WHITE COMANCHE -- movie review by porfle

Originally posted on 11/2/09
 

In 1966, William Shatner starred as Captain James T. Kirk in episode #5 of "Star Trek:The Original Series", entitled "The Enemy Within", in which a transporter malfunction split him into two people--the good Kirk and the evil Kirk. Two years later, this wealth of Shatners continued when he traveled to Spain during a series hiatus and portrayed twin half-breed brothers in a low-budget, badly-directed and photographed Western called WHITE COMANCHE (1968). Once again, it was a face-off between good and evil Shatners, and a chance for him to lavish us with a double-dose of that eccentric acting style we all know and love.

How bad is this movie? The opening seconds give a good indication since it looks like we're about to see one of those home-movie-quality documentaries about Bigfoot that used to play in smalltown drive-ins. But instead of a big, hairy monster, we see Shatner as Johnny Moon, dressed in denim cowboy duds and riding a horse through the wilderness, while one of the worst movie scores ever written begins to massacre our brain cells. Suddenly he is set upon by a group of men who put a noose around his neck because they think he's his twin brother Notah Moon, who goes around with his band of renegade Comanches and kills the "pale eyes" for fun. Johnny gets away and rides to Notah's camp to await his return, because he's had it up to here with getting blamed for his brother's murderous shenanigans and is itching for a showdown.

Meanwhile, Notah and his motley crew of cut-ups have just attacked a stagecoach and shot all the drivers and passengers except for a beautiful young saloon babe named Kelly (the way-hot Argentinian actress Rosanna Yani), whom Notah gleefully rapes after slapping her around for awhile. It's weird seeing Bad Shatner here, looking like someone dressed in a half-assed Indian costume for Halloween, yelping "Hi-yi-yi!" and wearing that same goofy expression Captain Kirk used to have whenever he was a little too happy for some reason. He would again appear in a similar outfit later that year in the "Star Trek" episode "The Paradise Syndrome", in which the amnesia-stricken Kirk lives among a tribe of space Indians who believe him to be a god named "Kirok."


Anyway, Notah and his men eventually wander back to camp, which looks more like a dumpy commune full of hostile hippies than an Indian encampment. His wife, White Fawn (Perla Cristal, another Argentinian), who appears as though she might be more at home hanging around a bowling alley in the Bronx, has his peyote ready for him. With it, Notah sees glorious visions of his people conquering the pale eyes, and his stirring exhortations of this impending victory, usually delivered while standing on a big rock, keep his followers all jazzed up and ready for action.

But Johnny steps on Notah's buzz by not only criticizing his copious drug use ("Eat the peyote, drug of the Devil...dream your dreams of hate"), but also by challenging him to a showdown in the nearby town of Rio Hondo in four days. After they diss each other for awhile, both enunciating in that rich, familiar Shatner cadence flavored with pseudo-Indian inflections--

"Notah is well-named...his liver is white, like his Yankee father...his heart burns blacker than the skin of his Comanche mother. He's white-bellied, like his name...'The Snake.'"

"Notah's brother talks like the white man he thinks he is. He's afraid...to be Comanche."

--Notah accepts the challenge. In four days, it'll be Shatner vs. Shatner on the streets of Rio Hondo.

On his way to town, Johnny comes upon a group of men getting ready to hang a guy, which seems to be the main source of entertainment in these parts. He outdraws a couple of goons and rescues the corpulent fellow, who explains that the men work for his boss' competitor, and the two big-shot land barons are getting ever closer to all-out war. Later in town, one of the land barons offers Johnny a job, but their negotiations are interrupted when the saloon babe, Kelly, grabs a gun and starts shooting at Johnny because she thinks he's Notah. Then he gets into a big barroom brawl with one of the guys who was about to hang the fat guy earlier, and they demolish every stick of breakaway furniture in the whole place.

Shatner seems to be doing his own stunts here, flying through bannisters and crashing through tables, which is interesting. He's also fighting in that odd, stylized way that Kirk used to do on Star Trek, which looks rather strange at times. After he whups the tar out of his opponent, Johnny finally convinces Kelly that he isn't Notah, because his eyes are a different color (Johnny's are brown, Notah's are black--like his eee-vil soul). Needless to say, they begin to fall in love.

Trying to keep the two warring factions from each other's throats while keeping a suspicious eye on Johnny is Sheriff Logan, played by top-billed Joseph Cotten. A veteran of such classics as CITIZEN KANE, THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, and GASLIGHT, as well as scores of lesser films and TV appearances, Cotten gives the closest thing to a good performance in WHITE COMANCHE, although that's not saying much considering the competition. I don't know how in blue blazes he ended up in this--maybe he just felt like a vacation in Spain, or maybe the producer was holding his family hostage. At any rate, I doubt if he considered this one of the high points of his career.


As Johnny waits for Notah's imminent arrival, the tension between the two land barons and their men finally explodes into a big, sloppily-staged gun battle in the middle of town, with lot of guys getting shot between the eyes (it seems like anyone who gets shot in this movie gets shot right between the eyes) and falling over balconies and off of roofs and stuff. I never could figure out why getting shot always caused guys to fly forward off of balconies and roofs--it must be some weird Western law of physics that they don't teach us about in school for some reason.

When the dust settles, a whole bunch of guys are dead and the local undertaker will soon be able to afford that summer home in Miami Beach. Johnny is aces with Sheriff Logan now for helping out, and Kelly is ready to settle down with him and start pumping out a bunch of little Johnnies. But all isn't peachy-keen just yet, because here comes Notah, all hopped up on peyote and ready to take Johnny on in a fight to the death. ("You are as the wild duck that sits on the pond," Johnny tells Notah as he draws a bead on him from a bell tower.) Johnny shucks off his white-guy duds and straps on an official Indian headband so that we can't tell the two brothers apart during the exciting battle, stretching our already-frazzled nerves to the breaking point. (Or something like that.) Shouting "Hi-yi-yi!", the two warring Shatners ride toward each other on horseback, guns blazing, and...

...you'll just have to see for yourself how it turns out, which I'm sure you'll be aching to do as soon as possible after reading this. Whether you're a bad movie fan, a member of The First Church Of Shatnerology, or simply a masochist, WHITE COMANCHE is one Western you'll be wanting to get your grubby little hands on. This mind-warping tale of dueling Shatners is the perfect movie to stick into the old DVD player next time you want to get the guys together for a little do-it-yourself MST3K action.

Buy it at Amazon.com

WHITE COMANCHE -- movie review by porfle

THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 4/1/2017

 

Who'd have thought, back when we were watching dark, battered prints of this on public domain DVDs, that one day we'd get to see it on Blu-ray in (almost) tip-top shape and in all its original glory? 

Thanks to a new HD restoration by The Film Detective (in conjunction with UCLA Film & Television Archive) that day is today, and the golden-age horror classic THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933) hasn't looked this good in ages.

Sure, there are still imperfections--this thing is ancient, after all, and has been in the public domain for a very long time--but heck, I love for a film to have SOME imperfections, if only for nostalgic value.

For the most part, however, this cinematic treasure is bright, sharp, and clear, and oh, does that glorious black-and-white photography ever look gorgeous.  Especially when the equally gorgeous leading lady Fay Wray is gracing the screen.

Sharing the cast list with Fay is the exquisitely evil Lionel Atwill as Dr. Otto von Niemann, a scientist--a very mad one, as it turns out--conducting some rather unsavory experiments in the laboratory of his castle in a small German village. 

Fay is his unsuspecting lab assistant Ruth, whose boyfriend, police inspector Karl Brettschneider (Melvyn Douglas) is stymied by a rash of murders in which the victims are found dead in their beds, drained of blood, with two puncture wounds on their throats.

In a reversal of the Van Helsing character in DRACULA two years earlier, Karl is the only man in town who DOESN'T believe the deaths are the work of a vampire.  Everyone else suspects Herman, a half-wit who loves bats (of which the village seems to have an inordinate amount fluttering about and hanging from trees).  

Herman is played wonderfully by the great Dwight Frye, in a performance both disturbing and sympathetic.  Dwight deftly blends elements from some of his other characters such as FRANKENSTEIN's hunchbacked assistant Fritz and the cackling madman Renfield from DRACULA.

Here, however, he's simply a pathetic outsider whom the townspeople regard as a pariah and eventually hunt down as members of the usual torch-bearing mob (with the torches beautifully hand-tinted in color as in the original release prints).

Meanwhile, the vampire murders continue to terrorize the countryside as Atwill's supremely sinister Dr. Niemann carries on his unholy experiments.  As in DR. X. and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM before it, THE VAMPIRE BAT features yet another climactic encounter between Atwill and seminal scream queen Fay, while Niemann's assistant Emil (played by Robert Frazer of 1932's WHITE ZOMBIE), under Niemann's hypnotic spell, is ordered to kill Karl in his sleep. 

Scripted by Edward T. Lowe (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA), this independent production has hints of the Universal Pictures style along with some of their familiar players such as Dwight Frye, Lionel Belmore, and Melvyn Douglas (of James Whale's THE OLD DARK HOUSE).

Director Frank R. Strayer (THE MONSTER WALKS, CONDEMNED TO LIVE) has a restrained yet fluid style during the more frenetic scenes, and a pleasingly stagelike handling of the longer dialogue exchanges. 

While nowhere near as stylish as Whale, Strayer does share that director's fondness for comedy relief in the form of Maude Eburne as Ruth's hypochondriac Aunt Gussie. If you enjoy the comedy stylings of Whale favorite Una O'Connor--I do, many don't--chances are you'll find Eburne a welcome relief from the grim proceedings surrounding her character.

Strayer uses lots of wide shots but then rewards us with some frame-able closeups of the lovely Fay and the not-so-lovely Atwill and Frye.  Production design is well-done and highly atmospheric. Some of the laboratory scenes are rather morbid in this pre-Code era.  There's no musical score save for brief snippets of library music during the opening and closing, but this only adds to the somber mood.

The Blu-ray for this special restored edition is in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital sound. It is, in the words of the press release, "restored from a 35mm composite acetate fine grain master and a 35mm nitrate print."  Extras consist of a charming featurette by Film Detective featuring Melvyn Douglas' son, and a wall-to-wall audio commentary by film historian Sam Sherman which is scholarly and informative. 

It's nice to see this neglected gem reintroduced to the public in this form after languishing in the public domain for so long.  For lovers of vintage black-and-white films, golden age horror, Fay Wray, and classic film in general, watching this version of THE VAMPIRE BAT is like viewing fine art or savoring a vintage wine.  That is, if you drink...wine.

http://www.thefilmdetective.com/

Buy it at Amazon.com

Release date: April 25, 2017

THE VAMPIRE BAT (1933) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

LOONEY TUNES SUPER STARS: TWEETY & SYLVESTER -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 1/19/2011
 

When the Warner Brothers animation department was at its peak in the 40s and 50s, they consistently churned out some of the best and funniest cartoons ever made.  One of their most memorable comedy teams was the cute little bird Tweety and the always-hungry cat Sylvester, whose catchphrases ("I taught I taw a putty tat!" and "Sufferin' succotash!") are part of cartoon history.  With Warner Home Entertainment's LOONEY TUNES SUPER STARS: TWEETY & SYLVESTER, fifteen of their classic shorts have been collected on DVD--some uproariously funny, others not quite hitting the bullseye.

The team, who had already appeared individually in several Warner Brothers shorts, scored an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons) with their first pairing, 1947's "Tweetie Pie" (sic).  This initial outing, in which homeless Tweety is taken in by a household whose cat sees the tiny bird as a mouth-watering meal, seems to be an answer to MGM's Tom and Jerry.  The cat who would later be known as "Sylvester" is referred to here as "Thomas" just like the MGM character, and is similarly harangued by a generic housewife seen only from the waist down. 

With Tweety's cage suspended from the ceiling, he sits in his swing warbling a strange little tune ("I love little putty, his throat is so warm...And if I don't hurt him, he'll do me no harm").  Meanwhile, Sylvester devises a series of ingenious methods of attaining his prey, giving the writers a chance to come up with some pretty funny material while establishing the basic formula for the series.  Sylvester causes more and more chaos and destruction with each attempt, either by his own ineptitude or the playful deviousness of the little bird.
 

Next comes "Bad Ol' Putty Tat" (1949), the classic situation in which a cartoon cat lays siege to a bird perched high up in a birdhouse, and "All Abir-r-r-d!" (1950), with similar antics taking place in the baggage compartment of a passenger train.   These initial offerings are mid-level Warner Brothers stuff, well-drawn and animated but not all that outstanding. 

With "Canary Row" (1950), the characters have come into their own and the gags are snappy and clever.  "Friz" Freleng's direction also gets progressively sharper and more inventive.  As always, musical maestro Carl Stallings' score plays a major part in making the action a lot funnier as Sylvester tries to sneak into a hotel to get Tweetie.  Thanks to voiceover legend Mel Blanc, we hear the cat speak for the first time as he impersonates a bellboy: "Your bagth...madame?"

Blanc's speeded-up voice is charmingly funny as Tweety sings his theme song over the titles:

"I'm a sweet little bird in a gilded cage
Tweety's my name but I don't know my age
I don't have to worry and that is that
I'm safe in here from that old putty tat."

Tweety's kindly old protector, Granny (first voiced by Bea Benederet, later by June Foray), makes her first appearance as well, thus rounding out the cast and giving the series a more distinctive character.  Thankfully for us cat lovers, it's not as painful seeing Granny whack Sylvester with her umbrella as some faceless harridan beating him with a broom.


1951's "Putty Tat Trouble" opens with Tweety shoveling snow out of his nest ("This is what I get for dweaming of a white Chwistmas!") and catching the attention of two housecats, Sylvester and a roughhousing rival, who go at it tooth and nail over the tiny bird.  This is the first real laugh riot of the collection and had me guffawing out loud several times.  (Look for the cardboard box with the words "Friz--America's Favorite Gelatin Dessert", a self-reference by director "Friz" Freleng.) 

The all-out hilarity continues in "Room and Bird" (1951), with both Granny and Sylvester's owner sneaking their pets into a "No Pets Allowed" hotel where they're joined in mischief by a belligerent bulldog, causing the house detective a huge headache.   "Tweety's S.O.S." (1951), in which Sylvester spots Tweety through the porthole of his cabin on board a docked ship, gives the cat another rare early line of dialogue: "Hell-o, breakfast!"  Later, when Granny catches him and he puts on an innocent act, Tweety exclaims "Ooh, what a hypocwite!"

"Tweet Tweet Tweety" (1951) takes place in a national forest with Sylvester trying to cut down the tree in which Tweety's nest is perched.  We hear his catchphrase "Sufferin' succotash!" for the first time here as he grows increasingly more talkative.  "Gift Wrapped" (1952) is an amusing Christmas-themed story.

In "Ain't She Tweet" (1952), a pet store delivers Tweety to Granny, who also keeps a hundred or so vicious bulldogs fenced in her yard.  The sight of Sylvester repeatedly falling into this roiling mass of teeth and claws in his attempts to get into the house are somewhat nightmarish. 

"Snow Business" (1953) is the first time we see "Tweety & Sylvester" billed together as a team.  They start out as friends this time, until they get snowed in up in Granny's mountain cabin with nothing to eat but bird seed.  While a starving Sylvester tries to trick Tweety into a boiling stew pot, he must also avoid a hungry mouse who's after him.  For some reason, the cat never thinks of eating the mouse.

"Satan's Waitin'" (1954) suffers from an unwieldy premise--Sylvester gets killed while chasing Tweety, goes to Hell, then finds that his punishment will be delayed while his other eight lives are snuffed out one by one.  An unfunny bulldog-Satan eggs them on in a series of tepid gags, each climaxing with another death.  Geez, getting hit with a broom is bad enough--I don't really want to see Sylvester being cast into a fiery lake of devilish bulldogs for all eternity.

1961's "The Last Hungry Cat" shows the more modern influence of later WB cartoons with angular backgrounds rendered in an appealingly creative way.  High concept strikes again in this spoof of "The Alfred Hitchcock Show" in which Sylvester thinks he has "murdered" Tweety and is sought by the police.  The guilt-ridden cat suffers a torturous, sleepless night, constantly needled by the Hitchcock-like narrator, until he discovers Tweety is still alive and reverts back to form.  While this short is nice to look at, it just isn't funny.
 

The trend of over-thinking these stories continues with "Birds Anonymous" (1957).  Sylvester is initiated into an "AA"-type group for bird-crazed cats, who are presented as helpless addicts.  ("I was a three-bird-a-day cat," one of them testifies.) 

Increasingly preoccupied with being clever, the writers of these later cartoons sometimes forget to pack in the funny, fast-paced gags that made this series so popular in the first place.  Here, Sylvester endures yet another mental ordeal, with a grotesque bloodshot-eyes closeup that's almost a duplicate of the one from "The Last Hungry Cat."  Why the heck has Sylvester suddenly turned into Ray Milland?

The final short in the collection, "Tweety and the Beanstalk" (1957), is a fun take-off on the old fairytale (June Foray can be heard as the unseen woman who throws Jack's magic beans out the window).  The idea of Sylvester running around the giant's castle trying to nab a Tweety who's the same size as him, while eluding a monstrous bulldog, sounds tiresome at first but actually manages to generate some old-style sight gags with an outrageous ending.

The DVD is in standard format (no choice of matted widescreen this time) with Dolby Digital English and Spanish mono sound, and subtitles in English and French.  The titles on this disc have appeared previously in other Warner Brothers DVD collections.

While uneven in quality, the fifteen shorts in LOONEY TUNES SUPER STARS: TWEETY & SYLVESTER are examples of some of the finest theatrical cartoons ever produced by one of the top animation studios of its time, in an era when such fare was designed to be enjoyed and appreciated by audiences of all ages. 


Buy it at Amazon.com

LOONEY TUNES SUPER STARS: TWEETY & SYLVESTER -- DVD review by porfle

“THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS” (1957) on Special-Edition Blu-ray + DVD, June 21st

 

The Brain From Planet Arous (1957) on Special-Edition Blu-ray + DVD, June 21st

 
Incredible Space-Brain Invades a Human Body With Its Destructive Evil Power!


Independent, Sci-fi Classic Returns With Exclusive Special Features, Including Commentary From Star Joyce Meadows

 

LOS ANGELES — May 23, 2022 — For Immediate Release: Cinedigm announced today that The Film Detective, the classic film restoration and streaming company, will release the 1950s, sci-fi classic, The Brain From Planet Arous (1957), on special-edition Blu-ray and DVD, June 21.

 

A great example of cut-rate, sci-fi from the 1950s, this independently produced feature stars B-movie favorite John Agar (The Mole People, Revenge of the Creature) and Joyce Meadows (The Christine Jorgensen Story, The Girl in Lovers Lane) and was directed by Nathan Juran, a master of the genre who helmed such classics as The Deadly Mantis (1957), Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958).

 

Get ready for planet Earth to be overtaken by a criminal brain from outer space! When Gor, an evil brain from planet Arous, inhabits the body of scientist Steve March (Agar), his intention is nothing less than world domination. Lucky for Earth, another intergalactic brain, Val, offers to assist March's wife, Sally (Meadows), in stopping the madness. How does Val intend to help? By inhabiting Sally's dog!

 

The special edition Blu-ray and DVD release will feature a stunning 4K transfer, including two versions of the film, presented in its original 1.85 theatrically released format and in 1.33:1 full frame format. Included in the bonus features will be exclusive commentary with original The Brain from Planet Arous star, Joyce Meadows!

 

“The Film Detective's magnificent restoration of The Brain from Planet Arous reminds me of when I saw the movie on the big screen back in 1957,” said the film’s star, Joyce Meadows. “An amazing achievement, and I'm so pleased this picture is getting the respect it deserves.”

 

BONUS FEATURES: Full-color booklet with original essay by author/historian Tom Weaver; full commentary track by historians Tom Weaver, David Schecter, Larry Blamire and The Brain From Planet Arous star Joyce Meadows; The Man Before the Brain: Director Nathan Juran and The Man Behind the Brain: The World of Nathan Juran, both original Ballyhoo Motion Pictures productions; restored film presented in its original 1.85 theatrically released format and in 1.33:1 full-frame format; and a special, all new, introduction by star Joyce Meadows.

 

The Brain From Planet Arous will be available on Blu-ray ($29.95) and DVD ($19.95) June 21 or fans can secure a copy by pre-ordering now at: https://www.thefilmdetective.com/arous

 

About The Film Detective:

The Film Detective (TFD) is a leading distributor of restored classic programming, including feature films, television, foreign imports, and documentaries and is a division of Cinedigm. Launched in 2014, TFD has distributed its extensive library of 3,000+ hours of film on DVD and Blu-ray and through leading broadcast and streaming platforms such as Turner Classic Movies, NBC, EPIX, Pluto TV, Amazon, MeTV, PBS and more. With a strong focus on increasing the digital reach of its content, TFD has released its classic movie app on web, Android, iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. TFD is also available live with a 24/7 linear channel available on Sling TV, STIRR, Plex, Local Now, Rakuten TV and DistroTV. For more information, visit www.thefilmdetective.com

 

About Cinedigm:

For more than 20 years, Cinedigm has led the digital transformation of the entertainment industry. Today, Cinedigm entertains hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe by providing premium content, streaming channels and technology services to the world's largest media, technology and retail companies.

 

The Brain From Planet Arous

The Film Detective

Genre: Sci-fi

Original Release: 1957 (B+W)

Not Rated

Running Time: 71 Minutes

Language: English

Subtitles: English/Spanish

SRP: $29.95 (Blu-ray) / $19.95 (DVD)

Discs: 1

Release Date: June 21, 2022 (Pre-order Now)

UPC Code: 760137100454 (Blu-ray) / 760137100447 (DVD)

Catalog #: FB1020 (Blu-ray) / FD1020 (DVD)

“THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS” (1957) on Special-Edition Blu-ray + DVD, June 21st

GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS -- DVD review by porfle

  Originally posted on 9/5/2014

 

The most recent movie trailer compilations I've seen have been theme-oriented--namely, the self-explanatory OZPLOITATION TRAILER EXPLOSION and VIDEO NASTIES: A DEFINITIVE GUIDE--which is as good a way to watch a bunch of trailers as any.

But as demonstrated by Intervision's new DVD release, GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS, you don't really need any kind of an excuse at all to watch a bunch of trailers, just as long as they're shamelessly exploiting the most down-and-dirty sex, violence, horror, and gore flicks that ever snaked their way through a hot projector.

If you can make it past the startling cover pic of a severed female zombie head with blank, demonic eyes chowing down on a dismembered hand--or are, in fact, lured in by it--you know this is your kind of entertainment. What you're in for during the next 129 minutes is fifty-five stomach-churning, mind-warping trailers for the kind of titanic trash that kept grindhouses and drive-ins in business back in the 60s and 70s.

Here, you get all the good scenes smashed together (it seems like every trailer was a "red band" trailer in those days) and liberally garnished with some of the most purple prose ever to gush from the mouth of an overheated voiceover guy. In fact, you're in for a letdown if you actually see some of these flicks after checking out the trailers.

After the classic "Prevues of Coming Attractions" bumper to get our nostalgic juices flowing comes the first selection, the infamous double bill of I DRINK YOUR BLOOD/ I EAT YOUR SKIN. Another double feature, BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE and I DISMEMBER MAMA, is heralded by faux news footage of police dragging a man out of the theater after the films have driven him berserk.

Next comes Tarantino favorite SWITCHBLADE SISTERS followed by Barbara Steele in the women-in-prison classic CAGED HEAT. (Paul Frees fans will recognize his dulcet tones in the voiceovers.) The lurid EYEBALL ("You may not live to see the end of it!") is followed by the even more twisted Ed Gein-inspired DERANGED with Roberts Blossom.

More kill-crazy caged women and soapy shower scenes follow in THE BIG DOLL HOUSE with beauties Pam Grier and Roberta Collins and the less-than-beauteous Sid Haig. Then comes statuesque blonde Dixie Peabody on "a roaring rampage of revenge" in the biker classic BURY ME AN ANGEL, which my older sister took me to see at the drive-in when I was a kid. (Thanks, sis!)

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, which I really don't like, gives way to another Tarantino fave, THE STREET FIGHTER with Sonny Chiba, and the grandmammy of all Nazisploitation flicks, ILSA: SHE WOLF OF THE S.S. starring the gorgeous Dyanne Thorne (who will later turn up in ILSA: HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHIEKS with Ushi Digard and Joyce Mandell).

Also on the maniacal menu: Bernie Casey as DR. BLACK AND MR. HYDE, DON'T OPEN THE WINDOW, rappin' Rudy Ray Moore as THE HUMAN TORNADO ("I got a dong as big as King Kong!"), the skin and sadism of CAGED VIRGINS, "angels of vengeance on a massacre marathon" EBONY, IVORY, AND JADE, and the mind-boggling boobs of Chesty Morgan in the Doris Wishman sleaze-tacular DEADLY WEAPONS.

And that's not even the first hour. More titles include TORSO, THEY CALL HER ONE-EYE, DEATH SHIP with George Kennedy, Richard Crenna, and Kate Reid, MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE, HOUSE OF WHIPCORD, THE THING WITH TWO HEADS with Rosey Grier and Ray Milland ("A white bigot's head on a black soul brother's body!"), and David Cronenberg's early horror shocker THEY CAME FROM WITHIN (aka "Shivers").

There's a lot more, but you get the idea. The DVD from Intervision is in anamorphc widescreen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles. A gallery of grindhouse poster art is accompanied by the gorgeous Emily Booth hosting a featurette entitled "Bump 'N' Grind."

But it's those gloriously sleazy, lurid, and credulity-straining GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS that make this a must-see for anyone who enjoys a good wallow in cinema's most celebrated sewage.

Buy it at Amazon.com

GRINDHOUSE TRAILER CLASSICS -- DVD review by porfle

THE WILD GEESE -- Blu-Ray/DVD review by porfle

 Originally posted on 12/1/2012

 

When THE WILD GEESE (1978) first played theaters, I actually went to see it a couple of times.  This doesn't necessarily indicate how good a movie it was but how boring my college days were, especially before home video.  (I also went to see Gil Gerard's dopey "Buck Rogers" movie twice.) 

Now that Severin Films is releasing it on Blu-Ray/DVD, I find it enjoyable for three reasons: nostalgia, an entertainingly cheesy ambience, and a wealth of genuinely thrilling action sequences.

One of Maurice Binder's lesser quasi-007 main titles creations gets things off to an interesting start, accompanied by a tweety Joan Armatrading theme song that took a while to grow on me.  (Joan gets a picture credit along with the cast at film's end.)  We find further Eon touches in the presence of co-star Roger Moore (circa MOONRAKER) and editor/second-unit director John Glen, who would go on to helm FOR YOUR EYES ONLY and other 007 adventures.  Even Sean Connery's stunt double Bob Simmons is the action coordinator.

Director Andrew V. McLaglen's work (CHISUM, McCLINTOCK!, THE UNDEFEATED) has always been blandly competent at best, but his stodgy, get-'er-done style is what helps make THE WILD GEESE such perverse fun.  From the first scene, the bad dubbing and chintzy production values play right into the film's pleasantly tacky 70s ambience. 

As an actor, Richard Burton's bad performances were just as interesting to watch as his good ones, and here he straddles the line in fine form as Colonel Allen Faulkner, a mercenary hired by wealthy bigwig Sir Edward Matherson (a nicely stuffy Stewart Granger) to lead a dangerous mission in Africa.  ("I don't discuss fees," Faulkner tells Matherson.  "I get what I want.") 

Faulkner's task will be to rescue progressive African leader Julius Limbani (Winston Ntshona) from the military dictator who has taken over his country, with the help of old friends Capt. Rafer Janders (Richard Harris) and Lt. Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore), plus a handpicked platoon of fifty soldiers-for-hire.

Back in 1978, an action film could start out slow and then gradually build toward the good stuff without audiences fidgeting in their seats like speed freaks.  Here, Burton takes his time recruiting old pals Harris (who would rather spend dad-time with his son Emile than return to the field of battle) and Fynn (Moore's introduction is a corker of a scene in which he forces a heroin dealer at gunpoint to eat his own product), after which they and the fifty other soldiers are trained quick and dirty by gruff old sergeant Sandy (Jack Watson, EDGE OF DARKNESS).  The wonderful Hardy Kruger (FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX, HATARI!) also joins the group as South African explosives expert Lt. Coetzee, who just wants a ticket back home.

Once these guys finally get to Africa, THE WILD GEESE shifts into high gear with a stunning parachute sequence that has the entire platoon pouring en masse out the back of the plane and into an exhilarating freefall before opening their chutes.  The assault on the military dictator's compound features a scene that I found queasily disturbing in 1978 and still do--dozens of sleeping soldiers literally being exterminated in their bunks like bugs as the mercenaries silently move down the rows spraying them with cyanide.  This ruthless manner of neutralizing the enemy is shown in a matter-of-fact way that leaves the viewer to deal with his or her own moral/emotional reaction to it.

Next comes the usual machine-gun blasting, grenade-chucking battle action as President Limbani is rescued and our heroes head for a nearby airstrip for extrication.  But they've been double-crossed by Sir Edward (which comes as no surprise considering Stewart Granger plays him with an extra helping of slime) and discover that they must make their own way out of Africa as hundreds of hardcore African soldiers known as "Simbas" start coming out of the woodwork with guns blazing. 

This is where THE WILD GEESE really hits its stride and director McLaglen manages to string together a series of explosive action setpieces that almost rival the edge-of-your-seat excitement of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. 

Burton, of course, in unrivalled when it comes to delivering such lines as: "Me, I'll work for anybody as long as they pay me...it's an ineradicable flaw in my character."  The always quirky Harris gives the Janders character his own off-kilter persona and makes us sympathize with his desire to spend Christmas with his son (we fear he'll never get another chance).  Moore, meanwhile, is all cigar-chomping badassedness, which he seems to be having a lot of fun playing at even though he's definitely no Lee Marvin. 

Frank Finlay (LIFEFORCE), Jeff Corey (TRUE GRIT), Ronald Fraser (FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX), and Barry Foster (SMILEY'S PEOPLE, FRENZY) make brief but welcome appearances.  As the racist Coetzee and the wounded African leader whom he must carry on his back, Hardy Kruger and Winston Ntshona bring another vital emotional element to the story, with Coetzee gradually realizing the error of his ways.

The 2-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Severin Films is in 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby 2.0 sound.  (I noticed a slight flutter in the music during a couple of scenes.)  No subtitles.  In addition to a trailer and a juicy commentary track featuring Sir Roger, producer Euan Lloyd, and second unit director John Glen, extras consist of several choice featurettes.  These include interviews with Andrew V. McLaglen and ex-mercenary military advisor Mike Hoare, a profile of maverick producer Euan Lloyd with appearances by Roger Moore, Ingrid Pitt, Joan Armatrading, and others, a vintage making-of short, and a star-studded Movietone newsreel of the film's royal charity premiere. 

While liberally topped with finely-aged 70s cheese and at times a bit rough-hewn technically, THE WILD GEESE remains an impressive large-scale independent production that delivers big-time on the kind of battle action that war movie fans crave.  It may not be the equal of the all-time great war epics, but it certainly deserves to be on the same shelf with them.


Buy the Blu-Ray/DVD combo at Amazon.com

THE WILD GEESE -- Blu-Ray/DVD review by porfle

VAMPYROS LESBOS -- Blu-ray+DVD Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 5/14/2015

 

So far, I've seen five films by cult director Jesús "Jess" Franco, including THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA, THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF, BLOODY MOON, and PAULA-PAULA. Not enough to call myself an expert on the prolific filmmaker, but enough to conclude that I'll probably never become a devoted Francophile since I find little of his work particularly compelling unto itself.

That said, I do find most of it fun to watch even if it's often in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. My fifth Franco film, VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971), is the best one I've seen so far and definitely worth watching, although I wouldn't call it a must-see unless you're already a fan.

This sun-blanched, 70s-tacky vampire yarn is like a distaff version of "Dracula", with Ewa Stroemberg (SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY) as Linda and Soledad Miranda (here billed as "Susann Korda") as Countess Nadine Carody filling in for Jonathan Harker and Count Dracula. Linda arrives at the Countess' sunny island in Istanbul to help expedite a legal matter--namely, the inheritance by Nadine of the late Count Dracula's estate--and ends up mired in a nightmarish lesbian affair with the undead beauty in which she unwillingly supplies both emotional and physical sustenance, i.e. blood.

Linda has already been having dreams about Nadine before meeting her, so the attraction is mutual. After some skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing, Nadine drugs Linda's drink (this vampire DOES drink wine) and has her "vampyros lesbos" way with her, giving Franco the first of several chances to enhance his film with some "Cinemax After Dark"-style softcore sex before the lady vamp goes for the jugular.

After waking up with confused memories of the encounter, Linda and her boyfriend Omar (Viktor Feldmann) seek the help of Dr. Seward (Dennis Price, VENUS IN FURS), a specialist in the supernatural whose sanitarium is home to a madwoman named Agra (Heidrun Kussin), also a victim of Countess Carody. Of course, the troubled inmate in the thrall of the vampire, the occult-savvy Dr. Seward, and the sanitarium setting itself are all further references to the original Dracula story.

The plot proceeds at a snail's pace most of the way and not a whole lot exciting happens with the exception of a few key scenes such as the showdown between the Countess and Dr. Seward and Linda's capture and near-murder by a demented hotel employee played by Franco himself. Things come to a rather sedate climax that builds little suspense and goes more for tragedy than horror as the Countess spins her web of forbidden desire for the hapless Linda.

Visually, VAMPYROS LESBOS often resembles a Doris Wishman film with its rough-hewn production values and garish, often kitschy design, all in distinctive Eastmancolor. As expected, the camerawork is clumsy at times but Franco shows some style as well as his usual inborn zest for filmmaking. A strangely inappropriate score by Manfred Hubler, Siegfried Schwab, and Jess Franco is a mish-mash of noodly jazz, twangy sitar notes, and what sounds like someone mumbling robotically through a distorted speaker.

Performances are mostly wooden save for Heidrun Kussin's frantic portrayal of Agra, while Soledad Miranda's dark beauty and charisma as the Countess (she reminds me of Victoria Vetri) lend the film much of its appeal. Also appearing are Paul Muller (NIGHTMARE CASTLE) and J. Martinez Blanco as the Countess' loyal servant Morpho.

A limited collector's edition, the attractively packaged 2-disc Blu-ray+DVD set from Severin Films is in 16 x 9 widescreen with 2.0 sound. The soundtrack is German with English subtitles. Extras consist of a 20-minute Franco interview, an interview with Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown, an interview with "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco" author Stephen Thrower, a brief clip in which Franco explains how he was the inspiration for the "Star Wars" character Yoda, trailers, and the alternate German opening titles sequence.

While disc one contains the German-language HD-remastered Blu-ray version of the film, disc two is the "bootleg" Spanish-dubbed DVD version. The print has that "grindhouse" look (which I like because of the nostalgia value) and is a shorter edit with several trims and all of the nudity deleted. (This includes two lengthy sequences in which Soledad Miranda's character does an erotic dance in a local nightclub.) Another big difference is an alternate organ-based musical score which sounds much more like a traditional creepy score for a horror movie.

Slow-moving and dry, VAMPYROS LESBOS nevertheless has that indefinable Jess Franco quality that should appeal to his fans. For others, this very sunny and not all that horrific vampire tale will either be a bore or a pleasant diversion.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray+DVD
DVD

(Photos shown are not stills from the Blu-ray.)

VAMPYROS LESBOS -- Blu-ray+DVD Review by Porfle

SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY -- Blu-ray+CD Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 5/14/2015

 

Jess Franco's immediate follow-up to his relatively well-made VAMPYROS LESBOS is another dark, death-shrouded vehicle for the lovely and exotic Soledad Miranda (again billed as "Susann Korda") featuring some of the same castmembers including Paul Müller, Ewa Strömberg, and Franco himself.

The result, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1971), is a slasher/revenge thriller which stands with his previous effort as one of my two favorite Franco films so far.

The storyline this time is lean and simple--genetic research scientist Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams) commits suicide after his maverick work with human embryos is viciously derided as inhumane by his peers, who suggest he be not only imprisoned but even executed for such atrocious ideas.

Devastated, his devoted wife (Soledad Miranda, known only as "Mrs. Johnson" throughout the film) vows revenge against the four scientists she holds responsible for her husband's death. These are Prof. Jonathan Walker (Howard Vernon), Dr. Franklin Houston (Paul Müller), Dr. Crawford (Ewa Strömberg), and, last but not least, Jesús Franco as the understandably nervous Dr. Donen.

Even before the murders begin, we get an idea of how casually perverse SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY is when we learn that Mrs. Johnson is keeping her husband's death a secret in order to have necrophilic relations with his corpse. While this may sound romantic on paper, it comes off as a bit strange in practice.

Soledad Miranda handles these scenes as she does all her others, with a smoldering intensity that is always enhanced by her dark, exquisite physical beauty. When she becomes a seductive femme fatale, donning various guises to stalk her male and female prey before brutally killing them, her presence always fascinates.

As Franco's muse for all-too-short a time, she seems to inspire him to do some of his best work. For example, the death of Dr. Crawford (Strömberg, who played Countess Carody's lover in VAMPYROS LESBOS) is artfully choreographed and shot, with the added visual flair of having the hapless woman suffocated with a clear plastic pillow through which we can still see her anguished face.

The murders of the male victims are more brutal and violent, although much of this is suggested rather than graphically depicted. Still, it's shocking enough to see Mrs. Johnson going through the motions of castration and aggravated genital mutilation (Franco's unfortunate shlub of a character gets special attention) on a level usually reserved for the most agregious rape-revenge plots.

This emphasizes just how deranged she is and to what extent she must sadistically torture and degrade the objects of her wrath as punishment for driving her husband to suicide. These scenes are heavily sado-masochistic as well.

A limited collector's edition, the handsome 2-disc Blu-ray+CD set from Severin Films is in 16 x 9 widescreen with 2.0 sound. The soundtrack is German with English subtitles. Extras consist of a 20-minute Franco interview, an interview with Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown (the same one found in Severin's VAMPYROS LESBOS set), an interview with "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco" author Stephen Thrower, a brief interview with actor Paul Müller, and the original German trailer.

Disc two is actually a music CD entitled "3 Films by Jess Franco" containing tracks from VAMPYROS LESBOS, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY, and THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAVA. These 24 musical tracks by Manfred Hübler and Siegfried Schwab are offbeat and enjoyable--much more so, in fact, when isolated in this way than when heard as backing for scenes which, in my opinion, they're often wildly inappropriate. I found much of this music to be terrifically listenable.

Although still displaying that unpolished quality characteristic of Franco's work, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY is more crisply wrought and thematically unfettered than his other films I've seen. And as a companion piece to VAMPYROS LESBOS, it stands as a fitting testament to the talent and appeal of Soledad Miranda, whose promising career was so tragically cut short by a fatal car accident soon after filming was completed.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray+CD
DVD

(Stills shown are not taken from the Blu-ray.)

Other Jess Franco reviews from HK and Cult Film News:

THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA
VAMPYROS LESBOS
THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF
BLOODY MOON
PAULA-PAULA

SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY -- Blu-ray+CD Review by Porfle

VAMPIRE ECSTASY/ SIN YOU SINNERS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 10/13/2016

 

"VAMPIRE ECSTASY"

Joe Sarno was one of those exploitation directors who was talented enough so that his films often transcended their rather sordid genres.  With VAMPIRE ECSTASY (aka "The Devil's Plaything, 1973), he made a Gothic horror film whose graphic eroticism perversely enhances its genuine mood and atmosphere.

Sarno's producer, Chris D. Nebe, had access to a castle in Germany which serves as an ideal location for both exteriors and interiors and increases the film's production values immeasurably. 

The cinematography takes excellent advantage of these locations.  Some shots, in fact, are suitable for framing, as when three primly-dressed women in black silhouette await a carriage's arrival at the gates of the castle early on.

Some visuals have a surreal, dreamlike quality, others a formal composition that's subtle but effective.  Rembrandt lighting against stark shadowy backgrounds results in a number of striking close-ups.

The story begins similarly to DRACULA, with a group of strangers arriving at the castle only to find it and its inhabitants strangely disturbing.  In this case, a trio of young women have come for the reading of a will left by the castle's mysterious Baroness. 

Greeting them in stern fashion is the head housekeeper, Frau Wanda (Nadia Henkowa), a severe woman whose sly smile hides sinister secrets.  We already know a few of them from the witchy pre-titles sequence, in which she and the other four women of her staff cavort naked in the castle's dungeon and engage in mutual, shall we say, "ecstasy."

Also arriving at the castle are two stranded motorists, brother and sister Julia and Peter Malenkow (Anke Syring, Nico Wolf).  Julia is a doctor studying the local mountain-folk superstitions, and will later become the film's Van Helsing equivalent when her knowledge of vampirism and the will to fight against it prove crucial. 

Peter, on the other hand, will become sexually entangled with one of the young heiresses, Helga (Marie Forså), further involving himself and his sister in the evil events to come--namely, the reincarnation of the vampiric Baroness in the form of one of the young women. 

As for the film's sexual content, there are several lesbian encounters (the loft in the barn proves a popular spot for a roll in the hay) as well as those between Peter and Helga, whose libido is increasing uncontrollably under the influence of Frau Wanda and her minions.  There's even a hint of incest in the relationship between Julia and Peter.

No X-rated action takes place (Sarno's first hardcore film, SLEEPYHEAD with Georgina Spelvin, would be made the same year) but what there is rates a pretty "hard" R.  And if you enjoy female nudity in itself there's quite a pleasing variety to be seen throughout.

As in another of his films I got to review some years ago, CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, Sarno is able to integrate the sex scenes into the plot well enough so that they don't stand out like a sore thumb or bring the story to a halt.  They're employed to good effect--tastefully, one might even say--and never as padding. Most of the time they barely even seem gratuitous.

Performances are uniformly good, with Nadia Henkowa's Frau Wanda the unchallenged center of attention as we're waiting for the impending reincarnation of the Baroness.  She's marvelous, reminding me of a theatrical cross between Martin Landau and Theda Bara, with a slyly expressive face that skirts the edges of overacting without ever going over.  Prim and straightlaced in her black housekeeper's outfit and tightly-wound hair (all the women on her staff dress this way), her transitions from matronly to wantonly gorgeous are stunning. 

Sarno's script is somber, never campy--intentionally or otherwise--all the way to its somewhat abrupt ending (which Sarno seems to favor).  In look and mood it's as though a Hammer production and a Jess Franco film met halfway to a screening of Roman Polanski's DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES (aka "The Fearess Vampire Killers") and decided to spend the weekend together. 

The surprising thing for me is the degree to which this is a genuine, sincerely-wrought horror film, and not simply sexploitation with horror elements.  As a sort of female DRACULA reimagining, it more than carries its own weight alongside many of the mainstream vampire tales I've seen.

----------------------

"SIN YOU SINNERS"

The second film on the disc is a fervid and wonderfully lurid 73 minutes of sleazertainment entitled SIN YOU SINNERS.  It was released in the pre-nudity era of 1963 when naughty movies relied more on shock value and pure, unadulterated sleaze to titillate adult audiences. 

We get plenty of that here in the form of an over-the-hill stripper named Bobbi (June Colbourne) who, inexplicably, keeps wowing her male audiences in the dive where she works even though she looks like she should be playing somebody's psycho-mom on "Leave It to Beaver."
 

Not only that, but she keeps a studly young gigolo named Dave (Derek Murcott) at home, where he indulges her with wet, sloppy kisses whenever she feels randy.  (Murcott reminds me of porn actor Eric Edwards, who would co-star in Sarno's CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE.) Bobbi's spinster daughter Julie (Dian Lloyd) also lives with them and reluctantly helps in Bobbi's illegal fortune-telling scam that she has on the side. 

Why men still lust after her, and why Dave and Julie stick around despite her being a spiteful, narcissistic old bag, is revealed when we discover the truth behind the strange amulet Bobbi obtained in Haiti and alway wears.  When the secret of the amulet is revealed, everyone including various prostitutes and other acquaintances from the club start plotting to get it away from her, with betrayal and death as the result.

June Colbourne is a hoot as super-sleazy Bobbi, impressive whether chewing the scenery like a female Edward G. Robinson or delivering the soliloquy in which she describes her mystical experience in Haiti with evocative intensity.

Equally good is Dian Lloyd's sensitive performance as Julie, a lonely, fearful girl yearning for love from both abusive strangers she meets in coffee shops and also from her mother's live-in lover Dave.  Lloyd is fine in the role and helps make the film as watchable as it is.  The rest of the cast are, for the most part, unpolished but enthusiastic.

Direction is credited to Anthony Farrar--it's his only IMDb credit, with Sarno listed as an uncredited co-director.  The film is competently and sometimes even stylishly directed, with good use of the extremely low budget and shoddy sets.  The editing is a bit iffy at times.

In addition to simple pulp exploitation, Sarno's script is an engaging character study steeped in lowlife desperation.  The stark, shadowy black-and-white photography is ideal for such a dreary and often nightmarish world, and so is the fact that the battered, ravaged print used here--apparently the best one available--seems to be on its last legs.

It's as though the film has been rescued from the junk heap with moments to spare, its images clinging desperately to the celluloid, and we're lucky to have what's left despite its many flaws including constant scratches and several alarming jump-cuts where scenes have been pieced back together. 

Since I grew up watching films in this condition, both in theaters and on the late show, I find it wonderfully nostalgic and even strangely comforting to be able to enjoy a film with old-fashioned imperfections.

Many modern viewers may find SIN YOU SINNERS a difficult film to sit through due to these factors alone, while others, hopefully, will appreciate its genuine "grindhouse" appeal.  The best thing about it, in any case, is that it's just so endearingly, life-affirmingly sleazy.

EXTRAS:

The Blu-ray disc from Film Movement Classics comes with an attractively illustrated booklet containing an essay by author/critic/film historian Tim Lucas.  Both features (2K digital restoration) are in 1.78:1 widescreen with stereo sound. No subtitles.  In addition to trailers for both films, extras include a commentary track for VAMPIRE ECSTASY by producer Chris Nebe and two informative interview featurettes, one with Joe Sarno and one with both Sarno and Nebe.

Film Movement Official Website

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

Street date: October 25, 2016

VAMPIRE ECSTASY/ SIN YOU SINNERS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle