A while ago, I had spoken with Filmmaker David A. Weiner who discussed his latest project from the popular In Search of series, which covers films and social commentary from the decade of the 90's . Several months later, I got an email from the CVC that my digital copy has arrived and over my busy weekend I made some time to at least watch the first 2 hours. Yeah, I skipped to see if my site's name appeared during the end credits and lo and behold there I was!
So, can this latest integration live up to expectations from the previous ISOD Super documentaries? Here are my "Sneak Preview" or as the kewl kids would say "reactions" of me watching ISOD 90-94 through my Gen X nostalgic lens!
Along with recurring commentator favorites, such as John Carpenter, Charles Band, Phil Noble, Heather Langenkamp, Alex Winter, Mike Flannigan, Mick Garris (without the Avco logo shirt) Ernest Dickerson, and David Dasmalchian is Akela Cooper Writer of Malignant and M3gan making her debut in this latest installment.
Like a new season from a television series, 90-94 immediately concludes from the previous ISOD trilogy when discussing the transition of pop culture from the 80s and now into the 90s be it politics, society, fashion or the music scene which I didn't care for that much especially when it comes to Grunge except for Alice in Chains but I digress.
As expected, there are social commentaries, trivia, and a variety of other topics like studio interference, the home video market and so forth.
How the 80's Horror icons such as Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, made their way into the succeeding decade along with filmmakers being which allowed more creative freedom resulting in films like Nightbreed, Jacob's Ladder,
The differentiation between Horror and Thriller and is the latter just another mislabeled genre when at its core is really Horror however, it has that Neo noir factor going for it and yes, I thought Single White Female, Basic Instinct, The Hand who Rocked the Cradle were gems. Thrillers served their purpose within the Horror genre and were a welcomed addition for that time.
I always knew Silence of the Lambs was more horror than "Thriller” which went on to win an Oscar. I had the honor of talking to Jonathan Demme back during 1994, who was very modest and a nice guy. It's been ages since I last saw a few films that were covered such as Bride of the Reanimator which may tempt me to revisit a few hidden and not so hidden gems. Then there were obscure movies like The Guardian, which I have never seen.
On two occasions I heard the name "James Glickenhouse" one with Basket Case 2 and the other "Frankenhooker?" The latter sounds too batshit for my tastes. Super Crack, what the fuck!
Kiss of the Beast proves that Charles Band is nucking futs! But I have to check out The Pit and the Pendulum along with his Puppet Master films. His Oliver Reed story was great material! Nekromantik 2 is a hard pass. Those scenes made Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead look tame in comparison. Those wacky Germans, I tell you. Sorry Jan.
And as for the Suckling, the less said, the better.
Exorcist III gets a nod! Yes, and then there's Tom Savini's Night of the Living Dead who explains why his remake deviated from Romero's original classic of course the late great Tony Todd gets a nod.
Jacob's Ladder as with Exorcist III was another underrated yet nuanced thriller which didn't have to rely on commercialized slashers.
Dasmalchian drops profound metaphoric commentaries when it comes to films associated with real life topics, I thought he hit the nail on the head during his breakdown of Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs among a few other films discussed. Akela also shines in this doc. And suddenly things get very interesting as the documentary shifts to a major conversation or rather debate regarding A. I. This subject alone could make for an interesting 2-hour retrospective. And with that said, I stopped during "1992" as Tomorrow its back to work!
So far, I’m really like 90-94 and once again Mr. Weiner and Creator VC have done due diligence when covering these films. That said, my final verdict will have to wait until I received the "Swag" edition which includes posters, the physical copy, a patch and some other collectibles. No doubt I will upload the remainder of my review on YouTube sans mask and makeup.
Then again....💀
