Friday, May 23, 2008
SWV Double Feature
Revenge of the Virgins - 1959
Written by Peter La Roche aka Ed Wood Jr, you have here the very first nudie Western. Topless Indian women (many of whom look just a little too Anglo to be American Indians) attack prospectors. That's it. Amazing what titillated folks 50 years ago.
This movie was also directed by Peter Perry, who is actually Bethel Buckalew. This guy may be one of the great unsung heros of sexploitation. IMDB doesn't have a death date, so it's surprising that SWV hasn't gotten him for a commentary, considering how many of their movies he created. Sassy Sue, Pigkeeper's Daughter, and the very popular Dirty Mind of Young Sally are just a few. I counted 19 in his filmography that SWV has released.
Oh, and don't miss the world's worst real snake impression by a rubber snake. Hysterical.
The Ramrodder - 1969
Produced by the ever-popular David F. Friedman! Creepy to think that the guy who rapes the Indian maid, Bob Beausoleil, was actually a member of Manson's family, and would be arrested for murder later that same year.
This one is more your standard sexploitation flick, but with more plot than those that would follow. I enjoyed it, however. The boobage was very nice.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Pink Flamingos - 1972
You know, I've seen a lot of gross movies in my time; Necromantik, Cannibal Ferox, Anthropophagus, Salo, but this one has some scenes that may well take the cake. Of course, John Waters does that on purpose, to shock you into thinking. But still, the barking butt scene is tough to take. As well as the notorious final scene.
Commentary by director John Waters is excellent. I love his work and his commentaries because he is so honest and open. He's offensive, he knows it, and is cool with it. And you know what? So am I.
Alas, no other extras.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Evil - 2005 Greece
What we have here is the Greek's answer to 28 Days Later. There is an outstanding exploding head about 36 minutes in that's worth the price of the rental for all you gore hounds out there. In fact, there is gore galore here. It starts slow, but the battle in the restaurant is awesome!
Here too, there are no extras, and that's really too bad.
Boy Eats Girl - 2005 Ireland
God, I hate all of them. Teen, Irish angst. WAY too much. Second movie today with running zombies. It does have a clever way for the outbreak to start.
At first, I thought it was not nearly as gory as Evil. One hour in made me change my mind. There's a scene that's VERY reminiscent of the lawnmower scene in Dead Alive.
There's a short and pointless Making of that can easily be skipped.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Timber Falls - 2007
The first thing that struck me about this movie, early on, was 'ahhh, they're gonna have sex just to make sure that they die'. The second was, 'you know, I bet religious people and folks from West Virginia must HATE movies like this. They have enough problems with stereotypes as it is without movies re-emphasizing just how backwards they were/are. Guess they ought to do something about people's perception of themselves.'
Other extras include a behind the scenes, where we learn that it was shot in Romania. All I can do is ask, "Why?" I bet you could have shot it just as cheap with a small crew in West Virginia itself. Pretty soon, there aren't gonna be any movies made in the US at all. As it is, half seem make in Vancouver, and the other half in Romania.
The behind the scenes also reveals that the Producer Arnold Rifkin is an utter asshat. This is the first behind the scenes that I thought was too long. Not the first for me to think it wasn't very good.
Dr. Cyclops - 1940
Color - gorgeous
Story - almost believable
Characters - absolutely believable
And so, what ought to be a really dated movie turns out to be amazingly good, considering it's 68 years old. Hope I'm this good when I'm 68.
Cult of the Cobra - 1955
Newer, but in Black and White, and not nearly as good. It does have a bit part for Edward Platt, who would go on to be the chief in the TV series Get Smart. Of course, there's also David Janssen younger than I've ever seen him. And lastly, the guy playing Carl, Jack Kelly, will go on to play Lt. Jerry Farman (the wolf) in Forbidden Planet.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Untraceable - 2008
Sort of a high-tech Saw. And surprisingly the tech is believable. This was very nice, a little like Seven. And it was subtitled!
Commentary by director Gregory Hoblit, Producer Hawk Koch, and Production Designer Paul Eads. Interestingly enough, Hawk's first film is as an Assistant to the Producer on Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter! Bet he doesn't put THAT on his resume'. Commentary is pretty good, plenty of technical stuff. Like the movie, it's interesting, but long.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Drawn Together, Season Three - 2008
I LOVE this show. It is SO wrong. Alas, this was the last season, but they wrapped it up nicely. I am sad there will be no more, however. This show never fails to make me laugh.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tobor The Great - 1954
Well, that's a novel concept for a control system for a robot, telepathy. That was real advanced thinking in 1954. This was a pretty strong movie, albeit a little short. There are a lot of similarities to the 1957 movie starring Robby the Robot, The Invisible Boy.
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1 comment:
Ken, i just finished seeing most of all of John Waters movies and I was suprised at how much nudity and how offensive it really is. Those shots of Divine giving a BJ was out there as well as the impregnating the slaves chained in the basement. It was too much.
The commentaries were all great on all his movies so pick up even the smaller later films like Pecker, Hairspray, etc.
Funny that you saw Water's movies as I am in Baltimore right now for Aspect. I wish I had more time because I wanted to go downtown to the area where his movies were made . I wanted to drive down his block were he was born because after watching so many of his movies I feel like I got to know Baltimore well.
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