Movie A Day!: Salome Brain Damage

Only thing worse than the news is family thinking that all the horrible people are correct.

420 11/06 Salome (1973) 2.5/5   Experimental short film from Clive Barker is just that. Didn’t make any sense but had some nice visuals.

421 11/07 The Forbidden (1978) 2.5/5   Another experimental short film from Clive Barker that is bigger on ideas and image than actually being fun to watch.

422 11/11 Blue Sextet (1971) 2.5/5   Directed by the man who brought us I Drink Your Blood, this one find a group of people meeting up to remember a friend who passed away, only to discover what a total bastard he was. It’s an ambitious softcore film that emphasizes plot but didn’t really hold my attention.

423 11/11 The Keepers (2017) 3/5   A Netflix true crime series about the murder of a nun is actually a disturbing outing of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. It’s easily two episodes too long, and a massive trigger warning to anyone who survived abuse. The death of a nun bit almost seems like a trick to get you to watch.

424 11/11 Kinky Tricks (1977) 3/5   Okay look, this is probably a one-day wonder as far as porno goes, but star Candida Royalle is a firecracker of personality and the short run-time helps to keep it fun. It also delivers “kinky tricks” and is generally lighthearted. For what it is, it’s pretty good, but no must see.

425 11/12 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) 2.5/5   I enjoyed this one more the second time but it still relies way too much on nostalgia for the past and what they have done with “The Force” is horrendous. It’s a shame since the new cast is great.

426 11/12 China Lust (1976) 1.5/5   Low rent porno quickie that barely has a plot and no real star power to make it stand out.

Next are a pair of short films from Emiliano Rocha Minter.

427 11/13 Dentro (Inside) (2013) 2.5/5   A short film that manages to pack in a ton of style into its running time and has a good sense of dread as two people build a mysterious thing in the woods.

428 11/13 Videohome (2014) 3/5   This one feels more like a warm-up to images the director will explore in WE ARE THE FLESH, but manages to be impressive all the same.

429 11/13 The Window (1949) 4/5   A real spooky film noir about a young boy who witnesses a murder only no one will believe him. The boy is Disney wunderkind Bobby Driscoll who manages to carry the film without ever being annoying. It makes what happened to him in later life all the more tragic. Everyone else is great as well and really makes this one worth checking out.

430 11/13 Listen To The Light: The Making of Brain Damage (2017) 3.5/5   Really well done documentary on the making of the film despite missing the directors input. Can be found on the recent Arrow Blu-ray.

Scary Movie Challenge 2017 Part 2

I know I said I would post these every ten films and I’m over again. It was a long weekend, so it made sense to include a full day instead of half a day. It’s my blog, I do what I want!

304 10/07 Nightmare Honeymoon (1974) 2/5   A woman is assaulted on her honeymoon and her husband acts like a prick about it. This one looks like a vengeance thriller of the era, but it just plods along never really spooking or entertaining.

305 10/07 Kiss of the Tarantula (1976) 2/5   Another find from TCM Underground that is no great shakes. A young woman uses her beloved spiders to get even with those who would hurt her. Another one that isn’t really bad, just never gets really good despite adding in a little sleaze.

306 10/07 The Bad Seed (1956) 4/5   Really enjoyed this one. You know going in what to expect, so in lieu of surprises it’s more about watching things play out. And things do play out. Patty McCormack plays the most devious little shit ever seen on film, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun watching everyone twist around her. Despite knowing the premise, there are some surprises to be had and the film is surprisingly grim for the era. Worth checking out.

307 10/07 The Intrusion (1975) 3/5   Nasty hardcore feature about a wife assaulted by a home invader posing as a travelling salesman. This genre is sleazy enough without being hardcore so it really gets uncomfortable watching it. Which makes it a success.

308 10/08 Death Watch (1980) 3/5   Harvey Keitel stars as a reporter that has cameras implanted in his eyes so he can follow a woman as she goes through the stages of dying for reality TV in the near future. More Sci-Fi/Drama than the thriller it sounds like, but a pretty solid offering all the same that goes more into character examination than exploitation.

309 10/08 Alice Sweet Alice (1976) 3/5   This is one of those films that always kicked around the cheap bins so I always glossed over it despite the Brooke Shields being the draw. She’s barely in it as far as I can tell, and the whole thing is a pretty basic slasher that doesn’t offer up much.   

310 10/08 I Drink Your Blood (Theatrical Version) (1970) 3.5/5   The drive-in classic about satanic hippies infected by rabies is far better than it should be. I mean, it’s no great shakes, but it absolutely delivers on what it promises which is what makes these exploitation films a success. From limbs being hacked off to dead goats being dragged around, it’s not for everyone but for those of us that can enjoy a dumber, gorier Night Of The Living Dead ripoff, it’s pretty great.

311 10/08 The Swarm (1978) 4/5   First off, there is no such thing as an actually good killer bee movie. That said, this one is probably the best. A all star cast featuring Michael Cain and legends Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, Olivia de Havilland among others, playing it straight and acting their asses off in a film that has billions of killer bees attacking the states, you have to respect it. It’s an Irwin Allen film, so things get absolutely bonkers by the end with the army lighting up everything with flame throwers. To fight killer bees. And it’s not the stupidest killer bee film since it doesn’t feature a scene where the bees plead to the United Nations for world peace. (That film would be the glorious The Bees.)

312 10/09 I Eat Your Skin (1964) 2/5   This is the one that became notorious thanks to being billed with I Drink Your Blood, and I can just imagine how disappointed audiences where after viewing it. It’s an old school voodoo zombie picture with a scientist creating them as an after effect of his cancer research. Nothing exceptional at all.

313 10/09 Chopping Mall (1986) 3.5/5   In the realm of dopey 80’s horror films, you can do a lot worse than this one about a bunch of horny teens partying after hours in a mall. The new security robots go haywire and start attacking. This one is helped by its short running time, it gets to the goods quick and keep the energy going so you stay interested.

314 10/09 Blood Diner (1987) 4/5   A spiritual successor to Blood Feast, I’m rating this one a lot higher than I probably should. Two brothers grow up to follow their dead uncle’s wishes to resurrect the goddess Sheetar via a grand feast. I don’t typically like horror comedies like this, but they run absolutely wild with the dumb premise, pack it with gore and nudity and I managed to actually laugh out loud more than once at some of the jokes. It all ends up being fantastically entertaining.

315 10/09 The Driller Killer (1979) 4/5   First time watching the “Interpositive” cut, and I’m not expert enough to tell you what is added or missing. At any rate, this continues to be a favourite of mine. Abel Ferrara does not mess around, staring and playing the lead. Packed with grimy New York, from the punk music to the alleys, the whole thing simply works splendidly.

316 10/09 The Devil Rides Out (1968) 4/5   Incredibly strong Hammer offering with Christopher Lee starring as man schooled in the occult trying to save his friend from Satanic forces. Genuinely creepy and authentic feeling, even when things get spectacular. It’s great to see Lee in a hero role, and the whole thing is one of the more effective Hammer Horrors I’ve seen.

 

This bit from Blood Diner still has me laughing:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaCht_bBKsM/?taken-by=ruz_el

 

Movie A Day! 111-120: Beyond The Massacre Gun

As I write this the twitter-verse is a buzz with shock that Madonna would kiss Drake. Not because it’s a puzzle as to why anyone would kiss Drake, but because she’s apparently too old to be doing such things. I hate.

111 04-05 Louis Theroux: By Reason of Insanity (2 Episodes) 4/5
The latest documentary series from Theroux continues his look at the American prison system, this time specifically spending time in a mental institution treating people who couldn’t face trial due to being found mentally unfit to stand trial. It’s one of his tougher documentaries due to the mixed up morality. The crimes are nearly all truly awful, but you feel both repelled by, and sad for the people who committed them. So another great documentary series by Theroux. For those not familiar with Theroux, this is no goofy expose. Instead Theroux simply talks to people to hear what they have to say. It’s a brilliant approach that served him well in the goofy series, and works amazingly well now that’s he’s looking at more serious subjects.

112 04-05 Mark of the Times (2015) 3/5
This is a feature length special feature to be found on the MARK OF THE DEVIL disc put out by Arrow Video. It’s a pretty typical talking heads style doc, looking at the new wave of British horror in the seventies. I’m a horror fan, and a bit of a rube when it comes to this genre, so the doc was both interesting in subject matter and annoying in that I want to watch all the movies featured. The curse continues!

113 04-06 Better Call Saul (2014) (10 Episodes) 4/5
The sequel series to BREAKING BAD might actually be better than the series that spawned it. This one catches up with Saul after the events of the BB finale, then shoots us into the past where we see him pre-Saul, as hustler “Slippin’” Jimmy, attempting to turn his life around. It’s deadly good, being both hilarious and heartbreaking as well. Bob Odenkirk is putting in the performance of his as Jimmy/Saul, Jonathan Banks is back as Mike and stealing every scene he’s in, as will as being featured in what might be one of the great episodes of television, ever. Most surprising, Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins of SPINAL TAP) is also doing brilliant work and Jimmys mental breakdown suffering brother Chuck. I can not wait for season two to kick off.

114 04-07 Massacre Gun (1967) 3/5
The third release from ARROW VIDEO to arrive is a Yakuza picture. I don’t know enough about the genre to tell you how it compares to others. It’s a pretty decent gangster picture though. A hitman is forced to kill a girl he loves and all hell breaks loose. This one has a deliberate tone instead of the hyper action you would think would be in it based on the title, but it is a good one.

115 04-09 Louis Theroux: Transgender Children (2015) 4/5
Another special by Theroux, this one explores gender identity in children. It was fascinating, though sad to watch in that it seemed confusing to all involved. Theroux is typically great though in presenting. Worth a watch.

116 04-09 On Cinema At The Cinema Season 6 (2015) 4/5
As Decker comes to a close, so does the series that spawned it. The final episode was bittersweet due to the bit in the finale that has seen Gregg Turkington absent from Twitter to the time of this posting. A brilliant bit of comedy to be sure, I’m curious to see where they take it all next season since the joke seems to continue.

117 04-09 The Beyond (1981) 4/5
A second watch of Fulci’s Italian horror classic via Grindhouse Releasing recent blu-ray had me liking it even more. Basic plot is a woman takes over and starts to refurbish a hotel that has been built on one of the seven doors of hell. It plays like a nightmare with David Lynch style dream logic. If you’re looking for a normal narrative, there isn’t one to find here. If you’re want a gory fever dream, this is your picture.

118 04-10 Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief (2015) 4/5
Been waiting for this documentary and it didn’t disappoint. I already knew some of the strangeness to be found, and this one does a really good job of laying it all out in perspective. It’s the type of film where you hope some real world change happens because of it.

119 04-10 Sensual Fire (1979) 2.5/5
This is the second Tobalina film to be found on Vinegar Syndromes Peekarama disc with last blogs THREE RIPENING CHERRIES. It’s the better film in that it has more plot. Jamie Gillis plays a pervo lusting after his girlfriends daughter and seeking help in dealing with it. The main problem is typical to Tobalina in that the editing and pacing kills what could have been a decent picture compared to all his shitty orgy pictures.

120 04-10 Godzilla (2014) 2/5
Finally sat down to this one and it was a piece of shit. You have one job, and one job only when you make a Godzilla movie and that is to have it packed with monster fights. Three quarters of this one is aftermath of monster fights, and when you finally do get to see the monsters fight, it’s it the dark so it’s still mostly hidden. So fuck this movie, and fuck Gareth Edwards whose other film, MONSTERS, also had no monsters or fighting for most of the duration.

Bit long this one huh? Been in the fog a bit with poor time management. I’ll try to get it back down to 5 titles a post.

Movie A Day! : 266-272 “Hymm-Humming Hell Cat!”

I think this is my fiftieth blog on this site. I feel like I should post something more personal than my silly movie lists, but I just don’t feel like it. feel free to look back on a previous Broken Record post, I doubt anything has changed.

Here’s the rest of the movies I watched last week, all scary ones so read this one with the lights on.

266 10-04 Evil Come Evil Go (1972) 3/5
This one is a Walt Davis film about a religious fanatic woman that is travelling around picking up guys and killing them while they have sex. Because sex is bad, ok? It’s actually quite fun, with Cleo O’hara in the lead as the girl being particularly good. This one is a pretty strong sexploitation horror from when softcore was transitioning into hardcore, so there’s sadly a bit too much time spent on nudity over the horror which causes it to run out of steam after the opening 20 minutes or so. Ends up I shouldn’t of been surprised, it’s produced by Bob Chinn who would go on to cement his place in history with the Johnny Wadd films starring John Holmes, who himself gets a credit here as assistant director. Apparently Holmes did the special make-up effect for the first kill. It’s not the greatest bit of gore you will find, but is the highlight of the film.

267 10-04 The Legend of Hell House (1973) 3.5/5
Blind bought this one based on word of mouth. It’s a pretty neat update on the haunted house story, for the time anyway. There was too much importance put on psychic powers for my taste, but the effects are good and it does get genuinely suspenseful. Being a big fan of THE EVIL DEAD, I can’t help but think that this is the missing link between THE HAUNTING and Raimi’s film. This one should be noted for an amazing performance by Roddy McDowall as well. So good stuff, I just didn’t love it.

268 10-04 Widow Blue! (1970) 3/5
This is the last Walt Davis film released on this Vinegar Syndrome disc, and boy is it a doozy. Also known as “SEX PSYCHO”, it’s one of truly demented films from the early days of seventies exploitation where porn is on the horizon and the filmmakers are going for broke. This film has everything in it. Explicit sex? Yup! Gay sex? Yup! Gore? Yup! All together in one scene? Yup! People having sex on top of a guy they just killed via a Herschell Gordon Lewis type neck chopping? Yup! As far as I can tell, this film would only appeal to Charles Manson. sadly, it runs out of steam halfway through, which is around when porn legend John Holmes shows up (unbilled) and it becomes more of a sex film that a horror/sex hybrid. That said, for fans of this kind of “Something Weird” stuff, it’s a goldmine. Completely uncut as far as I know, and all three films on the disc should entertain.

269 10-05 The Face Of Marble (1946) 1.5/5
This was the next film on that four pack I mentioned last blog and I have a feeling they front loaded the disc with the good movie, “Jonathan Drake.” Everything was bad on this one. The plot which was a Frankenstein, voodoo mish mash was poor and annoying, no performances of style to elevate it. The transfer had pretty much every issue a film can have with little gray scale, print bounce, compression, ugh. Everything about it was the pits. Lousy $10 disc! Thank goodness the Skulls of Jonathan Drake was good.

Corruption, not for girls.

270 10-05 Corruption (1968) 4/5
Peter Cushing plays a surgeon who has to resort to murder in order to save his model fiancee’s burned face. I was expecting a bit of a Hammer flavour to this one, and it sort of is like a Hammer, but man does it get vicious! I don’t think Cushing ever got more crazy than in this one, and the film keeps building up suspense by adding layers to all the main characters. I watched the International version that had more boobs and blood, but I imagine the regular release is just as good. Both are on the GRINDHOUSE RELEASING blu-ray I picked up, and the quality is fantastic. So it’s a swinging look at swinging London with Cushing murdering non-vampires, what’s not to like? (It’s also suitable for women if you’re a woman who likes proto-slasher horror.)

271 10-05 Cannibal Holocaust (1980) 4.5/5
It feels wrong to call this a classic, but it really is. It’s offensive, horrific, gross, and leaves you feeling almost despondent. Which means it absolutely succeeds in it’s goal in a way few films ever have. This was my 4th time watching it and it hasn’t lost any of it’s impact. It’s a real shame that they had to have animal cruelty in it. I can’t imagine the movie will ever have a better presentation than what GRINDHOUSE RELEASING has done with this blu-ray. If you’re a fan, it’s a must own.

272 10-05 Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) 4/5
This one is considered a lower lever Universal Horror film, but I’ve always really enjoyed it. Lugosi is a carny scientist who claims to have a missing link ape named Erik and is obsessed with breeding Erik with a white woman. It’s incredibly twisted, hyper-sexual compared to most Universal Horrors, and even with all the censorship that plagued the film to this uncut final result. Lugosi is just as good in this as he is in DRACULA which helps keep things moving.

One thing I failed to mention in my Cannibal Holocaust review since I’ve seen it so many times in the score. It has one of the most hauntingly beautiful scores you will find in a film that plays against some of the most horrible imagery you will see. It helps add to the power of the film. So while I can’t recommend the film to anyone due to the real life animal cruelty involved, it succeeds in many ways in what it was trying to accomplish.

That’s it for now. At the rate I’m going I’ll probably have another movie post before the weekend.

The End

Movie A Day! : 204-213 “Big Hunka Love”

Two posts in one week! You lucky lucks! This one catches up the rest of the films I watched during the last week when I wasn’t posting due to the cloud of moodiness. I ended up watching quite a bit due to throwing my back out and being barely able to walk around by the time I got home from work. Nothing enables movie watching like sickness or physical pain. I mean, I’d rather lay about and watch movies anyway. When you’re healthy and watching movies, you’re lazy. If you’re sick though, you’re getting better and doing the right thing. Let’s all get incurable but non-fatal diseases so we can be empowered to watch more movies!

204 08-17 Elvis : That’s the Way It Is (Special Edition) (2001) 3.5/5
This is a concert film documenting Elvis’s return to live performances via his opening week in Las Vegas. It’s great. Elvis is a bundle of nerves, and the energy is contagious when he gets going. His voice is fantastic and he really does look like a King. You could argue that he is at his peak here, from here on it’s all a slide downhill into drugs and poor health. This version concentrates more on performance and cuts a bunch of the interview type material that made the original film from 1970 fun but severely dated. On another note, every poster for this sucked. Look at that fucking outfit, why not show him in the dazzling white suit he’s seen in the film in?

See? Already a better picture for the poster despite the doof on bass behind him.

205 08-18 Zatoichi’s Pilgrimage (1966) 3.5/5
This one finds Zatoichi again grappling with the morality of killing hundreds (thousands?) of men, so he decides to begin a pilgrimage to the 81 temples to find enlightenment. Guess how it goes? Another fantastic edition, that also featured one of the best scenes yet of his swordsmanship in the opening.

206 08-19 No Time for Sergeants (1955) 4/5
Based on the introduction, this was Andy Griffith’s debut on live television (via the United States Steel Hour), and his first experience acting in a play. It’s an absolutely amazing performance, and you can literally see his star being born. From here he would move on to winning a Tony for the Broadway adaptation, then his TV series. The play itself is hilarious, and a rare example of comedy being performed on live television as opposed to the typical dramas.

207 08-20 A Brief History of Time (1991) 4/5
Errol Morris is a master of the documentary, and this one is no exception. Spending equal time with Stephen Hawking’s biography and theory explanation, it manages to never be boring and surprisingly accessible to people like me whose brain starts to sing “LA LA LA LAAAA”  when physics are being explained. I guess the only knock you can have against the film now is that it’s twenty plus years out of date, and I think the theory presented has been disproved, or changed or whatever happens with the science. Fucking science, always changing. They’re redoing Cosmos now! Fucking kids and their new science!

208 08-22 This Is Elvis (Extended Video Version) (1981) 4/5
Elvis week continues! This one is a straight up documentary detailing his life. The good is that it features a whole bunch of clips of Elvis, mostly of song performances. The bad is that they have actors recreating parts of his life, and a guy narrating the film as Elvis in the first person but kind of from the afterlife. It makes it unnecessarily weird, especially the opening scenes of his last night alive in Graceland. That said, you do get a good picture of his life, and they don’t hold back on the negatives either. If all you know is “Fat Elvis” of popular culture, you owe it to yourself to see some of this stuff to see why he was the King. Plus theirs priceless footage of him stoned out of his skull, kicking members of his Memphis Mafia in the nuts during a karate demo. Seriously, MUST SEE STUFF!

209 08-23 The Dragon Tamers (1975) 3/5
At first glance, this one is a typical Kung-Fu picture about some guy wanting to challenge some other guy to see who’s the better fighter and getting mixed up in some school clash. What separates this one though, is it’s the second picture directed by John Woo. Being a huge fan of THE KILLER and HARD BOILED, two films that I would put at the top of any “Best Of” list, it was fun to see Woo working in the Golden Harvest trenches. Even at this point you can see his style coming to form, with slow motion and other style tricks. The plot too, with heavy emphasis on loyalty and friendship fit solidly into the Woo cannon. The opening girl fight in the mud though, not so much, that bit seems more at home in a women in prison film. Which isn’t a bad thing.

210 08-23 Machete Kills (2013) 3/5
I liked this one much more than I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, I obviously love trash, and I’m a big fan of Robert Rodriguez and his homemade films. It’s more of a case of just how good can the second film of a series based off a fake trailer be? Ends up nearly as good as the unlikely first film. I think it would of played better a smidge shorter on a double bill, which really is how these films should be seen but never well since GRINDHOUSE shit the bed at the box office. Shame on all of you who skipped seeing that one in the theaters. Anyway, it’s big, it’s stupid and it leaves a big smile on your face. I really hope they do the MACHETE KILLS IN SPACE movie, that one looks amazing.

211 08-23 Candy Goes To Hollywood (1979) 3/5
This is the sequel to THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF CANDY, and is the better film. Thora Birch’s mom Carol Connors is back in the lead role, this time heading to Hollywood where she gets hooked up with a sleaze-bag agent played by John Leslie who sends her out to numerous shows to get taken advantage off. The spoofs of the Tonight Show and The Gong Show are pretty fun, and John Leslie is actually a really good actor who could of had a career outside of porn. The real cult draw, and the reason why I had seen this one previously, is the appearance of pre-Plasmatics punk legend Wendy O. Williams shooting ping pong balls out of her pussy during the Gong Show spoof. So obviously this one is on the very top of all of your “Must See” lists. Another winner, double feature from Vinegar Syndrome.

212 08-24 An American Hippie in Israel (1972) 2/5
This one is considered a cult classic, but it left me completely flat. It’s what the title says, an American hippie arrives in Israel and starts preaching his hippie horseshit. It’s funny and of it’s time, but it’s more BAD bad then fun bad, with constant preaching about “The Man” and the evils of war. It just never worked. I picked it up since the company that did the blu-ray, Grindhouse Releasing have been dead solid in the past. Oh well, you can’t like everything.

213 08-24 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) 4/5
More Wes Anderson guys! I’m not going to get too into it other than to say that once again I was surprised at how good it was. It’s such a goofy premise, some guy hunting down a shark that killed his first mate, but the cast is so good, and the script so tight, and Bill Murray so perfect that I just loved the shit out this one.

There it is! What’s left to say? I’m really enjoying the Wes Anderson films on the second go round. Elvis is awesome and who doesn’t love ping-pong? This really is the greatest blog, you should tell all your friends to follow me. Maybe I’ll get a sponsor? That’s how you get rich on the internet right? I mean, my webcam shows aren’t doing anything, this is all I got!

 

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