THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 10/27/2017

 

Clocking in at 59 minutes and originally released on a double bill with "The Phantom Speaks", Republic's 1945 horror-thriller THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST is a short-but-sweet foray into the supernatural that owes more to that studio's jungle features and serials than to the sort of dark Gothic chills you'd expect from a vampire tale.

The setting reminds me of Republic's serial PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO but with somewhat richer production values. (Olive Films' DVD of this beautifully-shot black-and-white film looks terrific.) A small village in darkest Africa is beset by a series of murders which, to the superstitious, appear to be the work of a vampire. 

Roy Hendrick (Charles Gordon of SWAMP FIRE, here bearing some resemblance to Buster Crabbe), soon to marry his sweetheart Julie (Peggy Stewart, THE RUNAWAYS, BOBBIE JO AND THE OUTLAW), is having trouble keeping native workers on his rubber plantation as more of them flee the bloodsucking menace.

Julie's father, Dr. Vance (Emmett Vogan, THE MUMMY'S TOMB, THE MUMMY'S GHOST), is, in fact, baffled by the great loss of blood from the victims, which also has the local priest, Father Gilchrist (Grant Withers, FORT APACHE, RIO GRANDE), keeping a crucifix within reach at all times. 

The only local who doesn't seem overly concerned is cucumber-cool club owner, Webb Fallon (John Abbott, perhaps best known to TV fans from Star Trek: "Errand of Mercy" and The Man From UNCLE: "The Birds and the Bees Affair"), whose star attraction is an alluring dancer played by Adele Mara (SANDS OF IWO JIMA).  Fallon's luck on his own gambling tables is almost supernatural in itself, raising the ire of ship captain Jim Barrett (prolific Western actor Roy Barcroft) who accuses him of cheating. 

Barrett attacks him, but one piercing stare from the mysterious Fallon causes the man to back off in fear.  It isn't long before we're pretty sure Fallon is the vampire, a suspicion soon borne out when Roy comes under the mysterious man's mental control.  After that, the ailing Roy seems powerless to stop Fallon as the centuries-old vampire sets his sights on none other than Julie herself as his undead bride.

Gordon and Stewart play the typical romantic couple from a million adventure yarns, but Abbott's interpretation of the bloodsucking fiend of ancient lore is about as low-key and restrained as one could imagine.  In fact, even when he's exercising his insidious mind control over helpless victims or revealing his sinister intentions for the hapless Julie, Fallon barely ruffles a thread of his tailored suit or a hair on his neatly-clipped head. 

He doesn't even sleep in a coffin--a small box of native soil underneath his pillow suffices--and is capable of withstanding daylight in small doses.  And what with the constant native drums in the background (local tribes keep each other informed on local vampiric goings-on) and other familiar tropes of the jungle adventure--safaris, native carriers, huts, spears--the emphasis of the rather literate screenplay by Leigh Brackett (STAR WARS V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) is more upon characterization and a measured suspense than eliciting nightmares.  

Which, indeed, is the modest appeal of THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST, a "horror" tale that feels like an extended serial chapter in which the cliffhangers consist of quietly suspenseful moments rather than action thrills.  (It was helmed by prolific Western director Lesley Selander, responsible for several of the better "Hopalong Cassidy" entries.)  Even the climactic showdown between humans and vampire in a remote jungle temple is a pleasantly told diversion meant simply to entertain us, which it does. 

Order it from Olive Films

Subtitles: English (optional)
Video: 1.33:1 aspect ratio; B&W
Runtime: 59 minutes
Extras: none
Year: 1945

@OliveFilms
https://www.facebook.com/olivefilms/

THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST -- DVD Review by Porfle

CHARLIE STEEL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/12/18

 

If you've been searching for a bland, ultra-low-budget imitation of '70s blaxploitation flicks that comes off like somebody's student film, the 1984 South African thriller CHARLIE STEEL (Indiepix Films) is the pot of bad-film fun at the end of your rainbow.

Charlie (Sol Rachilo), a poor man's poor man's Shaft, is a private dick who's called into action by a rich friend whose daughter Dudu (Sonto Mazibuko) has just been kidnapped by a gang of bad guys led by the Boss (Thapelo Mofokeng) and is being held for ransom in their secluded hideout. 

As a super-cool action hero, Steel leaves much to be desired, but part of his charm is the way this lanky, hangdog dude in a baggy suit and tiny Fedora, who looks like he's been around the block a few too many times, schleps around town looking for leads before stumbling into trouble and getting himself captured two or three times. 

Meanwhile, as the incompetent bad guys endlessly play poker around the kitchen table and take turns guarding Dudu, we find that one of them, Tony (Charles Joloza), has a crush on her and may turn out to be an ally, while another, Jimmy (Davis Diphoko), is a former military compadre of Charlie's whose seething animosity toward him will ruin the private eye's attempt to infiltrate the gang.

This is one of many low-budget films made in South Africa for black audiences during apartheid, when their access to mainstream films was prohibited, and subsequently rediscovered and restored as part of Indiepix Films' "Retro Afrika" series.  As such, it's a fascinating example of really indy filmmaking that tries to make something entertaining with severely limited resources and manages to succeed in spite of itself. 

In this case, the fun is in watching writer-director Bevis Parsons and his cast of earnest but unpolished actors put together a semi-watchable detective thriller that is endearing in its badness, filling it with tough-guy dialogue, limp action scenes, and a simple, repetitive plot that plays like a feature version of a grade Z serial.

After playing private eye for awhile, Charlie gets serious and goes into military attack mode, trading his rumpled suit for black cat-burglar attire and launching a one-man seige on the bad guys' backwoods HQ. 

Naturally he gets captured again, but that merely sets up the mildly exciting finale in which he and the Boss face off against each other one on one.  Along the way super-suave Charlie even finds time to meet a comely lass and give her his address so that they can meet for dinner the next evening. 

Technically, the film is a bit more competent that some of these apartheid-era films I've seen, but that's not saying a whole lot.  Still, for bad film fans, that's exactly what gives movies like CHARLIE STEEL their irresistible charm, something this one is steeped in.  And with expectations thus adjusted, one almost can't help having a good time watching it.


http://www.indiepixfilms.com
https://retroafrika.com/

Tech Specs
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR 
Studio: Indiepix Films
3:2, Color, Stereo
DVD Release Date: December 18, 2018
Run Time: 87 minutes
Extras: Trailer

CHARLIE STEEL -- DVD Review by Porfle

PASTOR PAUL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 3/8/18

 

In case you didn't know (I didn't), "Nollywood" refers to the Nigerian film industry, with PASTOR PAUL (2015) being the first American-Nollywood co-production. 

That's not what really matters, though--the important thing is that it's a well-done film that's involving, intriguing, and not a little bit mystifying.

Director and co-writer Jules David Bartkowski plays Benjamin, a Caucasian who's in West Africa to study the mathematical properties of the local drum rhythms. 

Benjamin's slight of build, mild-mannered and very unassuming, and, most of all, extremely impressionable and easily led.  That's how he ends up being talked into appearing in an independent film that's in need of a white actor.

The shoot, however, takes a dark turn when Benjamin, playing a ghost in what turns out to be a weird adaptation of "Hamlet", suffers a bizarre seizure after being repeatedly harassed by a bullying director. 

His new actor aquaintance Kubolor (Wanlov Kubolor) says he shows signs of being possessed by a malevolent spirit and should immediately seek help from a sort of witch doctor.

The rest of the story shows Benjamin bouncing between various influences, some grimly repeating Kubolor's advice while others sternly warn against it, while still attempting to pursue his studies in drum-rhythm mathematics in a neighboring village. 

There, a night of drum-beating revelry draws him into an even more intense seizure that leaves him so distraught that he wastes no time seeking out the witch doctor's help--which, unsurprisingly, draws him even deeper into fear and confusion.

But even with all this going on, the main appeal of PASTOR PAUL for me is simply taking in all the sights, sounds, and cultural eccentricities of the film's setting, a medium-sized West African city that's just brimming with local color in which Benjamin is the quintessential "fish out of water."

While playing his character with a disarming innocence, Bartkowski directs with a part documentary, part art-film style that looks crisp and eye-pleasing even when filming scenes of squalor and/or supernatural rituals that leave the viewer in a state of discomforted unease.  The score is an interesting sort of angular African jazz.

For a Westerner such as myself, Benjamin is the mundane element while all else is exotic and appealingly different (except the food, which I found anything but appealing).  To an African, the opposite would probably be true. 

This gives the film a constant feeling of newness and discovery that's rather refreshing until, of course, Benjamin's gradual crossing over into the dark side of this alien world steers things toward a strangeness that's increasingly nightmarish.

The DVD from IndiePix Films has a 1.78:1 ratio with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound and English subtitles (due to some very heavy accents and dialect).  Bonuses include a behind-the-scenes short, two music performances (including Bartowski's own rendition of "I Put a Spell On You"), and a teaser trailer.

PASTOR PAUL (the title refers to Benjamin's character in the fictional film he appears in) seems more involving, both visually and intellectually, than a film this modest has a right to be.  The ominous ending sneaks up on us and may seem a bit abrupt at first, but that just gives us something to keep thinking about when the credits start to role.

PASTOR PAUL -- DVD Review by Porfle

RICH GIRL -- DVD Review by Porfle

Anyone who's read my other reviews of IndiePix's "Retro Afrika" series knows how much I enjoy these modestly-produced (to say the least), wildly amateurish attempts at filmmaking which, in their earnest but inept efforts to entertain, can't help but warm my heart with "so bad it's good" goodness.

Tonie van der Merwe's RICH GIRL (1990) is no exception.  The director who gave us ISIBOSHWA and FISHY STONES is back with another tale starring Innocent "Popo" Gumede (ISIBOSHWA, HOSTAGE, FISHY STONES, UMBANGO) as a bodyguard hired to protect a headstrong rich girl named Charlotte (Lungi Mdlala) and Hector Methanda (THE COMEDIANS, UMBANGO, FISHY STONES, GONE CRAZY) as the leader of a bumbling pair of kidnappers who want to abduct Charlotte and demand a hefty ransom from her money-bags papa.

As you'll recall, these films were produced for black audiences (in a South Africa where apartheid prevented them access to mainstream cinemas) and are now being rescued and restored.  "Popo" Gumede plays his usual handsome leading man type here as he does in several such films, while the undisputed clown prince of "Retro Afrika" cinema, Hector Methanda, continues to be the most entertaining thing about any film he's in whenever he's on the screen.

The production values are predictably rock-bottom as are the technical skills of all involved (save for a fairly good cast).  It's as though people who'd never seen a motion picture before were given filmmaking equipment and told to make movies. 

Adding to this is a score consisting mainly of a backdrop of generic disco/funk music plunking away during almost every scene. The results of all this are, for me, deliciously entertaining in their own uniquely special sort of way. 

Lungi Mdlala's Charlotte is the typical spoiled rich girl who chafes at the constant presence of her hired watchdog.  When she isn't lounging around a drab-looking pool (which seems to be filled with swamp water) in a frumpy robe, she's milling about in an art gallery in an interminable scene (which features one of the few white actors to appear in these movies) before deciding to purchase their entire stock.

During one of her tirades against him, Popo suddenly professes his love for her in an explosive, almost violent manner that's borderline hilarious. It's at this moment that Methanda enters the picture with gun drawn and abducts them both, taking them to a secluded cottage along with his accomplice.

Whatever stretches of boredom there might've been up till this point disappear when Hector Methanda hits the screen.  Whether wielding his gun with a gap-toothed grin, relishing his dominance over his captives, or browbeating his peabrained partner, Methanda always seems to be having a ball chewing the scenery and apparently ad-libbing much of his dialogue in order to make his character more interesting and funny. 

Once Popo escapes the room where he and Charlotte have been imprisoned and takes on his two captors, director Tonie van der Merwe actually manages to generate some suspense. 

An outdoor gunfight between Popo and Hector utilizes much slow-motion and, surprisingly, some actual squibs in a scene so archly done that it almost looks like something out of "Police Squad!"  Things get wrapped up in satisfactory fashion at the end, and the short-and-sweet action tale (less than 70 minutes) coasts to a pleasant halt.

As usual, I have to add a disclaimer to my review of this "Retro Afrika" title: if you don't love bad movies, and require a certain level of technical sophistication in your viewing fare that must be maintained, then this movie is not for you. But if you do love bad movies--and I mean "bad" in an entertaining, earnest, and ultimately endearing way--then RICH GIRL is heartily recommended. 


Buy it at Amazon.com

Buy it at IndiePix

TECH SPECS:
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Rated: Not Rated
Studio: Indiepix Films
DVD Release Date: March 12, 2019
Run Time: 70 minutes
Bonus: Trailer

RICH GIRL -- DVD Review by Porfle

REVENGE -- DVD Review by Porfle

During apartheid, hundreds of South African films were produced for black audiences who didn't have access to mainstream entertainment.  Many of them are now lost, but several are now being rediscovered and preserved, including this 1985 western, REVENGE.

The story is about as simple as it gets: a young couple and their son come to a small town where they've purchased a farm, but encounter a gang of sadistic gunslingers.  Descending upon the tiny farm, the outlaws rape and murder the wife, beat the young boy, and set fire to the house.

The man, Shala, vows revenge and is aided by an old ex-gunslinger, who teaches him how to shoot while the boy, Kitso, recovers from his injuries.  When he's finally ready, Shala straps on the old man's guns, borrows his horse, and goes into town to confront his enemies.

Just as the recently-reviewed UMBANGO (also part of Indiepix's "Retro Afrika" series), this South African "western" with an all-black cast is a captivating novelty where elements of both the American West and Italian spaghetti westerns are combined in a rural African setting to create a sort of low-rent fantasy world.

With its scaled-down western town consisting of a few small wooden shacks, none-too-convincing costumes (the cowboy hats look like the kind I wore as a kid), and small cast of non-professional actors, there's an "amateur night at the movies" ambience to REVENGE that's transcended by the filmmakers' earnest efforts to concoct a modestly compelling entertainment with the meager resources at hand.

To this end, the film is a pleasant diversion whose makeshift qualities add to its watchable charm.  It's fun to see director Coenie Dippenaar staging little homages to scenes from more expensive westerns, and giving us his versions of the standard saloon brawls and gunfights as well as the traditional bad guys vs. farmers conflict that sparks our hero's singleminded quest for revenge.

As it plays out, the finale is as low-key and simple as the rest of the story, but somehow satisfying nonetheless.  On the whole, this is a familiar throwback not just to 60s and 70s western cinema but to the matinee oaters of the 30s and 40s as well, albeit with an almost non-existent budget and distinctly anachronistic setting.

All of which adds up, for me anyway, to an irresistible curiosity piece. REVENGE isn't like anything else, and that, despite its shortcomings, makes it a pleasantly unique experience.


Buy it from Indiepix Films (DVD, digital, streaming)

Tech Specs
Actors: Roy Dlamini, Vusi Gudazi, Alex Ngubane
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: Zulu with English subtitles
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR 
Studio: Indiepix Films
3:2, Color, Stereo
DVD Release Date: December 18, 2018
Run Time: 54 minutes
Extras: Trailer

REVENGE -- DVD Review by Porfle

FISHY STONES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Here's another of the South African apartheid-era films, made for black audiences, which are now being rescued from oblivion, restored, and released by IndiePix Films. 

As with the others I've recently seen, FISHY STONES (1990) is a low-budget affair that falls squarely into the category of films that I enjoy because they show filmmakers with severely limited resources doing their best to come up with something entertaining.

Here, it's director Tonie van der Merwe (UMBANGO, OPERATION HIT SQUAD) again, concocting a modest comedy/drama about two diamond thieves (Popo Gumede and Hector Mathanda of UMBANGO as "Robert" and "Makhosi") who must toss their bag of "fishy stones" out the window during a police chase in hopes of returning later to recover it. 

The diamonds are later discovered by David and Alex, two teenage boys on a camping trip.  When Robert and Makhosi escape from jail and return to find their diamonds missing, they descend upon the hapless young boys with threats and intimidation.  The rest of the film is a back-and-forth conflict between the two good guys and two bad guys with the missing diamonds in the balance.

Tonie van der Merwe's direction is passable and occasionally imaginative as it was in UMBANGO. The film even opens with a nifty car chase between the two diamond thieves and the local cops, with some well-rendered "poor man's process" shots.

The rest of the story takes place almost entirely in economical outdoor locations, mainly the forest where the two boys stumble across the bag of diamonds while camping out.

Diamond thieves Robert and Makhosi are, respectively, the handsome brains of the duo and its extremely low-I.Q. comic relief.  As Makhosi, the manic, gap-toothed Hector Mathanda (who also plays a mad bomber in GONE CRAZY) ably conveys a sort of sublime idiocy that helps turn most of their scenes together into amusing comedy routines even when they're at their most desperate.

While spying on David and Alex's camp, it's funny to listen to the two crooks argue about who's going to watch which boy (Makhosi claims that since he has smaller eyes, he can see the skinny boy better and thus Robert should keep watch on the fat one). 

They also fight over whose diamonds they are ("My diamonds! Mine!" the childish, intellectually-challenged Makhosi keeps insisting), finally turning on each other and wrestling for their only gun.

After the action of the first act, FISHY STONES settles into a leisurely pace that doesn't generate all that much suspense but does keep us interested in how things will eventually turn out. 

Some will find the long stretches of dialogue and meandering bits of business boring, with David and Alex lying around their camp hashing over what they're going to do with the diamonds (most likely they'll turn them in to the police) as Robert and Makhosi argue endlessly and get on each other's nerves while lurking in the bushes.

As for me, I managed to settle into FISHY STONES' modest groove and enjoy it as a likably low-key and ultimately harmless adventure that goes down easy. 


TECH SPECS
Actors: Popo Gumede, Hector Mathanda, Mandla Ngoya
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: Zulu w/ English Subtitles
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR
Studio: Indiepix Films
Extras: Trailer

indiepix.com
gravelroadafrica.com
retroafrika.com

FISHY STONES -- DVD Review by Porfle

GONE CRAZY -- DVD Review by Porfle

Talk about obscure--I couldn't find any info about GONE CRAZY online, it isn't on IMDb, and even the press release from IndiePix Films lists its year as "1980s." (Amazon says "1980" and the DVD cover says "1983.") 

The castmembers who actually appear on IMDb have no credit in their filmographies that resembles it.  That alone gives this enigmatic effort a bit of lost-film mystique which adds to its interest.

It's an interest this movie can use, being a rather dull and unremarkable affair.  What makes it noteworthy is that it's part of a roster of South African films made during apartheid and shown to black audiences, films which have succumbed to neglect over the years but are now being digitally restored and released to modern-day audiences as part of IndiePix Films' "Retro Afrika Collection."

The story begins when a disgruntled former city employee named Vusi firebombs the mayor's house, then breaks into a scientific facility and steals a new "super bomb" with which he plans to blow up the nearby dam where he used to work, and flood the town in retaliation for having lost his job. 

The mayor calls in the town's chief inspector while a lady scientist, Professor Gumbi, hires a private investigator.  The two end up working together to track down Vusi and find the bomb before it can destroy the town and its inhabitants.  Vusi, meanwhile, kidnaps Professor Gumbi and leaves her tied up atop the dam as the minutes tick down to detonation.

This is very basic stuff--blandly directed, languidly paced, and repetitive (the same exposition and plot points get rehashed over and over while the good guys try to decide their next move).  Most of it is filmed in cramped indoor sets until finally, in the third act, a terrific found location is used as the town's dam.

It's here, late in the film, that things finally pick up and the good guys go into action to foil Vusi's twisted plot.  Director Tony Cunningham manages to generate some suspense at last, and the cast, particularly those portraying Vusi and Professor Gumbi, do their best to sell it.  

Visually, GONE CRAZY is sort of a spiritual cousin to those threadbare shot-on-video titles that started coming out in the 80s and 90s when anybody with a video camera could make movies (the works of J.R. Bookwalter come to mind), although being shot on actual film makes a big difference.  The print used here has been restored quite nicely. 

While many viewers may rightly avoid a film of this nature, I derive a good deal of fun and pleasure from watching such an effort in which the filmmakers have severely limited resources with which they do their best to turn out passable entertainment. 

In its own way, GONE CRAZY is sort of the cinematic equivalent of "primitive art"--earnestly done and, if watched in the right frame of mind, somewhat endearing.


TECH SPECS
Actors: Pepsi Mabizela, Fikile Majozi, Roy Dlamini
Format: Color, NTSC, 3:2, Stereo
Language: Zulu
Subtitles: English
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR
Studio: Indiepix Films
Run Time: 75 minutes
Extras: Trailer

indiepix.com
gravelroadafrica.com
retroafrika.com

GONE CRAZY -- DVD Review by Porfle

UMBANGO -- DVD Review by Porfle

Part of Indiepix Films' "Retro Afrika" collection, 1985's offbeat Western UMBANGO is one of hundreds of South African films produced for black audiences during apartheid, some of which are now being preserved for posterity. 

It's a fascinating novelty, seeing an all-black cast (save for one Caucasian gunfighter referred to as a "gringo") performing in this earnest homage to the classic American Western. 

Described by one reviewer as a "spaghetti western", I would liken it much more to the sort of B-movie oaters that filled double bills back in the 30s and 40s (at 68 minutes it's even the right length for this) and involved upstanding good guys vs. villainous bad guys with the fate of a small frontier town in the balance.

The good guys are ace horseman and gunfighter Jack and his buddy Owen, who dream of staking a claim to some prime real estate nearby and building their own ranch. 

Handsome Jack is in love with pretty young Molly, who owns her own small ranch.  Theirs is a troubled relationship since she loves him but objects to any show of physical violence even when circumstances force Jack to draw his gun in self-defense.

One of those circumstances is KK, a big, burly, ill-tempered cuss whose brother George now sits in prison because of Jack and Owen.  KK's first order of business after taking over the town is to start a gang of thugs headed by his unctious toady, Jake. 

Then he begins a program of intimidation aimed at the rest of the town, including its nervous sheriff, and moves inexorably toward a forced showdown with his two sworn enemies.

Labeled as being in "color", the film seems to have faded to a quite pleasing sepia tone, and the print used here is in fine condition.  The town setting looks rather makeshift but it's fun anyway, and all the signs ("Bank", "Sheriff", etc.) are in English even though everyone is speaking Zulu. The attempt to recreate the look and feel of an old-fashioned American Western is endearing.   

The capable cast get into their roles very well, and the direction by Tonie van der Merwe (FISHY STONES, OPERATION HIT SQUAD) ranges from amusingly amateurish to surprisingly stylish at times, with a lean, uncluttered storyline that moves along nicely toward the final gun battle between the forces of good and evil on the town's main street.

While this proves a satisfying resolution, the film is no more violent or complicated than an episode of a typical Western TV series from the 50s and 60s.  As such, it's a nostalgic throwback to such times for those who enjoy this kind of entertainment.

And the fact that this traditional Western town is populated solely by black Africans (not counting the "gringo" gunfighter) in roles usually played by white actors gives UMBANGO an incongruously fantastic touch which, for me, only added to this novel film's unusual sense of discovery and fun. 


www.indiepixfilms.com

Tech Specs
Actors: Popo Gumede, Hector Mathanda, Kay Magubane
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: Zulu with English subtitles
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR 
Studio: Indiepix Films
3:2, Color, Stereo
DVD Release Date: October 23, 2018
Run Time: 68 minutes
Extras: Trailer

UMBANGO -- DVD Review by Porfle