NOTE: This post includes two trailers embedded from Video Detective. The default settings at Video Detective are set so that embedded videos begin playing immediately. Thus, you will initially suffer an audio attack lasting about two minutes. Once the unpleasant cacophony has passed, the embedded objects can be enjoyed on a one-by-one basis. A Wasted Life apologizes for the idiocy of the default settings of Video Detective, but their videos embedded here are unavailable elsewhere.
Bill Hinzman was a fixture on the convention circuit for years, and if many didn't know his name they probably knew the part that made him famous: He was the "first" flesh-eating zombie in film history, the Cemetery Zombie who, in the opening scene of the classic horror film Night of the Living Dead (1968), kills Johnny (Russell Steiner) and sends Barbra (Judith O'Dea) running in terror. A tall gangling man of 32 at the time, he was perfect in a part that called for an initially non-descript if not goofy appearance in the background that quickly changes into a very real threat of death. Originally, Hinzman was on set as the cameraman, but he was pulled in to play the part at the last minute by Romero and Steiner because "Bill was there and old enough and thin enough and he had an old suit."
It was a part he was destined to be identified with his entire life. Following Night of the Living Dead he went on to have a few bit parts in a few other Romero films, but he was pretty much out of the acting business by the early 70s. In the 80s, however, his cult popularity resulted in his occasional appearance as his Cemetery Zombie persona in a variety of low budget projects, and he even went on to direct a few trash flicks of his own. Hinzman's biggest part that had nothing to do with his iconic zombie was also his final appearance in the 2011 horror film, River of Darkness.
On February 5, 2012, at the age of 75, Bill HInzman lost his battle against rectal cancer. We never had the luck of meeting him, but word of mouth says he was a pleasant, friendly and genuine man always willing to share some time and some words with genre fans. But even though we here at A Wasted Life never met him, we will always remember him – he made sure of that over 40 years ago when he stumbled across the cemetery and became an icon of modern horror.
(1968, dir. George A. Romero)
Night of the Living Dead is the mother of all flesh-eating zombie flicks, and a classic that every fan of horror must see at least once. For A Wasted Life's review of the film, click on the linked title above. It features Hinzman's first appearance in a film, and what an appearance it is: He is the first "slow" flesh-eating zombie in movie history, and he is as memorable and effective as he is iconic. You can even get Cemetery Zombie action figures! Final Girl says "The graveyard sequence that opens Night of the Living Dead is, to me, perhaps the most frightening in all zombiedom. It's also one of my favorites in all of horror." Here at A Wasted Life, we simply list this film as one of out all time favorites.
If you haven't seen Night of the Living Dead yet, then you can watch it here.
Full film:
There's Always Vanilla
(1971, dir. George A. Romero)
AKA The Affair. Romero's second film, long thought a lost film, is one that Romero tends to ignore if possible and, if not, then denigrates it as his worst. A romantic melodrama, it was written by Rudy Ricci who, according to imdb, Romero says was "very lazy" and disinterested in the production, leaving halfway through the shoot. Ricci went on to write & direct & appear in The Booby Hatch (1976 / radio advertisement) with John Russo. It is the second and last known film to feature the beautiful Judith Ridley, who played Judy in Night of the Living Dead. Bill Hinzman is there for a few seconds as "drunk guy at the bar." There's Always Vanilla is usually referred to as an interesting curiosity by those who are kind; others say it is a low point in Romero's career as a director. TV Guide explains the plot: "Having recently received his discharge from the Army, Chris Bradley (Raymond Laine) becomes a drifter, making money at everything from pimping to guitar-playing. He finds himself back in his hometown, Pittsburgh, where he visits his father (Roger McGovern). Dad wants his son to abandon his new lifestyle and join him in the family baby food business, but Chris refuses. Chris meets a beautiful young woman, Lynn Harris (Ridley, billed as "Judth Streiner"), and soon he has charmed her into letting him live with her. Lynn, who works as a model in television commercials, supports them while Chris claims to be working on a novel based on his life. Though for a time their life together is a pleasant escape (lovemaking, pot-smoking, rock 'n' roll)..." Scooter McCrae, the director of Shatter Dead (1994), offers – in slaughtered grammar – a rare voice of praise: "There's Always Vanilla drops into your VCR from a parallel universe in which horrormeister George Romero directs studio-funded socially conscious character studies instead of Mike Nichols. The results careen around jaw-droppingly dated montages and surprisingly sharp dialogue scenes between people which are still ruthlessly powerful. Forget Dawn of the Dead, this is Romero's ultimate '70s horror film! For those with even the most casual interest in a director who is an American original, this is an essential purchase."Trailer:
Jack's Wife
(1972, dir. George A. Romero)
Julie Driscoll covers Season of the Witch:
Midnight
(1982, dir. John A. Russo)
Aka The Backwoods Massacre. Bill Hinzman's connection to this film is distant indeed: he was on the set as an "additional still photographer." Shot on location in rural Pennsylvania, the film is, to quote Arborgast on Film, "A rural terror flick a la The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 / trailer), Mother's Day (1980 / trailer) and Just Before Dawn (1981 / trailer)." No one seems to have anything nice to say about this piece of 42nd Street flotsam filmed on a budget of $60,000 (which allowed for a bookend appearance by the by then Hollywood has-been Lawrence Tierney). Wikipedia offers the following synopsis: "Nancy (Melanie Verlin) is alone on the road, hitchhiking to California, away from the clutches of her sleazy stepfather. She makes friends with a pair of petty crooks on a road trip, and things take a turn for the worse when they are killed by a pair of backwoods 'cops'. Nancy is then in danger of being sacrificed to Satan himself by the wayward lawmen and their twisted siblings, in a psychotic attempt to resurrect their mother's decomposed corpse." (SPOILER) The original (and seemingly lost) ending of the film had the wackos getting away with everything, but the distributors wanted a less downbeat ending. Thus the ending with Nancy killing the villains, which was shot in such little time that it appears somewhat rushed and abrupt.Trailer:
The Majorettes
(1987, dir. S. William Hinzman)
Aka American Killer and One by One. In 1987, Hinzman jumped on the straight-to-video bandwagon and directed this, his first full-length slasher film. John A. Russo supplied the script, based on his novel of the same name, which had originally been written as a script for a film that he couldn't get funded. When it comes to the genre of the slasher, DVD Drive In comments "If it can survive films like Fatal Games (1984 / trailer), Sorority House Massacre (1986 / trailer) and The Majorettes, it truly deserves to stay." Arrow in the Head, however, adds "Everything about this movie is bad. The acting is flat, the kills are pretty lame, the music is goofy, directing blows, and the overall sound mix was terrible. But none of that matters because it's so bad that it transcends its flaws and enters the so bad it's good category." The plot according to imdb: "A hooded psycho is murdering high-school girls. A devil-worshiping, drug-dealing biker gang is suspected." Aside from directing the film, Hinzman also appears as Sergeant Sanders.
YouTube review of The Majorettes:
Flesh Eater
(1988, dir. S. William Hinzman)
Aka Zombie Nosh. For this film Hinzman did everything: produce, direct, edit, screenplay (with Bill Randolph) and even act as the titular Flesh Eater, a zombie that looks just like an older version of the cemetery zombie he played in Night of the Living Dead. But then, basically, that is what he is. (Another person that more-or-less reprises his role from Night of the Living Dead is the totally unknown Vincent D. Survinski as Vince, the posse gunman, and he pretty much does the exact same thing in this movie that he did back in 1968.) Not much creativity or talent is displayed in this bloody zombie feast, but tons of bad acting and gore make for a crappy but funny film that goes well with a six-pack and a joint. Plot: A bunch of college students on an overnight camping trip must face off against a hoard of flesh-eating zombies after the driver of their hay wagon frees a buried zombie (Hinzman). One by one, they join the unwanted dinner guests and the plague spreads. Popcorn Pictures says: "Zombie Nosh has some moments of sleaze worth noting but Hinzman's brainchild film is simply a very bad rip-off of a far superior film. Stick with the original zombie shocker Night of the Living Dead if you want sophisticated splatter." Mr Satanism's Picks for Perverts, on the other hand, says: "[...] It's a pretty cool movie: there's plenty of blood & gore, quite a few tits (too bad that except for one fairly tasty cheerleader the chicks are all pretty rogue), and best of all you can make a drinking game out of it by chugging every time they show somebody in a jean jacket. Definitely a good party movie."Trailer:
Backstreet Justice
(1994, dir. Chris McIntyre)
Bill Hinzman's connection to this film is distant indeed: he was on the set as "director of photography: additional photography." The star of the movie is Linda Kozlowski – anyone remember her? We didn't think so. Shot in Pittsburgh, Movie House Commentary says "The underlying theme is one of corruption for personal profit [.]" The plot, according to the film's distributor: When Kerri Finnegan (Kozlowski) uncovers a deadly conspiracy and police corruption, she's forced to choose: sacrifice state's evidence, or her best friend's life.Trailer:
Trailer provided by Video Detective
Legion of the Night
(1995, dir. Matt Jaissle)
Originally released as Legion of the Night in 1995, in 1998 the director, Matt Jaissle, and producer, Todd Tjersland, released a reedited version (with less love subplot and more CGI) in 1998 as Dead City – so choose your poison when trying to find a copy. Hinzman has a viable part as Dr Bloom, who invents a way to reanimate the dead, thus creating with his assistant (Ron Asheton) the CZAs – Cybernetic Zombie Assassins. When funding runs out, they go to the wrong sources and things slowly spiral out of control. Jaissle & Tjersland consciously wanted a former Romero star in their movie, and Bill Hinzman landed the part after Richard Liberty, who played Dr. Frankenstein in Day of the Dead (1985 / trailer), couldn't be located; John Amplas, the star of Martin (1978 / trailer), "proved too difficult to deal with"; and Russ Streiner, "Johnny" in the original Night of the Living Dead, "suddenly flaked out."Trailer:
Captured Alive
(1995, dir. Chris McIntyre)
Aka Deliver Us from Evil and Fatal Destination - Absturz in die Hölle. A year after Backstreet Justice, Hinzman is on the team of the next McIntyre production as "cinematographer." The biggest name in the cast this time around is Pat Morita (King Cobra [1999 / trailer]). To loosely translate what the German book Das größte Filmlexikon der Welt says: When a nighttime charter flight with five strangers ends up crashing, the true nature of the passengers are revealed. But the crash was no accident: an environmental scandal is behind it, and the bearded rednecks in the hills are out to take revenge against the group. Captured Alive is confused film which uses familiar motifs to tell a story that isn't cohesive. The impression that remains is one of countless car chases and fights stuffed without reason into the narrative." We located someone on Amazon.com who obviously saw the film, and they said: "I think this is one for Joe Bob to review. It's really a shame they didn't pay their crew!"It's also really a shame we couldn't locate a trailer online.
The Langoliers
(1995, dir. Tom Holland)
Another film ever so tenaciously linked to Hinzman: Over at imdb, he is listed as the "director of photography: additional photography" on this TV mini-series based on a Stephen King novella; director Tom Holland has made some good films in his day – for example: Thinner (1996 / trailer / full film), Fright Night (1985 / trailer) and Child's Play (1985 / trailer) – but The Langoliers is not one of them. We were stupid enough to rent the movie version once upon a time, and were severely disappointed. What starts out as a well constructed updating of a typically Twilight Zone type situation devolves into a Killer-Ms.-Pac-Man film. Not good. Plot, as supplied by Anonymous at imdb: "On a red eye flight to Boston from LA 10 people wake up to a shock. All the passengers and crew have vanished. When they try to contact the ground they make no connections. They land the plane only to discover that things haven't changed. But it's like the world is dead. No one is there, the air is still, sound doesn't echo, the food is tasteless. And a distant sound is heard coming closer. A race of monstrous beings bent on their destruction is heading for them, eating everything in sight." A film to avoid.Trailer:
Santa Claws
(1996, dir. John A. Russo)
Bill Hinzman – who is also credited for the cinematography – is seen briefly on the screen in this cheapie alongside other former Night of the Living Dead alumni Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman. But the true attraction of the film is of course the headlining star, Scream Queen extraordinaire Debbie Rochon (seen ever so briefly as a TV announcer in Mulberry Street [2006 / trailer]). She plays "Raven Quinn," a Scream Queen – according to imbd – supposedly modeled after the actress Brinke Stevens. (A Scream Queen modeled after a Scream Queen – how meta.) Over at Dr Gore, the film scores "2 out of 4 sexy Scream Queens": "An obsessed B-movie fan has it in for Debbie Rochon. He wants her all for himself. But in order to win her love, he has to kill all of the sleazebag leeches that hang around her. He becomes Santa Claws, a mad killer with a garden cultivator. [...] As a horror flick, Santa Claws is a complete dud. Nothing remotely scary happens in this movie. A nut with a garden cultivator is as cheap as it gets. [...] But as a Debbie Rochon flick, Santa Claws is kind of interesting." The Video Graveyard opinions: "Apart from sporadically putting out low budget horror flicks [...], Russo also helped form the (now defunct) magazine, Scream Queens Illustrated, which features various women from the world of low-budget horror in a multitude of barely dressed / nude pictorials. More a product of said magazine, rather than a stand-alone movie, Santa Claws takes the idea of the printed page (that being nudie video shoots of various undressed females) and tacks on a slight 'mentally unstable stalker' plotline. [...] While the box art tries to pass off Santa Claws as a body count filled slasher movie, this is just a cheapie T&A flick that just so happens to pepper a few tame murders amongst all the scenes of undressing ladies cavorting around on sleds and holding wrapped presents."Trailer, sorta:
Evil Ambitions
(1996, dir. Mark Burchett & Michael D. Fox)
Couldn't find a trailer anywhere, regrettably.
Star of Jaipur
(1998, dir. Chris McIntyre)
Bill Hinzman once again active as "director of photography / cinematographer" for another non-masterpiece by the unknown auteur, Chris McIntyre. AKA Eve of Destruction, the has-beens of the production are Linda Gray, and George Lazenby (of Who Saw Her Die? [1972]), with Miss Asia America Julianne Shinto as the killer eye candy – literally: she is one of the bad guys and kills a lot of people. She don't get nekkid, though. On LindaGray.com, it says: "Action adventure with very complex story line. Terrorists plot smuggling chemical warfare into New York City, and also allude to the blowing up of the World Trade Center, before 9/11/2001." But as Peter of Sweden points out on Amazon.com: "Lazenby shows up in the end of the film to do a couple of short scenes before he gets shot – and Linda Gray is hardly seen either." He goes on to say "I recommend you watch this just for the fun of it. You won't believe it. You've never seen anything like this... I'd try to describe how bad it is, but there just isn't any way... you have to see it." Couldn't find a trailer anywhere, regrettably.The Dead Walk: Remaking a Classic
(1999, dir. Jeffrey Schwarz)
Bill Hinzman is credited as the cinematographer for this documentary short that is included on the DVD release of the Tom Savini helmed 1990 color remake of Night of the Living Dead, a film we have to admit that we have not yet seen in full. The talking heads of the documentary are George A. Romero, John A. Russo, Tom Savini, Russell Streiner, Patricia Tallman and John Vulich. Supposedly the ending of this version of Night of the Living Dead corresponds to that which George A. Romero originally intended for the first version.Trailer to the 1990 remake of The Night of the Living Dead:
Children of the Living Dead
(2001, dir. Tor Ramsey)
Hinzman does the cinematography of this direct-to-video horror film starring Tom Savini and featuring Hinzman's daughter Heidi Hinzman in a small part. At imdb, Jack explains the plot: "In 1987 serial murderer and rapist Abbot Hayes disappeared from the morgue. Shortly afterwards, a zombie plague swept his hometown and many lost their lives in the ensuing battle. Now, fourteen years later, the aging residents of the town are trying to erase all traces of their past. But the arrival of a businessman who relocates the bodies of the local cemetery into a mass grave so he can build a car dealership riles up Abbot, who sets out to create his own army of the undead and take over." In regards to this film, the website The World of Mr. Satanism rhetorically asks: "For real, what the Christ-baiting fuck is going on? [...] It's like three different zombie movies in one, all of which suck." Tor Ramsey is better known for his off-the-wall humor than anything else, so it could be assumed that he intended the film to be so ridiculously funny; on the other hand, he had the final cut taken from his hands by the film's producer, so who knows who made it as tardo as it is.
If the scene above wasn't enough, here's the first ten minutes:
Saloonatics
(2002, dir. John Russo)
Another direct-to-video production from the usual suspects – John A. Russo telling people what to do, Debbie Rochon, Heidi Hinzman and Raymond Russo among the faces on the screen, and Hinzman in the double function of cinematographer and producer. For a change, it ain't a horror film but "a gangster comedy centering on a doo-wop band who is in big trouble with some mafia-types." The youtube description to the preview below says: "A movie about a real band, Chuck Corby and Quiet Storm, a mob boss club owner played by Bruno Sammartino. [The B&W picture shows him in his prime.] A story of a 40-year struggle of a working band with a lot of twists and turns both good and bad." For the full story about Chuck Corby, go here.Preview:
The Drunken Dead Guy
(2005, dir. John Greff)
How low is low budget? Well, how about $1,200? That's the supposed budget of this New Jersey direct-to-video zomcom written and directed by John Greff, who also appears in the film as God. The plot, according to the Zombie Movie Data Base: "An advertising guy ends up dying. Heaven sends him back to fight a legion of devils that have nefarious plans for the Earth. However, the forces of good wind up screwing up, so he comes back as a zombie. He must still fight the devils, but he must stay constantly drunk in order to help preserve his body from rotting away." Oddly enough, of the few people who have ever seen this film – we don't count among them – all seem to like it. Also at ZMDB, a viewer says: "This film is truly hilarious if you enjoy very low budget movies with ridiculous concepts. The makers of the film are very honest on the DVD box and say the film was designed to look like a very low budget cable-access project, and it certainly does. But that's part of the charm of it. [...] The film itself is very funny and never takes itself too seriously."Bill Hinzman reprises his role from – What else? – Night of the Living Dead and shows up as "The Experienced Zombie" who misses the good old days and bitches about how crappy his meals have become due to America's current high-fat and carb-heavy diet. Also along for the ride, ever so briefly, B-movie scream queen Tina Krause and Zacherle.
Trailer:
In true exploitation fashion, after the Grindhouse revival kicked in, the film was given a new trailer.
Grindhouse trailer:
It Came from Trafalgar
(2009, dir. Solomon Mortamur)
Solomon Mortamur's first film, a self-financed Indiana production, is supposed to be a "black & white, tongue-in-cheek homage to the sci-fi monster movies of the 1950s," but it also has yet to be released – which has resulted in an on-line rumor that the whole project is just a scam. Anyone out there know the truth? In any event, Hinzman is just one a long list of cult and obscure actors and names involved in this film, a list that includes Brinke Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre [1982 / trailer]), Edwin Neal & Gunnar Hansen (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [1974 / trailer]), Ken Miller (I Was a Teenage Werewolf [1957 / full film / trailer], Attack of the Puppet People [1958 / trailer]), Linnea Quigley (Creepozoids [1987 / trailer]), Hank Williams III, Butch Patrick (The Munsters [1964-66]), Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite [1975 / trailer], The Human Tornado [1976 / trailer]), Reggie Bannister (Phantasm [1976 / trailer], Bubba Ho-Tep [2002 / trailer]) and Conrad Brooks (Glen or Glenda [1953 / full film / trailer], Jail Bait [1954 / full movie / trailer], Ed Wood [1994 / trailer]). BadMovie.net explains the plot: "It Came from Trafalgar deals with a UFO crashing in Trafalgar, Indiana back in the 1960s that leads to a madcap alien invasion 40 years [later] by goofy looking bulb-headed creatures called Zongolians. Plus there's stuff that somehow ties into the JFK assassination, Marilyn Monroe's illegitimate daughter, and a wide variety of other popular conspiracy theories. Quoting Mr. Mortamur, 'In the movie, Trafalgar represents kind of a new Roswell, New Mexico. There’s a nameless graveyard in Trafalgar, and it contains all the secrets that the United States is hiding from the world'." But BadMovie.net also said the film would be released in 2005. If and when it ever comes out, it will be Rudy Ray Moore's last film appearance.News report on the film:
River of Darkness
(2011, Director: Bruce Koehler)
Nice to see Hinzman not playing the Cemetery Zombie for a change. He has a relatively sizable part in this, his last direct-to-DVD film: Hinzman plays Harvey Hix, a man whose murderous deed comes back to haunt the town thirty years after the fact. The sorta hunky US wrestler Kurt Angle stars as Sheriff Will Logan, the man of law in a small Southern bayou town. When a series of murders occur, the name found written on the foreheads of the dead leads him to learn of a 30-year-old case of vigilante justice in which the three Jacobs Brothers lost their lives. But the brothers are back from the dead, full of hate and ready to revenge themselves on the whole town... Video Vault says: "River of Darkness has a decent pace and the ending is satisfying; however, the movie just feels very skeletal. Character development is minimal and a lot of the dialog is just boring. The movie doesn't break any new ground in the horror genre but it was not without its enjoyable moments. Some of these are unintentionally funny and a few of the gore scenes, such as the first kill, are nicely presented."
Full film:
awesome , thanks dude
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