Sky Riders (1976) This pretty routine 70's actioner was filmed in Greece. Susannah York and her children are kidnapped and held for ransom by a terrorist group. Her current husband Robert Culp is forced to come up with $5 million and then given a laundry list of ordinance to purchase with it.
Jame Coburn gets into the action as ex-husband Jim McCabe. Since the Greek cops seem more interested in catching the bad guys than getting the hostages back, he turns to his own resources to get his ex-wife and son back. From some pictures the kidnappers send them, he determines they are being held in an old monastery on top of a rock cliff,
He hires a group of professional hang gliders to help him swoop in from the mountains above and free the hostages.
What was bad about it? Too little character developmnet. Coburn is obviously some major kind of thief, but this isn't explored very much other than a statement made about him being in prison for 5 years. The relationship between York and him is lacking in development other than the fact it is obvious when he springs them that they're still in love.
It's not made clear who Robert Culp's character is. He appears to be some kind of tycoon, but it;'s never made clear.
What;'s good about it? Some stunning scenery, especially when they are riding the hang gliders. One reviewer over a IMDB was complaining that these scenes were too dark because they were shot at night, when it's obvious they were shot in daylight with a filter. Fine score by Lalo Schifrin.
A little more information to make you care about the characters would've elevated this from a routine to a pretty good action movie. It;s still a worth use of 90 minutes.
Mother, Jugs, & Speed (1976) Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvie Keitel, Bruc e Davison, and Larry Hagman play ambulance drivers working for a cheapskate boss competing for a city contract with another company.
This is 70's movie, from the music to the themes and characters.
Bill Cosby is the veteran who's seen it all and his deadpan wise cracks are what make a lot of the movie funny. Raquel Welch is Jugs, the dispatcher/secretary who gets her EMT certificate and has to threaten the boss with a lawsuit to ride an ambulance. Harvey Keitel is totally non-psychotic in his role as a cop on suspension moonlighting. Larry Hagman does a good turn as the sleazy Murdoch. Also look out for Dick Butkus, L.Q. Jones, and a very young Bruce Davison.
The movie is a mixed bag of the downright hilarious mixed with a sprinkling of tragedy. Well worth watching, especially if you like those 70's disco beat theme songs.
Slumber Party Massacre One of many, many early 80's slasher movies to ride the coat tails of Friday the 13th. Not being an avid fan of the genre I found the movie pretty frickin' boring. It features a group of nubile teenage girls (what a surprise) and killer with a power tool fetish. You get to see boobies and blood, so I guess it is successful in meeting the criteria set for these things.
Overall, I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again.
The Boogens (1982) Why does that title make me feel like picking my nose? Someone has gone and opened the old silver mine and released the Boogens!
Thank goodness they decided to leave the creatures unseen until about the last 15 minutes or they would have ruined to small amount tension they did manage to generate.
I think they should make a rule about have cutsie animals in horror movies. I kept wishing the monster would hurry up and eat the damned poodle and get it over with.
This movie also has the requisite group of young people. The horny dude, the equally horny girlfriend, the sensible guy, and the sensible girl he's set up with. You also get the mysterious creepy old dude running around in the background trying to warn the miners that they are setting something evil loose.
The Boogens themselves are tremendously silly looking once you see one.
We do get the typical horror movie cliches.
When you're in the middle of nowhere, you find the house in total disarray, someone is missing, you find a smashed in pantry door and a blood trail leading from there to the basement, what do you do? Find that dollar store flashlight and go check it out, of course.
You've just shot a really weird looking creature, that was trying to kill someone and eat them, what;'s the first thing you do? Why you poke it and stick your face real close to it, making your self the next victim.
Overall, I thought it was pretty ho-hum. The film makers did manage to generate a small amount of tension, but they still should've killed the stupid dog a lot earlier.
