SATAN'S BLADE 1983 (TUBI)

Damn, did I enjoy this little film!!

This fun little thriller starts out with a robbery of a small bank and the brutal killing of both the female tellers still left behind.

We shortly learn that both killers are women who hide out in a ski resort but the plot takes another great twist as one of the women kills her partner in crime and then is herself killed by an unseen person with a very large knife.

Enter two groups of people who arrive at the resort and do not pay attention to the warnings of the locals about a killer spirit of an ancient medicine man.

The two groups are made up of two married couples and a group of 5 women on vacation. Needless to say both groups get tangled together when they find they have to fight the killer to stay alive.

There is plenty of nudity and some gore, but both are done without excess. The ending is not a disappointment at all and it is somewhat expected. Yes, this is a low budget effort, but make no mistake, it is done very well.

I have read a lot of bad things about this film, but I feel they are unwarrented. This film stands miles above the rot made today. I would really recommend this for any fan of the "slasher" genre.

I really do wish they still made movies like this.

TRAILERS, TRAILERS AND MORE TRAILERS (YOUTUBE)

Several people have uploaded some great stuff.

Over the years Sinister Cinema has offered a lot of trailer compilations and I watched about 15 of them that have been put on Youtube.

This made for some great viewing a few weeks ago and there was hardly a repeat in the many hours of viewing. I have always been a fan of this unique American art form.

Each collection is about 90 minutes of good fun and there are sci-fi collections, horror collections, and many more. I know I am not the only fan of these, and if you get a chance you might want to check these out.

I used to have many trailer collections on VHS, but have not really collected many on DVD. It was fun to discover all of these and I hope you have fun with them as well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Cheri Caffaro is 78.

VIRUS 1980 (TUBI)

Not too bad of a film.

A man made virus is set loose after a plane crash and this sets in motion the destruction of almost the entire human race.

This is the shorter version of the film that runs about 105 minutes while the longer version adds almost 50 minutes to the runtime. I wish I had the longer version, but you can't have everything.

Glenn Ford appears as the President Of The United States as he and his staff watch as the US slowly falls apart as well as the rest of the world. This is a US/Japanese co-production and was directed by the man who made The Green Slime, Kenji Fukasaku.

The virus, it is discovered, cannot survive in extreme cold, so various groups of people stationed in the arctic must try to find a way to save what's left of the human race.

The American actors in the cast consist of Robert Vaughn, George Kennedy, Henry Silva (in an excellent over the top part), Bo Svenson, Olivia Hussey and Chuck Conners, just to name a few.

The film moves along at a good pace and there are some good set pieces that will catch you off guard. I enjoyed this film and will indeed look for the longer version so I can compare the two.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ann-Margret is 82, Jessica Alba is 42, and Kari Wuhrer is 56.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Sheena Easton is 64.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Gina Torres is 54, Bonnie Beecher is 82, and Bjorn Ulvaeus is 78.

J MEN FOREVER 1979 (TUBI)

An all time comedy classic.

This is also known as "The Day The Earth Got Stoned" but the original title is what I first saw this as was back in 1984 on the USA Network on their show Night Flight.

This laugh out loud film is comprised of tons of clips from old Republic serials and then redubbed. The story revolves around a madman called "The Lightning Bug" that is trying to conquer the world by using ear blasting rock music.

This is an absolute masterpiece of comedy done by Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman from the Firesign Theater group. D.J. MG Kelly does the voice of the Lightning Bug and it's a hoot.

If you want a good time and to laugh a hell of a lot you need to see this little gem. I was very shocked it suddenly appeared on TUBI, but I am very thankful as well. It had been 39 years since I last saw it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! ROCK AND ROLL FOREVER.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lee Majors is 84, and Britt Baker is 32.

ZOMBIE 4 AFTER LIFE 1989 (TUBI)

More Italian gore and zombies.

An American woman named Jenny (Candice Daly) goes back to a small island where her parents were killed.

It seems her parents were working on cancer research and angered a voodoo priest who raised the dead and killed everyone there. Jenny has a band of mercenaries with her and they land on the lsland and run into some other reasearch people and they must fight to survive when a huge army of very agile zombies seek to eat them.

This is one odd film as some of the zombies actually talk as they creep up on their victims and there are more holes in the plot than in swiss cheese.

Now, that is not to say this movie wasn't entertaining, but it is in a bad way. The characters all make bad choices and while this is expected in horror films, it really is bad here.

Jenny attempts to stop the living dead twice, but both times she fails, and the conclusion of the movie shows us again that goodness never wins and the zombies will always be there.

I did really enjoy the voodoo priests wife coming back from hell as a fanged demon that reminded me of mecixan horro cinema. If you're not too particular on the kind of horror films you watch, you might enjoy this.

The male lead in the film is Jeff Stryker who happened to be a porn film star.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jack Nicholson is 86, Catherine Mary Stewart is 64,and Mark Damon is 90.

ZOMBIE 3 1988 (TUBI)

More Italian zombie terror from Lucio Fulci and two other uncredited directors.

A dead terrorists body is cremated by the army. It has been infected with a stolen chemical and when the body is burned the smoke rises into the air and causes strange things to happen including some of the local birdlife to go crazy.

It also has another side effect...it causes the inhabitants of a small island to mutate into flesh hungry zombies.

A small team of soldiers teams up with a group of tourists to fight the zombie outbreak. Rveryone ends up fighting for their lives as the outbreak spreads quickly. There are some bizarre scenes in this film including a flying skull that has to be seen to be believed. Director Fauci was very proud of that scene.

However, Fauci walked out on the production and Bruno Mattei took over and it's very evident as the movie veers into really bizarre territory. I liked this film ok, it's not one of my favorites, but it's a good time killer.

The gore scenes are well done, but not over done as they usually are. The ending is, of course, downbeat and bleak. The only one in the cast that was familiar was Luciano Pigozzi, who acted in hundreds of Italian movies, and I swear I have every film he was ever in.

Check this film out if you're so inclined. Who knows, you might like it, and remembeer you could do much worse as far as movies like this go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Carmen Electra is 51, Clint Howard is 64, Veronica Cartwright is 74, Gary Raymond is 88, Judith O'Dea is 78, Lisa Davis is 87, and Olga Karlatos is 78.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Eric Roberts is 67, and Kayleigh McEnany is 35.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Olivia Hussey is 72, and Michael Forest is 94.

HOLLYWOOD AFTER DARK 1961 (TUBI)

Another piece of junk.

One of the worst. A young woman comes to Hollywood and winds up being a stripper. Sandy (Rue McClanahan) also gets mixed up with some gangsters that are planning a big robbery.

That's the plot and it could have been good, but the people making this film had no idea that a gangatser film with strippers could be done well. They have been before.

This movie runs a little over one hour, but it seemed like days. The plot is slow, in many scenes nothing happens and some scenes go absolutely nowhere. So, if you want to be bored to death watch this crap.

I have nothing else to say abouth this except what a boring film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Marla Landi is 90.

ROCKY 4 1985 (TUBI)

This movie is the epitome of patriotic movies, and it hits all the right spots.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is the Heavyweight Boxing Champ of the world after regaining the title in the previous movie from Clubber Lang (Mr.T).

His wife Adrian (Talia Shire) wants him to retire and enjoy his life with her and thier son, but a new challenger named Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) emerges from Russia, and his manager Ludmilla (Brigette Neilsen) demands a title shot.

Of course Rocky cannot say no, much to the shagrine of his wife and friends. Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and Paulie (Burt Young) train Rocky in Russia for the upcoming Christmas Day fight.

Lundgren makes an imposing figure standing at 6'4" and towering over Stallone. Again, the climactic battle between the two makes for some brainless but classic cinema.

I thought it was very cool to have Michael Pataki in the film as an evil Russian doctor that has somewhat "created" Drago. He's perfect with roles like that.

When this movie came out it was still a good thing to be a Patriot and love your country. In this day and age it's sadly not well thought of to be proud of your country and this kind of movie would not fly today.

However, it is a great film and I'm still proud to wave the flag and love my country. If you haven't seen this film I recommend you do. It's a great piece of entertainment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Samantha Fox is 57.

SILENT RAGE 1982 (TUBI)

What a disappointment.

This movie starts out pretty good as a man in a psychotic episode axes a woman to death and then is hunted by the police and arrested. He escapes from them and they are forced to shoot him multiple times.

From that point on it goes downhill. Chuck Norris stars as Dan Stevens, a sheriff in a small Texas town who finds himself against a silent killer that can heal himself due to genetic experiments by two scientists.

I like Norris and his films, but this one really stinks. It seems like the story writer and the director had no idea what to do with this plot so they just winged it.

Bran Libbey is fins as the silent killer named John Kirby, but this film gives him no room to really extend his character. I had high hopes for this film, but the bottom fell out quickly and I found myself hoping it would end soon.

Watch at your own peril.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Sarah Michelle Geller is 46, Amy Dumas is 48 and Colleen Shannon is 45.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ed O'Neill is 77.

FIEND OF DOPE ISLAND 1960 (TUBI)

One of the most over the top films I have seen.

In the almost 20 years since I last saw this film, I had forgotten how crazy it really was.

I was shocked to see this on TUBI, but damn did it entertain me. Bruce Bennett stars as Charlie Davis, a whip cracking, hard drinking drug smuggler who lives on a small island and keeps the natives in line with violence and death.

Charlie has a new cargo coming to the island as the movie opens. The cargo just happens to be a young women he has paid to come and entertain him. She is named Glory LaVern (Tania Velia) and she soon learns that once on the island she will be "owned" like everyone else.

She befriends David (Robert Bray) who vows to protect her from the insane Charlie. After numerous attempts by Charlie to rape Glory, David takes her away and gets the other islanders to overcome their fear of Charlie and fight to regain their self respect.

Needless to say, this ends badly for Charlie as he become shark bait. This is one of the wildest films I have seen in a while. Bennett is usually a pretty low key actor and always does a damn fine job, and while he continues to tradition of good acting he is REALLY crazy and wild here. He is always craking the whip he carries on someone and gets into insane rages.

I have never seen him in a more psychotic role. Now as for Tania Velia, she is drop dead gorgeous and is even touted in the cradits as "The Yugoslavian Bombshell" and that she is indeed.

He film career was short, but she did have small roles in a few other films such as "Missile To The Moon" and "Queen Of Outer Space". They just don't make women like this anymore.

I think you'll enjoy this film if you give it a try. I'll Recommend it.

PAGAN ISLAND 1961 (TUBI)

Here is a little oddity I hadn't seen for about 20 years.

Barry Mahon directed this film about a man who is rescued at sea by a small boat and then recounts a fantastic tale.

After the ship he was on explodes he gets on a raft and soon finds himself on an island that is inhabited by women only. The man, William Stanton (Eddie Drew) enjoys his new lifestyle but is told that he must leave the island because the God the women woship will be angry.

Of course, the woman Eddie falls for on the island is the sacrifice and he plans to help he escape and go with him. He helps he escape, but her leg gets caught in a giant clam and she drowns.

William finishes his tale and the men on the boat believe that he is just suffering from metal derangement after many days on a life raft at sea. As you can tell, this is nothing new or original, but it is not too bad of a film.

It does cram a lot in it's 67 minute running time and the performances aren't bad at all. If you're familiar with Mahon's work you'll know what to expect.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Julissa is 79.

ROCKY 3 1982 (TUBI)

I revisited this 80's classic and found I still really enjoyed it.

There is never too much plot with these films, but it doesn't matter. In this outing Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) loses his title to a violent fighter named Clubber Lang (Mr. T).

He has thoughts again of getting out of the fight business, but just can't quite get the idea to settle into his head, so he goes and asks for the aid of former rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).

Creed puts Rocky on the right track and soon they are ready for the epic rematch between Balboa and Lang.

Rocky is detrmined to get revenge for not only losing the title, but for the death of his manager mickey (Burgess Merideth) which he holds Lang accountable for.

The climactic fight is a show stopper and one of the best ever put on the screen. The rest of the cast includes all the regulars such as Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Tony Burton.

Other great moments in this film include Balboa wrestling man named Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan) and this is also very well done. I'm sure you've seen this gem, but if you haven't you should. Recommended.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Yvonne Lime is 88, and Margia Dean is 101.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Roy Thinnes is 85.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jane Asher is 77, Roger Corman is 97, Roger Davis is 84, Dallas Page is 67, and Agnetha Faltskog is 73.