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

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE -- Movie Review by Porfle

  Originally published on 11/20/17

 

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE (2002) begins Park Chan-wook's celebrated vengeance trilogy with the old story of a "simple plan" that inevitably goes all to hell.

Ha-kyun Shin plays Ryu, a green-haired deaf-mute who toils in a factory while desperately waiting for a donor kidney for his dying sister (Ji-Eun Lim). His attempt to purchase the necessary organ on the black market ends disastrously, as he loses not only all his money but one of his own kidneys as well. Then he gets laid off from his job just as the doctor informs him that a donor kidney, which he can no longer afford, is finally available.

Ryu's domineering girlfriend Yeong-mi (Du-na Bae), a radical political activist with terrorist ties, concocts a scheme to abduct the young daughter of wealthy businessman Park Dong-jin (Kang-ho Song) and hold her for ransom, with the naive confidence that it will be a "benevolent" kidnapping and result in happy endings for all involved.

Her prediction goes horribly wrong, as does the kidnapping, and she and Ryu find themselves the targets of a vengeful father whose emotional devastation demands a payment in blood. Ryu, meanwhile, attempts to track down the illicit organ merchants and extract some lethal payback of his own. Both find the price of revenge distressingly high.

"I wanted to make something that felt too real," director Park Chan-wook explains. "I wanted the audience to be tired when they finished the film." As opposed to the later OLDBOY'S flamboyant surrealism and absurdity, the bad things that happen during this film are disturbingly matter of fact, with no suspenseful music or editing, often occurring in the background of a shot. We're allowed to search the frame for information ourselves rather than have everything pointed out to us, which can be strangely unsettling.

"As a director, I think this unkind way of presenting the story makes the viewer a more active participant in the film," says Park. Lengthy wide-angle shots often place the characters far from the camera, punctuated by unexpected images from odd angles which tease us with brief snippets of information.



One of the most important death scenes in the film occurs almost peripherally within the frame as the static camera lingers over a placid rural setting. Without the usual editing and camera angles leading the viewer through the scene, we're left to watch helplessly as the tragedy unfolds with dreadful inevitability.

Still, Park occasionally gets up close and personal, as in a brutal torture-by-electricity scene or a shocking knife murder of a man by a group of terrorists. Here, in a subtle bit of absurdity that's almost funny, the camera impassively observes the dying man as he strains to read the death warrant pinned to his own chest by a knife.

Even in a sequence which in any other film might play out as a brisk action setpiece, such as Ryu's bloody final encounter with the organ merchants, Park tweaks our expectations by approaching the familiar scenario with a fresh and pleasingly odd perspective.

"When you set out for revenge, first dig two graves," someone told James Bond way back in 1981's FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. Here, Park Chan-wook takes that hoary old proverb and dramatizes it in dispiritingly downbeat and often heartrending new ways, focusing in almost clinical fashion on tragic details that linger in the mind.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this chain reaction of consequences is that there are two sides headed for a deadly collision, and our sympathies extend to both of them. (This is a theme that will carry over into the next film in the series, OLDBOY.)  SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is hardly the kind of revenge flick where Charles Bronson blows away bad guys as we cheer through our popcorn. For these unfortunate characters, vengeance ain't necessarily good for what ails 'em.


Read our full review of Palisade Tartan Asia Extreme's eight-disc DVD set THE VENGEANCE TRILOGY

Read our review of OLDBOY
Read our review of LADY VENGEANCE

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE -- Movie Review by Porfle

THEIR FINEST HOUR: FIVE BRITISH WWII CLASSICS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 3/28/2020

 

Film Movement Classics' five-disc Blu-ray collection THEIR FINEST HOUR: 5 BRITISH WWII CLASSICS brings together some of the absolute best British war films of the 40s and 50s, all beautifully restored (fans of rich old-style black and white photography should find them a visual treat) and augmented with plenty of bonus features.

Here are our impressions of each film:


DUNKIRK (1958)

While I loved Christopher Nolan's recent version of this particular WWII historical event, many criticized it for not supplying viewers with a more substantial backstory leading up to it.

The 1958 film, DUNKIRK, does just that, giving us much more of a lead-up to what happened and why, detailing the collapse of the British military's defense of France from the overwhelming German invasion and their subsequent retreat to the beaches at Dunkirk where a rescue effort descended into carnage and chaos.

In traditional Ealing Studios fashion, this is filmed in beautiful, no-frills black and white which gives everything more of a gritty realism.

It also reflects that studio's fondness for depicting the basic goodness and integrity of the British people when faced with a unifying adversity that threatened to strike at the very heart of their entire existence.

The first half of the story follows a ragtag group of soldiers separated from the rest of their unit and wandering about rural France under the reluctant command of a callow corporal (John Mills) who suddenly finds himself the highest ranking officer.

We get to know this likable bunch as they march through pastoral settings that suddenly turn into blazing life and death situations where even civilian refugees are slaughtered by strafing planes and missile shells.

Meanwhile, British civilians back home are gearing up to launch their small seagoing craft to aid in the rescue effort across the channel at Dunkirk.  Bernard Lee, who played "M" to Sean Connery's James Bond, willingly lends his own boat to the cause, while a young Richard Attenborough (THE GREAT ESCAPE) initially finds himself lacking the necessary courage for such a perilous venture.

The spectacular cinematic depictions of these events include countless extras in explosive battle action, ships filled with escapees being bombed and sunk, and other cinematic wonders.  Ultimately, however, it's the heroism of both soldiers and civilians that is honored by the makers of DUNKIRK. 


THE DAM BUSTERS (1955)

Back in the early days of WWII a man named Dr. Wallis (Michael Redgrave) comes up with a way for a squadron of bomber planes, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Richard Todd), to cause chaos to German industry by blowing up some of that country's biggest dams.

THE DAM BUSTERS (1955) is the story of that incredible real-life mission which, despite a heavy death toll among its valiant participants, was a spectacular success.

It doesn't seem so at first, however, and much of the story tells of Dr. Wallis' difficulty in selling the idea--which involves releasing huge bombs over the water at extremely low altitudes and under heavy fire so that they skip across the surface of the water like stones until they collide with the dam--to the military brass.

Directed by Michael Anderson, the film proceeds slowly, methodically, almost like a detective yarn in which the mystery to be solved is how to make Dr. Wallis' seemingly fantastic idea come to pass in practical terms amidst skepticism and technical glitches.

During the slow buildup we get to know Commander Gibson and the men of his ace flying squadron as they prepare themselves for what may be a suicidal and ultimately fruitless mission.

Low-key and utterly lacking in flash and sensationalism, this is a quietly engrossing, impeccably rendered story which finally evolves into one of the most thrilling, nailbiting war thrillers to come out of the British film industry.

So exciting and well-mounted is the sustained final dam-busting sequence, in fact, that George Lucas used much of it as the inspiration for the Death Star attack in STAR WARS. 

Here, the cinematic potential of the event is fully and brilliantly explored, with special effects that are amazing for the time. This includes some beautiful miniatures, matte shots, and even cel animation to augment the live action footage. In addition, the crisp black and white photography is consistently good throughout the film.

The cast features some familiar faces in minor roles (including a young Robert Shaw of JAWS) as well as lead stars Michael Redgrave, whose Dr. Wallis is likably mild-mannered and earnest, and Richard Todd, a fearless yet human hero whose love for his ever-present canine companion (in a heart-tugging subplot) humanizes him.

From a book by Paul Brickhill (THE GREAT ESCAPE), adapted by R.C. Sherriff (BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, OLD DARK HOUSE, THE INVISIBLE MAN), THE DAM BUSTERS is a literate, satisfying film that brings these thrilling true events to life without sensationalism but with a subtle, human touch.


ICE COLD IN ALEX (1958)

A ragtag group of British army soldiers and nurses in a beat-up ambulance must undertake a hazardous desert crossing in Northern Africa to escape a beseiged Tobruk in this WWII thriller, ICE COLD IN ALEX (1958).

The group is led by a battle-weary alcoholic named Captain Anson (John Mills in fine form) and also includes stalwart Sergeant Major Pugh (an equally good Harry Andrews), dedicated nurse Sister Diana Murdoch (the lovely Sylvia Syms) and her nerve-wracked companion Sister Denise Norton (Diane Clare).

Along the way they pick up stranded South African officer Captain van der Poel (Anthony Quayle), a brawny, overbearing fellow who never lets his backpack out of his sight. This arouses the suspicion of the others, who suspect him of being a German spy.

What follows is one of those grueling, tensely-absorbing cinematic ordeals that manages to keep us on edge even in the story's quieter moments.  The harsh, arid desert not only drains them physically but also contains such perils as a deadly minefield, a bog of quicksand, and the occasional unit of German soldiers. 

We're also constantly worried about the dire condition of their vehicle, which threatens to give out on them at any moment. This is especially daunting when the group is forced to make their way into the worst stretch of desert imaginable with little hope of reaching the other side.

Character interactions are nicely done, with fine performances by all. (Familiar faces in minor roles include Liam Redmond and Walter Gotell.) The film also boasts fine black and white photography and a rousing musical score.

Direction is by J. Lee Thompson, whose career included such widely-varied films as THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, MACKENNA'S GOLD, CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, and DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN.

The human element of the story (including an unlikely hint of romance) comes to a satisfying end during a final reckoning with Captain van der Poel. After all the action, adventure, and suspense that has come before, this memorable resolution is ultimately what makes ICE COLD IN ALEX such a rewarding experience.


THE COLDITZ STORY (1955)

Stalwart British screen mainstay John Mills leads the cast once again in THE COLDITZ STORY (1955), based on the true account of Colditz Castle escapee Major Pat Reid.

This medieval fortress in the frosty wilderness of Saxony, with its high stone walls and ancient parapets, provides a unique backdrop for a WWII Allied prisoner-of-war drama in comparison to the familiar setting of big wooden barracks in the middle of a forest.

With the exquisite black and white photography common to such 1950s-era British war films, director Guy Hamilton--who would later helm such James Bond films as GOLDFINGER and LIVE AND LET DIE--has fashioned a gripping tale of men from various countries such as England, Poland, and France all banding together to constantly try and escape the clutches of their ever-wary German captors.

Where the later prison-camp epic THE GREAT ESCAPE spent much time following the progress of its heroes as they tunnelled their way to freedom, THE COLDITZ STORY opens with its characters already in the midst of tunneling, to the point where two competing tunnels, each unaware of the other, inadvertently merge with each other beneath the floorboards of the castle.

The rest of the film recounts several different escape attempts in episodic fashion, even down to individual men scrambling over the barbed wire for a mad dash toward the surrounding woods, until finally there's a unified plan to get several men out dressed as German officers.

This takes up much of the film's latter half and keeps the viewer on edge as the attempt plays out under the cover of a variety performance in the prisoners' theater hall which is attended by German officers and guards.

Despite some grim elements, much of the story is in a rather lighthearted vein, especially when the Allies manage to get the better of their captors in small ways that usually end with some stuffy German officer suffering the derisive laughter of the prisoners.

The more dramatic scenes involve such confrontations as the Allied commander ordering a man not to attempt an escape disguised as a German officer because his unusual height, the discovery of an informant whose family has been threatened if he doesn't cooperate, and other more sobering developments.

The cast is superb, with John Mills giving his usual fine performance along with such familiar faces as Theodore Bikel, a likable and startlingly young Lionel Jeffries, and the great Anton Diffring, who was practically born to play WWII German officers.

A bit unfocused at first with its various subplots and detours into humor, as well as a musical score so bombastic it makes Albert Glasser sound subtle, THE COLDITZ STORY eventually comes together into a gripping suspense tale which stands as one of the superior WWII prisoner-of-war films of the 1950s.



WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942)

I've seen several classic British WWII films of the 40s and 50s recently, but Ealing Studios, known mainly for such dryly amusing post-WWII British comedies as WHISKY GALORE!, THE TITFIELD THUNDERBOLT, and PASSPORT TO PIMLICO, surprises by delivering what may be the most entertaining and gripping war thriller of the bunch.

WENT THE DAY WELL? (1942) is utterly novel in that it begins just like one of Ealing's easygoing pastoral comedies, taking us to the secluded English village of Bramley End and introducing us to its tightly-knit community of endearingly eccentric inhabitants.

Here, they're getting on with their leisurely-paced lives even as the war in Europe rages across the channel, always mindful of their own loved ones fighting in it (as well as those in the local guard) and ready to defend their own shores if the need arise.

This comes sooner than expected when the garrison of Royal Engineers entering their village and warmly welcomed by its people turn out to be undercover German paratroopers paving the way for an invasion.

Their takeover is sudden and brutal, their rule backed by violence and terror while the first escape attempt is punished by having five of their children condemned to be shot.

The idea of the usual Ealing comedy suddenly taking a sharp turn into gritty, savage realism is, to say the least, jarring, especially when we see certain warmly endearing characters shot or bayoneted for standing up to their captors in the defense of their country and their fellow villagers.

Suspense builds as the Germans' harsh methods drive the people to take decisive action while a company of British soldiers is still en route to rescue them, resulting in a sustained battle sequence which, taking place in ordinary settings and involving the most ordinary of country folk, is unique in the annals of war thrillers.

The cast is superb, including Hitchcock veteran Leslie Banks as a trusted villager who turns out to be a German spy and is thus one of the film's most despicable villains.  Alberto Cavalcanti's direction of the story by Graham Greene is unerringly precise, with Ealing's usual impeccable black and white photography.

It may be the fact that I'm still flush with excitement after having just watched it, but I'm moved to proclaim WENT THE DAY WELL? as one of the finest and most edge-of-the-seat thrilling war films I've ever seen. It's certainly unique in my experience, as well as deeply resonant on a purely emotional level.



Buy it from Film Movement Classics


Blu-ray Features

The Colditz Story:
Colditz Revealed documentary
Restoration Comparison
The Dam Busters:
The Making of The Dam Busters
Sir Barnes Wallis Documentary
617 Squadron Remembers
Footage of the Bomb Tests
The Dam Busters Royal Premiere
Restoration of a Classic
The Dam Busters TrailerDunkirk:
Dunkirk Operation Dynamo Newsreel
Young Veteran Ealing Short
Interview with actor Sean Barrett
John Mills home movie footageIce Cold In Alex:
Extended Clip from A Very British War Movie Documentary
John Mills Home Video Footage
Interview with Melanie Williams
Steve Chibnall on J. Lee Thompson
Interview with Sylvia Syms

24-page booklet with essay by film writer and curator Cullen Gallagher

Sound: Mono
Discs: 5
Available 3/31/20

THEIR FINEST HOUR: FIVE BRITISH WWII CLASSICS -- Blu-ray 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

CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE/ SIN IN THE SUBURBS/ WARM NIGHTS HOT PLEASURES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 9/27/2018

 

With the third entry in their "Joseph W. Sarno Retrospective Series", Film Movement Classics brings us another highly enjoyable sampling of the celebrated director's earlier work.

This time it's the triple-header CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE/SIN IN THE SUBURBS/WARM NIGHTS HOT PLEASURES, the first two titles complete with commentary tracks by both film historian Tim Lucas and the director himself.  (CONFESSIONS also comes with deleted scenes.)

Even more than the previous entries, this Sarno collection is an intoxicating indulgence for fans of his unique visual and storytelling style, capturing the tawdry essence of the nudie cuties and "roughies" and fashioning it into something of a roughhewn art form that culminates here with his colorful, seriocomic 1974 work, CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE.  


CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (1974)

[This is an altered version of my original review of an earlier release.]

After seeing trailers for some of Joe Sarno's 70s sexploitation flicks, along with a brief retrospective of his work, I was eager to see one of them for myself. I got my wish when CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (1974) fell into my hot little hands, and I wasn't disappointed.

It's a prime example of good filmmaking on a low budget, displaying a certain class and style that transcends the cheap sleaze this genre is often known for while still generously indulging our more prurient interests.

The simple storyline involves a pretty young housewife named named Carole (Rebecca Brooke) and her husband Eddie (David Hausman), who have a wide-open sexual relationship that includes their ultra-horny neighbors Anna (Chris Jordan) and her hubby Pete (Eric Edwards).

When Carole's straight-laced, widowed mother Jennifer comes to visit, the young swingers are immediately fascinated by the gorgeous blonde mature babe whose repressed sexuality is just waiting to explode.

As the initially-shocked Jennifer lets down her inhibitions and begins to take part in her daughter's free-love lifestyle, each participant is so deeply affected by her that their relationships with each other are threatened. Not only that, but Carole herself is dangerously close to giving in to long dormant incestual feelings and going ga-ga for her own mom.

Complicating things even more is the fact that Jennifer is forming her own relationship outside the group with a handsome young grocery delivery guy who is yearning for love after being abandoned by his wife.

They may not be great thespians, but the actors are appealing and play their characters well. Rebecca Brooke is a fresh young presence as Carole, while David Hausman plays her husband Eddie as a grown-up version of Greg Brady. As Anna, cutie Chris Jordan (Eric Edwards' real-life wife at the time) keeps things light with her comedic performance; aside from her sexual voracity, Anna is constantly stuffing herself with food without gaining an ounce and swooning over Jennifer's baked goods. Eric Edwards, of course, is a familiar face to 70s porn fans, one of those rare examples of the X-rated actor who can really act.

The main attraction here, though, is the stunningly gorgeous Jennifer Wells. Not only a skilled actress, she's also a first-class knockout, and it's easy to understand how the others could be so helplessly attracted to her. Voluptuous and natural (no plastic, no tattoos, no shaved pubes), her transition from apron-wearing mom baking pies in the kitchen to hot-blooded sexual animal is pretty exciting.

This is how you do softcore without making it boring. The sex scenes are hot and the actors are convincingly passionate and enthusiastic. Chris Jordan in particular seems to be literally having orgasms out the wazoo in some scenes. Sarno directs the sex sequences as logical extensions of the dramatic scenes instead of just letting the camera roll while actors boff each other.

This looks like one of the better hardcore films of the 70s (without the more graphic shots, of course) when directors like Gerard Damiano were still trying to make actual movies instead of just extended sex scenes linked by minimal dialogue.

The fact that these sequences don't go on forever with endless, numbing closeups of ping-ponging genitalia sustains our interest and arousal levels while maintaining our awareness that a story is taking place. As film gave way to video in the 80s and porn became more of an assembly-line product churned out by increasingly lesser talents, such concerns were either minimalized or abandoned altogether, as shown in Paul Thomas Anderson's BOOGIE NIGHTS.

Joe Sarno's script keeps the melodrama moving along while delighting us with some occasionally kooky dialogue. After their initial meeting with Jennifer, Eddie remarks to Pete, "You know, her tits intrigue me...she never wears a bra" and Pete responds "Yeah, we were sitting there and her old tits were crying for my mouth." Later, while coming on to Jennifer for the first time, Pete gushes, "Your tits drive me outta my bird!"

Sarno makes the most of his $25,000 budget, giving the film a distinctive look with its soft-hued, color-saturated cinematography and artistic lighting. The print used here is fairly good, though there are quite a few patches that have that choppy, scratchy look commonly associated nowadays with "grindhouse" films. (I grew up watching battered film prints in theaters and on TV, so I hardly notice such things myself--in fact, it gives me a nice nostalgic feeling.)

If you're into this kind of stuff, then chances are you'll enjoy CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE as much as I did. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Joe Sarno's films.

[End of original review.]

Film Movement Classics' Blu-ray release of CONFESSIONS is, like the other two films on this disc, a new 2K restoration that probably looks as good as it gets.  Which in this case is a vividly colorful and clear picture with the inevitable imperfections that sometimes come with the best available print.  For me, the old-school grindhouse feel that this gives the film is a nostalgic plus.

SIN IN THE SUBURBS (1964)

SIN IN THE SUBURBS (1964) is writer-director Joe Sarno continuing to come into his own as a filmmaker who takes the genre of naughty, softcore sex potboilers and invests it with an unusual dramatic heft and interesting characters who trade dialogue that's sharp and fun to listen to.

Not to say that the obligatory sleaze and tawdriness of such films are missing here--it's the sort of world Sarno's characters exist in, whether they be conniving lowlifes using sex for gain or well-to-do hypocrites posing as model citizens while indulging forbidden sexual perversions behind closed doors.

The term "when the cat's away" really fits this normal-looking 60s suburb in which lonely, sex-hungry wives, feeling neglected by their working husbands, have it off with various neighbors, workmen, or, in the case of Mrs. Lewis (Audrey Campbell, THE SEXPERTS), her teen daughter Kathy's high school friend.

Meanwhile, we see local sex-bomb Yvette lounging around the house in lingerie and paying the furniture bill by seducing the collector.  Yvette lives with her supposed "brother" Louis (W.B. Parker), and together they're hatching a scheme to start an illicit sex club which they hope will have frustrated neighbors shelling out hundreds of bucks for.

What starts out a bit like a sex comedy (the bill collector guy is funny) soon veers toward the dramatic as the sexual vortex so many of the characters seem caught in starts to spin out of control.  Lisa, left alone while husband Henry is at work, starts guzzling booze and luring abusive workmen into her home. Mrs. Lewis has daytime swingers' parties with friends in her own house, one of which is walked in upon by a her shocked daughter Kathy.

Kathy, it seems, has the wildest life of them all when she's molested by her would-be boyfriend and then seduced into a hot lesbian affair with Yvette. Judy Young plays her with just the right balance between still just a kid and becoming a troubled, sexually-confused young woman.

It's almost the stuff soap operas are made of, but it's all so edgy (for its time) and starkly compelling that we're constantly transfixed by what's going on and eager to see what happens next.  Sarno's evolving as a director with an instinctive talent for staging interesting shots and bringing out the best in his cast.

The story content is strictly adults-only for 1964, with elements such as adultery, attempted rape, lesbianism, and other sensitive subjects that were still taboo.  It feels like we're watching something on the shady side, getting a voyeuristic glimpse at these desperate sinful lives.

Sarno's screenplay goes beyond simple sexploitation and builds to an emotionally jarring ending after one of Yvette and Louis' illicit sex parties, which is staged remarkably and with lasting effect.

Sarno's black-and-white photography is crisp, noirish, and constantly interesting to look at.  The print used for Film Movement's Blu-ray edition is very good, even with the occasional scratches, specks, etc. which, for me, give it a nostalgic feel that recalls the well-worn prints we used to see at the local theater or on late-night TV.

Having just watched the original Star Trek episode "I, Mudd" the night before, I was surprised to see the actor who played the android "Norman", Richard Tatro, as the dangerous guy Lisa foolishly opens her front door to.

Yvette is played by none other than Dyanne Thorne (billed here as Lahna Monroe) of "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the S.S." fame, looking almost unrecognizable with her jet-black bouiffant hairdo. The film's one bit of actual nudity is a fleeting glimpse of her bare breasts.

SIN IN THE SUBURBS ends with a shadowy, poignant shot that looks like it might be straight out of early David Lynch.  And with it continues my fondness for Joe Sarno's exquisite black-and-white early films, which are unlike anything else I've seen.

WARM NIGHTS HOT PLEASURES

Another of Joe Sarno's delectable early black-and-white melodramas, 1964's WARM NIGHTS HOT PLEASURES is the torrid tale of three smalltown girls who drop out of college and head to the Big Apple with fervent (but slim) hopes of making it in showbiz.

Of course, the road to success is littered with just this kind of roadkill.  But singleminded Cathy (Marla Ellis) is too determined and blinded by ambition to be deterred even when every lead she follows turns out to be just one more horny, sleazy con man telling her to "show me what you got" before leading her to the casting couch.

Meanwhile, prim Vivian (Sheila Barnett) hooks up with Paul, a seemingly decent man who claims to have connections and assures her there are no strings attached.  (Paul is played by SIN IN THE SUBURBS's Richard Tatro, whom original-series Star Trek fans will recognize as the android Norman in the episode "I, Mudd.")

Paul's frustrated wife Ronnie (Carla Desmond) befriends simple, down-home girl Marsha (the cute-as-a-button Eve Harris) and offers to teach her some of the tricks to becoming a showgirl.  Ronnie will also develop a tragically one-sided infatuation with Marsha that adds to the story's substantial emotional gravitas.

The idea of a trio of naive girls striking out on their own into a world of fast sex and deceptive strangers seems a comfortably familiar one, and Sarno's lean, colorful screenplay, in addition to his endlessly inventive direction and expert handling of actors, allows us to settle back and enjoy the ride from one dramatic turn to the next.

Things get sleazy right away when Cathy's first surrender to a repugnant talent agent's sweaty sexual come-on leads only to one two-bit producer after another as she struggles to make her way up the food chain. She ends up dancing and hustling drinks in a bar run by Dick (played by familiar character actor Joe Santos in his film debut under the name "Joe Russell") who drags her sense of self-worth even further into the mud by also demanding dirty sex from her.

Welcome comedy touches enter the picture when the girls rent a room from a sassy, sultry nudie model who's constantly posing for fetish photos down the hall, in the apartment of a young Irving Klaw-like photographer.  While the big lug's constantly trying to get Marsha to pose nude for him, he's all business and becomes a valuable ally.

Fans of familiar vintage nudie model Alice Denham will be delighted to see her in the flesh (so to speak) as the landlady, who's equally adept at single-girl glamour pics or the kinkier bondage and S&M stuff.

As usual, the black-and-white photography is exquisite as the camerawork and staging consistently bring out the best in Sarno's typically expressive cast. The musical score is a cacophony of hepcat jazz, like one of Fred Katz's scores for Roger Corman, and I recognized at least one cue from the same library music used earlier in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE.

Sarno admirers should scarf up this concoction of illicit sex, brief nudity, drama, tragedy, despair, debasement, disillusionment, and betrayal, with occasional bits of lighthearted fun to keep things from getting too heavy.  At least one of our our heroines will find a glimmer of hope that may lead to success, while the other girls' luck goes bad in ways that play heavily on our sympathy without ever getting maudlin.

The print used by Film Movement Classics has the usual wear and tear of these early Sarno films which we're lucky to have in any condition (this one has been lost since 1964) despite being cleaned up as much as possible for this Blu-ray release.

I think it looks great, and any imperfections only give it that unique grindhouse feel which, as I've stressed on numerous occasions, only adds to my nostalgic enjoyment of older films.  (I like a print that looks like it's been around the block a few times.)  No extras this time, but the film itself is its own reward.

WARM NIGHTS HOT PLEASURES finds the director continuing to wield his keen story sense and artist's eye to give us a nudie sex flick that feels as substantial and worthwhile as many Hollywood potboilers, but a lot more naughty, taboo-twisting fun.

BONUS FEATURES
Sin in the Suburbs -- Commentary by Tim Lucas, Commentary by Joe and Peggy Sarno, Michael Vraney and Frank Henenlotter
Confessions of a Young American Housewife -- Commentary by Tim Lucas, Mini-commentary by Joe Sarno, Deleted scenes  

PROGRAM INFORMATION
Type:  Blu-ray/DVD
Running Time: 234 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Audio: Stereo
Captions: None
Street Date: October 2, 2018
BD/DVD SRP: $39.95/$29.95

CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE/ SIN IN THE SUBURBS/ WARM NIGHTS HOT PLEASURES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle