Recent Viewings, Part 2

[RCMerchant]

IL DEMONIO (1963)
I did not know there was an exorcist movie before the EXORCIST (1973)

And Daliah Lavi spider walks- 10 tears before Linda Blair!

http://youtu.be/XB25Y_EvudE

[FatFreddysCat]

"Cut and Run" (1985)
A lady journalist and her cameraman head into the jungles of Colombia to find a missing American, and end up caught in the middle of a battle between cocaine smugglers, a Jim Jones style religious cult leader, and hordes of angry natives in this muddled action/adventure flick from Ruggero "Cannibal Holocaust" Deodato.
"Cut and Run" has a few decent action sequences and a cast full of familiar faces (incl. Michael "The Hills Have Eyes" Berryman, Richard Lynch, Karen Black, and even Willie "Bibleman" Aames!) but I was hoping for something sleazier/nastier. Apparently the European cut of this film is heavier on the ultra-violence and gore; I wish I'd seen that version instead.

[Dr. Whom]

Mars Needs Women (1968)

Apparently the Youtube algorithm has concluded I must like Larry Buchanan movies. Ah well.

In fairness, it has better production values and pacing than 'Zontar', although that is not saying very much. It is one of those studies in how to make a movie of 1h20, when your script only runs to 40 minutes. As for the plot, this movie falls into the 'Snakes on a Plane' category, where the title tells you all you need to know.

Some observations
Yvonne Craig thoughtfully puts on her glasses if she wants to say something smart.
Hotel rooms in the 60s were small apartments
The lead Martian has an unsettling resemblance to Pete Campbell of Mad Men
That is the most crowded conference room this side of 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'

[FatFreddysCat]

"RoboCop 3" (1993)
Omni Consumer Products has been bought out by a Japanese corporation, who plan to bulldoze Old Detroit to build their gleaming new City of the Future. After RoboCop is wounded while protecting innocent citizens from OCP's mercenary "Rehab" soldiers,  he joins a street level resistance movement battling against the corporate creeps.
This third go-round is noticeably cheaper looking than the first two installments and there's a new guy in the Robo-Suit, but lots of stuff still gets shot and blown up real good, in spite of the PG-13 rating.
This flick tanked at the box office and is considered the worst of the series, but I've always found it enjoyable in a cartoonish sort of way... and it's still better than the 2014 remake.

[indianasmith]

BORAT -

  I had seen snippets of this film in the past, but since the sequel is now out and sparked moderate interest, I decided to give the original a watch.  A fascinating mashup of biting satire, tasteless humor, social commentary, and some incredibly cringeworthy visuals (the naked wrestling match between Sasha Bora Cohen and his overweight co-star is burned into my eyeballs forever!).  You have to have a pretty high bar for tastelessness and hairy naked men to appreciate this one, and I don't think I quite cleared it.  But the final scene with Pamela Anderson's book signing was pretty hilarious!
3/5

[RCMerchant]

SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES (1962) aka CURSE OF THE BLOOD GHOULS
Beautiful score, stunning photograpy, and sexy vampire women are a highlight of this otherwise by the numbers Italian gothic horror film.
Still worth a watch. Just for the heaving vampire girl breasts. 

http://youtu.be/LVqMj1nemxU

[FatFreddysCat]

"Starring Adam West" (2014)
The actor looks back at the highs and lows of his long showbiz career, through "Batman" mania to the lean years afterwards to his 21st century resurgence. Meanwhile, behind the scenes his family, friends, and fans rally together to nominate him for a long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. An engrossing profile of a genuinely cool cat who's led an interesting life, loaded with tons of vintage clips, laugh-out-loud interviews, and photos. Lots of fun.

[Dr. Whom]

The Great Wall (2016)

You may want to switch off your brain when watching this. This one is an absolute hoot. It would seem that the production team was trying to out-Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich with this. The story is simple. Two mercenaries travel to China in search of blackpowder. However, when they reach the Great Wall, they find it under siege by a horde of monsters. So, of necessity they team up with Medieval Major Kusanagi to defeat the monsters.
This movie knows exactly what it is doing: it is about people with improbable fighting skills battling monsters, and doing so with even more improbable tactics and weaponry. There is hardly space for a subplot, the barest bones of a love story and -thankfully- no comic relief to speak of, it is just a sequence of spectacular action scenes. Matt Damon's character does reflect upon his life choices a bit, but he can't do so for long, before there is another monster attack.
It is all silly beyond words, which makes it all the more remarkable that the movie is absolutely played straight (unless there is some form of Chinese irony I am missing). My inner 12-year old was delighted.

[Rev. Powell]

SPONTANEOUS (2020): When their senior classmates start spontaneously exploding, Mara and Dylan decide to take a chance on love. As a teen romantic comedy of the blacker sort, it's no HEATHERS, but it manages to deliver some harsh realities lightened by the occasional smile (and splash of gore). 3/5.

[lester1/2jr]

The Assistant (2015) - Do you remember Orphan? All the preposterous plot holes and over the top dramatics made it hard to tell if it was a horror movie or a soap opera. This French movie is not quite as insane as that, but it delivers the goods in a smaller dose.

A woman's son is hit by a car. the guy does the right thing and brings the teenaged boy to the hospital but he dies, unfortunately. Well, it might have been better if he'd done a hit and run because years later the Mom decides to get a job as his secretary and ingratiate herself into his life, mostly in very bad ways.

Some people just aren't very forgiving and others aren't very perceptive. The movie starts off as very normal if creepy and soon becomes ridiculous in a way I really appreciated. I think the moment it changed was when she threatens to beat the crap out of a random woman in the women's bathroom just because she didn't like her.

again, doesn't have the fireworks of Orphan and could have used the hand of a real horror producer but I liked it a lot

4.5 / 5 tubi

[FatFreddysCat]

"Jay and Silent Bob Reboot" (2019)
Kevin Smith's iconic stoner duo take another cross-country trip to Hollywood to stop yet another movie from being made out of their "Bluntman & Chronic" characters. Along the way, of course, they meet a variety of bizarre characters and have lots of foul mouthed, wacky mis-adventures before finally confronting the filmmakers at the annual "Chronic-Con." The movie goes off the rails in the last twenty minutes, but the first hour is one rapid-fire gag after another, and I laughed a lot.

I think this flick is how Kevin Smith celebrated surviving his recent heart attack -- by taking a victory lap through his "View Askew" back catalog. Just about everybody who's ever made an appearance in one of his past films has a cameo in this one (Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Shannon Elizabeth, Matt Damon, the guy who played Dante in "Clerks," etc., etc.). There's even a sweet tribute to the late Stan Lee hidden in the end credits.

If you liked "Clerks," "Mallrats," and (obviously) "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,"  then you'll have a blast watching the boys ride high (cough cough) one more time.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Dream Deceivers" (1992)
Documentary about the 1990 trial of Judas Priest, who were sued by the parents of two Nevada teens whose "suicide pact" was supposedly inspired by "backwards messaging" in JP's music. Equal parts tragic, infuriating, and eye-rollingly ridiculous. Thankfully the Priest were able to emerge from that media circus with their dignity intact.

[RCMerchant]

ZOMBIE (1964) aka I EAT YOUR SKIN aka ZOMBIES aka CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE .

Silly voodoo mad doctor nonsense about science and- aw f**k it.
Just plain old stupid. I like where the hero jumps into a swamp, swims like hell face down, and then stands up in ankle deep water. Didn't he realize a foot from shore he could,ya know, stand up?  
Oh yeah- the zombies.

Ever seen that 3 Stooges short where Moe gets hit in the face by 2 eggs?


It's on Tubi, if you have zero going on in your life beyond picking funk out of your belly button hole.

I can imagine folks just leaving the theater in droves after the insane I DRINK YOUR BLOOD (1970), which it was double billed with. It was considered so bad it wasn't released until 1970.



PS: No skin is eaten by zombies, or anyone else.
Don't get me wrong! For BAD movie fans- and I am-it's gold.  


"What part of heaven did you fly down from?"

" Oh boy. Mister Harris, I read some of your books and I only hope you're more original in person."

Standing right next to each other.  

[Rev. Powell]

LIGHT YEARS (2019): A man remembers a mushroom trip he took with friends when he was sixteen. A lot of creative disorientation, with animation and the star playing multiple characters (male and female), but the hinted-at plot and its message get completely lost in the heavy buzz of confusion. We're left to contemplate whether watching someone else's routine mushroom trip is entertaining. 2/5.

[lester1/2jr]

rc - those mid 60's almost all the way to full exploitation ones but still with a classic feel are great. like the one with the nazi guy on the beach and the glowing sea blob

Daylight (2013) - okay let me make sure I get this right: An austistic guy is in jail for life for killing his wife and baby, but something is amiss. Did he really do it? or is he a patsy for a powerful family and yadda yadda. Also, the woman ( a lawyer) looking for the truth may or may not be his lost long sister.

Okay, this was an adequate attempt at a Fincher style megamystery and actually held my attention for its full 2 hours, a real rarity these days.

One random thing that impressed me was the muted tension between the lawyer and a guy who helps her at the Institution. Sometimes love actually isn't convenient and theres other stuff going on.  Not every flirtation ends with an immediate roll in the hay. for me of course it does but I mean for most people

5/5 tubitv I thought it was German but its Dutch. Instead of Nein they say Nay. kid was kind of annoying

not many reviews on IMDB but they are pretty much all positive which is unusual https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359002/reviews?ref_=tt_urv