Evening Entertainment: Harry Hall's 1991 short film THE HOUSE OF CLOWNS

One would think that a short film called THE HOUSE OF CLOWNS would be a horror film, and it kind of is, though Hall's tale of a young woman telling the story of how she was raised by clowns is campily nightmarish in a way that's not immediately obvious, as the film is more a completely bizarre look at a non-existent clown culture.  It features... well, a lot of clowns.  And a clown rendition of "Romeo and Juliet."  And fireworks. 


THE HOUSE OF CLOWNS (vintage 1991) from HARRY HALL on Vimeo.

Gingerbread Land (1991)

Patti Hudson is "the Gingerbread Lady" in this low-budget how-to video featuring children singing, a weird yellow puppet named "Yellow," the eating of stray M&Ms and plenty of instruction on putting together a proper gingerbread house for a beginner.  It's strangely hypnotic.  Read more about her here.

Trailer: N!xau in CRAZY SAFARI (1991), the GODS MUST BE CRAZY sequel with hopping vampires and Bruce Lee's ghost

N!xau, the Namibian bushman who rose to brief fame with his role as a tribesman who goes in search of the origins of a Coke bottle in 1980's THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY, would have turned 70 today, at least according to IMDb.  While GODS never led to much of a huge career or paycheck (he was reportedly paid a few hundred dollars for the blockbuster hit), he did go on to star in four increasingly low-rent and wacky sequels to the film, only one of which made it to U.S. shores but that proved to be much better in Asia.  Here's the third entry in the series, the Golden Harvest-produced CRAZY SAFARI, also released as THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY III, in which me meets hopping vampires and the spirit of Bruce Lee.

Allan Havey interviews Robert Downey in 1991 about TOO MUCH SUN

Downey (a prince) jokes that his latest release, TOO MUCH SUN, would be his last (it wasn't), but the director of GREASER'S PALACE, PUTNEY SWOPE and POUND certainly has plenty to say in this 1991 interview.  Havey's "Night After Night" was a great forum for guests like Downey, as the informal style and long-form discussions were a welcome departure from the more quick-entertaining-story focus of most late-night talk shows.  This nearly 15 minute interview would be a welcome addition to any Downey retrospective. (Havey can more recently be seen as Lou Avery on "Mad Men.")  

TOO MUCH SUN is still a pretty ridiculous movie.

Mary Woronov threatens Alexis Arquette in Lizzie Borden's short film BACKSTAGE

Cult icon Mary Woronov, who turns 71 today, stars as an actress who threatens a delivery boy (BRIDE OF CHUCKY’s Alexis Arquette) and dresses him up. Lizzie Borden, who helmed the sci-fi parable BORN IN FLAMES and the Sean Young thriller LOVE CRIMES, helmed this short created the TV series “Inside Out” on The Playboy Channel.

It’s NSFW.

Álex de la Iglesia's 1991 short film MIRINDAS ASESINAS

De la Iglesia, who turns 49 today, is one of the most interesting talents working in genre film today, and if you haven't seen DAY OF THE BEAST, ACCION MUTANTE, PERDITA DURANGO, EL CRIMEN PERFECTO or THE LAST CIRCUS yet -- well, what the hell are you waiting for?  His first project, however, was this creepy, yet typically tongue-in-cheek, short film about a man at a bar.  While there doesn't seem to be a version with subtitles online and the dialogue is in Spanish, there's so few words spoken and the short's strong point is mostly in tone rather than words, and it shouldn't be too hard to follow the plot.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Cereal commercial (1991)

The Bill & Ted franchise went beyond two films and into two different short-lived TV series, one animated and another live-action.  The cereal was clearly influenced by the former.  It's Lucky Charms, but with more excellentness.

Rap Musk commercial, for when you want that funky smell

I have no idea what this is supposed to smell like, but I can't imagine it being good.

Watch This Thing - Geto Boys - My Mind Playing Tricks On Me

Geto Boys' 1991 track was ranked by Rolling Stone as the fifth greatest hip hop song of all time.  I think it's just a great paranoid classic.

Tripped-out 1991 animated short PICNIC, from the lead animator of ICE AGE

You won't find any wise-cracking sloths in James Bresnahan's 1991 short -- instead, you'll find three minutes of inspired lunacy, a barrage of wild imagery in which people vanish, black shapes take over and some excessively dark imagery is on display. Look, just watch the darn thing, though maybe wait until you get home, as it's mildly NSFW.

Watch This Thing - NUDIST COLONY OF THE DEAD director Mark Pirro on Hard Copy in 1991

This featurette on super-8 filmmaker Pirro (A POLISH VAMPIRE IN BURBANK) may be the only time that CURSE OF THE QUEERWOLF was mentioned on network television.

Watch This Thing - Win a date with Brian Bosworth!

You've got the movie, now get one step closer to the action! A trip to L.A. to meet STONE COLD star Brian Bosworth is just $1.95 the first minute away in this commercial that appeared on the VHS for 1991's classic biker action pic STONE COLD.

Watch This Thing - Artist Sergio Aragonés in a 1991 interview for a USC student film

Sergio Aragones' work has been seen in the pages of Mad Magazine and in the likes of his most famous creation, "Groo the Wanderer" for decades, and his style is unmistakable. In this interview from 1991 shot for a USC film school short, Aragones talks about his history with overcoming the language barrier, his teaming with the equally-great Mark Evanier (who is also interviewed) and more. (Sadly, he doesn't talk about his role in NORMAN, IS THAT YOU?, but maybe that's on the cutting room floor.) I believe the director is the Michael Markowitz who later served as a supervising producer on "Duckman."