform to
Lamberson's original intent.
This time around, "Slime City" also has a more
concrete video distributor, that being "Shock-o-
Rama" label of Ventura Distribution. Committed
to developing a solid catalog and the furthering of
horror cinema, Ventura is executing an extensive
release schedule of both classic and contemporary
horror.
With labels like Ventura working hard to make
the DVD bubble a permanent market, the future is
bright for directors like Lamberson who pursue a
distinct and valuable variety of filmmaking that
has finally found a reliable route to audiences.
ed into both. Carter won three Grammy's, includ
ing two for her final album "Wildwood Flower."
June Carter died in May of 2003 and Johnny Cash
followed her in September of the same year.
(All quotes and factual information compliments of 2005
Twentieth Century Fox ).
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