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Track the Films You Watch (2010) - Page 10

post #271 of 1166
2/26/10 at 2:47am
Mmmmm. I love a good themed double-feature....

Giant from the Unknown - aka Big Honkin' Conquistador! When a series of grisly murders takes place in a sleepy California mountain town, it's up to two-fisted geologist Wayne Brooks to unravel the mystery, even as the local Sheriff closes in on him, thinking he is the killer. Fortunately for Wayne, an anthropologist happens into town, looking for evidence of a giant Spanish conquistador who once terrorized the local indians. Even more fortunate, the anthropologist has a beautiful daughter. Now if only Wayne can prove that the conquistador has come back to life and is responsible for all the recent mayhem before the Sheriff hauls him off to jail for murder! This movie hits all the expected notes but is very well executed and comes with an excellent pedigree. Legendary western character actor Bob Steel plays the Sheriff and the great Morris Ankrum, known for playing bridageer generals in cheap Sci-fi flicks, plays the anthropologist. This is also the last job by Universal make-up man Jack Pierce and it's very effective. The conquistador looks ferocious, scary and kinda horny all at the same time. Directed by Richard E. Cunha, who made a handful of crazy but imaginative films - Dog Eat Dog, Missle to the Moon and Frankenstein's Daughter, to name a few.
 
The Giant Gila Monster - It takes a kind of genius to film a gila monster running amok on a toy set and then building a movie out of it. Pretty much your typical drag-racin' rock n roll teenagers vs. a giant atomic monster kind of flick, except this movie seems to go out of it's way to paint teenagers as responsible Christian youths who know how to have fun without destroying public property. Our hero, Chase Winstead, is kind of a kiss-ass. He helps the local Sheriff keep the rest of the kids from driving over the speed limit, when he isn't helping a local girl with polio learn to walk again or writing Christian rockabilly tunes for the town DJ, Steamroller Smith. Chase does have a pretty sweet ride though and a hot French girlfriend, but how a hot French girl happened to end up in this little podunk is never explained. Anyway, as the Gila Monster continues on cutting his swath of destruction, it's clear he and Chase are headed for a showdown. One could interpret the monster as representative of Chase's pent up lust for rebelllion and anarchy, I suppose, but it's probably better not to put too much thought in while watching a movie like this. Directed by Ray Kellogg, who, incredibly, went on to make 'The Green Berets'.
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post #272 of 1166
2/26/10 at 4:49am
"Antichrist" -  .5


After the accidental death of their little boy a grieving couple try to come to terms with their loss.
As the mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg) slowly unravels her psychiatrist Husband (Willem Dafoe) decides to make her his patient and tries in vain to get her to come to terms with her loss.

The Husband decides to go and stay a few days at their holiday cabin.
And it is here, in the dark woods, where both of them will face their fear and loss and where things will change forever in a most terrible way......



Lars von Trier has perhaps his highest profile film to date...and proceeds to find it becomes the biggest millstone around his neck as far as many critics (and certainly mainstream press) go and soon hate and derision are flying.

But amazingly he (and the film) seem to have weathered the storm and come through the other side into the calmer waters of virtual acceptance.
This is probably because despite the extreme content and controversial depiction of the female sex "Antichrist" is actually a pretty damn good movie that is exceptionally well crafted and is at the end of the day a serious work.

Is it perfect? No.
There is stuff here that seems like padding and perhaps the film is too obscure and allegorical to fully satisfy as an essay on madness and loss that it could have been.
But that would ultimately not have made it “Antichrist” I suppose. Certainly not Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist”.

Nothing is made explicitly clear in “Antichrist” and soon multiple possibilities for motivation and reason concerning Gainsbourg’s mental state and her past and present actions open up before us.

As such the film is never left unsatisfying as the many theories are all valid, all work for each viewer and all ultimately lead to the film‘s conclusion no matter what, thus we have a movie that never feels like a confused work despite these diversions we are free to take as individuals to reach our ultimate destination.

The extremity here that caused so much fuss and even outright hate from some quarters is actually a very small part of the film and takes a long time to appear and it is a shame that so much of what went before these scenes has been lost in all the hype and vitriol.

What we have is explicit nudity wise for both Dafoe and Gainsbourg and Gainsbourg has a strong, frenzied, masturbation scene.

Violence wise it has it’s tough moments but really it’s more the idea of what is happening than what we truly see.
Gore is kept at a minimum but it is the truly infamous scene near the end that repels but impresses with it‘s uncompromising audaciousness.
The effects are also very well done from a technical perspective which is essential in selling such moments and keeping the audience in the movie.

But amazingly none of this tough gore and violence ever seem gratuitous.
Even the most infamous scene never comes across as just there to shock. It does shock, but it does it in context and it does it in a serious, defined, justified way.

The film looks stunning (there are some truly amazing and powerful images here), is well scored, is extremely well acted, well directed and is ultimately a work to be taken very seriously.

Perhaps Lars’ self -indulgence and need to be just that bit too obscure smother some parts of the basic, effective drama that comes from such worrying, heartbreaking, events, but ultimately I was impressed and moved by “Antichrist”.

As such this tough, multi-layered, work comes highly recommended.
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post #273 of 1166
2/26/10 at 11:59am

Recent viewings (briefly)

 The Fifth Element (1997)

Even after 13 years this looks and sounds great. The colours and the general look of the film is especially nice on bluray. Bruce Willis is the standout here. The most annoying character oscar goes to Jar Jar Blinks ahem I mean Ruby Rhod. He was worse than nails on a chalk board at least for me.

All This, and Heaven Too (1940) 

I believe I reviewed this film last year so I won't do it here. This is just one of a long list of favourites from Bette Davis.

Grindstone Road (2008)  


Another mediocre creepy haunted house movie. What could have been a fairly good horror movie was sabotaged by terrible script, bad directing and mediocre acting.

The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Dakota Fanning gives another one of many good performances in her young career. Young Lily is haunted by the death of her mother caused by the four year old Lily. She has an emotional abusive relationship with her father and one day decides to runaway from home to search for her mother's roots. She is taken in my a kindly family who teach her the secrets of beekeeping and honey production. Taking place in 1964 this movie has alot to say about civil rights and the struggles of black people during this period of time. This movie has some wonderful performances especially from Sophie Okonedo as the emotionally fragile May one of the Boatwright sisters and Queen Latifah as August Boatwright whose compassionate treatment of Lily is at the heart of this story.
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Law-Abiding Citizen (2009)

Atypical revenge movie better than some but with an unsatifactory ending that lowered this movie for me. Both Gerald Butler and Jamie Foxx put in good performances here.


The Visitor (2007)

Another great film by the direction of the wonderful Station Agent, Thomas McCarthy. The movie is about a professor, Walter Vale played by Richard Jenkins who recently lost his concert pianist wife and is at a lost of what to do. He is drafted by his department to present a paper to a symposium in New York and decides to stay in his apartment only to find a young couple living there. They are quick to leave but he decides to allow the young couple to stay until they can obtain accomodations elsewhere. Walter quickly becomes embroiled in the young couple lives especially in Tarik a young drummer who plays in a band and on the streets. This is quite a rich story with incredible performances from most everyone involved especially Hiam Abbass as Tarik's mother a character introduced midway through the story. If you like quite gentle dramas this movie is a must see.

Amelia (2009)

A very shallow, sketchy movie about the life of Amelia Earhart certainly one of the most fascinating characters in aviation history. I expected alot more here especially with such interesting material. 
 
Gamer (2009) no stars

My husband rented this thinking I would enjoy it due to the similarity to the Running Man. He enjoyed it and I hated it. I actually found it quite vile and offensive, not just simply bad. Enough said.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 

I already reviewed this one before as well. This still remains my favourite Star Trek movie to date. Even though I've tolerated some of the other movies and Star Trek series, I grew up with these actors and characters and for me they remain the best. Nothing is better than Ricardo Montalban rivaling William Shatner in the overacting category.  A true Star Trek classic that stands up well even today. 

 

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post #274 of 1166
2/26/10 at 12:28pm
 Without spoiling too much Pat...What was wrong with the end of "L A Citizen"?

Was it too harsh on Butler, not harsh enough?  Was there a silly twist?
Thanks....as I was thinking of getting it as I like revenge flicks...but i also like revenge flicks that satisfy as far as the revenge goes.




"Orphan" - .5

First off my problems with this.

I can't see why they even need to adopt a THIRD child so badly.

The Mother says she has love to spare...well give it to your 2 other, actual, children then!!! *sheesh*

The parents clearly had a dubious past (Mother especially as far as child safety and booze went) and still had marriage issues...plus two of their own kids anyway...would they have been deemed suitable for adoption?

Would the young deaf daughter STILL not say anything even after she has already gone against Esther...had decided to warn her parents when she noticed Esther had vanished in the hospital...and had now seen that her Mother believed what she already knew to be true anyway and had even attacked Esther publically. I don't buy the fact she would still have stayed stay quiet at this point.

All this really kind of annoyed and frustrated.

BUT...... It has to be said that this film featured some damn fine moments, a truly superb turn by the young Isabelle Fuhrman that impresses on every level, some really nasty and bloody (if only occasional) violence, some well handled action (although perhaps the old cliche of the 'keeps on coming' psycho seemed old fashioned) and a damn fine twist that actually improved on the film and made everything that had gone before work better.

This reveal at first seemed like a cheat...until the very subtle and extremely well done make-up came into play and amazingly sold it all as at the same time Isabelle Fuhrman skilfully tops even what has come before as far as her uncompromising, terrifying, performance goes.

Great ending scene as well.
And in a rare case the alternative ending also works just as well (and is far more unsettling) in a different way.

Has some big frustrations and some hard to swallow contrivances but "Orphan" still manages to be a genuinely tough watch in places (it was damn hard to see the cute as a button little deaf child go through all these things and the opening sequence is really horrible), is very well made and features one of horror cinema's most impressive performances ever.
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post #275 of 1166
2/26/10 at 9:55pm
The God of Cookery - Stephen Chow is a pompous arrogant master chef who gets hoisted by his own petard when he is betrayed by a competitor and loses everything. Luckily he is taken in by Sister Turkey, the matriarch of a mad group of street vendors, who helps him rediscover his love of cooking as he tries to regain his former status. I've never been a big fan of Asian comedy - too broad, too silly, too many poop and pee jokes, but then I discovered Stephen Chow and all that changed. He's definitely a first class goofball, but he has a keen eye for the foibles of Chinese life and culture and even though his humor is distinctly Chinese, it still has a universal quality to it. This early parody of Iron Chef is a bit hit or miss but you can already see him developing a lot of the ideas that would come to full fruit in 'Kung Fu Hustle', and it's genuinely fun in it's own right. He even manages to squeeze in a jab at Shaw Brothers Shaolin Monk movies that is just hilarious. I would love to see a US release of this with a more coherent/consistent translation.

Godzilla: Final Wars - I must confess, I have not kept up to speed with the more recent Godzilla movies. I grew up with the classic sixties flicks and then lost interest in the kids movies of the 70's, so I was a bit trepidatious about this latest reboot of the series. I have to say though that I was pleasantly suprised by this. Basically, it plays like a souped up Saturday morning kids show, albiet one that was dreamed up by a hyper-active 8 year old after about 6 bowls of Cocoa Pebbles. I'm not sure where to begin to describe this - a bunch of human mutants have formed an earth protection force to battle all of the atomic monsters, but when an evil alien race invades the earth and uses the monsters to lay waste to all mankind, the earth protection force has no choice but to unleash the baddest monster of them all, Gojira, to hopefully help save what's left. References to other movies fly thick and fast, particularly to The Matrix - the hero even looks like a Japanese Keanu Reeves and I'm sure it's no accident. As far as the monsters go, everyone shows up here and they've all had facelifts. Mothra looks particularly good, as does the special suprise guest at the end, which thrilled me no end. American Godzilla even shows up and gets his ass kicked in a nice bit of Tohoscope snarkiness. Think of this as a kind of live action anime and just go with the flow.
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post #276 of 1166
2/26/10 at 11:01pm
Thread Starter 

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER is one of my all-time favs in terms of "B" movies. 

ORPHAN was one that I really enjoyed and found it to be quite shocking in terms of how much balls it had more a movie today. 


Rosemary's Baby (1968)
 

Roman Polanski
 

Polanski's eerie and disturbing film about a couple (Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes) who move into a new apartment complex and think their lives are about to take off.  Soon the wife finds herself pregnant but fears start to slip in that her eccentric neighbors might be trying to do her and the baby harm.  She finds out that they could be part of a coven of witches and that they might just be needing the baby for evil deeds.  I'm not one who thinks this is a flawless movie as I do have a couple issues with Polanski's screenplay but there's no question that the film contains a certain cold atmosphere and some great performances that make it worth viewing.  I think the real key to the film's success is the direction by Polanski because he perfectly blends all the elements and really makes a complete film.  I love how the movie starts off with this sweet and innocent nature as if you were watching the happiest film in the world.  These calm moments are handled perfectly by the director and he also manages to direct the darker scenes just as masterfully.  The dream sequences are brilliantly done and some of them are extremely disturbing to watch.  Polanski also handles the smaller, personal drama well and one of the best scenes in the movie happens when Rosemary is in the phone booth trying to find someone to help her.  The way Polanski directs this sequence is flawless and Farrow really hits it out of the park and delivers the paranoia that the movie needs.  Farrow is simply magnificent in her role as she nails every emotion that she has to play.  I really found her chilling in her paranoia that someone is possibly trying to kill her kid.  Cassavetes is also excellent even though I think one of the screenplay's major faults is how his character falls in with this group out of no where and the fact that his character comes off as a creepy from scene one.  Supporting players Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Bellamy, Maurice Evans and Patsy Kelly are extremely good as well.  The disturbing nature of a child being harmed is something that has been attempted in many movies both before and after this one but the creepiness that Polanski brings to the subject is something that hasn't been matched.  I've never really cared for the decision of Rosemary at the end of the movie but Polanski's direction through this scene makes one understand what he was going for and what he was trying. 
 

Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976) BOMB
 

Sam O'Steen
 

It's funny to think that one of the most popular films ever made has a sequel yet very few know about it and even lesser actually remember it.  I'm really not sure what type of drugs were being passed around at Paramount when this film got the green light but let's hope those taking eventually recovered.  The now adult Adrian (Stephen McHattie) is having growing pains as he keeps getting the urges to do evil things.  Little does he know the truth behind his birth but soon his real dad, Satan of course, is getting ready to give him full control of his powers.  This made-for-TV flick is bad, really bad but I guess that happens when you have Patty Duke taking over for Mia Farrow.  This film has very little real connections to Polanski's classic so it's really unfair to compare the two as both films were obviously created for different reasons.  Even when you don't compare this thing to the Polanski movie you're still left with something truly horrid and I still can't believe they even attempted something like this, although I'm going to guess THE OMEN being a big hit helped push this movie along.  We have Ruth Gordon back in her role from the previous movie but Ray Milland takes over as her husband and we even have Broderick Crawford in a small role.  It's a shame so many talented people put their name on this thing but I guess we can't blame them too much for trying to make a living.  Director O'Steen, who edited the original movie, really doesn't have too much to work with as the screenplay offers up on bad scene after another and the level of dumbness just grows worse and worse as the movie goes along.  The entire idea of this guy being split to do good or evil is nothing original and the way it plays out here is just extremely lame and boring.  Within fifteen-minutes I started to grow tired and the bad pacing didn't help but next eighty-minutes.  The screenplay follows one cliche after another and one really has to ask what any of it was suppose to mean.  The film changes small items that were put in place by the first film but the entire third act is just mind-blowingly stupid.  The performances really aren't anything better as both Gordon and Milland seem bored out of their minds and McHattie just has nothing in the lead.  Even worse is Duke who really stinks up the scenes she's in as she overacts something terrible.  This film has slipped into obscurity and I'm sure it will never be rescued from it, which is understandable.  I would like to hear or read something as to what the producer's were thinking when they made this thing but I'm sure everyone connected to this thing would rather just pretend it never happened. 

48 Hours of Hallucinatory Sex (1987)
 

Jose Mojica Marins
 

Director Jose Mojica Marins is best known for his Coffin Joe horror films and what made them so special was the fact that they were so different, so strange and at times jaw-dropping in how far out they could go.  Marins, like Jess Franco and Joe D'Amato, would even enter the porn genre, which this film here is as it's a sequel to his 1985 film 24 HOURS OF EXPLICIT SEX (which is his biggest hit in Brazil).  In this film, a nutty woman sees the previous film and wants Marins (playing himself) to make a sequel only this time it is to take place over a two day period.  The orgy begins and soon Marins comes to realize that this nutty woman has a thing for farm animals.  The fact that this is a porn film is going to turn most people off but this ugly duckling from Marins career is rather unique just like his Coffin Joe movies just because of how weird it is.  I don't think there's a single second in this movie that's meant to be erotic because Marins is clearly just trying to show the sex scenes in the most bizarre ways possible.  The "Hallucinatory" aspect of the title doesn't really happen here but the movie has enough strange camera shots, story lines and "comedy" that one can't help but to keep on watching.  I had to view the film in Portuguese without subtitles so I didn't catch any of the dialogue but I'd love to see a subtitled version just to hear what was being said about the farm animal fetish.  Thankfully there's never any sex between the woman and the beasts (unlike certain other directors) but the gag they pull on her is pretty funny in its own sick way.  We also have a gay man being a judge over the orgy and an even stranger gag of waving a flag after a couple "completes" their situation.  The scenes scenes, again, are never erotic and for the most part they're unattractive but the way Marins films all of this is rather unique and it makes the film a lot more original that any other director could have done. 
 

Cuadecuc, vampir (1970)
 

Pere Portabella
 

Extremely well-made avant-garde documentary is an experiment done at its very best.  Director Portabella got onto the set of Jess Franco's 1970 film COUNT DRACULA and filmed the majority of what he saw and turned it into this unique, behind the scenes look at the film.  This isn't your typical documentary because the movie is silent for the majority of the running time and we never learn anything about the film being made.  What this film is is a bunch of bizarre images set to some even more bizarre music and one doesn't need to be familiar with the Franco film to really enjoy what we have here.  I think what makes this work so well is the fact that it has a lot more to do with the German Expressionism films from the 1920s.  While watching the movie I couldn't help but think of films like NOSFERATU and THE GOLEM and had this thing seemed so close to them in terms of nature, mood and atmosphere.  Those familiar with the Franco film are going to notice all the scenes here but they're shot differently here and they also have this wonderful look to go with them.  One could debate how well Franco did with the novel but this movie here really becomes a bizarre, alternate version of the film.  Another major plus is that we do get to see some of the actors outside their characters and this includes a couple good shots of Soledad Miranda who would die not too long after this movie was released.  Apparently this is the only known footage of Miranda being herself that was captured on film.  We also get to see Lee clowning around a little as he jumps towards the camera to attack it before getting ready for his shot inside the coffin.  Herbert Lom and Jack Taylor are also seen in a few shots and we get one of Franco actually directing.  The film runs 67-minutes and the only dialogue comes at the very end when Lee reads the death of Dracula to use from the novel.  Before this is a fun sequence of him getting out of his costume and having to remove his teeth and a few other items.  Portabella certainly has a great eye for style and atmosphere as this film is very impressive even in its short state.  The movie hasn't ever seen a legit release as the director thought the movie too good to be included as an extra when the Franco film was released to DVD, which is a shame as it would be nice for more people to be able to see this work.  Fans of the strange should certainly try to track this down as its certainly unique in its own way.
 

Sexo sangriento (1981)
 

Manuel Esteba
 

Spanish giallo is a rare title that has gained a rather notorious reputation over the years for its graphic sex and violence but what's actually here isn't too naughty.  In the film, a woman takes her lesbian lover and best friend on a trip where they end up staying at a creepy home ran by a weird woman and her even weirder son.  Soon the murders begin.  I was really impressed with this film but not for the reasons I was expecting.  I went into this movie expecting something extremely sleazy and dirty and while there are some kinky moments these aren't the only thing going for the film.  What impressed me the most was the dark atmosphere created by director Esteba and this here is what really stands out.  I thought the director did a very good job at building up this atmosphere and the settings perfectly fit in with this as did the music score (taken from various CAM catalogue titles).  This film is pretty hard to see and I think its rareness has caused its reputation to get a lot more credit for being violent.  The film's violence is in a sexual term as the killer likes to stab women in the crotch during sex but this here is done in a non-graphic style as we really only see the stabbing and then some minor blood.  The sex scenes on the other hand are a bit more graphic but they're also extremely erotic, which is a major plus.  It certainly doesn't hurt that the lead actress and her lesbian lover and very hot but the sex scenes don't leave anything to the imagination even though they never enter the hardcore level.  Performances are about on the mark for a film like this and the better than average direction really keeps everything moving at a nice pace.  To date there's never been any English subtitled or dubbed release so I'm sure I missed some information for the Spanish dialogue but it's still an impressive little film.
 

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post #277 of 1166
2/27/10 at 1:13am
48 Hours of Hallucinatory Sex! What a great title!

I have to say though, those Coffin Joe movies are CREEPY. That Marins guy was just a little too 'into' what he was doing, like Coffin Joe had a healthly life offscreen as well as on. Talk about total commitment.
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post #278 of 1166
2/27/10 at 7:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 42nd Street Freak View Post

 Without spoiling too much Pat...What was wrong with the end of "L A Citizen"?

Was it too harsh on Butler, not harsh enough?  Was there a silly twist?
Thanks....as I was thinking of getting it as I like revenge flicks...but i also like revenge flicks that satisfy as far as the revenge goes.

"Orphan" - .5
Would the young deaf daughter STILL not say anything even after she has already This reveal at first seemed like a cheat...until the very subtle and extremely well done make-up came into play and amazingly sold it all as at the same time Isabelle Fuhrman skilfully tops even what has come before as far as her uncompromising, terrifying, performance goes.

 

Loved Orphan and was totally shocked with the big reveal. That young girl did an amazing job with that role.

As far as Law Abiding Citizen goes rent it, you won't be disappointed. It's hard for me to discuss why I did't like the ending without spoiling too much. Let me just say that despite the killings, I became really involved in this character. He's a brilliant strategist and well..... I'll let you just see the movie. Good performances in this.
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post #279 of 1166
2/27/10 at 8:50am
14 Hours – Wow – I’ve been watching so many different movies lately, I actually forgot about one! This entire film pretty much takes place on the ledge of a very tall building where an agitated Richard Basehart considers taking the big plunge and good guy cop Paul Douglas tries to talk him out of it. I assume that this is where the whole idea for this oft-repeated premise comes from and it’s a pretty engrossing drama, thanks largely to the acting. Basehart has some seriously jangled nerves and the way he paces and bounces around and leans over the ledge is truly unnerving. This is the second film, I think where I’ve seen Paul Douglas as a lead, the first being the much beloved (by me) ‘Clash by Night’, and I must say he is a hell of an actor. He really manages to give the good natured big guy stereotype some serious depth and doesn’t shy away from showing his dark side. In one great scene, he blows his stack and lashes out at the jumper for being an inconsiderate little bastard – not exactly page one of the negotiators manual. Fox has classified this as part of their ‘Film Noir’ collection and I don’t think it really qualifies, but it’s a gripping little melodrama in its own right.
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post #280 of 1166
2/27/10 at 8:51am
Quote:
Rosemary's Baby (1968)

 
 Ah, that movie brings back so many memories. Read the book as a young pre-teen and I fortunately was able to sneak in to see the movie without anyone realizing how old I was. Great movie. Never saw the sequel and I guess that was fortunate.
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post #281 of 1166
2/27/10 at 11:15am
02/22/10: TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (Massimo Pupillo, 1965)
 
With my viewing of this film, I am left with just one of Barbara Steele’s Italian Gothic Horror vehicles i.e. THE SHE-BEAST (1966), actually helmed by cult British director Michael Reeves. As for Massimo Pupillo, he made three such efforts back-to-back, all released in the same year: this being the first (though, apparently, he was dissatisfied with the final result and allowed the film’s producer – American Ralph Zucker – to take credit for it!), the second the notorious THE BLOODY PIT OF HORROR (which I watched not too long ago) and the last was THE VENGEANCE OF LADY MORGAN (to be checked out presently). To get back to its star, this is among her lesser titles: actually, she does not even feature all that much in it (though I understand the British actress only did a day’s work on THE SHE-BEAST!). Still, the film – inspired by an unidentified Edgar Allan Poe story (more likely, it is a fusion of several) – exudes plenty of typical atmosphere (again, accentuated by the fuzzy 16mm print which however also reveals a few audio glitches). The plot – by the way, the original moniker translates to FIVE GRAVES FOR A MEDIUM – involves (as had been the case with the recently-viewed THE UNNATURALS [1969], with which it also shares character actor Luciano Pigozzi) a deceased occultist’s revenge upon his six [sic] murderers on the anniversary of the event; the titular zombies, then, are plague victims who rise up from the dead to exact this reckoning (only we never get to see them since the climactic onslaught is done via P.O.V. shots). Steele was the man’s second wife but she is cheating on him with a friend (Riccardo Garrone); the latter is a lawyer summoned to the estate but, being away on business, his associate turns up instead and conveniently ends up falling for Steele’s step-daughter (whom she obviously begrudges): of course, the younger couple emerge the only survivors – thanks to a cleansing downpour – in the contrived and abrupt finale. Like ATOM AGE VAMPIRE (1960; which I watched a day earlier), this is no genre classic but, for true aficionados of Horror, proves an irresistible treat nonetheless.  
 
 
02/22/10: ZOMBIELAND (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)  
 
As I have often said, I am not too fond of the zombie genre (at least the flesh-eating variety), so I was not exactly looking forward to this one; however, knowing it had a strong sense of humor (zombies are lured out into the open by the strumming of "Dueling Banjos"!), I was willing to make one more trip to the well. In fact, once one gets over the initial “do we really need another zombie spoof?” feeling – especially keeping in mind the satirical elements in George A. Romero’s vastly overrated original DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and, obviously, the equally ultra-hyped SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004; which was voted “best comedy of the decade” for cryin’ out loud by the British magazine “Empire”!) – ZOMBIELAND proves quite enjoyable most of the way. The film’s second trump card is the (obviously human) characterization, not a typical asset in this sort of gory fare: here, in fact, we have two guys (geeky kid and gung-ho modern cowboy – the latter played by Woody Harrelson) and two girls (the younger being LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE [2006]’s Abigail Breslin) against the rest of the world, infected with some virus (as always) and thus appropriately dubbed “Zombieland”. Despite its trim running time, the majority of the action occurs during the opening and concluding sections (with the creatures a blood-vomiting and often obese lot, one is actually thankful for it!); that said, the highlight is perhaps the hysterical scene at Bill Murray’s estate (with the “Ghostbusters” star appearing as himself and even becoming an unfortunate victim of the paranoia that understandably grips the normal segment of humanity). The remainder, as already intimated. is devoted to the budding relationship within the group – Harrelson takes on the kid against his better judgment but, then, both are repeatedly double-crossed by the girls (who had made a pact not to trust anyone); of course, at the end, they are happy to join forces and the teens even become romantically involved. New-hand director Fleischer brings plenty of style to the table and generally succeeds in breathing new life (no pun intended) into a by-now exhausted formula; by the way, who would have thought I would ever be hearing an all-too brief snippet of “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” by my beloved The Velvet Underground on the soundtrack of a zombie movie? Needless to say perhaps but a sequel to this one is already in the works…  
 
 
02/23/10: THE BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE (Alfredo Rizzo, 1975)
 
A particularly maligned example of Italian cult cinema with a nonsensical title to boot (if anything, the alternate THE MARK OF SATAN is even less relevant to the plot!), this hybrid of Gothic Horror and Giallo (with a strong dose of Erotica) only contrives a flat sort of atmosphere throughout – actually matched by handling which is downright dreadful! Here, we get the usual group of people (an acting troupe) stranded on an island (to which they were invited by a Count – since he had become enamored of the leading lady, a dead-ringer for his missing spouse)! The characters are pretty much stereotypes: middle-aged but dashing hero (played by Giacomo Rossi-Stuart and whose family history bears more than its share of violent tragedy), demure heroine, sluttish companion (recalling Mae West and emerging the most annoying of the lot!), a meek but devoted stage manager (forever chided by one and all for his unmanly behavior!), a couple of lesbians, a mysterious gardener (the ubiquitous Luciano Pigozzi who, for once, gets in on the action, if you know what I mean), an envious housekeeper (nominal star Femi Benussi though, for what it is worth, this is really an ensemble piece), a religious fanatic of a butler, an impressionable chambermaid, etc. While the film is not by any means unwatchable, the atrocious dubbing, snail’s pace, shoddy production (with the scenes depicting the raging sea lifted from some black-and-white film!) and the fact that the murders only occur within the concluding half-hour do not help matters.  Besides, Marcello Giombini’s score, though pleasant in itself, comes off as incongruously modern under the circumstances; that said, the revelation proves a surprisingly elaborate one (considering there is surely no shortage of suspects here).
 
 
02/24/10: THE VENGEANCE OF LADY MORGAN (Massimo Pupillo, 1965)  
 
I first became aware of this rare example of Gothic Horror all’ Italiana last Summer, via a late-night program dealing with Italian genre cinema in which Erika Blanc and Rosalba Neri were the guests of honor; in fact, the poor-quality copy I acquired was culled from a probably 30-year old TV broadcast on some obscure Sicilian channel! To be honest, I found the film’s initial half to be merely average – but it was considerably redeemed by the latter stages (depicting the titular event), which were quite splendid. Interestingly, the premise of a group of schemers after an innocent young girl’s legacy would see ample service within the giallo genre a few years on; with this in mind, the trio of villains (Paul Muller, Erika Blanc and Gordon Mitchell) are more interesting than the romantic leads (though, in all fairness, the male protagonist spends much of the running-time in a foreign country as a bed-ridden amnesiac!). In fact, not too long after he is pushed overboard during an ocean voyage, the heroine accepts the seemingly devoted Muller’s proposal of marriage but, later still, is hypnotized(!) by sinister housekeeper Blanc into throwing herself off the family castle’s walls; meanwhile, brawny groom Mitchell has imprisoned the girl’s uncle in the dungeons below. Soon, however, the tables are turned as not only does the hero recover but, when he finally turns up at the estate, is met by the ghost of his loved one who brings him up to date. The couple then proceed to disrupt the villains’ premature triumph – this is done via numerous tricks (a few of them supernatural) intended to bewilder but also cause dissent within the group. One unexpected touch towards the end sees the lot (who all turn up dead eventually) being able to materialize upon drinking the blood of the living i.e. the heroine’s poor chained uncle! Despite the general low-key nature of THE VENGEANCE OF LADY MORGAN, it proves a surprisingly satisfactory entry within a prolific yet most popular genre.
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post #282 of 1166
2/27/10 at 7:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Holer View Post

48 Hours of Hallucinatory Sex! What a great title!

I have to say though, those Coffin Joe movies are CREEPY. That Marins guy was just a little too 'into' what he was doing, like Coffin Joe had a healthly life offscreen as well as on. Talk about total commitment.

I was rather late getting to Marins movies but I must admit that I enjoy them for how strange they are.  I found it pretty funny to know that his porn film turned out to be his only real hit in Brazil. 


Quote:
Originally Posted by PatW View Post


 Ah, that movie brings back so many memories. Read the book as a young pre-teen and I fortunately was able to sneak in to see the movie without anyone realizing how old I was. Great movie. Never saw the sequel and I guess that was fortunate.

 

I didn't care too much for it when I was younger but it's certainly grown on me as an adult.  I think the screenplay had a few issues that bothered me but it's easy to see why Polanski was the hot item of Hollywood after the film was released.  I'm somewhat shocked a remake hasn't happened yet. 


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mario Gauci View Post

02/22/10: TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (Massimo Pupillo, 1965)
 


I keep putting off watching this but after reading your review I might put it towards the top of my Euro pile. 




Three Blind Mice (1938)
 

William A. Seiter
 

Slight and predictable romantic comedy about three sisters (Loretta Young, Marjorie Weaver, Pauline Moore) who inherit a small amount of money and head off to the big city to try and land rich husbands.  Young believes in marrying for money and she gets her pick between a couple men (Joel McCrea, David Niven), although there might be some confusion about which one actually has all the money.  Storywise there's really nothing too original here but the attractive cast makes it worth seeing even if you know every twist that the story is going to take.  I think the film's biggest fault is that Niven's character is the one you like the most and Young's the one you like the least.  This causes some problems because you really start to dislike Young as the screenplay allows her to do some rather ugly things and we really don't like to see them happening to Niven since he's the one we actually do care for.  This was an issue I had throughout the film but towards the end the screenplay gets some sympathy thrown to Young that makes everything come together in the (predictable) end.  The main reason to watch this film are for the performances, which are all pretty good.  As usual, Young manages to be very charming as she has no problem pulling off her role and she has some great chemistry with her two leads.  Both McCrea and Niven are extremely good as both men deliver a lot of great lines and the comic banter between them is very funny.  Their comic timing is good enough to where they probably would have made for a good comic team.  Moore also really caught my attention just for the amount of charm and cuteness that she brought to her role.  The rest of the supporting players fill out their roles just fine.  In the end, this here certainly isn't anything ground breaking and it's not going to end up on anyones greatest all-time list but if you're a fan of the three stars then it's pretty much a must see. 

Baghead (2008)
 

Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
 

Bizarre mixture of comedy and horror via THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT style as four wannabe filmmakers go to a cabin in the woods where they plan on writing a screenplay that will get them into Hollywood.  They decide to write a story about four people in a cabin being stalked by a psycho with a bag on his head and sure enough a real psycho with a bag on his head shows up.  This film is a real mixed bag because there were elements that I liked and elements that I didn't but when the film was over I felt rather letdown by everything that had happened.  I think the film started out pretty good as we get some fun dialogue dealing with four young people wanting to break into the movies but the second half of the film is when things don't go as well.  We've had several movies where our "actors" go out to do something simple and then end up having to deal with the real thing.  Bob Clark's CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS come to mind and of course THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT somewhat hit on this idea.  The problem here is that the horror elements are extremely weak and they're never scary nor do any of them come at us as being real.  The movie really seems confused as to what it wants to be because there's a lot of stuff dealing with Hollywood, some stuff dealing with relationships and then we get the horror stuff, which seems to come and go without any rhyme or reason.  As one would expect, there's a twist towards the end that somewhat works but it's not as shocking as I'm sure the filmmakers wanted it to be.  Performances aren't too bad for this type of film and the direction shows some nice touches throughout.  While this film isn't a complete success or failure, it might be of interest to those who enjoy shoe string budgeted horror films.
 

Miss Mend (1926)
 

Fyodor Otsep, Boris Barnet
 

Russian serial lasting over four-hours was originally released in three parts but for the current DVD release it's presented as one long film.  Office girl Vivian Mend (Natalya Glan) and three men fixated with her try to stop a mad scientist from spreading poison gas and killing everyone around.  Considering this film runs over four hours that seems like a pretty short plot summery but that's about it in terms of story but there's plenty of action here.  Apparently the directors were tired of "high class" films from Russia so they decided to spoof the various American and German movies that were being shown in the country.  The best way to describe this film would be a mixture of the epics Lang was making in Germany with a bit of Chaplin and Keaton from America.  I think there are a few very funny areas where the Russian directors are trying to "show" America as it was but come off horribly wrong.  I'm sure there was nothing mean spirited behind this but it does add a few nice laughs to everything.  The main reason to watch this epic are for the various stunts as it's clear the directors tried to throw just about everything they could think of into the film.  There are chases via cars, boats and trains.  There are fights with guns, bottles, chairs and various other items.  We have car crashes, trains crashing into cars and of course the gas that can kill in a matter of seconds.  Is the film fun?  Sure, the thing has so many weird images and wild stunts that you can't help but find it fun.  At the same time, I'm really not sure it needed to run over four hours.  I think the running time is going to keep most people away, which is understandable but if you feel you can sit in one place for this long then MISS MEND is a pretty fascinating film. 

Hollywood Revue of 1929, The (1929)
 

Charles Reisner
 

Film buffs might eat up the chance at seeing some of MGM's biggest stars but even lovers of cinema will have a hard time taking this film in one long (116-minutes) dose.  What we basically have here is a major studio wanting to show off their major talent and in some cases having this major talent look extremely bad by doing stuff we normally wouldn't expect to see them doing.  Case in point, Joan Crawford who has to sing and let's just be kind and say that this wasn't her calling in life or at least one the day this scene was filmed.  Jack Benny, John Gilbert, Conrad Nagel, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Bessie Love, Marion Davies, Marie Dressler, Norma Shearer and Lionel Barrymore are among the A-list talent that show up here and the end results are mixed at best.  A prime example of this would be Gilbert and Shearer doing a scene from Romeo and Juliet, which is followed by them talking and having fun "out of character" when Barrymore comes up to them with a few comments.  On one hand, the acting in the R&J scene is pretty bad as neither actor appears to be taking it too seriously.  The "out of character" stuff is mildly entertaining but what really makes this scene special is the fact that it was shot in 2-strip Technicolor.  Most of the vaudeville like acts are poorly directed and executed and this includes the Laurel and Hardy bit, which comes off pretty badly without a single laugh to be found.  The majority of the stars just show up for brief bits and none of them are all that memorable unless they're of the embarrassing kid (like Crawford).  The biggest problem is that the film has a very slow pacing and it doesn't help that the thing runs nearly two hours and apparently it was even longer but many of these segments are now lost.  So, on one hand it's rather nice seeing all of these legends but one can only wish that the film was better than it is.  It's very hard to get through the entire thing and in the end this here is certainly for film buffs only.
 

Merry Widow, The (1934)
 

Ernst Lubitsch
 

MGM remake of their 1925 film about a small country who needs their biggest tax-payer, the widow Madame Sonia (Jeanette MacDonald) to return so the King (George Barbier) and Queen (Una Merkel) decide to have a playboy (Maurice Chevalier) try to prevent her from marrying anyone else and taking her money with her.  Based on the famous opera, this has very little to do with the 1925 version and outside of the source material, the two films have very little in common.  Whereas the 1925 version was rather dark and dramatic, this one here, with Lubitsch behind the camera, is all music, charm and comedy.  I can't say that I was really bowled over by this film and I never really got caught up in the story but it was pleasant enough for a single viewing.  I think what really keeps this film moving as much as it does is the style that Lubitsch brings to the project.  There were several sequences where the comedy would go off the normal path and deliver something more over the top and these moments were certainly the most memorable.  One example would be when Chevalier gets into a slapping match and when the two start hugging, the hugs are so fast and over the top that you can't help but smile.  Another sequence deals with three people sitting in a room trying to pretend to be friendly by making up some fake dialogue to fool those who might be listening in.  MacDonald is pretty good in her role even though I didn't care too much for her singing.  Chevalier fits his part perfectly and the two have some nice chemistry even if they apparently hated working with one another.  The set design is another major plus as is the cinematography.  I do wish the story itself had grabbed me a bit more but it's still a pleasant little gem. 

Merry Widow, The (1952)
 

Curtis Bernhardt
 

MGM's third attempt at the famous operetta by Franz Lehar probably has the biggest budget but it's lacking quite a bit from the much better 1925 and 1934 versions.  This time out a wealthy widow (Lana Turner) is brought to a small country where the government there hopes she will spend her time and money.  They hire the good looking Count Danilo (Fernando Lamas) to try and win her over.  There's quite a bit to admire in this film but in the end it really left me bored, unattached and rather disappointed.  It's very clear from the opening shot that MGM gave director Bernhardt a pretty big budget as the Technicolor really jumps off the screen as does the art direction and set design.  Everything visually is striking here as the color really adds an entire dimension to the film and it really helps put you in this era and time.  The sets are also quite lavish as we get some really amazing looking ballrooms and other settings that almost make this film worth watching.  The costumes are another major plus as it really does seem like it took weeks just to place the extras in order so that the colors of their costumes would just bleed together and be perfectly captured by the cameras.  If you just want some great looking eye candy then this film is a must see but the rest of the movie left me wanting a lot more.  For starters, I found both Turner and Lamas to be very bland and boring in their roles and I didn't feel a single spark between them.  I know Turner was going through some major issues at this point of her life so perhaps this took something away from her but I didn't find anything she did here to be very entertaining.  Lamas certainly had the right look for the role but I never really cared for anything he was saying or doing.  Una Merkel, a member of the 1934 version, has a few good moments here but not enough to save the film.
 

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post #283 of 1166
2/27/10 at 8:08pm
Results of a Blu-ray sale at the local Fry's...

Casablanca - I definitely haven't got the wit or wherewithall to try and make any keen observations about this movie, but after having recieved a serious DVD education in Film Noir, I appreciate it more than I ever have. It really is a nearly perfect example of Warner's film making in the 1940's. Most important of all though is the Blu-Ray transfer. I've only see a small handful of BW films given the High Def treatment, but the results are just breathtaking. The use of light and shadow, soft focus and depth of field both as a compositional tool and as a story telling technique - they all give such vivid life to a movie. Seeing all of this in high definition is just amazing, like watching the film for the first time, and I sincerely hope that Warners deigns to give other classic films a similar treatment in the future.

An American in Paris - As above, so below. I'm not as big a fan of musicals as I am of 40's Noir but I must say, the surrealist aspect of MGM musicals really pops in high definition. The medium seems to have been made for films like this. The intricate, hyper-real sets match beautifully with the Gershwins moody, dramatic music, and Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron have real chemistrty as dance partners. Again, all that needs to be said has been said, and you either like these movies or you don't. If you do though, the Blu Ray transfers are tremendous. It really is a great time to be a movie fan.
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post #284 of 1166
2/27/10 at 10:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Holer View Post

Casablanca -  Most important of all though is the Blu-Ray transfer. I've only see a small handful of BW films given the High Def treatment, but the results are just breathtaking. The use of light and shadow, soft focus and depth of field both as a compositional tool and as a story telling technique - they all give such vivid life to a movie. Seeing all of this in high definition is just amazing, like watching the film for the first time, and I sincerely hope that Warners deigns to give other classic films a similar treatment in the future.

 

So I gather it's worth an upgrade. I'm careful about upgrading my older classics that come to blue but the Wizard of Oz was so outstanding I'm looking foward to upgrading my Casablanca.
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post #285 of 1166
2/27/10 at 11:28pm
 
Mike,
 
 
I look forward to reading your own comments on TERROR-CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (1965); actually, I had acquired in last year in time for the Halloween binge but it ended up being one of the many that had to be left out! Now that both you and I are digging deep into the Euro-Cult barrel again, it seemed like a convenient time to dust it off and give it a look.
 
I’m enjoying your typically eclectic write-ups and, as always, am fascinated by the unplanned interweaving of our thought-lines from over such a great distance!:
 
 
Owned but as yet unwatched: HELL’S HINGES (1916); THE WHITE SISTER (1923); BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT (1926); MISS MEND (1926; I taped this twice off of late-night Italian TV screenings and, even now that it has been shown on TCM and released officially on DVD, I’ve yet to see it!!); DISRAELI (1929); THE HOLLYWOOD REVUE OF 1929 (1929); NIGHT NURSE (1931); SHERLOCK HOLMES’ FATAL HOUR (1931); ME AND MY GAL (1932); A WALK WITH LOVE AND DEATH (1969); CUADECUC, VAMPIR (1970; I just got this yesterday along with a bunch of other Jess Franco stuff); AVATAR (2009); GIALLO (2009; I acquired this last year but discarded it because it has Russian narration superimposed over the soundtrack!)
 
Recent viewings or acquisitions: THE MERRY WIDOW (1925); IT’S A GIFT (1934); THE MERRY WIDOW (1934); DANTE’S INFERNO (1935); LES MISERABLES (1935); NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (1941); THE UNINVITED (1944); THE BULLFIGHTERS (1945); LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945); THE GLASS MENAGERIE (1950); FIXED BAYONETS! (1951); LES MISERABLES (1952); BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1955; only yesterday I grabbed 3 ‘lesser” Jean-Pierre Melvilles I’m already familiar with: LEON MORIN, PRIEST [1961], MAGNET OF DOOM [1963] and UN FLIC [1972]); ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968; again, I’ve just came across the ultra-rare cannibalistic black comedy A TASTE FOR WOMEN [1964] co-scripted by Polanski); GIOVANNONA LONG-THIGH (1972); NIGHT OF 1,000 SEXES (1982; I’ve tried to locate my 2007 HTF review of this one to compare it to yours but the respective thread won’t load on my PC!); THE WOLFMAN (2010)
 
 
By the way, the tell-tale sign that I’m adding much more movies than I can possibly watch has finally happened: for the life of me, I can’t recall if I own an original VHS of Frank Capra’s BROADWAY BILL (1934) and, worse still, I’ve acquired a DivX copy of MR. KLEIN (1976) when I already have an original R2 DVD of it as part of Optimum’s “The Joseph Losey Collection!!
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post #286 of 1166
2/28/10 at 6:44am
Hi Pat! I always like to qualify my recommendations, just in case. I'm a real nut for old BW films, for the reasons stated above. I'm always looking at use of shadow, composition, etc. Maybe it's because my grandfather was a cameraman for RKO and I have it in my genes (or jeans as the case may be). I'll watch an old movie that isn't even particularly good if the cinematography is great.

I haven't seen Casablanca in a long time and I never owned the SDVD, so I can't tell you honestly if it's worth the upgrade from that perspective. I did upgrade my 'Third Man' dvd to Blu though and I really did see a difference. It's a bit more subtle than Color though, which tends to really pop. BW on Blu tends to be very rich - blacks are deep, whites kind of glow and the grey and silver colors have nice satiny feel to them. For me it was like looking at a series of beautifully printed photographs come to life.

So if any of that blather means anything to ya, then yes, I would recommend an upgrade. It's also on sale at Frys right now for $12.99 (barebones edition) if that is a motivator.
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post #287 of 1166
2/28/10 at 2:03pm
Thread Starter 

Mario,

My larger-than-normal tax return allowed me to order a bunch of trash, which is just starting to come in.  As expected, I ordered a few D'Amato titles and around ten Franco titles but I went even further and bought 15 Bruno Mattei films.  I'm not the biggest fan of his but with the extra money I decided to take the jump and see what else his career had to offer.  I've got quite a bit more Euro Sleaze to view including the uncut, director's version of LADY FRANKENSTEIN, the German flick MANSON MASSACRE, TENDER DRACULA with Cushing, DRACULA AND SON (with Ringo) and a few other rare ones.  I also managed to stock up on some unseen Naschy titles including the uncut FURY OF THE WOLFMAN.  I hated the American version but hopefully this uncut one is actually better (as I've read).
 

I actually ordered around 10 William S. Hart films as well since I had never seen any work from this silent legend.  We got hit with a major snow storm so my mail has been late arriving so my Hart festival started off strong and then got put on hold while I waited for the other titles to arrive.  HELL'S HINGES has certainly been the best of the group but I'll post all of the notes after I view TUMBLEWEEDS sometime this week.
 

In regards to MISS MEND, I'd personally recommend watching the three chapters seperate instead of going through all of it in one sitting.  I watched the first three hours, took a break and then finished it off, which was probably too much at one time.  I should have just watched one chapter a night.
 

I was able to rent the R2 Dutch release of GIALLO and they dubbed track was quite horrid but thankfully an English one was on it as well.  Looking back on how bad the dialogue was, it might have been smarter to just watch it in a language that I didn't understand.
 

THE MERRY WIDOW just got lucky with me as I noticed all three versions were on TCM within the matter of weeks.  I'm actually going to try and track down as many versions as LES MISERABLES, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE and THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES as I can this year.  It's funny but I stumbled across your review of the 1978 HOUND, which made me put it in my Netflix queue and now it's at home waiting to be watched.  My most prized item ordered was the Kirk Douglas version of JEKYLL AND HYDE but sure enough, it was mailed three weeks ago and hasn't arrived so I'm afraid it must be lost. 

 

 

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post #288 of 1166
2/28/10 at 8:49pm
Dangerous Crossing - A newlywed becomes entangled in a web of intrigue when her husband disappears from their honeymoon cruise. It's pretty much The Lady Vanishes on an ocean liner. I don't want to get TOO hung up on what's a noir and what isn't, but I'll just say it doesn't quite fit my perception of noir. It is a fun little mystery/thriller, though. It's just a kick to watch, waiting to see what happens next, watching the heroine get more and more paranoid. I don't find Jeanne Crain very interesting (a bit too squeaky-clean Donna Reed-ish for me) but she handles the role well enough. Likewise, Michael Rennie doesn't do a whole lot for me as the sympathetic ship's doctor, but he gets the job done. That's basically how I'd describe the movie as a whole: it gets the job done. It didn't knock my socks off, probably not gonna watch it again, but I did really enjoy it. Rating: 8


The Serpent's Egg (rewatch) - Break from the noir for my weekly Bergman. I still don't think this is such a bad movie. It's got problems for sure. The dialogue can be pretty flat, and so is David Carradine. The cabaret scenes (which are decidedly Bob Fosse-esque) are mostly unnecessary, and lend to an overall feeling of disjointedness throughout the film. But it's still pretty engaging, especially if you put aside your expectations of what a Bergman film should be. It's not his first film in English, or his first psychological thriller, or the first with political undertones. But these aspects working together, along with the larger budget, make it feel like someone else's work entirely. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. It's far, far from his best and will never be one of my favorites, but I generally don't have any big problems with it and it's a decent way to spend a couple hours. Rating: 7


5 Against the House - Fuck me, this weekend sucks. Worked 10 hours today, and I'm gonna have to work tomorrow too. So I'll just be squeezing in a brief movie here and there when I can. This one's a lean 83 minutes, but even some of that could be trimmed. A caper flick about a group of college guys who hatch a scheme to rob a casino. The main problem is the ridiculous amount of pre-heist buildup. We get way too much of these guys hanging around campus, and Guy Madison pitching woo at Kim Novak. The meat of the movie is in the last half hour or so, but once you get there, it's pretty good meat. Again, it's not really "true" noir, but it's close enough, especially at the climax. A large theme is veterans dealing with postwar psychiatric issues. The earlier parts of the movie has a lot of comic dialogue, most of which is actually quite well-written. However, the biggest wisecracker of the group, Alvy Moore, gets pretty annoying. Director Phil Karlson also shoots the film very well (one of the few noirs in widescreen) with a number of very good shots. You know that iconic shot from The Graduate, with Anne Bancroft's leg looming large in the foreground and Dustin Hoffman tiny in the background? That's in here... 12 years earlier. Practically the same framing, too. A flawed but generally fun picture. Rating: 7


The Lineup - The premise is somewhat ludicrous: a drug ring that smuggles their heroin in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers, then hires a hitman to collect the goods. The story is riddled with plot holes to boot. And the first 20 minutes are a little slow as we follow the cops around (to help tie the film in to the TV series of the same name). Despite all this... wow, what an amazing movie. The hitman (enigmatically named "Dancer") is played by none other than Eli Motherfucking Wallach, and he's brilliant as the psychopathic professional. But that's only the beginning. His sidekick Julian (Robert Keith) both mentors and worships Dancer in a relationship that's clearly meant to be at least a little bit homosexual ("women have no place in society"). He also collects the last words of Dancer's victims. Emile Meyer (so memorable in Sweet Smell of Success) and Marshall Reed are also terrific as the detectives, just classic cops. The film makes fantastic use of its San Francisco locations... the Bay bridge, an aquarium, a maritime museum, and a superb car chase that inspired Bullitt. Although it takes place entirely in the daytime and thus lacks the shadowy look usually associated with the genre, it's balls-to-the-wall film noir through and through, full of dark themes, tough talk, biting dialogue, fascinating characters, and really, really entertaining murders. An absolute blast with a hell of a climax. Rating: 9


The Sniper - Another damn good noir, about a violent misogynist who starts shooting women with a rifle. Arthur Franz doesn't take the Richard Widmark path of the manic psychopath gleefully capping people, instead he plays it rather complex, a tortured soul disturbed by his own actions and crying out for help. It's another San Francisco noir, one that doesn't get too showy with the landmarks but Dmytryk still uses the locations well, and the chiaroscuro lighting in wonderful, too. A lot of great actors in small roles here, including the always enjoyable Marie Windsor. Where the film falters is its rather heavy-handed message that sex offenders need to be identified early and treated rather than shuffled through the revolving door of the system. It's not a bad message, but it's delivered ham-fistedly with a text opening and a few speeches throughout, most egregiously a very soapbox-y lecture from the psychiatrist. Otherwise, however, it's a really stunning film with a lot of depth, tension, good score and provocative shots. Rating: 8


The Big Heat (rewatch) - I still think this is a bit overrated. There are definitely good moments, especially the ending and any scene with Gloria Grahame or Lee Marvin. But Glenn Ford in the lead is pretty much a dud, Lang's direction is terribly flat for the most part (a common problem in his Hollywood films) and the music is really quite bad. It's generally well-plotted, though, and even if it's kinda predictable for a modern viewer, it manages to suck you in anyway. I just wish it was done with some more flair. Rating: 7
Edited by Martin Teller - 3/1/10 at 6:31am
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post #289 of 1166
2/28/10 at 8:56pm
February Recap

34 new viewings
12 revisits

Best new discovery: War and Peace
Worst new discovery: They Died With Their Boots On

Honorable mentions: La teta asustada, The Lineup, Burma VJ, Cruel Gun Story, In the Loop, Fantastic Mr. Fox


Phenomenal month for me, both in quality and quantity.  Tackled a bunch of the Oscar nominees (most of which were pretty good), knocked a few more off the TSPDT 1000 list (including my pick for best of the month) and gloriously indulged my rapidly growing noir addiction.
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post #290 of 1166
2/28/10 at 9:07pm
 Gun the Man Down – I’m definitely finding out that anytime a Western includes a script by Burt Kennedy, it usually turns out to be pretty good. This actually plays more like a noir film than a western. When a man is betrayed by his cohorts (and his gal) after a bank robbery, he vows revenge when he gets out of prison, but his fundamental decency keeps getting in the way of his lust for vengeance. James Arness is the big galoot who wants his due and Angie Dickinson, in her first movie, is the gal that done him wrong. Angie looks gorgeous, of course, and even here, has her soiled but stalwart sex kitten schtick down pat. The real scene stealers here though are Emile Meyer and Harry Carey Jr. as a wiley old Zen Master Sheriff and his puzzled, befuddled deputy.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad – John Phillip Law assumes the mantle of Sinbad in this Harryhausen fest from the 70’s – I probably saw this 100 times when I was a kid but I was a lot more aware of Caroline Munroe’s glistening cleavage this time – no special effects needed there. The stop motion is used a little more sparingly here than in earlier films but when it hits, as in the scene with the six armed goddess statue, it hits big. Even with all the modern computer aided innovations, I still find these stop-motion fantasy epics hugely entertaining. Maybe it’s because I cut my teeth on them, maybe because I am hopelessly immature. Actually, that immaturity business would explain a lot of things…

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post #291 of 1166
2/28/10 at 9:13pm
 I didn't do a January recap so I will do a two-month wrap up for the price of one. I have to say, I've never been much for message boards but I have been enjoying this exercise immensely. I'm also getting a serious education on all the obscure films that are out there from my fellow posters...

January Wrap-up:
Carbine Johnson
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
Crime School
Charge of the Light Brigade
A Colt is My Passport
Erik the Conqueror
Escape from Fort Bravo
Down Argentina Way
The Executioner
Executioner II: Karate Inferno
Eegah
Dirty Marry Crazy Larry
Dr. Renault's Secret
Dragonwyck
Dillinger
The Amazing Transparent Man
The Dark Corner
Destroy all Monsters
Boondock Saints
Eagles over London
8 Diagram Pole Fighter
Doom
Gamer
Along the Great Divide
The 49th Parallel
The Flame and the Arrow
Five Guns West
White Apache
Impulse
Frankensteins Daughter
 
Highlight of the Month: Finally getting to see 'A Colt is My Passport' and having it live up to the hype. 
 
Top Five January Movies:
A Colt is My Passport
Escape from Fort Bravo
Boondock Saints
Along the Great Divide
The 49th Parallel
 
February Wrap-up:
Master of the Flying Guillotine
The Flying Guillotine
The Fatal Flying Gullotine
The Flying Guillotine II
From Hell it Came
Fury
Flying Saucer
Flight to Mars
First Spaceship on Venus
First Men in the Moon
The Frogmen
Flight of the Phoenix
Fist of the White Lotus
God's Little Acre
One Armed Boxer
Gate of Flesh
Ghidora
G-Men
GI Samurai
Gentleman Jim
Giant from the Unknown
The Giant Gila Monster
The God of Cookery
Godzilla: Final Wars
14 Hours
Casablanca
An American in Paris
Gun the Man Down
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
 
Highlight of the Month: Getting through the Flying Guillotine marathon? Nah, probably seeing Casablanca in Hi-Def. 
 
Top Five February Movies:
Gate of Flesh
Fist of the White Lotus
Gentleman Jim
Casablanca
Gun the Man Down

Edited by Holer - 2/28/10 at 9:24pm
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post #292 of 1166
3/1/10 at 3:24am
February Recap

42 films, 29 for the first time

Best films seen for the first time (out of 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif)

Seance on a Wet Afternoon 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif
Last of Sheila 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif 1/2
Ordinary People 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif 1/2
Blood on Satan's Claw 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif
Shootist, The 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif
Culpepper Cattle Company 4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif4db00f15_htf_images_smilies_star.gif
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post #293 of 1166
3/1/10 at 9:28pm
Thread Starter 

Manson Massacre, The (1972)
 

Kentucky Jones

There have been some very good movies made about Charles Manson and those evil events of 1969 but this here isn't one of them.  This movie is pure exploitation as we get no real connection to actual events but the title is all you need and I'm sure many have been drawn to it.  In the film we see Manson, looking for like a guru, taking in various young woman and seducing them before sending them out to do his evil acts.  We also get to see flashbacks of the early Manson and the start of his madness.  Again, the actual events aren't followed so no one should come into this thing expecting some sort of documentary.  What you do get is a cheap horror movie that's main goal was to show beautiful women naked and we get quite a bit of this.  This German production has never been released with English subs but following the movie wasn't too difficult.  I find it interesting that the producers made Manson a rather boring figure as he is pretty laid back and never really shows any emotion.  The "Manson Girls" aren't really anything special as they're basically just used for T&A as they're constantly getting naked for any reason.  I'm certainly not going to complain about this as nudity is certainly a very important factor in exploitation.  Cult favorite Uschi Digard gets plenty of nude time as she plays one of Manson's early lovers and it's her abusive boyfriend that the nut tests in terms of murder.  It's always nice seeing Digard show up in anything so that is a plus.  The violence in the film is extremely low and doesn't happen until the final few minutes of the 69-minute running time.  The special effects are pretty lame and the blood letting is just a few drops.  The final murder sequence is probably going to be what draws most people here but again, the facts of the real case aren't used.  A Sharon Tate figure is used here but she's not pregnant.  Another change is that they have the Manson girls being invited into the home as the males living there are swingers.  I've read a few theories that some of the killers had been in the house weeks before the murders and perhaps this is why the film selected that thought as it was probably popular back in 1972.  In the end, this movie is extremely cheap but some of the colorful shots and constant nudity at least keeps it moving.  There's certainly nothing too special here but fans of trash should get a few kicks out of it.
 

Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)
 

Jack Weis
 

Low-budget horror film is pretty much a re-telling of the Herschell Gordon Lewis cult-classic BLOOD FEAST.  This time out a deranged man (William Metzo) hires prostitutes and brings them back to his house where he ties them up on an altar and cuts out their hearts for the goddess he worships.  A policeman (Curt Dawson) joins the case and during the investigation he falls for a hooker (Gwen Arment) who might end up putting herself in danger.  If you want a classic movie with great action, a heart-tugging story and masterful direction then you're not going to find it here but if you want a fun, gory and nudity full horror film then this one here is a real gem.  There's nothing overly good here but the cheap atmosphere really makes for some fun as the New Orleans settings are good enough to put a smile on your face and the sleaze factor is pretty high.  The film has enough gore for two movies as several women are tied up and then slashed up the middle so that their hearts can be ripped out.  The special effects aren't the greatest as you can tell the bodies are fake but this adds some mild charm to the film as does the fact that the same camera angles are used and the editing pattern is the same on each murder.  The film also isn't shy about the nudity as pretty much every hooker has a full-frontal scene and when this isn't going on, the action is usually taking place in a strip joint where we get even more nudity.  The gore and nudity certainly keeps the film moving but so do the three leads.  No, they don't give Oscar-worthy performances but they are campy enough to make you laugh, which is a good thing.  Dawson is a hoot as the cop and some of his line deliveries are priceless especially a sequence in the middle where he and the hooker break up.  Some of the lines thrown out during this fight are classic.  Metzo is extremely laid back in his role and this stiff nature makes for a few laughs.  The costume he wears while killing the women is pretty funny as well.  I think the film could have been better had the screenplay not spent so much time with the relationship between the cop and hooker.  At times it seems the film wants to be a love story between the two.  Another problem are a few random scenes that lead to nothing and easily could have been edited out without it hurting the story.  With that said, the exploitation level here is extremely high and I'm sure fans of low-budget horror movies will get a kick out of this thing.
 

Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1978) BOMB
 

Paul Morrissey
 

As a fan of bad movies I quite often find myself trying to track down and locate some of the worst films ever made.  Sometimes these bad movies turn out to be entertaining but sometimes they turn out to be so bad that I often wonder why no one was seeing how bad the dailies were and didn't try to pull the plug.  That's what I felt here.  This story has been told countless times and since it's the most popular perhaps that's why everyone involved decided to shoot it.  We have Peter Cook playing Holmes and Dudley Moore playing Watson but it really doesn't matter because I think anyone could have been in the roles and things would have been bad no matter what.  Cook, Moore and director Morrissey wrote the screenplay her and I can't help but picture the three of them sitting around, passing a joint and laughing their heads off at what they were writing.  That's the only thing I can think of that would make any of them feel as if they had anything working in this screenplay.  The movie gets off to a horrendous start and it doesn't improve any and in the end I couldn't help but scratch my head and wonder why no one put a bullet in this sucker before it could hit theaters.  The deadliest sin a comedy can make is that it's not funny and this movie makes the unforgivable sin of not having a single laugh.  For the most part we have various characters acting gay and this appears to be the only joke going.  Everyone acts extremely strange and that includes Holmes who we first see as some sort of sissy and I guess the screenwriters through this would be hilarious.  The rest of the jokes are just downright flat and it almost seems like no effort was made to make any of them funny.  For the life of me I couldn't understand how anyone could find this mess entertaining and most of the blame is right on the screenplay.  As far as the performances go they're just as bad as the writing.  The film ends with many bizarre jokes including an extremely bad spoof of THE EXORCIST that comes out of no where and seems out of place.  I tried to think of at least one nice thing to say about this film but couldn't think of one as even the titles are boring and the music (by Moore) is pathetic.  A complete disaster this one is and I'm sure you can safely call this the worst Holmes movie in history. 

Sometime Sweet Susan (1975)
 

Fred Donaldson
 

Even if you're not a fan of hardcore films you might remember this title as it was on the marquee of the theater where Travis took his date to in TAXI DRIVER.  This was originally an XXX title but the version released on the "Skin in the 70s" collection is an R-rated cut that runs (according to the IMDB) about nine-minutes shorter than the hardcore version.  With that said, what remains here would still easily get a NC-17 rating.  The film has Harry Reems (DEEP THROAT) playing a doctor trying to break through to a patient named Susan (Shawn Harris) who at first won't talk but deep down is having sexual fantasies about him, her nurse and another flashback that is haunting her.  It's really hard to review this film because this was meant to be a porno, no matter what else they tried to edit it into.  This R-rated cut really doesn't work for several reasons including the fact that there are a few cases where the "action" goes to a freeze frame while the songs just keep on playing.  This is really distracting but it also doesn't help that the film, in this form, is full of bad edits.  This R-rated version just doesn't work as any sort of entertainment but I do want to see it uncut as its reputation is pretty strong.  I was a little surprised to see how much story was actually here and many of the performances were better than you'd expect.  Reems isn't too bad in his role even though I still didn't believe him as a doctor.  The real reason to see the film is for Harris and I was shocked to see that this was her only movie credit.  The movie probably wouldn't have ran so long if it weren't for all the slow motion scenes throughout and these did start to get annoying after a while.  We also have a few songs written just for this movie and I'm not sure how many adult films could say this.  So, in the end, this film really isn't all that bad but it's still rather hard to judge a cut version.

Forced Entry (1973)
 

Shaun Costello
 

Notorious hardcore movie attempted to mix real life drama with sex and graphic rape scenes.  Harry Reems plays a gas station clerk who has just returned from Vietnam, which has left him mentally unstable.  He gets various women's addresses from his job, follows them home only to rape and kill them.  There's really not too much else to say about an actual plot and I'm really not sure where to stand on this movie.  Having read about it for years I guess I was expecting something more brutal than what I actually got.  I think, for the most part, this is just a porno movie that tried doing something more than just your average porn, which was something every porn was doing around this time.  The fact that they tried to tell a "real" story of a troubled Vietnam vet was an interesting gimmick but I'm really not sure it helped the film any.  To me, this is still just a porn movie and I think for the most part the film tries to play erotic just as much as it does disturbing.  There are a couple sex scenes that are clearly meant for the erotic nature and then we get Reems breaking in on the women for the rape sequences.  I found the violence in a few of the scenes, especially the second woman, to be a lot more disturbing than the rape scenes.  I was surprised to see how realistic the murder sequence was as it almost looked too real.  I think many could debate what the film was really trying to go for but the filmmaking is rather lousy and this here takes away a lot of its more dramatic impact.  I can't say I was really disturbed by this film.  Future films like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and MANIAC dealt with ugly subjects, minus the hardcore footage, and to me were much more disturbing.  I think many expect this to be more graphic with the hardcore scenes, which is pretty much a given in terms of sexuality but the dramatic side that they were going for is lost due to some bad editing and just overall below average filmmaking.  I did like some of the camera shots that got us "close" to the action but that's about it.  As a porno movie this is a mixed bag.  As a drama it's a failure.  On the level of plain weirdness and depraved filmmaking it somewhat works as there certainly aren't too many films out there like it.

 

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post #294 of 1166
3/2/10 at 5:34am
Grand Illusion - Whenever I view a 'Classic', I'm always a little intimidated about writing anything down about it. Who am I to subject these great films to my trivial musings? I'm much more comfortable with Flying Guillotines and Giant Tree Monsters, obviously. Still, the work must be done and I must dutifully record the fact that this was the first film I watched in March 2010. It was interesting to hear Jean Renoir talk about how this film was criticized for depicting the Germans as civilized people. For me, this is what the film is about - man's ability to get along with each other on an individual, HUMAN basis, even when the world at large is torn apart by war. Eric Von Stroheim's Captain von Rauffenstein is definitely an elitist bastard but it has more to do with the class system than some notion of German superiority and even he gets a big fat lesson in humanity and self-sacrifice by the end of the picture. A great way to kick off a new month of movie watching. 
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post #295 of 1166
3/2/10 at 5:39am
Nice nastiness Michael!

"Mardi Gras" was caught up initially in the Video Nasties eruption in the UK.

As for "Forced Entry" I think the 'Nam aspect does add an extra layer to the film and an added streak of exploitation.

But does the film genuinely have something to say about the horrors of war in general and its trauma on the Vietnam veteran in particular? Well no, not really.
The 'Nam footage, though it works from an 'artistic' point of view as far as it's effect on the rape sequences is concerned.

And of course, as with all exploitation, it takes advantage of the current problems in society at that time, and by now Vietnam, and its effects on everyone, was in full swing.
In many ways the film pre-empts the later movies that would also use the psychologically disturbed 'Nam Vet as their centrepiece.
But astonishingly this underground, bleak slice of pornography got there before most of them.
But basically the Vietnam angle is purely opportunistic I think.

 

The finale is genuinely unexpected and provides the only bit of (wonderfully ironic) humour, but also ups the 'Nam flashbacks to a senses pummeling degree to make sure the movie ultimately ends as dark as it started..
And there is a car crash fascination to this monstrosity.
It's everything taboo.
It's hardcore pornography, it's sexual and sexualised violence, Its cheap, dirty and nasty And  basically it exploits what it needs to and it exploits it well.
For what it is...it works.
You just have to ask yourself if what it is, is something you want anything to do with I suppose.

And *shock horror*  no Reem's classic porn moustache. 

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post #296 of 1166
3/2/10 at 7:57am
02/25/10: LUCIFERA, DEMON LOVER (Paolo Lombardo, 1972)
 
The heyday of the Italian Gothic Horror genre was the early-to-mid-1960s; even so, the style lingered on well into the next decade but the results were often far beneath what could be accomplished at its best. Naturally, this is one such example: actually, we start off here with a contemporary setting and the heroine (“Euro-Cult” favorite Rosalba Neri) dreams herself back at least two centuries – under the influence of an old mansion where, legend has it, the devil used to reside! An element these later efforts certainly took advantage of was the relaxation in censorship, except that then we tended to get copious nudity at the expense of plot (and even atmosphere): at one point, for instance, a couple of nubile girls are gang-raped and forced to copulate between themselves inside a cave, a sequence that has no bearing whatsoever on the central plot! For what it is worth, the narrative involves two girls (one is Neri and the other is played by a companion of hers in the modern ‘bookends’) who both love the same man; when he chooses Neri, the rival (herself pursued by another, played by Robert Woods) turns to a witch who puts a curse on the former. This results in Neri being seduced by a stranger (Edmund Purdom), losing her lover to him and getting burned at the stake for the latter’s death…all on her wedding night and, surprise surprise, the interloper is eventually revealed to be Old Nick himself! While the lethargic pacing is decidedly characteristic of such fare, the inept handling is not and, in this case, makes the film a snooze-fest as opposed to the mood-piece its creators probably intended! When I first came across this one, I was intrigued by its description as “the greatest Rosalba Neri movie ever”; however, having checked it out for myself now, I regret to report that things could not be further removed from the truth!


02/27/10: FRANKENSTEIN’S CASTLE OF FREAKS (Dick Randall, 1974)
 
I had been wanting to view this notorious film ever since catching its trailer on the “Extra Weird Sampler” DVD from Image a couple of years ago; however, now that I have, I found the experience not nearly as rewarding in a ‘so bad it’s good’ way as I had anticipated. With so much that is wrong here, it is almost a pity the end result is not more entertaining; in fact, I would go so far as to say this is the nadir of the Italian Gothic Horror genre! Former matinee` idol Rossano Brazzi is Count(!) Frankenstein who experiments on Neanderthal beings (apparently, they can still be found in certain European caves!) with the help of his henchmen – lecherous dwarf Michael Dunn (a long way from his Oscar-nominated role in SHIP OF FOOLS [1965]), top-hatted(!) Gordon Mitchell, Luciano Pigozzi and the obligatory hunchback (who has the hots for Pigozzi’s unattractive wife)! For what it is worth, here we get the luxury of two cavemen (who naturally get to grips practically at first sight!): one has a prominent dome-shaped forehead and the other is played by an ‘actor’ under the hilarious assumed name of Boris Lugosi! Edmund Purdom, another veteran presence, has little of substance to do as the local Police Chief (in the classic tradition of Universal horror movies, the townsfolk are forever on the point of picking up their torches to storm the Frankenstein castle!) but he does get to utter the would-be profound closing line: “There is a bit of the monster in all of us”!! Also involved, needless to say, are two girls – one is Frankenstein’s daughter (played by the attractive offspring of hack film-maker Demofilo Fidani) and the other her best friend, who catches the eye of both the Count and one of the Neanderthals! – with a penchant for skinny-dipping in the steaming waters of the caves. After being banished from the castle for setting the Police onto Frankenstein’s grave-robbing antics by way of his tiny footprints, Dunn takes to the caves himself and proceeds to instruct the Lugosi character (who seems to have nothing on his mind but the profuse consumption of raw meat!) into the ways of love-making; his first attempt, however, results in the horribly mangled body of a local girl!! As I said at the start, the film is certainly among the goofiest of its kind ever made (a poor extra named Mike Monty playing a “Paisan” is even credited twice during the end credits!) but, unfortunately, not that much fun while it is on – the fact that helmer Randall was more typically employed as a producer, and whose sole directorial effort this proved to be, may have had something to do with it.
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post #297 of 1166
3/2/10 at 12:30pm
The Horseman"  -

http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvhorse.php


 “The Horseman” is an Australian vigilante flick about a father tracking down the men who drugged and used his, now dead, daughter in a porn film.

At the heart of the movie is the wonderful performance by Peter Marshall as the avenging father. 
And like the film, it’s a performance of two rather different aspects.
As the barely in control grieving father he is fantastic and delivers serous dramatic strengths to his character.
This is a dark, gritty, painfully realistic in its feeling, performance that gives the film genuine dramatic class.
But, despite his general look and age (though he is suitably tough in build), Marshall also gives us a thuddingly violent, murderously driven figure of vengeance who almost moves into action star territory.

Marshall’s superb, dramatically serious, performance as the broken father is so intense and all-encompassing that it actually makes sense that he can take on so many younger men in numerous, truly brutal, smackdowns.
You feel his sheer strength of hate and raging, adrenaline fueled, power could enable Christian to do what he does in the non-flashy, frenzied way he does it.

Where we slip is in the amount of damage he takes personally. We sadly do move (sadly because it’s not really this type of movie) into Van Dammage territory as far as the sheer brutal abuse his body takes.
For all the reality of his own attacks on others, the attacks by others on him are out of a fantasy fight flick and when added to the otherwise deeply serious psychological aspects of his character these cliché action/physical traits sit badly.

The action though is stunningly brutal in its execution and content.
There are no real effects sequences here, but there’s a lot of blood spattered, bone snapping, flesh pummeling violence and again Marshall’s utter conviction and drive during these scenes (be they fights or scenes of cold-blooded, very nasty, torture) not only helps sell them but gives them much added power.

The screenplay’s slightly schizophrenic nature towards Christian’s character is also mirrored in its plot as well.
We have (again fine in cheesy action films, not so fine here) too many long-used contrivances that aid Christian and he gets out of more tight corners in the nick of time than James Bond.
These elements give the film a really strange vibe thanks to the otherwise truly dark, gritty drama they are weaved into.

The film is not sure what it wants to be, dark drama or brutal action film, but decides that both things are great so embraces them both.
It should be that two such effective styles, both done exceedingly well, should meet to make the perfect cinematic storm, but in reality, despite how good they are individually, they never truly match up to make a perfect movie on the whole.

What does remain consistent in its brooding nature though is the excellent score (composed and performed by Ryan Potter) that compliments Christian’s dark journey and heartbreaking loss to perfection.

Most of the henchman roles are taken by some excellent fight and stunt men who really sell the crunching action and when added to the effective cinematography, tight direction ,excellent pacing and structure  it all ensures the film looks and feels far richer than it’s meagre budget.

So what we have is a very well made, exceptionally well acted by Marshall, dark, gritty, brooding, serious revenge film but with full-on action thriller sensibilities that tend to work against the realism and grit of the central drama.

Thus “The Horseman” is a peculiar movie overall, but a movie that’s full of so many excellent and satisfying components that you can, and should, ultimately forgive the faults in tone and settle down with what is still a very satisfying, dark, brutal and grim tale of a father’s vengeance.
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post #298 of 1166
3/2/10 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 

Re: FORCED ENTRY

I enjoyed the movie but I just didn't find it as disturbing as some of the reviews I had read.  Many made it seem like TAXI DRIVER but with just graphic sex.  Perhaps I was expecting too much but I found the movie to be "too much porn" and not enough" social commentary", if that makes sense.  The flashback sequences didn't have a positive or negative effect on me.  I also never really felt that the filmmaking was strong enough to make it more disturbing.  I personally found stuff like I SPIT, MANIAC and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT to be more powerful even though none of them were as graphic in terms of sex.
 

Whenever I post my Franco or D'Amato notes over at IMDB I get this guy e-mailing me about various films from the 70's that I need to check out.  FORCED ENTRY seemed to be the most popular of the group.  I had seen HARDGORE and didn't care too much for it but there was another one called DRACULA SUCKS that seems to be quite popular.  I got it uncut as well as the R-rated version and plan on getting to both of them soon.  I also noticed that FORCED ENTRY was remade in 1976 with Tonya Roberts in a R-rated version. 
 

MARDI GRAS MASSACRE was actually a purchase after finding your review over at the IMDB.  I had a great time with this one and it's uncut glory was pretty wild with the silly murders and non-stop nudity.


Mario,
 

FRANKENSTEIN'S CASTLE OF FREAKS makes my blood boil each time I see the title.  This is the perfect example of a title making a film a classic.  I paid $30 for this thing when it was first released and hated the POS.  The title would make you think this was a classic but it's nothing more than a major letdown and it caused me to never buy another Something Werid title.  Always a rent first.
 

I watched LUCIFERA a few weeks ago via the Mya disc and hated it as well.  I'm not sure what's up with Mya but I'm glad they're releasing so many of these rarer titles but I do wonder who is paying $25+ each for them.  Again, rentals only for me.

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post #299 of 1166
3/2/10 at 9:45pm
I fell behind in both movie watching and posting, so here's from the past couple weeks. 

033 02/19 The Skin Game (1931) 2/5 - A couple of families have land issues.  Yup, it's that boring.

034 02/22 Precious: Based on the Novel Pushed, By Sapphire (2009) 2/5 - Another in a long line of hard luck story movies.  This one boasts one of the more horrific story lines which is the problem.  It's not a true story.  Because of this, all the abuse that's rained down on Precious almost gets to the point of parody.  Ridiculous, and having actors that look like "regular" people isn't enough to make this a good movie.  And don't get me started on the stupid title.

035 02/24 The Wolfman (2010) 4/5 - A monster movie remake that stands beside the original classic.  The effects a great, the movie flies by and the sight of a proper Wolfman instead of the more common dog looking werewolf's running about was all this nerd could hope for.  Now they need to make a sequel where the Wolfman meets those twee shits from twilight! 

036 02/26 Shutter Island (2010) 4/5 - Scorsese seems to be paying homage to the detective films of the 40's with this one, and it works.  Holy shit, does it ever!  The cast is perfect, the plot works and I don't think I've seen darker mystery.

037 02/27 The Crazies (1973) 2/5 - It's a decent enough idea for a film, to bad it's such a mess.  Not one of Romero's best, it's simply boring.

038 03/01 The Blind Side (2009) 2/5 - I thought "Precious" would be the most annoying Oscar nom of 2010, but nope, this one beats it.  It's a true story, yet you've seen this movie about hundred times, usually under the "Hallmark Hall Of Fame" banner.  It plays like a shit TV movie. The actors are as annoying as a TV movie.  The Christian mandate is as annoying as a "Touched By An Angel" TV movie.  At one point a character actually says "We're not teaching him, he's teaching us..."  FUCK OFF!  I haven't missed an Oscar broadcast since I started watching the awards in the 80's.  If this wins best picture, I am never going to watch the Oscars again!

039 03/02 An Education (2009) 2.5/5 - A playboy is hot for underage girls... bring on the Oscars!  Seriously, what the hells going on with movies this year???  Did Michael Jacksons death make child fucking acceptable now???
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post #300 of 1166
3/2/10 at 11:15pm
 Great reviews Russell - I don't see a lot of modern movies lately and with just a few lines each, you've confirmed my worst suspicions about some of them. And speaking of recent releases...

Where the Wild Things Are - Even when there is a movie I do want to see, I can't seem to bother dragging my ass to the Cineplex to watch it. Instead, I blind buy it on Blu-ray for twice as much as it would have cost me to see in the theater. I don't do it often, but still...This is definitely a movie I wanted to see because it is based on my favorite children's book. As a kid, I related to Max because I too was a weird, loner-ish type with a wild imagination. Heck, I'm almost 50 and I'm still pretty much the same. I was impressed with how truly odd and idiosyncratic this movie turned out to be. It is definitely one man's vision. It did invoke in me a lot of long dormant memories of what it felt like to be a kid - the raging emotions, the sense of wonder, the way things could turn on a dime from good to bad to just plain weird. I think that was ultimately it's purpose as well, so I am inclined to deem it a success. It's most assuredly a movie I'll be thinking about for the next few days and something I'm going to want to revisit again from time to time. I can already say that it's gotten under my skin, and that's not something that often happens. 
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