You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Destination: Outer Space’ tag.
Author Tom Fowler of Overland Park, Kansas, is a big B-movie fan…and that’s really lucky for us in the Mihmiverse because he recently watched and loved Christopher R. Mihm’s B&W 1950s-drive-in-style creature feature, House of Ghosts. In fact, he loved it so much, he has purchased the entire set of Mihm’s seven movies (also including: Monster of Phantom Lake, It Came from Another World, Cave Women on Mars, Terror from Beneath the Earth, Destination: Outer Space, and Attack of the Moon Zombies), and he plans to review each in turn throughout the summer. He’s calling this the Christopher R. Mihm Summer Reading Festival.
Be sure to check his website frequently to catch his reviews.
http://www.tomfowlerwritings.com/christopher_mihm
Or better yet, join him in his quest to immerse himself in the Mihmiverse by purchasing your own full set of his films for the special LOW PRICE of just $49.99 + $9.99 shipping and handling. That’s more than a $27 savings!
Visit http://www.sainteuphoria.com/merch.html#dvds to pick up your set!
By Coco Mault Wed., Jul. 13 2011 City Pages
Local filmmaker Christopher Mihm has come a long way since his 2006 horror flick, The Monster of Phantom Lake. Since then, he has used the magic of cinema to explore what happens when beasts and beautiful women clash in Cave Women on Mars, as well as other strange happenings in Destination: Outer Space. Mihm’s latest creature feature includes more mysterious and otherworldly happenings. Actor Mike Cook once again plays Dr. Vincent Edwards, a character who debuted in Terror from Beneath the Earth. This time, he finds himself looking for answers to a horrifying discovery. But instead of journeying underground to defend humanity against a mutant beast, he must set his sights skyward to fight the moon zombies. This Thursday, there will be a screening of Mihm’s latest creation, Attack of the Moon Zombies, at New Hope Cinema Grill. The film features a cast of local actors, and is sure to be a wry, tongue-in-cheek, B-movie thriller. What more could you want from a movie promising a “terrifying fusion of man and plant!”
Don’t miss this phenomenal opportunity! Preorder your tickets tonight for tomorrow’s screening: <www.sainteuphoria.com>
 |
{★} Classic Creature Features…Or Not! * Posted by Cherri Bombe {★} on June 5, 2011
By looking at these posters, you would think they were some of those old-school B horror movies, right? Wrong! These were all made within the last five years by Minnesota-based Christopher R. Mihm, who says that he makes “new ‘old’ films.” On his website, www.sainteuphoria.com, Mr. Mihm says of classic B-movies: “I enjoyed their often poorly written dialogue, sometimes (but not always!) wooden acting, stilted camera work and marginal special effects. It was during one of these marathon movie-watching sessions I had an epiphany: “What would happen if I stopped thinking about it and actually made a movie? And not just ANY movie but THIS kind of movie, one that a ten year old version of my dad would approve of?” His latest is See the trailer here: All his DVD’s are $9.99 + $2.50 shipping and can be purchased here: http://www.sainteuphoria.com/merch.html#dvds Next payday, I’m soooooo going to pick up a couple of these! Yay for cheesy horror movie re-creations!
I first learned of Christopher R. Mihm through a story about his movie Cave Women on Mars published in the Southwest Journal in Minneapolis. His motivation for making B&W 1950s-drive-in-style B-movie homages was to honor his deceased father, who’d instilled in him from childhood a love of charmingly crappy cinematic works. He named his production company “All for George Productions.”
I then attended the world premiere of Cave Women on Mars (2008), and I was sucked into the Mihmiverse forever, where I now happily fester.
The plot, and there actually was one, which is always a bonus, involved a handsome astronaut (Dan Sjerven) who is stranded on, you guessed it, Mars, surrounded by primitive warring Amazonian beauties. Oh, the cheesy sets and costumes…the purposely stilted line delivery ala Shatner…the overacting of the villainesses (who were, it turns out, tinier than Alan Ladd and just filmed to look imposing—this I learned at the after party where I towered over chief baddie, Rachel Grubb, thinking I could have vanquished her simply by sitting on the waif)…What was not to love?
Cave Women was Mihm’s third film, and from the aforementioned article, I knew his first movie was Monster of Phantom Lake (2006). I assure you, the gang at “Mystery Science Theater 3000” would have been ecstatic to watch this one.
There were literally times in watching this film I guffawed so loudly I scared my dog, Mortimer! I’m a ‘50s-ophile and adore most things created at or about that time. Monster of Phantom Lake had it all. It featured hormone-driven/twist-dancing teens, a crazed war veteran turned urban legend thanks to toxic waste, inept but lovable Canoe Cops, awesome cat-eye glasses, and a lake creature Roger Corman’s special-effects crew would have coveted, adroitly played by Mihm’s teenaged stepson Michael Kaiser.* Also memorable, and truly hilarious, was the campy song Professor Jackson launches into: “A-Rockin, A-Rollin, All the Way A-Ramblin’.” (A quadruple threat in the talent department, apparently Mihm’s not just a writer/director/producer, he’s also an accomplished musician who performed all the musical tracks for the song).
Next, I bought It Came from Another World (2007), Mihm’ second film, and did it ever send me! Professor Jackson (a recurrent role of a sort for Mihm’s best bud/co-producer on most of his movies, Josh Craig) has to go searching for a colleague, Dr. Frasier (Mike Mason), who’s gone missing in the woods where a mysterious meteorite has been seen crashing to Earth. Enter our favorite Canoe Cops, Sven (M. Scott Taulman) and Gustav (Mike Cook), to help him with the tracking. I’ll not be a spoiler, but there’s a certainscene involving an oar and a mushroom you’ll need to be wearing Depends to safely watch.
Mihm masterfully uses public domain footage and music to set the mood, as well as ping-pong balls to create the alien-possessed creature’s fiendish googly-eyed visage. A highlight of the film is a fabulous campsite sing-along featuring the infectious song “Paddlin’ Along,” performed by Echo Driver, Mihm’s musical nom de plume.
More than any of Mihm’s movies to date, his 2009 release, Terror from Beneath the Earth, was truly a family affair, with his lovely spouse Stephanie, son Elliot, stepdaughter Liz Kaiser and stepson Michael Kaiser taking prominent roles. Dan Sjerven returns, this time as a frantic father searching caves**—made radioactive by local atomic testing, naturally—for his two lost children (Liz and Elliot). Mike Cook, otherwise known as Canoe Cop Gustav, is Dr. Vincent Edwards, renowned geologist and all-around brainiac, who is called in on the search with his assistant Rosemary Bennett (Stephanie). The mutant bat creature (Michael, the inveterate Mihm-monster portrayer) the search party discovers is one of the best film monsters ever devised. (Check out the corn-cob holders that have been used to make its teeth!)
The B-movie-loving world thrilled at last spring’s premiere of Mihm’s fifth film, Destination: Outer Space! (2010) at the historic Heights Theater in Columbia Heights, Minn. Josh Craig reprised his roles as Captain Jackson (and his father), taking the character to new depths as an alcoholic loser whose life has no meaning until he tests a rocket ship that flies faster than the speed of light and sends him into new galaxies of terror and adventure with a space pirates named Urina, a robot named ADAM (played by Michael Kaiser and voiced by writer/director Mihm himself), and evil, eyeball-headed Oculon monsters.
Mihm’s films have racked up the cult-movie accolades, including Best Science Fiction Feature—2007 ShockerFest International Film Festival; Best of Fest Award—Big Damn Film Festival, Kansas City; and Audience Choice Award—Big Damn Film Festival, Cincinnati and Indianapolis; and many others.
This brings us to Mihm’s 
latest movie marvel, Attack of the Moon Zombies, due to premiere May 25, 2011. Dr. Vincent Edwards (Mike Cook, of Terror from Beneath the Earth fame) is back, on the moon in the distant future (the 1970s), and readying himself for a peaceful retirement. That is until a mysterious space plant is discovered in a moon cave by his young replacement and seeks to replicate itself by any means possible, thus threatening all the inhabitants of the Moon Base. This movie marks a subtle shift in Mihm’s storytelling style, incorporating a much larger ensemble cast with, dare I say it, character development galore. The crazy-talented Mitch Gonzales created the zombie monsters, marking an up-notch in sophistication without the sacrifice of that precious cheesiness. This is bound to be one of Mihm’s very best and is a must-see for any true B-movie aficionado. I know I wouldn’t miss it for all the world(s) in the Mihmiverse!
Become an associate producer of Mihm’s movie for a mere $50 donation and you’ll get a free ticket to the premiere, several copies of the finished DVD AND your name on the silver screen for all time. More info on this at www.sainteuphoria.com.
Sid Korpi is a Minneapolis-based writer and former film studies teacher, and in the spirit of full disclosure, she also plays Administrator Ripley in Attack of the Moon Zombies.
* I now own framed pieces of the Monster of Phantom Lake’s actual scaly hide (i.e. painted-on bits of plastic lawn and leaf bag).
**Ever generous to his fans, Mihm bestowed upon me one of the original papier maché stalagmites from the bat cave, which is proudly displayed in my basement!
Fun-loving Spirit Guides Put Their Seal of Approval on the B-Movie Project
As the latest, greatest Christopher R. Mihm movie production gets underway, for “Attack of the Moon Zombies,” there are already signs that this film has received a heavenly thumbs-up!
Last night, Sept. 7, 2010, my husband Anthony and I went to the director’s house to do a fitting for our costumes. Anthony has to wear a lab coat in one scene, and Chris was digging through a ginormous box of donated coats to find one that fit Anthony. He pulled out one that was buried in the middle of the pile and had Anthony try it on. It was a perfect fit.
I took one look at it, got goosebumps and literally screamed.
Embroidered above one breast pocket was the name “Jenny Pavlovic.”
Ms. Pavlovic is the award-winning author of “8 State Hurricane Kate” and “Not Without My Dog Resource and Record Book,” and she and I are both going to be guests on Nadia Giordana’s Blog Talk Radio show on the 14th and sharing a booth at the Goldzilla fund-raiser for RAGOM (Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota) rescue organization on the 18th in Shoreview, Minn.! We met shortly after my book, “Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss,” came out last fall at a fund-raiser for the Minnesota Pet Project and have been friends, allies, and colleagues ever since!
I knew she had a scientific/technical background by profession, but to see that her retired lab coat had found its way into that director’s basement and onto my hubby was too uncanny to pass off as mere coincidence. (We have a couple photos of the lab coat in question, but Chris has forbidden us to post them yet.)
But that wasn’t all that happened that night to give us signs that this movie is going to be phenomenal. Anthony and I had to hurry to the Rosedale JCPenney’s 15 minutes before it closed to buy some classic-looking men’s pajamas for Anthony’s second scene. When we were checking out, I burbled to the teen-aged cashier that these PJs would be in a 1950s-drive-in-style B-movie, and she wanted information about it.
She said she was genuinely interested because her grandfather had written a horror movie script in the late ’50s—a little thing called “Carnival of Souls“!!!!! A CLASSIC among B-movies!!! It’s one of the first ones I’d watched on my DVD collection of classic horror films and have read glowing things about it in film magazines and books!
I raced home and called Chris immediately. I knew he’d be familiar with the movie, and when I told him about it, he appropriately gasped and said, “Oh my God!”
I said, “I KNOW, right?”
He said, “Did you get her contact information?”
I said, “No, but I gave her yours. … Can you even stand how cool this is?!!!! First the lab coat with Jenny Pavlovic’s name on it and now ‘Carnival of Souls’!!”
I also reminded him: “It’s like that time (last June) I woke up in the morning and simply knew I had to go to Ricky’s Embers restaurant in Fridley (which is about 15 miles from my house; not exactly convenient) and when I sat down next to a pile of previously read newspapers to wait for my to-go order, I looked down and found your (Chris’s) face staring up at me!”
I had been trying to get a hold of the issue of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that had featured him and the Heights Theatre premiere of his movie “Destination: Outer Space,” but because it was specific to the northern suburbs and I live in South Minneapolis, I didn’t think I’d find it. I pitched such a spazzy fit over the sheer grooviness of this supernormal occurrence, I got permission from the waiter to steal this copy if I’d just take my food and leave!
I said, “You hire me for a project and it’s going to have a bunch of Spirit Guides supporting it.”
He said, “That’s certainly true!” or something affirmative to that effect. I am paraphrasing a teensy bit. Give me a break. I was and am über excited!
Now, if all this evidence of the magical, mystical sanctioning of this movie doesn’t convince you to become an associate producer and get screen credit for super cheap, I don’t know what will!
Among other great screening events, Saturday, Oct. 30, there will be a five-Mihm-movie marathon at the Grand Little Theater in Eau Claire, Wis. and he will be showing the first-ever sneak peek at a scene from “Attack of the Moon Zombies.” Come in costume and make a day trip of it if you can. Half of the proceeds will go directly to fund the production of the movie.
Hi,
Christopher R. Mihm, photo by Joel Koyama, Star Tribune
250 attend premiere.
I had the coolest thing happen today. I’ve been Googling almost daily to find the Strib’s follow-up piece about the premiere of “Destination: Outer Space” and never had any luck. This morning, I woke up with the sudden, seemingly random thought that I’d better use a coupon I have for Ricky’s Embers Restaurant in Fridley before it expires.
It’s a fair distance from home, so I don’t often go there, but I took the pooches for a walk in Columbia Park (Columbia Heights) to justify the drive. Anyway, after I ordered my burger to go, I sat in one of their waiting area chairs, which were covered with previously read newspapers. No sooner did I sit down but I looked to my left, and whose mug do you think was staring up at me? That’s right, the surprisingly photogenic Mr. Mihm!! I squealed with glee and had to tell the server why I was spazzing and fully intended to steal that copy of the paper.See what happens when one is Divinely Inspired?
This was the movie premiere to end all movie premieres! You may recall, my hubby and I each had ONE LINE in it! —Sid
Christopher R. Mihm, photo by Joel Koyama, Star Tribune
250 attend premiere.
Joel Koyama, Star Tribune
Fans turned out at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights last week for the world premiere of Christopher Mihm’s latest film foray, “Destination: Outer Space.” The movie follows in the sci-fi trail blazed by the Arden Hills filmmaker’s previous works: “The Monster of Phantom Lake” (2006); “It Came From Another World” (2007), “Cave Women on Mars” (2008) and “Terror from Beneath the Earth” (2009).
“Destination” involves a rocket that travels faster than the speed of light — no small feat. Also remarkable was how Mihm’s fans donated time and money when recession-related financial challenges put the movie up in the air (“Destination: Outer Space,” North Extra, April 21: www.startribune.com/local/north/91264509.html.)
Another metro-area showing is coming up at 7 p.m. June 25 at East Ridge High School, Woodbury. For more: www.sainteuphoria.com.
I just got the great news (belatedly thanks to my old Internet provider going kaput and my email address changing so they couldn’t reach me) that my book, Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss, has won an Independent Publishers Book Award (category: Pets)!
That’s along with the Reader Views 2010 Reviewers Choice Award (category: inspiration & spirituality) it had been awarded earlier this year. Yippee!!
Naturally, the awards presentation banquet in New York takes place on the same night as my “movie debut” (one line!!) in the premiere of Christopher R. Mihm’s Destination: Outer Space! (May 25, 7 p.m. at the Heights Theater, by the way—still a precious few tickets left).
The following is an article about the movie in which I and my hubby have cameo appearances—and one line apiece—and for which our dear, departed dog Mortimer was given an associate producer’s credit! Note: some corrections to my quote are 1) I am NOT yet 50!; b) my stalagmite is just over 3 feet tall, NOT man-sized, unless we’re talking midgets/little people, AND I said it was from “Terror from Beneath the Earth” NOT “Cave Women on Mars”; and c) Mihm’s movies are “wonderfully cheesy ’50s drive-in movie homages,” not merely “silly”! I hate being misquoted. She left out the part where I called Mihm “The Roger Corman of Minneapolis,” too, but otherwise, I thought Ms. Ford did a nice job on the piece. Please join us for the premiere on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the historic Heights Theater in Columbia Heights, Minnesota! For more info and to order tickets, go to <www.sainteuphoria.com>.
Also of note, Mr. Mihm is the creator of the wonderful “Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss” website! Contact him at <chris@asterisksoftware.com>.
—Sid
An Arden Hills filmmaker’s fans pitch in to
help finance and produce his latest movie.
Marlin Levison, Star Tribune Christopher Mihm displayed some of the props used in his new movie “Destination: Outer Space.” At left is the head of Oculon while the robot at right is named ADAM. The movie will be shown at drive-ins and sci-fi conventions. That’s an asteroid at top left.
‘Destination: Outer Space’
ALYSSA FORD Special to the Star Tribune April 21, 2010
B-moviemaker Christopher Mihm of Arden Hills knew he had a fan base for his black-and-white creature features with their bug-eyed lake monsters, alien-possessed meteorites and matriarchal colonies on Mars.
He’s accustomed to getting fan e-mails from people all over the country, and he’s been able to finance his moviemaking hobby in part through the sale of patches, posters and DVDs of his four previous films: “The Monster of Phantom Lake” (2006), “It Came From Another World” (2007), “Cave Women on Mars” (2008) and “Terror from Beneath the Earth” (2009).
He’s even gotten to the point where he’s pleased (but not surprised) to see fans dress up for his premieres — in ball gowns or their own googly monster eyes made of pingpong balls.
But Mihm says he wasn’t prepared for what happened last year when his fan base pitched in to save his latest film, “Destination: Outer Space.”
It all started when one of Mihm’s financial backers had to back out due to recessionary troubles. “It was a job thing,” said Mihm, with a shrug. “It happens.”
But that left “Destination: Outer Space” in a lurch. “I was kind of racking my brain,” says Mihm, “and I kind of concluded that if I couldn’t figure out a way to raise a little money, I’d have to postpone shooting until I could save some up myself.”
But then Mihm, a 33-year-old freelance computer programmer in his grown-up life, put a notice on his website, www.sainteuphoria.com, asking for $50 donations to the project in exchange for future DVDs, tickets to the premiere on May 25 and “associate producer” credits in the film.
“I knew I’d get maybe four people to do it and that would be it,” Mihm says.
To his great surprise, 50 people signed up to be associate producers for “Destination: Outer Space,” giving this black-and-white B-movie an even bigger budget than it was going to have in the first place.
“I was stunned and pretty touched, too,” says Mihm.
Some fans also offered to help produce the film, donating their time to build sets and engineer monsters. One volunteer was Mitch Gonzales, 45, of Maple Grove, who discovered Mihm’s films while surfing online in 2007.
For “Destination: Outer Space,” Gonzales — a project manager for an injection-molding company by day and a B-movie fan by night — built a starfish-inspired monster out of chicken wire and foam latex with a giant bulbous eyeball for a head. He also created a pair of wiggly antennae for an extra, and was even allowed to make a cameo appearance in the film wearing a tall, made-up forehead. “I was thrilled to be allowed to play in the Mihm sandbox, so to speak,” says the father of two.
Fan Rylan Bachman, 31, of Cambridge, Minn., spent long hours hunting for iron-ore rocks along a railroad bed for an asteroid scene in “Destination: Outer Space.”
“I wanted to find some great rocks with nice pits and crevices,” Bachman says.
Mike Obrecht, 34, of Omaha, made a 14-hour round trip to Arden Hills to help build some sets for the film and play a capitalist alien named B’Kee in a crowded bar scene.
Mihm, 33, says that all of his films have relied heavily on family members and even neighborhood kids from around Arden Hills, but “Destination: Outer Space” is the first one created by the “Mihmiverse” — the name he has given to his small but rabid fan base.
As a result, he says, this production has quadruple the number of sets and costumes of any of his previous movies.
“It’s my B-movie version of ‘Star Wars,’ ” Mihm says. 
The reason for all this fan mania is simple, says Sid Korpi, 50, of south Minneapolis, who is such an aficionado of Mihm films that she keeps a man-sized stalagmite in her basement — a souvenir from the set of “Cave Women on Mars.”
“It’s all about Chris,” says Korpi. “When you’re around him, you can’t help but want to get involved in these silly movies. He’s made monsters of all of us.”
Alyssa Ford is a Minneapolis freelance writer.
Goodgriefpetloss's Blog 