Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
Extreme Jukebox
Collapse
X
Collapse
-
Extreme Jukebox
Released by: Troma
Released on: August 18th, 2015
Director: Alberto Bogo
Cast: Alessio Cherubini, Elisabetta Loi, Guglielmo Favilla
Year: 2013
Purchase from Amazon
The Movie
Extreme Jukebox is one bizarre and surreal mess of a movie; a meta-comedy of sorts on the subjects of slasher movies, Italian horror and hard rock/heavy culture. The film seems to be a first time effort for many of the cast and crew involved, including director Alberto Bogo, and it shows, for there's a definite feeling of amateur fun going on when it comes to both sides of the camera.
The film's narrative is incoherent at times, with many characters appearing and disappearing at random times, but Extreme Jukebox generally focuses on a killer wearing a ridiculous, tongued mask and an ever more ridiculous array of colorful wigs, as it stalks and slashes rock stars and their assorted hangers-on. There's an abundance of meta-humor going on here on Bogo and Andrea Lionetti's script, with plenty of in jokes and visual gags referencing classic metal bands and Italian horror tropes, not to mention plenty of over-the-top clothing choices on the part of wardrobe.
Extreme Jukebox doesn't take itself too seriously, however, which makes this a light and fun watch if you're in the mood for a bit of the ridiculous. It also helps that a number of the set pieces happen to be well lit and shot, which denotes a bit of actual competency going on behind all of the inflated jokes. The practical effects are also gloopy and well achieved for a low budget film, particularly in one of the later murders around the hour mark, where Bogo and Co. tick all of the right balanced boxes in terms of atmosphere, humor and gore.
It takes a certain kind of film fan to get down with the humor here, however, preferably one well versed in how low many of the Italian genre films fell during the late eighties and nineties. Most of the actors here play it completely straight, and the resulting mixture of whimsy and stone cold anti-irony make this a viewing experience so utterly Italian in its bonkers balancing act of tone.
To be honest, though, Extreme Jukebox probably wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if everyone involved had went for a typical heavy metal horror film. There's no film out there quite like it, for better or worse, so dive in with full knowledge that you're in for a whole lotta head scratching moments, Italian-style.
Video/Audio/Extras
Troma's AVC encoded 1080p HD transfer, framed at 1.78.1 widescreen, for Extreme Jukebox looks great, with a super sharp picture that nicely shows off the film's colorful production style and WTF visual flair. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Italian audio track (with English subtitles) sounds clear, as well, although there are a number of errors when it comes to subtitling. This could be simple clerical errors, or perhaps the translator themselves didn't speak English as a first language, but they aren't pervasive, with most of the dialogue coming across fine via the subs.
The extras here include an hour long documentary behind the entire history behind Extreme Jukebox, from the first brainstorming ideas to everything behind the scenes and post-production. This feature really lets the audience into Bogo and Lionetti's love of everything Troma, and how dedicated the duo were to getting their first movie off the ground. There's an honest love of the whole process which comes across as distinctly Italian, especially when Bogo and Lionetti kick off the doc with a short message to the Tromaville Universe.
Speaking of which, Lloyd Kaufman also shows up with an intro of his own, while the disc itself also contains plenty of Troma extras, including Lloyd doing a variation on the Ice Bucket Challenge, a bunch of Troma trailers, a "40 Years of Troma" special, and more. Finally, there's an Extreme Jukebox photo gallery and the film's original trailer, which rounds up a solid array of extras.
The Final Word
Extreme Jukebox is more fun that it really needs to be, with the disc itself outdoing itself in the extras department, as well. Lunacy and irreverence abounds, so check your brain at the door and enjoy this flick in the company of friends, pizza and a whole lot of booze.
-
#1Ian JaneAdministratorFind all postsView Profile09-05-2015, 09:03 AMEditing a commentI'd like to point out that when I did the screen caps for this I intentionally made sure that guy's MANOWAR shirt was visible.
-
#2ScytherSenior MemberFind all postsView Profile09-05-2015, 10:07 PMEditing a commentOriginally posted by Ian Jane
Posting comments is disabled. -
Categories
Collapse
article_tags
Collapse
- album review (218)
- album reviews (274)
- arrow video (271)
- blu-ray (3225)
- blu-ray review (4140)
- comic books (1392)
- comic reviews (872)
- comics (988)
- dark horse comics (484)
- dvd and blu-ray reviews a-f (1969)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews G-M (1711)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews N-S (1757)
- DVD And Blu-ray Reviews T-Z (878)
- dvd review (2512)
- idw publishing (216)
- image comics (207)
- kino lorber (385)
- movie news (260)
- review (318)
- scream factory (279)
- severin films (295)
- shout! factory (537)
- twilight time (269)
- twilight time releasing (231)
- vinegar syndrome (496)
Latest Articles
Collapse
-
Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 30th, 2024.
Director: Lee Frost
Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
Year: 1969
Purchase From Amazon
Hot Spur – Movie Review:
Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but...-
Channel: Movies
03-22-2024, 11:53 AM -
-
Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: April 9th, 2024.
Director: Max Pecas
Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
Year: 1985
Purchase From Amazon
Death Squad – Movie Review:
Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual...-
Channel: Movies
03-22-2024, 11:46 AM -
-
Released by: Quality X
Released on: February 28th, 2024.
Director: Chuck Vincent
Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
Year: 1982
Purchase From Amazon
Roommates – Movie Review:
Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),...-
Channel: Movies
03-15-2024, 01:10 PM -
-
Released by: Blue Underground
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
Year: 1970
Purchase From Amazon
Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:
Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it...-
Channel: Movies
03-15-2024, 01:07 PM -
-
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Saul Bass
Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
Year: 1974
Purchase From Amazon
Phase IV – Movie Review:
Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and...-
Channel: Movies
03-15-2024, 01:02 PM -
-
Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: March 26th, 2024.
Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
Year: 1969-1972
Purchase From Amazon
The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:
Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this...-
Channel: Movies
03-13-2024, 11:30 AM -