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| Still a little unclear about this social distancing thing.... |
Greetings, my friends!
The last week of March was not quite as frenzied in terms of intake of the fluttering image. (Although some may debate this, based on the number of flicks consumed, there was a little more structure and pacing than the week prior.) In addition to increasing the All Things Bronson tally, Amazon Prime graced me with three worthwhile documentaries about fright flicks and the creative forces behind them while Shout! Factory delivered the goods both on physical media and streaming.
I also knocked out my Kryptic Army Assignment just in the final lap (inspired by personal fears, mine being of sickness and infirmity – nice timing, right?), and sampled the debut features from two filmmakers who would change the face of cinema, John Hughes and George Lucas.
As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.
Enjoy!
HORROR:
MUNSTER MASH:
Munster, Go Home! (1966) d. Bellamy, Earl (USA) (3rd viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL BLU-RAY REVIEW***
The Munster’s Revenge (1981) d. Weis, Don (USA) (1st viewing)
15 years after going off the air (but enjoying a rich life in syndication), the First Family of Fright reunited on the small screen for this well-intentioned but slipshod yarn that has lookalike robots of Herman (Fred Gwynne) and Grampa (Al Lewis) committing grand larceny at the behest of looney toon Sid Caesar. Everyone tries to put on a game face, but there are no real sparks flying. Happily, it was not long after this that Hollywood rediscovered Gwynne as a versatile and reliable character actor and put him to good use in The Cotton Club, Ironweed, Pet Sematary, and My Cousin Vinny. Available as a bonus feature on Shout! Factory’s BR release of Munster, Go Home!
KRYPTIC ARMY: FEAR ITSELF
Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon (aka Mansion of Madness) (1973) d. Juan Lopez Monteczuma (Mexico) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL DVD REVIEW***
Nurse Sherri (1978) d. Adamson, Al (USA) (1st viewing)
***CLICK HERE FOR FULL DVD REVIEW***
A COUPLE FROM CURT:
Night Tide (1961) d. Harrington, Curtis (USA) (1st viewing)
Dennis Hopper stars as a young sailor getting ready to head out for active duty who meets up with a beautiful young woman (Linda Lawson) who works as a sideshow attraction, playing a mermaid in a tank of water. As they spend more time together, he begins to notice certain idiosyncrasies, as well as learning that her last couple boyfriends turned up dead, which make him start to wonder if she might not be the genuine article, luring unsuspecting victims to their doom like the sirens of legend. Deliberately paced but surprisingly moody and atmospheric, with the carnival boardwalk setting conjuring images of Carnival of Souls (which would premiere the following year). Worth checking out.
Queen of Blood (1966) d. Harrington, Curtis (USA) (4th viewing)
I have always had a soft spot for this AIP sci-fi quickie which cobbles together special effects footage from two Soviet flicks, Nevo Zovyot and Mechte Navstrechu (procured by exec-producer Roger Corman), and then builds around them a now-familiar story (hello, Alien) of a moon expedition lured off course by another spacecraft’s distress signal. Upon landing, they discover a green-skinned female humanoid alien (Florence Marly) who has the unfortunate habit of snacking on human blood. John Saxon, Judi Meredith, Dennis Hopper, and Robert Boon play the befuddled crew members on Miss Platinum Beehive of 1990’s menu while Basil Rathbone fiddles around in a low-budget control room set, barking orders to his skeleton crew of extras (which include Forrest J. Ackerman). Despite its humble origins, Harrington manages to develop an estimable atmosphere of underlying dread thanks to his committed cast and skillful editing.
TRUE HORROR (DOCUMENTARIES):
Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini (2019) d. Baker, Jason (USA) (1st viewing)
A wonderful, woefully overdue tribute to the Sultan of Splatter, a man who will likely never receive an Oscar despite his undeniable contributions to the realm of special makeup effects. Kudos to Baker and his team of interviewers who sit down with some of the biggest and the brightest stars to shower praise upon this Pittsburgh lad made good, while pulling back the curtain to reveal the humble and accessible gentleman behind the blood and latex.
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019) d. Burgin, Xavier (USA) (1st viewing)
Recently awarded the Rondo Award for best independent film, this solid little doc examines the phenomenon of 1970s blaxploitation horror (Blacula, Blackenstein, J.D.’s Revenge, Ganja and Hess, Abby) and then cuts forward to add Candyman and Tales from the Hood into the mix before leaping ahead to Jordan Peele’s Get Out. To their point, there isn’t a lot of African-American horror to discuss, and they do their best with what they have. All that said, I would have preferred them to dig a little deeper, pointing up indie efforts like Bugged! or films with black leads like Fallen or Gothika than just hitting the obvious markers. It serves the turn as primer material, but it’s hardly the fully realized project it could have been.
King Cohen (2017) d. Mitchell, Steve (USA) (1st viewing)
Outstanding overview of legendary maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen (R.I.P.) who cranked out any number of hugely profitable films while staying defiantly outside the Hollywood system. The talking heads, revealing the mind-blowing tales of “He did what???”, include Eric Roberts, Michael Moriarty, Fred Williamson, Rick Baker, J.J. Abrams, Mick Garris, Joe Dante, Barbara Carrera, Robert Forster, Traci Lords, Eric Bogosian, and of course, The Man Himself. All the while we are treated to scenes from everything from Cohen’s early career in television (The Invaders) to his breakout blaxploitation efforts (Bone, Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem) to his horror classics (It’s Alive trilogy, Q: The Winged Serpent, The Stuff) to his Hollywood paydays as a screenwriter (Phone Booth, Cellular, Guilty as Sin). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
CIVILIAN:
Big Trouble in Little China (1986) d. Carpenter, John (USA) (3rd viewing)
“When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: ‘Have ya paid your dues, Jack?’ ‘Yessir, the check is in the mail.’”
While it seems obvious now that the fourth teaming of Carpenter and star Kurt Russell was destined to become a cult favorite, it only perplexed critics and audiences upon arrival in the summer of 1986. Nobody knew what to do with a flick that featured a mulleted truck driver as its ostensible hero… despite the fact that at least half the time when he is given the opportunity to do anything slightly heroic, he screws it up!
Criticized upon release for perpetuating Chinese stereotypes, Carpenter deserves credit for populating the screen with scores of Asian performers, including plum roles for Dennis Dun, Victor Wong, Donald Li, Carter Wong, and James Hong. Russell seems far more comfortable here playing a goofball who thinks he’s a badass than playing an actual badass (Escape from New York, Tombstone) while Kim Cattrall continues her ascent out of smut-comedy jail (Porky’s, Police Academy) as spunky speed-talking attorney Gracie Law. Now available on a two-disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Shout! Factory.
https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/big-trouble-in-little-china-collector-s-edition?product_id=7245
Screwballs (1983) d. Zielinski, Rafal (Canada) (2nd viewing)
Supremely lowbrow sex comedy of five archetypal high school losers who, after being stuck in detention together, make a bet as to who will be the first to witness the resident tease Purity Busch (Linda Speciale) in the altogether. Clearly inspired by the success of Porky’s (yes, I know I just referenced it above, sue me), there is a certain ridiculous juvenile charm amidst the sexploitation elements, with numerous absurdist touches that keep it from being skeevy, and it’s worth noting that on the whole, there is very little sex shaming, i.e. the females who choose to engage are engaging enthusiastically. (The script is co-written by Linda Shayne and Jim Wynorski, with the former also playing the memorably named “Bootsie Goodhead.”) I can’t say it’s a good movie, but it has its charms.
Sixteen Candles (1984) d. Hughes, John (USA) (1st viewing)
Yes, believe it or not, I had never seen this 1980s classic all the way through before. And while there’s no denying it has its less-than-PC moments when seen through 2020 eyes, it still maintains the fairy tale elements that made it an enduring favorite of a generation. My buddy Kevin Matthews over at For It Is Man’s Number did a lovely write-up on this not long ago and it’s worth the read.
https://foritismansnumber.blogspot.com/2019/08/sixteen-candles-1984.html
THX 1138 (1971) d. Lucas, George (USA) (2nd viewing)
It’s amazing to consider that this icy slice of dystopian sci-fi sprang from the mind of the man who would give us American Graffiti two years later and then Star Wars four years after that. Lucas’ vision for detail and design elements was already wildly apparent, with his silver-masked police officers against the solid white backgrounds of his claustrophice confines populated by bare-headed inhabitants. Aided by idiosyncratic performances by Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, and Maggie McOmie and Walter Murch’s sterling sound design (who co-wrote the script with Lucas), this immediately marked the young director as a force to be reckoned with. Being that I was watching “The Director’s Cut” released to DVD in 2004, I have no idea how much post-production tinkering is on display (other than the obvious computer-generated beasties in the tunnel climax), but I gotta say, it looks good and it feels bad, which was the idea.
PRIME PACK OF BRONSON:
The Raid on Entebbe (1976) d. Kershner, Irvin (USA) (1st viewing)
In July 1976, Air France Flight 139 was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda where the passengers and crew were held hostage with the freedom of numerous political prisoners the terms of their release. This solid re-telling of those headline-catching events was an all-star affair with top-flight production values that garnered the Golden Globe for best Made-for-TV Film and was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, winning for Best Cinematography and Sound Editing. Bronson is in fine form as the heroic Brig. Gen. Dan Shomron who conceives the daring raid on the airport where the hostages are held, even though his long hair and droopy mustache feel slightly at odds with his military carriage.
The real-life events were also dramatized in another 1976 TV-movie, Victory at Entebbe (with Harris Yulin in the Bronson role), 1977’s Operation Thunderbolt with Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning, and later fictionalized as the 1986 Chuck Norris vehicle, The Delta Force. Look sharp for Let’s Scare Jessica to Death’s MariClare Costello as one of the terrorists and a very young James Woods as sharpshooter Sammy Berg.
Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus (1991) d. Jarrott, Charles (USA) (1st viewing)
Highly fictionalized account of how columnist Frank Church came to write his famous 1897 editorial, with Bronson in fine subdued form as the alcoholic and grieving widower (neither of which were true) struggling to respond to a young girl’s innocent question. The schmaltz flows freely with Richard Thomas as Virginia’s unemployed knuckle-dusting Irish father, Ed Asner as Sun publisher Edward P. Mitchell, and future genre star Katherine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, American Mary) as the young lady herself, but it inspires enough good cheer to bring a smile to one’s face come the final reel.
The Great Escape (1963) d. Sturges, John (USA) (7th viewing)
Three years after the great success of The Magnificent Seven, Sturges reunited Steve McQueen, James Coburn, and Bronson for this “based on a true story” extravaganza of an Allied escape from the infamous Stalag Luft III POW camp during WWII. There’s little I can add here that hasn’t already been written over the course of the past 50+ years – it’s a classic for a reason, perhaps the greatest action/war film that doesn’t feature a single battle. Bronson is especially good here, using his native Polish accent as claustrophobic “Tunnel King” Danny Velinski, and it’s to Sturges’ credit he gives nearly every member of his massive masculine ensemble an equal opportunity to shine.
2020 Totals to Date: 118 films, 90 first time views, 35 horror, 2 cinema
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