Week of Saturday, April 28 through Thursday May 3, 2007

Saturday, April 28, 2007
Monarch of the Moon - 2005

LOL! Parody of 40's serials (especially Commando Cody, which watchers of MST3K will appreciate). Full of fun reoccurring gags, like the girl getting conked on the head. This is a perfect parody, not missing a trick. It even includes the change between the ending of one episode and the beginning of the next that miraculously saves the hero.

Commentary features writer/director Richard Lowry and writer producer Chris Patton. $75K budget, a 14 day shoot, 1 week of pickups, and 14 months post production. LOL! Actors are also the dead bodies on the floor. So they appear twice in the same scene. Talk about double duty. Even the water is posted in with Maya. Excellent details about how to do things on the cheap.

Destination Mars! - not in IMDB

Excellent homage to 50's SF. Also a perfect clone of the world of Ed Wood. This could be a sequel to Plan 9 From Outer Space. And features the wonderful line "This one's more dead than the other one". And the flying saucer sound is stolen from Earth vs The Flying Saucers.

Commentary admits that this was supposed to be Plan 10, but couldn't get the rights. Also, this was made BEFORE Monarch of the Moon. On only a $5K budget. More excellent "low budget how to" stuff.

This is an excellent disc. Support intelligent parodies and buy this puppy.

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Godzilla Raids Again - 1955 aka Gigantis, The Fire Monster

First, I watched the English language version. And my immediate first impression is that some of this dialogue sure won't be in the Japanese version. My next question is "Why the hell are they calling Godzilla Gigantis? What is with the incessant monologue, telling me what I'm seeing? And why did they introduce the Japanese Three Stooges? And the ending is dumb. Bury him in an avalanche of ice? Couldn't he just fire blast his way out?

So now I watch the Japanese version, only to discover that this is VERY different. A completely different beginning, without the dumb monologue. In fact, watching the movie without the constant monologue shows just how pointless they are, and how stupid American audiences either are or are assumed to be.

Commentary of the American version features Steve Fyle and friends (no, I have no idea who he is). Lots of good historical data, and he talks about how the American version has the dumb monologues. The only other extra is The Art of Suit Acting, which has more historical info. These new releases of Godzilla movies sure are sweet!

Monday, April 30, 2007
The Black Cat - 1981

Lucio Fulci, director of such classic flicks as The Beyond and Zombi, brings us this tale of madness and Edgar Allen Poe craziness. And it's got Patrick McGee and David Warbeck. Some nice boobage (and it's been awhile). And it features Fulci's signature fascination with eyes. Half of this movie is closeups of Patrick McGee's and the cat's eyes.

Unfortunately, this movie is actually relatively dull. A disappointment, really.

Naked You Die - 1968 from Dark Sky

Directed by Antonio Margheriti listed as Anthony Dawson, who gave us Ark of the Sun God and Cannibal Apocalypse (1980). Hard coded subtitles, since the only soundtrack is Italian.

First off, why are there so many masculine looking women teaching at this school? And the colors and print are beautiful, but if anything, this is duller than Black Cat. Just Italian school girls talk, talk, talk talk talktalktalk.

When suddenly, Michael Rennie (Day The Earth Stood Still) appears. And in the end, my suspicions are correct about the teachers. So not even THAT clever.

Pass.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Moonlighting Wives - 1966

Classic Joe Sarno, the most erotic sexploitation director ever. But boy, are they dark. Some of the master tape for this film must have been in pretty bad shape. And not nearly as much nudity as some of his later work.

Extras include an interview with Joe Sarno, that was pretty interesting. Then there was a short Restoration documentary. And it's amazing. The side by side comparison will stupefy you. It's amazing how red the original was. This documentary was too short, though. There's also a Retro-Seduction Restoration documentary, which has lots of titles of other Sarno movies, plus more info about the restoration process.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The Acid Eaters - 1967 yet more SWV goodness

This print is gorgeous. Too bad the movie is so "WTF?!?" Guess it's supposed to be psychedelic. Sexploitation and a drug movie, it's two genre's in one! Whee!!!! And no wonder, look who the producer is. The mega-mighty monarch of exploitation, David F. Friedman. And Artie (Buck Kartalian as Buckie Buck) was The Kahn in Gymkata!

Weed - 1972

Documentary about grass. Kinda interesting, in a historical sort of way. But that's about it.

Two shorts included: LSD - Insight or Insanity. Stupid. The second was A Crutch For all Seasons. Laughable.

Thursday, May 3, 2007
Zombies Gone Wild - not listed in IMDB (always a bad sign)

Well, let's see, what's wrong with this movie
1) Dialogue is obviously half improv'd.
2) Shot on a camcorder
3) Juvenile humor
4) Blackface, but not as funny as Bonejack
5) When it's written and directed by initials only, you know your in trouble.

Pathetic. Twenty minutes in, and no zombies. Nothing but asinine humor. One hour in, STILL no zombies. "the pain, the pain".

Other extras include a Behind the Scenes, which is better than the movie, which is saying nothing. Also included are outtakes, with is funnier than the movie, again, saying nothing.

This is a true endurance test. Bad cinema professionals only. All others won't make it.

The Man and the Monster - 1959

Mexican horror. Featuring the guy who played the Baron in The Brainiac (Abel Salazar). Holy crap, according to IMDB, he was in 91 movies!

Lots of atmosphere, like the old Universal horror movies, which is typical for these "big budget" Mexican horror movies. Subtitles (no english), but no other extras at all.