Recent Viewings, Part 2

[indianasmith]

BLOOD MOON (2014) - A werewolf story set in the old west, where  a group of travelers are trapped in an abandoned saloon, being stalked by a ferocious Navajo skinwalker.  Not great, but not awful - I was mildly entertained. 3/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"The Rocketeer" (1991)
In 1938 Los Angeles, down on his luck stunt pilot Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) stumbles across a stolen, experimental rocket pack that allows a man to fly without a plane. He figures he can use it to make a few quick bucks, but ends up getting caught up in a battle with the mob, the FBI, and the Nazis, all of whom want to get their hands on the machine. A fun period piece action/adventure in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" vein, adapted from Dave Stevens' cult '80s comic book series.  

"Dead Heat" (1988)
Two L.A. cops (Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo) trail a gang of thieves who seem immune to bullets. After some detective work they learn that these bad guys are already dead, and have been re-animated by a mad scientist's machine that brings them back to life. A funny, action packed, occasionally gross horror comedy that really missed a bet by not calling itself "Beverly Hills Zombie."

[indianasmith]

WISHCRAFT (2002) - A high school nerd is tutoring a beautiful cheerleader who ignores his secret passion for her in favor of the captain of the football team, of course.  Then he gets a box in the mail containing a mummified bull pen*s and a note that this talisman will grant him three wishes.  Of course, he thinks it's a joke and throws it away, but his even nerdier friend urges him to try it, and it works - but even as his first wish is granted, a string of bizarre murders begins.  What is the connection?  Half teen comedy and half horror movie, this one was better than I thought it would be but not great. 4/5

[M.10rda]

"Dead Heat" (1988)
Two L.A. cops (Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo) trail a gang of thieves who seem immune to bullets.

Another great fun movie from Treat Williams, a movie star who believed in quality over quantity. Rest in power, Treat.

[indianasmith]

THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES (2007) This is one of the more disturbing found footage films I have seen.  Filmed in documentary style, the focal point of the movie is a huge collection of videotapes left behind by a prolific serial killer.  Enough of the contents of the tapes are shown to horrify the viewer, and leave you wondering what happened on the ones not shared.  Murders, abductions, body dumps, false leads, a wrongful conviction after a skilled frame-up - the realism is chilling and the villain downright terrifying. Not for the faint of heart. 5/5

[FatFreddysCat]

"Intent To Kill" (1992)
A tough L.A. police woman (Traci Lords) gets caught in the middle of a war between drug dealing gangs. Cars crash, bullets fly, and lotsa stuff blows up in this silly early 90s direct to video action flick.
Traci looks great (of course) but the former XXX queen still couldn't act worth a damn at this stage. Fortunately, her role mostly requires her to pout while punching/shooting people.
Meanwhile, the main villain does a terrible impression of Al Pacino in "Scarface" and Yaphet Kotto (as Traci's captain) sports a distracting, hilarious hair piece. Unless you're an obsessed Traci fan, you can safely skip this one.

[Rev. Powell]

ONCE UPON A TIME IN UGANDA (2021): A disillusioned American film pro travels to Uganda to find Nabwana I.G.G., the director whose trailers for homemade action movies like "Who Killed Captain Alex?" have gone viral. A good introduction to Nabwana's amazing and utterly unique movies, which have brought him worldwide fame, but not much fortune (yet). 3.5/5.

[Rev. Powell]

FRONTIER (2001): In a post-apocalyptic world, two "Bulbovian" explorers attempt to colonize a new land, dealing with the egg-throwing indigenous Bigfoots and masked Jesi and other absurdities. Notable mainly for creating its own exclusively-spoken fake Slavic language, this is sort of like a less coherent, less focused, less expensive, less amusing, and less talented version of THE BED-SITTING ROOM; still, it occasionally hits, like the chicken boxing gloves. A generous 2/5, given more for what it attempts than what it achieves.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Hidden Strike" (2023)
A security expert (Jackie Chan) is escorting a caravan of workers out of an oil refinery in the middle of a Mideast war zone. When they're attacked by mercenaries who kidnap the refinery boss, Chan and an American aid worker (John Cena) must stop the bad guys before they can drain off all the oil and steal it for themselves. Of course, lots of stuff gets shot, blown up, and kung-fu'd along the way.
Chan and Cena seem to be having fun in this generic action flick with way too much CGI and a plot that goes in fifteen directions at once. It was better than the last Chan movie I saw ("Bleeding Steel") but that's not really saying much. Watchable, but forgettable. 

[Rev. Powell]

"Beatnik Manor": An experimental collage constructed from old experimental footage shot by hippies, with the now-ancient sculpture professor who headed the project narrating his memories. Interesting enough bohemian time capsule, and at 45 minutes it lasts about as long as it needs to. A bonus feature on the TEENAGE TUPELO Blu-ray, this one's not even in the IMDb. 2.5/5.

[Dr. Whom]

What to do with the dead Kaiju? (2022)

So, the kaiju that threatened Tokyo has keeled over and died. But the next question is, what to do with the cadaver? Is it a biohazard or can it become a tourist attraction? Is this a dirty job, or can it launch a political career?

This idea has the potential for a political satire. However, the director felt he also needed a conventional plot. So what we have is mostly a slapdash combination of manga tropes, which is neither interesting nor entertaining. A pity, because the scenes of the squabbling politicians are funny.

[M.10rda]

BEAT THE DEVIL (1953):
John Houston's monster 1941 hit THE MALTESE FALCON starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet begat Michael Curtiz' inferior (sorry, facts!) CASABLANCA a year later... a decade on, Houston teams up w/ Bogie for the 4th (?) time to make AFRICAN QUEEN... and then 2 years later, Houston revs up the blender one more time to make this FALCON/CASABLANCA/AFRICAN QUEEN mega-mix. Bogie's now a shady expatriate restauranteur in Central America, brainstorming an African uranium deal w/ a gang of former Nazis and fascist sympathizers: Lorre, Robert Morley (assuming the bloated, effete Greenstreet role), and their two European goons (Elisha Cook was clearly too American for this crew). Meanwhile Bogie is wifeswapping w/ an imbecilic British tourist and gets (imho) the better end of the deal - the Brit gets dully exotic Gina Lollabrigida while Bogie gets leggy, tart Jennifer Jones. About midway through they all get on a slow cruise ship to "the dark continent" and then plans really start to go pear-shaped.

I watched this primarily for Lorre (one of my all-time favs) but into the bargain I got a Truman Capote screenplay (which is much more fun than either BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S or IN COLD BLOOD) and much more. The dialogue is hilariously b***hy throughout, w/ Morley enjoying many of the juiciest ripostes. He looks like he was drawn by Dr. Seuss and twitches, tics, gapes, and glares w/ relentless fervor. It's fun to watch Bogie (who began his career as a villain) playing a not-so-good guy but more fun to watch him struggle to keep up w/ his slippery new mistress. Jones,  an accomplished dramatic actress of the 40s and 50s, excels at comedy as well... but is also faintly chilling in some moments. Bernard Lee (the original "M"!) appears at the denouement as, what else, a Scotland Yard dick. All the bit parts are memorably colorful, too - I bet the Coen Bros love this movie.

And Lorre? Although he's got far fewer lines than in FALCON, he plays every one of 'em to the hilt. (My favorite is when he insists that his Irish surname is perfectly normal and that there are plenty of Germans named "O'Hara" in his small Chilean hometown.) He's in the entire film, too, even when silent... lurking in some odd corner of the frame, leering in fear or amusement or contempt. (Oh yeah - the claustrophobic interior shots are masterfully composed and I bet the film would look amazing (if I wasn't watching a muddy crap print).)

Lollabrigida? Not that hot as an actress, but she's a tertiary character and at least not the debilitating albatross that Bergman is around the neck of CASABLANCA. I admit I wish BTD got a little darker. As Jones' character gradually reveals herself to be essentially a rudderless sociopath, I expected Bogie to ultimately have to throw her over in order to save his own neck. Instead, the film has a rather toothless upbeat ending... but enough guffaws and good acting along the way to make it entirely worthwhile.

4/5
FTR, I've never seen Lorre look more like Michael J. Anderson than in this film.

[Jim H]

Hell of the Living Dead - Just terrible zombie film, with some of the strangest acting and written characters in an Italian zombie film this side of Burial Ground.  Also has like 20+ minutes of tribal people and animal stock footage.  Just a few gore effects, and the zombies look like crap.  It's barely coherent.  Some scenes feel like they're missing shots.  Goblin did the score and some of it sounds like it was stolen, but it's still better than the film deserves anyway.

Rampage - Passable summer pap.  Still makes it one of the better video game film adaptations.

[RCMerchant]

BEAT THE DEVIL (1953):
John Houston's monster 1941 hit THE MALTESE FALCON starring Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet begat Michael Curtiz' inferior (sorry, facts!) CASABLANCA a year later... a decade on, Houston teams up w/ Bogie for the 4th (?) time to make AFRICAN QUEEN... and then 2 years later, Houston revs up the blender one more time to make this FALCON/CASABLANCA/AFRICAN QUEEN mega-mix. Bogie's now a shady expatriate restauranteur in Central America, brainstorming an African uranium deal w/ a gang of former Nazis and fascist sympathizers: Lorre, Robert Morley (assuming the bloated, effete Greenstreet role), and their two European goons (Elisha Cook was clearly too American for this crew). Meanwhile Bogie is wifeswapping w/ an imbecilic British tourist and gets (imho) the better end of the deal - the Brit gets dully exotic Gina Lollabrigida while Bogie gets leggy, tart Jennifer Jones. About midway through they all get on a slow cruise ship to "the dark continent" and then plans really start to go pear-shaped.

I watched this primarily for Lorre (one of my all-time favs) but into the bargain I got a Truman Capote screenplay (which is much more fun than either BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S or IN COLD BLOOD) and much more. The dialogue is hilariously b***hy throughout, w/ Morley enjoying many of the juiciest ripostes. He looks like he was drawn by Dr. Seuss and twitches, tics, gapes, and glares w/ relentless fervor. It's fun to watch Bogie (who began his career as a villain) playing a not-so-good guy but more fun to watch him struggle to keep up w/ his slippery new mistress. Jones,  an accomplished dramatic actress of the 40s and 50s, excels at comedy as well... but is also faintly chilling in some moments. Bernard Lee (the original "M"!) appears at the denouement as, what else, a Scotland Yard dick. All the bit parts are memorably colorful, too - I bet the Coen Bros love this movie.

And Lorre? Although he's got far fewer lines than in FALCON, he plays every one of 'em to the hilt. (My favorite is when he insists that his Irish surname is perfectly normal and that there are plenty of Germans named "O'Hara" in his small Chilean hometown.) He's in the entire film, too, even when silent... lurking in some odd corner of the frame, leering in fear or amusement or contempt. (Oh yeah - the claustrophobic interior shots are masterfully composed and I bet the film would look amazing (if I wasn't watching a muddy crap print).)

Lollabrigida? Not that hot as an actress, but she's a tertiary character and at least not the debilitating albatross that Bergman is around the neck of CASABLANCA. I admit I wish BTD got a little darker. As Jones' character gradually reveals herself to be essentially a rudderless sociopath, I expected Bogie to ultimately have to throw her over in order to save his own neck. Instead, the film has a rather toothless upbeat ending... but enough guffaws and good acting along the way to make it entirely worthwhile.

4/5
FTR, I've never seen Lorre look more like Michael J. Anderson than in this film.

Very underrated film. A classic, IMHO.
I agree that CASABLANCA can't touch a candle to the MALTESE FALCON (1941). I may have watched that movie over 20 times.

[FatFreddysCat]

"Night Patrol" (1984)
A dorky police recruit who also moonlights as a stand up comedian learns that another comic is not only stealing his act, but also committing robberies on the side.
This painfully unfunny slapstick "Police Academy" variant is more or less a vanity project for Murray "The Unknown Comic" Langston, who co-wrote the script and stars as his "real" self and as his stage persona. I think I might have laughed once. Woof, this was bad. Even the presence of Linda "Exorcist" Blair at her busty early '80s peak can't make this movie watchable.
AVOID.