For lovers of movies from the silent era to modern day with an emphasis on horror, sci-fi, exploitation, WIP, westerns and anything of the fantastic and bizarre. THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO BOB WILKINS, GEORGE ROMERO, ALAN FREED, ROGER CORMAN, HELGA LINE, CAROLINE MUNRO, JOHN FREDRIKSEN, JOHN ZACHERLE, CLEO MOORE , ROSALBA NERI, ERIKA BLANC, FEMI BENUSSI, SHIRLEY CORRIGAN, ROSANNA YANNI, MIRTA MILLER, KARIN DOR, BARBARA BOUCHET, MAMIE VAN DOREN, BARBARA STEELE and, of course, CASEY KASEM.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
SHORT TAKES.....
Here are a couple of films I watched the other day that are about as far apart as you could want.
BONNIE'S KIDS 1973 (DARK SKY)....In the 1970's America was a free country and there was much more freedom when making movies, and this is a prime example. Ellie (gorgeous Tiffany Bolling) and her younger sister Myra (Robin Mattson) go to live with their last living relative after Ellie kills their abusive step father and hide the body.
They stay with their Uncle Ben (Scott Brady)and Ellie becomes involved in crime when she and a man she meets are to pick up a suitcase full of money. They decide to keep it for themselves and become involved in things that begin spiraling out of control.
Ben sends two hitmen, Digger (Timothy Brown)and Eddy (Alex Rocco) to get the money back and kill anyone who comes into contact with it. This duo will remind you of the duo in "Pulp Fiction", but this is better.
Bolling and Mattson are both very sexy and they use this to get what they want and need in this film. Film makers could never make a film like this today, and that is why the 70's was the BEST decade ever for exploitation cinema. This is a must see film!!
HORROR OF PARTY BEACH 1964 (DARK SKY).... Radioactive waste turns skeletons into weird and bizarre monsters that need human blood to live. Del Tenney brings to the screen one of the most enjoyable monster films of the 60's.
This movie has it all, sandy beaches, great monsters, and music provided by the Del-Aires. What more could you want? A scientist discovers that sodium will kill the beasts, and the race is one to do just that.
This film has some great scenes including the often edited attack on a slumber party. I could never figure out why this scene was edited, but it is good that Dark Sky gave us a beautiful, unedited print of this film. Not as bad as all the reviewers say it is. Check it out.
Monday, June 8, 2015
IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING: THE JERRY LAWLER STORY 2015 (WWE)
One of the best wrestling DVD's to come along in sometime.
I purchased the regular DVD and not the Blu-ray for this.
Disc one is a 90 minute documentary which is very informative on the life and career of Jerry "The King" Lawler. It covers his life from childhood to his heart attack in Canada during a taping of Monday Night Raw.
Disc 2 and 3 feature matches from Lawler's early days in Memphis from the early 80's including the match he had with Andy Kaufman up to his Wrestlemania 27 match with Michael Cole. There are a total of 33 matches and interviews included in these two discs.
I wish they had included more stuff from Memphis, but this is a damn great set anyway. I have always admired Lawler for his technical skills in the ring and his very sharp wit, which is sadly lacking in today's "wrestlers".
The title of the DVD is the same as the title of Lawler's bio which came out a few years ago which was entitled "It's Good To Be The King....Sometimes. If you're a wrestling fan, this is a no brainer to own. One of the best sets in years.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
SHORT TAKES...
While waiting for new discs to come in for review, I watched another very interesting double feature. Both have been talked about on here before, but hey, they are interesting films.
FACE OF TERROR 1962 (SINISTER CINEMA) Fernando Rey stars as a scientist who has developed a serum that erases scars from human skin. He unwittingly performs the operation on an escapee from a mental institution. The operation is very successful and the woman becomes extremely beautiful.
Lisa Gaye is Norma, the woman on whom the operation is performed. She attacks the doctor and almost kills him when he discovers that she is not who she says she is. She runs away and begins to live a life of her own, but soon finds her skin turning back to what is was.
This is a film close to my heart that I feel has been very neglected by horror film fans over the years. I will never forget my first time seeing it on TV and how enamored I was with the beauty of Lisa Gaye. It's not an original story by any means, but it still makes for good entertainment.
THE UNINVITED 1988 (CHEEZY FLICKS) I found this on a shelf at my local Hasting's store a few years ago and couldn't pass it by. I had never seen it, but I heard about it.
Greydon Clark directed this bizarre tale about an experimental cat that escapes from a lab and is picked up by a young woman who is soon to be a passenger on a yacht run by crooks. When cornered or sometimes just because the cat becomes a hideous mutated monster that bites and kills people.
Alex Cord and George Kennedy are thieves heading out to get a load of money, but hat they get is a load of trouble from the young people they invite on their yacht as well as the killer kitty.
This movie does have some very effective moments involving the after effects of the bite from a mutant, and the print quality from Cheezy isn't bad at all. I enjoyed this film for what it is, pure entertainment.
if you get the chance, you might want to look this one up. The rest of the cast includes Austin Stoker, Clu Gulager, Shari Shattuck and Toni Hudson.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....
Anna Kournikova is 34, Pamela Susan Shoop is 67, Mick Foley is 50, and Gary Kent is 82.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
RIP RICHARD JOHNSON 1927-2015
One of the greatest actors in my time has passed away.
Johnson appeared in hundreds of movies and TV shows as well as stage and theater. Johnson is best known to people who read this blog as the lead actor in the 1961 horror classic "The Haunting" and the 1979 Lucio Fulci horror film "Zombie" as well as "Island Of The Fishmen" aka "Screamers".
He also appeared in TV shows such as "Magnum PI", "Tales Of The Unexpected" and "Hart To Hart". His career spanned over 60 years and he leaves a tremendous legacy behind. He passed away after a short illness at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea England. He was 87.
The one line I will ALWAYS remember him for is from "Zombie" in which his opening line is "The Boat can leave now. Tell The crew."
Friday, June 5, 2015
THE MUTHERS 1976 (VINEGAR SYNDROME)
This sadly underrated film makes it's DVD debut thanks to Vinegar Syndrome.
Cirio Santiago wrote and directed this odd but very entertaining film about a couple of female pirates, played by Jeannie Bell and Rosanne Katon, who go undercover into a brutal coffee plantation slave camp to find Bell's sister.
The conditions are bad and anyone who tries to escape is tortured and killed. Bell plays Kelly, the leader of the pirates and Katon is Anggie. Both women are put thru hell and find the plantation harder to escape than they thought.
The tall and incredibly sexy Jayne Kennedy shows up as Serena, a woman who is nothing more than a playtoy for the man who runs the plantation, Montiero. After much abuse she helps Kelly, Anggie and another woman named Marcie escape.
The four women fight thru typical Philippine jungles where they encounter a snake that bites Marcie. The plantation guards and Montiero are closing in on the women when they happen on Kelly and Anggie's crew of pirates and a heated gun battle ensues. The climax is full of action as one would expect in a film like this.
This is a standard WIP film, and although the fight scenes aren't always well done, it is a good film to kill time with. Kennedy looks fantastic as always, and I didn't like that her character is killed. Jeannie bell and Rosanne Katon are prefect in their roles as the pirates who put up with no crap from anyone.
Vinegar Syndrome has this film looking as good as I have ever seen it, and they should be commended for bringing this lesser known film from the Philippines back into the light for all to see again.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
SHORT TAKES.....
Watched a few films this past weekend and several I have talked about here before. Two were of particular interest.
THE HOODLUM 1951 (ALPHA)...Lawrence Tierney stars as a gangster who has spent most of his life in prison. He is paroled once again despite objections from the head of the parole board.
Tierney's character is named Vincent Lubeck. He plots a robbery but not before he rapes his brothers fiancee and impregnates her. She then commits suicide, but does Lubeck care. Nope, he has a huge bank robbery to pull off.
Max Nosseck directed this very low budget film and he does it very well. I love the fact that the character of Lubeck NEVER changes during the film. He is first shown as a criminal as a child, and he keeps up with the life thru the entire film. This is a good one, and highly recommended.
FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE 1956 (OLIVE)...This is one of my favorite films, and I have to admit I was astounded when I found Olive was bringing this out. Several astronauts land on the 13th moon of Jupiter and find a race of women and one man, who claims they are the last survivors of Atlantis.
Oh yes, there is a very lame monster running around as well. It has an expressionless face and growls a lot, but that is about it. Yes, this is not a goo film for most, but for me, I love it.
The print quality is perfect and Olive should be commended for bringing this out. The cast includes Anthony Dexter, Paul Carpenter and Kim Parker.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
JAWS OF SATAN 1981 (SHOUT FACTORY)
Here is a little ditty that I missed, until it came to Blu-ray.
Fritz Weaver stars as a priest whose relatives drove Satan out of Ireland. A king cobra, which is actually Satan arrives in a small town where the priest is living and begins a reign of terror by randomly biting people or commanding other snakes to do so.
Gretchen Corbett is a doctor investigating the recent deaths. This movie slowly builds up to the very interesting climax where the priest must battle Satan. The movie tries to copy "Jaws" in that the town has a dog racing track going in and the mayor wants nothing to interfere with it. Director Bob Claver seems to have a hard time deciding what course to follow.
Sometimes the film wants to be a "Jaws" rip off and other times it's a "nature against mankind film". This isn't to say the film isn't interesting and not deserving of all the tearing apart it gets from critics.
Weaver does a good job as the priest, and the climax is very well done, but it does seem that the power of evil was very easily overcome.
It's still a fun watch and Shout Factory should be commended for putting this out on Blu-ray with "Empire Of The Ants".
Monday, June 1, 2015
RIP BETSY PALMER 1926-2015
The actress who is best known for her small role in the 1980 horror classic Friday The 13th has passed away.
The actress had appeared in many TV shows such as "Inner Sanctum", "Appointment With Adventure" and such movies as "The Tin Star".
But she is best known for a role that she at first hated and only took so she could buy a car. That is the role of Mrs. Voorhees in the original "Friday The 13th" in 1980. Her thoughts on the film was that the movie was a "piece of shit" and nobody would see it anyway. She eventually came to like the role and the love horror fans had for her.
She was 88.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)