DEADLY EMBRACE 1987 (RAPIDHEART)

Ultra low budget fun with Linnea Quigley!

Beautiful Ty Randolph stars as a neglected hot wife of executive Jan Michael Vincent who hires a young stud to work around the house.

She seduces him and goes into a jealous rage when she finds out that his girlfriend is coming to visit and she sets up an elaborate scheme to frame you young man for murder.

Linnea is the girlfriend and does a good job in this film, but she really isn't given much to do. The movie is padded out with sequences of Michelle Bauer as the Female Spirit of Sex, and while I always enjoy Michelle, I found this to be rather pointless.

However, this is not a bad mystery as far as I am concerned, and fans of Linnea will want to check it out.

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO....

Daniela Bianchi is 71.

AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME 1999 (NEW LINE)

Austin Powers is back baby!!

Dr. Evil returns with a time machine and goes back to the 1960's and steals Austin's (Mike Myers) mojo. Powers' helper this time is the ultra sexy Felicity Shagwell played by the gorgeous Heather Graham.

There are plenty of sight gags and some of the funniest dialogue I have ever heard in a modern movie. Michael York, Robert Wagner, Rob Lowe, Seth Greene, Mindy Sterling, Verne Troyer and Elizabeth Hurley round out another excellent cast.

Watch this movie and not laugh...I dare you. Highly Recommended!!

RIO CONCHOS 1964 (SHOUT FACTORY)

Very well made western.

Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Jim Brown, Tony Franciosa and gorgeous Wende Wagner are five people brought together while looking for a maniacal Confederate soldier who is selling repeater rifles to the Apaches.

This was the film debut of Jim Brown, who gave up his football career at it's peak to try acting and Wende Wagner before she became a regular on The Green Hornet. The acting is very good and the film looks great as the Moab, Utah locations are used to their fullest.

Director Gordon Douglas doea a great job, and no western fan should miss this action filled classic. Edmund O' Brien is the crazy confederate and his part is small but executed well, of course.

Shout Factory should be commended for making this film available in a beautiful widescreen edition. Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Dorothy Malone is 88.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

On March 12th Vinegar Syndrome will release a double feature of Savage Waters (1979) and Death By Invitation (1971). These two films are extremely obscure and I would recommend them as it is good someone is putting low budget films like this out.

On February 26th Henstooth will be releasing the Amicus film House That Dripped Blood. It has been off the market for a while and a huge thanks to Henstooth for bringing it back.

SHAFT'S BIG SCORE 1972 (WARNERS)

Another great blaxploitation gem!!

Richard Roundtree is back as Shaft and this time he is working on a case where a good friend died and was running a numbers racket and has hidden $200,000 dollars. Both the mob and the cops want the money.

Roundtree does his usual impeccable job as Shaft and Moses Gunn is a gangster that wants the money for his own use. Great action and lots of gunfights bring us to the epic climax involving a car chase and a helicopter chase as well.

One of the best films of it's kind and much better than the crappy modern day remakes of this and other films like it. Recommended!!

MURDER IS MY BEAT 1955 (WARNER ARCHIVE)

A very well made film noir from director Edgar Ulmer.

Paul Langton stars as a policeman who has to arrest the ultra sexy Barbara Payton and he soon comes to believe she is innocent. The two go on the lam and try to prove her innocence.

Robert Shayne is another detective looking for the two of them and when he finds them he decides to help them. Roy Gordon and Selena Royle, in her final film make up the rest of the fine cast.

This film is very tightly made and catches your attention right away. Ulmer knew how to work within very small budgets and get the most out of any actor or actress he worked with. Great widescreen presentation from Warner Archive. Recommended for fans of Film Noir and Barbara Payton fans, of which I am both.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO.....

Heather Graham is 43, Katherine Ross is 73, Tom Selleck is 68, Marc Singer is 65,and Richard Bakalyan is 82.

MANEATER OF HYDRA 1967 (SHOUT FACTORY)

This is also known as Island of The Doomed.

Cameron Mitchell stars as a mad scientist who has created a plant that thrives on human blood. Several tourists stay at his home and are soon slaughtered one by one.

The ending is extremely bloody as the chopped up plant bleeds on everything, but it does make for one unforgettable film full of weird characters and a very weird monster.

This Spanish shocker was directed by Mel Welles and once seen is not to soon forgotten. I recommend this for horror fans and fans of bizarre cinema in general.

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE 1974 (WARNER ARCHIVE)

Another fine Amicus horror!!

Peter Cushing runs an antique store called Temptations Limited, which seels items to people and then if the people are honest good things will happen, and if they are dishonest...watch out.

Cushing head an all star cast including David Warner, Donald Pleasence , Diana Dors, Ian Bannen and Ian Ogilvy. The stories are about a childs wish, a mirror that harbors a dead man, a mysterious world behind a door and much more.

Warner Archive has seen fit to bring this back to the public eye and in a wonderful widescreen transfer. Highly Recommended for horror fans.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Barbi Benton is 63, and Jack Hill is 80.

TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1947 (WARNER BROTHERS)

Humphrey Bogart stars in this John Huston classic.

Three men played by Bogart, Tim Holt and Walter Houston go off in search of a treasure and find a lot of gold, but greed takes over as they fight bandits, and then themselves for the treasure.

Bogart's character of Fred C. Dobbs is something to behold as he goes from mild mannered quiet man to raving lunatic. Director John Houston knew how to bring out the best in every actor he worked with, and this film is the absolute proof.

This is a two disc set which includes a biography of Houston's career and a "Making Of" program plus much more. Leonard Maltin even hosts a "Warner Night At The Movies" which is pretty cool as it features a cartoon, newsreel, short subject and a trailer, then the feature film begins. Impressive and Highly Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Bridget Fonda is 49.

AUSTIN POWERS INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY 1997 (NEW LINE)

One of the best comedies in years!

Mike Myers is Austin Powers, a buck toothed 60's suave super spy who is thawed out of suspended animation in 1997 to fight his arch enemy, Dr. Evil, also played by Myers.

The laughs come fast and furious as Powers attempts to figure out the 90's. I can really sympathize with him however. Gorgeous Elizabeth Hurley is his partner and oh my..is she hot. She is smoking hot every time the camera lays eyes on her.

Seth Green is Evil's estranged son who hates his father and Robert Wagner is Number 2, the right hand man of Evil. The best character name in the film belongs to an actress named Fabiana Udenio who plays Alotta Fagina. Rounding out the cast are Charles Napier, Michael York and Mimi Rogers.

Recommended for a good laugh and a good film.