Week of Friday December 28 through Thursday January 3, 2008

Netflix has decided that I am not to enjoy any movies over the holidays, and I'm being hideously throttled. As I may have mentioned, I keep a spreadsheet documenting my Netflix consumption. It tells me that of the last 13 discs they've sent me, 8 have been from somewhere OTHER THAN the one within 20 miles of me.

Consequently, I'm digging into my stockpile of "emergency" movies, and am watching my other 50 movie box set Nightmare Worlds.

Friday, December 28, 2007
Disc 1, Side 1
Alien Contamination - 1980

I have this movie as a Blue Underground Contamination. But I gotta watch. First off, it's got Ian McCulloch and a Goblin soundtrack. I want to know if it's cut down from the BU version.

And that's a big yup. A lot of gore and mess is cut out. Stick with the Blue Underground version.

Alien Species - 1996

Wow. A cheapie made for video from 1996. If this was made 10 years earlier, it would be forgivable. It's not, and it sucks. Perhaps the best scene is "When toasters go bad".

And it's too damn dark. And the characters are all idiots (a sign of bad writing). And then suddenly, it's a super cheapie version of Independence Day.

Saturday, December 29, 2007
Disc 1, Side B
Atomic Rulers (of the World) - 1964

Star Man?!? Well, I didn't realize they were made that far back. And the music sounds like an old serial. It's hysterical.

The Alpha Incident - 1978

Alien germs in a railroad station. I just saw this recently, so I'm skipping it.

Disc 2 Side A
Attack From Space - 1964

More Japanese SF Starman goodness. Why didn't MST3K ever do these?

The Beast of the Yellow Night - 1971

John Ashley! And Vic Diaz as Satan! I have the Retromedia version which I got when I was collection everything by Sam Sherman, but don't remember it at all. So I watched it. And there's Mary Wilcox! Pretty bizarre stuff. Satan's pretty philosophical.

Disc 2 Side B
Warriors of the Wasteland - 1983

Oh god, Italian post-apocalypse. This is gonna hurt.

Not quite as unscientific as Starman (which had Radiation poisoned space. Not sure how that works), but it's pretty mindless. It's really standard Italian fare.

December 30, 2007
Werewolf Woman - 1976

Italian, not Mexican as I expected. That means, more boobage, but less of everything else. Wow! That was the roughest roughie scene at minute 75 I've EVER seen. And I've seen a lot. If that is your cup of tea, this movie might make the price of the whole set (hell, it's only $16.59 at Deep Discount).

Disc 3 Side A
The Nightmare Never Ends - 1980 aka Cataclysm

OMG, it's Richard Moll (of Night Court fame) in only his second role. And good ol' Cameron Mitchell. Have I seen this before? It seems vaguely familiar. Nazi who's a demon. It's not on my list anywhere. Must have been a VHS rental back in the day.

Counterblast - 1949

skipped. Not interested in a post-war Nazi plot to immunize Germany.

December 31, 2007
No movies tonight. Not even at home. Partying with our friends, playing board games.

Tuesday January 1, 2008
All the Kind Strangers - 1974

After reading the description, I'm skipping

The Day The Sky Exploded - 1958

Credits say 1961. Mario Baja? That's Mario Bava as cinematographer! Wow. Didn't expect to see anything from him in a collection like this. And after watching it, I can see why he used another name. Nothing to indicate the genius he would become here. Pat ending really kinda ruined what was moving along as a fair flick.

Disc 4 Side A
Death Warmed Up - 1984, Australian

Audio is TERRIBLE. Utterly incomprehensible. Some pretty good head operation shots to keep my interest, but I have absolutely no idea what was going on.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Doomsday Machine - 1972

You know you're in trouble when they use stolen Forbidden Planet sounds. And Casy Kasem and Mike Farrell in bit parts. And the rocketship keep changing appearance. This is another movie I'm sure I've seen, but I can't find it in my lists anywhere, so I guess not.

This is clearly a couple of movies cut together. IMDB confirms that the original was filmed in 1967, but never finished, and then later rediscovered and more footage shot without the original crew (or models, for that matter). "Could have been a contender"

Disc 4 Side B
Embryo - 1976

I saw this Rock Hudson flick a long time ago, but remember that it wasn't very good, so I'm skipping this one.

End of the World - 1977

I just saw this recently. Skipping it as well.

Disc 5 Side A
Eternal Evil - 1985 aka The Blue Man

Karen Black! A TV movie, but really weird. Too bad the transfer is so crummy. It's like it's a straight dub off an old VHS tape. This has a pretty novel plot about astral projection that I enjoyed, what I could understand of it.

Thursday, January 3, 2008
Evil Brain From Outer Space - 1956

More Starman, but I'm skipping this one because the SWV version just shipped to me. [edit from 1/09/08 - you want to know how throttled I am? This movie still has not arrived from Richmond, VA. ]

Disc 5 Side B
Shadow of Chinatown - 1936

I don't think so. Skipping

The War Game - 1965

not on the disc, contrary to sleeve. Instead I got

The Disappearance of Flight 412 - 1974 TV Movie

Glenn Ford! And OMG, that's David Soul. God help me. This whole movie is shot documentary style, with the voice over telling you what happened when to whom and such. Then, after the final credit, there's a disclaimer that the entire thing is a work of fiction. It actually said it was fictitious.

Idaho Transfer - 1973

Directed by Peter Fonda??? Anybody besides me not know that Peter ever directed? And what a weird flick. Scientists create a very limited time machine that only teens can use, and start exploring a near future where mankind seems to be wiped out by something. There are lots of jumps back and forth in time in the narrative, so it's pretty confusing. I think Peter Fonda was channelling the future David Lynch.

WOW! The ending is a surprise. This movie too may be worth the price of the whole box, if just for the WTF factor. I've certainly never heard of this movie before, and really enjoyed it.