CHAMPAGNE AND BULLETS 1993 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

WOW!! This is another movie that has a very troubled production history and is about as bizarre as "The Room".

John De Hart wote, produced, directed and stars in this bizarre thriller that really makes no sense. His character is Rick Bode, a cop that is set up and framed along with his cop friend Huck Finney (Wings Hauser).

They are set up by Normad (William Smith) who is also a secret drug dealer and devil worshipper who likes to sacrifice babies to his leader!!.

The plot, such as it is, revolves around Huck and Rick getting the goods on Normad and getting rid of him. There are many scenes that go nowhere, and there are a few sex scenes that need explanation.

John De Hart is pretty much a one man show here and his drop dead gorgeous leading lady is none other than Pamela Jean Bryant, and the aforementioned sex scenes are between Bolt and Bryant. Hey, I guess if you're going to make a movie starring yourself you might as well have all the good sex scenes with a most beautiful woman.

Hauser is over the top as usual, but very good at it. I found I could relate to his character, and that could be considered scary. The incredibly sexy Pamela Bryant passed away in 2010 from an asthema attack.

If you want to see something very odd and off the wall, this is a good place to start. There are three versions of this movie, and one is much shorter to make the pacing better, but I recommend this full version.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jackie Kong is 68.

CORPSE EATERS 1974 (TUBI)

I have waited 51 years to see this damned movie, and I finally got the chance.

The plot is very simple and straighforward. Two young couples decide to visit a cemetary on Friday the 13th and they proceed to recite an ancient incantation.

The dead actually return to life because of this and devour the living. One of the women is killed and a man is bitten and infected by a zombie.

The ending is a weird twist that I will not reveal here. This film gives the viewer more for its $36,000 budget than most $300 million dollar crapfests today.

It's a very short film. It runs 56 minutes and the low budget shows, of course, but it is very well handled and the film had a very troubled production history, which is common for low budget filmmakers.

I enjoyed seeing this long thought lost film and really recommend it for fans of horror cinema.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Malcolm McDowell is 82, Ally Sheedy is 63, and Richard Thomas is 74.

LADY DYNAMITE 1973 (TUBI)

This is an OK Italian crime drama.

The movie opens at a dinner party for five Mafia families in New York. Contanza Cavallo (Lidia Alfonsi) is made a widow when her husband is killed while giving a speech at the party.

She swears revenge on those who set the hit up and she flies to Italy to dish out the vengeance. The film takes a werid turn here as she hires hit men to go after those she wants dead.

I thought they were going to show us a film like "Foxy Brown" or something like that where the woman takes her bloody revenge, but alas, that is not the case.

Don't get me wrong, the movie moves along well, but it took a path I wasn't expecting. I have read much about this film and many others feel the same way as I do.

If you're a fan of this genre I can tell you the movie will not disappoint as far as action and such, but just beware of the plot change. The rest of the cast includes Anthony Steffen, Venantino Venantini, Carlo Gaddi and Orchidea De Santis.

This is kind of vague I know, but I don't want to give a lot away as I firmly believe you have to see this for yourself without knowing too much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Glori-Anne Gilbert is 56, and Shari Eubank is 78.

RIP CHRIS ROBINSON 1938-2025

A very underrated talent has passed away.

Robinson starred in the daytime soap "General Hospital" as Dr. Rick Webber, and that might be his most famous role, but I grew up watching him in many, many movies.

He made over 100 appearances in various TV shows and movies from 1957 to 2022. Some of the TV shows he appeared on include "Murder She Wrote", "Cannon", Barnaby Jones", "Voyage to The Bottom Of The Sea", "The Invaders" and "Medical Center".

Some of his movies include such favorites of mine as "Beast From Haunted Cave", "Diary of A High School Bride", "Because They're Young", "Cycle Savges", "Darker Than Amber", and his greatest role "Stanley".

Chris Robinson was always a name I enoyed seeing listed on a movie poster. He just acted in great stuff. He passed away on un9, 2025 at the age of 86.

RIP BRIAN WILSON 1942-2025

A music legend is gone.

A legendary song writer and leader of The beach Boys has died.

For as long as I can remember I have loved every tune the Beach Boys ever did. NEVER has a group so influenced my musical taste than the band who made summers the best times of my life.

I needn't go into all of their great music, but I can easily say Wilson was a guiding light. We just lost Sly Stone and now Brian Wilson.

Brian and the Beach Boys..simply the greatest. Brian Wilson passed away on une 11, 2025 at the age of 82.

RIP SYLVESTER STONE 1943-2025

One of my favorite music people has died.

Sly Stone lead the music group Sly and The Family Stone and their music from the 60's and 70's was some of my favorite to hear on the radio.

Some of their great tunes include Dance To The Music (1968), Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (1970, Everyday People and Dance To The Music.

A great singer and songwriter. He will be missed by those of us who grew up with his music.

Sylvester Stone passed away on June 9, 2025 at the age of 82.

BLOODY HANDS OF THE LAW 1973 (TUBI)

I caught this on TUBI streaming, but I believe that at one time it was also on DVD or Blu-ray.

After a crime boss is assassinated all of the people who even witnessed the incident by accident are being killed one by one and the police seem helpless to stop it from happening.

Phillipe Leroy stars as Gianni De Carmine, a determined detective who is going way out of the bounds of normal police procedure to get to the bottom of the killings.

The viewer is never sure who is in charge of these killings, but a character named Vito (Klaus Kinski) appears to helm the lead. This is a very violent and brutal movie with a lot of shocking scenes of murder, especially of characters you're not expecting to be killed.

The cast is outstanding and director Mario Gariazzo handles the film very well. It's also extremely downbeat and the ending is one of the most bleak I have seen in a Giallo in a long time.

The rest of the cast includes gorgeous women such as Silvia Monti and Pia Giancaro plus Cyril Cusack, Guido Alberti and Antonio Monselesan.

This is a highly recommended thriller that no Giallo fan should miss out on.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Adrienne Barbeau is 80, Dawn Wildsmith is 62, and Alaina Capri is 86.

MEET HIM AND DIE 1976 (TUBI)

This movie is also known as "Risking" and is a German-Italian co-production.

Ray Lovelock stars as Massimo Torlani, an undercover cop who gets thrown into a prison as part of an investigation, but Torlani uses this situation to get revenge on the gangsters who shot and crippled his mother.

The movie is well made and I can easily say it's much different than others movies of its kind. Lovelock is very good in the lead role and there is a small amount of violent bloodshed.

Martin Balsam is Giulianelli the leader of a crime syndicate who lives a life of leisure in prison and plots an escape involving Massimo and one other man. Once they break out of jail Massimo works his way up in the gang, but then again, this is just a ploy to get revenge.

The gorgeous Elke Sommer doesn't show up until the final 45 minutes, but seeing her is a bikini makes this forgivable. The ending is an interesting twist involving Sommer and Lovelock, but I won't give it away. There are several great chase scenes and the best one involves a truck and a motorcycle.

There is a German import DVD you can get, or you can also see it on TUBI. I recommend the latter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Elizabeth Hurley is 60, Andrew Stevens is 70, and Luciana Paluzzi is 88.

LUCKY LOSERS 1950 (WARNER ARCHIVE)

This is the 18th of 48 features that the "Bowery Boys" would appear in.

A friend of the boys suddenly kills himself, and Slip (Leo Gorcey) and Sach (Huntz Hall) are determined to get to the bottom of the investigation.

Several clues lead them to a night club and they go undercover as croupiers and discover that their friend didn't commit suicide, but was murdered.

There are some very funny situations in this film and it made me laugh out loud several times. I enjoy these movies a lot and I have to admit I don't recall ever seeing a "Bowery Boys" movie I didn't like.

This is a fun effort and a good one for fans of the series. The rest of the cast includes lovely Hillary Brooke, Gabriel Dell, Lyle Talbot, Bernard Gorcey, Joe Turkel, and Harry Tyler.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Shandi Finnessey is 47, and Marilyn Hanald is 87.