The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
On a desolate island a man (Michael York) discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor (Burt Lancaster) , as he’s horrified to uncover experiment transforming…
American Pop (1981)
The story surrounds four generations of father and sons, the events in their lives painted across the backdrop of the evolution of music. The movie begins with a young boy and his mother fleeing the chaos in turn-of-the-century Russia, where…
Coonskin (1975)
“Coonskin” is film, by the one and only Ralph Bakshi, is reportedly a satirical indictment of blaxploitation films and negative black stereotypes, as well as a look at life black in modern America (modern for the day, I mean–1975). Paramount…
Mutant Aliens (2001)
The plot involves an astronaut who was trapped in orbit due to the nefarious scheming of the “Department of Space,” and who returns to earth with a small army of mutant aliens to exact his revenge. This is mainly an…
Heavy Traffic (1973)
Heavy Traffic is, like many of Ralph Bakshi’s films, a like it or hate it affair, but for those that respond to it, the film provides many a surprising attack on sensibility, decency, and what it means to get by…
Heavy Metal (1981)
Heavy Metal, the movie, is great encapsulation of Heavy Metal, the magazine. Heavy Metal was and is an anthology of the best of American and European comic writers and artists. It has carried the work of such masters as Moebius,…
Wizards (1977)
Ralph Bakshi set a new benchmark for animation movies with “The Deputy Dawg Show”. Visually both inventive and dazzling, whilst having a strong thematic thread, it still managed to kick ass, with energetic humor sequences. He continues in the same…
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux, the first African-American to produce a feature-length film (The Homesteader (1919) in 1919) and a sound feature-length film (The Exile (1931) in 1931), is not a major figure in American film just for these milestones, but because his…
God’s Step Children (1938)
Writer-director-producer Oscar Micheaux’s technical skills were equal to those of another triple-threat filmmaker, Edward D. Wood, Jr. But his films were popular with black audiences because, like his novels, they addressed racial issues — often color divisions within the black…
The Spotlight Shines on Chris Ray
The last several years have been extremely busy and productive for Chris Ray. Chris and Gerald Webb his partner at DeInstitutionalized, racked up awards at festivals for their 2014 film A House is Not a Home and currently they are…
Blood and Lace (1971)
After her prostitute mother and her john are beaten to death while they are asleep in bed, teen-aged Ellie Masters (Melody Patterson) is sent to an isolated orphanage run by Mrs. Deere (Gloria Grahame) and her handyman (Len Lesser). While…
Dead End Drive-In (1986)
Brian Trenchard-Smith is probably not a house-hold name even for B-movie fans, however, this Australian director has created among the wackiest and most original movies ever. While his work may not be of high quality (his two “Leprechaun” films are…
Mansion of the Doomed (1976)
“Mansion of the Doomed” is an obscure but good horror film, one which I managed to see in a theater when it was first released back in 1976. Strangely enough, the story about a surgeon descending into madness because he…
The Car (1977)
Some critics dismissed The Car as a Jaws on wheels, and it was also lost in the wake of Star Wars’ release pouncing any other films out at that time. The general audience was a bit befuddled by the more…
The Guardian (1990)
Moving to Los Angeles, newlyweds Phil, (Dwier Brown) and Kate Sterlin, (Carey Lowell) buy a huge mansion and settle in. Announcing she’s pregnant and later bringing home their newborn son, they eventually settle on Camilla Grandier, (Jenny Seagrove) to be…
The Nesting (1981)
As far as early ’80s haunted house movies go (there were quite a few, most likely thanks to the box office success of 1979’s THE AMITYVILLE HORROR), you could do worse. Neurotic mystery novelist Lauren Cochran (Robin Groves) is suffering…
Blood Hook (1986)
The 80’s were filled with tons of cheap, underground slashers following the craze of Friday the 13th and it’s many “clones”. But this fairly unknown low-budget movie may be the better of the “lost” slashers of the decade. In sleepy…
Boardinghouse (1982)
Inheriting a new mansion, psychic Jim Royce, (John Wintergate) decides to rent out the extra rooms to women in the area. Getting recipients in the form of Victoria, (Kalassu) Sandy, (Belma Kora) Suzie, (Tracy O’Brien) Cindy, (Mary McKinley) Gloria, (Rosane…
Combat Shock (1984)
This is further proof that the films Troma distributes are far better than the films they make themselves. Don’t be fooled by the cover depicting a “Rambo”-style bloodbath. This is a grim and harrowing portrait of a Vietnam vet’s hell….
Moonchild (1974)
Shot in 1971 as a student film under the title FULL MOON and given a brief theatrical release as THE MOON CHILD by Filmakers Limited in 1974, Alan Gadney’s sole directorial effort tells the story of a student (Mark Travis)…