What the @#*! is Astron-6? Well don't ask Troma head Lloyd Kaufman because he can't even remember the name in the DVD's hilarious intro. The real question though is WHO the @#*! is Astron-6? Astron-6 is made up of 5 young Canadian film makers (Matthew Kennedy, Adam Brooks, Conor Sweeney, Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski) who got together to create films, shorts, fake trailers, real trailers and other such nonsense. So who is the 6th member of Astron-6, you might ask? According to an interview I read with one of the Astrons, it's the viewer. I feel privileged.
This DVD, coming December 13th from Troma, is a two disc compilation of these above mentioned movies, shorts and trailers that span pretty much every genre you can think of. The main focus though is the group's love for the 1980s which seems to influence much of their output. Whether they are spoofing an 80's teen comedy, an 80's Italian horror film or an 80's Sci Fi film, the 80s seems to be the most prevalent element in this collection.
So let's talk about what is actually included in this DVD. According to the DVD case, the running time is 80 minutes however Troma's site lists it at 300 minutes. I really have no idea if either of these are accurate but there is definitely a lot of stuff on here. If you like low budget cult films or anything from the 80s, I guarantee you will find something in this set that you like. The longer films in the set definitely were my favorites, which included an 80s comedy on crack called Cool Guys, an Italian zombie spoof called H.I.Z. (Erection der zombi) and the dramatic teen comedy mash up Punch Out. Of the trailers included, my favorites were the Zombie spoof Inferno of the Dead (one of the funniest things on the set) and cheesy Sci Fi spoof Lazer Ghosts 2: Return to Lazer Cove. The series of shorts comprising the Gore Blade: Warrior King of the Universe segment, a spoof of Barbarian films was also very entertaining. The remaining titles were hit or miss for me but with a collection like this, there is more than enough great stuff to make it worth your hard earned dollars. The films are all low budget but you can tell that the film makers love what they are doing and definitely have some experience in movie making. I am really looking forward to their future output.
RATING: 8/10
For more info on Astron-6 or to buy this DVD, check out the links below:
http://www.astron-6.com/
http://www.troma.com/films/astron-6/
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