How a Pandemic Stole Christmas
I talk to theater owners almost every day. I cannot imagine the stress and the level of anxiety they are experiencing. This morning I was reminiscing on how excited I got regarding the upcoming Christmas releases. In 1985 movies like…
Highway Dragnet (1954)
nteresting chase drama. That opening bar scene with Conte and Hughes is a tacky gem. Too bad Hughes disappears much too soon. And where else can you find two of Hollywood’s best cheap blondes, Hughes and Iris Adrian, in the…
Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
Frankenstein Unbound is one of those movies that is almost impossible to categorize. Part horror, part science fiction, part fantasy, and part comedy. And what is even more interesting is the cast of all stars. Roger Corman is able to…
Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It. (1970)
The late 60s/early 70s saw a handful of genuinely odd pseudo counter-culture movies released by American studios, including cult classics like ‘The Trip’, ‘Greetings’, ‘Psych-Out’, ‘Cult Of The Damned’, ‘Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls’, and ‘Zachariah’. Whether they were…
Sorority Girl (1957)
Susan Cabot stars as a spoiled rich college girl names Sabra. As an upperclassman she like to taunt and order about a fattish pledge named Ellie (Barbara Cowan), which irritates fellow student Rita (Barboura Morris). Sabra just seems to spread…
Bloody Mama (1970)
Some movies romanticize the life of crime, or make the criminals into sympathetic characters, but Roger Corman’s “Bloody Mama” goes in the opposite direction with its depiction of the Barker crime family of the 30’s and their ruthless murders, sadism,…
Eat My Dust (1976)
This is merely another one of those many 70s car-chase films. It’s fun & mindless and features some beautiful rural California locations. Plus, how can you go wrong with the likable Ron Howard? The film was a box-office success for…
Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare (1987)
Brothers and Sisters of Rock and Roll!! Hear my words!! Go forth and rent this masterpiece!! If you have no idea who John Thor is let me explain. He’s the inventor of Muscle-rock. He’s been around since the early seventies,…
The Lawless Land (1988)
Here’s yet another of those post-apocalyptic “thrillers” set in the near future following some sort of dreadful catastrophe. As usual this set-up is merely an excuse for producing a cheap movie which can use a series of backgrounds that are…
Death Screams (1982)
This film feels like someone took three or four more well known slasher flicks and tried to copy & paste scenes from each one to make one master film. The problem is the quality and acting is so sub par,…
Warriors of the Apocalypse (1985)
What is it with me and these cheapo 80’s movies that all revolve around the apocalypse? I seem to pick up another one every time I venture out to the market these days. Was Mad Max really that inspirational? Or…
Attack of the Kung Fu Girls (1973)
Director Lo Wei was obviously attempting to duplicate his success of “Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection)” but with a female heroine, as this film contains several situation elements and cast members similar to that earlier film, plus the same…
Spasmo (1974)
Umberto Lenzi is still playing the old school giallo hand here, which means less stabbing and more psychological games, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t found new ways of presenting it. He spends the first hour of the film plunging…
Voodoo Island (1957)
Carnivorous plants and zombies supply the chief menace for the principals in Voodoo Island… There’s no attempt at explaining how various mysterious things happen in the script, but the thriller gimmicks come off with Reginald LeBorg’s direction. Aubrey Schenck-Howard W….
The Magician (1973)
Young American woman, cycling through Spain without a lot of money, is prostituted out to a wealthy older man who is blind; she begins to spend time with him and eventually agrees to get married, but only so she can…
Priming The Pump Of Exhibition
There is always hope. My father always spoke of this, when the light was gone, and you were struggling in the dark night that we all face at one time or another, there is always hope. In this business of…
Inn of the Damned (1975)
The Syme home video publicity claims this film is in the tradition of a Hitchcock suspense thriller but it is played more as a spaghetti western with the typical opening hauntingly choral musical score, and sadly Terry Bourke’s direction is…
A Bay of Blood (1971)
Forget the overrated John Carpenter, the hack Wes Craven, and anyone who had anything to do with any Friday the 13th film, because THIS is the granddaddy of them all. Only a master like Mario Bava could both create AND…
Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)
This effectively creepy little Gothic horror tale is one of Hammer’s finest psychological-thrillers, and a valiant attempt to duplicate the success of American thrillers like “WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?” and “HUSH…, HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE” featuring aging, flamboyant female…
Fright Show (1985)
MPI Home Video issued this 1985 film to video in the 80s. Directed by Linda Laias and Damon Santostefano (and also known as FRIGHT SHOW), this is a funny compilation of lighthearted kids horror and sci-fi. The first segment (DR….