WEASELS
RIP MY FLESH (1979)
Directed by Nathan Schiff
Image Entertainment DVD
THE FILM
Among the moldy cardboard and layers
of dust in the back corner of your
attic lies a box of mysterious old
Super 8 reels...all shot way before
you were even born and all begging
to be spooled up again. Let’s
see -- cousin Freddie’s baby
shower, family Christmas ‘69,
trip to Wisconsin in ‘71,
wait...what’s this...Weasels
Rip My Flesh?!
The newly released DVD of Nathan
Schiff’s Weasels Rip
My Flesh is like a chance
discovery of the greatest home movie
ever made. Weasels is a feature length cheesy gore
film, completely shot on Super 8
by a group of high school seniors
in Long Island, NY. It’s also
a glorious piece of non-film, with
all the requisites you’ve
come to expect from bad movies,
only hidden beneath the guise of
a home movie enthusiast.
The plot of this film really isn’t
too important. For interest’s
sake, it concerns some radioactive
waste, a couple of giant weasel
monsters, a mad scientist (sporting
a blue windbreaker and huge mustache),
and some very macho police officers.
Naturally, things are pretty run
of the mill in the story department,
but that’s not much of an
issue here. The non-stop barrage
of strangeness kept me glued to
the screen. The gore effects (which
are pretty much non-stop) are of
the cheapest variety -- chicken
innards, strawberry jelly, egg yolk,
homemade fake blood, cotton balls,
etc. -- but somehow manage to appear
effective in a surreal kind of way.
Acting is totally nonexistent and
almost every male appearing in the
film sports a gigantic mustache
and tough mirror shades. The weasel
monsters themselves tend to look
like strange elephant deformities
and are mind numbingly odd. On top
of all that, Schiff is obviously
a “realist” in the strictest
sense -- think about what it would
be like if you stood in one spot
and watched someone start their
car and drive away. Boring? Certainly!
But that’s what home movies
are all about...
Weasels Rip My Flesh is a regional treasure. This is
what happens when a group of kids
get together and decide to make
a monster gore movie in their parents’
backyard. While it’s better
than any home movie my family ever
shot, it’s still a home movie,
and therein lies the charm.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
For a twenty year old Super 8 film,
the print and sound are pretty darn
good. Of course the expected lines
and scratches are present, and the
audio is somewhat tinny, but it
works. I was actually a bit surprised
that the transfer and print looked
as presentable as they did.
EXTRAS
Now this is the way to do it. There
are a veritable boatload of extras
on this disc, so let’s dive
in...
First off, we’ve got a commentary
track by Nathan Schiff, the man
behind the camera. This track runs
the length of the film and is more
often informative than not. Schiff
occasionally falls into the “describing
on-screen action” trap and
has a somewhat monotone voice, but
he manages to keep the tidbits flowing.
In addition to the commentary, there’s
a 20 minute onscreen interview with
Schiff that tends to overlap a bit,
as well as a 12 minute interview
with two of the original cast members.
Both interview segments are interesting,
but not terribly engaging.
Up next are six of Nathan Schiff’s
early short films, all shot on Super
8. The films range from around eighth
grade right up until Weasels was shot. I only found one, “Katherine
Khullman Lets It All Hang Out,”
to be as enjoyable as the feature.
It’s some kind of spoof on
evangelism and features a rubber-masked
devil with a vampire cape. The other
five are about what you’d
expect from a 12 year old -- fun
to watch once, but a bit boring
overall.
Finishing up the supplements are
a few trailers for Schiff’s
other Super 8 films (probably some
of the goriest stuff I’ve
ever laid eyes on) and a still gallery
made up of screen grabs.
FINAL THOUGHTS
By now, you should have a pretty
good idea about whether or not you’re
going to appreciate this DVD. For
me, Weasels is a perfect
amateur obscurity, the kind of stuff
I really enjoy. A tip of the hat
to Image for releasing something
this eccentric on DVD (and for treating
it so well).
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 05.13.04 |
Two dudes
Weasel incident
Mad scientist at large
Weasel attack
|
