I Was A Teenage Movie
Maker: Don Glut's Amateur Movies + The Mummy’s Kiss – Second Dynasty
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: C Shorts: C Feature: C
I recognized Don Glut’s name as soon as I saw it and
could not place anything big he had done, then the credits started to unspool. He had written for comic books, I had seen
him in various interviews, he has also done some William Castle featurettes, he
wrote for Saturday Morning love action and animated shows and even tried to
break into features as an actor, then director.
I Was A Teenage Movie Maker: Don Glut's Amateur Movies shows his
work before all that, making Superhero, Horror and Science Fiction work before
all that. His latest 2006 feature, The
Mummy’s Kiss – Second Dynasty, is more concerned about topless women (some
with horrific breast implants) than Horror or suspense.
Cinema Epoch has issued both as part of the
beginning of making a name for themselves in the genre via Frontline. He latter feature is just a silly waste of
time with no point, while the shorts (41 + more material) fill two DVDs. I have to admit that these are on the rather
personal side and it is a surprise that anyone would issue such material, but
it does not follow the cliché that this makes the best or only material worth
issuing. Instead, it is awkward in
content and not for everyone, which is still better than The Mummy’s Kiss –
Second Dynasty, which is more amateurish and feels like second-rate Troma
product with no point. Forget the
acting, the make-up, sets and story are paper thin. So much for artistic growth.
The 1.33 X 1 image on he film shorts vary, but the
spots of color quality and definition that do come through often will shock
those used to video and have been lied to that video looks better than
film. The 1.78 X 1 image on Mummy’s
Kiss has that phony look throughout and gets tired quickly. The Dolby Digital 2.0 varies a bit on the
shorts, though many are silent and the added music later is awkward in the
majority of the cases. The Dolby 5.1 mix
on Mummy’s Kiss has limited surrounds and sounds like it was recorded
and/or mixed at 16 bits at the most. His
earlier works were more ambitious to boot.
Extras for the shorts set include stills, a few
featurettes, commentaries by Glut and a behind the scenes/bonus films section,
while the feature has stills, a few featurettes, commentary by Glut and Editor
Dean McKendrick and the trailer. Many
young boys made short films in genres they loved, but Glut is one of the only
ones to put them out on DVD. What was
somewhat common then is becoming a sad thing of the past as video kicks in and
film just becomes too expensive, with Super 16mm replacing 16mm and Super 8mm
film almost out of production. No matter
what anyone thinks of the quality of the work then (or the new feature now), it
is still the better way to learn and explains much of how and why Glut has
lasted so long in a sort of genre underground.
The Movie Maker set is for the very curious only. Skip all otherwise.
- Nicholas
Sheffo
