The first time I heard of J.R. Bookwalter was in an old issue of Fangoria. There was a sidebar about a film he was working on called The Dead Next Door. Eventually I got to see it and while it certainly suffered from budgetary restraints, The Dead Next Door had a lot of energy and wit and plenty of gore. Sadly, I got to see Bookwalter's second movie, Robot Ninja, which is one of the worst piles I've ever set my eyes in. I heard that he made several more features and none had much to offer any sort of discriminate viewer. I began to ignore what I heard about the guy and figured that he spent his wad on his first feature.
Sometime in the early 90's I began hearing about a science fiction/horror movie from Bookwalter called Ozone. Ozone was getting a lot of praise heaped upon it and I was able to rent it from the video store I lived across the street from at the time. I got it and was impressed. Damned impressed. Once again, the lack of any real budget was a factor, but Ozone is sleek, fast and pretty suspenseful, with decent performances and very good music. Once again I called myself a J.R. Bookwalter fan.
Then I heard that J.R. had started an independent magazine called Alternative Cinema. Like with the movies J.R. made, the lack of finances and professional writers In Alternative Cinema was evident, but J.R. and his ragtag crew filled each issue with a lot of energetic fun and an infectious snotnose attitude. I subscribed and enjoyed every issue. Alternative Cinema was a marvel of desktop publishing and I eagerly anticipated its arrival every other month. It felt like being part of a family.
After several enjoyable issues, J.R. went to work for Full Moon and I was sad. Doubly so because Film Threat Video Guide folded around the same time. My favorite magazines devoted to low budget weirdness were gone, although Alternative Cinema lived on. However, to me the heart and soul was gone and I let my subscription lapse and never looked back.
One of the main topics in Alternative Cinema was Bookwalter's opus-in-the-works, The Sandman. I preordered it months before it was even complete and I anxiously awaited it. Finally my copy arrived on a frigid Friday night and I watched it by myself.
The Sandman is not a great movie and I don't really think it's J.R. Bookwalter's best effort. But it is a damned good example of what can be accomplished with a little money, a little inventiveness and a lot of hard work.
The story mostly takes place in and around a trailer park. We are introduced to Gary, a frustrated writer of romance novels. His relationship with his girlfriend is falling apart, he can't seem to write a word and a distant relative that loves porn and gore movies has crashed his trailer. He can't sleep. At the same time, people are dying in their beds in town. What's causing the deaths? Could it be a demon named The Sandman?
Honestly, The Sandman isn't that scary of a movie, but it is really well made. The acting is above par by Tempe standards, as J.R. used outside talent and eschewed his usual "Let's put on a show, kids!" technique. Some familiar faces are seen though, most notably in amusing performances from Matthew Jason Walsh as Gary's headbanging cousin and James Edwards as a Geraldo-type talk show instigator. The Sandman effects are pretty cool and so are the black and white scenes that take place in The Sandman's domain of sleep.
J.R. Bookwalter went on to do a couple of better movies, like Polymorph and Witchouse 3, but he seems to have abandoned his career of directing movies. His most recent was called Deadly Stingers, which was never released. I'd like to see more movies from the guy.
I also like Tempe Video. J.R. Bookwalter has managed to get his company back in gear for the DVD generation and he has released a lot of cool movies. Some are excellent, such as Eddie Presley. Others are a lot more cheesy, but most are a lot of fun. Bookwalter even roasts himself and his own past turkeys with his Bad Movie Police series, in which he presents dubious classics like Chickboxer, Galaxy of the Dinosaurs and Humanoids From Atlantis as a series about a pair of hot chicks seek out the makers of bad cinema for persecution.
J.R. Bookwalter has proved himself to be a survivor in the ruthless world of low budget production and distribution. He has his admirers and his detractors, but he has steadfastly done things his own way and one can't help but respect that.
Sometime in the early 90's I began hearing about a science fiction/horror movie from Bookwalter called Ozone. Ozone was getting a lot of praise heaped upon it and I was able to rent it from the video store I lived across the street from at the time. I got it and was impressed. Damned impressed. Once again, the lack of any real budget was a factor, but Ozone is sleek, fast and pretty suspenseful, with decent performances and very good music. Once again I called myself a J.R. Bookwalter fan.
Then I heard that J.R. had started an independent magazine called Alternative Cinema. Like with the movies J.R. made, the lack of finances and professional writers In Alternative Cinema was evident, but J.R. and his ragtag crew filled each issue with a lot of energetic fun and an infectious snotnose attitude. I subscribed and enjoyed every issue. Alternative Cinema was a marvel of desktop publishing and I eagerly anticipated its arrival every other month. It felt like being part of a family.
After several enjoyable issues, J.R. went to work for Full Moon and I was sad. Doubly so because Film Threat Video Guide folded around the same time. My favorite magazines devoted to low budget weirdness were gone, although Alternative Cinema lived on. However, to me the heart and soul was gone and I let my subscription lapse and never looked back.
One of the main topics in Alternative Cinema was Bookwalter's opus-in-the-works, The Sandman. I preordered it months before it was even complete and I anxiously awaited it. Finally my copy arrived on a frigid Friday night and I watched it by myself.
The Sandman is not a great movie and I don't really think it's J.R. Bookwalter's best effort. But it is a damned good example of what can be accomplished with a little money, a little inventiveness and a lot of hard work.
The story mostly takes place in and around a trailer park. We are introduced to Gary, a frustrated writer of romance novels. His relationship with his girlfriend is falling apart, he can't seem to write a word and a distant relative that loves porn and gore movies has crashed his trailer. He can't sleep. At the same time, people are dying in their beds in town. What's causing the deaths? Could it be a demon named The Sandman?
Honestly, The Sandman isn't that scary of a movie, but it is really well made. The acting is above par by Tempe standards, as J.R. used outside talent and eschewed his usual "Let's put on a show, kids!" technique. Some familiar faces are seen though, most notably in amusing performances from Matthew Jason Walsh as Gary's headbanging cousin and James Edwards as a Geraldo-type talk show instigator. The Sandman effects are pretty cool and so are the black and white scenes that take place in The Sandman's domain of sleep.
J.R. Bookwalter went on to do a couple of better movies, like Polymorph and Witchouse 3, but he seems to have abandoned his career of directing movies. His most recent was called Deadly Stingers, which was never released. I'd like to see more movies from the guy.
I also like Tempe Video. J.R. Bookwalter has managed to get his company back in gear for the DVD generation and he has released a lot of cool movies. Some are excellent, such as Eddie Presley. Others are a lot more cheesy, but most are a lot of fun. Bookwalter even roasts himself and his own past turkeys with his Bad Movie Police series, in which he presents dubious classics like Chickboxer, Galaxy of the Dinosaurs and Humanoids From Atlantis as a series about a pair of hot chicks seek out the makers of bad cinema for persecution.
J.R. Bookwalter has proved himself to be a survivor in the ruthless world of low budget production and distribution. He has his admirers and his detractors, but he has steadfastly done things his own way and one can't help but respect that.
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