RAW FORCE 1982 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

This is one wild and strange film.

It's the story of a small group of martial arts students who are planning on visiting an island that is said to be the home of the ghosts of martial artists who have died without honor.

While this may sound bizarre in itself, they soon come up against a Hitler look alike that is using this island to steal valuable minerals. Oh...but wait...the island offers much more.

The island is also home to monks who are actually cannibals and to a host of walking dead karate experts!! Yep, this outrageous film has it all. You get tons of karate fighting, gun fights, bloodshed and female nudity.

The Hitler look alike is named Thomas Speer (Ralph Lombardi) and he sells young women to the monks so they can eat. This is wild as heck, and if you're able to let go of logic for 90 minutes, you'll enjoy the hell outof this movie.

The remarkable cast includes Cameron Mitchell, Geoffrey Binney, Hope Holiday, Jillian Kesner, John Dresden, Jennifer Holmes, Camille Keaton and Vic Diaz as gthe head of the Monks.

The presentation of the Blu-ray is beautiful and I cannot recommend this enough for fans of 80's action/horror film. Hey, if you're fan of the beautiful Jillian Kesner you'll enjoy it as well. We lost her way to soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ken Foree is 76, and Yanti Somer is 76.

RIP MICHAEL JONES 1961-2024

Another professional wrestler has died.

Michael Jones was better known as Vincent and then Virgil, the bodyguard of "The Million Dollar Man".

Later he went to WCW and became part of The NWO, the greatest heel group in history. I first saw him on Memphis Wrestling as "Soul Train Jones".

Jones passed away on February 28th, 2024 at the young age of 61.

RIP ALAN ROGOWSKI 1942-2024

One of the best to EVER step in a wrestling ring has died.

You knew him better as Ole Anderson. He started his career in 1967 after being trained by Dick The Bruiser and Verne Gagne. He wrestled in the American Wrestling Association.

He worked his way thru the business and became one of the biggest heels ever to grace the sport. He was a founding member of "The Four Horsemen" and his career long feud with Dusty Rhodes is the thing legends are made of.

In later years he echoed my feelings about how corporate america had destroyed the sport of wrestling. There will NEVER be another Ole Anderson, and the so-called wrestlers today couldn't even tie his boots.

Rest in Peace Alan. You will never be forgotten. Rogowski passed away on February 26th, 2024 at the age of 81.

THE CHEAP DETECTIVE 1978 (TUBI)

A great Neil Simon comedy.

There was a time in America when people had a sense of humor and could laugh. This was before left wing woke took over every aspect of American life.

Peter Falk is Lou Peckinpaugh, a private detective who is working on a case that involves the murder of his partner.

This film is a paraday of "The Maltese Falcon", "Casablanca" and many other 40's film noir thrillers. It is beautifully done and the comedy is so fast and furious you may miss things with only one viewing.

The best part of the film in my opinion is when Lou goes to visit Ezra Dezire (Sid Ceasar) and is almost seduced by Ezra's wife Jezebel (Ann-Margaret). The comedy in this scene is perfect and my God does Ann-Margaret look sexy.

Dom DeLuise is hilarious as Pepe Damascus and John Houseman hits homerun as the fat man named Blubber, which gets Lou in trouble when he enters a bar and calls his name.

I cannot cover eveerything that goes on in this film, but I can recommend it, and I do very much. The rest of the cast includes Eileen Brennan, Stockard Channing, James Coco, Louise Fletcher, Madeline Kahn, Fernando Lamas, Phil Silvers, Marsha Mason, Abe Vigoda and Paul Williams.

If you're old enough to remember humor, this is the movie for you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ali Larter is 48, Cristina Raines is 72, Mimsy Farmer is 79, Rae Dawn Chong is 63, and Stephanie Beacham is 77.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Joanne Woodward is 94 and Rosanna Yanni is 86.

RIP CHARLES DIERKOP 1936-2024

The very well known character actor has passed away.

Dierkop started his very long career in 1961 in an uncredited role on the TV series "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea".

He appeared in almost 120 TV shows and movies in his 56 year career. If you don't know the actor, you'll know his face. Here is just a small sample of his genre credits.

His TV shows include "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea", "Man From U.N.C.L.E", Girl From U.N.C.L.E", "Lost In Space", "Land Of The Giants" and "Batman".

Dierkop's movie credits include "St' Valentines Day Massacre", "Angels Hard As They Come", "City Beneath The Sea", "Night Of The Cobra Woman". "The Hot Box", and "Messiah Of Evil". I think his most controversial role was the killer Santa in "Silent Night Deadly Night".

He could play any role and appeared in every kind of genre you can think of. This talented gentleman passed away on Feb. 25th, 2024 at the age of 87.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Marta Kristen is 79.

SHOGUN'S JOYS OF TORTURE 1968 (TUBI)

What a mind blowing movie!!

This film comprises 3 tales during the Medieval period in Japan. Before the opening credits even finish we see a woman beheaded, another burned alive and yet another torn apart by oxen. What a way to start a movie!

The first tale involves a young women who begins a relationship of a sexual nature with her brother. She gets caught and is tortured by the Shogun justice system. For this crime she is crucified and killed by being put upside down so she will drown in the tide of the ocean.

The second involves some nuns and priests who are caught having relations with one another. All of them are tortured unmercifully and then put to death.

The final tale is about a tattoo artist who wants to make the ultimate canvas on a woman's body. He watches the Shogun master torture women to get his ideas. He eventually goes mad and kills the master, resulting inmhis own death.

This film is chock full of sadism including women being whipped, burned, submerged in water over and over, and generally tortured in any way you could imagine.

Imagine my shock when I saw this was available for streaming, and I knew I had to watch it. The film is very well made and once seen it is not forgotten. There are images that will stick in your mind forever. The print is in Japanese, but has English subtitles.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Diane Baker is 86, Ric Flair is 75, and Maria Kanellis is 42.

HAUNTING FEAR 1990 (TUBI)

One of my first intoductions to the work of Fred Olen Ray.

They claim this is based on an Edgar Allan Poe tale, but I just figured it was a horror tale about a woman who has dreams about being buried alive and it had no connection with the famous author.

Brinke Stevens is Victoria Munroe, a young woman with a lot of money and a dishonest husband who is plotting to kill her. She does not know this at first as she seeks help from her doctor in stopping her dreams.

Victoria's husband Terry (Jay Richardson) is having an affair with his striking and gorgeous secretary Lisa (Delia Sheppard) and thry both want her dead.

It seems that Terry has a gambling problem and owes a huge sum of money to crime boss Visconti (Robert Quarry). Terry wants to use her dreams as a way of killing his wife, so he and Lisa attempt to scare her to death.

The plan backfires on them and Victoria is turned into a raving madwoman with a large knife who exacts her revenge on both Lisa and Terry. I don't care whTat anyone says, this is an excellent thiller.

There are a lot of familiar faces in here, which I will get to in a bit, but I have to mention that the main reason for me being a huge fan of this film isn't that it's a Fred Olen Ray film, it's because of Delia Sheppard. This was the first film I saw this Danish born actress, and I fell in love with her.

She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in films and her character of Lisa is perfect in my opinion. The rest of the cast includes Michael Barryman, Robert Clarke, Hoke Howell, Jan-Michael Vincent, Karen Black and Greta Carlson. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

RIP IRA VON FURSTENBERG 1940-2024

The very beautiful Italian actress and, who was born a Princess has passed away.

She made a lot of movies but the ones she is best known for here in the US aren "The Fifth Cord" and "Five Dolls For An August Moon".

Ira was also an Italian socialite, jewelry designer and was a public relations manager for other fashion designers. She passed away on February 18th, 2024 at the age of 83.

RIP MICHELINE PRESLE 1922-2024

The French actress has passed away.

She appeared in a large number of films in France and most people here in the US haven't seen much of her work.

However most people will remember her here from her work on "The Ray Bradbury Theater" episode entitled "Grandma". She passed away on Feb. 21, 2024 at the age of 101.

ALLIGATOR 2: THE MUTATION 1988 (TUBI)

Some sequels work, some don't..and this one didn't.

I loved the original "Alligator" from 1980 and 11 years later this comes out and I finally watched it. I liked it, but not a lot.

The cast is very good. but the movie itself I found I could take or leave. Once again a giant alligator is killing people in and around a city and a policeman named David Hodges (Joseph Bologna) is trying to convince everyone that he is not crazy when telling the story.

His wife Christine (Dee Wallace) is a medical expert who backs his findings, but his boss, Chief Speed (Brock Peters) and the Mayor (Bill Daily) are controlled by a billionaire businessman named Vincent Brown (Steve Railsback), so the disregard the story.

This movie will remind you of the original Jaws back in 1975 as it plays out the same storyline. The movie is ok, but it seems it just doesn't have the same entertainment value as the first film.

As I said, the cast is fine and they all do a great job with the material they have. The rest of the cast includes Richard Lynch as a big game hunter who gets a little more than he bargained for, Holly Gagnier, Woody Brown, Deborah White and Jack "Wildman" Armstrong.

If you want to, check it out, you might enjoy it more than I did.

CAVALRY CHARGE 1964 (TUBI)

Another Spanish western I really liked.

Alan Scott stars as John Bedford, whis assigned to a nrw fort with the Royal Canadian Mounties. He finds himself in immediate conflict with Corporal Paul White (Frank Latimore) over a beautiful woman named Valerie played by Maria Silva.

As if this isn't enough he also witnesses fur traders killing Indians who have come to sell their furs. He stops the attack, and manages to arrest one of the men and save the life of a gorgeous Indian named Flower Of The Mountain (Diana Lorys).

Bedford is sent to arrest the ones who escaped and while this keeps his away from Valerie he discovers that Flower has fallen in love with him and wants him to stay with her forever. However, too many things make this impossible as Bedford tries to stop a war between the Indians and the white settlers.

I liked this movie more than most people apparently, but for me it was fun and hey, it does have Maria Silva and the ALWAYS gorgeous Diana Lorys, and she was the main reason for me checking this film out.

It moves along quickly and the scenery is stunning. The rest of the cast includes Alfonso Rojas, Barta Barri, Fernando Bilboa and Tito Garcia.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jeri Ryan is 56, and James Hong is 95.

GHOST STORY: HOUSE OF THE BUTTERFLY 1983 (TUBI)

Another in a long line of excellent Japanese ghost stories.

The story is simple enough. A despot ruler sees two women out picking flowers and spices in a small mountain community and decides that he wants one of them for himself.

He has a butterfly tattooed on her as a sign of ownership, but she has been broken to the point where she commits suicide rather than submit to another man desires.

The dead woman Okoto comes back from the dead to avenge herself and many die because of the decisions of one stupid man. Okoto's husband kills himself out of grief, the ruler sees his entire empire collapse oner person at a time as they are killed by the vengeful spirit,

This is an extremely well made thriller and if you like Japanese ghost stories then I can't see you not liking this one. It's both haunting and beautiful at the same time.

I found this by accident on TUBI and gave it a try, which I'm glad I did. I couldn't find too much information on this movie, so I assume it's a slightly rare film that should really be seen more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

William Petersen is 71, and Gary Lockwood is 87.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Rihanna is 36, Jennifer O'Neill is 76, Cindy Crawford is 58 and Gail Kim is 47.

RUNNING TARGET 1956 (TUBI)

An obscure crime film with a good plot.

The entire movie takes place outdoors in the mountains of Colorado. The story opens and we see an escaped convict being gunned down and killed.

He was one of four men who have escaped from prison and being hunted by a sheriff named Scott (Arthur Franz) and a small posse including a woman whose store was broken into by the men.

The woman, Smitty (Doris Dowling) isn't welcomed into the group by most of the men, but she proves she is better at most things than they are. Sheriff Scott dislikes killing, but a bar owner named Jaynes (Richard Reeves) thrives on it.

Jaynes and Scott clash most of the time and finally manage to capture two more of the men alive. There is one left, and this is where the movie takes a bizarre turn.

His name is Kaygo (Myron Healey) and he proves to be the hardest to capture, but he seems to be getting help from someone, and we learn who that someone is at the end of the film.

I won't give it away as it's a neat twist and I think this film should be seen by more people. It's streaming on TUBI as I write this, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check it out.

The Conrad Hall photography is simply gorgeous. The rest of the cast includes James Parnell, Charles Delaney, Gene Roth and Frank Richards. I do want to mention that it's Richard Reeves in a rare leading role that really steals the show.

SUNSET AFTER DARK 1996 (TUBI)

Not too bad of a 90's thriller.

Tony Maggio stars as John Herbert, a struggling screenwriter who is kicked out of his married girlfriends apartment after an argument.

He has been suffering from writer's block and must come up with a good script in order to make some money. He is directed by a friend to a boarding house run by a lovely, but strange woman named Gina (Monique Parent).

The other tenents are bizarre as well. Two of them are retired actresses. One, Anita Bronson (Anita Page) is elderly and hasn't been in a film for over 60 years, and has more than one mental problem.

The other problems John has to deal with is a murder he is suddenly involved in, but he makes the best of it and writes a movie script based on all of this stuff he is going thru.

There are so many weird set pieces in this movie that I guarantee it will hold your attention, and if that doesn't work, we at least have Monique Parent topless in several scenes.

It is interesting to note that actress Anita Page was in this film and hadn't been in a movie for 60 years...just like her character in the film. The ending is twisted and so wrong, but it works very well.

The rest of the cast includes Corbin Timbrook, April Breneman, Scott Forrest and Margaret O' Brien.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Raylin Joy is 37, and Kathy Coleman is 62.

SEVEN DEVILS ON HORSEBACK 1975 (TUBI)

Boy are there a lot of negative things said about this movie.

The plot is pretty straight forward. A man named Jeff McNeal (Dino Strano) has a sister who is raped and killed by the Cooper gang, led by Gordon Mitchell in a great, but small role as the gang leader.

McNeal discovers who did the killing and follows the gang to a small western town called Stanton. McNeal has been there before and his girlfriend, Rosie (Femi Benussi) wishes he would just settle down and take her out of the bar where she works as a sloon dancer.

There are plenty of fistfights and gunfights and the film moves along well, and for the most part I liked it. I guess I am partial because I think Femi Benussi was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in any movie and I would watch her in anything.

It was great to see Gordon Mitchell in this film. He has a certain style I just love in these spaghetti westerns and his peplum films as well. While there is nothing in the film that really stands out above the others in this genre, I sillt like it and would recommend it to any Italian westerns fan.

The rest of the cast includes Mario Brege, Guiseppe Mattei, Mirella Rossi, Rik Battaglia and Luigi Antonio Guerra.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Denise Richards is 53, Paris Hilton is 43, Yvonne Romain is 86, and Don Coscarelli is 70.

THE TALL WOMEN 1966 (TUBI)

A well made Spanish and Italian western with an interesting plot.

One of the writers on this film was Sidney Pink, the man who gave us "Reptilicus" and "Journey To The 7th Planet".

A wagon train is attacked by Apache indians and only seven women escape with their lives. One of the women, Mary Ann (Anne Baxter) takes charge and the women begin a dangerous journey across the desert in an attempt to survive and get to a far away fort.

To make matters worse, they are being tracked by the Apaches who want only to kill them slowly. The women are really put thru the paces as they fight for food, water and theie lives as well as sometimes fighting each other.

It's a slow, progressive story that keeps the viewer interested. I haven't seen any other western like this, but I'm sure there have been others. There were three directors on this film and one of them was Sidney Pink as well.

The rest of the cast includes beautiful Maria Perschy, Maria Mahor, Perla Cristal, Rossella Como, Christa Linder and the always stunningly beautiful Adriana Ambesi.

If you're looking for something a little different you might want to check this out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

David Frankham is 98.

RIP SASHA MONTENEGRO 1946-2024

The actress in many Spanish films had passed away.

The very beautiful Sasha starred in many Santo films including such titles as Santo Vs. Black Magic Woman", "Santo Vs. The Killers From Other Worlds", "Los Vampiros de Coyoacan", "Santo & The Blue Demon Vs. Dr. Frankenstein", and many more.

Sasha passed away on Feb. 14th, 2024 from a stroke at the age of 78.

BRUTE FORCE 1947 (TUBI)

An overcrowded prison called Westgate Penitentiary is the setting for this film noir classic.

Burt Lancaster stars as a prisoner named Joe Collins, a single minded man who dislikes most everyone.

Most of all Collins hates a guard named Munsey (Hume Cronyn) who is chief of the guards and a little man who thrives on power and fear as well as violence.

Collins is planning on a huge prison break and the plan slowly falls into place. The viewer is treated to some of the violence Munsey inflicts on the prisoners, and everytime it happens we feel the anger in Collins rising.

The prison break does not go as planned but it is violent enough with most of the prisoners joining in, that Collins has time to track down Munsey and kill him before he himself dies from gunshot wounds.

A very violent and disturbing film that ends on a very down note, but is excellent on every level. Jules Dassin directed this Mark Hellinger production and they just don't make movies like this anymore.

The rest of the steller cast includes Charles Bickford, Yvonne DeCarlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines, Anita Colby, Jeff Corey, John Hoyt, Sir Lancelot, Whit Bissell and Jay C. Flippen. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jane Seymour is 73, Sherry Jackson is 82, Claire Bloom is 93, Marie Liljedahl is 74, and Melissa Manchester is 73.