COLOR OF FEAR 2009 (MAYA HOME ENTERTAINMENT)

An ok thriller Dario Argento also known as "Giallo"

A young woman named Linda (Emmanuelle Seigner) believes that her sister, who is a fashion model has been kidnapped in Italy, and the police don't seem too concerned.

They refer her to Inspector Enzo Avolfi (Adrien Brody) who is currently working on a case of missing women. He and Linda team up and Enzo believes that it is worse than just a usual kidnapping.

They discover she has been kidnapped by a sadistic madman known only as "yellow".

There are some very good scenes in this film and some that will make you wince, but all in all it just comes out as an ok film with nothing to really make it stand out.

The women are beautiful, of course, and as most people know there was a lot of chaos behind the scenes after the movie wrapped and it was delayed coming out for a while.

The climax is well done and to me the ending of the film was a head scratcher, but I can't complain much. The movie kept my attention, and it might keep yours as well. It couldn't hurt to check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Dean Cain is 59, and France Nuyen is 76.

MANIAC 1977 (TUBI)

This is also known as "Assault In Paradise" and "The Ransom"

This was picked up by Roger Corman's New World Pictures for distribution and they tacked on a murder scene at the beginning of the film that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, but it does get your attention.

An Indian travels around in a small resort town and kills the rich people with a high powered bow and arrow and demanding a 4 million dollar ransom to stop the killing.

This is an odd movie with no point, but that isn't to say that it's not entertaining. The cast alone sold the movie for me. There are some great set pieces and this film seems like typical drive-in fare of the 70's.

Paul Koslo is Victor, the Indian killer, but it is never made clear if he's a real Indian or what. Not that it matters with movies like this, but it was just weird to me.

The cast includes Oliver Reed, Deborah Raffin, John Ireland, Stuart Whitman, Jim Mitchum and Paul Roland.

This little gem is obscure and really needs to be seen more. Check it out if you get a chance and see if this doesn't take you back to a better time when movies didn't have to be perfect to entertain.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Arnold Schwarzenegger is 78, Jaime Pressly is 48, Vivica A. Fox is 61, and Monique Gabrielle is 63.

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY TO...

Maura Monti turned 83 on July 28.

HONEY 1981 (TUBI)

A strange film that I am still not sure I liked or not.

The movie opens with a young, attractive woman named Escritora (Catherine Spaak) coming to the home of an editor and forcing him at gunpoint to read a manuscript out loud.

The story he reads centers around a young woman, Anny (Clio Goldsmith) checking into a weird hotel and all of the odd people she meets while staying there.

It's an odd mixture of passion, fetish and just plain weirdness. It may hold your attention, and it may not. It held mine, but barely. I can't say I recommend this, but I can say I remember the Vestron Video box in many video stores in the 80's and 90's.

The rest of the cast includes Fernando Rey, Nieves Navarro, Donatella Damiani and Adriana Russo. If you find it on streaming and are curious, by all means check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Robert Fuller is 92, Alexandra Paul is 62, Delia Sheppard is 65, Tina Krause is 55, Roz Kelly is 82, Scott Steiner is 63, and Enzo. G. Castellari is 87.

RIP JUNE WILKINSON 1940-2025

One of the most well known pin-ups and actresses has passed away.

Most people, including myself will always remember June by her fantastic figure, but she made quite a few films that are ubnfirgettable as well, and a few that are best forgotten.

Her best roles were in such films as "Private Lives Of Adam And Eve", "Career Girl", "The Continental Twist", and her most famouse role in the 1960 voodoo horror film "Macumba Love".

She was married to football star Dan Pastorini for 9 years and she even cut a single with Mamie Van Doren entitled "The Bikini With No Top On Top".

June Wilkinson passed away on July 21,2025 at the age of 85.

NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL 1956 (KIT PARKER FILMS)

Incredible and excelent film noir.

Broderick Crawford stars as top crime syndicate boss Charlie Lupo.

Lupo hires a hitman from Chicago named Nick Magellan (Richard Conte) to get rid of an enemy, which Nick does without feeling or empathy.

Nick becomes Charlie's right hand man and both form a tight bond. However, Charlie's daughter Kathy (Anne Bancroft) is fed up with her family and thier ties to the criminal underworld.

It's slowly destroying her life and that of her father and his mother played by Celia Lovsky. Once this movie starts, it never lets up as one scene just smoothly flows into another.

The conclusion has Charlie trying to flee New York for Florida as the Government catches up to him, and the shocking turn of events involving Kathy, Nick and an unknown new hitman. I hesitate to say too much and give anything away, because this film actually works on every level.

This is nothing but classic film noir that I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! The rest of the stellar cast includes Marilyn Maxwell, J. Carrol Naish, Onslow Stevend, Barry Kelley, Mike Mazurki, Nestor Paiva, and Ian Keith.

If you get a chance seek this one out and watch it. It's bleak, dark, moody and one hundred percent entertaining, as movies should be.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Elizabeth Berkley is 53, and Lisa Gastoni is 80.

SCI-FIGHTERS 1996 (VINTAGE HOME ENTERTAINMENT)

Pretty good little sci-fi film that has been compared to "Blade Runner", and while they are somewhat similar, I don't think I'd go that far.

This movie opens on a prison on the moon. Billy Drago is Adrian Dunn, a former cop turned criminal who is serving time. He gets into a circular saw fight with another inmate and wins that battle only to be infected by an alien virus and dying.

His body is sent back to Earth and he comes back to life as an almost indestructible killer and his former partner takes on the case. This is Boston in 2009 and detective Cameron Grayson (Roddy Piper) takes no crap from anyone.

What makes this case even worse is that Dunn is a rapist and is spreading a fatal disease thru the city.Grayson will stop at nothing to destroy Dunn, and there are several great confrentations between the two of them. Drago is always a great villian, and Pipers' character is a great play off of that.

Th world depicted in this sci-fi film is a dark and bleak world of very little sunlight due to a strange dust surrounding the planet, and the cities are dark and dirty, much like they are today anyway.

Piper gets to show his acting chops once again, but this time there is more depth as we see him with many different emotions and he carries the film along with Drago.

The rest of the cast includes the beautiful Jayne Heitmeyer, Tyrone Benskin, Richard Raybourne, and Karen Elkin.

If you get a chance to see this and you're a sci-fi fan you need to seek it out. I can recommend this one highly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Gwynne Gilford is 79, Maureen McGovern is 76, and Danielle De Metz is 87.

JET STORM 1959 (TUBI)

Interesting thriller from the man who brought you "Fire Maidens Of Outer Space", Cy Endfield.

Richard Attenborough stars as Ernest Tilley, a man whose young daughter was killed in a hit and run accident two years prior to the day this takes place.

Tilley is grief stricken and he follows the man who did it onto an airplane and threatens to blow up the plane in an act of revenge against the man who killed his daughter as well as against the entire world.

Stanley Baker is the pilot named Bardow, who tries to find out where Tilley has hidden the bomb. This plays out very well and Attenborough is perfect as the insane Tilley.

Of course, in movies like this there are various sub-plots about some of the passengers, but it still works well. There is one shocking scene involving the man Tilley accuses of killing his daughter and an open window on the aircraft at 40,000 feet.

I found myself enjoying this movie and got pretty wrapped up in it. The rest of the cast includes Diane Cilento, Barbara Kelly, David Kossoff, Virginia Maskell, Elizabeth Sellars, Mai Zetterling, Marty Wilde, Patrick Allen, Megs Jenkins, Jocelyn Lane and Hermoine Baddeley.

This obscure little movie is available on Region 2 DVD, but has yet to make it to US shores, but you can catch it on TUBI if you're interested.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Susan George is 75, and Linda Harrison is 80.

JOHNNY EAGER 1941 (WARNER ARCHIVE)

A great early 40's film noir from director Mervyn LeRoy.

Robert Taylor stars as Johnny Eager, a gangster who is out on parole and while he is running a top crime ring in the city, he is hiding it from the parole officials and he has them believing he is only a cab driver living at home with a mother and his younger sister.

Taylor is very good in the role of a ruthless man who has no idea what it is to feel anything for anyone. His life is somewhat tilted a bit when he meets Lisbeth Bard (Lana Turner). At their first meeting we all can see that she wants him and vice versa.

Eager is planning on opening a dog racing track, but John Benson Farrell (Edward Arnold) stands in his way. Farrell is a top man in town and Eager discovers that Bard is his daughter, so he sets Bard up by making her believe that she killed a man while defending Eager himself. This will keep everyone quite as nobody wants bad press.

The movie moves along very well and everyone in the movie is a fine tuned machine. There was a lot of backstory on this film and I'm not going into that there except to say I can understand easily why Taylor fell in love with Turner during this movie. Lana was 20 at the time and gorgeous as any woman has the right to be.

The rest of the cast includes Van Heflin, Robert Sterling, Patricia Dane, Barry Nelson, Paul Stewart, Glenda Farrell, and Diana Lewis.

Since this is film noir, everything comes to a bad end for every character, but damn, this is a GREAT movie and should be seen by every fan of film noir or just plain well made American films.

RIP TERRY BOLLEA 1953-2025

Well I have to admit I hate writing this.

The single greatest wrestler in the history of the sport has passed away. Hulk Hogan was a part of my life since the mid 80's and eventually became a good friend and a teacher.

Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea began his career in pro wrestling in 1977 and was known then as "Sterling Golden". Bollea worked his butt off to become a bigger star and he did so when he entered the WWF and entered the ring against the "Iron Shiek".

Later are Wrestlemania 3 his bout with Andre The Giant was the most watched match in history at that point. From then on Hogan became a household word and a great fan favorite.

Bollea also made several movies when under contract to WWF, but as time wore on and the years past his good guy persona became tiresome. Bollea went to WCW and ted Turner in 1994. Two years after that on July 7, 1996 Hulk Hogan became a bad guy along with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, forming a group called "New World Order".

This was and still is in my opinion the greatest thing to ever happen in the wrestling business.

Besides the NWO, Hogan worked behind the scenes as a booker and he resumed his acting career. Hogan went to TNA wrestling with his daughter, the beautiful Brooke Hogan after WCW went out of business.

Terry Bollea was a friend, teacher and damn nice man. Terry Bollea passed away on July 24, 2025 at the age of 71 from cadiac arrest. You will be missed my friend, but nobody will ever forget you.

RIP CHUCK MANGIONE 1940-2025

The talented jazz musician has passed away.

Chuck Mangione was a giant in the music industry and I enjoy his music any day of the week. Many times I have come home from work and listened to his album entitled "Feels So Good" and it did.

His biggest hit was also entitled "Feels So Good" as it hit number 4. Mangione will be missed by millions of fans, but his musical legacy will live on forever.

Chuck mangione passed away on July 22, 2025 at the age of 84.

CURSE OF THE KOMODO 2004 (TUBI)

Again, another movie I hadn't seen in years....15 to be exact.

I wrote on this blog about this movie in 2010 when I owned the DVD. Cannot believe that all this time has passed so quickly. Anyhow, I figured I'd write about it again since I love the movie so much.

Jim Wynorski directed this fun low budget effort anout scientifically created giant Komodo dragons terrorizing people on a small island near Hawaii.

The scientists on the island are soon joined by four other people who have been involved in robbing a casino and have been forced to land on the island due to a bad storm.

The scientists are protected from the monsters by a strong electrical fence set up around the home they are in, but the genarator is failing fast.

The small group soon finds themselves fighting to stop from becoming lizard food, and to make things worse, if a person gets some of the monsters' saliva on them they are infected and become people eating zombies!!

I really liked this movie. It's fast moving and the cast is great for an early 2000's B movie. The cast includes Tim Abell, Melissa Brassille (as hot as ever), Gail Thackray, William Langlois, Glori-Anne Gilbert, Paul Logan, Ted Monte, Jay Richardson, Arthur Roberts, Richard Gabai and Buck Flower.

Don't bother with all the negative crap online. See it and decide for yourself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jennifer Lopez is 56, Lynda Carter is 74, Shawn Weatherly is 66, and Torrie Wilson is 50.

DEAD AND BURIED 1981 (BLUE UNDERGROUND) BLU-RAY

A very unique film that hasn't gotten the attention I think it deserves.

A sheriff named Dan Gillis (James Farentino) investigates several grisley murders in his small town of Potters Bluff.

During his investigation he slowly discovers that dead people are coming back to life and killing visitors to the community. He also discovers a book on witchcraft and voodoo in his wife Janet's dresser.

Janey (Melody Anderson) is a school teacher and all really seems normal, but Dan knows something isn't right, so he consults with the town coronor, Bill Dobbs (Jack Albertson).

After this encounter Dan really does suspect his wife is in on the murders, but all is NOT what it seems and Dan learns the terrible truth at the end of the movie. I'm not going to say anymore. If you haven't seen this you should. It took me 44 years to finally see it again.

The killings in this film are really gruesome and the needle in the eye scene is an excellent special effect handled by Stan Winston, of course. The Blu-ray presentation is top notch and the extras are very informative about the making of this movie.

This is a highly recommended thriller that really has a great twist that you'll not soon forget. I hadn't forgotten it in 44 years.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Charisma Carpenter is 55, Ronnie Cox is 87, Lydia Carnell is 72, and Erika Blanc is 83.

A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL 1990 (TROMA)

What a movie.

Brett Piper has directed a few movies since this one and some of them aren't too bad.

This is a very odd movie with very little dialogue. The plot is very simple in that it involves a young woman named Lea (Linda Corwin) who struggles to survive in a post-Armageddon world populated by mutants, dinosaurs and assorted creatures.

The stop motion effects aren't too shabby and I imagine they took up most of the budget on this film. I don't care what people say, I think stop motion is much better than CGI of today, and Piper pulls it off very well.

Corwin makes for an attractive lead and her voice over during the opening credits makes this sound like a campy comedy, and it's not. I think Troma did it to market the movie that way however.

The movie is slow going sometimes, but if you're inclined to see what the film is like, go ahead an do so. You might like it. I admit I liked it more than I thought I would.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Erica Gavin is 78.

DRIVING FORCE 1990 (TUBI)

This was not too bad of a film.

It's an somewhat obscure action film that takes place in an undislcosed future time. Sam Jones stars as Steve, a single man trying to raise his small daughter in a world of high crime and massive unemployment.

Steve is hired by a towing company and soon learns the hard way that a rival company is causing accidents in order to create more business. Steve meets a beautiful woman named Harry (Catherine Bach) after he gets attacked by three men and Steve soon starts a relationship with Harry.

However, he still has his problems with the rival company. Things spiral out of control until Steve, his daughter and Harry are put in mortal danger by the leader of the rival company named Nelson (Don Swayze).

Steve is pushed too far and seeks revenge against Nelson and his two friends. The end chase scene is pretty well done for a movie like this. If you like movies such as "Road Warrior" and others, you might enjoy this.

This was filmed in the Philippines and you can spot that very quickly. I gives this film extra credit for having Catherine Bach cast in it. Such a sexy woman, and her character is very well done.

The rest of the cast includes Billy Blanks, Stephanie Mason, Robert Marius, Gerald Gordon, Renata Scott and Marilyn Bautista.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Adrienne King is 65, and Anne Libert is 79.

FAST COMPANY 1979 (BLUE UNDERGROUND) BLU-RAY

David Cronenberg film about drag racing.

William Smith stars as Lonnie Johnson, a drag racer who is on top of the sport at the moment. He is the star driver for a sponser named Fast Company whch is headed by a crooked man named Phil Adamson (John Saxon).

Johnson and Adamson come to blows many times and when Adamson tells Johnson he cannot race, he decides to steal the car and race it anyway. There are some great drag racing scenes and accidents.

This isn't too bad of a film mixing drag racing and drama with some very mild comedy thrown in as well. The cast handles everything very well, and aside from being directed by Cronenberg, I watched this because of the cast.

The cast includes Claudia Jennings, Judy Foster, Nicholas Campbell and Cedric Smith.

It's a fun way to kill 90 minutes and it's very different from the films Cronenberg is known for. The disc presentation is very good and the colors are crisp and really stand out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Camille Keaton is 78.

THE MONKEY'S PAW 1948 (RENOWN)

This is a British version of the oft filmed tale.

The movie slowly builds to a woman wishing that her dead son would return from the dead after an automobile accident.

I assume that everyone reading this knows how the story goes and most versions never show too much. However, this is a let down as you never see the son, but you know he's at the door of the home before he is wished back to the grave.

This runs just over an hour which is good, but it might have been even better at 30 minutes. The cast is good in their respective roles and the direction is well handled.

I can recommend this only to those who have never seen the tale told in other movies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Elizabeth Kaitan is 65, and Peter Barton is 69.