DIY schlock extraordinaire Ted V. Mikels is something of a celebrated figure in cult circles, having directed such beautifully-titled cheapo gold as 1968’s The Astro-Zombies and Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973). Released in 1971, The Corpse Grinders is one of his more widely seen trashfests, due mostly to its gorehound-teasing title and lurid VHS cover art. The most unexpected news of the day is that a remake of his crowning opus is on its way, with production already underway.
The original film told of a cat food company who fall on tough times. When the owner kills an employee and disposes of the body in the meat-grinding machine, sales begin to pick up. It seems the local cats have quickly developed a taste for the new batch, and the bodies begin to stack up to meet demand. Soon enough though, the town’s feline population give up waiting for dinner time, and decide to get their human meat fresh.
German director Timo Rose (who revived the cult Violent Shit series in 2010) is helming the remake, which stars Anthony Straeger, Max Evans and Enya Maria Tames, who also appears in the upcoming remake of Herschell Gordon Lewis’ gore classic Blood Feast.
“I don’t want to see cats killing people,” said Rose in a recent interview, explaining the key difference between his film and the original. “I want to see Landau killing people. It’s time to retell the whole story from the beginning. It is a reboot, and it is something different and very new. It’s a modern version of bone-crushing terror, bloody and scary.”
It sounds like Rose is doing his own thing with his retelling of the story. Hopefully the new meat grinder will look a little more impressive than the obvious painted cardboard box seen in Mikels’ film.
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)
