BEAST OF BLOOD -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/11/18

 

Like many horror fans, my first look at the "Chlorophyll Man" was in Dennis Gifford's celebrated book, "Pictorial History of Horror Movies."  Now, with Severin Films' Blu-ray release of BEAST OF BLOOD (1970), we get to see the movie behind that picture in all its gruesome, exploitative glory.

The finale of the "Blood Island Trilogy", which includes "Brides of Blood" and "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" (along with the 1959 prequel, "Terror Is a Man"), this lurid shocker is pure grindhouse goodness for horror lovers who enjoy wandering the dark territory of the grotesque and bizarre.

The story picks up right where "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" left off, with Dr. Bill Foster (the great John Ashley) leaving Blood Island on a boat which, unbeknownst to him, contains a stowaway--none other than the dreaded Chlorophyll Man himself.  When this creature attacks in a frantically-staged scene, the ship ends up sinking and Foster is the only survivor.

He returns to the island some time later to investigate brand new sightings of the "green men" created by evil Dr. Lorca, and discovers that the doctor has also survived the previous film albeit with some severe facial burns and a renewed interest in creating green-blooded chlorophyll monsters using the local island inhabitants as his guinea pigs.

Foster and a hardy crew of local men set off through the jungle to Dr. Lorca's remote subterranean lair, accompanied by plucky lady reporter Myra Russell (Celeste Yarnall, LIVE A LITTLE, LOVE A LITTLE, "Star Trek: The Apple") and even pluckier island girl Laida (Liza Belmonte) who is as handy with a machete as she is beautiful.

Much of the first half of the film covers their trek through the jungle, which tends to drag a bit until finally we rejoin Dr. Lorca in all his mad-doctor glory. "Beast of Blood" kicks into fun-gear at this point, thanks mainly to the fact that Chlorophyll Man's decapitated head is being kept alive while his headless body is strapped to a lab table, also alive.

Lorca's laboratory set and its surrounding cave tunnels look like something out of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and give the movie a pleasantly low-rent science fiction vibe. But it's the horror of that really hideous animated head leering back at Lorca and baring its fangs, biding its time for a chance to get revenge, that gives these scenes a satisfying shudder.

As usual, Lorca keeps a fresh stock of native captives caged for his ghastly experiments, with the goriest scenes consisting of some actual animal entrails being sliced and diced by the mad doctor's scalpel under the camera's loving gaze.

The film's sex quotient is filled early on when Foster and Myra have a steamy sex scene containing quite a bit of nudity.  Soon after, Myra is kidnapped by Lorca's men and serves mainly as a damsel in distress, giving Foster and crew added incentive to descend on Lorca's compound bearing spears and guns in the film's delightfully action-packed battle royale.

The machete-wielding Laida is especially fine during this sequence, and even Myra gets a chance to impale a bad guy or two.  John Ashley fans will enjoy seeing him in James Bond/Indiana Jones mode as well.  But the best part is when Chlorophyll Man takes telepathic control of his headless body (in a finale reminiscent of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die") and goes after Dr. Lorca while the laboratory crumbles around them.

Visually, this Severin Films Blu-ray (available only as part of the "Blood Island Collection") is less refined and restored than the rest of the trilogy, but it's a look that I find deeply appealing in a nostalgic way.  Extras consist of the following:

Audio Commentary with Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
Celeste and the Beast: An Interview with Celeste Yarnall
Dr. Lorca’s Blood Devils: Interview with Actor Eddie Garcia
Super 8 Digest Version (approx. 15 minutes)
Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery

With no arthouse pretensions whatsoever, BEAST OF BLOOD simply wants to shock, appall, and exploit our basest entertainment needs, which it does in shameless earnest.  It's prime, joyfully perverse drive-in fodder, and I'd rather watch it than whatever they threw Academy Awards at this year.   


Buy "The Blood Island Collection" at Severin Films
("Beast of Blood" Available ONLY in Box Set)

BEAST OF BLOOD -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/10/18
 

 

The middle entry in the American-Filipino "Blood Island Trilogy" that started with "Brides of Blood" (and its sort-of prequel "Terror Is a Man"), MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND (Severin Films, 1969) moves the dial much closer to eleven with more blood (much of it green), more gore and severed limbs, more grotesque monsters, and, last but not least, more sex and nudity.  In other words, more exploitation for our twisted viewing pleasure.

This time the boat to the island carries Dr. Bill Foster (John Ashley of "Brides of Blood" again), investigating reports of a green-blooded maniac on the island; Sheila Willard (Angelique Pettyjohn), a woman searching for her long-missing father; and a young man named Carlos (Ronaldo Valdez) returning to his old village in hopes of persuading his widowed mother to return to civilization with him.

What all of these people have in common is Dr. Lorca (Ronald Remy, THE LONGEST HUNDRED MILES, FLIGHT OF THE SPARROW), a research scientist who may or may not be an insane crackpot performing horrifying experiments on anyone he or his henchman Razak can get their hands on. The local natives provide a steady supply of subjects, several of whom now roam the jungle as hideous chlorophyll plant-monsters attacking people and disemboweling them.

These scenes are way more graphic than in previous entries in the series, as we're treated to bloody severed limbs and heads flying about while copious amounts of actual animal entrails ooze from a procession of hapless victims.  The gore effects are crude but plentiful, while the grotesque monster makeup, especially on the main chlorophyll creature, makes them look as though they're wearing spinach and asparagus pizzas on their faces.

The steamy melodrama within Dr. Lorca's mansion takes up much screen time, providing not only heaps of interpersonal conflict (along with some amusingly biting dialogue) but also a much larger sex and nudity quotient than before.

This is especially true for Carlos when he's reunited with a young village girl from his past who seduces him while still carrying a torch for his dead father, and for Dr. Foster and Sheila who are destined to go at it eventually.  Various village girls scamper around nude in the jungle as well before coming face-to-face with Chlorophyll Man.

As in the previous film, John Ashley ends up on the run with his girlfriend from a group of hostile villagers who think he's brought misfortune to their island.  Meanwhile, we get to see a tomb opened up, a graphic monster attack inside Dr. Lorca's own home, some eyebrow-raising plot twists, and, finally, an explosive finish that takes place within a subterranean laboratory of horror.

Production values are considerably less polished this time although the beautiful natural settings are a huge asset.  There's an odd stylistic affectation that grows tiresome real quick--whenever a monster is present, the camera lens zooms in and out in jittery fashion.  Before long I was wishing I could get my hands on the cameraman's zoom lens and smash it to pieces.

There's also a disturbing element of needless, sadistic animal cruelty in one scene that puts a damper on the entire film.  It's a really nasty scene, and I couldn't view anything else that followed without repeatedly going back to it in my mind.  This is the sort of thing that would also ruin my enjoyment of other jungle exploitation films to come.

The great John Ashley once again lends his considerable presence to the proceedings, this time accompanied by the equally noteworthy Angelique Pettyjohn.  "Star Trek" fans will remember her as the warrior woman with the Jiffy-Pop bra and silver hair in "The Gamesters of Triskelion" as well as numerous cult pics like "The Last Empire" and "Repo Man."

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is scanned in 4k from a recently discovered camera negative and presented totally uncut for the first time ever, including the legendary “Oath of Green Blood” prologue.  Extras include:

Audio Commentary with Horror Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger
Audio Commentary with Hemisphere Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
Tombs of the Living Dead: Interview with Pete Tombs, Co-Author of “Immoral Tales”
A Taste of Blood: Interview with Critic Mark Holcomb
The Mad Doctor of Blood Island: Archival Interview with Co-Director Eddie Romero
Trailer
Poster & Still Gallery
Bonus Disc: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD (in box set only)
Reversible TOMB OF THE LIVING DEAD Cover  

As a continuation of the "Blood Island" series, MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND ups the exploitation ante on all counts and comes through for anyone who likes their monster/horror action cheap, lurid, and drenched with sex and gore.  The animal cruelty element is indefensible--for some, it will even be a deal-breaker--but otherwise this is down and dirty monster fun. 


Buy "The Blood Island Collection" at Severin Films

Buy "Mad Doctor of Blood Island" at Severins Films

MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

ESCAPE FROM WOMEN'S PRISON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/28/19

 

It looks like ESCAPE FROM WOMEN'S PRISON (Severin Films, 1978) is going to be one of those women's prison movies (natch) that ends with a big escape. Not so, Blu-ray breath.  This Italian sexploitation thriller is about what happens after some desperate women escape from women's prison, take over a bus full of female tennis players going to a big tournament, and hole up in the secluded, hotel-like villa of a judge until the heat's off. 

The leader of the bad girls, Monica (Lilli Carati, THE ALCOVE), is a political terrorist who's always at odds with Diana (Marina D'Aunia), a real tough cookie who thinks she should be in charge. 

The rest of the gang consists of big Betty (Artemia Terenziani) and flaky Erica (Ada Pometti), as well as Monica's brother who was shot helping them escape. 

The good girls include Anna (Zora Kerova), who will be forced to take charge of her peers and eventually confront the escapees, and Terry (Ines Pellegrini, WAR OF THE ROBOTS, EYEBALL), the spineless one who'll do anything to cooperate with their captors. 

Marco (Franco Ferrer) the bus driver, a handsome hunk, gets the romantic treatment from man-hungry Erica and even their wimpy tennis coach is in for some carnal attention from Betty. 

As for the judge (Filippo De Gara, LION OF THE DESERT), he's none too popular with the prison women and is the target for much of their scorn and abuse, until finally he's driven over the edge.

It's your basic "The Desperate Hours"-type situation with the hostages scheming to either escape or overpower their captors before they outlive their usefulness and the fugitives grating on each other and vying for power.  Monica and Diana in particular keep things on a hair trigger as the powderkeg gets ever closer to exploding. 

Meanwhile, the film lives up to its sexploitation status with a number of couplings that include at least three kinds of rape (female on male, male on female, and female on female), with Erica in particular making sure she gets the most out of her tied-up beau Marco.  Good girl Claudine (Dirce Funari) is targeted by Diana in yet another softcore sex sequence.

I love the ways in which these hardbitten dames push their weight around and cuss up a storm at each other with language that could make flowers wilt.  Even in the slower passages their hostile, unpredictable natures keep things hopping.

Actor and screenwriter Giovanni Brusadori chalks up his sole directorial effort here and does so in capable form.  The film benefits from some exceedingly good found locations, from that spacious villa to a nearby Italian town that's very picturesque. The script is co-written by actor George Eastman of such Joe D'Amato films as ABSURD, EMMANUELLE AND FRANCOISE, and ANTROPOPHAGUS.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is 1080p full HD resolution with English-dubbed mono soundtrack and English captions. The element used for the scan is "a dupe negative and the best known element of the U.S. release version."  The bonus menu includes the original Italian cut "Le Evase" with Italian soundtrack and English captions, as well as "Freedom, Sex & Violence: Interview with Director Giovanni Brusadori" and the trailer.

Picture quality is, I assume, as good as possible though hardly perfect--but, as my regular readers know, I like a print that looks like it's been around the block a few times, especially when it's a lurid exploitation flick like this. 

Things heat up to a savory boil when the cops finally surround the place and the tense stand-off devolves into an exchange of gunfire as the bad girls work out their differences with both the law and each other in deadly terms.  I like the way all the various subplots resolve themselves here in violent, satisfying ways, right up to the final rat-a-tat freeze-frame before the credits roll. 


Buy it at Severin Films

Special Features:
    Le Evase: Italian cut
    Freedom, Sex & Violence: Interview with Director Giovanni Brusadori
    Trailer

Street date: April 30, 2019

ESCAPE FROM WOMEN'S PRISON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

BITCH SLAP -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 3/3/10

 

 

I just got through watching--experiencing--the raucous, explosive, titillating, jaw-dropping, hilarious, and generally rather stimulating BITCH SLAP (2009), and I feel like I've just spent a fun-filled day at B-flick Disneyland. This is one of the most absolutely freakin' awesome movies I've seen in years. I can imagine Tarantino and Rodriguez wha**ing off to it in paroxysms of utter joy. For a good time, call this movie. 

 

After a delightful main titles sequence, the story begins with three ruthless women arriving at a secluded mobile home in the desert, trying to track down some hot diamonds, a "nano-swarm" biological warfare device stolen from the CIA, and whatever MacGuffins might pop up along the way. Hel (Erin Cummings) is the leader and brains of the group, Camero (America Olivo) is the snarling, hot-headed strong-arm, and Trixie (Julie Voth) is the simpering stripper used to lure bad-guy Gage (Michael Hurst) into revealing the location of his hidden stash. It's here that most of the action will take place, while numerous flashbacks reveal (in MEMENTO-style reverse chronological order) the events leading up to it, including explosive shoot-outs, James Bond-style exploits, and sexy nuns. 

 

 

 

 

 

Erin Cummings represents the old-school, voluptuous Russ Meyer-type babe who looks retro-stunning in a 40s-era "Rosie the Riveter" outfit or a slit skirt with fishnet stockings. America Olivo rocks as one of the toughest, most out-of-control psycho bitches ever. As Trixie, Julie Voth is the quintessential weak, vulnerable ditz who screams "Eek!" and makes even something as simple as digging a hole look like a trip around the stripper pole. 

 

All are costumed to show off their ample assets which the camera unabashedly explores at every opportunity, and they perform everything from searing lesbian love scenes to some of the all-time greatest chick fights ever filmed with equal skill. They even manage to bring conviction to some of the most intentionally cheesy dialogue you're likely to hear, such as: 

 

"Ram this in your clambake, bitch cake!"

"Blow my biscuit!"

 And, of course, the immortal: "I'm gonna baste your giblets, butter britches."

 

Two separate fist-pounding showdowns between Hel and Camero are spectacular setpieces that benefit from the expertise of stunt-coordinator and stand-in Zoe Bell ("Xena", KILL BILL, DEATH PROOF) and are the catfight equivalent of the John Wayne-Randolph Scott free-for-all in THE SPOILERS. Big guns, swords, chains, razor-edged yo-yos, explosions, and everything else you can think of come into play in several other blazing action sequences--this movie just keeps being great scene after scene. 

 

 

 

 

 

From the moment director Rick Jacobson introduces the main characters as they emerge from a Thunderbird in the middle of the desert, you know he's going to go all out with all the eye-candy stylistic flourishes he can pack into this film. Slow-mo, split screens, speed-up/slow-down effects, some (restrained) Shaky-Cam, creative editing--generally all the cinematic confetti that can ruin a DTV action flick in lesser hands--are all handled here with just the right touch and add up to a richly visual experience. Even the green-screen used in the flashbacks is handled well and gives those scenes a pleasing fantasy look. It's as though Jacobson were transferring his wildest flights of fancy onto film directly from his fevered brain. 

 

Having worked on such TV series as "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess", Jacobson also manages to stock his cast with familiar faces such as Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor (as a couple of nuns), Kevin Sorbo as Hel's secret-agent boss "Phoenix", and, best of all, Michael Hurst as "Gage", the bad guy who's out to get his hands on whatever the girls are looking for before they do. Producers Jacobson, Eric Gruendemann, and Brian Peck appear in brief but funny cameos, and BIKINI FRANKENSTEIN's Christine Nguyen shows up just long enough to get sprayed with gore. Even the diminutive blonde Debbie Lee Carrington can be seen firing a machine gun just as she did way back in TOTAL RECALL. And last but not least, there's William Gregory Lee as Tourette's-spewing punk thug "Hot Wire" and Minae Noji as his nasty-girl sidekick "Kinki." 

 

 

 

 

 

BITCH SLAP is a dizzying melange of comic books, music videos, Hustler Video, Tarantino references (Hel, we discover, is a former member of "Flesh Force Foxy"), biker flicks, James Bond by way of Austin Powers, sci-fi, horror, and chunks of Russ Meyer's "Faster Pussycat--Kill! Kill!" along with shades of other kickass action movies. As a loving homage to bad-but-beautiful babes who fight, shoot guns, talk tough, and generally kick ass while managing to be gorgeous at the same time, BITCH SLAP is off the dial. There's more cool stuff in this movie than a six-month subscription to "Girls 'n' Guns." It's like everything ever shown on Spike TV crammed into two hours. 

 

The DVD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is 2.35:1 widescreen and English 5.1 Dolby Digital, with English and Spanish subtitles. There are two fun and informative commentary tracks, one from producers Jacobson, Gruendemann, and Peck, and the other featuring stars Cummings, Olivo, and Voth. There's also an excellent feature-length documentary called "Behind 'Bitch Slap': Building a Better B-Movie."

 

BITCH SLAP is the kind of film Larry Bishop was desperately trying to make when he made HELL RIDE. Some people will hate it, and if you're like them, you will, too. But if you're like me--heaven help you--you'll love it, and you'll think it's one of the best B-movies ever made.

 

 

BITCH SLAP -- DVD review by porfle

THE OUTER LIMITS: SEASON TWO -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/18/21

 

Currently watching: THE OUTER LIMITS: SEASON TWO (1964-65). This was one of the finest horror/sci-fi anthology series ever, produced by Leslie Stevens and "Psycho" screenplay author Joseph Stefano.

I remember watching these when I was a kid and more often than not being scared and/or profoundly intrigued by these mind-expanding episodes and their imaginative monsters.

Season two is said to be inferior to the first but so far I'm thoroughly enjoying it and finding that many of the episodes I remember most fondly come from this season. 

 

So far I've watched "Soldier", "Cold Hands, Warm Heart", "Behold Eck!", "Expanding Human", "Demon With A Glass Hand", "Cry of Silence", "Invisible Enemy", and "Wolf 359", with another old favorite "I, Robot" coming up next.

Sci-fi author Harlan Ellison wrote "Demon With A Glass Hand" and "Soldier", and won a settlement from James Cameron for the ideas Cameron lifted from them for his "Terminator" films. "Soldier" also greatly influenced the Kurt Russell movie of the same name.

Stories range from standard sci-fi (beleagured astronauts on Mars face an unseen killer in "The Invisible Enemy" with Adam West) to intense ethical crises (the intelligent robot on trial for murdering its creator in "I, Robot") to the just plain weird (Eddie Albert and June Havoc as a couple trapped in an isolated farmhouse by killer tumbleweeds in the horrific "Cry of Silence").

 

Lots of interesting actors pop up all over the place in these episodes (many would later appear on "Star Trek"). The special effects look a bit hokey at times but the technicians were working under the limitations of a rushed TV budget and, considering this, their work remains impressive, often frightening.

At its best, the show is both intellectually stimulating and nightmarish, the noirish black-and-white photography adding to its rich atmospheric quality. Even the lesser episodes are examples of a standard of television drama and production the likes of which have rarely been achieved.

THE OUTER LIMITS: SEASON TWO -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79 -- Movie Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 7/9/15

 

One of the most deliriously stupid movies you could ever hope to see, THE CONCORDE... AIRPORT '79 is the end of the runway for the celebrated "Airport" series.

It all began with Arthur Hailey's classic all-star thriller AIRPORT, and continued through the stupefyingly dumb AIRPORT '75 (the one where stewardess Karen Black flies the crippled plane) and the not-so-bad but still pretty dumb AIRPORT '77 (the one where the plane is underwater). 

This time there's not one but two dicey landings, and the plane is attacked over the Atlantic Ocean first by a guided missile and then by an enemy jet fighter--before finally being sabotaged.  It's almost like a "Road Runner" cartoon but without the good production values or wit.

George Kennedy, whose "Joe Patroni" character (the only one to appear in all four films) is now inexplicably a seasoned pilot, tries to divert the missile by opening a cockpit window and firing a flare gun at it while flying at mach 2.  In another great move, he manages to fire a second flare inside the cockpit, nearly messing up navigator David Warner's hair. 

Why, you ask, is someone firing missiles at the Concorde? Because evil capitalist Robert Wagner must cover up his crimes by murdering ace reporter and former girlfriend Susan Blakely, who's on board the plane.  See?  Told you it all made perfect sense.

There's horrible comedy relief with venerable comedienne Martha Raye in an embarrassing role as a passenger with a bladder control problem.  You'll probably find yourself wishing Jimmie Walker and Charo would just get sucked out of the plane.

Charo gets feature billing for a single scene where she tries to smuggle her chihuahua on board.  ("Please don't miscon-screw me," she tells the stewardess.)  Jazz musician Walker keeps getting high in the bathroom (and tripping over Martha Raye) while fondling his saxophone and acting "stoned."  

Meanwhile, Mercedes McCambridge is elsewhere wondering how she went from James Dean to John Davidson.  Cicely Tyson looks equally perplexed as she nervously guards a human heart in an ice chest (don't ask).

Avery Schreiber is on hand to cuten things up as a doting Russian papa with an adorable daughter who's deaf and dumb.  They're always signing cute things to each other.  Too bad she didn't know the sign for "Help! I'm trapped in the world's dumbest movie."

But fear not, because there's a tender George Kennedy sex scene to make up for it, for all you George Kennedy fans who couldn't wait to see him doing some bare-shouldered spit-swapping with Bibi Andersson.

The romance continues with Alain Delon and Sylvia Kristel as a co-pilot and head stewardess trying to keep it together in more ways than one.  And as a big-time airline exec who doesn't really mind getting sucked halfway out of a hole in the plane, Eddie Albert has somehow managed to end up with Sybil Danning.   

Special effects are worse than in any of the previous films, with the Concorde sometimes resembling a dangling Hallmark ornament.  We get to see several shots of the screaming passenger-extras being rolled around in a tube-shaped mockup of the plane's interior like socks in a dryer.  Most of the model work would make Gerry Anderson sick to his stomach.

Best of all, though, is the scene where villain Robert Wagner watches a news report of the plane's progress on a TV which is nothing more than a glass-covered hole in the wall with the newscaster/actor sitting behind it! 

It looks so stupid, it's almost surreal--which might as well be THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79's tagline.  Thank goodness Ed Begley, Jr. makes a ten-second cameo appearance near the end to bring us back to reality.

Original trailer

THE CONCORDE...AIRPORT '79 -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE BEATLES: MADE ON MERSEYSIDE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/12/19

 

Writer-director Alan Byron (BILLY FURY: THE SOUND OF FURY, PUNK '76) opens his 2018 documentary THE BEATLES: MADE ON MERSEYSIDE (Film Classics) with the familiar strains of "Twist and Shout." But it's the Isley Brothers version we hear, not the Beatles' celebrated cover.

This is typical of the entire film, which features not one note of actual Beatles' music (much as the documentary JIMI HENDRIX: THE GUITAR HERO had no actual Hendrix songs save for a public domain version of "Hey, Joe") and not that many images or film clips. It's a bit like making a documentary about the Apollo space program and not including any footage of the first moon landing. 

What compensation there is consists of ample interview footage of people either directly or indirectly involved with the Beatles during their five-year rise from obscurity to stardom, including their tour manager, a business associate of Brian Epstein, Epstein's secretary, and Pete Best's brother.

Best of all (pun intended), the Beatles' initial drummer Pete Best is on hand to offer his quiet, thoughtful reminiscences from a very first-hand point of view, and it's his segments that are the most welcome ray of sunshine in the whole presentation.

What makes it most worth watching, in fact, is finding out at the end that he's enjoying a happy life, both personally and professionally, including ample compensation for "The Beatles Anthology" and a new band which makes terrific music (I've heard them--they're really good).

There are also a couple of original members of the Quarrymen giving us their equally first-hand accounts of what went down on and offstage when John, Paul, and the rest were whooping it up at the Kaiserkeller and Star Club in Hamburg or electrifying local Liverpool kids at the Cavern and Casbah clubs.

Mona Best herself turns up in old footage with son Pete, which is of interest.  And last but certainly not least, Cynthia Lennon appears briefly a few times to share her own intimately personal perspective.

Most of the other interviewees relate familiar stories while the few film clips of the Beatles are augmented by lots of B-roll footage of Liverpool and Hamburg and various locations where the Beatles lived or performed.

When we're told the old story of how young Paul and John acquired American rock and roll records from sailors down at the docks, we're shown a lengthy montage of freighters unloading their cargo at those docks.

Say they liked Elvis and we see a minute or two of Elvis performing; say they covered "Long Tall Sally" and we hear Little Richard singing it. Snatches of other songs later covered by the Beatles turn up in their original form as well.

The Beatles, it turns out, are in the periphery of their own documentary. There are some nice clips of Ringo near the end, talking about joining the band, being in the hospital, etc.  But again, no actual Beatle music.  The effect is ultimately a bit dull and, needless to say, disappointing.

The DVD from Film Movement is in 1.78:1 widescreen with 2.0 stereo sound. No subtitles or extras.

If THE BEATLES: MADE ON MERSEYSIDE were chosen to be enclosed in a time capsule, future archeologists would learn the usual pre-fame history of the group, and get brief samples of their images and speaking voices, but would have no idea what their legendary music sounded like.



Pre-order the DVD from Film Movement

Release date: 8/20/19

THE BEATLES: MADE ON MERSEYSIDE -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE APPLEGATE TREASURE -- Serial Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 8/26/21

 

Currently watching: THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE APPLEGATE TREASURE (1956), a 19-part serial produced by Disney to be shown in daily installments (approx. 11 minutes each) during consecutive episodes of "The Mickey Mouse Club."

This adaptation of Leslie McFarlane's book "The Hardy Boys: The Tower Treasure" should appeal to fans of the Hardy Boys detective stories by Franklin W. Dixon (a pen name for a stable of largely uncredited writers hired by the Stratemeyer Syndicate publishing company), which debuted in 1927 and remained popular for several decades.

Those who are nostalgic for the kind of clean, wholesome family entertainment created by Disney in the 50s and 60s should also derive great satisfaction from this modest but appealing preteen-oriented serial, filmed mostly on elaborately-rendered soundstage sets depicting the Hardys' entire neighborhood, the Applegate estate, and other Bayport locations.

 

It's just the sort of thing to feed into the adventure fantasies of young boys of the era: Frank and Joe Hardy, sons of famous private detective Fenton Hardy, live in the picket-fence suburbs of the small, mostly quiet town of Bayport, but yearn to be detectives like their father and join him in solving mysteries.

But their father, who's often away from home because of his job, doesn't approve of such dangerous doings, and neither does their spinster Aunt Gertrude, who lives with them and keeps a tight rein on the boys.

Despite this, however, Frank and Joe manage to sneak away from the house often enough to get involved in the mystery of eccentric old Silas Applegate and the fortune in pirate gold that's said to be hidden somewhere on his property, perhaps even behind the wall of a crumbling old tower that looms over his estate, and is sought after by a range of unsavory types.

 

 

In order to appeal to young viewers of "The Mickey Mouse Club", Frank and Joe are a year or so younger here than in the books, their ages ranging from about 12-14. The older Frank is played by Tim Considine, already popular from Disney's "Spin and Marty" series, and the role of younger, more impetuous Joe is the official debut of new Disney star Tommy Kirk, whose considerable acting skills are apparent in his often intense and frenetic performance.

Frank and Joe are typical, identifiable boys for that era, with their flattop haircuts, T-shirts, jeans with the cuffs rolled up, and sneakers--ideal role models to stimulate the vivid imaginations and wish fulfillment fantasies of Disney's young audience.

For female viewers, there's the Hardys' friend Iola Morton, who has a desperate crush on the girl-hating Joe and manages to get herself involved in all the boys' adventures.  Iola is brought to vivid life by the cute-as-a-button Carole Ann Campbell, who had a regrettably brief film and TV career before losing interest in Hollywood and moving on. 

 

Fenton Hardy's character is somewhat changed from the books. To me, he was always a distinguished, quietly dependable and capable Hugh Beaumont type. Here, Russ Conway brings him to the screen as a rather frumpy, almost seedy private detective who lacks empathy with his boys and fails to realize their potential as his successors until it is demonstrated to him.

Oddly, the TV show omits Mrs. Hardy and gives us their Aunt Gertrude (Sarah Selby) as a sort of surrogate mother, considerably softening her literary image as a nagging harridan (I always pictured her as a stern Edna Mae Oliver type). This was done with the belief that it was more acceptable for the boys to disobey their aunt than their mother when sneaking out to pursue their detective work.

The story itself takes its own sweet time unfolding over the series' 19 chapters, as the Hardys deal with crotchety old Mr. Applegate (Florenz Ames), his burly caretaker and plumber Jackley (Robert Foulk), wrongly-accused reform school refugee Perry Robinson (Donald McDonald), and slippery, mischievous ex-convict Boles (Arthur Shields, brother of actor Barry Fitzgerald who appeared with him in John Ford's THE QUIET MAN).

 

Boles may have knowledge of the treasure's whereabouts, Jackley may be crookeder than he seems, cutlass-wielding old Applegate is possibly quite mad, and the whole affair stretches out in unremarkable but quite pleasant fashion until finally Frank and Joe cut through the murky mystery with their burgeoning detective skills and solve the whole thing in a moodily-photographed final chapter that puts them in a modest amount of actual danger.

I don't know if today's kids would have the patience, the desire, or even the ability to get carried along by this kind of low-key, unsensationalistic entertainment. I hope they do, lest they miss something that's actually quite rare and wonderful in its own way. For me, "The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" is sweet, soulful nostalgia in its purest and most potent form.

 

THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE APPLEGATE TREASURE -- Serial Review by Porfle

PREDATORS -- DVD review by porfle

Originally posted on 10/23/10
 

 

Not the adrenaline-charged action blowout I was expecting, PREDATORS (2010) is still a reasonably exciting and, for the most part, absorbing monster flick.

Things get off to a dynamic start as mercenary soldier Royce (Adrien Brody) wakes up to find himself in the middle of a harrowing freefall through the clouds.  His chute opens just in time but he still goes crashing perilously through the ceiling of a dense jungle below before finally thudding into the turf.  Before long he discovers he's not the only one, as more confused people keep popping up and wondering where the hell they are and how they got there.

Curiously, they all seem to be adept at killing, either for business or pleasure.  Along with soldiers Isabelle (Alice Braga), Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), and Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), there's drug cartel executioner Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), a Yakuza named Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), and a flaky rapist-murderer from Death Row named Stans (Walter Goggins).  The odd man out is seemingly mild-mannered doctor Edwin (Topher Grace), who, like the others, was abducted in a flash of white light.

They may be in the dark as to what's going on, but most of us viewers are well aware that these hapless individuals are the latest prey for big, vicious aliens known as Predators, who hunt and kill for sport.  As we wait for them to appear, the humans, with Royce taking the lead, trudge through the jungle toward higher ground and eventually realize that they're on another planet.  The game now afoot, they're soon tracked down by a pack of doglike creatures in a lively attack sequence that's pretty nicely CGI-rendered.
 

 

Some of the characters start dying off before we get to know them at all, while the rest remain sketchy and enigmatic.  Royce, who cultivates a cold ruthlessness in order to survive, gives Adrien Brody a welcome chance to not be a wuss for a change.  Isabelle (played by Sonia Braga's niece Alice) and Nikolai are patriots who kill efficiently for their country yet retain their humanity--Nikolai proudly displays a photo of his kids at one point, while Isabelle refuses to leave a wounded Edwin behind. 

Cowardly blowhard Stans reminds me a little of Bill Paxton's "Hudson" from ALIENS, until he starts fantasizing about getting coked up and going on a raping spree when he gets back to Earth.  A surprising new character introduced late in the film (I won't go into any details) provides the story with its strangest and most interesting interlude.  The dialogue is serviceable but nobody is given anything very memorable to say, including the sort of pithy one-liners Arnold spouted in the first film. 

KNB EFX Group, Inc. provide the excellent makeup effects which we get to see in loving close-up.  The "original" Predator, we discover, was a little feller compared to the bigger, badder species introduced here, and it turns out there's a blood feud between them which becomes important to the plot later on.  I still prefer the original-style Predator to the jazzed-up new version, and it's a little disconcerting to see him diminished in comparison.
 

 

Highlights include a clash of swords between Predator and Yakuza, an inter-species Predator showdown, and a final clash between the baddest Predator and the most resourceful human.  But while there are several action setpieces and some thrilling stunts here and there, viewers expecting a monsters-versus-humans free-for-all along the lines of ALIENS will probably be disappointed.  The breakneck pace of that film is also missing here, as the story moves rather leisurely between action scenes and never really maintains much momentum.  Still, PREDATORS remains fairly absorbing throughout. 

The DVD from 20th-Century Fox is in 2.35:1 widescreen with soundtracks in English Dolby 5.1 and Spanish and French Dolby 2.0.  Subtitles are in English, Spanish, and French.  Extras include a chummy commentary track with director Nimrod Antal and producer Robert Rodriguez, a look at the film's location shooting in Hawaii and Texas, three short motion comics, the theatrical trailer, and several trailers from other 20th-Century Fox releases. 

Good performances, top-notch makeup effects, and high-gloss production values keep this somewhat lackluster screenplay moving along well enough.  But Nimrod Antal, while certainly a capable director, doesn't have that Robert Rodriguez touch, and PREDATORS comes off as an entertaining but unremarkable sci-fi/monster flick with a direct-to-video vibe.


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PREDATORS -- DVD review by porfle