A man-machine created in Winnipeg arrives in Toronto and
demonstrates the power of a low budget.
Steve Kostanski was watching 80's VHS tapes in his native
Winnipeg (mostly bad sci-fi and cop movie cheese) when a friend half-challenged
him to make a movie titled Manborg. Four years (and a thousand dollars)
later, the Royal exhibited three special screenings of his lo-fi “labor of
love” and the results are definitely entertaining.
The tongue-in-cheek plot involves the fight between hell and
humankind, with the villains being a mix of zombies, Nazis and vampires. A
soldier is resurrected Robocop-style as a not very eloquent man-machine who is
joined by other freedom-fighters (all archetypes from video games) and a
twisted cast of characters in the battle against hell’s forces. It gets weirder
than that, and all with a good dose of campy humor.
Kostanski, who was present in Toronto for one of the few Manborg screenings in town,
said that his ambitions exceeded his budget, which forced him to be
resourceful. He had his mother, for instance, sew green fabric into green
screens (which were the just a little off the chromakey standard, which adds to
the home-made feel of the movie). Besides co-writing, editing and directing the
feature, Kostanski proved himself to be a deft producer of claymation, computer
graphics, special effects, make-up and DIY costumes. When you have a vision,
money ain’t nothing but a thing.
Bio-Cop, a police
officer who is also a chemical spill, might be the follow-up to Manborg. The trailer itself is already a
fan-favorite. For other screenings of Manborg, click here.
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