HICKOK -- Movie Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 6/26/17

 

HICKOK (Cinedigm, 2017) is one of a current breed of modestly produced, low-key, but solid westerns that are just as entertaining as anything if you set your expectations accordingly. 

I've grown quite fond of their simplicity, their often beautiful photography, their museum-quality Old West settings (things look brand new, but back then, for a while anyway, they were), and their earnest effort to give fans of the traditional western what the big studios rarely offer these days.  

What's more, this easy-to-take saga of "Wild Bill" Hickok's younger days as outlaw-turned-lawman delivers the goods in a most satisfying way whenever it's time to clear leather and start blasting.

 

Luke Hemsworth (THE ANOMALY, "Westworld") stars as the young Civil War veteran making his way through the post-war west, as valor on the battlefield translates into a knack for survival in peacetime.  This often necessitates straddling the line of the law and sometimes ending up on the wrong side of it.

Bill is cocky and arrogant but only kills when he has to, a quality that helps land him a job as marshall of a lawless town when the mayor (Kris Kristofferson, nowadays ably portraying wise old souls) sees the good in him. 

This doesn't stop Bill from extorting protection money from the quietly dangerous saloon owner Phil Poe (Trace Adkins), whose wife Mattie (Cameron Richardson, OPEN WATER 2: ADRIFT) turns out to be an old and way-too-close acquaintance.  (Which, unsurprisingly, will end up causing some very unfortunate complications.) 

 

While engaging enough on their own, HICKOK's plot development and dialogue are frequently punctuated by welcome bursts of lead-slinging action that are excitingly staged and pack just the right kind of wallop.

What triggers the main conflict here is Hickok's decision to install one of those highly unpopular bans on guns within city limits, driving customers away from Poe's saloon and hotel. 

Relations between the two deteriorate to the point where coldblooded killer John Wesley Hardin (Kaiwi Lyman-Mersereau, TRADED) is enlisted to eliminate the problem, resulting in one of the film's most surprising and suspenseful twists.

Hemsworth plays the lead role lightly at first--his "Wild Bill" has a mischievous streak and isn't nearly as full of himself as many western heroes tend to be--yet his character gains increasing gravitas as the story progresses.  Physically, he's just right as someone who can take care of himself in a situation requiring fists and/or guns as well as wits.

 

His softer side is demonstrated during a heartfelt scene in which he relates a tall tale of his own derring-do for Mattie's son after he's been shot in the leg, while the Doc (the venerable Bruce Dern adding his considerable presence to the proceedings) digs the bullet out.  Scenes such as this contribute to Hickok's evolution into a serious, thoughtful man with a sincere desire to set things right.

As his nemesis Poe, Trace Adkins (TRADED, STAGECOACH: THE TEXAS JACK STORY, DEEPWATER HORIZON) once again proves an imposing presence well-suited for this sort of robust, old-fashioned western.  Tall, brawny, and possessing a voice like the lower registers of a pipe organ, Adkins ably conveys his character's dark, slowburn anger that will eventually erupt into violence.

Playing fast and loose with the facts--but in the most fun ways--HICKOK harkens back to a time when westerns were populated by actors who actually looked like, and often were, the kind of real men they were portraying.  And when it's time for them to stop talking and start shooting, you can almost smell the gunsmoke.


Opens Theatrically July 7 in Top Markets Including Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas
Also Available On Demand & Digital HD

Read our original coverage

Watch the Trailer:

HICKOK -- Movie Review by Porfle

STAGECOACH (1986) -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 6/16/2016

 

First things first: John Ford's 1939 production of STAGECOACH is a timeless classic that will likely never be surpassed, and any remake pales in comparison.

That said, I'd also like to add that the 1986 made-for-TV version of STAGECOACH (Olive Films, Blu-ray and DVD) is, despite my initial misgivings and skepticism, a terrific albeit modest Western in its own right.

The story of a disparate group of people traveling by stage through dangerous Apache country is basically the same, but done differently enough to reward our interest.  Not only are the individual stories of these characters engaging, but the ever-present threat of attack by Geronimo and his warriors builds up to an exciting action sequence in the film's latter half that pays off really well, leading then to the climactic shootout in Lordsburg.

One source of skepticism on my part was the overt stunt casting.  Country-western singers abound, especially those of the "outlaw" variety--Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny and June Carter Cash, and Waylon Jennings play major roles, while Billy Swan, David Allan Coe, and Jesse Colter can also be seen here and there.  What's surprising is that they're all such naturally good actors.  I mean, really good.

A taciturn Kristofferson stands in for John Wayne as the Ringo Kid, a wrongly-convicted prison escapee on his way to Lordsburg to confront the men who murdered his brother. Johnny Cash is Marshal Curly Wilcox, out to capture both men. 

Jennings is gentleman gambler Hatfield, gruff but smooth, who assumes a protective role regarding the pregnant wife (Mary Crosby as Mrs. Mallory) of a cavalry officer stationed near Lordsburg.  Each is not only fully convincing in his role, but, in fact, outstanding.

One interesting difference from the original film is that the character of Doc Josiah Boone, played in 1939 by Thomas Mitchell, has been replaced by none other than Doc Holliday himself.  Willie Nelson fits comfortably into the role, with nary a hint of "novelty" value in his casting.  This inclusion of Holliday as one of the passengers is inspired.

Elsewhere in the cast, "Dukes of Hazzard" co-star John Schneider actually manages to look grizzled as coach driver Buck.  Tony Franciosa (TENEBRE, A FACE IN THE CROWD) does his nervous act as Gatewood, the embezzing banker on the lam, and celebrated oddball Anthony Newley puts in a brief but marvelous appearance as tipsy whiskey salesman Trevor Peacock. 

As fallen woman Dallas who will eventually warm up to Ringo, Elizabeth Ashley puts her broad acting skills to good use.  Merritt Butrick (STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN) and Western legend Lash La Rue are also on hand.

While dazzled by such an eclectic yet effective cast, I also found the screenplay by James Lee Barrett (who also wrote the screenplays for THE GREEN BERETS, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, and THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD) to be consistenty engaging from start to finish, with plenty of sharp dialogue.

Production values are above-average for a TV movie.  In fact, I often felt as though I was watching a feature film despite the occasional fadeout for a commercial. Direction is capably handled by old pro Ted Post, who also helmed such memorable films as MAGNUM FORCE, HANG 'EM HIGH, BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, and THE BABY.

The DVD from Olive Films is in the original 1.33:1 full screen with stereo sound.  Subtitles are in English.  No extras.   

If one lowers expectations just enough to accept a remake of a John Ford classic on its own terms, then this version of STAGECOACH should easily rise to meet them.  As an avid Western fan, it's the kind of Western I love to make an acquaintance with and then get to know better with each repeat viewing.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

Release date: June 21, 2016

STAGECOACH (1986) -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1977) -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 8/27/2017

 

I like it when a movie I was totally unimpressed with on first viewing turns out to be much better upon later reappraisal.  If that second viewing comes forty years later, all the better.

I saw THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (Olive Films) when it was released in 1977 and found it rather pedestrian and even sub-par.  Now it seems almost classic in stature somehow--the adaptation seems good although I've not read the original H.G. Wells novel in several decades, the performances, production values, and makeup are fine, and the direction by Don Taylor, a prolific TV director whose screen credits include RIDE THE WILD SURF, EVERYTHING'S DUCKY, and ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, is nowhere near as artless as I first believed.  (The lighting in the interiors is exquisite.)

In fact, Taylor establishes a strong mood from the first moments shipwrecked sailor Braddock (Michael York) finds himself on the secluded island of Dr. Moreau (Burt Lancaster).  Moreau's compound, including a plantation house that seemed to have been dropped right in the middle of the jungle, is like an oasis of strained civility surrounded by a beast-filled jungle that could be a manifestation of his own dark id.

Braddock becomes enchanted by the beautiful Maria (Barbara Carrera), an exotic woman Moreau's gruff foreman Montgomery (Nigel Davenport) describes as belonging to the doctor although she shows a marked interest in young Braddock.  But it's the doctor's strange experiments that Braddock soon comes to dread--a twisted perversion of scientific endeavor involving the artificial evolution of wild animals into horrific animal/human hybrids, or "humanimals."

These creatures are what place the film into classic "monster movie" territory, a menagerie of fascinating beasts courtesy of 70s makeup masters John Chambers and Tom Burman.  They include the great Richard Basehart as "The Lawgiver", who keeps Moreau's strict commandments against killing or eating flesh but becomes confused when he sees Moreau himself break them, which leads to the film's fiery animal vs. humans revolt.

Lancaster plays Moreau with quiet authority, sans the usual villainy, resulting in an interestingly conflicted character. York gets to emote to his heart's content and is especially good when Moreau makes him the unwilling subject in an experiment on human-to-animal regression.  Nigel Davenport is fine as the gruff foreman who may be on Braddock's side, as is Barbara Carrera in a role seemingly tailor-made for her.  

The DVD from Olive Films is in 1.85:1 widescreen with mono sound and optional English subtitles.  Extras include a commentary by paranormal author Jeff Belanger and horror host Dr. Dreck, a trailer, and an essay by Gorman Beauchamp entitled "The Island of Dr. Moreau as Theological Grotesque."  (This can also be found in the disc's illustrated booklet.)

I can't compare this with the Charles Laughton original since I haven't seen it for many years, but on its own, 1977's THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU is a terrific monster flick that mixes interesting philosophical ideas with some perversely delightful elements of the grotesque.



Buy it at Olive Films

THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1977) -- DVD Review by Porfle

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

“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

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

VAMPIRE ECSTASY/ SIN YOU SINNERS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 10/13/2016

 

"VAMPIRE ECSTASY"

Joe Sarno was one of those exploitation directors who was talented enough so that his films often transcended their rather sordid genres.  With VAMPIRE ECSTASY (aka "The Devil's Plaything, 1973), he made a Gothic horror film whose graphic eroticism perversely enhances its genuine mood and atmosphere.

Sarno's producer, Chris D. Nebe, had access to a castle in Germany which serves as an ideal location for both exteriors and interiors and increases the film's production values immeasurably. 

The cinematography takes excellent advantage of these locations.  Some shots, in fact, are suitable for framing, as when three primly-dressed women in black silhouette await a carriage's arrival at the gates of the castle early on.

Some visuals have a surreal, dreamlike quality, others a formal composition that's subtle but effective.  Rembrandt lighting against stark shadowy backgrounds results in a number of striking close-ups.

The story begins similarly to DRACULA, with a group of strangers arriving at the castle only to find it and its inhabitants strangely disturbing.  In this case, a trio of young women have come for the reading of a will left by the castle's mysterious Baroness. 

Greeting them in stern fashion is the head housekeeper, Frau Wanda (Nadia Henkowa), a severe woman whose sly smile hides sinister secrets.  We already know a few of them from the witchy pre-titles sequence, in which she and the other four women of her staff cavort naked in the castle's dungeon and engage in mutual, shall we say, "ecstasy."

Also arriving at the castle are two stranded motorists, brother and sister Julia and Peter Malenkow (Anke Syring, Nico Wolf).  Julia is a doctor studying the local mountain-folk superstitions, and will later become the film's Van Helsing equivalent when her knowledge of vampirism and the will to fight against it prove crucial. 

Peter, on the other hand, will become sexually entangled with one of the young heiresses, Helga (Marie Forså), further involving himself and his sister in the evil events to come--namely, the reincarnation of the vampiric Baroness in the form of one of the young women. 

As for the film's sexual content, there are several lesbian encounters (the loft in the barn proves a popular spot for a roll in the hay) as well as those between Peter and Helga, whose libido is increasing uncontrollably under the influence of Frau Wanda and her minions.  There's even a hint of incest in the relationship between Julia and Peter.

No X-rated action takes place (Sarno's first hardcore film, SLEEPYHEAD with Georgina Spelvin, would be made the same year) but what there is rates a pretty "hard" R.  And if you enjoy female nudity in itself there's quite a pleasing variety to be seen throughout.

As in another of his films I got to review some years ago, CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, Sarno is able to integrate the sex scenes into the plot well enough so that they don't stand out like a sore thumb or bring the story to a halt.  They're employed to good effect--tastefully, one might even say--and never as padding. Most of the time they barely even seem gratuitous.

Performances are uniformly good, with Nadia Henkowa's Frau Wanda the unchallenged center of attention as we're waiting for the impending reincarnation of the Baroness.  She's marvelous, reminding me of a theatrical cross between Martin Landau and Theda Bara, with a slyly expressive face that skirts the edges of overacting without ever going over.  Prim and straightlaced in her black housekeeper's outfit and tightly-wound hair (all the women on her staff dress this way), her transitions from matronly to wantonly gorgeous are stunning. 

Sarno's script is somber, never campy--intentionally or otherwise--all the way to its somewhat abrupt ending (which Sarno seems to favor).  In look and mood it's as though a Hammer production and a Jess Franco film met halfway to a screening of Roman Polanski's DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES (aka "The Fearess Vampire Killers") and decided to spend the weekend together. 

The surprising thing for me is the degree to which this is a genuine, sincerely-wrought horror film, and not simply sexploitation with horror elements.  As a sort of female DRACULA reimagining, it more than carries its own weight alongside many of the mainstream vampire tales I've seen.

----------------------

"SIN YOU SINNERS"

The second film on the disc is a fervid and wonderfully lurid 73 minutes of sleazertainment entitled SIN YOU SINNERS.  It was released in the pre-nudity era of 1963 when naughty movies relied more on shock value and pure, unadulterated sleaze to titillate adult audiences. 

We get plenty of that here in the form of an over-the-hill stripper named Bobbi (June Colbourne) who, inexplicably, keeps wowing her male audiences in the dive where she works even though she looks like she should be playing somebody's psycho-mom on "Leave It to Beaver."
 

Not only that, but she keeps a studly young gigolo named Dave (Derek Murcott) at home, where he indulges her with wet, sloppy kisses whenever she feels randy.  (Murcott reminds me of porn actor Eric Edwards, who would co-star in Sarno's CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE.) Bobbi's spinster daughter Julie (Dian Lloyd) also lives with them and reluctantly helps in Bobbi's illegal fortune-telling scam that she has on the side. 

Why men still lust after her, and why Dave and Julie stick around despite her being a spiteful, narcissistic old bag, is revealed when we discover the truth behind the strange amulet Bobbi obtained in Haiti and alway wears.  When the secret of the amulet is revealed, everyone including various prostitutes and other acquaintances from the club start plotting to get it away from her, with betrayal and death as the result.

June Colbourne is a hoot as super-sleazy Bobbi, impressive whether chewing the scenery like a female Edward G. Robinson or delivering the soliloquy in which she describes her mystical experience in Haiti with evocative intensity.

Equally good is Dian Lloyd's sensitive performance as Julie, a lonely, fearful girl yearning for love from both abusive strangers she meets in coffee shops and also from her mother's live-in lover Dave.  Lloyd is fine in the role and helps make the film as watchable as it is.  The rest of the cast are, for the most part, unpolished but enthusiastic.

Direction is credited to Anthony Farrar--it's his only IMDb credit, with Sarno listed as an uncredited co-director.  The film is competently and sometimes even stylishly directed, with good use of the extremely low budget and shoddy sets.  The editing is a bit iffy at times.

In addition to simple pulp exploitation, Sarno's script is an engaging character study steeped in lowlife desperation.  The stark, shadowy black-and-white photography is ideal for such a dreary and often nightmarish world, and so is the fact that the battered, ravaged print used here--apparently the best one available--seems to be on its last legs.

It's as though the film has been rescued from the junk heap with moments to spare, its images clinging desperately to the celluloid, and we're lucky to have what's left despite its many flaws including constant scratches and several alarming jump-cuts where scenes have been pieced back together. 

Since I grew up watching films in this condition, both in theaters and on the late show, I find it wonderfully nostalgic and even strangely comforting to be able to enjoy a film with old-fashioned imperfections.

Many modern viewers may find SIN YOU SINNERS a difficult film to sit through due to these factors alone, while others, hopefully, will appreciate its genuine "grindhouse" appeal.  The best thing about it, in any case, is that it's just so endearingly, life-affirmingly sleazy.

EXTRAS:

The Blu-ray disc from Film Movement Classics comes with an attractively illustrated booklet containing an essay by author/critic/film historian Tim Lucas.  Both features (2K digital restoration) are in 1.78:1 widescreen with stereo sound. No subtitles.  In addition to trailers for both films, extras include a commentary track for VAMPIRE ECSTASY by producer Chris Nebe and two informative interview featurettes, one with Joe Sarno and one with both Sarno and Nebe.

Film Movement Official Website

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

Street date: October 25, 2016

VAMPIRE ECSTASY/ SIN YOU SINNERS -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

MANKILLERS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 Originally posted 9/14/2016

 

In 1984, Sybil Danning led a group of female merceneries called THE PANTHER SQUAD, and in '86 a bevy of Las Vegas showgirls went commando as the HELL SQUAD.  It was as though SCTV's Johnny LaRue (John Candy) had become a real person producing his own special brand of cheap exploitation flicks combining improbable action with generous amounts of T & A.

The pinnacle of this wonderful little distaff genre, in my opinion, is the 1987 anti-epic MANKILLERS.  Not only does it have a cast that includes Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, "Mannix" co-star Gail Fisher, and eternal starlet Edy Williams of Russ Meyer fame--as well as beautiful HELL SQUAD star Bainbridge Scott and Andy Sidaris regular Julie K. Smith--but it also has the most kickass babes and badass bad guys (if you use your imagination a bit) as well as waves of exquisite unintentional hilarity.

Pretty blonde Lynda Aldon is intense as Rachael McKenna, a top government agent whose partner and boyfriend Mickland (William Zipp) betrayed her and left her for dead to become a South American drug kingpin. Years later, Rachael is offered the chance to put together her own commando squad to go down there and clean out Mickand's operation.



Rachael heads straight for Supermodel Prison and chooses an all-female attack force made up of hardened criminals in a sequence that blatantly borrows from THE DIRTY DOZEN, complete with a rebellious "Victor Franco" type in the form of sassy Maria Rosetti (Christine Lunde), who we just know will eventually get with the program and start being all heroic and stuff.  But not before she tries to escape from the training camp and is forcibly restrained by two of her cohorts, who pull the old "she slipped on a bar of soap" routine with Sergeant Edy.

After we get to watch these uncoordinated big-haired bimbos jiggling through their accelerated training program for awhile, it's time to hit the jungle trail where they engage in the first gunfight with Mickland's men.  This consists of Rachael's girls posing cutely behind trees and firing off hundreds of rounds while the guys stand around like idiots waiting for their squibs to go off.  Rachael and Maria get in some cool hand-to-hand contact as well, and of course there's the obligatory kick to the groin here and there.

Meanwhile, Mickland's back at his compound doing dastardly stuff like raping and killing his female captives for fun while taking care of drug and sex-slavery business, which also involves killing people and generally being all scowly and evil.  When he hears about his men being wiped out by a bunch of women, he takes matters into his own hands and leads a counterattack in which he and "Kookie" manage to capture Rachael.

With their leader in the hands of the bad guys, the now-repentant Maria gives the rest of the Mankillers a stirring pep talk and they invade the compound, using their feminine wiles to seduce and then overcome Mickland's men.  This leads to a low-budget free-for-all with lots of gunfire and even some small-scale explosions, and finally a showdown between Rachael and Mickland in which he proves harder to kill than Chucky. 

Several moments stand out during the film, such as the scene in which Rachael can't sleep and gets up to enjoy a cool bottle of brand-name seltzer water which she displays for the camera in a comically blatant case of product placement.  In another memorable moment, one of the Mankillers comes on to Edd Byrnes' vile "Jack" character before pulling a knife and giving him an impromptu vasectomy that will have male viewers crossing their legs.  And then there's the dialogue, which includes this deathless exchange:

MICKLAND: "Well, if it ain't Rachael McKenna.  After all these years I thought you were dead."
RACHAEL: "I'll bet you did."
MICKLAND: "This time...you're gonna die."
RACHAEL: "No...YOU are."

The budget is so low that the Mankillers' training camp and Mickland's compound appear to be virtually the same set, consisting of nothing more than a small array of corrugated tin sheds.  This is par for the course, however, when we learn that the writer-director of MANKILLERS is none other than David A. Prior (KILLER WORKOUT, DEADLY PREY), who gave us the early shot-on-video classic SLEDGEHAMMER (1983) and was used to creating something out of nothing.

The DVD from Martini Entertainment and Slasher Films (a division of Olive Films) has an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is window-boxed.  Apparently the best available copy of the film for transfer is in PAL Beta SP format, which gives it quite an appropriate 80s videotape ambience that will stoke feelings of nostalgia in many viewers.  There are even the usual videotape imperfections in the picture here and there. 

The Blu-ray/DVD covers continue this theme by resembling videotape boxes right down to the "Action" label and "Please Be Kind--Rewind" tags. In addition to the trailer, a photo gallery also emphasizes the film's home video origins. 

Whether you rented it when it first hit video stores way back when or happened to catch the edited version on "USA Up All Night", this is your chance to enjoy MANKILLERS again in all its sleazy, cheezy glory.  Sure, it's junk--but it's a good junk. 

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

Buy it at OliveFilms.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

NOTE: Stills shown are not taken from the DVD.

MANKILLERS -- DVD Review by Porfle

DEAD KIDS (aka STRANGE BEHAVIOR) -- Blu-ray/DVD review by porfle

 Originally posted 2/05/14

 

I can't explain exactly why I like this movie so much.  But it struck me in just the right way the first time I saw it on Cinemax back in the 80s (under the title STRANGE BEHAVIOR) and I've regarded it fondly ever since.

DEAD KIDS (1981), as it's known on DVD, is a low-budget independent film that was made in New Zealand (which doubles for smalltown Illinois) at the height of the slasher-film craze, but there's more to it than just waiting for the next gory kill.  Along with a pretty sweet cast (veterans Michael Murphy, Louise Fletcher, Fiona Lewis, Scott Brady, Arthur Dignam, and Charles Lane, along with likable youngsters Dan Shor, Dey Young, and Marc McClure) the film takes ample time establishing a bucolic smalltown ambience and introducing us to some characters that we get to know and don't mind spending a little time with.  That way, we're actually concerned when bad things start happening to them.

Shor ("Ram" in the original TRON), whom I've always liked for some reason, is a typical teen named Pete Brady whose dad John (Murphy) is the town's "top cop."  SUPERMAN's Marc McClure plays an even quirkier nerd here as poodle-perky school chum Oliver, who tells Pete that he can earn some extra money as a guinea pig for a local research lab run by primly sexy Dr. Parkinson (Fiona Lewis, THE FURY, LISZTOMANIA). 

Pete feels like a million dollars after the lady doctor first gives him some kind of magic pill, but their second session (one of the film's most harrowing sequences) is another thing entirely--I'm talking strapped down, hypo in the eyeball, pissing blood, falling face-first into somebody's pizza territory here.

But the real horror that gives DEAD KIDS the sort of subtle creepiness that sneaks up on you is the fact that the young people of the town are suddenly starting to kill each other in gruesome ways for no apparent reason whatsoever.  The film opens with such a murder as a young man played by co-scripter Bill Condon (who would later write and direct such films as DREAMGIRLS and GODS AND MONSTERS) gets stalked and stabbed in his own shadow-strewn house while the power is off. 

Director Michael Laughlin (STRANGE INVADERS) shows us his schizo style right of the bat by skillfully establishing an effectively chilling situation and then diluting it when the actual murder is awkwardly staged.  Time and again for the rest of the film Laughlin continues to show real talent as a director and then undermines himself by allowing certain scenes to come out kind of half-baked. 

Still, the good stuff is solid, and even some of the lesser passages get by on a sort of lanky charm.  You can't go wrong by giving Murphy's police chief character a male secretary played by the delightfully cranky Charles Lane, and the way a rumpled Scott Brady (as a state cop sent to aid in the murder investigation) just wanders into the movie during a slow scene and starts regaling Murphy and Lane with stories  of his most gruesome crime scenes is some kind of wonderful.

In order to get the most out of it, you meet this kind of film halfway or not at all.  The rewards--a creepy shot here and there, some suspense, a bit of shocking gore (makeup-effects man Craig Reardon's rushed efforts pay off more often than not), a neat plot twist--keep it all delectably compelling.

There's a party scene that seems to be straight out of 80s teen-movie central (at one point a roomful of dancers actually look choreographed) and is so unabashedly cheesy that I can't help but enjoy it.  This leads to another murder sequence--featuring Elizabeth Cheshire who played the cute little girl in AIRPORT '77-- with Laughlin's patented style of mixing the good, the bad, and the lackluster to come up with something all his own. 

Louise Fletcher, after her Oscar-winning turn as the loathesome Nurse Ratched in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, gets to let her hair down here as a warm-hearted good ol' gal helping John Brady get over his widowerhood.  (The only drawback is that she isn't in the movie nearly enough.)  Murphy (MANHATTAN, MASH) is his usual easygoing self until his character is reminded of his late wife, who died mysteriously while working for the equally mysterious, also-dead Dr. LaSange (Arthur Dignam) at the research lab now run by LaSange's assistant Dr. Parkinson. 

See how it all ties together?  Strange experiments, kids murdering each other, an evil villain reaching out from beyond the grave, and the cold but somehow perversely sexy Fiona Lewis making me feel all tingly in bad ways.  Oh yeah, and in the "cannot be unseen" department, Dan Shor's butt.  What's up with that?  ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL's cute Dey Young shows up as Dan's new girlfriend to help us recover from that sight, but it's too little too late.

What really stays in the mind after watching DEAD KIDS--besides its effectively ominous score by Tangerine Dream--is the exquisitely staged sequence in which matronly housekeeper Mrs. Haskell (Beryl Te Wiata) enters a client's home one night and stumbles into a situation which, thanks to Michael Laughlin hitting all the right notes for a change, is teasingly suspenseful, effectively gruesome, and genuinely, deliciously scary in ways that wouldn't even occur to the usual FRIDAY THE 13TH clone. 

Ditto for the film's nail-biting climactic sequence, which, aside from a tank-sized plothole which I've been trying to figure out for the past thirty years, builds to just short of Cronenberg-level intensity as father and son Bradys fall victim to the heinous evil that infests their formerly horror-free existence.  There's even a twist that I'd forgotten about, so it came as a surprise to me yet again.

The Blu-ray/DVD combo from Severin Films is in 2.35 :1 widescreen with English mono sound.  No subtitles.  Extras include a dry commentary from director Laughlin, a much livelier one featuring co-writer Condon along with stars Shor and Young, an isolated Tangerine Dream musical score, U.S. and international trailers, and a newly-shot interview with makeup-effects artist Craig Reardon.  Running time is 99 minutes.

Why do I like DEAD KIDS (aka STRANGE BEHAVIOR) enough to keep getting that good old-fashioned horror movie vibe from it after all these years, when so many other fright flicks of its era don't even rate a rewatch?  I don't know.  There's just something about the ambience Laughlin manages to create that does something for me.   Strange, huh?

Buy the Blu-ray/DVD combo at Amazon.com

DEAD KIDS (aka STRANGE BEHAVIOR) -- Blu-ray/DVD review by porfle

ZAAT -- Blu-Ray/DVD Review by Porfle

 (Originally posted in 2012)

If the idea of being attacked by a giant walking catfish has ever given you sleepless nights, you may not be able to handle ZAAT (aka "Blood Waters of Dr. Z"), a 1972 indy horror flick made on a shoestring in and around Jacksonville, Florida.  But if thoughts of catfish simply make you hungry, and you don't have anything more exciting to do for the next hour and a half, then this good-natured, pleasantly boring little fish story should go down pretty easy.

The film opens with stock footage of various predatory fish as we hear mad scientist Dr. Leopold (Marshall Grauer) chuckling to himself about his scheme to take over the universe by creating catfish people.  Like a poor man's Vincent Price, he gloats:  "They'll have fish a size they've never seen before...walking fish!  Heh, heh...they'll like human flesh."

After the exciting main titles sequence, which shows the doctor slowly making his way from the ocean shore to his laboratory in the basement of an abandoned building, we see his decades-long experiments reach fruition when he injects himself with a special formula--"Z, sub a, and A, sub t"--and climbs into a water tank.  (The sight of him removing his shirt and pants is probably the most horrifying thing in the entire picture.)  What emerges from the tank is Zaat, an eight-foot-tall human catfish. 

Played by 6'8" actor Wade Popwell in a suit which consists of mounds of painted silicon over a scuba outfit and an oversized monster head, Zaat then begins his reign of terror by swimming around in Silver Springs (where Tarzan and the Creature From the Black Lagoon once frolicked) spraying radioactive waste out of a squirt bottle.  The color photography of the monster moving about these crystal-clear waters is actually quite nice. 

Director Don Barton stages a pretty cool attack sequence when Zaat stumbles upon one of the scientists who once ridiculed his experiments, overturning his fishing boat and killing him and his family.  Later, he kidnaps a woman camper (Nancy Lien, who looks terrific in a yellow bikini) and unsuccessfully tries to turn her into his catfish bride.  These and a few other acts of violence fail to generate much fear--Zaat is such a goofy-looking and clumsy creature (Popwell couldn't see too well in that big monster head and frequently stumbles over things as he galumphs around just trying not to fall over) that my main reaction was to feel sorry for him.

Meanwhile, the typical "comical redneck sheriff", Sheriff Krantz (Paul Galloway) and a young marine biologist named Rex (Gerald Kruse) are checking out some watery fauna when two agents show up from INPIT (Inter-Nations Phenomenon Investigations Team) just in time to get in on the monster action.  Blonde cutie Sanna Ringhaver and studly hero-type Dave Dickerson supply the film's cursory romantic element as the mismatched foursome try to track down Zaat before he can kill again.

While we may laugh at much of ZAAT's dumber dialogue and visuals, at least it's an earnest attempt to be a real monster movie and doesn't poke fun at itself with a lot of coy self-awareness.  The film's only deliberate humor comes from Sheriff Krantz and his gangly deputy, especially in a curious sequence in which the sheriff, Pied Piper-like, leads a ragtag group of hippie Jesus freaks down the street to jail (for safety from the monster) as one of them croons an earbending folk song (he inflicts the titles tune upon us as well). 

Even Zaat himself is only the second funniest thing about the movie.  The hands-down funniest has to be the sight of actual walking catfish flopping around on a miniature set that makes THE GIANT GILA MONSTER look like JURASSIC PARK. That aside, the notion of Barbie and Ken INPIT agents on the "weird science" beat in their specially-equipped RV is pretty comical in itself.

Technically, the film has little to be ashamed of for such a low-budget effort.  Direction and editing are well-done, while the photography and lighting, especially in the nighttime and underwater scenes, look pretty good for a drive-in flick that just turned forty.  None of the actors do an outstanding job (although Galloway is pretty good) but they're not really too awful, either.  With the abduction by Zaat of the female INPIT agent for the purpose of turning her into his mate, the story builds to a surprisingly somber finish that shows some imagination. 

The 2-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Film Chest's Cultra and HD Cinema Classics labels is in 16x9 widescreen and standard Dolby audio.  Spanish subtitles only.  Extras consist of a genial cast and crew commentary, outtakes, trailer and TV spots, a before-and-after restoration demo, and a radio interview with Ed Tucker and Wade Popwell.

As with other "so bad it's good" cheapies, your reaction to ZAAT will depend entirely upon whether or not you decide to like it.  Some will find it unwatchable, while others have already embraced it as a beloved cult film.  Although actual excitement and suspense are non-existent, I found it so pleasant to watch in its own easygoing way that it rarely becomes painfully boring.  But it really did make me hungry for some catfish.  


Buy the Blu-Ray/DVD combo at Amazon.com

ZAAT -- Blu-Ray/DVD Review by Porfle

LISZTOMANIA -- Movie Review by Porfle

With one of the dumbest taglines of all time ("It out-TOMMY's TOMMY!"), this movie is a mass of calculated stupidity candy-coated with rampant extravagance.

Vulgar and witless, randomly surreal, utterly tasteless, and lacking any of the visual and musical charm of the film that it supposedly outdoes at its own game, LISZTOMANIA (1975) is a movie that seems determined to be "so bad it's good" without even trying to be good first.

With TOMMY, Ken Russell had Pete Townsend's compelling rock opera upon which to hang his glossy visual musings.  Here, all he has is the music of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner channelled through a beer-addled Rick Wakeman at his worst and bastardized into some of the most pointless, rinky-dink rock songs imaginable.

Not to mention an incomprehensible storyline that features Liszt (Roger Daltrey) as a sex-crazed 19th-century rock star, Fiona Lewis as his long-suffering wife Marie, Sara Kestelman as his mistress, Princess Carolyn (who, in a fantasy sequence, is a Satanic dominatrix riding Liszt's giant, erect member like a bucking bronco before severing it in a guillotine), keyboard whiz Rick Wakeman as Thor, and TOMMY's "Cousin Kevin" himself, Paul Nicholas, as anti-Semitic political anarchist Richard Wagner, who steals Liszt's musical talent by literally sucking his blood like a vampire and then steals Liszt's daughter Cosima (Veronica Quilligan) away for his wife.    

Russell seems to have come to the conclusion that TOMMY was a surefire formula for getting stoners to come back to the theater over and over just to sit and go "wow" at goofy visuals mixed with rock music.  But there's a limit even to that dubious brand of entertainment, and LISZTOMANIA is it.

Now for the weird part--I was one of those gullible dopes who saw LISZTOMANIA two or three times on the big screen back in '75.  I had the soundtrack album on 8-track.  Not only that, but when I got my first VCR in 1981, it was one of the first movies I ever bought on videotape. 

And that was back when movies on videotape were, like, really expensive.  (I still have it, tucked snugly inside its special oversized cardboard container from Warner Home Video.)

Why? Because I love kitsch, and LISZTOMANIA is industrial-strength kitsch that's so utterly, irredeemably bad that it achieves a whole new level of horrible wonderfulness.

It's an all-out assault on art, on music, on film itself, and on our very senses.  And for all its badness, it doesn't even have the decency to be unwatchable even when Roger Daltry stops singing and starts talking.  In fact, I find it impossible not to revel in its absurd awfulness even as I'm repelled by it.

I don't know that much about the real lives of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, but I'm pretty sure Wagner didn't rise from the dead as a Nazi Frankenstein terrorizing WWII-era Europe with a machine-gun guitar, and that Liszt didn't pilot a woman-powered spaceship from Heaven with which to dive bomb Wagnerstein into oblivion. And I kinda doubt that the current Pope looked and sounded like Ringo Starr.

LISZTOMANIA, however, shows us exactly what it would've looked like if these things and more had actually happened, as interpreted by the fevered imagination of Ken Russell at his most dangerously unhinged.  And watching it is like taking a strange drug that gets you high and makes you sick at the same time.

LISZTOMANIA -- Movie Review by Porfle