Dee Snider's Strangeland

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Movie
German title Dee Snider's Strangeland
Original title Strangeland
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1998
length 83 minutes
Age rating FSK indexed / 18
Rod
Director John Pieplow
script Dee Snider
production David L. Bushell
Dee Snider
music Anton Sanko
camera Goran Pavicevic
cut Jeff Kushner
Joe Woo Jr.
occupation

Dee Snider's Strangeland (original title and alternative title: Strangeland ) is an American feature film based on a script by Dee Snider . The horror or slasher film was made in 1998 by John Pieplow .

action

Detective Mike Gage of Helverton, Colorado is desperate. His daughter Genevieve has been kidnapped and he goes to find her. A stranger working under the pseudonym "CaptHowdy" invited her and her friend Tiana Moore to a party in a chat room from which she never returned.

When Tiana is found dead in a car, mysterious evidence is found: a septum piercing . Mike Gage and his partner Steve Christian investigate the bizarre Modern Primitive and Body Modification Club Xibalba, but they leave the scene with no evidence of the perpetrator. Meanwhile, he takes part in an Indian oka ritual. A meat hook pierces his chest and he is pulled up. When acquaintances take him down, he yells at them that they should have let him die.

Together with his niece Angela Stravelli, who is much more computer-savvy, they set CaptHowdy a trap, but he becomes suspicious. He's sending the police to the wrong house. While he can continue to torture his victims in bizarre BDSM and body modification orgies, the police only disturb an older couple during sex. The next morning, CaptHowdy calls the policeman, but is betrayed by the barking dogs from the neighborhood. Kevin penetrates his basement and manages to overpower the tattoo and piercing freak. Due to insanity , Carleton Hendricks, as the psychopath is really called, is admitted to a psychiatric clinic .

Only four years later, Hendricks' schizophrenia is considered cured. He covers his tattoos with make-up. He is released and returns to Helverton. A mob has already formed in front of his house demanding tougher sentences. One of the leaders of the mob, Jackson Roth, misses his daughter, but she stays with her boyfriend. Furious with rage, he calls together a lynch mob , who kidnaps Hendricks in front of Mike Gage and hangs him . But Hendricks survives and transforms himself back into his alter ego CaptHowdy. First he kidnaps Jackson and his wife, as well as a few other people from the mob. Then he sends a message to Mike and his wife that he also has their daughter. Two police officers are able to find the hiding place of CaptHowdy and free the tortured victims. He lures Mike to the now closed Club Xibalba, where the two meet. With a meat hook, Mike manages to arrest the psychopath and set it on fire.

background

In addition to scriptwriting, Dee Snider also acted as a lead actor and as a co-producer. He was on set most of the time and made sure that the film was shot the way he wanted. With Strangeland, Snider wanted to create a new horror icon that would build on the popularity of Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees . Several sequels were announced, but have not yet been realized. In 2009 the second part of Strangeland 2: Disciple will appear.

With Twisted Sister , Dee Snider had recorded two songs that served as the basis for his script: Captain Howdy and Street Justice . The film contains a number of pop cultural references. He took motifs for his script from the film The Exorcist , which was also the basis for the song Captain Howdy . Other scenes are reminiscent of A Class of Their Own and A Man They Called a Horse (Okapi ritual). The Xibalba Club was based on the Limelight in New York City . There are further allusions to Charles Manson , from whom a line of dialogue from the interview with Geraldo Rivera Snider puts into his protagonist's mouth. CaptHowdy was supposed to sing Piggies , but the royalties for this Beatles piece were too high. Even before Robert Englund was involved in the film as an actor, Dee Snider had incorporated some allusions to the Nightmare films in the script. When Englund was finally established to perform, some of these allusions were removed. Nevertheless, two lines of dialogue can be heard.

Dee Snider also benefited from his work as a rock singer in the film. Friends and acquaintances agreed to make their song material available very cheaply. In addition to the score by Anton Sanko, the soundtrack features various bands from the metal and nu-metal genre. Marilyn Manson , Coal Chamber and System of a Down contributed to the soundtrack, among others . For the soundtrack, Twisted Sister got back together after a ten-year separation and recorded the song Heroes Are Hard To Find .

The original title of the film was supposed to be "Helltown" and is still present at one point in the film on a town sign.

Frames

For a cinema release by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) the film had to be cut in some places. For the MPAA, some of the piercing sequences and depictions of the primary genitals were too clear for the film to be approved. In Germany, a total of 17 cuts (about 5 minutes 38 seconds) had to be made for FSK approval. The first release on VHS by Columbia TriStar Home Video is shortened. After an examination by the Juristenkommission (JK), an unabridged version was published on both DVD and VHS.

Reviews

The lexicon of international films wrote: "The author and acting debut of a middle-class pop musician who does his job in a very conventional way and who has mastered the rules of the psychological thriller without adding innovations."

By contrast, the film was received much more favorably by genre friends and music critics. So wrote the Rock Hard :

“This film fits somewhere between Seven and The Silence of the Lambs . However, the film knows more to inspire with imaginative camera settings than with an unusual story. The portrayal of the victims in particular is almost art in a cruel way. Furthermore, reference should be made to the soundtrack. This disc features songs from Coal Chamber, Sevendust and of course Twisted Sister , among others . (...) Conclusion: A journey through the absurd world of a psychopath who lives out his artistic ambitions on the human body. Regardless of whether on your own body or on someone else's. "

- rock hard

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Strangeland 2: Disciple. Internet Movie Database , accessed June 10, 2015 .
  2. ↑ a b Audio commentary by Dee Snider on the DVD release of Kinowelt 2008
  3. ↑ Cutting report on Schnittberichte.com
  4. ↑ Dee Snider's Strangeland. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  5. ↑ DEE SNIDER'S 'STRANGELAND' - Torture, Pain, Scars (Video, Other) on RockHard.de