Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer (2004)

I'm telling you guys, Hulu is a hotbed of unexplored terrain. I'm not sure what their process of choosing what to stream is but if you dig around a little, it's chocked full of the weirdies. I stumbled upon this Castaneda documentary with every intention of giving it a serious viewing that would potentially lead to my learning something. Before I proceed, let me just say that I'm only familiar with Castaneda by reputation. I know he was a writer, turned guru. I know he took psychedelics and found some enlightenment, a subject I'm always open to. I knew of the character Don Juan, but nothing specific. I was hoping Enigma of a Sorcerer would clear a few things up

As a documentary, this film is a failure. Made by a former follower of the Shaman, a group of fringey kooks talk about what it was like to study under Carlos Castaneda. As the film immediately loses focus, I remained in a state of confusion for the duration of the documentary. I thought less and less of him as the film went on. An over-sexed flaky false prophet. The followers themselves are more fascinating, particularly "The Witches", who were basically his wives. There was one librarian-looking lady with a turtleneck and a prince valiant Church bob who tells some amusing stories with the haze of someone who'd been recently probed by aliens.

I love her.

The dialog was tangent-like and expresses conflicting views from person to person. Not in an unbiased journalistic way. I sensed that the filmmaker himself hadn't made up his mind about the time he spent with Castaneda. There was a huge portion of the film dedicated to whether or not anyone should be sad that he's dead. No one seemed to like him, except for his harem. Castaneda's views weren't fully formed, or at least that's how it sounds coming from the mouths of his students. I walked away viewing him more as a cult leader than a Shaman. The stories of toxic competitive relationships between the witches and his inaccurate descriptions of the harsh desert environment paints him to be nothing but a hack. Was Carlos Castaneda just a failed L. Ron Hubbard?

The rave-like graphics swirling behind the speakers are perfection. This was made in 2004 but reads as a hard '98. I felt like I was staring at the cover of an "Adventures Unlimited" book under the influence of ecstasy for an hour and a half. The techno-spiritual music with Native American chants in the background needs to be coming out of my speakers right NOW. If you have any interest in strange science, outsider fringe videos, if love that episode of Tim and Eric's Awesome Show "The Universe" or if you're just a fan of outdated computer graphics, you might want to give this a shot. It certainly kept me entertained.

Gore-Met, Zombie Chef from Hell - 1986

To keep with the general spirit of food and SOV movies, yesterday after Microwave Massacre I decided to finally throw on Gore-Met, Zombie Chef from Hell. It's been in my collection for quite a few years, which I often feel guilty about. That is until those moments come where I'm too broke to buy movies and I'm feeling lazy, cozy and relieved that I've stock piled a ridiculous amount of movies which are seemingly on the back burner indefinitely.

Besides having one of the most creative/retarded titles of all time, GORE-MET, Zombie Chef from Hell is just as incompetent as it would suggest. For starters, let's just delve into the ridiculousness of the title. The idea of a Zombie Chef is really confusing. Zombies are pretty much like carnivorous robots. They simply consume. The idea of the sophisticated preparation of human flesh by an undead being is Hi-larious.

Does it actually live up to the title? in short; YES. While Gore-Met might be a nonsensical cluster-fuck, it fills a very tiny void of film history that could only exist in a dimension where sorcerers wear sweatshirts and serve each other "slimy slider" cocktails in a North Carolina dive bar.

The plot, or whatever resembles one, revolves around an ancient cult/sect called (and I am not fucking kidding right now) "the Righteous Brotherhood".....

Read it again slowly...

the RIGHTOUS BROTHER-hood. 

Am I sensing a hint of fanboy-ism on director Don Swan's part? Just to warn you from here on out this cult will now be referred to simply as the Righteous Brothers.

When the Righteous Brothers discover that one of their most powerful members has killed the high priestess in attempt gain total control, they drag him out to the forest and cast a curse on him that will make it so he never dies but must constantly consume human flesh so that he doesn't slowly rot away. A fate worse than death. Jump ahead 600 years or so and "Goza" (who I, and I'm pretty sure every other person who has EVER seen this movie mistook for "Gozer" of Ghostbusters fame) is now working in the ugliest, shittiest, most repulsive looking bar I've ever seen. Goza works as the head chef, where he apparently cooks and consumes the customers himself, and also (for whatever stupid reason) serves human flesh to the public. Working as his bartender/assistant is Blozor. A big hulking dork of an ancient warlock who has no real power except to knock someone's head off with a simple punch to the face.

The Righteous Brothers have realized their error in allowing Goza to live, so in attempt to put him in his place and strip him of his power there's an epic battle of wizardry which involves absolutely no special effects at all. Simply the staggering talent of two amateur actors. One in a Hawaiian shirt, the other in a simple pull over hoodie. With heated dialogue and dramatic hand gestures, we the audience are treated to the most pathetic and inept battle sequence of all time. Not even kidding here. I was so conflicted between the excitement of the soap opera-like dialogue and the anti-climatic action sequence that my internal organs entangled themselves in a barftastic explosion of hysterics which ended with me rolling off my bed, out of the bedroom, out my apartment, into the streets where I laid there until I car came by and hit me, I died and was reanimated by the Righteous Brothers, had to live off of flesh to stay alive, and the cycle started all over again with someone else. This is the impact that Gore-met, Zombie Chef from Hell will have on your life.

For a movie with such a deliberately exaggerated title there's very little gore and no real "zombie". Customers complain about hair and jewelry being in their food so I wouldn't really call him a "chef", and "hell" isn't even really a factor at all. All of that considered, somehow (despite what other reviewers may say) Gore-Met delivers. For being as clumsy and incoherent as it truly is, there's an undeniable gonzo quality that is a rare treat in a film from any decade.

In closing; is Gore-Met a decent film? Definitely not. Will you enjoy it? I doubt it. Should you love and obsess over it? YES. Proceed with the lowest of expectations and the highest dose of whatever your preferred substance may be and marvel at the glorious inadequacy.