Wednesday, July 16, 2014

DAMNATION ALLEY 1977 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Revisiting one of my favorite 70's films.

This movie is based on the Roger Zelazny novel of the same name. George Peppard stars as the leader of a group of survivors of a nuclear war who have an all terrain vehicle and decide to travel to Albany, NY to find survivors.

They are based in California and after an explosion wipes out all but four of them, they figure there is no reason to stay. Other survivors include Kip Niven, Jan Michael Vincent and Paul Winfield. Niven is killed when one of the vehicles is caught in a storm and tossed over.

The small group find a female survivor in Las Vegas played by Dominique Sanda and then they travel to Salt Kale City, inly to find it overrun by armor plated, flesh eating cockroaches. Winfield becomes a snake for the creatures in a scene I will never forget. It has always bothered me.

Still pressing on, they find a teenage boy played by Jackie Earle Haley and bring him along. Some insane mountain men are the next problem, but they are killed and the four survivors make their way to Albany and fins other survivors. The ending of the movie does give humanity some hope.

This is a good movie no matter what others say. The story just pulls you in and it is good enough to keep you along for the ride. The rest of the cast includes Seamon Glass and an uncredited Murray Hamilton.

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