October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/30)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Case of the Scorpion's Tale, The (1971) (1st viewing) d. Martino, Sergio (Italy) 90 min.

Terrific giallo (complete with black sparkly masked killers, bottles of JB everywhere and hot babes getting knifed every 20 minutes) that genuinely had me guessing throughout as to whodunit and who was gonna get it next. Great fun.

Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) (1st viewing) d. Martino, Sergio (Italy) 96 min.

The greatest movie title in the history of movie titles. Not so much based on Poe’s “The Black Cat” as it simply incorporates the essential story elements throughout its twisted tale of sadistic burnt out writer Luigi Pistilli, emotional punching bag of a wife Anita Strindberg, and trampy niece Edwige Fenech who comes to stay and play (doctor, head games, et al) with them both. Another marvelous guessing game of who’s the victim, who’s the villain and who will take their clothes off next.

Vampire People, The (aka The Blood Drinkers) (1964) (1st viewing) d. de Leon, Gerardo (Philippines) 88 min.

For a simple genre programmer, this Filipino horror effort packs in a wealth of emotionally (if melodramatic) complex characters as well as cinematic artistry (colored filters and gels galore!) into its narrative. Lovesick vampire Ronald Remy attempts to revive his ailing mate by replacing her heart with that of her twin sister (both played by Amalia Fuentes); meanwhile, the beset village attempts to ward off the resident plague of bloodsuckers. On the one hand, we empathize with Remy’s plight; on the other, we can understand the locals’ issueswith he and his toothy band gumming up the joint. Very enjoyable.

Phantom Carriage, The (1921) (1st viewing) d. Sjostrom, Victor (Sweden) 107 min.

A gorgeously wrought and beautifully performed silent effort that continues to resonate nearly a century since it was first unveiled. A drunken wastrel (Sjostrom, pulling triple duty as actor, writer and director) at the hour of his death is forced to recall his pitiful life, as well as the many opportunities for redemption he has rejected throughout, by the titular vehicle’s driver. While there are indeed ghostly spectres drifting throughout the film (the translucent image of the carriage itself is both lovely and haunting), the real horror is of the Christmas Carol ilk – the pain of reliving each of one’s most damning missteps, helpless to change the past. Just wonderful.


Total Movies: 100
First Time Views: 100
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $1101.00

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/29)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Soul of a Monster, The (1944) (1st viewing) d. Jason, Will (USA) 61 min.

Val Lewton-like Faustian tale of ailing benevolent surgeon George Macready who is miraculously granted a new lease on life…but at a price (as these things often go). Rose Hobart lends a chilly calm to the proceedings in the Satan role, now seemingly everywhere that Macready goes, a fact that proves discomfiting to former flame Jeanne Bates and colleague Jim Bannon. Overall, a pretty solid melodrama of good vs. evil with a whole lot of Christianity on hand (down to a completely superfluous rendition of “Ave Maria” sung by a practicing boys choir), so if you’re the type offended by such things, be forewarned.

Visible Secret (2001) (1st viewing) d. Hui, Ann (Hong Kong) 98 min.

“Give me back my head.” This is the frequent refrain heard throughout this polished if unaffecting ghost story, made just before the U.S. remake of Ringu kicked the Asian ghost story machine into hyperdrive. Amiable slacker lad Eason Chan and quirky goth gal Qi Shu meet cute at a dance club, but she soon reveals herself to be more than a handful, not least of which due to her ability to see ghosts (solely through her left eye). The dialogue quoted above is voiced by any number of folks, possessed as they are by a wandering spirit – it is here that the film’s central mystery resides, and truth be told, it’s not a very engaging ball of yarn to unravel.

All the Colors of the Dark (1972) (1st viewing) d. Martino, Sergio (Italy) 94 min.

The gorgeous Edwige Fenech stars alongside George Hilton as a couple recovering not only from a car accident, but also from her resulting miscarriage. She’s also been having some rather strange dreams in which Ivan Rassimov attacks her with a knife. When pills and psychiatrists fail to resolve the nightmares, she is persuaded to go all new age by lovely blonde Marina Malfatti, only to discover she’s been lured into a coven of lascivious Satanists. Truly, wonderfully bonkers with wicked visuals – like Rosemary’s Baby dunked in marinara sauce.


Total Movies: 96
First Time Views: 96
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $1037.76

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/28)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Ghost Eyes (1976) (1st viewing) d. Kuei, Chih-Hung (Hong Kong) 98 min.

A shockingly underrated/under-viewed (only 29 votes on IMBd) flick with a novel narrative: a young beautician receives some unusual contact lenses from a mysterious optometrist. Cursed with extrasensory vision, she falls victim to a ghost/vampire/demon who first sexually assaults, then forces her to procure other female victims. Numerous jaw-dropping sequences, including a Taoist monk exorcism that puts its own spin on the head-spinning tropes.

Hypnotic Eye, The (1960) (1st viewing) d. Blair, George (USA) 79 min.

Genuinely macabre subject matter highlights this offbeat programmer, with a hypnotist (Jacques Bergerac) who sends his onstage female volunteers with a post-show suggestion to mutilate themselves in the privacy of their homes. (Acid, fan blades, oven ranges and lye are just some of the methods used…) Sexy Allison Hayes shows up as Bergerac’s assistant…or is she the one pulling the strings? Good stuff, released a few years back via Warner Archives.

Iron Rose, The (1973) (1st viewing) d. Rollin, Jean (France) 76 min.

A young couple wanders into a cemetery to make time…then find they can’t get out. Unfortunately, the Exterminating Angel story conceit runs out of gas even with an abbreviated run time – despite lots of shrieking and hysteria – leaving viewers stranded right alongside the increasingly obnoxious pair. (Based on this month’s views, can’t say I’ve become any more than the reluctant Rollin fan I already was. I like Grapes of Death, Living Dead Girl, Fascination and profess some grudging admiration for some of his 70s-era lesbian vampire flicks. Other than that...)




BELA LUGOSI TRIPLE FEATURE

Invisible Ghost (1941) (1st viewing) d. Lewis, Joseph H. (USA) 63 min.

While the title may seem either redundant or a double negative, it’s actually a pretty entertaining vehicle for Lugosi who stars as an tormented cuckold whose wife’s reappearances at his window spark murderous trances. Also notable for Clarence Muse’s well-crafted performance by as the loyal servant Evans. (Having recently watched Mantan Moreland and other stereotyped “yassah, boss” Negro characters from the 40s, it was a refreshing to see a sensitive, intelligent and noble black man onscreen.)

Devil Bat, The (1940) (1st viewing) d. Yarbrough, Jean (USA) 72 min.

For years, I thought I had already seen this, but turns out that I was thinking of the Lionel Atwill flick The Vampire Bat. Here we have Lugosi as a disgruntled former perfume company employee who develops not only a way to enlarge a vampire bat’s size, but also whips up an aftershave lotion for his enemies that attracts the giant winged monster. Fun stuff.

Human Monster, The (1939) (1st viewing) d. Summers, Walter (UK) 73 min.

Bela hops the pond to play an evil insurance agent, one that preys upon the residents of a home for the blind where he serves as doctor-on-call. I mean, really, how cold can you get? There’s some unnecessary monster makeup applied to Blind Jake (Wilfred Walter) who Lugosi utilizes as the muscle in his operation, but it’s a small distraction.


Total Movies: 93
First Time Views: 93
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $958.83

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/27)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Spasmo (1974) (1st viewing) d. Lenzi, Umberto (Italy) 94 min.

More psycho-terror than giallo, swinging sexyguy Robert Hoffman thinks he sees a dead girl on the beach, but it turns out to be Suzy Kendall who proceeds to lead him on a wild chase through murder, intrigue and a really serious case of sibling rivalry. There are also any number of life-sized sex dolls scattered throughout the film, which really don’t seem to have much to do with anything. Oh, and they never really explain the title either.

Two Orphan Vampires (1997) (1st viewing) d. Rollin, Jean (France) 107 min.

Blind by day, a pair of nubile vamps “see blue” when the sun goes down and wander around doing their neck biting thing. An intriguing concept, but in spite of Rollin’s confident cinematography and requisite prominent display of the female form, this is a silly, silly movie bogged down by waaaaay too much inane chatter from the titular teens.

Mansion of the Doomed (1976) (1st viewing) d. Pataki, Michael (USA) 89 min.

Severely freaky deaky story from early in producer Charles Band’s career, one that concerns brilliant surgeon Richard Basehart going a little bonkers after his daughter Trish Stewart loses her eyesight in an auto accident. Convinced he can set things right, Basehart proceeds to start plucking the peepers from any number of unsuspecting victims and then caging the poor blind bastards in his basement! Gloria Grahame is Basehart’s dedicated assistant, while an impossibly young Lance Henriksen is Stewart’s boyfriend who becomes a part of his lady love's life in ways he never thought possible. The eyeless visages are the work of aspiring f/x artist “Stanley” Winston, while future Fugitive director Andrew Davis handled the cinematography chores. Good, grim stuff.


Total Movies: 87
First Time Views: 87
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $896.97

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/26)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Revenge of the Zombies (1943) (1st viewing) d. Sekely, Steve (USA) 61 min.

Holy carp, apparently the Nazi zombie subgenre goes back much further than Ken Weiderhorn’s Shock Waves. Here we have John Carradine’s wicked scientist laboring away among the natives, even going so far as to revive his own wife in the service of creating an opening salvo of undead soldiers. (The fact that this was made while the war was actually going on I find all the more impressive. I mean, I would have been worried that the Nazis might actually be cooking something like this up.) As an added bonus, Mantan Moreland shows up to offer his particular brand of stereotype reinforcement.

Cry of the Werewolf (1944) (1st viewing) d. Levin, Henry (USA) 63 min.

While I was excited to find another “classic era” werewolf movie, this one feels pretty thin in both the fright and amazement departments. You’ve got a Gypsy princess (Nina Foch) afflicted with the lycanthropic curse, forced to kill a museum owner to protect her family secret, which of course sparks an investigation that threatens to expose the family secret. Some truly chintzy transformation scenes, cross dissolving from one completely dissimilar image to another so clumsily that at one point it actually arrested my cup’s journey from the table to my mouth to shout, “Terrible!”

Zombies on Broadway (1945) (1st viewing) d. Douglas, Gordon (USA) 69 min.

Wannabe Abbott and Costello comedy team Wally Brown and Alan Carney star as press agents who offer a mobster a faux zombie for his club opening, who then insists they provide the real article. So, the quaking duo head off to the island of San Sebastian where they encounter occultist Bela Lugosi (as well as Sir Lancelot and Darby Jones from Val Lewton’s I Walked with a Zombie). Silly but entertaining enough.

Late Bloomer (2004) (1st viewing) Shibata, Go (Japan) 83 min.

A ballsy, experimental film whose unconventional narrative overcomes any aesthetic shortcomings. Masakiyo Sumida stars as a character called Masakiyo Sumida, a severely disabled individual who against all odds seems to live a very full life. He drinks, he carouses, he attends rock concerts, he watches porn, he flirts with female caregiver Mari Torii, and cultivates a great deal of goodwill among his circle of acquaintances. But underneath his twisted exterior lurks a soul in pain, and that pain must be expressed. It’s easy to look at a disabled person and think, “Poor thing,” but the truth is this is not a thing, this is a person, a person with all the lightness and darkness that anyone has. Similar to Crispin Glover’s It is Fine. Everything is Fine!, Shibata presents a unique look at the serial killer subgenre, one that plays upon our knee-jerk “victim” response to the physically impaired. Maybe the find of the Challenge.

Love Object (2003) (1st viewing) Parigi, Robert (USA) 91 min.

Introvert office drone Desmond Harrington falls for sexy new temp gal Melissa Sagemiller, but lacking the courage to ask her out, he orders a lifelike sex doll “Nikki” (which strongly resembles his officemate) to play out a fantasy S/M relationship with it behind closed doors. Problems start when Sagemiller asks him out and Nikki starts getting jealous. With Udo Kier and Rip Torn in the cast, this is a very polished and well-executed look into a damaged mind.


Total Movies: 84
First Time Views: 84
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $866.04

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/25)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Night Monster (1942) (1st viewing) d. Beebe, Ford (USA) 72 min.

Fun if silly thriller featuring a house full of colorful characters – including Lionel Atwill and Bela Lugosi, though both of them are ill-used here – with a crazy crippled old man (who may or may not be wreaking vengeance on the doctors) who failed to cure him and his loopy paranoid sister feeding the narrative fires and mystical magical Hindi sorcerers materializing skeletons right and left. Never heard of it before, but found it on the same YouTube channel as Murders in the Zoo and I liked it.

Terror at Tenkiller (1986) (1st viewing) d. Meyer, Ken (USA) 87 min.

If I’m watching an Oklahoma-lensed no-budget slasher and there’s no suspense to the identity of the killer and the "performances" are dreadful and the sound is terrible and the dialogue is absolute crap and the kills are so-so and I was warned about all of this from the get-go by my pal Chris (who sold it to me for a dollar), do I really have any right to complain? Yeah, didn’t think so. Special mention for the incredibly grating Casio (with realistic high-hat sound!) soundtrack.

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) (1st viewing) d. Joost, Henry/Schulman, Ariel (USA) 88 min.

As someone who has been enjoyed (to varying degrees) all three previous chapters of the PA franchise, it is with deep regret that I report this latest installment directed by Catfish co-directors Joost and Schulman to also be the least. (When the guy at the box office asks you, “Are you sure you want to see that?” it’s never a good sign.) Not only is it a serious case of the seen-it-befores, but it serves up some of the flimsiest “reasons for filming in the first place” already problematic to its found footage premise. Turning Katie Featherstone into Jason Voorhees was also a big serious misstep. And that ending? Seriously? If that was the best anyone could come up with, then it’s time to hang up the iPhone, camcorder and laptop.

Sinister (2012) (1st viewing) d. Derrickson, Scott (USA) 110 min.

While it admittedly goes on a little long, for a mainstream horror release I was pretty impressed with the creep level of this story about frustrated true crime writer Ethan Hawke who has recently relocated his family to a new home…one where the last residents met grisly ends (a fact Hawke hopes to exploit in a new book). An 8mm snuff snippet of the previous family’s demise opens the film and it sets the grim tone that Derrickson dutifully follows, as more of these doom-laden reels reveal themselves in surprising fashion. There’s a reason for the solid word of mouth on this one – maybe it’s no modern classic, but it’ll definitely serve the turn.

Frankenweenie (2012) (1st viewing) d. Burton, Tim (USA) 87 min.

This dark-hued, warm hearted animated tale is everything I wanted ParaNorman to be: it’s clever, it’s smart, the characters aren’t obnoxious, the jokes aren’t easy, and the “monster kid” homages are sly and plentiful without being on the nose. It’s also probably my favorite Burton film in a decade.

Zombies of Mora Tau (1957) (1st viewing) d. Cahn, Edward L. (USA) 70 min.

For some reason, I had it in my head all this time and would have laid money that this was included in both The Golden Turkey Awards and The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made. I would have lost money on that bet. Turns out I was avoiding a flick that, while surely no piece of stellar cinema, is actually a quite entertaining programmer with lots of waterlogged undead protecting a cache of cursed diamonds and a snarling supporting performance by the late great Allison Hayes (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman). Live and learn.


Total Movies: 79
First Time Views: 79
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $814.49

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/23 - 10/24)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

10/23

Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, The (aka House of Psychotic Women) (1974) (1st viewing) d. Aured, Carlos (Spain) 89 min.

Mysterious drifter Paul Naschy is hired on as groundskeeper for a trio of weird sisters (repressed spinster Diana Lorys with a malformed arm, floozy nymphomaniac Eva Leon, and paraplegic Maria Perschy confined to a wheelchair), as well as sexy nurse Ines Morales. Bodies soon start piling up, and the script (by Naschy and frequent collaborator Aured) does a splendid job of keeping viewers guessing as to who the murderer might be. Very entertaining Spanish giallo.

Tokyo Gore Police (2008) (1st viewing) d. Nishimura, Yoshihiro (Japan) 110 min. A futuristic Tokyo is beset by a genetically enhanced group of criminals (known as “engineers”), forcing the local constabularies to take unusual measures, led by Audition’s Eihi Shiina. The titular extravagant splatter is to be expected f/x man turned writer/director Nishimura, but the entertainment factor is dependent upon one’s ability to swallow the serious approach taken towards the cartoonish eviscerations and creature effects – for my money, it all needed to be a bit more fun.




10/24

Taxidermia (2006) (1st viewing) d. Palfi, Gyorgy (Hungary) 91 min. Not a whole lot of conventional “horror” here, but it’s still a fascinating cinematic voyage through a twisted family tree, one that begins with a grubbing harelipped soldier on through his illegitimate speed eating offspring and finally to the third generation’s wormy taxidermist (the goriest of the three sequences). Extremely well shot and performed, and might appeal to the adventurous art house crowd than your standard horrorhound.

Tony (2009) (1st viewing) d. Johnson, Gerard (UK) 76 min.

A meek and quiet misfit (Peter Ferdinando) makes his home in a tired London suburb, occasionally seeking out the company of others in encounters that always end in bloodshed. Comparisons to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer are not unwarranted although Ferdinando does not seem to relish his crimes in the same fashion. A bit slow and repetitive, but the brief running time helps.

Naked You Die (aka The Young, the Evil and the Savage) (1968) (1st viewing) d. Margheriti, Antonio (Italy) 98 min.

Engaging little giallo set at a girls school, where strangulations are occurring via gloved black hands at an alarming rate. There’s no shortage of suspects, be it strapping Phys. Ed teacher John Hawkwood, sweaty groundsman Luciano Pigozzi, hunky flirt Mark Damon, or is it one of the comely female students? No nudity per se, but plenty of flesh on display as the girls change in and out of nightgowns on a regular basis. Reportedly shorn of 15 minutes and retitled to run as a double bill alongside Vincent Price's Conqueror Worm (aka Witchfinder General). I will say that this is one of the least successful dubbing jobs I've seen - I'm still not entirely sure whether the actors were speaking Italian or English, because the sounds rarely synched up with the lip movements. (The DarkSky DVD offered only an Italian audio track with English subtitles.)


Total Movies: 73
First Time Views: 73
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $748.98

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/21 – 10/22)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Autopsy (aka Tarot) (1973) (1st viewing) d. Forque, Jose-Maria (Spain) 91 min.

Sue Lyon (of Lolita fame) is all grown up, playing a free spirited woman who falls for Christian Hey, the hunky manservant of blind rich fat cat Fernando Rey. She marries the moneyman, playing around behind his back with the lad, until former lover Gloria Grahame threatens to blow the whistle. So-so giallo that only wandered into my possession because I thought it was the 1975 Mimsy Farmer flick.

Atrocious (2010) (1st viewing) d. Luna, Fernando Barreda (Spain) 75 min.

Lazy if well realized “found footage” flick that has two siblings pursuing the urban legend of a girl in a red cloak while visiting their mother. Surprise, surprise; mysterious events occur with all the hysterical shaky-cam you can stomach and a ridiculous, tacked-on twist ending. It’s not that it’s terrible, just that it sets its bar so very low.

Arcane Sorcerer (1996) d. Avati, Pupa (Italy) 96 min. From the writer/director of underrated Italian horror efforts The House with Laughing Windows and Zeder comes another smart and atmospheric chiller about a seminary student sent to serve as secretary to a mysterious monsignor who spends his days communing with the dead.

Bluebeard (1972) (1st viewing) d. Dmytryk, Edward (France) 125 min.

A notorious bomb in its day, this Richard Burton vehicle probably could have done with some trims to its excessive running time (starting with the troubling hunting sequence where we see several animals encountering the wrong end of a gun) and the distracting literalized shade of Burton's chin whiskers. However, the black comedy has an array of lovely ladies losing their clothes preceding their fateful encounters with the titular serial killer and well, that goes a long way.

Blood of the Vampires (1966) (1st viewing) d. de Leon, Gerardo (Philippines) 90 min.

Filipino bloodsuckers provide the familial intrigue for young lovers being denied permission to wed. Pretty standard stuff, although it’s one of the few times where the vampires are more or less prayed to death, which had me thinking, “Hell, why don’t more people try that trick instead of fumbling for a crucifix?”

Beyond Evil (1980) (1st viewing) d. Freed, Herb (USA) 94 min.

John Saxon and Lynda Day George play newlyweds who head off to a Caribbean island where Saxon’s been assigned the task of building some new condominiums by an old friend and former flame of George. Oh, they’ve also been given lodging in a mansion that just has the slight hitch of being the former resident of an occultist madwoman whose spirit is none too quiet. Clumsily staged creative deaths abound while George wraps her particular thespian stylings (Pieces, anyone?) around the dialogue. Her taciturn co-star, on the other hand, barely restrains himself from looking at his watch to see if he can still catch a flight home. Goofy fun, but not enough to be a classic.


Total Movies: 68
First Time Views: 68
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $690.20

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/20)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Spookies (1986) (1st viewing) d. Joseph, Eugenie (USA) 85 min.

What a wacko little film. Or rather should I say, what a wacky couple of films, since it’s clear that there are two completely different artistic visions going on in two completely different storylines married together after the fact (to whomever’s credit, pretty seamlessly). It’s a pretty standard haunted house flick in the spirit of the original Night of the Demons, with some pretty solid and/or charmingly goofy rubber monsters and gore. I’ll be interested to do a little more research on the behind the scenes story here, since I’m sure it’s a good one.

Bog (1983) (1st viewing) d. Keeslar, Don (USA) 85 min.

Oh, man. One of those low budget guy-in-a-suit monster movies along the lines of Horror of Party Beach or Octaman or Zaat, only with an even worse looking creature costume and zero dramatic momentum. Should have saved this one for Turkey Day.


Total Movies: 62
First Time Views: 62
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $609.00

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/19)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Evil, The (1978) (1st viewing) d. Trikonis, Gus (USA) 89 min.

Haunted house chiller with Richard Crenna that exists purely for its Omen-like death sequences, but they’re trippy and enjoyable enough to carry the day. People bursting into flame, being flung around rooms, clothes shredded, made to bandsaw off their own hands and so on. Not great but not bad either.

Killer Fish (1979) (1st viewing) d. Margheriti, Antonio (Italy) 101 min.

Lee Majors, Karen Black and James Franciscus are the headliners in this jewel heist flick, with the horror element being the fact that the latest big score has been stored in a South American lake stocked with piranha. Solid munching action trades screen time with Majors making eyes at Margaux Hemmingway, Hemmingway baring her claws at Black, and Black having ongoing snit fits with smug huzz Franciscus. There’s also a pretty wicked tropical storm sequence with things blowing up real good.


Total Movies: 60
First Time Views: 60
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $609.00

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/18)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

Jennifer (1978) (1st viewing) d. Mack, Brice (USA) 90 min.

Lisa Pelikan stars as the titular underprivileged student in a high society prep school, frequently attacked and bullied for being “different.” Viewers will be forgiven for thinking it sounds a bit like Stephen King’s Carrie, but with a less crazy single parent (Jeff Corey), an even nastier antagonist (Amy Johnston) and the power of snake bewitchment in place of random telekinesis. (The final scene, while never approaching the masterful split-screen mayhem of Brian De Palma’s classic, is undeniably a doozy.) Bert Convy plays the kindly teacher wise to the popular clique’s tormenting. Not bad.

Stanley (1972) (1st viewing) d. Grefe, William (USA) 96 min.

Leaden paced Willard rip-off with social commentary on everything from the plight of the American Indian to ecology to Vietnam. Snake crazy Army veteran misfit Chris Robinson lives deep in the Everglades, tending to his wriggling buddies, opposing poachers and avenging his father’s death. Crazy to imagine that Alex Rocco (as a dumbbell curling thug with visions of snakeskin belts in his eyes) did this flick the same year that he graced the screens as Moe Green in The Godfather. Terrible, environmentally bent soft rock songs by Jack Vino.

Boogeyman II Redux (1983/2003) (1st viewing) d. Starr, Bruce / Lommel, Ulli (USA) 83 min.

Wow. Not even sure where to begin with this one. I had not seen the original Boogeyman (1980) in a while, but as I watched this “sequel,” I realized that at least 75% of the footage was from that first film except for some weird SOV sequences where original director Ulli Lommel is being “questioned” by the (offscreen) police about the murders that took place (as though this were a documentary?) In doing a little post-film research, I learned that the “real” 1983 Boogeyman II also consisted of a lot of existing material from the 1980 film, but then there was about 25 minutes of new footage that had all new death scenes. Which turns out to be the material that Lommel decides to fast-forward through in the Redux version – yes, it’s as though you’re watching the scenes while holding the remote control during the “new” footage, then you go back to normal speed for the recycled 1980 material and the “interview” sequences. Seriously? Now, because I like the first film well enough and I hadn’t seen it in a while, I wasn’t completely disappointed, but I was without a doubt confused for the duration. To be ignored with extreme prejudice.

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992) (1st viewing) d. Tsukamoto, Shinya (Japan) 83 min.

I can’t do this one justice for a couple reasons. For starters, it’s a sequel to Tsukamoto’s astonishing man/machine meld mindf*ck and it’s nearly as off the rails for both imaginative and visceral imagery. But unfortunately, the copy I was watching was from by Belgian blood brother Gert which meant that it had Dutch subtitles interpreting for the Japanese spoken dialogue. Long story short: even if Tsukamoto had given us any clues as to why people were developing gun turrets on their chests and bazookas for arms, I wouldn’t have been able to pick them up. I think I liked it, but purely on a visual, dynamic level. Be curious to read what I missed.


Total Movies: 58
First Time Views: 58
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $588.70

October Movie Challenge 2012 (10/16-10/17)

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2012 (benefitting FRIENDS OF CHILDREN) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to let me know how much you would like to pledge per film. Your donation is tax deductible, 100% of goes directly to aid the kids, and seriously, even a penny per film helps. Thanks in advance!

10/16
Birds II: Land’s End, The (1994) (1st viewing) d. Rosenthal, Rick / Smithee, Alan (USA) 87 min.

Okay, I think we all knew from the get-go that odds of this being a worthy sequel to Hitchcock’s 1963 masterpiece of avian terror were pretty slim. However, taken purely for its “when animals attack” schlock pleasures, I’ve seen a lot worse. Truth be told, had they elected to make it a standalone film with no connection to the original (which comes off as a tangential afterthought anyway, title notwithstanding), it would have probably fared better as a goofy guilty pleasure in its day. Tippi Hedren must have had some bills to pay – no accounting for her turning up as a completely different character in yet another "nightmare with wings" scenario.


10/17

Dark Age (1987) (1st viewing) d. Nicholson, Arch (Australia) 91 min.

John Jarratt stars in this underrated (the cryptic title probbly bears a fair amount responsibility for that) Ozploitation flick about a giant crocodile nibbling away at the local population, taking pages from the Jaws handbook as it goes. The biggest twist is that naturalist Jarratt and his Aborigine pals are looking to safely transport the big beastie to a secluded spot where the marvel of nature can continue to exist, while the bad white men attempt to turn it into trophy material. Some decent munching sequences set to a trippy synth soundtrack.

Guardian, The (1990) (1st viewing) d. Friedkin, William (USA) 92 min.

Despite its director's Exorcist pedigree, this cheapie schlockfest about an evil tree spirit feeding off kidnapped infants doesn’t do much in the way of dazzling. Sexy nanny Jenny Seagrove is the one nabbing the nippers, with her latest quarry having sprung from the loins of Carey Lowell and Dwier Brown. There’s some fun homicidal botanical altercations and a few snarling wolves on the perimeter keeping things lively, but it never really rises out of the “B” bunker.

Rite, The (2011) (1st viewing) d. Hafstrom, Mikael (USA) 114 min.

Anthony Hopkins as an equal parts quirky and nonchalant exorcist + handsome young skeptic priest Colin O’Donoghue + crazy pregnant possessed girl Marta Gastini = Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz wannabe chiller.


Total Movies: 54
First Time Views: 54
Money Raised for Friends of Children: $548.10