TIME GUARDIAN 1987 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Strange and bizarre sci-fi from the late 80's.

In a very distant future a race of beasts run the Earth and an entire city of people are forced to travel back to the past in order to try and change the future.

Tom Burlinson is Ballard, the time guardian and the man who first arrives in 1987 and meets a lovely woman naked Annie played by Nikki Coghill. Over time he convinces her he is from the future and needs her help. Soon the entire city arrives in the past and so do the ruling beasts.

The countryside is laid to waste as the forces battle, with good eventually winning out. Annie decides to go into the future with Ballard and all ends well.

This is as bizarre of a film as I have seen in some time. The Aussie countryside is nice to look at an so is Nikki Coghill for that matter. Dean Stockwell is on hand as the Boss of the city and Carrie Fisher is Petra, a woman who dies for her beliefs of a free future.

There are plenty of plot holes and the film doesn't really gel, but it holds your attention. Not nearly one of the best of the 80's and it seems that late shooting script revisions and a lack of money hampered this film a great deal. The print from Shout is excellent and I do think you should give it a try.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is 95, and Rex Reason is 85.

THE ASPHYX 1973 (REDEMPTION)

Well made horror thriller.

Interesting film about an English Squire who is experimenting with immortality and finds a way to actually capture the spirit of death..or Asphyx as it is called.

Robert Stephens is Sit Hugo Cunningham who stops at nothing to capture the spirit. The several experiments he conducts end in catastrophe and death to those around him. He captures his own death spirit, and locks it away. His final experiment results in the death of his adoptive son and he learns that eternal life on earth is a curse, not a gift.

Robert Powell is the adoptive son, Giles Cunningham and he does an excellent job with the role. it is he that dooms his father to eternal life and if you watch the film you'll know why. The Blu-Ray disc contains both the English cut at 86 minutes and the US edit which is 98. The picture is sharp and clear and the audio is top notch.

I will not give too much away but I always loved the opening shots and the closing shots as they really hit home. Recommended.

RIP TONY MUSANTE 1936-2013

The actor best known from the TV show Toma has passed away at the age of 77.

Musante will always be remembered for playing the tough cop Toma, but he also appeared in many Broadway plays and some Italian thrillers including the classic Bird With The Crystal Plummage.

He died from a hemorrhage after oral surgery on Nov. 26th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Jerry Lawler is 64.

BLOOD FREAK 1972 (SOMETHING WEIRD)

What would Turkey Day be without this little gem?

I love the 70's. I grew up in them, and saw some of the damnedest movies ever made. This is one of them!!

Steve Hawkes is Herschell, a man who has cpme back from Viet Nam and is now drifting. He finds a very lovely young woman having car trouble and she takes him to where she and her sister live. Now her sister is even hotter and old Herschell falls for heer right away, and who wouldn't?

She convinces him to use some weed and he does. This makes Herschell fell good so he uses more. he then gets a job at a turkey ranch and is tricked into eating a bird laced with a new drug and this turns our hero into a turkey headed monster who needs the blood of drug addicts to stay alive.

There are truly some amazing things in this film including the fact our monster gobbles like a turkey. meanwhile the woman he helped on the highway, named Angel is trying to find out what happened and her sexy as hell sister isn't cooperating. Soon Herschell finds his way home and cralws into bed with Ann, and instead of being shocked we hear her say things like "Oh Herschell" and moaning in ecstacy and then the classic line "What will our children look like?"

I have said it before and I will say it again, you gotta see this film to believe it. It's the first and ONLY Turkey Monster-Anti Drug-Pro Jesus-Gore Film in history. Have a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Ed Harris is 63, Joe Dante is 67, and James Karen is 90.

TRACKDOWN 1976 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Well made and sadly little seen film.

A young woman, played by gorgeous Karen Lamm leaves her brothers Montana ranch and heads for Los Angeles. There she meets nothing but trouble as she is raped by a Mexican gang and then sold into prostitution. Her brother played by Jim Mitchum comes looking for her.

He, of course gets no help from the authorities and he soon starts handing things his own way. He is aided by a social worker played by Cathy Lee Crosby and a young man named Chucho played by Eric Estrada. Mitchum leaves no stone unturned in looking for his sister and he resorts to killing those that get in his way.

He finally finds his sister, who has been beaten to death by a violent client and so he in turn kills the slime that ruined her life. This is a fine film and very well done. The acting is very, very goo and Mitchum is perfect for his role. The ending is somewhat of a downer, but that is what makes it work so well.

The supporting cast is marvelous and includes Anne Archer as a prostitute who helps Lamm and then is shockingly killed in a scene that really has some impact, Vince Cannon and John Kerry.

I highly recommend this film to anyone. Parts of it will make you angry, but that is the power this film has. Sadly is has been ignored, but thanks to Shout Factory it is available on DVD.

SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL 1958 (OLIVE)

Obscure western on a terrific Blu-Ray release.

Charles Bronson stars as a bounty hunter/Sheriff who kills an outlaw in a small town that loved him.

He meets nothing but attempted murder and many other problems including his being unable to collect his bounty on the man. This is a very well crafted western with a great supporting cast including John Carradine, Robert Hutton, Carole Matthews and Thomas B. Henry.

I saw this many years ago and fell in love with the story and was a bit surprised when Olive decided to release this on a Blu-ray, but I am very pleased that they did. Westerns of the 50's were a different breed indeed and I cannot recommend this enough if you like westerns.

Bronson turns in a top notch performance as a man only doing his job who is turned upon by everyone in town. Get this movie and see if it doesn't grab you.

RAMBLINGS...

It seems as if the Blogger if having trouble this morning so I won't be posting anything containing a picture. Hopefully the trouble will be taken care of tomorrow.

SCHIZOID 1980 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Very odd movie finally available on Blu-Ray.

Marianna Hill stars as a woman who is part of a therapy group. Soon the group members start getting murdered in grisly ways by a mad killer with a pair of scissors. Klaus Kinski is the therapist who has an unnatural lust (or so it appears) for his young daughter, played by the lovely Donna Wilkes.

There really isn't a likable character in the movie which is ok for a lurid shocker like this. The murders are done well and it's always a pleasure to see Kinski acting crazy. He and Hill are too busy having sex to notice that his daughter is contemplating suicide by stealing the good doctors gun, and this makes her the usual "red herring" for a while.

While the revelation of the killer is not a shocking it is a mild surprise. Craig Wasson and Christopher Lloyd round out the very interesting cast. The Blu-Ray is very good looking and the movie will never look better than this. It was released on a double feature with the classic "X Ray" (aka Hospital Massacre) which I reviewed a little while back. It makes a hell of a night of viewing. recommended!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Christina Applegate is 42, Noel Neill is 93, Kathryn Grant is 80, Amy Grant is 53, and Beverly Washburn is 70.

AMERICA 3000 (1986 SHOUT FACTORY)

Bizarre and well made film.

This film takes place 900 years after a nuclear war has wiped out the world. The stone age has returned and women rule in Amazon Tribes. Two men who are smart enough to escape start their own tribe and find themselves at war with the Amazons while all they really want to do is teach the women to love again.

The dialogue is something unique that I have really never heard in films before. There are different words for things we take for granted in speech and it makes for a very strange listening experience. I cannot describe it..you have to hear it to know what I am saying.

Laurene Landon stars as Vena, the leader of the Amazon tribe while Chuck Wagner and William Wallace are the two men who form their own tribe. There is plenty of comedy involved in this film and it actually works. it's very dry, but it's there. This film is very watchable and if you like slightly off the wall films you'll love this. And any film with a character called Aargh The Awful is well worth checking out. Shout has turned this out on the set entitled 4 Sci-Fi Movie Marathon which also includes "Arena", "Eliminators" and "The Time Guardian".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Debra Lamb is 50.

BAMBOO GODS AND IRON MEN 1974 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Interesting action film from AIP.

James Iglehart is Calvin Jefferson, a champion boxer on a honeymoon with his wife played by Shirley Washington. In Hong Kong they buy a Buddah which just happens to have hidden inside, a special "whatsit" that some crime lord wants.

This is a great mixture of Kung Fu and Black action films and the actor named Chiquito adds a lot as a comedic but deadly Kung Fu master that helps Calvin out. This is a rare film that most people haven't even heard of and that is a shame. Thanks to Shout it has been released on a good DVD set entitled 4 Action packed Movie Marathon Vol. 2.

This was shot in Hong Kong, China and the Philippines and produced by the one and only Cirio Santiago. If you like action films you'll love this. The climax is unforgettable and I mean that. The rest of the cast includes Vic Diaz, Eddie Garcia and Ken Metcalf.

One note, Shirley Washington does a very good turn as the wife of Calvin. She is very easy on the eyes and delivers the best acting job in the film. Always nice to see Shirley in movies. I don't know what happened to her after 1986 as she seemed to have just disappeared.

BULLETPROOF 1988 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Good actioner.

Gary Busey plays Frank McBain, a former government agent who is called bulletproof because he has been shot 39 times and lived. He is reluctantly called back into action by Miles Blackburn, a not so up front agent played by R.G. Armstrong. It seems that a top secret weapon has been stolen by a band of renegades in Mexico and along with it a few captives have been taken including McBain's former lover Capt. Devon Shepard, played by lovely Darlanne Fluegel.

McBain makes his way to the renegade camp and soon all hell brakes loose. The camp is run by Ge. Maximiliano Brogado played by Rene Enriquez and Col. Kartiff played by the versatile Henry Silva, whom I think turns in the best performance in the film.

Steve Carver directed and Fred Olen Ray and T.L. Lankford wrote the story. This is a good solid B action film which follows all the rules for these films, but the R rating throws me just a little, but then again I never understood the need for a movie rating system anyway. The rest of the cast includes L.Q. Jones, Thalmas Rasulala, William Smith, Luke Askew and Lydie Denier.

Released by Shout on a set called 4 Action Packed Movie Marathon vol. 2, this two disc set also contains "Bamboo Gods and Iron Men", "Trackdown" and "Scorchy". Well worth getting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Jamie Lee Curtis is 55, and Robert Vaughn is 81.

TARANTULA 1955 (UNIVERSAL)

My all time favorite big bug films of the 50's.

A tarantula escapes from a lab after being injected with a growth serum and begins to terrorize the countryside around a small desert community.

I hate spiders, but I love movies about them because I know they cannot get to me from the screen. John Agar stars as a small town doctor who is puzzled by some strange deaths around the town of Desert Rock. Leo G. Carroll is Prof. Deemer who created the monster and gorgeous Mara Corday is Stephanie Clayton the young assistant to the good doctor.

The effects for the spider are very well done as they used a real Tarantula for most of the shots and a studio prop for close up shots as it eats it's prey. As a child this movie really creeped me out and it still does to some extent. The acting is very good as always in a Jack Arnold film and the desert phototgraphy is stunning.

Carroll's performance as the scientist who created the monster by mistake is very good and his fate is one of the many high points of the film. The rest of the cast includes Nestor Paiva as the Sheriff, Ross Elliot, Hank Patterson and Raymond Bailey. Clint Eastwood has a small role as the heroic jet pilot.

Recommended for any fan of horror, especially 50's horror.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Nicollette Sheridan is 50.

A BOY AND HIS DOG 1975 (SHOUT FACTORY)

A amusing and very well made film.

In the year 2024, after WW4, a young man and his dog walk the land searching for food and women. The young man named Vic, played by Don Johnson communicates with his dog named Blood telepathically, and their dialogue is priceless.

Vic meets a woman named Susanne and she seduces him and takes him to a weird underground world where the people all wear clown make-up! They cannot reproduce since they have lived underground for so long, and they want to drain Vic of his sperm and then be rid of him.

The underground world is lead by a man called Lou, played by Jason Robards. Finally Vic escapes with Susanne, reunites with Blood..and they..well see it for yourself. The ending is very good and always leaves me smiling rather sardonically.

Based on the Novella by Harlen Ellison, this film was produced by the team of L.Q. Jones and Alvy Moore who actually made some of the best movies of this kind during this time period. Shout Factory has put this wonderful film on Blu-Ray and it looks the best it will ever look.

The rest of the cast includes Alvy Moore, Helene Winston, Charles McGraw and Tim McIntire as the voice of Blood. Blood the dog is actually Tiger from The Brady Bunch.

This is a film you will want to add to your collection.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Bo Derek is 57, and Mia Hama is 70.

X RAY 1982 (SHOUT FACTORY)

You really have to suspend disbelief to watch this one.

Barbi Benton is a sexy young woman who goes to a hospital to get the results of some tests she had run. As soon as she enters the hospital she finds nothing but trouble. It seems everyone there is crazy and a madman begins stalking her and killing everyone she meets.

It seems that 19 years earlier she rejected a Valentine from a young boy who killed her friend, and now he is going to get revenge on her for the rejection. Nobody at the hospital believes her story about someone trying to kill her and they even keep her there by force and when I say force that means strapping her to a table!! Now, I wouldn't mind having Barbi in bondage in 1982 either, but that is beside the point.

When I said you have to really suspend disbelief I meant it. Why? Well lets see, you have a male doctor doing an exam on a topless Barbi Benton with no Nurse around, you have a hospital keeping people in against their will, you have a killer who manages to type an entire medical record for someone in just a few moments, etc, etc.

There is even a moment in the film where Barbi is running and she happens upon a room full of patients in traction who suddenly begin flailing themselves around for no reason!! You have to see it to believe it. And the guy that took Barbi to the hospital doesn't even go in to check on her until several hours have passed!!

Now on the plus side you have Barbi Benton topless, Barbi in Bondage, Barbi sweating, oh and did I mention that Barbi is topless?

If you want truly over the top entertainment that will tax your very soul, then this is the film for you. Shout has turned out this film on a beautiful Blu-Ray combo with Schizoid (review forthcoming). I am very sure in my life I will never see another film like this one. I just keep thinking to myself....wow Barbi topless..Barbi in Bondage....Barbi....................................

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Alan Young is 94.

ELIMINATORS 1986 (SHOUT)

A very fun film.

A scientifically created "Mandroid", a martial arts warrior, a scientist, her pet robot and a river boat guide team up for some wild action in this wonderful send off of just about everything.

The mandroid has sought out certain people in order to stop a villian doctor from using a time machine he has created for evil purposes. Patrick Reynolds is the "mandroid", Denise Crosby is the female scientist and Andrew Prine is the river boat guide who cannot seem to figure out what the hell is going on. His performance is priceless.

The action is pretty much non-stop and I simply love the line Prine has when he says "I feel like I'm in a science fiction movie!" This was released by Empire Pictures to 1000 theaters in 1986. I missed it then, but thanks to Shout I finally got a chance to see it.

If you're a fan of 80's sci-fi you will want to check this out. It has been released on a set of four films called Sci-Fi Movie Marathon which also includes "Arena", "America 3000" and "The Time Guardian". Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Peta Wilson is 43, Shari Shattuck is 53, and Ian McCulloch is 74.

RAMBLINGS.....

In two weeks I begin my countdown of the 50 best DVD releases of the year. I can't believe it's that time already. two companies dominate the chart this year and there are more collection sets than have ever been on the list before as well. I am sure some of my picks will surprise you. It all starts on Dec. 1st.

ARENA 1989 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Forgotten 80's science fiction.

In the far future there is an intergalactic fighting competition that is always won by much larger and stronger life forms than humans. One human, Steve Armstrong enters the competition because he needs the money. He finds it an uphill battle as he also has a crime lord of the future trying to sabotage his plans.

Paul Satterfield is Armstong and lovely Claudia Christian is the fight manager who has a thing for the Earthman. Shari Shattuck is the very sexy Jade, a seductress sent by a crime lord named Rogor to seduce him and eventually kill him.

Thus is not a bad film and if you stick with it you'll find yourself getting more and more into the story. Shout released this on a four film set which also includes "The Eliminators", "America 3000" and "The Time Guardian". I recommend this film to any 80's sci-fi fan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Zoe Bell is 35, Daisy Fuentes is 47, and Gordon Lightfoot is 75.

ABDUCTED 2013 (RINGDIVAS)

Well....where to begin?

Every once in a while I get to see a film that is hard to actually put into any category. This is one of them.

A young woman has a fight with her mother over a boyfriend and is thrown out of the house. She hitches a ride with a man who proceeds to knock her unconscious and brings her to his out of the way place and proceeds to chain her up in his garage.

Over the next few days he tortures her and seems to be enjoying himself until she manages to escape and the movie ends. Ok...that is the plot and the movie, actually this is a short as it only runs about 39 minutes.

The technical aspects of the film could be much sharper and sometimes the scenes are a little out of focus, but I am not going to carp over that. I know exactly what these people go thru to make these ultra low budget films. The star of the film is a young woman who calls herself Cali Danger. She is one of the most attractive women I have ever laid eyes on! Long, lovely red hair and absolutely no tattoos whatsoever.

Cali is also a female wrestler in the Ring Divas Company and she is aspiring to be an actress and she is doing everything she can to make that ream a reality, and I for one am hoping that happens for her. Her performance as the young woman is good for what it consists of. This actually reminded me of some of the Dave Friedman movies I have seen and some of the short loops they used to make.

Cali spends almost the entire movie chained up and being tortured and she never gets nude once. I understand she has a stipulation in her contracts that prohibits that. Do I care? Nope. Ring Divas is an interesting company and I wish them all the success in the world. Again, the film needs some technical improvements, and those will come in time, and as long as Cali Danger makes films I will watch, no matter what. She is really someone to keep an eye out for.

The movie is something I would recommend for those who want something different and it can be ordered from the RingDivas.com website.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Steve Railsback is 68, Joanna Pettet is 71, Patricia Barry is 92, and Darlene Tompkins is 73.

THE DEADLY COMPANIONS 1961 (MILL CREEK)

Excellent Sam Peckinpah western.
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Brian Keith is a man who accidentally kills a woman's son during a gun battle with outlaws and tries to make up for it by leading the funeral procession thru dangerous Indian territory. Along for the trip are his two "friends" played by Chill Wills and Steve Cochran and both do an excellent job.

The woman, Kit Tildon, is played by gorgeous Maureen O'Hara and she steals the movie as the tough yet very tender woman who comes to understand and even fall in love with Keith's rugged character. Peckinpah does well with his first feature film as director and his love of the western genre is evident here.

Cochran and Wills are perfect in their roles as totally slimy men who want nothing more than to have money and O'Hara as their own. Others in the cast include Strother Martin (a staple in many Peckinpah films), Will Wright and Billy Vaughn. I know there are better prints than the one I saw on Mill Creek and if you like Westerns I suggest you seek this one out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Petula Clark is 81, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad is 68.

EVIL LAUGH 1986 (NAVARRE)

Strange film.

A group of young medical students attempt to reopen an abandoned orphanage which was the scene of a terrible mass murder ten years before...mayhem ensues.

The students are dispatched in many various and gory ways including an ax, knife, machete and a microwave oven! One of the students reads Fangoria magazine and watches horror films so he knows how to survive the massacre.

Yes this is a cliche ridden film, but it is a fun one to be sure. Steven Baio stars and produced this film and Ashlyn Gere is also in this under the name Kim McKamy. The incredibly sexy Karyn O'Bryan is a standout and you'll probably recognize her from many, many TV spots she has done over the years.

Not a great film, but a good one for horror fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO......

Sandahl Bergman is 62, and Kathleen Hughes is 85.