Brian Lonano and Blake Myers - co-directors of CONTENT: The Lo-Fi Man

“Yo Friends, It's Blake Myers the production designer of lots of Brian Lonano's films and now co-directing with him on "CONTENT: The Lo-Fi Man". It really kind of Arrow to let me select 10 films from their amazing library to share with you. Many of these films have shaped me as a filmmaker. They are great examples of how to push boundaries and expand the language of cinema. 

1. Running Time - Josh Becker pulls off an amazing on location real time action heist film with what appears to be no cuts. All shot on black and white 16mm film, truly an amazing indy feat. 

2. Dead or Alive - The greatest first five minutes of any film, and the greatest last five minutes of any film. Takeshi at his best. 

3. Gruesome Twosome - Mrs Pringle and her son Rodney need scalps for their wig shop.  Hershel Gordon Lewis's use of the new electric turkey carver is epic. The real star of the show is Napoleon. It's one of the most bonkers of HGL's films. 

4. 2000 Maniacs - My favorite HGL movie by far. It's his biggest film in the sense of the locations, the music and the kills. It also has a lot to say about the world and is genuinely creepy as hell. I feel as if it informed the films of Lynch and Korine. I could be wrong, but it feels like that.  

5. Brain Damage - It's amazing how much lore and history can be pulled out of a silly puppet. It is a testament to the genius of Hennelotter to make a film that feels larger in scope compared to the limited resources he had. Elmyr is god. 

6. Horror Express - One of the 24 films to bring together Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, but also adds Telly Sevalas! All that is enough, but it takes place on a train that has the missing link to humanity on the loose and causing havoc. This film has it all! 

7. Switchblade Sisters - The King of the B's shows he can make any kind of genre film. Jack Hill's action packed girl gang fight movie is a blast. 

8. Gamera: Guardian of the Universe - I saw this film at a special screening in 1996. While I grew up loving Godzilla as a kid, seeing this Gamera film as a young adult made me a Kaiju fan for life. The effects and style of this film are some of the best ever. 

9. American Guinea Pig: Song of Solomon - Exorcism films are usually not my thing, but that is because they are usually not as brutal and relentless as this film. Stephen Brio dosen't hold back on the torture and the gore. The transformation that Jessica Cameron goes through to become possessed is unreal.    

10. Children of the Corn - I just saw this for the first time and it's total 80's folk horror. It's surprising how great the kids are in this film. Good creepy fun”.

“Hi Everyone!  Brian Lonano here. Director of such short films as “Gwilliam”, “CROW HAND!!!”, “BFF Girls” and most recently “CONTENT: The Lo-Fi Man.”  ARROW has invited me again to make some selections from their extensive library.  I’ve chosen 10 films that I believe to be excellent examples of persistence of vision, wild unhinged storytelling and underdog outsider filmmaking.

1. Tetsuo: The Iron Man - THE lo-fi cyber punk masterpiece.  Directly inspired our film "CONTENT: The Lo-FI Man", Shinya Tsukamoto's  journey to make this film almost mirrored our own experience making "CONTENT." But he persevered and made a true classic. And we made our film too.

2. Lake of Dracula - Part of a trilogy of Japanese Dracula films.  This was the second film and it’s my favorite of the three.

3. Putney Swope - “You can’t eat an air conditioner.”

4. The Mighty Peking Man & 5. The Boxer’s Omen - Two fantastic Shaw Brothers films.  I love when they made supernatural and monster movies.  They’re always wild and fun to watch.
 
6. Who Killed Captain Alex? - Amazing DIY filmmaking and I am so excited for its upcoming sequel.
 
7. Lake Michigan Monster - Another great example of DIY filmmaking.  I love the handmade look and feel of this film. It’s very inspiring.  And look out for their next film “Hundreds of Beavers.”
 
8. Basket Case - An awesome time capsule of 42nd Street and 1980s NYC in all its gross glory. When I was living and working in NYC, I met Frank Henenlotter at my post production job and he was at the time working on a restoration of “Basket Case.” And to shamefully plug my own work, Elric Kane from Pure Cinema Podcast and Colors of the Dark podcasts once said after seeing “CROW HAND!!!” and “Gwilliam” that he felt confident in “anointing him heir to the great Frank Henenlotter.”
 
9. The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune - Daniel Griffith makes incredibly researched documentaries and some become feature films like this one!  
 
10. Massacre Mafia Style - This movie has a speech in the middle where Duke Mitchell talks about an old Italian woman and it is wonderful”.

*not all films are available in all countries.