Recent Viewings, Part 2

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

The giant spider invasion 1975.

This is a bad movie but a wonderfully bad movie, in some ways it's a 50's scifi horror movie, in some ways it's one from the 60's and it has some 70's touches to it. All in all it was a real good B movie that had elements from 20 years of scifi horror but also had some good touches, like an actual giant spider, not a matted on real spider. The giant spider doesn't look too well in daylight where it's often seen, but at least they had the guts to make an actual full sized working, moving prop. It has a high end of low budget feel to it that matches some of the 50's monster movies.

If you like classic scifi horror, track down this flik. It has a couple classic tv actors starring in roles.

[lester1/2jr]

rev- There was a whole lotta mumbling going on in Harem Scarem, to my recollection

[Rev. Powell]

rev- There was a whole lotta mumbling going on in Harem Scarem, to my recollection

The trailer's a trip. "In your wildest nightmares, you've never imagined such goings-on!"

https://youtu.be/V_ECjQuw9pk

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Kentucky Fried Movie" (1977)
"I'm not wearing any pants. Film at eleven."
Before Animal House and Airplane!, John Landis and the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker writing team produced this wacky collection of shorts and sketches that parody TV news, commercials, Kung-Fu movies, classroom films, and courtroom dramas. It's like an issue of MAD magazine come to life. Some of the gags are quite dated now, of course, but it still has a fair share of raunchy laughs.

"Heavy Trip" (2018)
Finnish comedy about a dorky heavy metal garage band who embark on a road trip to play their first-ever live gig at a metal festival in Norway. Their journey to the fest, of course, quickly turns into a series of comical disasters. Funny stuff as long as you don't mind reading sub-titles.

"The Mentors: Kings of Sleaze Rockumentary" (2016)
This documentary traces the long, strange history of El Duce's famed porn-rock trio, from their humble beginnings as scummy punk-rock obscurities to their brief time in the spotlight thanks to Tipper Gore and the PMRC. This is the third or fourth time I've sat thru this movie, and it still makes me laugh every time. R.I.P. El.

[Rev. Powell]

MST3K: THE BUBBLE: A pilot makes an emergency landing in a remote town when one of his passengers goes into labor; everyone there acts lobotomized (although it takes the trio days to recognize it), because they are actually trapped inside an alien bubble. I think the pre-hype for this one did the episode no favors, with Joel professing that this may be the worst movie MSTK's ever done. It's bad, but it's nowhere near the worst. But worse, the episode just isn't very funny. Host segments set up the season finale, which will have all three hosts (Joel, Jonah and Emily) riffing in the theater at the same time. 2.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

MODUS OPERANDI (2009): The CIA convinces an alcoholic ex-agent to track down two stolen briefcases in return for the name of the man who killed his wife. An absolutely insane Super-8 grindhouse tribute made for peanuts (most of which were fed to Danny Trejo in exchange for appearing in the movie for about a minute). The sense of humor is completely deadpan and absurd, and won't be to everyone's taste, but if you get on it's wavelength it's one of the best "deliberately bad" movies ever made. I thought it was just me, but it was a big hit at my monthly watch party, so I think there is something here. Free on Tubi. Recommended to lester. 3.5/5.

[indianasmith]

HAUNTING ON FRATERNITY ROW (2018)  On the eve of their annual "Luau Party Blowout,"  a group of frat boys discover a hidden room with dozens of light fixtures in their basement.  Then one of them goes online and discovers that a series of ritual murders happened in the house sixty years ago.  But that's not justification for canceling a party - right?
Replete with drinking, bad decisions, occasional nudity, and nasty demons murdering people by causing their eyes to explode, this was a fun free romp on Amazon Prime. 3.5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"GG Allin: All In The Family" (aka "The Allins," 2017)
Documentary reflecting on the legacy of nihilist punk rocker GG Allin and the effect that his short life and ugly death have had on his family. While GG's brother Merle keeps his brother's name and music alive by continuing to record & tour with the Murder Junkies, his mother Arleta prefers to remember GG as "Kevin," the little boy he once was, not as the ultra-violent, feces-flinging, psycho "rock n roll terrorist." Strangely poignant and unexpectedly sad in places. I preferred this one over "Hated," the better known GG doc by Todd "Joker" Philips. Well done.

"Until The Light Takes Us" (2009)
An examination of the early '90s Norwegian black metal scene and the series of church arsons, murders, and other crimes associated with it. Told via interviews with the scene's major playas like Faust of Emperor, Fenriz of Darkthrone, Hellhammer of Mayhem, and even Varg "Count Grishnnakh" Vikernes himself (who's interviewed from his prison cell). A bit meandering but a mostly intriguing doc about one of metal's weirdest eras.

[Rev. Powell]

MEDUSA (2021): A group of evangelical Brazilian girls spend their nights as vigilantes attacking women they deem as insufficiently modest; one of them drifts apart as she succumbs to temptations in the secular world. A mix of drama, horror, and some rather obvious fundamentalist satire, the audiovisual approach is ultra-stylish; an intense central performance by Mariana Oliveira is critical to ground what is otherwise a meandering affair. 3/5.

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

Quatermass 2: enemy from space.  Finally saw this in a decent quality version. Sort of a British ''invasion of the body snatchers'' with more violence (gunfire) and a more definite ending. Not bad really, but not up tp tge third quatermass movie. I noted all 3 seem to not acknowledge the other two as each one seems to be earth's first contact with aliens. The worst bit was the way a squad of men with assault weapons were forever unable to hit a main character.

[indianasmith]

BEHEMOTH (2021) - Desperate to identify the toxin that is slowly killing his daughter, a corporate whisteblower kidnaps the lead scientist for his former employer, with the help of a couple of friends.  But all goes south when they realize who the villainous scientist really works for . . .
Pretty trippy horror movie with a nice twist at the end.  4/5

[Gabriel Knight]

THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)

A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which began when five criminals met at a seemingly random police lineup.

What can I say about this movie that hasn't been said already? It's an absolute classic, even when, after repeated viewings, I realize more and more that it's nothing but a one-trick pony. Still, it's strangely compelling, and I'm always waiting for that ending to come again. For some reason, I feel it different every time, as if I keep finding clues that I missed in my last watch.
Kevin Spacey is great on this one, you end up feeling sorry for the guy at some point. The rest of the characters make a beautiful team, and I wish we had a little more banter between them. Especially by the Benicio del Toro character, who's totally nuts.
The movie looks great, especially considering its budget. The actions scenes are nicely done, it has awesome shots of the sun above the river and the city, disturbing flashbacks scenes, and cool dialog. The duration is perfect, it doesn't go overboard.

A must see! 9/10

[Rev. Powell]

ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS: Roscoe and/or Benny have a bad trip on hallucinogenic worms they got from a streetwalker. Not to oversell it, but it's kind of like what might happen if David Lynch and John Waters teamed up to make a Troma movie. 3/5.

[indianasmith]

THE SLASHENING - Free on Tubi, and still a bit of a ripoff.  Five cute girls get together for a sleepover, and call out for pizza.  But someone is murdering every single pizza delivery guy that shows up - and then moves in on the slumber party!  Will anyone survive?  Will the girls stop teasing and show you anything?  Will the final girl get a clue that all her friends have been with her boyfriend?  Yeah, this one was a little too self-aware to be funny.  3/5

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

Ghost in the shell live action.

Just saw this on streaming after deciding not to see it during it's run. It was better than I feared, not as good as the anime' but good and generally respectful of it. Scarjo did a fair job of playing the Major, and it treated the characters it used with respect. I liked it more than I thought, still hated tge endlessly repeating ''mount paramount'' commercial it kept cutting instantly too.