C.H.U.D. 1984 (ARROW) BLU-RAY

I hadn't seen this since it was on HBO many moons ago.

After several disappearances on the streets of New York, the police investigate and everything seems to point to the underground of the city.

Chris Curry stars as Capt. Bosch, a policeman whose wife was one of the victims who vanished. He knows there is something going on and as he digs deeper he find a huge cover up by the government.

It seems that the Government has been dumping toxic waste under the city, and people have been mutating into flesh eating monsters, and the problem has gotten out of hand.

A photographer named George Cooper (John Heard) and a soup kitchen worker named A.J. (Daniel Stern) are also caught in the web of terror and find themselves fighting for survival under the city.

This film isn't too bad at all, a a good bet for horror fans. It spawned several sequels and none of those are even close to how good this one is.

As is well known, this was a very troubled production, but the results are still very good. The rest of the cast includes Kim Griest, Brenda Currin, Michael O' Hare, John Goodman, and Vic Polizos.

The Blu-ray presentation is excellent as always from Arrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Victoria Crawford is 39.

BLOOD TRACKS 1985 (FROLIC)

This shot in Sweden slasher film left me feeling kind of empty.

A rock band is stalked and killed one by one. Who is doing the killings you ask? Have you ever seen "The Hills Have Eyes? There is your answer.

A murderous family is guilty and that is the basic plot summery for this movie. The film offers nothing new in the genre and I have to admit some of the acting is pretty bad, but then again most of the cast was drunk when they filmed this movie.

There are some gruesome killings in this film, but that is all I can say about it. If you're a slasher film fan you might like it, but for others I would say stay away.

The movie even has an open ending as if they were hoping for a sequel. People can dream I guess. Anyway take a stab at it if you want to (no pun intended).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Gary Busey is 81, Maria Conchita Alonso is 70, and Lita Milan is 92.

SODA CRACKER 1989 (TGG DIRECT)

I liked this movie even though it has nothing new to offer, but then again not every movie has to be original to be good.

Also known as "The Kill Reflex", this movie stars Fred Williamson as a cop who suddenly finds himself hunting his partners killer and finds himself also involved in a cover up and cops on the take.

Bo Svenson also stars as Ivan Moss and he is the one out to kill Soda for revenge. Svenson makes a very good killer and he handles everything very well. Williamson also directed this little film, and he did a good job with it as usual.

The movie moves along at a brisk pace and there are a couple of nice twists. As I said, the movie offers nothing new, but I have to admit the performances are good and the cast handles everything very well.

The rest of the cast includes Maud Adams, Phyllis Hyman, Julie Greeg, James Ryan, and Ed Wheeler. Check out this movie...you might like it.

RIP RICK HURST 1946-2025

The very talented actor has died.

Rick Hurst was all over my TV and in many, many movies when I was growing up. His career spanned close to 50 years and he was in almost any kind of movie or TV show.

Some of his many TV show appearances include "Sanford and Son", "Partridge Family", "Kung Fu", "Kojack", "Gunsmoke", "Girl With Something Extra" and much more.

His movie works includes "Get Christie Love", "Legend Of Frank Woods", "Earth Girls Are Easy", "Venomous", and "Retirn Of The Killer Shrews".

With hundreds of credits to his name, Hurst will always be remembered for his role as Cletus Hogg on "Dukes Of Hazzard" which ran from 1979-1982.

Rick Hurst passed away on June 26, 2025 at the age of 79.

RIP AKI ALEONG 1934-2025

The very busy character actor has passed away.

Aki Aleong has a career that spanned close to 70 years. He appeared in literally hundreds of TV shows and movies which went all the way back to 1956.

Some of his TV appearances include "Outer Limits", "Tales Of the Gold Monkey", "V", "The Virginian" and "Suspense".

His many movies included "Motorcycle Gang", "Wackiest Ship In The Army", "Devil's Express", "Hanoi Hilton" and "Fit To Kill", and that is jst the tip of the iceberg.

The Trinidad born actor passed away on June 22, 2025 at the age of 90.

WILD GUITAR 1963 (FILM DETECTIVE)

Simply a classic film in my book for many reasons.

Arch Hall, Jr. stars as Bud Eagle, a young singer from South Dakota who comes to Los Angeles to make it in show business. After an appearance on a local TV show he becomes an instant success.

The owner of a company called Fairway Records named Mike McCauley (Arch Hall, Sr.) signs him up and begins to take total control of his life.

Bud sees no money and begins to wonder if it's all worth it. One thing leads to another and soon Bud finds that Mike has been ripping him off and will continue to do so until Bud decides to put a stop to it.

Ray Dennis Steckler directed this and Cash Flagg as the role as a body guard of Mikes. This was Stecklers first film and it's not too bad at all. There are a lot of famouse people involved with this little gem.

The editor was Anthony Lanza who went on to direct "Incredible Two Headed Transplant" and many more, Joe Mascelli was the director of photography as well as Vilmos Szigmond, and Alan O'Day was the musical editor.

For me anyway this movie was fun and very entertaining. The rest of the cast includes Nancy Czar, Virginia Broderick, Carolyn Brandt, Al Scott and Robert Crumb.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lorrie Morgan is 66.

TUNNELS 1989 (TUBI)

I caught this on TUBI and still cannot believe what I saw.

This is also known as "Criminal Act" and every synopsis I have read tells me it's about two women reporters who discover giant rats living in the sewers under a city.

Well such is just not the case. It's a rather tongue in cheek film about a reporter named Pam Weiss (Catherine Bach) and her assistant, Sharon Fields (Charlene Dallas) who discover tunnels under their newspaper building.

From there we have a story about a building developer who wants all of the homeless people removed from the city so he can develope more property and make tons of money, so he hires criminals to kidnap the homeless and keep them in a prison cell underground until they can ship them off to another country.

Now, I have no idea what this has to do with giant rats. There is a rat0like man running around, but he looks rather normal to be and is no threat at all.

It's an odd movie that cannot make up it's mind what it is. I can tell you this is a standard 80's crime drama with some comedy thrown in, but it's not a horror film as so many reviews state.

The rest of the cast includes John Saxon, Vic Tayback, Nicholas Guest, and Victor Brandt. Catherine Bach looks great as always.

RIP BOBBY SHERMAN 1943-2025

The pop singer and actor has passed away.

Bobby Sherman was best known to me thru his music with such hits as "Easy Come Easy Go" and "Julie Don't Love Me". He was also on the cover of hundreds of magazines thru the 70's.

Sherman also acted in several TV shows and his most famouse role was on a show entitled "Here Comes The Brides" which ran from 1968-1970.

He also had guest roles on such fare as "Emergency", "Honey West" and "Ellery Queen".

Bobby Sherman passed away on June 24, 2025 at the age of 81.

ALBINO 1976 (TUBI)

A strange but interesting movie also known as "Night Of The Askari".

This movie stars Christopher Lee as Bill, the local law enforcement leader in Rhodesia. He fights to maintain law and order while a group of terrorists lead by an albino whom the natives call "Whispering Death" (Horst Frank) are seeking to eradicate the white man from Africa.

One night the terrorists raid a compound and kill a beautiful woman named Sally (Sybil Danning) who was going to be married to a man named Terrick (James Faulkner).

This sets in motion the main part of the plot. Terrick sets out on his own to kill Whispering Death while Bill tries to stop him from taking the law into his own hands.

The movie works very well and is very timely today. I will say this movie is probably the oddest in the career of Horst Frank because of the role he plays, but he does it well and comes across as pure evil in many ways.

Sybil Danning looks great as usual, but be aware that her role is not too big as she dies early on. It's her death that sets everything in motion. However, feast your eyes on her while you can.

I would recommend this movie for anyone that wants to see something different. The rest of the cast includes Trevor Howard, Erik Schumann, Sam Williams and Sascha Hehn.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

June Lockhart is 100.

SEVEN RED BERETS 1970 (TUBI)

This is an Italian action/adventure film I had never heard of, but stumbled on searching TUBI.

This film follows the exploita of seven mercenaries whose mission it is to get back some secret documents that were left behind when hostile native captured and killed the first group of men.

There is a good amount of violence and wild action in this outing directed by Mario Siciliano. Ivan Rassimov heads the cast which also includes Kirk Morris, Pamela Tudor, Sieghardt Rupp, Dale Cummings, Angelica Ott and Wilbert Gurley.

This isn't too bad of a movie, but it probably isn't for everyone. I liked it ok and it will stick with me for a while because of several scenes in the film which are great set pieces. I won't give anything away. See it for yourself.

Also, I don't usually mind dubbing at all, but I noticed that there are several instances where the dubbing it terrible and this is obviously an uncut print as several scenes are in Italian only.

If you decide to watch this I hope you enjoy it. I did.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Michele Lee is 83, and Georg Stanford Brown is 82.

42ND STREET MEMORIES 2015 (TUBI)

This is a wonderful documentary on what was the worlds most bizarre movie strip.

Most movie fans know that 42nd street in New York was the place to see hundreds of bizarre and off the wall movies anytime of the day or night. It was also a place of high crime and drugs.

There are plenty of strange tales told by people such as Joe Dante, Matt Cimber, Lynn Lowery, Veronic Hart, Frank Henenlotter and Debbie Rochon.

This is really a MUST for any fan of grindhouse movies. It's a captivating 90 minutes of time. This film shows how 42nd street has gone from a pretty high class place in the 30' thru the 50's and slowly became the grindhouse and drug world in the 60's thru the 80's.

Disney bought 42nd street a couple of decades ago and now it's bland and boring, like everything else in corporate America. While I don't and never will condone drugs, after watching this I think it would have been better to let it go as it was, not what it is now, a corporate clown show.

But as they say, if people enjoy something the government will find a way to take it away from you. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED little film...and a sad one too.

HAPPY BIRHTDAY TO...

Jessica McKay is 36, and John Amplas is 76.

THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD 1988 (PARAMOUNT)

One of the greatest comedies of modern times.

Leslie Nielsen stars as Frank Drebin, an incompetent police officer who is part of a special unit called "Police Squad".

This movie concersn Drebin and team assigned to protect a visiting Queen Elizabeth from killer led by a multi-millionaire named Vincent Ludwig (Ricardo Montalban).

The makes of "Airplane" were behind this movie so there are thousands of sight gags and too many jokes to catch the first time around, so this requires multiple viewings.

Needless to say I loved this film and had many laugh out loud moments, much like when I first saw it 30 plus years ago in a theater. They don't make this kind of comedy anymore because of all the WOKE garbage going on in this country and that's a shame.

Nielsen and the entire cast do a great job, and the ending at the ballgame is something to be seen indeed. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED comedy epic.

The rest of the cast includes George Kennedy, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Nancy Marchand, "Weird" Al Yankovic, nd Nicholas Worth...plus many cameos. Enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Bruce Campbell is 67, Lindsay Wagner is 76, and Peggy Trentini is 65.

REMEMBERING JAWS

I cannot believe it was 50 years ago tonight I saw the one of the few films that scared the living hell out of me, and still does to this day.

I was 12 1/2 years old when I saw this film. The audience reaction is something I will never forget, especially in several key scenes such as the severed head and the first time we actually see the shark.

It was an experience I will never forget, but this monster loving child at the time loved it. It scared me so bad I have never been in the Ocean, and I never will. Nope...no way.

The movie spawned 3 sequels and I did enjoy the second one...but the others were really lackluster. In later years I have seen many, many films that have ripped off Jaws and some of them have been really fun, but NOTHING will ever replace the original.

The cast is exceptional and everyone does a great job with their role. Jaws was rated PG, and I fear in today rainbow/cupcake world it would be rated R because this younger generation couldn't deal with it.

Good times a great memories...but damn it's been 50 years!!

GHOST DANCE 1982 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

Very well made regional horror film shot in Tucson, Arizona.

I remember seeing this way back in the mid 80's when I found it on VHS in a KMart store, but to be honest, it totally slipped my mind until I came upon this Blu-ray.

The plot is a simple one about the spirit of a long dead evil Indian warrior that takes over the body of a medicine man and turns him into a savage killer.

A young woman named Kay Foster (Julie Amato) who is in charge of the excavation of an Indian burial ground seems to be the taget of this crazed Indian warrior from the past.

As the movie progresses we see several brutal murders and we also have several clues as to why Kay is stalked by the ghost. It seems she is the reincarnation of a beautiful woman the warrior forced to be his wife over 100 years ago.

The movie moves along well and the characters make you care about them, especially Kay. The ending of the movie is somewhat of a shocker, but then not alltogether unexpected.

Vinegar Syndrome brings us this long lost film in a beautiful print and it was good to see this again after about 40 years. I can easily recommend this to horror fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Mariette Hartley is 85, and Rachel McLish is 70.

RIP JOAN O' BRIEN 1936-2025

The talented actress has passed away.

Joan O' Brien appeard in over 40 movies and TV shows in a career that ran from 1954 thru 1965. She is best known for her role in "Operation Petticoat" opposite Cary Grant.

Her other movies include "The Alamo", "Get Yourself A College Girl", "It Happened At The Worlds Fair", and "Samar"

Her many TV appearances include such shows as "Riverboat", "M Squad", "Rawhide", and "Perry Mason".

She retired from acting in 1965 and worked with Harry James for a while before stopping altogether to take care of her children nad become one of the top heads of the Hilton Hotel Chain.

Joan O' Brien passed away on May 5, 2025 at the age of 89.

SUBMISSION 2021 (TUBI)

I guess this was a TV series, but what I sat thru was a movie. Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway.

I have nothing against BDSM, but damn, if you're going to make a movie about it, at least make the movie interesting. I watched this ONLY for Raylin Joy, otherwise known as Skin Diamond.

Sadly I didn't enjoy this one bit. I was annoyed and put out. Once again I have sacrificed 83 minutes of my life so you won't have to. Skip it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Candy Clark is 78, Brett Halsey is 92, and Anne Murray is 80.

RIP LOU CHRISTIE 1943-2025

The man with the falsetto voice has passed away.

In the 1960s Christie hit it big with hits such as "The Gypsy Cried" and "Two Faces Have I".

He shot to stardom and then had one more hit entitled "Lightning Strikes" which is my personal favorite from his music. "Rhapsody In The Rain" was also a hit and was banned in some places for its suggestive lyrics.

Christie passed away on June 18, 2025 at the age of 82.

RIP PAMELA PETERS SOLOW 1950-2025

The actress best known for "Young And The Restless" has passed away.

Solow is best known for her role in the above mentioned daytime drama, but she did a few more TV appearances and a movie.

Her other TV work includes "Medical Center", "The Sixth Sense". "Man From Atlantis" and "Happy Days".

Her film credit is for "Omega Cop" from 1990.

Pamela Peters Solow passed away on June 4, 2025 at the age of 75.

THE ZERO BOYS 1986 (SIMITAR)

No too shabby of an action/horror film from the mid 80's.

When I saw Kelli Maroney was in this, I knew I had to see it. It's an odd film directed by Nico Mastorakis and isn't for all horror fans.

The film opens with what appears to be a few young men involved in a killing war in a small abandoned town. It turns out that they are in a paint gun battle to see who is the best team.

After the battle is over a small group of the men and three girls travel into the mountains to have a picnic and get away from everything. They find an empty cabin and decide to go inside.

Here everything seems ok until some of the women and men start seeing things such as a woman running thru the woods screaming and the shadow of a man holding a very large knife.

We soon learn that there is more than one killer and these people kill for the sheer pleasure of killing and the young people must fight for survival during one long and rainy night.

There isn't a lot of original stuff here, but it is done well enough to make the film watchable, and of course, there is Kelli Maroney. There is a lot I could talk about, but I feel that would spoil the movie for those that haven't seen it but would like to.

Just take my word for it. It's not a typical 80's slasher and it's a hell of a ride.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Paula Abdul is 63, and Rosalba Neri is 87.

CRACKERJACK 3 1999 (TUBI)

This movie doesn't rate very high no matter where I go to read about it.

It's far different from the previous 2 films and I enjoyed it as light entertainment. Bo Svenson stars as Jack Thorn. As the movie opens we see the theft of a Neutron bomb and we also see Jack on his last day as a government agent.

Expecting to enjoy retirement, Thorn heads out to do some fishing and soon finds he is the target of an assassination attempt and he and his old friends are being set up as the people who stole the bomb.

Jack gets his old former enemies and friends together and they attempt to take out the high-tech group thast is going to use the bomb to destroy a summit meeting.

Again, I liked this film as it was very light, had some comedy and it knew it's boundries as a film. What I mean by this is that it didn't make any pretense to be anything more than what it is....entertainment.

Svenson always does a great job, but the real standout to me was Amy Weber as Kelly Jones, the assistant to Thorn. She is beautiful and she and Svenson work well together.

If you're looking for something light, then this is it. As mentioned, it far different than the previous two movies. In fact it has nothing to do with them at all. I think the producers just stole the title.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Linda Thorson is 78, and Paul McCartney is 83.

MAN OF VIOLENCE 1971 (REDEMPTION) BLU-RAY

This was Pete Walker's last non-horror film. He would soon make huge waves with a great lineup of horror films.

This is a no holds barred and very violent story about a mercenary named Moon (Michael Latimer) who is hired to find a huge fortune in gold bullion from a corrupt, un-named Arab country.

Moon finds himself working with 2 ex-cops who also want the money. There are plenty of crosses and double crosses and a lot of brutal killings as Moon attempts to put together clues as to where the gold is.

He is joined in his quest by Angel (Luan Peters) and the viewer is never really sure if Angel is on Moon's side or not.

I enjoyed this movie a lot and it has a very twisted and bleak ending, which would become a staple in Walkers horror gems. The plot is complicated and it takes time to figure everything out, but I found it well worth the wait.

There are plenty of beautiful women in this movie and that should keep your attention is nothing else does. The rest of the cast includes Maurice Kaufman, Derek Aylward, Virginia Wetherell, Erika Raffael, Jessica Spencer, Sheila Babbage and Michael Balfour.

The disc presentation is very good and Redemption gives us the fully uncut 108 minute version of this movie, which is the only one to see. The film is also known as "Moon" and that is what it says in the opening credits.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Peter Lupus is 93, and Barry Manilow is 82.

THE BOWERY BOYS: LEGENDS OF LAUGHTER 2022 (TUBI)

I came across this on TUBI, and since I am a Bowery Boys fan, I figured I'd watch this and see how it was.

This wasn't too bad as it looked at a lot of the actors and others involved in the making of the long running series of films.

It has some interviews with a few of the people involved including William Benedict, Eddie Leroy, Sheldon Leonard, Mike Mazurki are among them.

I believe that this kind of documentary is only for fans of the films and not geared to people who don't know them, so I can recommend this to fans of the Bowery Boys, but that is about it.

This runs about 90 minutes and has 30 plus years of clips from their movies and a lot of poster art. I think you'll like it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Joan Van Ark is 82, and Dagmar Lassander is 82.

HARD BOILED MAHONEY 1947 (WARNER ARCHIVE)

William Beaudine directed this 6th entry in the long running series.

I liked this comedy and it even had a few laugh out loud moments for me. Slip (Leo Gorcey) and the gang are dragged into the detective business with the disappearance of a young woman.

Slip and Sach (Huntz Hall) find themselves in a predicament with a phoney psychic and his gang. I found some genuine laughs here, especially when Slip meets the psychic's partner named Hasson (Noble Johnson) and Sachs classic "Hasson" joke.

The film is only 63 minutes and it moves along at a great pace. It's nice to have simple movies like this to come home to when I am dead tired from working.

I would recommend this for anyone who hasn't seen a Bowery Boys movie as this is a good place to start if you're curious about the series.

The radio quiz show scene is also good for some great laughs, at least in my opinion. See it and decide for yourself. The rest of the cast includes Bobby Jordan, Gabriel Dell, Betty Compson, Bernard Gorcey, Teala Loring, Byron Foulger and Danny Beck.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Judy Pace is 83, Joy Bang is 80, and Pamela Martinez is 36.