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518,935 | 8,239,592 | 118,771 | 8 | An excellent and very effective Grade B " danger on the road " thriller | Successful businessman Jeff Taylor ( a typically on the ball performance from the always dependable Kurt Russell ) and his wife Amy ( a solid , but underused Kathleen Quinlin ) are driving from Massachusetts to California in their expensive new car via the scenic dusty'n'desolate desert country backroads route . The car breaks down . Amy hitches a ride with a friendly trucker ( J . T . Walsh , who's magnificent as usual ) . When Jeff later tries to find Amy , he realizes that she's been abducted and he'll have to do whatever it takes to get her back alive and in one piece . Directed in briskly efficient fashion by Jonathan Mostow , powered along by Basil Poledouris ' thundering , bone-rattling score , Doug Milesome's crisp , accomplished cinematography , and an explosive , gut-kickingly effective metal-demolishing climactic car chase , " Breakdown " ' s basic plot liberally lifts elements from such diverse sources as " Duel , " " The Vanishing , " " The Hitcher , " and " Road Games , " but luckily what the derivative ragbag script lacks in originality is compensated for by an uncommonly spare , streamlined and unpretentious sense of lean , linear , to-the-point no-nonsense narrative economy . Characterizations are kept to a minimum ( although the late , great , sorely missed Walsh , big , bad and brawny greaseball supreme M . C . Gainey , gangly Jack Noseworthy , and grizzled blubberball Ritch Brinkley still scuzz it up something sweet as the evil leering hicks while familiar faces Rex Linn and Jack McGhee contribute cool bits as an earnest , but useless sheriff and a scruffy diner counterman , respectively ) , there are no dreary , dragged-out expository lulls to be found , and both the zippy pacing and grimy tension are finely honed to sharp , stinging points , thereby resulting in a neatly bracing and suspenseful medium budget thriller which became a surprise box office hit . This is the kind of movie they regrettably just don't make too much anymore : a tightly plotted , slickly mounted and expertly done straight down the line with no unnecessary flashy trimmings or fancy-shmancy highbrow messages B picture from a major studio that's actually very good of its type . |
517,962 | 8,239,592 | 56,552 | 8 | Vincent Price , Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone all shine in this hugely enjoyable Edgar Allan Poe horror anthology treat | This immensely entertaining vintage 60's American International Pictures horror anthology treat based on a trio of delectably macabre Edgar Allan Poe short stories features Vincent Price in peak form in all three episodes . First and most spooky yarn , " Morella " - Young Lenora ( the lovely Maggie Pierce ) visits her estranged alcoholic father Locke ( a superbly anguished Price ) in his crumbling mansion and attempts to reconcile with him , which in turn incurs the deadly wrath of the vengeful spirit of her long deceased mother Morella ( the stunning Leona Gage ) . Second and funniest anecdote , " The Black Cat " - Peter Lorre gives a hilarious , spirited performance as wretched drunkard Montresor , a pathetic sot who befriends pompous wine expert Fortunato ( a deliciously droll Price ) . When Montresor discovers that Fortunato and his fetching , neglected wife Annabel ( the delightful Joyce Jameson ) are having an adulterous affair , he entombs them both alive behind a wall in his cellar . Third and creepiest segment , " The Case of M . Valdemar " - Evil mesmerist Carmichael ( a wonderfully wicked Basil Rathbone ) keeps dying millionaire Valdemar ( you-know-who again , excellent as ever ) alive in a tormented unconscious state , much to the dismay of both Valdemar's wife Helene ( the ravishing Debra Paget ) and loyal physician Dr . James ( the solid David Frankham ) . Roger Corman's typically tight and proficient direction , working from a smart and witty script by Richard Matheson , expertly maintains a brisk pace throughout , deftly creates a marvelously eerie brooding gloom-doom atmosphere ( the first and last anecdotes are particularly moody and effective , while the middle one offers plenty of uproarious pitch-black gallows humor ) , and coaxes fine acting from a tip-top cast . Lex Baxter's splendidly shivery'n'shuddery score and Floyd Crosby's crisp , handsome widescreen cinematography are likewise on the money outstanding . Good , ghoulish fun . |
518,211 | 8,239,592 | 70,556 | 8 | A choice chunk of 70's Southern-fried drive-in exploitation swill | Popular jazz singer Liz Wetherby ( played by real-life singer and 70's TV game show perennial Leslie Uggams ) gets into big trouble when her fancy expensive breaks down in the middle of nowhere in the Deep South . Poor Liz runs afoul of both slimy , crazed , talentless wannabe Elvis gigolo Eddie Collins ( deliciously overplayed with scuzzy aplomb by producer Michael Christian ) and Bertha ( a typically fat and juicy slice of prime histrionic ham by the one and only Shelley Winters ) , a faded former burlesque performer turned haggard and pathetic owner of a seedy lodge . Eddie sees Liz as his meal ticket out of the squalid hick hamlet where he's rotting away with the needy and neurotic Bertha . Eddie tries to force Liz to marry him , which begets tragic and disastrous consequences for everyone concerned . Director Richard Robinson uses several bizarre flourishes to relate the compellingly sordid and twisted story : he makes striking use of stunningly stylized slow motion for the more violent moments ( think Sam Peckinpah on Quaaludes ) and tastefully intercuts a brutal rape with footage of two mangy old coon dogs mating . David Worth's vivid , luridly picturesque cinematography and Grant Boatwright's wonky hillbilly bluegrass score add considerably to the pervasively scroungy atmosphere . The incredible cast includes Ted Cassidy ( Lurch on " The Adams Family " ) as a browbeaten disfigured handyman , a hilarious Slim Pickens as a perverted degenerate good ol ' boy sheriff , and Dub Taylor as an unhinged judge . The over-the-top gory bloodbath conclusion further enhances the overall tasty cheesiness of this choice rancid chunk of 70's Southern-fried drive-in exploitation swill . |
518,681 | 8,239,592 | 83,565 | 8 | More solid & sleazy Italian post-nuke sci-fi action fun | In yet another savage , desolate , society - has - gone - completely - down - the - toilet after the Big Nuclear Blast wasteland , only five super-warriors - - the humane , trustworthy Nisus ( Al Cliver , acting tough and sturdy with customary earnest conviction ) , dorky joker Jab ( the extremely obnoxious Harrison Mueller ) , surly Cro-Magnon Catch Dog ( sneering Daniel Stephen ) , quiet , but deadly Asian kung fu specialist Red Wolfe ( lithe'n'limber Al Yamanouchi ) and rugged survivalist Halakron ( the solid Peter Hooten ) - - are left to tame the new wild frontier and clean up the repulsive mutated trash making life difficult for all those decent folks attempting to rebuild civilization amid the barren rubble . Catch Dog gets booted from the group after he tries to force himself sexually on the feisty Maida ( strongly played by the lovely , willowy blonde Sabrina Siani , who hefts a mean pump shotgun and can kick a just as well as any dude ) . Nisus and Maida settle down with a peaceful group who are holed up at an oil refinery . Things are just ducky until a horde of foul , brutish , fascistic motorcycle-riding rape and murder happy Nazi marauders led by the evil , bald , power-crazed Hitler-like despot the Black One ( a wonderfully quirky , scenery-gulping slice of ice-cold camp villainy from good ol ' " Dr . Butcher " himself , Donal O'Brien ) , who has the traitorous Catch Dog in his employ as a flunky , come storming into town demanding all of the refinery's fuel . Nisus eats it early on , so it's up to Jab , Red Wolfe , and Halakron to take care of the Black One and his horrible cronies . Reuniting several cast and crew members from the enjoyable , but slightly blah " Endgame " ( Michele Soavi even returns to handle assistant director chores again ) , " 2020 : Texas Gladiators " rates as a sizable improvement , thanks to more focused , straightforward plotting and punchier pacing . Joe D'Amato's direction is strictly workmanlike , but fortunately still competent enough to create a grimly greasy'n'grungy atmospheric tone and satisfyingly deliver the necessary blood-spraying , butt-pulping , bullets a firing and bodies a falling action goods , with countless extras getting randomly snuffed at pleasingly regular intervals . Alex Carver's crafty script neatly tweaks standard raucous , rowdy , rollicking Western movie conventions , cleverly updating the plot of " The Magnificent Seven " to a gritty , bombed-out " Road Warrior " - style post-nuke sci-fi / action future : This exceedingly coarse , grimy , rough-edged effort features a lively no-holds-barred barroom brawl which comes complete with a fairly tense Russian roulette game that's directly lifted from " The Deer Hunter , " plenty of sweaty white-knuckle shoot-outs and stand-offs , clearly drawn black and white distinctions between the good guys and the bad guys ( the heavies are mean , dirty , heartless barbarians who cackle , leer and snarl a lot while the protagonists are true blue salt of the earth types with a firm , unyieldingly faithful moral code and a courageous willingness to sacrifice their own lives so that the beleaguered many who can't fend for themselves will prevail ) , and a tribe of noble bow-and-arrow wielding Native Americans astride charging horses leading the rousing attack on the Black One's army at the exciting conclusion . All in all , this one sizes up as a really good and thrilling little item . |
518,363 | 8,239,592 | 70,547 | 8 | A terrifically trashy piece of 70's Eurosleaze horror junk | A top-rate , exquisitely trashy and sexy Eurosleaze Gothic horror treat starring the gorgeously sleek'n'slender brunette hottie supreme Rosalba ( " Slaughter Hotel " ) Neri as a wicked bisexual Translyvanian vampire countess who every year sacrifices five virgins in order to appease Satan and retain her immortality . Furthermore , the thoroughly luscious Ms . Neri regularly bathes in the pure maidens ' blood to keep her youthful beauty . The eternally insipid Mark Damon offers twice the blandness as a studious , bookish dweeb and his more loose , fun-loving party hearty womanizing heel twin brother ( guess which one falls under Neri's evil , yet irresistibly alluring spell and winds up being turned into a vampire while searching for a precious rare glowing magical red amulet that Neri possesses ) . Fortunately Damon's drabness is more than compensated for by the spooky , misty atmosphere ( the sequence where a writhing nude Neri takes a bloodbath is truly striking and beautifully shot ) , a wonderful overabundance of gratuitous female nudity , a nice smattering of steamy soft-core sex , plentiful gory violence , some deliciously gaudy psychedelic visual flourishes ( the occasional use of shaky hand-held camera and prowling panning shots likewise seriously smoke ) , a robust , rousing , sweeping orchestral score , a bang-up nihilistic surprise ending , and Neri's searingly hot and hypnotic screen presence . A scuzzy hoot . |
518,508 | 8,239,592 | 78,277 | 8 | Good , goofy , lovably chintzy retro 50's creature feature fun | I must confess that I've got a special fondness for clunkily sincere el cheapo retro 50's contemporary horror creature features centering on the bloody exploits of a mean , nasty , butt-ugly humanoid beast that's quite obviously this poor putz in a none-too-convincing rubber suit . Among my all-time favorites in this particular sub-genre are the shamefully overlooked underwater " ALIEN " prototype " Destination Inner Space , " the so-crummy-it's-killer cheesebag classic " Track of the Moonbeast , " the snazzy subterranean " ALIEN " rip-off " Scared to Death , " the irresistibly abysmal Filipino clinker " Demon of Paradise , " and this sweet late 70's honey . We all know the endearingly clichéd plot for this one : the Imperial Electric Plant on the East Coast of California has been secretly dumping radioactive sludge in the ocean ; said toxic bilge creates a lumpy , hulking , lumbering , seriously unsightly mud-caked slimy mutant with a ghastly complexion and a murderous anti-social disposition that first snacks on cats and dogs before going on to butcher hapless folks around Venice and Marina Del Ray by slashing faces to a grisly pulp , tearing off limbs , cutting into soft flesh with its lethal clawed hands , and eventually attacking a young couple making out on a houseboat . Of course , the cops prove to be totally ineffectual , so it's up to several true blue everyman types - - a goody goody two shoes high school science teacher , a take-charge macho fisherman , and a few heroic teenagers - - to track down and kill the foul fiend before things get too out of hand . This charmingly chintzy and clumsy winner possesses all the usual low-budget grindhouse movie vices , namely murky cinematography , a cornball score , a standard-issue straight-down-the-line predictable story , an " it ain't over yet ! " open-ended sequel set-up conclusion , and laughably amateurish acting ( unsung fright film hambone Hy Pyke gets the top bad thesping dishonors with his grotesquely overdrawn eye-rolling comic cameo as a histrionic police chief ) . Paradoxically enough , it's the film's very glaring weaknesses that are part and parcel to its engagingly fumble-fingered allure , for writer / producer / director Stephan Traxler invests every last lovably cruddy frame with a winningly wobbly floundering enthusiasm and sense of wholehearted commitment which in turn makes " Slithis " loads of righteously inept goofball fun . Traxler scores bonus points for throwing in handy helpings of gore , a dash of nudity , lotsa crackling vitality , and , best of all , even some stinging social commentary with a sub-plot concerning the public's indifference to Slithis picking off luckless vulnerable and defenseless homeless people - - these on-target biting observations predate the similarly themed ( and equally underrated ) C . H . U . D . by a good six years ! |
518,051 | 8,239,592 | 83,541 | 8 | Don't mess with girls in the park ; that's not nice ! An enjoyably sleazy distaff " Death Wish " clone | This entertainingly tacky'n'trashy distaff " Death Wish " copy stars the exceptionally gorgeous and well-endowed brunette hottie supreme Karin Mani as Billie Clark , a top-notch martial arts fighter and one woman wrecking crew who opens up a gigantic ten gallon drum of ferocious chopsocky whup-a on assorted no-count scuzzy muggers , rapists , drug dealers and street gang members after some nasty low-life criminals attack her beloved grand parents . The stunningly voluptuous Ms . Mani sinks her teeth into her feisty butt-stomping tough chick part with winningly spunky aplomb , beating jerky guys up with infectious glee and baring her smoking hot bod in a few utterly gratuitous , but much-appreciated nude scenes . Unfortunately , Mani possesses an extremely irritating chewing-on-marbles harsh and grating voice that's sheer murder on the ears ( my favorite moment concerning Mani's dubious delivery of her dialogue occurs when she quips " Don't mess with girls in the park ; that's not nice ! " after clobbering a few detestable hooligans . The delectable Karin's sole subsequent film role was in " Avenging Angel , " in which she does a truly eye-popping full-frontal nude scene , but doesn't have any lines . ) The film's single most sensationally sleazy sequence transpires when Mani gets briefly incarcerated on a contempt of court charge and shows her considerably substantial stuff in a group prison shower scene . Of course , Mani's lascivious lesbian cell mate tries to seduce her only to have her unwanted advances rebuffed with a severe beatdown ! Strangely enough , the lesbian forgives Mani and becomes her best buddy while she's behind bars . Given an extra galvanizing shot in the vigorously rough'n'ready arm by Edward Victor's punchy direction , a funky-rockin ' score , endearingly crummy acting by a game ( if lame ) cast , a constant snappy pace , numerous pull-out-all-the-stops exciting fight scenes , and Howard Anderson III's gritty photography , this immensely enjoyable down'n'dirty exploitation swill is essential viewing for hardcore fans of blithely low-grade low-budget grindhouse cinema junk . |
519,176 | 8,239,592 | 70,564 | 8 | A fun chopsocky revenge opus | Cocky and immature young Fong Su Yi ( nicely played by the handsome and likable Fei Meng ) accidentally kills a martial arts student in a fight . The two evil instructors of the martial arts school in turn murder Fong Su Yi's father . After undergoing strenuous and extensive training under the hard and exacting tutelage of his formidable mother ( an excellent performance by a fine actress who oddly receives no billing ) , Fong Su Yi vows to get his revenge . But getting revenge proves to be easier said than done . Director Chai Yang-Min relates the gripping story at a constant brisk pace , keeps the tone serious throughout , and stages the copious martial arts fights with considerable skill and panache . The unusually sound cinematography makes nifty use of swift pans and occasional graceful slow motion . The roaring dramatic score likewise does the trick . The martial arts fight set pieces are every bit as bloody , violent and exciting as they ought to be . Moreover , this film further benefits from solid acting from a capable cast : Meng is an engaging lead , Yasuaki Kurata and Wang Ching are appropriately hateful as the nasty main villains , and the adorable Lam Lam Lee lends charming support as sweet and fetching love interest Siu Ping . The flavorsome period setting and gorgeous countryside scenery are also up to speed . An enjoyable romp . |
518,106 | 8,239,592 | 78,275 | 8 | A really enjoyable vintage 70's made-for-TV disaster feature | A motley assortment of folks find themselves in considerable jeopardy when the ski lift gondola they are in jumps the track and leaves them hanging way up in the chilly winter air . Director William Wiard , working from a colorful and eventful script by J . G . Hawks and Laurence Health , maintains a steady pace throughout and develops a reasonable amount of tension . The solid acting from a bang-up cast qualifies as a major plus : Deborah Raffin as a sweet budding ski champion , Charles Frank as Raffin's loving boyfriend , Don Johnson as a cocky cowboy ace hot dog skier , Clu Gulager as a nice guy manager , Howard Duff as a mob informant , Gail Strickland as Duff's concerned mistress , Veronica Hamel as a perky newscaster , and Lisa ( " The Pom Pom Girls " ) Reeves as a foxy underage bar maid . The ski lift accident sequence and subsequent rescue operation are genuinely exciting and harrowing . The copious ski footage and gorgeous snow-covered mountainous landscapes are both truly breathtaking . A rowdy disco dance t-shirt contest rates as another definite highlight . Roland " Ozzie " Smith's pretty , picturesque cinematography really hits the spot . Only Barry De Vorzon's often sappy'n'syrupy score misses the mark . That minor criticism aside , this vintage 70's made-for-TV disaster item sizes up as a whole lot of fun . |
518,494 | 8,239,592 | 65,206 | 8 | A fun late 60's evil hag horror outing | Shrewd , resourceful and formidable old battleaxe Claire Marrable ( superbly played to the icy hilt by Geraldine Page ) loses both her husband and her affluent lifestyle . Ms . Marrable moves to Arizona , starts a pine tree garden , and begins bumping off her elderly housekeepers for their life savings so she can continue living high on the hog . Ms . Marrable meets her match in her new housekeeper Alice Dimmock ( a terrific performance by the wondrous Ruth Gordon ) , a cheery , smart and resilient little firecracker who suspects that something is amiss . Director Lee H . Katzin and screenwriter Theodore Apstein expertly create a deliciously sinister atmosphere , relate the engrossing story at a steady pace , and top everything off with a wickedly funny sense of pitch-black humor . This movie further benefits from fine acting from an excellent cast : Page really sinks her teeth into her juicy evil old bat role , Gordon projects her usual winningly spunky charm as the endearingly feisty Ms . Dimmock , plus there are sturdy supporting contributions from Rosemary Forsyth as sweet young widow neighbor Harriet Vaughn , Robert Fuller as the dashing Mike Darrah , Mildred Dunnock as the timid Edna Tinsley , Joan Huntington as Ms . Marrable's bitchy niece Julia Lawson , and Peter Brandon as Julia's conniving stockbroker husband George . The very ending offers one doozy of a marvelously ironic surprise plot twist while the arid desert setting adds to the overall creepy tone . Joseph Biroc's lush , vibrant cinematography makes neat occasional elegant use of fades and dissolves . Gerald Fried's moody , shivery , string-laden score likewise hits the spooky spot . Best of all , it's a total treat to watch Page and Gordon bounce off each other as they engage in a deadly game of wit and wills . A hugely enjoyable fright feature . |
518,457 | 8,239,592 | 244,786 | 8 | An amusingly lowbrow parody of low-budget trash film-making | Sexy and slutty young Candy Faraday ( a divinely bitchy portrayal by the gorgeous Delia Sheppard ) tries to get geeky screenwriter Lou Lurrod ( likable Steven Benton ) to bump off her mean , overbearing cheapskate schlock movie producer husband King Faraday ( essayed with deliciously hammy relish by Robert Quarry ) and use his latest low-budget junk opus as the perfect cover for the murder . Director Jeff Broadstreet pokes gleefully silly fun at dimestore dreck cinema and brings a cheesy quality to the picture which perfectly matches the trashy subject matter . Comic highlights include a gut-busting send-up of music videos and the auditions for " Werewolves in Heat . " Robert Benson's witty script offers plenty of snappy dialogue and enjoyably broad caricatures ( King Faraday in particular is a complete sleazy riot ) . The lively acting from a game cast qualifies as another substantial asset : the ever-adorable Linnea Quigley as sweet scream queen Phoebe Love , Dennis Dale as eager hack director Rake Webber , Veronica Hart as King Faraday's bratty daughter Lola , Stephen Liska as amiable loan shark Gersch Stephan Steingulian , Spice Williams as hot bodybuilder Sabina , and Scott Coulter as flaky make-up f / x guy Mitchell Froom . Dale Larsen's suitably ratty cinematography and Leonard Marcel's bluesy , funky score both further enhance the infectiously tacky merriment . Better still , the luscious Linnea bares her beautiful breasts right at the start of the film while the delectable Delia shows off her yummy body several times . A real blithely inane hoot . |
518,547 | 8,239,592 | 78,295 | 8 | A gripping and suspenseful made-for-TV thriller | Sassy TV director Leigh Michaels ( an engagingly spunky and spirited performance by the lovely Lauren Hutton ) arrives in Los Angeles and moves into a swanky high-rise apartment . Some peeping tom creep starts stalking her from afar , taunting her with crank phone calls and sinister letters in the mail . But Leigh refuses to play victim and becomes determined to uncover the nut's true identity . Writer / director John Carpenter ably builds plenty of tension , maintains a brisk pace throughout , and stages one doozy of a harrowing climax . Moreover , there's a pertinent and provocative central message about how advances in technology make it easier for someone to invade another person's privacy . Hutton positively shines in the lead ; she gets fine support from David Birney as affable college professor Paul Winkless , Adrienne Barbeau as friendly lesbian coworker Sophie , Carpenter movie regular Charles Cyphers as unhelpful police detective Paul Hunt , Grainger Hines as smarmy technician Steve , and Len Lesser as a menacing burly man . Rober Hauser's sharp , polished cinematography and Harry Sukman's classy , rousing , shivery score are both up to par . Well worth a look . |
518,130 | 8,239,592 | 70,578 | 8 | A bleak , but eerie and absorbing horror mystery thriller | Tough , cynical lapsed Catholic police detective Jim Henderson ( a typically superb Christopher Plummer ) investigates the mysterious death of forlorn heroin addict prostitute Elizabeth Lucy ( a fine and heartbreaking performance by the divine Karen Black , who also sings a few hauntingly melancholy songs on the soundtrack ) . Henderson uncovers a nefarious Satanic cult and experiences a downward spiritual spiral similar to the one which led Lucy to her grim and untimely end . Strongly directed by Harvey Hart , crisply shot in sumptuous widescreen by Rene Verzier , elegantly scored to shivery perfection by Harry Freedman , and well acted by a stellar cast ( Jean-Louis Roux is especially impressive as the evil sect's suavely sinister leader ) , with a chilly and depressing tone , an intriguing , if somewhat muddled script by Robert Schlitt , plenty of spooky , uneasy and unnerving atmosphere , an interesting and imaginative back-and-forth nonlinear narrative structure , gritty Montreal locations , and a truly shocking zinger of a bummer ending , this engrossingly gloomy horror mystery thriller delivers a quite potent and lingering punch while provocatively exploring with unflinching severity the dire consequences beget by falling markedly short of one's religious principles . |
518,255 | 8,239,592 | 73,882 | 8 | A nice'n'spooky low-budget 70's drive-in horror flick | Spunky college student Jenny ( a breezy and engaging performance by the pretty Laurie Walters , who also popped up in " The Harrad Experiment " around the same time and later became a regular on the fluffy 70's sitcom " Eight Is Enough " ) and goofy aspiring newspaper reporter John ( winningly played by Joe Spano , who went on to become a prominent cast member of the gritty 80's police TV drama " Hill Street Blues ) take a road trip across the California countryside and discover an old , abandoned and decrepit health spa during their travels . They also meet and befriend nice elderly lady Agnes Abercrombie ( a pleasingly lively turn by wizened old crone Edna Macafee ) . Moreover , our young couple discover much to their dismay that rumors of the old spa being a front for a crazed cannibal cult aren't nearly as far-fetched as they initially thought . Director William Herbert elicits uniformly solid acting from the entire cast ( Walters and Spano in particular are very likable and impressive ) , keeps the pace bumping along at a steady clip , stages the shock scenes with a reasonable amount of flair , and effectively creates an eerie , mysterious and unnerving creeped-out atmosphere that's both strangely compelling and oddly unsettling in comparable measure . Charles R . Blaker's funky score neatly alternates between groovy'n'jazzy lounge tunes and more typically shivery'n'shuddery " scary " music . Larry Secrest's grainy , unpolished cinematography gives the film an appealingly rough'n'ragged look while making artful use of such fancy flourishes as dissolves , freeze frames and slow motion . John Sykes ' well-plotted script offers an intriguing set-up , a few dandy surprise twists , and a truly horrific climax . Excellent quintessentially 70's downbeat nihilistic ending , too . A bit slow , static and talky in spots , but overall a genuinely spooky and satisfying little fright film sleeper . |
519,296 | 8,239,592 | 56,510 | 8 | A hugely entertaining period action romp | Brave and noble El Kabir ( a solid and engaging performance by Mark Damon ) fights for his oppressed people in Egypt against evil and pompous Roman governor Petronio ( zestfully played to the hateful hilt by Livio Lorenzon ) . Director Ferdinando Baldi , who also co-wrote the engrossing script with Franco Airaldi and Anacleto Fontini , relates the absorbing story at a steady pace , maintains a serious tone throughout , and stages both the fierce gladiatorial bouts and rough'n'ready swordfights with considerable skill and flair . This film further benefits from fine acting by a sturdy cast : Damon makes for a very charming and appealing protagonist , Lorenzon has an absolute ball as the eminently despicable Petronio , plus there are praiseworthy contributions from the lovely Scilla Gabel as brash and beautiful princess Livia , Paolo Gozlino as Petronio's wicked partner Furio , Alberto Lupo as hard-nosed Roman general Octavian , Corrado Annicelli as wise adviser Longino , and the fetching Samira Ahmed as sweet fair maiden Meroe . Bitto Albertini's crisp and lively cinematography boasts plenty of impressive sweeping panoramic shots of the vast desert landscape . Carlo Rustichelli's robust , thrilling , flavorsome score likewise hits the stirring spot . A very good and satisfying film . |
518,426 | 8,239,592 | 56,491 | 8 | Joe Sarno's delightfully smart and racy 60's soft-core classic | Extremely prolific and dependable low-budget soft-core independent filmmaker Joe Sarno scored one of his biggest hits with this hugely enjoyable and for the time quite daring sexploitation gem . A bunch of bored suburbanites join a secret sex cult in which all the members wear masks and robes ala Stanley Kubrick's " Eyes Wide Shut . " When pretty teenager Kathy Lewis ( nicely played by the fetching Alice Linville ) discovers that her adulterous mother Geraldine ( a fine performance by the lovely Audrey Campbell of " Olga " infamy ) is having an affair , she falls under the seductive spell of sultry cult leader Yvette Talman ( a perfectly commanding portrayal by the almighty Dyanne Thorne of " Ilsa " notoriety ) . Writer / director Sarno presents a bold and revealing expose of sleepy upper middle class small American town morality and hypocrisy , depicting the wild debauched stuff that goes on behind closed doors with considerable incisiveness and commendable restraint ( the nudity is quite mild and the on-screen sex surprisingly chaste ) . Sarno also gives the interesting characters an unusual amount of depth and elicits mostly solid acting from a sturdy cast . W . B . Parker in particular excels with his deliciously smarmy turn as supremely sleazy and sinister sex cult ringleader Louis Muse ; Parker's rich , yet gravelly baritone voice and creepy screen presence suggest a seedy straight deviant version of Harvey Fierstein . Sam S . Fiedel's groovy swinging jazz score further enhances the kinky fun . James J . Markos ' crisp black and white cinematography likewise does the trick . Although rather tame by today's standards , this vintage 60's blast still nonetheless overall qualifies as a real wicked treat . |
519,044 | 8,239,592 | 233,219 | 8 | Billy Jack goes fishing | This unjustly obscure and pretty good quintessentially 70's " fight back " revenge drama could easily be subtitled " Billy Jack Goes Fishing . " Earnest , taciturn , fiercely self-reliant and independent no-nonsense blue collar Native American fisherman Joe Bass ( firmly played with a pleasing blend of stubbornness and a steely backbone by Henry Bal ) fights tenaciously for his fishing rights at a tiny North Michigan lakeside hamlet , butting heads with all-powerful rich racist jerk George Hanson ( a perfectly hateful Mike Millner ) . The already tense rivalry between Bass and Hanson intensifies to a dangerous fever pitch when Bass falls in love with Hanson's rebellious young daughter Karen ( sweetly essayed by the pretty Molly Mershon ) . This in turn leads to Joe being further harassed by the corrupt local authorities , who push Bass around so severely that he eventually has no choice but to exact a harsh revenge on Hanson and his cronies . Cleanly directed by Thomas G . Reeves ( who also produced and co-wrote the insightful script ) , with plain cinematography by Bob Baldwin , a fine bluesy country and western score ( the harmonic theme song sung by Elizabeth Perry is quite catchy ) , sound acting from a solid no-name cast , a strong lone autonomous man standing up to the crooked , imposing system central theme , a few thrilling outbursts of brutal violence , a well-observed depiction of small town social dynamics , a shockingly downbeat ending , and plenty of surprisingly tough-minded commentary on how the wealthy go out of their way to keep the oppressed poor in their place ( there's some equally meaty remarks about the white man's vile loathing towards and gross mistreatment of Native Americans as well ) , this modestly produced , occasionally a bit too slow and talky , but overall still gripping yarn packs a really potent wallop . |
518,718 | 8,239,592 | 70,634 | 8 | A hugely entertaining change-of-pace Hammer horror vampire / action / thriller hybrid romp | By the early 70's Hammer Studios began making attempts to revitalize their by now trite'n'tired period Gothic horror formula with varying degrees of success . This enjoyably daft contemporary blend of horror , action and spy suspense thriller rates as one of their more engagingly offbeat efforts . Something sinister is afoot in modern swinging 70's London . For starters , there's a dastardly Satanic cult made up of wealthy businessmen and powerful politicians who participate in sick and kinky unholy rituals . Moreover , the leader of said cult is none other than Dracula ( Christopher Lee , as fearsome and imposing as ever ) . Worse yet , brilliant , yet batty Professor Julian Keeley ( a delightfully dotty Freddie Jones ) has been commissioned by Dracula to create a virulent new strain of bubonic plague which could wipe out all mankind . It's up to occult expert Professor Van Helsing ( Peter Cushing in typically fine form ) , his comely granddaughter Jessica ( a pleasingly perky turn by ravishing redhead Joanna Lumley ) and stalwart Scotland Yard special agent Inspector Murray ( dashing Michael Coles ) to stop Dracula before it's too late . Alan Gibson's lively , stylish direction treats the outlandish premise with admirable seriousness and maintains a ceaseless barnstorming pace throughout . The action scenes and shock set pieces are staged with substantial go-for-it brio ( the use of strenuous slow motion is especially striking and effective ) . Brian Probyn's bright , sharp cinematography , the plentiful graphic gore , John ( " Horror Express " ) Cacavas ' funky , rousing , syncopated score , a smidgen of nudity , and sound acting from a tip-top cast all likewise hit the satisfying spot . Grood , groovy 70's fright feature fun . |
518,523 | 8,239,592 | 61,387 | 8 | A fun piece of 60's sci-fi action camp | Evil renegade Chinese General Chan Lu ( a nicely wicked portrayal by Martin Benson ) plans on launching a bunch of nuclear attacks on America from a series of underground tunnels . It's up to brave , but disgraced military man Commander Jonathan Shaw ( the dashing Kerwin Matthews ) to stop him before it's too late . Director Montgomery Tully , working from a silly script by L . Z . Hargreaves , relates the goofy plot at a steady pace and maintains a serious tone throughout . The admirably sincere acting from a game cast qualifies as a major asset : Viviane Ventura as foxy spelunker Tila Young , Robert Ayres as the ramrod Admiral Felix Hillebrand , Peter Arne as paranoid seismologist Arnold Kramer , Al Mulock as the rugged Sergeant Marvin Mulberry , Peter Elliott as Lu's nefarious scientist assistant Kengh Lee , and Ed Bishop as the stalwart Vince Cassidy . Kenneth Talbot's vibrant color cinematography and Ken Jones ' urgent , lively , rousing score are both up to speed . The nifty " Batman " - style whiplash cutaways , the clumsily staged action scenes , some gross miscasting ( several British actors play the Asian villains ! ) , the endearingly clunky ( not so ) special effects ( the back-screen projection is especially dodgy ) , and a big'n'bulky slowly trudging yellow tank car that shoots out deadly lasers which are really just bright beams of light all give this picture a certain lovably dippy kitschy charm . A pleasingly campy timekiller . |
518,279 | 8,239,592 | 78,235 | 8 | A nice'n'nasty Italian thriller | A trio of vicious criminals - - charming , but ruthless leader Aldo ( Ray Lovelock in fine wicked form ) , savage Walter ( essayed with frightening intensity by Flavio Andreni ) , and ferocious Neanderthalic brute Nino ( a positively simian portrayal by Stefano Cedrati ) - - pull off a bank heist and seek refuge in an isolated seaside villa when their getaway car breaks down . The loathsome threesome terrorize a quintet of teenage Catholic schoolgirls and Sister Cristina ( superbly played by Florinda Bolkan ) , the tough and resolute nun who's in charge of the girls . Naturally , the hoods have their foul way with several of the girls until Sister Cristina renounces her vows and exacts a harsh vengeance on the creeps . Director Franco Prosperi milks plenty of gut-wrenching tension from the grim and compelling story . Said story of course becomes more progressively mean and unpleasant as it unfolds , complete with rape , murder , humiliation , and the inevitable exciting last reel turn the tables revenge by the ladies on their vile and hateful tormentors . The startling outbursts of raw , ugly and strikingly stylized violence pack a really strong punch . This film further benefits from uniformly sound and credible acting from a capable cast : Lovelock excels as the deceptively laid-back and amiable Aldo ( Lovelock also sings the cool hard-rocking theme song ! ) , Andreni and Cedrati are genuinely repulsive and unappealing as a pair of extremely base and cruel degenerates , Bolkan does well as Sister Cristina , and Sherry Buchanan , Laura Tanziani , Laura Trotter , Karine Velier , and Annalisa Pesce are all quite fetching and believable as the scared and vulnerable schoolgirls . Roberto Pregadio's funky , syncopated score and Cristiano Pogany's sparkling widescreen cinematography are both up to snuff . A satisfying serving of in-your-face rough and unflinching celluloid sadism . |
519,344 | 8,239,592 | 70,654 | 8 | A choice cheesy chunk of 70's low budget psycho horror trash | Wacko sexually repressed mama's boy nutcase Matthew ( essayed with deliciously hammy relish by Fred Holbert ) kills his dear old dad by shoving him under a tractor and accidentally cuts off his own hand as well . After spending several years with the nuns at a local sanitarium and now sporting a hook for a hand , Matthew returns home to his beloved mother Daisy ( portrayed by Leigh Mitchell with a brunette wig ) and dorky new step dad Mack ( the geeky Robert Knox ) . Naturally , Matthew promptly winds up killing them both and hits the road . He winds up in Venice , California where he befriends Vera ( charmingly played by Mitchell again , this time sporting bright red hair ) , a nice free-spirited struggling artist who works as a prostitute on the side to keep herself afloat . Of course , Matthew immediately develops an unhealthy fixation on Vera and abducts her so she can replace his mommy . Director / co-writer Marc B . Ray effectively creates a properly seedy atmosphere and really pours on the tacky gore with the over-the-top grisly murder set pieces . Stephen H . Burum's rough , grainy cinematography makes exquisitely clunky use of shaky hand-held camera-work , cheesy freeze frames and chintzy fades and dissolves . There are plenty of unintentional campy laughs to be savored throughout , such as the priceless moment where an ailing elderly woman savagely beats Matthew up with her canes and Matthew's frequent hilariously hokey out of focus hallucinations of his pasty-faced dead mother and her lover further tormenting his already extremely twisted psyche . Better still , none other than Angus Scrimm ( the Tall Man in the " Phantasm " pictures ) briefly pops up as an ill-fated doctor . The wonderfully gruesome and hysterical climax concludes things on a suitably schlocky note , thus making this baby an absolute hoot for hardcore fans of trashy 70's drive-in horror junk . |
518,514 | 8,239,592 | 113,142 | 8 | A hugely enjoyable Japanese giant monster mash | A vicious trio of giant nasty flesh-eating reptilian birds called the Gyaos awaken and start preying on hapless human beings . It's up to gigantic flying fire-breathing prehistoric turtle Gamera to stop them before it's too late . Director Shusuke Kaneko , working from a smart script by Kaznori Ito , treats the story with commendable seriousness and maintains a constant brisk pace from start to finish . This film further benefits from solid and credible acting from an appealing cast , with especially praiseworthy work by Tsuyoshi Ihara as brave , eager , likable naval officer Yoshinari Yonemori , Shinobu Nakayama as tough , gutsy ornithologist Mayumi Nagamine , Akira Onodera as shrewd agent Naoya Kusangi , Ayako Fujitani as Naoya's cute , sweet psychic teenage daughter Asagi , Hirotaro Honda as sniveling cowardly wretch Mr . Saito , and Hatsunori Hasegawa as the hard-nosed Colonel Satake . Moreover , the first-rate special f / x are often stunning , the guy-in-a-rubber-suit beasts are genuinely gnarly and impressive , the elaborate mondo destructo scenes deliver the pulse-pounding goods , and the exciting monster fight sequences are staged with considerable aplomb . Ko Otani's spirited score really does the rousing trick . Junichi Tozawa's glossy , dynamic cinematography likewise scores a bull's eye . Why , we even got a pertinent ecological message tossed in for good measure . A very neat and immensely entertaining winner . |
519,006 | 8,239,592 | 382,856 | 8 | Good , silly retro 50's giant monster horror fun | Carmen Electra holds a concert on a remote tropical island that's located in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle . Carmen gets abducted by a giant monster insect . A motley group of kids bravely venture into the dangerous jungle to rescue Carmen . A camera crew tags along to film their adventure for a reality TV show . Director Jack Perez , who also co-wrote the cheerfully absurd'n'inane tongue-in-cheek cornball script with Adam Glass , maintains a constant steady pace and deftly creates an infectiously goofy mock-serious tone that pays affectionate homage to lovably ludicrous cheap'n'cheesy 50's sci-fi / horror creature features . The appealingly sincere acting from an eager and attractive cast rates as a major plus , with especially winning turns by Daniel Letterle as the sullen Josh , Mary Elizabeth Winstead as gutsy brunette hottie Maddy , Casey Beddow as the nerdy Andy , Chelan Simmons as feisty blonde babe Jen , C . Ernst Harth as bullish bodyguard Eightball , and Chris Harrison as hatefully cowardly wannabe macho jerk Chase . Adam West hams it up with tremendous lip-smacking relish as wacky mad scientist Dr . Harryhausen and Carmen portrays her own splendidly sweet'n'sexy self with charm to spare . Backstreet Boy Nick Carter pops up at the very end so he can save the day in the nick of time . David Bowes ' funky herky-jerky stop-motion animation and the obvious tacky miniatures are both hilariously hokey . Todd Elyzen's polished cinematography makes artful use of fades and dissolves . Michael Richard Plowman's rousing score likewise hits the spot . Best of all , there's a sense of pure good-natured silly fun evident throughout that's both endearing and entertaining in equal measure . A delightfully dippy hoot . |
518,991 | 8,239,592 | 70,174 | 8 | A truly weird and original one-of-a-kind oddity | Nebraska in the early 1900's : Dour , serious Oriole ( flinty Christina Raines ) and sweet , flighty Acacia ( the adorable Hilarie Thompson ) are a couple of strange half-breed sisters who live on a remote farm in the middle of nowhere . They give food and shelter to a gang of scruffy , but basically decent bikers : cocky leader Whizzer ( amiable Keith Carradine ) , excitable yahoo Jimbang ( Scott Glenn ) , rowdy good ol ' boy Giblets ( the ever-wacky Gary Busey ) , gawky , bespectacled nerd Golly ( the likable Mike Combs ) , mute Chupo ( Robert Walker ) , and feisty motorcycle mama China ( sexy , spunky spitfire Doria Cook ) . Oriole puts a hex on the bikers after Giblets attempts to rape Acacia . Director / co-writer Leo Garen concocts a genuinely bizarre and compelling handy dandy multi-genre period biker Gothic horror-Western combo that emphasizes a spooky and ambiguous atmosphere over snappy pacing and cheap scare scenes . This gloriously gaga feature perfectly epitomizes the anything-goes screwball experimental sensibility of the early 70's ; this in turn gives the movie a certain peculiar appeal . Charles Rosher , Jr . ' s pretty , picturesque cinematography makes snazzy use of fades , dissolves and freeze frames . Charles Bernstein's eerie , offbeat , flavorsome hillbilly bluegrass score likewise hits the spot . Dan " Grizzly Adams " Haggerty pops up in a small role as macho hot rodder Brother Billy . An engaging and interesting only-in-the-70's cinematic curio . |
519,388 | 8,239,592 | 83,959 | 8 | An enjoyably trashy early 80's low-budget " ALIEN " rip-off | Made right after the splendidly schlocky " Galaxy of Terror , " this choice cheesy chunk of early 80's sci-fi / horror drive-in exploitation junk rates as yet another lovably low-rent two-cent Roger Corman gem . This time a toothy , voracious rampaging mutant beast terrorizes a bunch of hapless folks in a remote outpost on a hostile desert planet . Allan Holzman's blunt'n'basic direction maintains a ceaseless snappy pace throughout and pours on the gruesome slimy gore with rip-snorting go-for-it aplomb . The ever-cool Jesse ( " Macon County Line " ) Vint makes for an excellent surly anti-hero as intergalactic troubleshooter Mike Colby . Late , great eccentric character actor Fox Harris ( the brain-fried lobotomized scientist who drives the car with the radioactive alien corpses in the trunk in the fantastic sci-fi cult black comedy blast " Repo Man " ) has a scenery-gulping hammy field day as a twitchy flipped-out physician whose cancerous liver is fed to the monster at the picture's incredible conclusion ( the grody thing literally pukes its guts out after eating the lethal organ ! ) . Better still , this fine freaky flick certainly doesn't skimp on the copious gratuitous nudity : adorable baby doll beauty Dawn Dunlap bares her whole bod while bagging a few rays in a sauna , stupendously slinky British blonde bombshell June Chadwick ( Lydie on the short-lived " V " TV series ) happily hops in the sack with Colby a mere five or six hours after making his acquaintance , and both Dawn and June even take a shower together . Susan Justin's obscenely heavy-breathing score , the cramped , claustrophobic set design , Holzman's rapid-fire editing and Tim Suhrstedt's appropriately lurid cinematography are all likewise up to par as well . A delightfully trashy hoot . |
518,787 | 8,239,592 | 77,932 | 8 | An unjustly obscure and overlooked 70's psycho crime thriller | Cruel and cunning misogynistic serial killer Danny ( superbly played with creepy intensity by John Karlen of " Dark Shadows " and " Daughters of Darkness " fame ) preys on nubile young lady hitchhikers in a small San Francisco town . It's up to tough , determined Detective Vince De Carlo ( a fine and convincing performance by James Luisi ) and his easygoing partner Mike ( a solid Martin Speer ; Dee Wallace husband in Wes Craven's horror classic " The Hills Have Eyes " ) to nab the foul fiend . Director Jeremy Hoenack , working from a tight and gripping script by Maralyn Thoma ( amazingly , Thoma has gone on to a hugely successful career as a head writer for various daytime TV soap operas ! ) , relates the grim and absorbing story at a steady pace , maintains a gritty , serious tone throughout , and develops a considerable amount of nerve-wracking suspense . Moreover , Hoenack admirably eschews for the most part the standard graphic sex and violence route of typical trashy 70's drive-in exploitation fare to focus more on the plot and characters . However , the violence against women is still pretty ugly and upsetting stuff , with the movie reaching its harrowing zenith with a gut-wrenching sequence depicting Danny brutalizing two frightened gals in back of his van . This film further benefits from credible acting by a sturdy cast : Luisi and Speer make for likable protagonists , Karlen excels as one memorably vicious and depraved mother-fixated wacko , plus there's neat supporting turns by Susan Sullivan as helpful psychologist Carol , Hilarie Thompson as the sweet Annie , and the ubiquitous George ' Buck ' Flower as old-timer witness Pete . Arthur R . Botham's pretty polished cinematography adds an impressive sense of scope with its occasional breathtaking aerial panoramic shots of San Francisco . Bryon Olson's shuddery score likewise hits the shivery spot . The startling downbeat ending packs a wicked punch . A real sleeper . |
518,600 | 8,239,592 | 285,728 | 8 | A surprisingly tasteful and compelling portrait of one of America's most notorious serial killers | Jeremy Renner gives a superbly subtle and convincing performance as Jeffrey Dahmer , a lonely , alienated chocolate factory worker and repressed , pathologically shy homosexual who picked up gay men , brought them back to his apartment , and killed them . Writer / director David Jacobson commendably downplays the expected grisly gore and lurid sensationalism to instead deliver a thoughtful and low-key study of an infamous human monster . Jacobson neither glorifies nor vilifies Dahmer and his ghastly exploits ; he merely presents Dahmer as he was in a stark , insightful and nonjudgmental way . Jacobson provides several illuminating flashbacks to Dahmer's sad , troubled childhood , his anguish and self-hatred about his homosexuality , and his problems with alcoholism . We only see Dahmer murder two people in the picture while his acts of necrophilia and cannibalism are lightly touched on . It's this film's admirable use of restraint which in turn adds immensely to its grimly unnerving effectiveness . Moreover , this movie further benefits from uniformly fine acting from a capable cast : Renner pulls off the remarkable feat of making Dahmer a sympathetic , yet still revolting and frightening human being ; he receives excellent support from Bruce Davison as Dahmer's decent , well-meaning father Lionel , Artel Kayaru as amiable , uninhibited near victim Rodney , Matt Newton as Dahmer's aggressive first victim Lance Bell , Dion Basco as hapless Asian victim Khamtay , and Kate Williamson as Dahmer's sweet Grandma . The moody , melodic score by Christina Aganolis , Mariana Bernoski and Willow Williamson and Chris Mauley's bright , polished cinematography are both up to par . Chilling , engrossing and well worth a look . |
517,901 | 8,239,592 | 87,796 | 8 | A very solid & spooky 80's zombie horror flick | If anyone out there wondered what a gore-eschewing , spooky atmosphere emphasizing , modestly produced , yet still capably acted and directed backwater Hickville , USA-set cross between " Macon County Line " and " Night of the Living Dead " would be like , this surprisingly sound lethal toxic mutants running murderously amok downhome horror feature will answer your questions quite nicely . All the staple Southern-fried drive-in movie ingredients are present and accounted for : two clean-cut young Northerner brothers are treated with utmost inhospitality by the belligerent local yokel residents of a tiny armpit stick burg they're just innocently passing through on a cross country road trip , some nefarious cost-cutting company surreptitiously dumps illegal radioactive gunk in the forest which in turn causes a few townies to transform into blue-faced nocturnal zombies with rapidly diminishing blood who kill hapless folks for their precious life fluids , a skeptical recovering alcoholic sheriff ( an excellent Bo Hopkins in his umpteenth redneck lawman role ) refuses to believe in any of it until it's too late , only a token sweet , sympathetic odd gal out barmaid / school teacher nice lady ( the quite fetching and appealing Jody Medford ) sides with the boys , and things eventually get distressfully out of hand , leading to a rousing last reel appearance by the National Guard to save the day in the nick of time . Yeah , nothing about this particular flick manages to be really surprising or original as far as the story is concerned . However , sometimes the story alone doesn't make a film good ; the performances and execution matter a lot , too . Luckily , said execution , specifically Al Adamson protégé John " Bud " Cardos ' punchy , right'n'tight proficient direction ( Cardos also gave us the superior 70's killer animal winner " Kingdom of the Spiders " and the not half bad sci-fi / horror offering " The Dark " ) and tireless , ever-reliable B-movie composer Richard ( " Parasite , " " The House on Sorority Row " ) Band's eerie , understated score , run on all cylinders with bang-up effectiveness . The performances are all on the money as well : the always intense and compelling Wings Hauser and the affable Lee Montgomery are strong and personable as our luckless sibling outsider protagonists , burly Marc Clement makes for a fabulously hateful villain as a bellicose hillbilly bully , and both Jennifer Warren as a smart , perceptive doctor and Cary Guffey ( the little tyke who gets abducted by the aliens in " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " ) as an ill-fated teenager who in the single most nail-biting moment gets attacked by the mutants in an abandoned high school bathroom contribute fine support . And , most unusual in an 80's horror picture with this premise , the expected graphic splatter gets refreshingly downplayed in favor of an at first sinisterly ambiguous and quietly unnerving flesh-crawling creepy tone which later thrillingly gives way to several stirring , zestfully staged shock scenes and action set pieces . |
518,726 | 8,239,592 | 74,080 | 8 | An above average 70's hick revenge picture starring the ever-beauteous Claudia Jennings | The irrepressible Claudia Jennings is her usual affable , fiery , smolderingly sensual self as Desiree , a spunky Cajun alligator poacher who's falsely accused of murder by a cretinous clan of vile sexist hillbilly male scuzzbuckets . Worse yet , these detestable rednecks rape and kill Desiree's little sister as well . Naturally , Desiree fights back , using her raw cunning and feminine wiles to exact a harsh revenge on her hateful tormentors . Claudia's perky , pulchritudinous presence always enlivened any given 70's drive-in exploitation feature she appeared in , which is definitely the case here . However , Claudia ain't the whole show : the formidable Bill Thurman plays a corrupt , treacherous sheriff with his usual enthralling solemnity , Janet ( " Ruby , " " Humongous " ) Baldwin is cute and endearing as Claudia's adorable younger sister , Sam Gilman hams it up deliciously as the nasty father of the no-account hayseed family , the marshy bayou backwoods setting is vividly rendered , and the mush-mouthed Lee Darwin energetically belts out a bunch of dippy , banjo-plucking country and western songs on the oddly infectious soundtrack . Cheap , dumb and tawdry , but done with a certain breezy'n'cheesy élan , " ' Gatorbait " rates as perfectly enjoyable low-budget down-home trash . |
519,329 | 8,239,592 | 56,648 | 8 | A really fun Japanese giant creature flick | This comment is on the original Japanese version of the film . A group of researchers investigate the disappearance of two colleagues in the mountains of northeastern Japan . They discover lethal and ill-tempered behemoth prehistoric lizard Varan , who awakens and makes an immediate beeline to Tokyo with the specific intent of trashing the town . Can the military stop Varan before it's too late ? Director Ishiro Honda expertly creates an intriguingly eerie atmosphere in the opening third of the picture and does a bang-up job of maintaining a brisk , exciting and unrelenting forward-ho momentum in the thrilling second half . Moreover , Honda stages the expected mondo destructo stuff ( Varan totals a village ) and pitched confrontations with the army with rip-snorting flair and gusto to spare . The flying , reptilian , spike-backed Varan makes for a truly fearsome titanic beast . Kudos are also in order for the snazzy special effects , Hajime Koizumi's sharp widescreen black and white cinematography , the credible acting from a solid cast , the bleakly serious tone , and Akira Ifukube's lively , stirring , all-out orchestral score . A hugely enjoyable montermash . |
518,443 | 8,239,592 | 83,914 | 8 | The adorable Pia Zadora lights up the screen in this enjoyably silly comic action romp | Sweet and naive , yet sassy and sexy Las Vegas casino lounge singer Bobbie Warren ( the adorably diminutive and dynamic Pia Zadora ) gets incarcerated at a brutal women's penitentiary after refusing to testify in court against her mobster boyfriend . The little songbird quickly changes her tune after she's assaulted in the shower by several vicious predatory lesbians . Bobbie is put in the protective custody of cranky senior cop Lt . Thurston ( a marvelously sardonic Telly Savalas ) and his cute eager beaver younger partner Clint Morgan ( an engaging performance by Desi Arnaz Jr . ) . Meanwhile , two assassins try to bump Bobbie off . Directed with considerable go-for-it flair by Matt ( " The Witch Who Came from the Sea " ) Cimber ( who also plays one of the hit-men ) , with a sprightly , jazzy score by Arthur B . Rubenstein , several thrilling action scenes ( a wild stunt involving a car racing through the lobby of a packed casino is the definite exciting highlight ) , garish , gleaming , lively cinematography by Eddy van der Emden , a snappy pace that rarely lets up , and enthusiastic acting from a bang-up cast , " Fake-Out " really delivers the infectiously silly and entertaining goods . Popping up in nifty supporting parts are Larry Storch as an obnoxiously slick sleazeball talent agent , George " Buck " Flower as an undercover policeman posing as a drunken cowboy gambler , and co-screenwriter John Goff in a funny bit as a gay man who hits on Savalas . Best of all , Pia Zadora positively lights up the screen with her endearingly perky and radiant presence : Whether she's heartily belting out a catchy song on stage during the opening credits or leading the tough lady prison inmates in a hilariously bawdy Jane Fonda-style work-out aerobic exercise session , the divine Ms . Z brings a charm , energy and bubbly good nature to her juicy starring role that's an absolute joy to watch . |
518,163 | 8,239,592 | 66,315 | 8 | Mario Bava's spirited spoof of Spaghetti Western movies | Stoical smoothie Roy Colt ( affable Brett Halsey ) and his more scruffy wild card buddy Winchester Jack ( the equally engaging Charles Southwood ) go searching for a fortune in gold . Shrewd spitfire Native American prostitute Manila ( winningly played by the lovely Marilu Tolo ) tags along . Meanwhile , irascible Russian villain the Reverend ( robustly essayed with lip-smacking brio by Teodora Corra ) also tries to find the gold . Director Mario Bava cheerfully pokes fun at the Spaghetti Western genre in this lively and amusing send-up that neatly combines elements from both " Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid " and " The Good , the Bad and the Ugly . " Moreover , Bava relates the wacky story at a constant brisk pace , gives the picture a suitably dirty'n'dusty look , and stages the stirring shoot-outs with considerable rip-roaring flair . This movie reaches its gut-busting peak during a hysterical sequence set in a brothel called Wimpy City . Halsey and Southwood display a loose , funny and appealing chemistry as our titular bumbling outlaw duo while Tolo almost steals the show with her wonderfully fiery portrayal of the cagey and enticing Manila . Kudos are also in order for Antonio Rinaldi's slick , often dazzling cinematography and Piero Umiliani's supremely funky'n'twangy score . A hugely enjoyable hoot . |
519,405 | 8,239,592 | 91,560 | 8 | Don't stay at the mangy mountaintop motel of death and doom ! | The gloriously godawful , to hell with subtlety title does a most apt job of telling the viewer about the enjoyably atrocious lackluster quality evident in this supremely stinky , often uproariously rotten and hence strangely endearing all-thumbs down-home slasher flick . Dowdy , rotund , middle-aged motel proprietor Evelyn Chambers ( poorly played by dumpy , prune-faced , white-haired wizened old bag Anna Chappell , whose unfortunate resemblance to an ancient , withered troll doll supplies a majority of the feature's ripely abundant unintentional hilarity ) completely flips her bluish granny wig one proverbial dark and stormy night , dicing up her petty , haughty , querulous , wholly deserving assortment of obnoxious guests with a rusty old sickle . Said guests include a pair of bubble-headed libidinous newlyweds , a peripatetic carpenter , a low-level music studio executive on the make and two tasty sweet young thing lady hitchhikers the studio executive makes some smarmy moves on . With its flat-footed ( non ) direction by corn-pone B-movie auteur Jim ( " The Charge of the Model T's , " " The Aurora Encounter " ) McCullough , Sr . , dopey , cliché-ridden script by Jim McCullough , Jr . ( like father , like son , like pathetic , man ) , a clumsily shoehorned into the main clunky narrative " where the hell did that come from ? " last reel supernatural subplot , righteously wretched emoting from a non-star " we can't act for beans " cast ( hefty , rugged , carved-out-of-granite hillbilly character actor Bill Thurman earns top thesping dishonors for his hideously hammy portrayal of boozy , dissolute holy man gone to seed hick priest Reverand Bill McWiley ) , hilariously horrible make-up f / x , weirdly creepy dime-store gloom-doom atmosphere and great advertising slogan ( " Please do not disturb Evelyn . . . She already is ! " ) , " Mountaintop Motel Massacre " ( don't you just love that low-key moniker's artful use of inspired and imaginative alliteration ? ) certainly possesses all the right wrong stuff to pass muster as a prime schlocky slice of so - shoddy - it's - perversely - sublime nickel'n'dime horror exploitation drive-in trash . |
519,204 | 8,239,592 | 77,895 | 8 | An enjoyably lightweight piece of 70's drive-in fluff | Shy , but sweet and enticing Dina ( winningly played with infectiously perky charm by the lovely Kim Lankford ) starts her new job as a lifeguard at Malibu beach and immediately turns a lot of guys ' heads . Cool dude Bobby ( likable James Daughton ) and his funky buddy Paul ( the equally engaging Michael Luther ) befriend Dina and her spunky gal pal Sally ( the luscious Susan Player-Jarreau ) . Moreover , Bobby gets involved in a bitter rivalry with sneering brawny greaser Dugan Hicks ( essayed with mucho macho muscle by beefy biker flick regular Stephen Oliver ) . Director Robert J . Rosenthal , who also co-wrote the slight script with Celia Susan Cotelo , lets the loose and rambling narrative amble along at a leisurely pace , but does a solid job of capturing a certain amiably breezy'n'easy mellow tone . In addition , Rosenthal crams this baby with a generous smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity , plus there's skinny-dipping , pot smoking , groovy disco dancing , hot babes in skimpy bikinis , and a bouncy soundtrack made up of roughly three catchy tunes . Better still , we even have an adorable dog with a pleasing penchant for stealing girls ' bikini tops . Popping up in neat supporting roles are the ever-yummy Tara Strohmeier as the foxy Glorianna , Flora Plumb as attractive teacher Mrs . Pickett , Roger Lawrence Pierce as the hopelessly geeky Claude , Rory Stevens as gawky hot dog stand vendor Charlie , Bruce Kimball as laid-back cop Lyle , and Bill Adler as an obnoxious vanner . Jamie Anderson's bright cinematography gives this picture a sparkling polished look . Michael Lloyd's gnarly-grinding score hits the soulful spot . All in all , this admittedly inane and immaterial nonsense makes for a pleasantly silly diversion . |
517,974 | 8,239,592 | 451,262 | 8 | An excellent , harrowing and engrossing subterranean horror winner | A motley group of eight people venture deep into a cave located in Central Asia . They find themselves trapped within the caverns and are hunted by a vicious predatory monster . Writer / director Olatunde Osunsanmi takes his time developing the well-drawn and genuinely likable characters , effectively creates and sustains plenty of sweat-inducing suspense , and offers a generous sprinkling of graphic gore during the ferocious attack scenes . The game no-name cast all give appealingly natural performances : Special kudos are in order for Mustafa Shakir as stalwart , rationale leader Gannon , Andrew Caple-Shaw as the macho , take-charge Ori , Danny Jacobs as nerdy aspiring writer Ambrose , Andres Saenz-Hudson as the spiritual Domingo , and Neno Pervan as jocular Russian Slava . Yasu Tanida's shaky , shadowy cinematography , a fascinatingly detailed depiction of cave exploring , Bryan Galvez's spooky'n'shuddery score , the dark , misty , claustrophobic atmosphere , the tight 81 minute running time , and the jarringly brutal and downbeat ending all further enhance the overall sound quality of this strong and startling low-budget indie shocker . |
518,916 | 8,239,592 | 77,902 | 8 | A highly enjoyable 70's made-for-TV killer animal flick | A boozy , burnt-out animal trainer sets a pair of deadly Bengal tigers free so they can terrorize a quiet California suburban hamlet . It's up to amiable detective Tom Skerritt ( who faced off with ferocious felines some more in " Savage Harvest " ) and rugged hunter Steve Forrest to bag the bloodthirsty beasts before things get too out of hand . Capably directed by Timothy Galfas , with a brisk pace , sharp , agile cinematography by Hugh Gagnier ( the occasional use of split screen is especially nifty ) , plenty of entertainingly trashy small town melodrama ( think " Peyton Place " with a couple of giant killer cats running amok in it ) , a lively , urgent , pile-driving bombastic score by Gerald Fried , a reasonable amount of tension , a rousing conclusion , and a solid cast which includes G . D . Spradlin as the stern , huffy , pompous police chief , Harry Morgan as a grumpy dirty old man priest , Diana Muldaur as a prim , uptight socialite , and Dabney Coleman as Forrest's easygoing buddy , this vintage 70's made-for-TV movie suspense thriller overall sizes up as a most enjoyable lethal animals on the rampage outing . |
519,396 | 8,239,592 | 35,009 | 8 | Good , silly 40's cheapie horror fun | Crazed , bitter , vengeful mad scientist Dr . Cameron ( veteran villainous character actor George Zucco in peak lip-smacking wicked form ) creates a special experimental serum which he uses to transform his gentle , dim-witted , but hulking gardener Petro ( sweetly played by Glenn Strange ) into a lethal and ferocious wolf-like humanoid beast . Dr . Cameron sics Pedro on the various folks responsible for his professional failure . Both Cameron's feisty daughter Lenore ( pretty brunette Anne Nagel ) and her aggressive go-getter newspaper reporter boyfriend Tom Gregory ( a charmingly robust Johnny Downs ) suspect that something is amiss . Competently directed by Sam Newfield , with a fun , if rather talky script by Fred Myton , plenty of nicely misty'n'spooky backwoods bayou atmosphere , stark black and white photography by Jack Greenhalgh , solid acting ( Strange brings a real touching pathos to his pitiable character while Zucco excels as a hatefully haughty heavy ) , a snappy pace , a booming , overwrought score by David Chudnow , a cool monster , and a stirring fiery conclusion , this modest fright feature overall sizes up as a perfectly enjoyable poverty-row low-budget horror potboiler . |
518,120 | 8,239,592 | 77,864 | 8 | A sweet and engaging comedy | Bud Spencer gives a wonderfully warm and charming performance as Bulldozer , an amiable , but ill-tempered former pro football player turned fisherman who's recruited by a wacky gang of street people to whip them into shape for a major all-or-nothing football game against a rival group of American soldiers led by gung-ho jerk Sergeant Kempfer ( a deliciously obnoxious portrayal by Raimund Harmstorf ) . Director Michele Lupo and screenwriters Marcello Fondato and Francesco Scardamaglia concoct a blithely silly and lighthearted comedy that not only delivers the expected amusingly goofy slapstick humor ( several wild rough'n'tumble fight scenes in particular are absolutely hilarious ) , but also a nice small coastal town atmosphere , likable characters , and a truly uplifting story in which Bulldozer gives his misfit team a much-needed sense of self-worth while the team in turn help Bulldozer regain his passion for the game . Spencer easily carries the film on his massive shoulders as the decent and honorable Bulldozer ; he receives excellent support from Kempfer , Ottaviano Dell'Aqua as smartaleck Gerry , Marco Stefanelli as lanky klutz Tony , Giovanni Vettorazzo as swift , wily thief Spitz , and Reinhard Kolldehoff as the stern Colonel Martin . Both Franco Di Giacomo's slick cinematography and the bubbly score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis are up to speed . The climactic football game is very funny , gripping and exciting . A hugely enjoyable little hoot . |
518,561 | 8,239,592 | 400,590 | 8 | A nice and informative documentary on one of the great British film producers | This nifty and illuminating documentary paints a compelling portrait of Euan Lloyd , who was one of the rare film producers who treated his cast and crew alike with great kindness and consideration . Moreover , Lloyd was one of the first independent producers to make ambitious pictures with big budgets and all-star casts . Among the folks interviewed herein are the ever-suave Roger Moore , Lloyd's actress daughter Rosalind Lloyd , actress Ingrid Pitt , character actor Kenneth Griffith , singer / songwriter Joan Armatrading , and second unit director John Glen . The doc traces Lloyd's humble beginnings and notes several career highlights . The most intriguing stories center on how Lloyd got a huge big name cast to act in " The Poppy is Also a Flower " for a dollar each , persuading Sean Connery to play the lead in the Western " Shalako , " his surprisingly pleasant experience working with Yul Brynner on the Western " Catlow , " his difficulties with troubled alcoholics Richard Burton and Richard Harris on " The Wild Geese , " taking a cut in pay to afford David Niven in " The Sea Wolves , " and how Lloyd stopped making movies in the mid 80's after the industry changed in the mid 80's . A cool little documentary . |
518,495 | 8,239,592 | 1,297,274 | 8 | Don't forget to take the trash out | Uptight yuppie businessman Ted ( well played to ramrod perfection by Dave R . Watkins ) gets infuriated after his sloppy neighbor Will ( likable Scott Hodges ) and Will's airhead blonde wife Kay ( a delightfully perky Becky Biggs ) continually neglect the proper disposal of their trash . So Ted summons lethal local urban legend monster the Garbage Man ( Dan Slemons in nifty pasty make-up ) to take care of Will and Kay . Director / co-writer Watkins concocts an amusing and enjoyable short movie parody that pokes merry fun at both the ridiculous touchy-feely petty-minded mentality of affluent upper middle-class suburbia and the cheery silliness of standard Grade B cheesy low-budget horror fare . The cast have a field day with their broad roles : Watkins , Hodges , and Biggs are all fine in the leads , Slemons makes for a gnarly snarling bogeyman figure , Christopher Thomas almost steals the whole show as eye-patched resident kook Crazy Willie , and Nate Hill lends sturdy support as Willie's equally flaky pal Cyrus . Daniel Solammon's shuddery and ominous synthesizer score hits the shivery spot . The crisp cinematography by Slemons likewise does the trick . A real hoot . |
518,085 | 8,239,592 | 171,444 | 8 | A prime piece of rousing Sonny Chiba martial arts trash | A tough rogue mercenary ( the almighty Sonny Chiba ) arrives in a town where two rival gangs are engaged in a harsh turf war over who's got exclusive dibs on an expensive stash of heroin . Chiba pits both gangs against each other for his own personal gain . Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi maintains a fast , unflagging pace throughout , stages the copious fight scenes with excitingly bloody'n'brutal gusto , and even sprinkles a generous amount of gratuitous female nudity . The snazzy cinematography makes inspired use of split screen , freeze frames , and strikingly stylized strenuous slow motion . Moreover , the use of a shaky hand-held camera during the savage fight scenes adds an extra thrilling raw energy to the already lively proceedings . The groovy fuzztone guitar-burning score likewise hits the funky spot . With his hard-boiled charisma and surly screen presence , Chiba makes for a perfect blithely amoral and cynical anti-hero . He gets to show a more soft and sensitive side when his character befriends a little boy ; this surprisingly touching subplot has an especially sweet and moving payoff . Of course , Chiba truly shines with his ever vicious and unbridled displays of poke-your-eyes-out nasty and ferocious martial arts . A solid and satisfying chopsocky outing that's well worth checking out . |
518,883 | 8,239,592 | 105,242 | 8 | A strong , absorbing and effectively creepy horror winner | Classy , worried Claire Ward ( the lovely Jane Sibbett ) hires smooth private detective John March ( the likable John Terry ) to find out what her secretive , obsessive husband Charles Dexter Ward ( a typically fine , intense and gripping portrayal by the always reliable Chris Sarandon ) has been doing in a remote woodland farmhouse he's secluded himself in . The pair discover much to their horror and dismay that Ward has found the key to immortality , which naturally comes at a truly terrible price . Director Dan ( " The Return of the Living Dead " ) O'Bannon , working from an intricate and intelligent script by Brent V . Friedman ( said script is based on a H . P . Lovecraft short story ) , deftly creates and sustains an arrestingly eerie and mysterious mood , keeps the pace plugging along at a steady clip , and coaxes solid performances from a sturdy cast ( Robert Romanus in particular is very engaging as March's wiseguy partner Lonnie ) . Moreover , Irv Goodnoff's glossy , graceful cinematography , Richard ( " Re-Animator " ) Band's soaring , supremely spooky score , and Todd Masters ' wonderfully grotesque creature f / x are all up to par as well . The film reaches its marvelously clammy , creepy and claustrophobic nerve-wracking zenith when March , Claire and Lonnie venture into the farmhouse basement and encounter the ghastly mistakes of Ward's previous failed experiments . Best of all , the grimly serious tone , judicious use of gore and monster effects , and gradual build-up towards a startling climax ensure that this feature works remarkably well as one hell of a fiercely unsettling scarefest . An excellent and unjustly overlooked sleeper . |
517,926 | 8,239,592 | 47,960 | 8 | A solid and enjoyable 50's fright feature | Evil mob boss Frank Buchanan ( a perfectly nasty Michael Granger ) has ex-Nazi scientist Dr . Wilhelm Steigg ( a nice turn by Gregory Gaye ) reanimate the bodies of recently deceased criminals so Buchanan can get revenge on his enemies . Shrewd , hard-boiled police investigator Dr . Chet Walker ( an excellent and engaging performance by Richard Denning ) becomes determined to stop Buchanan . Capably directed by Edward L . Cahn , with a clever and compelling script by Curt Siodmak , a brisk pace , sharp , moody black and white cinematography by Fred Jackman , Jr . , genuinely creepy zombies , a spooky , rousing score by Mischa Bakaleinikoff , a tight 69 minute running time , and a thrilling conclusion , this nifty little quickie provides an inspired and entertaining blend of snappy straightforward horror and gritty film noirish crime thriller . The fine supporting cast includes S . John Launer as Walker's amiable partner Captain Dave Harris , Angela Stevens as Walker's lovely , concerned wife Angela , Pierre Watkin as the irritable Mayor Bremer , Lane Chandler as the ramrod General Saunders , and Tristram Coffin as the ill-fated District Attorney MacGraw . A fun flick . |
518,717 | 8,239,592 | 147,751 | 8 | Deliciously cheesy 70's Saturday morning Sid and Marty Krofft kidvid lunacy | For sublimely silly Sasquatch Saturday morning live action entertainment , there's only one show to see . Yep , it's this supremely screwy 70's TV series from Sid and Marty Krofft , those undisputed kings of such Me Decade kidvid insanity as " Land of the Lost " and " Sigmund and the Sea Monsters . " Eight years ago Bigfoot ( brawny thespian Ray Young ; the evil acidhead who freaks out in the disco in Jeff Lieberman's terrific " Blue Sunshine " ) discovered a lost male child in the Great Northwest wilderness of Southern California ( ! ) and raised the tyke to be a Tarzan-like lad called Wildboy ( Joseph Butcher , your basic vapid blonde Malibu surfer type ) . With his unruly mass of all-body hair and bulky , beefy build , Bigfoot resembles one of three things : 1 ) Chewbacca's brother , 2 ) a really hairy hippie , or 3 ) Greg Allman on a very bad day . Furthermore , Bigfoot speaks in barely coherent grunt'n'grumble tones , delivering a message about nature and the environment at the end of every show . He tosses rinky-dink paper mache boulders as if they were rinky-dink paper mache boulders . He survives avalanches without a scratch . And he runs and leaps in hilariously drawn-out slow motion ala Lee Majors in " The Six Million Dollar Man " while groovy-chillin ' music and funky synthesized sound effects accompany his every move . Naturally , Bigfoot and Wildboy have many exciting misadventures : they foil plutonium thieves , battle a mummy , encounter alien beings , and face off with a red-skinned " Incredible Hulk " - style monster ( played by Carel Struycken , who later become a regular on " Twin Peaks " and portrayed Lurch in the " Adams Family " films ) . Wildboy frequently gets captured by baddies and Bigfoot has to save his hapless'n'helpless wimpy hide time and time again . Sure , this show is undeniably a dippy hunk of total cheese , but it's the program's very blatant and abundant cheesiness which makes it a topflight tacky treasure . |
518,964 | 8,239,592 | 66,492 | 8 | Good , goofy fun | A prehistoric troglodyte ( Joe Cornelius in a hairy apesuit left over from " 2001 " ) gets discovered living in a cave in Britian . Stubborn , hard-nosed , dedicated anthropologist Dr . Brockton ( a remarkably sincere performance by legendary actress Joan Crawford in her last role ) wants to study him . Huffy local jerk Sam Murdock ( a deliciously hammy Michael Gough ) vehemently disapproves . Director Freddie Francis treats Aben Kandel's patently ridiculous script with jaw-dropping seriousness , thus ensuring that this picture qualifies as a choice chunk of pure gut-busting camp . The scenes depicting Dr . Brockton bonding with Trog are priceless : she teaches him how to wind up a toy doll and toss a ball ! Other unintentionally uproarious moments include Trog freaking out when he hears loud rock music and Trog mixing it up with a German Shepherd . Better still , the inevitable last reel mondo destructo rampage certainly delivers the rousing goods : Trog tosses a guy through a window , impales another man on a meat hook , overturns a car , and abducts a little girl ( the ubiquitous Chloe Franks of " Tales from the Crypt " and " Whoever Slew Auntie Roo ? " ) . The solid cast play their parts totally straight : Bernard Kay as the stalwart Inspector Graham , Kim Braden as Brockton's cute blonde daughter Anne , David Griffin as eager young scientist Malcom Travers , Thorley Walters as a firm magistrate , and Robert Hutton as renowned surgeon Dr . Richard Warren . Desmond Dickinson's sharp cinematography , John Scott's cool ooga-booga score , the cruddy ( far from ) special effects ( Trog's cave looks like it's made out of cardboard and paper mache - - and probably was ! ) , and some laughably lousy stop-motion animation dinosaurs further add to the infectiously inane fun of this enjoyably asinine hoot . |
518,072 | 8,239,592 | 78,062 | 8 | A very creepy & underrated 70's sci-fi medical horror chiller | Clonus is an isolated , rigidly closed off , and closely monitored facility where young , fit , healthy clones of wealthy , powerful people are created and raised for the specific purpose of serving as donors for an illicit underground black market organ ring whose central function is to keep its rich , privileged clientèle forever robust and youthful through the immoral and inhumane use of said clones . The clones are made docile , complacent and cooperative via brainwashing ( they're told that when they reach a certain age they'll leave the compound and find freedom in America , which is a particularly subversive bit of mind-twisting misinformation ) , strict supervision and lobotomies . Timothy Donnelly gives a fine , affecting performance as Richard , an unusually bright and perceptive clone who discovers what's going on , steals an incriminating videotape , and escapes from the compound so he can alert the outside world . A sterling example of how low-budget , independently produced films have the creative freedom to tackle a pertinent issue and incisively examine said issue's multi-layered ethical implications , " Parts : The Clonus Horror " makes for a splendidly chilling and provocative sci-fi / horror medical conspiracy thriller . Under Robert Fiveson's crisp , assured , clearly focused direction , which skillfully milks the rich subtext of Ron Smith and Bob Sullivan's insidious , sharply intelligent , uncomfortably prescient and penetrating script for maximum unease , this laudably audacious and decisive film dares to question the validity of certain cherished American institutions , mainly the medical community , the government and the upper class . The topical subject matter bracingly addresses such pressing themes as how cloning robs human beings of their basic worth and subsequently reduces them to pieces of meat ( the clones are called such impersonal pronouns as " it , " " them , " and " thing " ) , conformity vs . individuality , technology intruding on one's privacy ( everything the clones do gets recorded by hidden cameras ) , authoritarianism suppressing independence , how our caste system favors those with lots of money and clout , man's desire to conquer mortality , and even fate vs . free will . Given the recent controversy surrounding DNA breakthroughs and minute surveillance cameras popping up all over the place , these issues today now possess a more timely and unnerving resonance . Moreover , the acting is uniformly excellent , with especially bang-up turns by Dick Sargent as the cold , brilliant , unfeeling megalomaniacal smarmbag doctor behind the whole evil plot , Peter Graves as a crooked , unctuous ultra-conservative Republican presidential candidate who assists in the cover-up , Frank Ashmore as the mysterious millionaire who finances the sinister operation , Keenan Wynn as a kindly , helpful retired newspaper reporter , Lurene Tuttle as Wynn's feisty , excitable wife , and Paulette Breen as a fetching blonde clone Richard falls in love with . Further complimented by Max Beaufort's slick , fluid cinematography , and Hal David Schudson's spooky score ( the Gregorian chant singing is quite creepy ) , " Parts : The Clonus Horror " certainly doesn't deserve its current " what the hell ? " camp reputation . I personally consider it to be a very underrated little sleeper , a remarkably potent and confrontational affair that scores extra points for its sheer boldness and vehemently skeptical " nothing is what it seems " point of view . |
518,963 | 8,239,592 | 373,183 | 8 | A nifty indie psychological thriller | Lonely and paranoid agoraphobe Camden ( a likable performance by Robert C . Sabin ) takes in the seemingly friendly Randy ( a creepily intense portrayal by Tommy Sweeney ) as a boarder in his apartment . Unfortunately , Randy turns out to be a claustrophobic psychotic and Camden finds himself a frightened prisoner in his own home . Writer / director Gregory Lamberson , who also gave us the good'n'gory low-budget horror splatter hoot " Slime City , " ably crafts an absorbing and interesting psychological thriller that benefits substantially from well-drawn characters , a neatly moody score by Steve Brown , Stephen Buckley and Nelson Wakefield , an appropriately gritty New York City atmosphere , a funky wailin ' trash rock soundtrack , snazzy no-frills cinematography by Gene Davis , and an increasingly edgy and unsettling tone that becomes especially nerve-wracking in the harrowing last third . Sabin and Sweeney are both excellent in the juicy leads . The rest of the solid no-name cast are likewise fine : Peggy Crown as Camden's sweet newfound artist girlfriend Julie , Terry Spivey as Camden's friendly lawyer , Nelson Wakefield as sleazy hoodlum Jimmy , Amanda Fraser as a hot hooker , Christopher Caver as a mean pimp , and Denise Rusczyk as ditsy cokehead Sweet Thing . A real sleeper . |
519,089 | 8,239,592 | 65,424 | 8 | A nicely creepy and disturbing 70's psycho horror exploitation winner | Former 50's teen idol Tab Hunter gives a superbly chilling and convincing performance as Eddie Collins , a lonely , impotent and sexually frustrated high school gym teacher who was driven around the bend by his shameless whore mother who used to parade around naked in front of him as a little boy . Eddie viciously murders any lovely young lass who tries ( and fails ) to turn him on . Writer / director Curtis Hanson , who went on to win an Oscar for the terrific " L . A . Confidential , " does an expert job of creating and sustaining a creepy , clammy , clinical tone for this luridly compelling portrait of homicidal madness and seething misogyny . Moreover , Hanson astutely nails the whole right-on groovy swingin ' 70's zeitgeist , evokes a highly credible sense of everyday mundane reality and builds plenty of nerve-wracking tension which reaches a harrowing fever pitch in the terrifying final third . The abundant gratuitous distaff nudity , the seedy seaside Venice , California locations , the shockingly blunt'n'brutal violence and the profoundly unnerving conclusion all give this picture a raw , sleazy , unsettling edge that's mighty tough to shake . Nice supporting performances by Nadyne Turney as fed-up , long-suffering unhappy single gal Barbara , Isabel Jewell as a snoopy landlady , a pre - " Phantasm " Angus Scrimm as Jewell's husband , and longtime favorite 70's drive-in flick starlet Roberta Collins as a brassy call girl . Charles Bernstein's supremely spooky'n'shuddery score and Daniel Lacambre's crisp , polished cinematography are both up to par . The inspired casting of Tab Hunter in the warped lead qualifies as the film's masterstroke ; Hunter's blandly handsome boy next door persona makes for the perfect front for the severe dementia bubbling just underneath the surface . An excellent and unjustly overlooked little nugget . |
518,119 | 8,239,592 | 105,219 | 8 | An immensely enjoyable martial arts action winner | Nice guy college art student and ace martial artist Jake Lo ( an extremely likable and charismatic performance by Brandon Lee ) finds his life in considerable jeopardy after he witnesses ruthless and flamboyant Mafia kingpin Antonio Serrano ( deliciously played with lip-smacking hammy aplomb by Nick Mancuso ) bump off a Chinese rival . Tough renegade cop Mace Ryan ( Powers Boothe in peak brooding and rugged form ) and his feisty partner Karla Withers ( a wonderfully spunky turn by the lovely Kate Hodge ) use Jake as bait so they can nab Serrano . Ably directed by Dwight H . Little , with a nonstop snappy pace , fluid , glossy cinematography by Ric Waite , gritty urban Chicago locations , plenty of exciting and well-staged fights and shoot-outs ( Lee's fierce chopsocky confrontation with the ubiquitous Al Leong rates as a definite thrilling highlight ) , a smidgen of tasty female nudity , a roaring trashy rock soundtrack , some steamy soft-core sex , a rattling , rousing score by Christopher Young , an amusing line in welcome sarcastic humor , and loads of gloriously excessive bloody violence , this gleefully ridiculous actionfest may be wildly far-fetched and implausible from the get-go , but it's still a great deal of over-the-top loony fun all the same . Best of all , Lee not only displays real charm and appeal in the lead role , but also shows remarkable skill and agility in his numerous rough'n'tumble fight set pieces . The supporting cast likewise impresses , with especially praiseworthy work from Mancuso ( his blithely evil villain almost steals the whole show ) , Boothe , Hodge , Raymond J . Barry as crooked fed Agent Frank Stewart , Tzi Ma as vicious drug lord Kinman Tau , and Tony Longo as Serrano's brutish bodyguard Brunner . A real bang-up flick . |
519,332 | 8,239,592 | 70,325 | 8 | A hugely enjoyable low-budget " Bonnie and Clyde " cash-in copy | The Florida Everglades in the 1920's . Shrewd , handsome John Ashley ( a surprisingly solid turn by 50's rock'n'roll teen idol Fabian Forte , who also played Pretty Boy Floyd in Larry Buchanan's " A Bullet for Pretty Boy " ) and his sweet , flighty steady gal pal Laura ( a charming performance by the ever-radiant Karen Black ) are the leaders of an outlaw gang . The wild'n'rowdy bunch achieve considerable notoriety by robbing banks , running booze , breaking out of jail , and eluding the cops while embarking on a jolly crime spree in the southeast . Directed with a reasonable amount of flair and style by Luke Moberly and Bob Woodburn ( who also wrote the colorful and eventful script ) , this picture sizes up an an immensely enjoyable little " Bonnie and Clyde " cash-in copy . Fabian and Black make for a rather unlikely , but genuinely appealing and attractive criminal couple . Nice supporting contributions by Ken Miller as lecherous gang member Hanford , Paul Gleason as a hard-nosed sheriff , and Ivy Thayer as Laura's forlorn , regretful mother . Cliff Frates and Evie Karafotias are extremely cute and endearing as John and Laura as little kids in touching flashback sequences . Edmund Gibson's pretty , picturesque cinematography , Bill Walker's jaunty swing band score , the flavorsome period atmosphere ( the sepia-tinted black and white opening newsreel with a stern Walter Winchell-like narrator is especially tasty ) , and several rousing shoot-outs all likewise hit the spot . My sole criticism : the frequent groovy modern rock songs and music are painfully inappropriate and anachronistic . That minor quibble aside , this film overall rates as a tremendously fun and spirited romp . |
518,905 | 8,239,592 | 100,867 | 8 | A perfectly stupid sequel to the lovably idiotic original | Spunky Didi ( the always cute and perky Linnea Quigley ) and spoiled rich snob Holly Wells ( the delightful Ginger Lynn Allen ) are a couple of constantly sparring rookie cops who pose as strippers in order to stop evil villainess Spanish Fly ( essayed with deliciously hammy brio by Marina Benvenga ) from dumping a powerful aphrodisiac in Los Angeles ' water supply . Writer / director Rick Sloane aims low and elicits plenty of cheap laughs by making amusingly broad jokes about such naturally sidesplitting topics as phone sex , vomiting , and bondage . The cast have a field day with their roles : Quigley and Allen have a nice chemistry as the two sexy leads , Jayne Hamil is an absolute riot as snippy , uptight superior Miss Thelma Louise Devonshire , plus there are nifty supporting turns by Scott Layne as smarmy , sexist , conceited stud muffin patrolman Petrolino , Jo Steele as sassy receptionist Jeanie , Jay Richardson as the bumbling police commissioner , Toni Alessandrini as enticing stripper Aphrodite , Teagon Clive as beefy cyborg BimboCop ( an obvious parody of RoboCop ) , and Melissa Moore as brassy hooker Glaze . Tomas L . Calloway's decent cinematography is passable at best , although both Alan Der Marderosian's bouncy , funky score and the cool-rockin ' soundtrack are on the money gnarly . Look fast for Duane Whitaker ( Maynard in " Pulp Fiction " ) in a small role . Better still , the luscious Alessandrini struts her sizzling stuff with a much-appreciated striptease while Quigley and Allen steal the whole show with an equally yummy joint striptease act . Sure , this flick is undeniably dumb and silly , but it has a certain endearingly dopey charm to it that's impossible to dislike . Good , undemanding no-brainer fun . |
518,807 | 8,239,592 | 485,774 | 8 | A good'n'gory little straight-to-video horror shocker | Vicious serial killer Chambers ( a genuinely scary and intense portrayal of pure demonic evil by actor / stuntman James Binkley ) gets executed on the electric chair , but ain't down for the count just yet . Chambers comes back to ferocious and murderous life in a rundown hospital that's on the verge of closing . He naturally embarks on the expected gruesome killing spree , joyfully slaughtering both staff and patients alike while gaining additional strength by ripping the hearts out of his victims . Chambers specifically goes after Sara Wexler ( a strong and sympathetic performance by the very attractive and appealing brunette Meredith Henderson ) , a spunky , but troubled and depressed suicidal young lass he shares a special psychic bound with . Pretty soon only Sara , smartaleck teen Walter ( the likable Nathaniel Stephenson ) and feisty Nurse Grafton ( the solid Laura De Carteret ) are left to fend off the seemingly unstoppable supernatural maniac . Capably directed by make-up effects maestro Bob Keen , with slick , shadowy photography by David Mitchell , a constant snappy pace , an effectively spooky'n'shuddery score by Eric Cadesky and Nick Dyer , several grisly shock set pieces ( the sequence where Chambers blithely butchers an emergency room full of screaming and terrified folks is especially potent and unnerving ) , a suitably creepy claustrophobic atmosphere , and sound acting from a sturdy cast ( beloved genre icon Robert Englund in particular does well in a refreshing change-of-pace good guy part as a friendly , folksy sheriff ) , " Heartstopper " delivers a reasonable amount of thrills and tension as its grim and gripping story unfolds . With his big , bald head , deep , growly voice , powerful muscular build , and calmly malevolent demeanor , Chambers makes for a genuinely fearsome and imposing homicidal fiend . A good'n'gory little horror item that doesn't break any new or original ground , but still does the trick in a perfectly enjoyable and straightforward manner just the same . |
518,201 | 8,239,592 | 478,188 | 8 | A fun fantasy adventure flick | A commercial airliner crashes in a remote Amazon jungle . The motley group of survivors find themselves in a strange and dangerous world populated by big deadly spiders , giant scorpions , winged reptiles , killer sentient vines , a lethal native tribe , and a fearsome towering ape . Director / co-writer Leigh Scott relates the absorbing premise at a steady , snappy pace , maintains an admirably serious tone throughout , and stages the thrilling action scenes with a reasonable amount of flair . Moreover , the sturdy cast all deliver solid and spirited performances : Bruce Boxleitner as the huffy , enigmatic Lt . Challenger , Rhett Giles as the stalwart , resourceful John Roxton , Jeff Denton as the likable , sensible Ed Malone , Sarah Lieving as plucky photographer Rita Summerlee , Christina Rosenberg as fidgety , foxy California babe Dana , Chriss Anglin as nasty native tribe leader Olo , Amanda Ward as pretty stewardess Natalie , Boni Yamagisawa as feisty native girl Tianka , and Thomas Downey as the jerky Reggie . Steve Railsback contributes an especially lively turn as the deranged Larry . Steve Parker's crisp cinematography and Ralph Rieckermann's robust , rousing score are both up to speed . Plus there's a decent smidgen of gore , a dab of tasty female nudity , and a welcome absence of both pretense and cheesy oneliners . Granted , the CGI creatures are really tacky and unconvincing , but that criticism aside this flick overall sizes up as one hell of an enjoyable romp . |
519,058 | 8,239,592 | 493,231 | 8 | A hilariously horrendous low-budget action hoot | A bunch of nasty thugs who work for vicious crime kingpin Hawthorne ( a deliciously hammy portrayal by Tom Story ) kill both the father and fiancé of ace martial artist Alex Hunter ( a hopelessly wooden performance by real-life kickboxing champion Curtis Bush ) . The thugs severely beat Alex up , but don't finish him off . Big mistake . After being nursed back to health and extensively trained in the fine art of down'n'dirty streetfighting by tough , yet friendly crippled black Vietnam veteran Joshua ( amiable Rod Suiter ) , Alex decks himself out in black ninja garb , assumes the gnarly name the Dark Angel , and declares open season on no-count criminal scum who terrorize the streets of the city . Naturally , everything eventually culminates in the inevitable showdown between Alex and Hawthorne and his army of mean flunkies . Man , does this often uproariously atrocious honey possess all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a real four-star stinkeroonie : we've got totally all-thumbs ( mis ) direction by Mardy Smith , laughably lousy acting by a game , but lame no-name cast , tin-eared dialogue , a funky , syncopated synthesizer score by Danny Dennison , a by-the-numbers hackneyed and predictable script by Kathy Varner , clunky action set pieces , a gut-busting godawful ending credits theme song , and an " it ain't over yet " sequel set-up conclusion ( alas , said sequel has so far not been made ) . Moreover , this flick offers an inspired sense of the absurd . For example , every back alley , parking lot and street corner in the city just happens to have nefarious hoodlums on it . Plus Alex magically pops up out of nowhere to save the day time and time again . Bonus points are in order for Kim Reynolds as feisty meddlesome tabloid newspaper reporter Cassie : Although the lovely lass probably couldn't act her way out of a soggy cardboard box , Miss Reynolds still gets my respect because she apparently never bothers to wear underwear and takes a wholly gratuitous , but still much-appreciated bath so male viewers can drool over her luscious naked body . In addition , this movie really pours on the marvelously excessive brutal and gory over-the-top violence : throats are sliced open , heads are blown up , hands are cut off , and , in the undeniable sidesplitting splatter highlight , an irate female motorist runs over the head of a would-be carjacker . While by no means a genuinely good picture , this baby nonetheless does possess a certain clumsy sincerity which in turn greatly enhances its considerable campy charm . A complete cruddy riot . |
519,337 | 8,239,592 | 74,228 | 8 | A hugely enjoyable 70's redneck crime / action exploitation treat | Bored and brassy small town carhop waitress and aspiring country singer Bobbie Jo Baker ( a splendidly sassy'n'sexy portrayal by the luscious Lynda Carter of TV's " Wonder Woman " fame ) hooks up with brash wannabe Billy the Kid-style modern-day fugitive Lyle Wheeler ( a wonderfully robust and engaging performance by Marjoe Gortner ) and his rowdy gang of outlaws . The wild'n'crazy bunch embark on a merry crime spree in dusty New Mexico . Directed with tremendous rip-roaring flair by Mark Lester , with a compact , colorful script by " Unholy Rollers " director Vernon Zimmerman , a constant fast pace , bright , sunny cinematography by Stanley Wright , occasional outbursts of bloody violence , plenty of rousing action ( the car chases and shoot-outs are staged with considerable exciting aplomb ) , Carter's legendary eye-popping topless scenes , the catchy , reflective theme song " City Lights " sung by Bobby Bare , and an uncompromisingly downbeat ending , this sturdy little item really delivers the satisfying lowdown trashy exploitation picture goods . The bang-up cast qualifies as another substantial asset : Merrie Lynn Ross as Bobbie Jo's bubbly sister Pearl , Jesse Vint as Pearl's volatile boyfriend Slick , the adorable Belinda Balaski as Bobbie Jo's sweet best gal pal Essie , Gerrit Graham as groovy hippie commune leader Magic Ray , Gene Drew as mean hillbilly Sheriff Hicks , and " Devil Times Five " screenwriter John Durren as equally nasty Deputy Abel Gance . A fun romp . |
519,216 | 8,239,592 | 65,462 | 8 | A worthy sequel to the outstanding original | The first and probably best of four rather variable sequels to the fantastic ' 67 original begins with the almighty Charlton Heston as the unhinged and embittered Taylor disappearing into the dreaded Forbidden Zone . James Franciscus acquits himself reasonably well as Brent , an astronaut who crashlands on the planet of the apes who's looking for Taylor . Meanwhile an angry army of hostile gorillas led by the brutish General Ursus ( marvelously essayed with fiery aplomb by James Gregory ) go marching off into the Forbidden Zone to make war with the mutants who reside within it . It's with the deliciously deranged race of grotesque telepathic subterranean humanoid mutants that this film really comes into its own as one beautifully bent , batty and berserk mondo freako number : Besides being played by such excellent thespians as legendary acting teacher Jeff Corey , corpulent character actor Victor Buono , the imposing Don Pedro Colley , and fetching " Apes " sequel perennial Natalie Trundy , these gloriously gonzo kooks have developed a wonderfully wacko alternate religion that worships a lethal nuclear missile ( " Glory be to the bomb / And to the holy fall-out " ) . Ted Post's briskly efficient direction maintains a steady snappy pace throughout and stages the frequent stirring action scenes with exciting élan . Maurice Evans as the wise Dr . Zaius and Kim Hunter as the compassionate Zira make welcome encore appearances . Milton Krasner's crisp cinematography , Leonard Rosenman's primal , rousing score and the nifty special effects ( the matte paintings of a ruined New York City are simply spectacular ) are all up to par fine and impressive . Moreover , there's an ample amount of beefcake and cheesecake on display here : the gorgeous Linda Harrison looks positively smoking hot in her fur bikini outfit while both the brawny Heston and the equally muscular Franciscus spend a sizable bulk of their screen time clad solely in loincloths . The incredibly downbeat and startling nihilistic apocalyptic ending concludes things on a fabulously pessimistic note , with the superbly sonorous narration by ubiquitous voice actor extraordinaire Paul Frees qualifying as the tasty cherry on an already quite scrumptious oddball sci-fi cinema cake . |
517,980 | 8,239,592 | 95,354 | 8 | A compellingly stark and harsh allegory on human cruelty | Character actor Everett McGill gives an excellent performance in a rare substantial starring role as Oberlus , a bitter and misanthropic outcast harpooner with a grotesquely disfigured face which gives him a hideous lizard-like appearance . Oberlus is severely mistreated by his fellow sailors , so one night he escapes to a small remote island . Oberlus makes himself ruler of the island and declares war on the rest of mankind . Anyone luckless enough to wash up on the shore of this island becomes subject to Oberlus ' cruel tyranny . Cult director Monte Hellman offers an intriguing and provocative allegory on the darkest and most bestial aspects of human nature , specifically addressing how a man can be transformed into a foul and vicious monster by the inhumanity of others . McGill excels as the angry and venomous Oberlus ; he receives fine support from Fabio Testi as his mean chief tormentor Gamboa , the lovely Maru Valdivielso as the fiery , free-spirited Carmen , Joseph Culp as whiny intellectual Dominic , Michael Madsen as the cowed Sebastian , and Jack Taylor as a stern ship captain . Josep M . Civit's bright , crisp cinematography , Franco Campanino's haunting score ( the ending credits theme song sung by Joni Mitchell is truly beautiful ) , and the poignant ending further add to the overall hypnotic power of this offbeat and interesting item . |
517,948 | 8,239,592 | 65,481 | 8 | Shelley Winters excels in this enjoyably sleazy Depression-era mobster winner | The late , great , sorely missed Shelley Winters really lets it all hang out with her savage , forceful and brave portrayal of notorious Depression-era crime matron Kate " Ma " Barker , who along with her twisted sons embarks on a wild anything-goes crime spree in the Deep South . Her ungodly dysfunctional brood includes a scrawny and sweaty Robert De Niro as a pathetic heroin addict , Don Stroud as a volatile , temperamental brute , and Robert Walden of TV's " Lou Grant " fame as a sniveling passive homosexual with dominating Bruce Dern as his gay lover ( ! ) . Expertly directed by legendary B-movie maestro Roger Corman from an unsparingly harsh and caustic script by Robert Thom ( who also wrote the acrid screenplays for " Wild in the Streets , " " Death Race 2000 , " and " The Witch Who Came from the Sea " ) , this squalid whitetrash crime melodrama packs one hell of a mean and lingering punch . Kudos are in order for the uniformly excellent acting from a first-rate cast , with especially praiseworthy work by Pat Hingle as a rich businessman who's abducted by the dastardly Barker clan and Diane Varsi as a hardened , much-abused hooker . A very young and skinny pre-stardom De Niro is a real stand-out as a pitiful junkie who resorts to sniffing glue when he can't find any smack to shoot up . ( Winters actually recommended to Corman that he cast De Niro in this role . ) The conclusion likewise rates as a total corker , with Winters maniacally ranting and raving like an absolute lunatic as the police surround the Barker house . Winters also played Ma Barker on the " Batman " TV show . This gritty gangster gem rates highly as one of Corman's best and most underrated movies . |
519,074 | 8,239,592 | 65,483 | 8 | One of Andy Milligan's better horror films | Prissy priest Algernon Ford ( an effectively smug and sinister portrayal by Gavin Reed ) is really a vampire who's organizing a gala annual feast for his fellow bloodsuckers . Assisted by pathetic hunchback Spool ( the pitiable Berwick Kaler ) and a trio of grotesque green-skinned vampire women , Ford has grisly plans for two of his luckless lady relatives : pregnant Susan ( comely Jackie Skarvellis ) gets chosen to be a breeder for vampire babies while lovely Candace ( ravishing redhead Emma Jones ) will be used as a blood donor . Writer / director Andy Milligan , whose movies are usually hopelessly cheap , static and inept , here shows a surprisingly substantial amount of flair and finesse . The rough , grainy , but still fairly polished cinematography in particular is occasionally impressive . The neatly varied score alternates between lush orchestral film library music and wonky , droning , atonal synthesizer noises . The gloomy British countryside adds considerably to the spooky and decadent Gothic atmosphere . The solid acting from the competent cast rates as another sterling asset : Reed truly excels in the lead , with sturdy support from Skarvellis , Kaler , Jones , Richmond Ross as Susan's brave , likable boyfriend Paul Donati , Susan Heard as Algernon's fetching , reticent wife Alicia , Felicity Sentence as brassy maid Jessie , and Judith Head as fiery vampiress Elizabeth . In addition , this film takes some interesting liberties with the standard vampire lore : These bloodsuckers don't have fangs , can walk around in the sunlight , and take regular blood transfusions to keep themselves strong . The climactic vampires ' ball is both pleasingly lavish and appropriately gruesome . Nice dark surprise ending , too . A nifty vampire horror picture . |
519,201 | 8,239,592 | 65,478 | 8 | A delightfully scuzzy serving of pure 70's drive-in swill | Ruthless and unhinged predatory psycho nympho slut Victoria Waterman ( deliciously overplayed with lip-smacking wicked aplomb by foxy brunette knockout Maria De Aragon ) kills her ailing wealthy father Rideley Waterman ( a memorably grumpy Eric Allison ) so she can get her grubby hands on his substantial inheritance . Complications ensue when Victoria's sweet younger sister Gail ( lovely blonde looker Vicki Peters ) winds up receiving the bulk of Daddy's money . Director Robert Vincent O'Neill , working from a blithely sordid and shameless script by Peter Carpenter , Tony Crechales and Toby Sacher , cheerfully wallows in the sewer and really delivers the sensationally slimy goods : we've got plentiful tasty female nudity ( De Aragon in particular looks positively stunning sans clothes ) , sizzling soft-core sex , nasty plot twists , a little drug use , mean , greedy , back-stabbing amoral characters , occasional outbursts of wild gruesome violence , and a pleasingly grim bummer ending . Moreover , the cast have a completely field day with their juicy roles : De Aragon makes for a marvelously ferocious and intimidating femme fatale , co-writer Carpenter holds his own as hunky family doctor Craig Cooper , plus there are neat supporting turns by Reagan Wilson as Cooper's nice , loyal girlfriend Cheryl , Leslie Simms as doting nurse Turner , Arell Blanton as smugly evil blackmailer Larry , and Alex Rocco as a by-the-book lawyer . The garish cinematography by Robert Maxwell and Gary Graver further enhances the pervasive seaminess . Don Vincent's wailing , overwrought , groovy-stomping psychedelic rock score hits the funky bull's eye , too . A total trashy treat . |
519,060 | 8,239,592 | 66,553 | 8 | A hugely enjoyable and evenhanded depiction of the early 70's youth scene | Square middle-aged movie director Jim Carlton ( nicely played by George E . Carey , who also produced the picture and co-wrote the story ) befriends sweet , but foxy and enticing teenage babysitter Candy Wilson ( a winningly warm and sincere performance by gorgeously voluptuous brunette stunner Susan Romen ) . Candy shows Jim the real swinging 70's youth scene and eventually has a steamy May-December fling with him . Meanwhile , Jim's pathetic shrewish junkie wife Mona ( a perfectly bitchy Luanne Roberts ) runs afoul of slimy drug dealer Rich Harris ( a pleasingly nasty portrayal by James Almanzar ) . Director Tom Laughlin , working from a pretty thoughtful and sensitive , yet still quite trashy and melodramatic script by James E . McLarty ( who has a small part as friendly dock worker Smitty ) , admirably doesn't wallow in the sleaze to the ninth degree ; instead Laughlin offers a tasty , vivid and refreshingly nonjudgmental evocation of the happening early 70's youth culture ( the sequence where several affable hippies teach Jim the proper way to toke on a joint is a real hoot ! ) . Yes , this film does deliver a generous sprinkling of yummy female nudity and a few fairly hot soft-core sex scenes , but overall it's not the all-out crassly lurid piece of pandering sleaze that its premise suggests it might be . The hippie characters are shown in a positive light while Jim is drawn as a basically decent and well-meaning guy . Carey and Romen are both fine in the lead roles ; they receive sturdy support from Annik Borel as Harris ' kinky bisexual girlfriend Doris , Anthony Victor as browbeaten , sympathetic flunky Sancho , Bob Bernard as amiable longhair A . K . , and Gloria Hill as fetching , flighty hippie chick Mary Mary . Both Jack Steely's sharp cinematography and Robert O . Ragland's groovy-jammin ' score are up to par . A cool little flick . |
519,072 | 8,239,592 | 493,260 | 8 | A touching documentary about the more human side of Sam Peckinpah | Legendary tough guy director Sam Peckinpah's sister Fern Lea Peter reminisces about growing up with Sam . She talks about an incident when Sam fell off a horse and broke his back , how in the Peckinpah family you hunted always for food instead of sport , how her father was a judge and died at a fairly young age ( had her father lived Fern claims Sam would have turned out differently ) , a split between her and Sam that was later fixed when they both attended a Golden Boot Awards Show for him ( Peckinpah sadly died a few months after the show ) , how Sam got his artistic side from his mother , and how in his hometown Sam is not as revered as he should be . In addition , Fern points out how her father was a major influence on the Joel McCrea character in Sam's terrific Western gem " Ride the High Country . " This lovely and moving documentary gives the viewer some invaluable insight into how Sam's childhood days played a key role in shaping him into the troubled man and insanely brilliant artist that he grew up to become . This poignant documentary is absolutely essential viewing for Sam Peckinpah fans . |
518,740 | 8,239,592 | 74,130 | 8 | A nicely silly and enjoyable 70's crime caper yarn | Earnest , but rather inept treasury agent James Franciscus enlists the aid of an elderly erstwhile con man turned wise , amiable religious kook decent cat ( a delightfully droll Fred Astaire , who played a similar part in " The Towering Inferno " ) and the old dude's special collection of versatile police trained Dobermans so he can collar a brutish , browbeating , money-grubbing racketeer ( a robust , blustery turn by veteran Catskills comic Jack Carter ) and his gang of nasty goons . Ably directed by Byron Ross Chudnow , this honey sizes up as a really solid and on the mark semi-facetious crime caper yarn that's given an additional lift out of the rut by future big deal mainstream film composer Alan ( " Back to the Future , " " Predator " ) Silvestri's funky , with-it get-down groovy soul score , clear , expert cinematography by frequent Monte Hellman movie lenser Gregory ( " Ride in the Whirlwind , " " The Shooting " ) Sandor , the gorgeous Barbara Eden in scanty , sexy , revealing apparel ( you even get to see Barbara's navel ! ) , a winningly loopy sense of humor ( Fred calls his dobies his " family " ) , the always great Billy Barty as a circus midget , lots of first-rate stirring scenes of the Dobermans in strenuous gangster-thwarting action , and adroit occasional use of wipes , slow motion , hazy soft focus , and other such snazzy 70's cutting edge action film stylistic flourishes . Refreshingly straightforward and bereft of any pretense , this feature overall deserves a golden milkbone . |
519,073 | 8,239,592 | 260,492 | 8 | A compellingly stark and sordid depiction of the 60's New York gay bath house scene | Awkward young gay man Thomas ( an engagingly gawky performance by Gerard Jacuzzo ) goes to a bath house and encounters a diverse array of homosexual guys . Thomas strikes up a rapport with the friendly , but frustrated and unhappily married Mr . Jaffee ( superbly played with riveting gravitas by Robert Dahdah ) . Andy Milligan , working from a sharp , bold , incisive script by Hope Stansbury , does an expert job of creating and sustaining an arrestingly gritty and seedy atmosphere while delivering a rough-around-the-edges , yet touching and compassionate cinematic meditation on loneliness and the basic human need for direct emotional contact . This movie boasts several poignant and powerful moments , with Mr . Jaffee's sad monologue about the tragic untimely drowning death of his son rating as a positively gut-wrenching highlight . The first-rate naturalistic acting from a uniformly tip-top cast qualifies as another significant asset : Jacuzzo and Dahdah are outstanding in the leads , with fine support from Hal Borske as the bitter , spiteful Mavis , Hal Sherwood as the effeminate Miss Parrish , Richard Goldberger as the catty Thumbelina , and Ron Keith as an aggressive seducer . Milligan's raw and grainy 16mm black and white hand-held cinematography further adds to the jolting impact and immediacy of this intriguing short feature . Proof positive that Andy Milligan could make a genuinely good picture when given the right material to work with . |
517,951 | 8,239,592 | 87,556 | 8 | An absolute cruddy riot | Rugged , drippy Los Angeles Lt . James Long ( drab , pudgy chopsocky movie star Leo Fong ) and smooth FBI Agent Bill Bryant ( the always cool Richard Roundtree of " Shaft " fame ) join forces to thwart irritable , racist sicko illegal arms dealer Joe Marks ( a deliciously hammy over-the-top performance by the ubiquitous Cameron Mitchell ) and his vicious henchman Nighthawk ( a pleasingly nasty turn by Stack Pierce ) . Meanwhile , a heavily armed gang of ferocious hoodlums runs amok on the streets of the city , blithely blowing away scores of innocent bystanders in such public places as restaurants and supermarkets . Written , directed , edited and photographed with astounding hamfistedness by Frank Harris , with copious amounts of excessive violence , rank amateurish acting by a no-name supporting cast , a cheesy rockin ' synthesizer score , a nonstop quick pace , a few badly staged martial arts fight scenes , a smidgen of nudity , a terrible ending credits theme song , and an extremely high body count , this laughably lousy mid 80's action schlock gut-buster provides a wondrous wealth of unintentional laughs . Hope Holiday , who also co-starred with Mitchell in " Raw Force " and " Texas Lightning , " briefly pops up as an ill-fated whorehouse madam . A total tacky hoot . |
518,425 | 8,239,592 | 65,491 | 8 | Ugly , repulsive and unpleasant for sure , but still undeniably effective and upsetting stuff | The wicked Lord Cumberland ( splendidly played with venomous aplomb by Herbert Lom ) tortures and murders various hapless folks who have been accused of witchcraft in 18th century Austria . The vicious Albino ( the strikingly ugly Reggie Nalder in peak nasty form ) , naive young pupil Count Christian von Meruh ( a solid performance by a really young Udo Kier ) , and sadistic executioner Jeff Wilkens ( a perfectly hateful Herbert Fux ) assist Cumberland in his savage crusade . Director Michael Armstrong presents the bleak story in a grimly serious and straightforward manner , creating a glum , hopeless and despairing humorless tone which in turn makes the plentiful foul and disgusting violence displayed herein that much more horrific and disturbing . Moreover , Armstrong certainly doesn't flinch from pouring on the nauseating brutality with shocking ferocity : women are burned at the stake , tongues are torn out by the roots , people are repeatedly stabbed , a nude man gets placed on a chair made out of spikes , and one unfortunate guy is subjected to agonizingly prolonged water torture . Poor Michael Maien as Baron Daumer in particular gets severely mistreated by his cruel tormentors . Among the lovely young ladies who are grossly manhandled are Olivera Vuco as fiery peasant girl Vanessa Benedikt , Gaby Fuchs as beautiful blonde Deirdre , and Ingeborg Shoner as the luscious nobleman's wife . Worse yet , all this ghastly depravity has a depressing basis in historical fact . Both Michael Holm's lush , melodic score and Ernst W . Kalinke's pretty , polished cinematography serve as sharply ironic contrasts to the incessant parade of horrendous on-screen atrocities . For all the admitted vile sensationalism , this picture does offer a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy and debauchery committed by evil men doing God's work in a time when fear and superstition were the repressive norms . A harsh and unsparingly revolting ordeal of a film that definitely lives up to its notoriously sick reputation . |
519,130 | 8,239,592 | 122,757 | 8 | A nifty little low-budget serial killer thriller | A vicious serial killer terrorizes the city by brutally strangling attractive young women . Weary , cynical Detective Grant Sutherland ( a fine performance by Kent Rulon ) enlists the aid of blind , fragile psychic Maggie Russo ( a strong and touching portrayal by the lovely Diane Grotke ) in order to capture the psycho . Writer / director Richard Brody relates the compelling story at a steady pace , effectively builds plenty of gut-wrenching tension , maintains a properly grim'n'gritty tone throughout , and stages the startling outbursts of raw , ugly violence with considerable skill . Moreover , the excellent acting by the tip-top cast rates as another substantial asset : Rulon and Grotke display a very nice and moving chemistry in the leads ( the love story between their lonely characters is surprisingly poignant and their sole sex scene is genuinely erotic ) , with bang-up supporting turns by James Doohan ( Scotty on " Star Trek " ) as crusty retired cop Barney Fredericks , Isabel Parlett as Grant's spunky , ill-fated partner Detective Lucy Bernard , and Ann Parker as quirky costume store owner Miss Konkle . Jonathan Burkhart's polished cinematography offers several smooth tracking shots and a few impressive overhead camera shots . David Bruce Goldberg's shivery , ominous score hits the shuddery spot . The shockingly bleak surprise ending packs one hell of a wicked wallop . A real sleeper . |
518,145 | 8,239,592 | 70,393 | 8 | A splendidly hard-edged Italian crime thriller knockout | After his beloved mentor and superior gets killed , rough'n'tumble loose cannon police lieutenant Giorgio Caneparo ( well played by the handsome and charismatic Luc Merenda ) goes undercover as a vicious criminal in order to infiltrate the bank robbing gang responsible for the hit . Director Sergio Martino , working from a tough , complex script by Ernesto Gastaldi and taking a break from his usual giallo murder mystery thrillers , takes a welcome stab at the Italian crime thriller genre and comes up with an impressively tight , gripping and hard-hitting winner : the constant quick pace rarely flags , the tone is appropriately harsh and no-nonsense ( several innocent bystanders get killed which include a little girl and a pregnant woman ! ) , there are occasional startling outbursts of brutal'n'bloody violence , the intricate narrative offers plenty of neat twists and turns , and the action set pieces ate deftly staged with rip-roaring élan ( a couple of protracted car chases are especially exciting ) . This film further benefits from excellent acting by a tip-top cast : Merenda makes for a perfectly rugged and amoral anti-hero , Richard Conte lends able support as smooth capo Padulo , and the lovely Martine Brochard acquits herself nicely as brassy junkie prostitute Maria . Kudos are also in order for Giancarlo Ferrando's fluid , polished cinematography , the moody , groovy score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis , and the bitterly cynical bummer ending which concludes everything on a satisfyingly downbeat note . Highly recommended viewing for Italian crime cinema fans . |
518,855 | 8,239,592 | 451,187 | 8 | A nifty supernatural horror mood piece | Troubled young schoolteacher Amy Roberts ( a sound and sympathetic performance by the lovely Christine Taylor ) and her nice fiancé Nick ( likable Shane Bolly ) get into a car accident . Nick gets whisked away to a nearby hospital . Amy tries to find Nick to no avail . Assisted by the friendly Lucas Dylan ( an appealing turn by Jerry O'Connell ) , Amy discovers that Nick was taken to a mysterious hospital called St . Rosemary's that burned down a long time ago . Can Amy and Lucas save Nick from this hellish place ? Director / co-writer Mike Hurst relates the compellingly vague and spooky premise at a deliberate pace and does an expert job of gradually building a genuinely eerie , unsettling and disorienting atmosphere which becomes more increasingly freaky and nightmarish as the narrative progresses towards its nerve-jangling conclusion . The fine acting from a capable cast helps a lot : Taylor and Bolly make for engaging leads , O'Connell does well in a change-of-pace straight role , plus there's excellent support from Chloe Moretz as helpful little girl Melissa Newman , Mary Pat Gleason as the stern , fearsome Nurse Holiday , Ellie Cornell as Melissa's scruffy white trash mother Sarah , Kane Hodder as a nasty , menacing homeless guy , Lisa Ann Walter as the mean , sarcastic Sergeant Burch , and Marshall Bell as Amy's sickly dad . Raymond Stella's slick , shadowy cinematography , Joe Kraemer's shivery score , and the clammy , claustrophobic hospital setting all further enhance the flesh-crawling weirded-out mood . Moreover , the resolution at the very end is surprisingly poignant . A pleasingly creepy fright feature . |
518,406 | 8,239,592 | 136,376 | 8 | A compellingly bizarre , yet tasteful tale of necrophilia | Frigid , remote and repressed young Lindsay Finch ( a fine performance by gorgeous blonde Mary Wilcox of " Beast of the Yellow Night " ) has a morbid fascination with the recently deceased : she frequently attends funerals of complete strangers and finds herself drawn to a depraved cult of corpse-loving freaks led by sinister undertaker Fred McSweeney ( a pleasingly creepy portrayal by Timothy Scott ) . Lindsay attempts a normal romantic relationship with nice guy Alex Martin ( a likable turn by " The Carol Burnett Show " regular Lyle Waggoner ) , but alas things don't work out . Writer / director Jacques Lacerte relates the gloomy story at a stately pace , does a sound job of creating a suitably eerie and downbeat tone , and treats the unsavory subject matter with commendable taste and restraint . Wilcox shines in the lead role ; she manages to make Lindsay a movingly troubled and sympathetic character despite her ghoulish sexual interest with the dead . Wilcox receives excellent support from Waggoner , Scott , Christopher Stone as amorously aggressive stud Wade Farrow , and William Quinn as ill-fated male hustler Billy Jo ( who in the film's single most gruesome and unnerving scene winds up being embalmed alive by Fred ! ) . David Aaron's bright , pretty cinematography gives the picture an attractive sunny look . Phil Moody's neatly varied score alternates between spooky'n'shuddery chillshow stuff and more bouncy and upbeat music . The hauntingly melancholy titular theme song sung by Kit Fuller is quite memorable . But what really makes this film so surprisingly poignant and effective is the fact that at its core is a very sad and tragic doomed love story . An interesting and refreshingly different kind of fright feature . |
518,165 | 8,239,592 | 65,553 | 8 | A deliciously campy variant on " Ten Little Indians " | A small group of hip and debauched rich swingers are invited to a remote island for some rest and relaxation by wealthy industrialist George Stark ( a perfectly smarmy Teodoro Corra ) . Honest Professor Fritz Farrell ( nicely played by William Berger ) has a formula that everyone wants exclusive dibs on . Pretty soon people start getting bumped off by a vicious killer . Director Mario Bava , working from a rather flimsy script by Mario de Nardo , injects a wickedly warped sense of black humor into the standard plot ( the corpses are all hung up on hooks in a meat freezer ! ) and further jazz things up with his trademark dazzling visual pizazz ( the wacky occasional use of zoom-in close-ups is especially hysterical ) . Moreover , we've got a bevy of beautiful ladies on abundant display throughout ; the insanely gorgeous Edwige Fenech in particular positively ignites the screen with her smoldering hot presence and spends the bulk of her screen time clad in revealing outfits that show off her fabulously full figure . Better still , the victims are an unlikable bunch of selfish and greedy upper-class jerks who wholly deserve their brutal fates , thereby making this picture work as a kind of dark and nasty satire on the blithely decadent vices of the privileged social elite . Piero Umiliani's bubbly , groovy lounge score , the sharp , sarcastic dialogue , Antonio Rinaldi's bright , glossy , wildly stylized cinematography , the outrageously tacky clothes , the sublimely ridiculous surprise twist conclusion , and the incredibly funky garage rock ending credits theme song all add immensely to the overall infectiously kitschy fun . |
518,862 | 8,239,592 | 64,573 | 8 | A potent , poignant and overall disturbing teen coming-of-age drama sleeper | A strikingly clear-eyed and nonjudgmental portrait of adolescent explorations into sex , friendship , loyalty and cruelty which deftly captures the essential amorality and irresponsibility of that uncertain period of one's life with considerable candor and an admirable dearth of sentiment . Three carefree , unsupervised teenagers - - conniving , domineering , flirtatious strumpet Sandy ( a deliciously wicked Barbara Hershey , wearing a skimpy bikini outfit that shows off a lot of her toothsome , voluptuous figure ) , aggressively libidinous Dan ( Bruce Davison in his solid film debut ) , and the slightly more thoughtful Peter ( a strong turn by Richard Thomas ) - - become involved in a playfully steamy menage a trois on Long Island's tranquil Fire Island resort . The two guys are both completely infatuated with Sandy and vie with each other to seduce her . The rowdy trio engage in a wild group grope in a movie theater , drink beer , smoke grass , nurse a wounded seagull back to health , bask in the sun's unwavering rays , and cut loose during an especially crazed impromptu heavy petting / hair washing session . Their delicate , uninhibited fantasy world gets upset when pallid , pudgy , deeply uptight and morally responsible plain jane Rhoda ( superbly played by the endearingly ungainly Cathy Burns , who deservedly got an Oscar nomination for her first-rate performance ) enters their precious circle and steals Peter's attention away from Sandy . Eleanor Perry's astute , keenly observed script offers many painfully truthful moments as the gawky , confused main characters grapple with mortality ( Rhoda's monologue about the untimely death of her mother is simply incredible ) , intense , unfulfilled sexual longings , sexual rivalry , and feelings of extreme callousness . Directed with great tact and restraint by Frank Perry , gorgeously shot in dewy , creamy , golden-hued soft focus by Gerald Hirshfeld ( the expansive beachside scenery is positively beautiful ) , and marvelously acted by a fine cast , " Last Summer " rates as a quietly potent , poignant and disturbing sleeper . |
518,641 | 8,239,592 | 83,163 | 8 | A hilariously raucous redneck comedy hoot | Johnny Paycheck's super fed-up with being exploited by the Man proletarian honky-tonk rant , written by ex-convict David Allan Coe , was turned into one of the true unsung classic films of the early 80s . It's a rowdy , boisterous , high-spirited seriocomic slice-of-blue-collar-life redneck romp about refusing to kowtow to any big company nonsense and taking charge of your own destiny . Eager beaver hotshot corporate executive Robert Hays returns to his podunk burg home town to get the sagging local brewery back on its feet again . He changes the operation with mixed results : the company suits are happy , but the workers are discontent . Will Hays do the right thing and tell the top brass to shove it ? Man , does baby cover all the necessary bases : a top-notch country-and-western soundtrack , a monster truck race , romance , cussin ' , authentically funky locations ( e . g . , smoky taverns and low-rent bowling alleys ) , a wild barroom football game , working class angst and frustration , and , best of all , a rousing stick it to the head honchos workers revolt conclusion . The uniformly excellent cast includes Barbara Hershey as Hays ' feisty ex-girlfriend , David Keith and Tim Thomerson as scruffy good ol ' boys , Art Carney as the plant manager , Martin Mull as an obsequious company man boot-licker , Eddie Albert as an ahole CEO , Len Lesser as a jerk foreman , country singer Charlie Rich as a rival corporate head , Royal Dano as an elderly factory worker , and James Karen as Carney's right-hand man . Directed with tremendous flair by Gus Trikonis ( his previous hick flicks include " Nashville Girl " and " Moonshine County Express " ) and affectionately written by Barry Schneider , this unjustly overlooked darling is just ripe for rediscovery . |
519,221 | 8,239,592 | 282,163 | 8 | Good , enjoyably cheesy slasher fun | Okay , please stop me if you've heard this one before . Seven totally obnoxious and unlikeable beer-chugging , snowboard-surfing , sex-obsessed party hearty college coed kids decide to spend a weekend of fun and frolics at a remote abandoned ski lodge . Naturally , they trespass , do drugs and make out . Of course , they ignore the local townspeople's warning that said lodge may be haunted by the spirit of a little girl who was accidentally killed in a tragic accident a while back . And , biggest surprise of all , some murderous mystery maniac proceeds to viciously bump off the wholly deserving chowderheads one at a time . This entertainingly tacky and silly by-the-numbers body count slice'n'dice fright flick starts out a little slow and clumsy , but steadily improves and gains momentum as it goes along . Director / co-writer Greg Huson fails to build any tension or create a creepy atmosphere , but he does keep the pace moving forward at a steady clip , stages the nicely gruesome murder set pieces with a reasonable amount of flair ( gory highlights include two beheadings by steel wire , a hanging by scarf from a ski lift , and an especially nifty impalement by icicle ) , and elicits acceptable performances from an attractive cast of young unknowns . Better yet , the female cast members are all smoking hot ( luscious brunette looker Holly Towne in particular is a major babe who even bares her tasty bod in a fairly steamy sex scene ) , the snow-covered wintry landscapes look gorgeous , and there's plenty of choice stupid dialogue ( " I don't ski - I shred " ) . Charles A . Schner's polished cinematography , Alan Derian's spooky score , and the occasionally snazzy MTV-style flashy jump editing are all likewise up to par . Granted , this sure ain't anything terribly special or remarkable , but this pleasingly modest little piece of low-budget horror junk does the trick all the same . |
519,225 | 8,239,592 | 96,142 | 8 | A good'n'goofy piece of total unapologetic late 80's low budget comic horror trash | As this film's gloriously bold title alone suggests this sure ain't no exceptionally smart , subtle and sophisticated work of remarkable cinematic art . Instead it's total unmitigated lowbrow crap , plain and simple ( with a definite emphasis on the simple , too ) . The so-called plot concerns two overaged , but very fetching sorority pledges and a trio of moronic , obnoxious frat boys who have to break into a bowling alley late at night and steal a bowling trophy as part of an initiation prank . The dim-witted quintet accidentally unleash a mischievous and diabolical imp who speaks with a pretty dreadful ersatz African American accent ; said troublesome little bugger gleefully wreaks plenty of enjoyably inane tongue-in-cheek supernatural havoc upon the idiotic collegians . Tireless celluloid dreckmeister supreme David ( " Creepazoids , " " Deadly Embrace " ) DeCoteau keeps the silly shenanigans bumping along at a reasonably quick clip , the nonstop sophomoric gags are quite amusing in an admittedly crude sort of way , and both the cinematography and production values are surprisingly slick given the paltry nickel'n'dime budget . Moreover , immortal 80's trash horror scream queen Linnea ( " Silent Night , Deadly Night , " " The Return of the Living Dead " ) Quigley contributes a spirited and engaging performance as a spunky punkette burglar while the always reliable George " Buck " Flower lends able support as a frisky , doddering , irascible old coot of a hopelessly senile janitor . Better still , the sexy , slinky , smoldering Brinke ( " The Slumber Party Massacre " ) Stevens takes an utterly gratuitous , but much-appreciated lengthy shower and buxom brunette honey Michelle ( " Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers " ) Bauer spends the bulk of her screen time in the buff . Of course this film overall is essentially an extremely cheesy , lamebrained and worthless hunk of absolute junk , but this baby nonetheless still constitutes as one of those true schlock movie rarities : it's a thoroughly shameless , pointless and witless rip-snorting snotwad of a flick that's every bit as blithely tacky and trashy as its glaringly obvious title would suggest . I plead guilty as charged on the grounds that I dug every last sublimely stupid minute of this braindead timewaster . |
518,118 | 8,239,592 | 100,740 | 8 | A nifty horror anthology winner | Resourceful paperboy Timmy ( the adorable Matthew Lawrence ) relates a trio of scary stories to cheery witch Betty ( a delightfully wicked Deborah Harry of Blondie fame ) , who plans on cooking and eating the lad . First and most creepy anecdote , " Lot 249 " - Bitter luckless college student Bellingham ( splendidly played to the venomous hilt by the always great Steve Buscemi ) brings a mummy back to life so it can bump off his tormentors . Buscemi excels in this segment ; he receives sturdy support from Christian Slater as his only friend Andy and the ravishing Julianne Moore as evil tart Susan . Second and most enjoyable yarn , " The Cat from Hell " - Eccentric crippled millionaire Drogan ( William Hickey deliciously hamming it up for all its worth ) hires smooth professional hit-man Halston ( a nicely assured turn by rock singer David Johansen ) to bump off a lethal black cat . This outing benefits from lots of funky feline POV shots and boasts a terrifically gory ending . Third and most moving episode , " Lover's Vow " - Struggling artist Preston ( a fine James Remar in a refreshing change-of-pace good guy role ) makes a promise to a deadly gargoyle that he will never tell anyone he saw it . Preston meets and falls in love with the enchanting Carola ( a sweet and charming portrayal by the lovely Rae Dawn Chong ) . Can Preston keep his promise ? Or will he eventually tell Carola about the gargoyle ? Stand-up comedian Robert Klein has an amusing secondary part as Preston's stuffy agent Wyatt while Remar and Chong are both excellent in the leads . Director John Harrison maintains a steady pace throughout , does a sound job of creating and maintaining a suitably macabre atmosphere , tosses in cool moments of grisly splatter in every story , further enhances things with neat touches of dark humor ( Halston's attempts at staying calm and collected while trying to kill the cat in the second segment are especially funny ) , and brings an appropriately baroque EC comic book style to the material . Robert Draper's polished cinematography makes inspired frequent use of pans and wipes . The shivery score by Harrison , Chaz Jankel , Jim Manzie and Pat Regan likewise does the shuddery trick . The wrap-around story ties everything together in a pleasingly twisted way . Overall , this omnibus affair is well worth a look for fright feature fans . |
518,975 | 8,239,592 | 96,152 | 8 | An excellent and underrated late 80's witchcraft horror sleeper | One of my all-time favorite late 80's horror mystery thriller sleepers , this nifty little flick plays like a modestly budgeted " Fatal Attraction " crossed with " Rosemary's Baby . " Handsome nice guy Los Angeles lawyer Jeff Mills ( appealingly essayed by Timothy Daly ) saves the beautiful and enigmatic Miranda ( a strikingly sexy and mesmerizing Kelly Preston ) from a knife-wielding creep ( the astonishingly ugly and unnerving Anthony Crivello ) in a gymnasium parking lot . Jeff and Miranda immediately fall in love , finding happiness with each other . Unfortunately for them , Miranda turns out to be an honest-to-goodness witch who defected from a sinister coven that's keen on getting her back so she can be used as a sacrifice for the spring solstice . Director Janet Greek wisely allows the story to initially unfold at a leisurely pace , firmly grounding said plot in a nicely delineated everyday world which makes the supernatural aspects of the story seem plausible and thus all the more effectively scary . The performances are uniformly excellent , with especially solid turns by Rick Rossovich ( who got tossed through a wall by future California governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar in " The Terminator " ) as Jeff's best friend , Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as a hard-nosed police detective , the always delightful Diana Bellamy as Jeff's motherly , concerned secretary , M . C . Gainey as a paranoid wacko survivalist loner , and veteran thespians Audra Lindley and Stefan Gierasch as elderly members of the creepy coven . Moreover , Basil Poledouris supplies a splendidly spooky'n'shuddery score , the suspense steadily mounts as the movie progresses towards its harrowing conclusion , the slick cinematography gives the picture a glitteringly smooth and polished visual sheen , and Tracy Torme's clever script comes complete with a genuinely jolting socko surprise climactic twist . |
518,677 | 8,239,592 | 1,105,742 | 8 | A fun swamp-set horror creature feature | Sweet young Melanie Blaine ( winningly played by foxy brunette Cindy Sampson ) returns to her small backwoods country hometown of Gibbington to check on her estranged ex-lawman father Howard ( splendidly essayed with edgy intensity by Bruce Dern ) , who's the prime suspect in a series of grisly murders . Nice guy local Jimmy Fuller ( an excellent and likable performance by Nicolas Wright ) helps Melanie out . Melanie eventually discovers that a vicious monster is behind the killings . Director David Winning relates the absorbing story at a steady pace , offers a vivid and flavorsome evocation of the remote rural setting , maintains an admirably serious tone throughout , stages the attack scenes with flair , and develops a good deal of tension which culminates in a rousing climax . Moreover , the main characters are exceptionally well-drawn and engaging , with Wright a stand-out as the affable Jimmy . Sampson and the always reliable Dern do sterling work with their roles ; they receive sound support from Robert Higden as the vengeful , hot-tempered Jones , Allison Graham as eager , scrappy Deputy Jolene Harris , James Kidnie as earnest , upright Sheriff Nelson Bois , and Bronwen Mantel as folksy diner owner Shelly . The gnarly bayou beast that's made up of twigs and mud qualifies as a very cool creature ; the CGI effects used to bring it to life are above average and overall acceptable . The smart and compact script by Gary L . Dauberman and Ethlie Ann Vare has an interesting central theme about the fine line between justice and revenge . Daniel Vincelette's crisp cinematography makes nifty occasional use of a gliding Steadicam . James Gelford's shuddery score hits the shivery spot . A really enjoyable fright flick . |
519,269 | 8,239,592 | 91,818 | 8 | A refreshingly offbeat and original tongue-in-cheek 80's post-nuke sci-fi oddity | Writer / director Albert Pyun's first foray into post-nuke sci-fi / action cinema remains to this very day his single most novel and idiosyncratic entry in that sub-genre . It's a wickedly wacked-out black comic tongue-in-cheek end-of-the-world oddity which fuses vintage 40's film noir conventions - - morally upright gumshoes with a strong personal code of honor that's constantly being challenged by every twisted turn of the convoluted jigsaw plot , fetching femme fatales , evil criminal underground figures , hard-boiled introspective narration , assorted just - looking - out - for - themselves opportunistic low-life dirtbags double and triple crossing our amiably guileless heroes , dense , smoky , shadowy lighting , a gritty urban setting teeming with violence , corruption , treachery , and unremitting moral blackness , a fiery big gun-blasting shoot-out ending - - with a raucous , spiky , nose-thumbing 80's funk-punk sensibility . John Stockwell and Michael Dudikoff are utterly engaging as Phillip and Marlowe , a pair of cloddish , wet-behind-the-ears , pork-pie hat and trenchcoat-wearing innocents who pattern themselves after laconically cool private eyes after spending most of their lives reading pulpy crime thriller books in a subterranean nuclear fall-out shelter . Coming above ground on April 1st , 2010 , the bumbling pair , unaware that they possess the two keys for the last functional MX missile in existence , are totally unprepared for the harrowing experiences they have when they finally venture into the brutish , bombed-out post-apocalyptic world . The endearingly dumb duo have perilous run-ins with rot-faced hippie cannibals , red-haired hog-riding biker chicks , belligerent greasers , foul-mouthed white-suited disco mutant kids ( ! ) , decadent punks , and gigantic carnivorous sewer rats when they arrive in Edge City , a grimy , amoral metropolis populated by all kinds of freakish subhuman filth . The key folks who mercilessly chase after our boys are lethally enticing , cold-blooded fugitive dame Miles Archer ( marvelously played to the nasty , " don't mess with me Buster ! " nines by imposing , statuesque tall drink of luscious blonde water Lisa Blount ) , feisty tart with a heart Rusty Mars ( tasty brunette dish Michele Little ) , and vicious mob kingpins Dash Hammer ( a superbly steely Don Murray ) and Spade Chandler ( the always invigorating George Kennedy ) , who are the two dastardly dudes who dumped the guys in the shelter back in 1996 . Loaded to the vibrant , head-bursting brim with grungy clothes fashions , equally grotty set designs , gnarly make-up f / x by Greg ( " Vamp " ) Cannom , stylishly dim cinematography by Charles Minsky , a first-rate wild'n'wailing New Wave soundtrack ( the groovy theme song especially smokes ) , a generous sprinkling of thrilling frantic action , a very dark sense of warped brash humor , dynamic direction , wittily right-on homages to classic 40's literary fiction and film noir movies , spirited performances , punchy pacing , colorfully quirky characters , and enough inspired oddball ideas for at least a dozen pictures , " Radioactive Dreams " cooks with a maniacally stoked , hopped-up vitality that's both funny and enjoyable in equal measure , therefor making this welcome change-of-pace lampoon a refreshingly offbeat delight . |
518,455 | 8,239,592 | 109,550 | 8 | A real creepfest | Troubled young Elizabeth ( well played by the lovely Louise Salter ) goes to a remote Crimean island to investigate the death of her father and the disappearance of a missing friend . The island is populated by a bizarre order of sinister nuns who reside in a convent . Assisted by the friendly Sarah ( an engaging performance by Venera Simmons ) , Elizabeth uncovers some dark secrets pertaining to her past and discovers an ancient evil force in the bowels of the convent . Director / co-writer Mariano Baino shows a remarkably sharp and stunning eye for unnerving visuals . Moreover , Baino does an expert job of creating and maintaining a compellingly spooky atmosphere and punctuates the picture with occasional outbursts of startlingly brutal violence . The grim , brooding tone gets more progressively gloomy and unsettling as the story unfolds and culminates in an especially chilling last third . The island setting projects a potent sense of dread and isolation . While the narrative is a bit vague , the suffocating brooding mood keeps the film on track and really gets under your skin . Another interesting aspect of the picture is that men are relegated to minor roles ; the main characters are all female . It's this willingness to break from standard horror conventions that in turn gives this movie an extra refreshing edge . Alex Howe's handsome , fluid cinematography , Igor Clark's shuddery score , and the uncompromisingly bleak ending all further enhance the overall nightmarish quality of this supremely eerie shocker . |
518,428 | 8,239,592 | 289,858 | 8 | An amusingly silly hoot | Sweet , but fat , shy and homely teenager Phyllis Loden ( an endearingly gawky performance by Rhona Brody ) gets entered into a high school beauty pageant by a quartet of nasty girls . Phyllis not only loses the pageant , but also gets ruthlessly picked on and publicly humiliated by the other more pretty and popular participants . Worse yet , her cruel competitors even kill Loden's beloved cat by sticking the cute little kitty in a microwave oven ! Phyllis exacts a harsh revenge by killing the evil and venomous bitches . Director / co-writer Jill Zurborg concocts an entertaining black farce that's greatly enlivened by an appealingly giddy sense of dark humor , a reasonable smidgen of gore , outrageously broad characters , and a catchy soundtrack . Moreover , the enthusiastic acting from a game no-name cast qualifies as a major plus , with especially stand-out turns by Kathryn A . Mensik as the vicious , stuck-up Muffy Fairlane , Steve Kollin as Loden's nerdy bespectacled sole friend Cameron , Tammy Pescatelli as the snarky Elizabeth McKay , Jim Boggess as snooty pageant chairwoman Betty Prunish , Kimberly Ann Kurtenbach as the vacuous Alison Murphy , Laura Schutter as the antsy Shelley Styles , Matthew Speak as jerky jock Paul Whitewater , and Peter Soderberg as dogged private detective Dick Richards . Jeff Carney's competent cinematography and Dana P . Rowe's bouncy score are both up to speed . Granted , at almost two hours this movie does drag quite a bit here and there , but overall it's a funny and enjoyable romp . |
518,456 | 8,239,592 | 83,186 | 8 | An enjoyably lowbrow redneck exploitation flick | Sweet , soft and sensitive young Buddy Owen Stover ( likable Channing Mitchell ) goes on a hunting trip with his hearty , macho , overbearing father Karl ( Cameron Mitchell at his most wild'n'woolly ) , jolly good ol ' boy Frank Whitman ( the always excellent Peter Jason ) , and tubby slob Leonard Simpson ( portly wonder J . L . Clark ) . The rough'n'tumble dudes want to make a man out of Buddy . Buddy meets and falls for perky cocktail waitress Fay ( a winningly sassy performance by the adorable Maureen McCormick ; Marcia on " The Brady Bunch " ) . Things get nasty when both Frank and Leonard rape poor Fay . Writer / director Gary Graver really goes heavy on the amusingly no-brainer hayseed tomfoolery : we've got plenty of booze swilling , a tasty wet t-shirt contest , a lively st-kickin ' country theme song , the inevitable barroom brawl , and one very ugly rape scene . Tommy Vig's jaunty score and the polished cinematography by Graver and Bruce M . Pasternack are both up to par . Nice supporting turns by Charles Dierkop as friendly gas station attendant Walt , Hope Holiday as Karl's naggy wife Ms . Stover , and Damone Camden as brassy tart Donna . This film starts out as a raucous comic romp , but halfway through takes a sudden and surprising turn and becomes a dark , probing and frankly disturbing depiction of the worst aspects of masculinity . It's the movie's very strangeness which makes it oddly effective and hence memorable . |
518,339 | 8,239,592 | 60,726 | 8 | A very likable movie spin-off from the TV show | Herman Munster ( the delightful Fred Gwynne ) inherits an estate in England . Herman along with his sweet wife Lily ( lovely Yvonne De Carlo ) , rascally Grandpa ( the always great Al Lewis ) , brash son Eddie ( the engaging Butch Patrick ) , and cute adopted daughter Marilyn ( the adorable Debbie Watson subbing for Pat Priest ) all go to Great Britian . The Munsters ' no-count British relatives try to scare them off to no avail , so they resort to more drastic measures in order to get rid of the merry oddball clan . Director Earl Bellamy keeps the film moving along at a sprightly tempo , stages the expected blithely inane slapstick gags with considerable aplomb , and maintains an infectiously bouncy tone throughout . This picture further benefits from a top-drawer cast of veteran British thespians : Terry-Thomas as the infantile , temperamental Freddie Munster , Hermoine Gingold as stern matriarch Lady Effigie Munster , Jeanne Arnold as the wicked Grace Munster , Robert Pine as the smoothly charming Roger , and Bernard Fox as the hearty Squire Moresby . Special kudos are in order for John Carradine , who gives a deliciously sour performance as gloomy and sinister butler Cruikshank . Benjamin H . Kline's sharp cinematography makes inspired use of vibrant color . Jack Marshall supplies an appropriately spirited silly-spooky score . A hugely enjoyable romp . |
518,126 | 8,239,592 | 83,168 | 8 | An unusual and interesting oddity | A then unknown pre-Prince Vanity stars in this outrageously campy , sexy and compelling " Beauty and the Beast " - type allegorical oddity as Tanya , a naive , but gorgeous and hence quite desirable aspiring young actress who has a nightmare that both she and her possessive , overbearing , sadistic older painter boyfriend Lobo ( excellently played to vile perfection by Richard Sargent ) are living together on a peaceful and tropical isolated island . Tanya befriends a gentle , turquoise-eyed huge gorilla whom she names Blue ( persuasively portrayed by Don McCloud in an amazingly credible costume ) . The ensuing platonic relationship raises the bitter and jealous ire of Lobo , who degenerates into complete base savagery as he competes with Blue to be the sole object of Tanya's affection . Well directed by Alfred Sole ( who also gave us the terrific , vehemently anti-Catholic horror knockout " Alice , Sweet Alice " ) , with exquisitely lush cinematography by Mark Irwin , a lovely , lulling and melodic score by Jean Musy , a provocative subtext which incisively explores the fine line distinguishing man from beast , a strikingly authentic ape suit that was designed by Rick Baker and Rob Bottin , and ample shots of the delectable Vanity prancing about in her birthday suit , this offbeat low-budget outing overall rates as an intriguing curio . |
518,473 | 8,239,592 | 53,072 | 8 | A delightfully dippy piece of vintage 50's sci-fi camp | A quintet of folks - - stalwart Steve Dayton ( stolid Richard Travis ) , his plucky gal pal June Saxton ( pretty Cathy Downs ) , kindly old scientist Dirk Green ( affable Michael Whalen ) , brash escaped convict Gary Fennell ( sparky Tommy Cook ) and his whiny buddy Lon ( jittery Gary Clarke ) - - fly off in a rocket ship to the moon . The discover a race of attractive lunar ladies led by the blind the Lido ( essayed with lip-smacking relish by K . T . Stevens ) who are running low on oxygen and want to leave their planet as soon as possible . Clumsily directed with total seriousness by Richard Cunha , with plain cinematography by Meredith Nicholson , flat acting , a trite , talky script , an overwrought full-bore orchestral score by Nicholas Carras , sluggish pacing , laughable dialogue , tacky ( far from ) special effects , and uproariously obvious cardboard sound stages , this infamous nifty 50's low-budget sci-fi camp classic provides plenty of goofy entertainment and a sizable number of unintentional chuckles . The rock monsters in particular are a total hoot ; they resemble pumped-up pernicious versions of Gumby . The giant fake rubbery puppet spider likewise makes for a positively gut-busting shoddy sight to behold . Moreover , the lunar ladies are all undeniably lovely , with Nina Bara clearly copping the top honors as the selfish and insolent Alpha . Good , silly kitsch fun . |
519,279 | 8,239,592 | 69,914 | 8 | Four is fine , but five's a crowd ! | Composed , elegant Carol ( marvelously played by the beautiful Rebecca Brooke ) , her nice husband Eddie ( likable David Houseman ) , Carol's wacky , constantly eating best gal pal Anna ( delightfully essayed with infectious comic zeal by the adorable Chris Jordan ) , and Anna's hunky , amorous husband Pete ( a typically fine Eric Edwards ) are a quartet of liberated swingers who enjoy having frequent group sex with each other . Their usual routine gets disrupted when Carol's lonely , repressed , but still alluring widow mother Jennifer ( a superbly moving performance by the lovely Jennifer Welles ) drops by for a visit . Pretty soon Jennifer loosens up and becomes a willing participant in the swingers ' blithely pleasurable and uninhibited carnal lifestyle , with everyone except Carol eager to seduce her . Writer / director Joe Sarno concocts a sharp , engrossing and perceptive examination of suburban angst and the limitations of the whole wild'n'easy 70's sexual revolution ; Sarno turns traditional middle class mores on their heads and further spices things up with a bold and provocative mother / daughter incest subplot . Moreover , Sarno elicits uniformly first-rate acting from the bang-up cast : Welles and Brooke are both exceptional , with excellent support from Edwards , Jordan , Houseman , Arlana Blue as flaky New Age sex therapist Shandara , and Erica Eaton as saucy neighbor Mrs . Fields . Better still , all the women are extremely hot and enticing ; Welles in particular seriously steams up the screen with her exquisitely voluptuous figure and smoldering erotic presence . The sex scenes are really sizzling and fairly explicit , but never raunchy or tedious . Stephen Colwell's bright , polished cinematography and Jack Justis ' bouncy , melodic acoustic folk score are both on the money solid and effective . Recommended viewing for Sarno fans . |
518,386 | 8,239,592 | 202,097 | 8 | An enjoyably awful piece of chopsocky schlock | Allison Wong ( the lovely Cecilia Wong ) gets abducted by a nasty gang of drug smugglers who have a foul sideline business involving white slavery and prostitution . Honest worker Chen ( the likable Carter Wong ) , stalwart Interpol agent Bill Eaton ( a solid and engaging Ron Van Clief ) , and Allison's brother ( the brawny Hsaio Ho ) join forces to take on the nefarious crime syndicate . Clumsily directed by Billy Chan , with rough , unpolished cinematography by Lo Wan Shing , a mean , sleazy tone , an initially poky pace that doesn't pick up until halfway into the movie when Van Clief finally appears at the 42 minute mark , a sloppy , meandering story , cruddy dubbing ( most of the Asian characters sport totally inappropriate British accents ! ) , a funky groovy score by Eddie Wang , laughably lousy dialogue , plenty of thrilling fight scenes ( the action-loaded climax is especially stirring ) , and ridiculously broad and over-the-top women-beating cackling villains , this choice chunky of blithely low-rent martial arts trash overall rates as a real cheesy hoot . |
519,275 | 8,239,592 | 64,624 | 8 | The luscious Christina Lindberg heats up the screen in this enjoyable soft-core romp | Sweet , naive , yet lovely and enticing virginal 16-year-old innocent country girl Inga ( the delectable Christina Lindberg of " Thriller : A Cruel Picture " fame in her film debut ) goes to the city to spend the weekend with her older , more worldly and experienced sister Greta ( yummy blonde Monica Ekman ) and her cad boyfriend Casten ( the extremely jerky Krister Ekman ) . Inga gets in touch with her budding sexuality , loosens up , and learns the joys of booze , dancing , and intercourse . Casten's equally loutish friend Bjorn ( homely beanpole Leif Naeslund ) forces himself on Inga on their first date , but she falls for the creep anyway ! When Inga decides to take a bath one fateful day , Casten naturally can't help but join the luscious lass for some splashy carnal fun ( can anyone blame the guy ? ) . Director Dan Wolman relates the sordid coming-of-age story at a steady pace and delivers plenty of tasty nudity and steamy soft-core sex scenes . The central plot clearly imitates Joe Sarno's sexploitation classic " Inga . " ( Ironically , Lindberg went on to appear in the Sarno flicks " Swedish Wildcats " and " Young Playthings " ! ) . Not surprisingly , Wolman shows off Christina's awesomely abundant physical attributes as often as possible : Lindberg disrobes with pleasing regularity , masturbates in bed after catching Greta and Casten making love , cools off with a shower ( shot in sensuous slow motion for extra erotic effect ) , and performs her sex scenes with scorching lusty abandon . Moreover , she also manages to deliver a touching and natural performance in her first lead role . Hasse Welin's pretty cinematography leers over Christina's fabulously voluptuous figure with undisguised lascivious intent while the catchy soundtrack boasts plenty of tuneful folksy rock songs . Highly recommended viewing for Christina Lindberg fans . |
518,983 | 8,239,592 | 74,294 | 8 | An enjoyably campy hoot | Conniving little weasel Eddie " the Cat " Murkil ( expertly played to the sniveling obnoxious hilt by David Kyle , who later quit acting to become a youth minister ! ) is a cunning adolescent psychopath who ruthlessly bumps off Punch ( a nifty , albeit brief appearance by Derrel Maury of " Massacre at Central High " fame ) , the leader of the teenage hoodlum gang the Silks . Cat makes it look like the rival Latino gang the Ruedas did it . This leads to a violent gang war . Pretty soon the body count begins to pile up at an alarming rate ( the definite highlight occurs when two scrawny 14-year-old members of the Silks sneak into a high school locker room to shiv two members of the Ruedas in the shower ! ) . Clearly intended as some kind of grim cautionary tale about teen gangs and adolescent violence on the rise in major cities , this unjustly overlooked 70's drive-in juvenile delinquent exploitation item qualifies as a real campy hoot . Director John Bushelman takes the whole silly story very seriously , which in turn gives this goofy marvel a certain endearingly clunky charm . Bruce Logan's polished cinematography gives the film a sharp , glossy look . Better still , both the amusingly insipid soft-rock theme song " Slow Down Baby " and especially Bernie Kaai Lewis ' funky garage rock score are hilariously cheesy . Popping up in snazzy supporting roles are Rhodes Reason and Doug McGrath as two hard-nosed police detectives , Steve Bond as Murkil's incarcerated older brother who's struggling to go straight , Doodles Weaver as a gas station owner and " Beverly Hills Cop " film series regular John Ashton as a high school football coach . Good dumb fun . |
518,562 | 8,239,592 | 69,986 | 8 | A deliciously cheesy hoot | Evil madman Eamon O'Reilly ( veteran villain character actor Michael Ansara in peak suavely sinister form ) and his army of cutthroat mercenaries acquire possession of a deadly plague virus . Feisty government agent Sabrina Kincaid ( well played by ravishing redhead Francine York ) rounds up a bunch of lovely , yet lethal lady assassins who include exotic dancer Lavella Sumara ( voluptuous knockout Tura Satana ) , Olympic swimmer Sharon O'Connor ( slender blonde looker Leigh Christian ) , and psychiatrist Elizabeth White ( foxy brunette Judy McConnell ) to thwart O'Reilly before it's too late . Director / co-writer Ted V . Mikels loads this baby with more than enough spirited schlockiness to ensure that fans of cheapo 70's kitsch will be in hog heaven : we've got hot babes aplenty , ineptly staged action scenes ( the clumsy martial arts fights are especially sidesplitting ) , a groovy swingin ' funk soul score by Nicholas Carras , a tacky solarized opening credits sequence , surprisingly bloody violence , gloriously ghastly ( far from ) special effects , garish color cinematography by Anthony Salinas , a constant snappy pace , acceptable acting from a game cast , and a plot which serves as a basic blueprint for the suspiciously similar popular TV series " Charlie's Angels . " Popping up in nifty supporting roles are Anthony Eisley as smooth CIA head honcho Victor Connelly , John Carter as the worried Senator Carter , Lisa Todd as Eamon's enticing mistress Maria , Rafael Campos as twitchy junkie flunky Rafael , William Bagdad as brutish henchman Joseph , and Herb Robins as nasty hit-man Munson . A total campy riot . |
518,409 | 8,239,592 | 130,637 | 8 | An offbeat horror mood piece | Troubled young Grace MacDonald ( well played by ravishing redhead Brooke Mills ) works as an assistant for itinerant carnie faith healer preacher Reverend Jesse Bundy ( essayed with tremendous rip-snorting gusto by Michael Pataki ) and can't get over her obsession with finding her long lost father . Grace eventually runs across her pop Timothy MacDonald ( a fine , robust performance by Edmond O'Brien ) , but he turns out to be crazy , overprotective and dangerous . Or is Grace just imagining that her dad is still alive ? Writer / director John Hayes relates the compellingly quirky story at a leisurely pace and does an expert job of creating and maintaining a creepy , surreal , dreamlike atmosphere . Paul Hipp's bright , lush cinematography and Jaime Mendoza-Nava's spooky , melancholy score further enhance the pervasive mood of abstract eeriness . Moreover , there's nice supporting performances by Paul Prokop as Grace's kindly , concerned fiancé Dr . Patrick Bundy , Marc Lawrence as a sinister undertaker who works as a pimp on the side , and Arthur Franz as a helpful psychiatrist . Despite a heavy languid air and the often murky plot ( a grimly sober narrator occasionally chimes in to give the oblique story some much-needed coherence ) , this intriguingly ambiguous picture somehow manages to cast a strangely hypnotic spell on the viewer . An interesting oddity . |
517,958 | 8,239,592 | 91,902 | 8 | A solid and engrossing Italian cannibal gore romp | Sweet , lovely , innocent rich girl Catherine Miles ( nicely played by stunningly comely blonde knockout Elvire Audray ) celebrates her 18th birthday with her parents in the Amazon jungle . Catherine winds up being abducted by a savage and primitive tribe of head hunters after her parents are brutally murdered . Poor Catherine gets stripped naked , smeared with smelly oil , becomes the love slave of a vile lout who defiles her , tries to escape , and eventually adopts as best she can to her dismal situation to the point where she falls in love with noble warrior Umukai ( handsome Will Gonzales ) . However , Catherine still wants to escape and exact a harsh revenge on the killers of her parents . Director Mario Gariazzo relates the grimly arresting plot in a sturdy and compelling manner . Silvano Ippoliti's stark , no-frills cinematography gives the film an effectively gritty semi-documentary look . Franco Campanino's sweeping majestic score likewise hits the pleasing melodic spot . The acceptable acting , okay dubbing , suitably hideous graphic gore ( several ghastly decapitations rate as the definite gruesome highlights ) , steady pace , breathtaking verdant jungle scenery , surprisingly poignant love story , and the plentiful female nudity ( Audrey looks especially delectable sans clothes ) are all up to speed as well . One of the better and more satisfying of the many Italian cannibal splatter features made back in the late 70's up until the mid 80's . |
519,342 | 8,239,592 | 83,097 | 8 | Good , dumb car chase fun | Made in the early 80's when the 70's car chase genre was winding down , chockablock with copious footage lifted from such previous Roger Corman-backed drive-in flicks as " Grand Theft Auto , " " Moving Violation , " " Eat My Dust ! , " and " Thunder and Lightening , " coasting on the faintest sliver of a one-note story , and , just like the numerous car chases showcased herein , running around in endless circles with no particular purpose or destination in mind , this energetically stupid comedic romp was harshly panned by critics and generally dismissed as an absolute turkey . Granted , it's not exactly a good movie , but it's certainly an enjoyably brainless , pointless and senseless wallow in crash ' em and smash ' em up demolition derby cinema . Shrewd , impishly irreverent car nut misfit Roscoe ( " Night Warning " ' s Jimmy McNichol ) abducts stuck-up homecoming queen Peggy Sue Turner ( perky , fetching blonde Janet Julian ) and goes on the lam with Peggy's crusty , hot-tempered , very overbearing and overprotective sheriff dad ( broadly played by the chubby Walter Barnes ) and assorted oddball secondary characters in hot pursuit . That's it for the plot ; the rest of the picture is nothing more than spinning tires , out-of-control car stunts , an uptight girl loosening up on the road , young love blooming on the road , idiotic slapstick gags , a " what the hell is he doing here ? " guy in an apesuit cameo , peppy rock songs blaring away on the soundtrack , and plenty of pedal-glued-to-the-floor ultra-speedy car chase scenes . Longtime Corman screenwriter Charles B . ( " Bucket of Blood , " " The Little Shop of Horrors " ) Griffith displays an endearingly all-thumbs incompetence as a director , which in this case greatly adds to the infectiously dopey festivities . The ubiquitous Gary Graver comes through with his customary smooth and polished cinematography . Brent Myggen's frantically pumping'n'propulsive score rushes along to a quick snappy beat . The wildly mugging supporting cast is loaded with familiar faces : Dick Miller as a dippy dad , " Joyride to Nowhere " ' s Mel Welles as a goofy sheik who speaks in fractured fragmented sentences , Bill Forsythe as a brutish caveman football player , Rance Howard as a fanatically gung-ho high school football coach , and Angelo Rossitto as an excitable midget hotel desk clerk . Overall , this baby measures up as a pretty solid and satisfying so-dumb-it's-fun good time . |
519,077 | 8,239,592 | 69,994 | 8 | A delightfully scroungy 70's horror exploitation gem | Sweet young nurse Charlotte Beale ( a charming performance by ravishing redhead knockout Rosie Holotik ) goes to work at a remote rural asylum run by Dr . Geraldine S . Masters ( the excellent Annabelle Weenick ) . Among the motley assortment of colorfully crazed patients are insatiable , aggressive nymphomaniac Allyson King ( the luscious Betty Chandler ) , loopy Judge Oliver W . Cameron ( a gloriously hammy Gene Ross ) , paranoid Vietnam veteran Sergeant Jaffee ( nicely played by Hugh Feagin ) , gentle giant Sam ( the amiable William Bill McGhee ) , and nutty old hag Mrs . Callingham ( the supremely irritating Rhea MacAdams ) . Said patients are dangerously encouraged to act out their fantasies by Dr . Masters , which of course results in a rash of brutal killings . Director S . F . Brownrigg , working from a clever and suitably overwrought script by Tim Pope , does an expert job of creating and sustaining a suffocatingly dank and brooding atmosphere of seething madness and oppressive claustrophobia . Robert Farrar's spooky score , the grimy set design , a few wild grisly murders , Bruce B . Alcott's grungy no-frills cinematography , plenty of deliciously robust , scenery-scarfing histrionics from a game no-name cast ( Ross in particular is a total eye-rolling hoot ) , and the genuinely shocking surprise bloodbath conclusion further add to the overall infectiously seedy fun of this choice trashy chunk of 70's low-budget regional horror exploitation cinema . |
518,214 | 8,239,592 | 74,258 | 8 | A nicely spooky haunted house horror chiller | Grouchy Ben ( the always excellent Oliver Reed ) and his perky wife Marian ( superbly played by the divine Karen Black ) rent a large swanky country mansion for the summer for a mere $900 dollars . Staying with the married couple are their bratty son David ( solid Lee Montgomery ) and feisty Aunt Elizabeth ( a terrifically tart Bette Davis ) . Pretty soon they all find out that something is seriously amiss with the isolated estate . Director Dan Curtis relates the absorbingly spooky story at a slow and stately pace , effectively creates a suitably uncanny gloom-doom Gothic atmosphere , and delivers one corker of a surprise twist bummer ending . Eileen Heckart and Burgess Meredith are wonderfully quirky as the weird sister and brother owners of the expansive abode . Popping up in nifty supporting parts are Dub Taylor as a cranky , grubby handyman and Anthony James as a creepy chauffeur . Bob Cobert's brooding , chilling score , Jacques R . Marquette's hazy , yet sharp cinematography , and the startlingly downbeat conclusion substantially add to the overall eerie quality of this bang-up little fright film winner . |
517,981 | 8,239,592 | 69,966 | 8 | A solid and exciting 70's exploitation crime winner | A brazen band of no-count thieves rob roughly $400 , 000 in money and valuable merchandise from a political fund-raiser being held by ambitious black congressman Aubrey Clayton ( a perfectly smarmy Rudy Challenger ) . It's up to suave black Sargeant Jesse Williams ( the super smooth Hari Rhodes ) and slobby , cynical white Lieutenant Daniel Bassett ( a fine performance by the ever-funny and engaging Alex Rocco ; Moe Greene in " The Godfather " ) to get to the bottom of things before the whole city erupts into chaos and racial violence . Director Arthur ( " Bucktown " ) Marks keeps the pace speeding along at a steady breakneck clip and stages the thrilling action scenes with considerable rip-snorting brio , further enhancing this already fun and entertaining crime caper picture with amusing amounts of his trademark dark humor ( my two all-time favorite moments are when hooker Vonetta McGee complains to her pimp that a john treated her like a piece of meat and the positively gut-busting scene where a hoodlum exclaims " Motherbeeper ! " after taking a fatal bullet to the chest ) . The uneasy give-and-take relationship between Williams and Bassett adds greatly to the tension , leading to a wonderfully ambiguous and genuinely startling climax that packs a substantial punch because of its marvelously up-in-the-air moral ambivalence and uncertainty . This isn't your garden variety simplistic cops and robbers yarn where there's a fine line between the good guys and the bad guys . Instead almost everyone in this movie is either on the make or on the take , creating a stark and brutal world where morals are decidedly gray at best and such sterling virtues as honor , honesty and loyalty are hard to come by . It's the powerfully vivid way Marks depicts this sense of pervasive corruption which in turn makes " Detroit 9000 " a superior crime thriller . Luchi DeJesus supplies a fine , funky-throbbing score while Harry May's rough cinematography gives the film an appropriately raw and gritty look . Popping up in nifty bit parts are the ubiquitous Bob Minor as a cop-killing criminal , Marilyn Joi as a prostitute dancing in a bordello , and the great Scatman Crothers in an especially lively cameo as a fiery hell-and-brimstone bible-banging priest . A real solid and satisfying little winner . |
518,069 | 8,239,592 | 83,133 | 8 | A gut-busting spoof of early 80's slasher flicks | A depraved killer known as the Breather ( voiced with hysterically lecherous aplomb by stand-up comedian Richard Belzer ) bumps off the libidinous students of Lamab High School in assorted highly imaginative ways ( the psycho's unlikely and inventive implements of death include paper clips , an eggplant , and even an eraser ! ) . Writer / director Mickey Rose offers broad parodies of such popular fright fare as " Halloween , " " Friday the 13th , " " When a Stranger Calls , " " Carrie , " and " Prom Night ; " the humor found herein is crude , raunchy , unsubtle , tasteless , offensive , inspired ( I loved the on-screen tally which keeps track of the ever-mounting corpse count ) , and hence flat-out hilarious . This is the type of no-holds-barred open season on everyone and everything raucous humor that was prevalent in the pre-politically correct 80's and that's exactly why this picture is often so incredibly funny . For example , there's a black foreign exchange student who nobody misses after he gets killed . Plus there are jokes about handicapped people as well . However , the tone is thankfully silly and amiable enough to prevent this film from seeming nasty and mean-spirited . The lively and enthusiastic acting from a game no-name cast rates as another significant plus : Kristen Riter makes for a most charming and fetching virginal innocent heroine , Joe Flood is an absolute hoot as deranged workshop teacher Mr . Dumpkin , and spindly comedian the Stick steals the whole show as dim-witted double-jointed janitor Malvert . A total riot . And remember folks , sex kills . |
518,150 | 8,239,592 | 87,436 | 8 | An excellent and hugely enjoyable feminist variant on " Conan " | Fierce and fearless warrior woman Hundra ( a splendidly sassy and spirited portrayal by gorgeous Amazonian blonde goddess Laurene Landon ) declares open war on vile and oppressive misogynistic male swine after her whole village gets butchered by a foul horde of guy marauders . Moreover , Hundra must find a worthy man to impregnate her so she can keep the bloodline of her people alive . Ably directed by Matt Cimber , with a clever and witty script by Cimber and frequent collaborator John Goff ( the plot basically serves as a nifty metaphor for the many ways men tend to degrade and dominate over women ) , several stirring and well-staged swordfights , a handy helping of raw and bloody violence ( the opening massacre sequence is especially brutal ) , bright , crisp , glowing widescreen cinematography by John Cabrera , a constant brisk pace , breathtaking Spanish countryside scenery , a decent sprinkling of tasty nudity , a winning sense of tongue-in-cheek humor ( at one point Hundra encounters an aggressive face-painted midget on horseback who attacks her with a pitchfork ! ) , and a first-rate rousing'n'robust full-bore orchestral score by the great Ennio Morricone , " Hundra " makes for an immensely fun and satisfying little corker . Neat supporting performances by John Ghaffari as sleazy high priest pimp Nepakin , Ramiro Oliveros as nice , gentle healer Pateray , Maria Casal as obedient and subservient harem girl Tracima , and Tamara as wise elder Chrysula . Best of all , Landon attacks her plumb lead role with tremendously thrilling gusto and passion : Laurene looks simply smashing in her buckskin outfit , wields a truly mean sword , delivers her pro-woman speeches with fiery aplomb , and even performed almost all of her own stunts . A very cool and entertaining romp . |
518,901 | 8,239,592 | 118,075 | 8 | Another worthy entry in this delightful series | Blithely naughty virtual reality hooker Heidi Ho ( deliciously essayed to campy'n'vampy perfection by buxom blonde babe J . J . North ) gets unleashed from a computer by the commissioner's geeky son Irwin ( a nice'n'nerdy turn by Chad Gabbert ) and goes on a libidinous rampage . It's up to scatterbrained ditz Candy ( the adorably daffy Elizabeth Kaitan ) and her snarky new partner Traci ( sassy brunette spitfire Raelyn Saalman ) to stop Heidi Ho . Meanwhile , starchy repressed spinster supreme Miss Devonshire ( the terrific Jayne Hamil ) tries to salvage her floundering marriage with the cocky , yet clueless commissioner ( Jay Richardson in fine pompous form ) . Once again writer / director Rick Sloane hits the crudely amusing bull's eye with plenty of spot-on lowbrow japes about such certifiably gut-busting subjects as undercover lady cops being beaten up by prostitutes , sexual harassment , catfights , bad practical jokes , and nasty sexually transmitted computer virus diseases . This flick further benefits from spirited acting by a sturdy cast : Kaitan and Saalman make for a suitably sexy mismatched team , Tane McClure has a neat supporting role as bitchy , meddlesome councilwoman Jean Capri , Michael Kayem is a total hoot as stuck-up sexist pig stud muffin patrolman Petrolino , and Honey Lauren adds a little extra sauciness as brash sex therapist Dr . Tiffany Berkowitz . Stephen Crawford's cinematography is merely adequate while both the insanely crankin ' theme song " Pistol Whipped " and Alan DerMarderisian's funky score do the gnarly trick . Plus this picture doesn't skimp on the yummy distaff eye candy : North , Saalman and Kaitan all have much-appreciated topless scenes . Essential viewing for fans of this always enjoyable series . |
518,417 | 8,239,592 | 282,185 | 8 | A cool and informative retrospective documentary on the Aussie biker cult favorite " Stone " | This nifty 63 minute documentary offers an interesting and illuminating portrait of " Stone , " a funky little independent Australian biker picture that was a huge hit in its day back in 1974 and has since become an enduring cult classic . Among the things we learn is that " Stone " star / co-writer / director / producer Sandy Harbutt was a really down-to-earth and approachable guy on the set of the film ( alas , Harbutt never made another feature in the wake of " Stone " ' s monumental success ) , bikers who are Vietnam war veterans find the depiction of their lifestyle in the movie to be honest and accurate , a real-life biker gang played the rival club the Black Hawks ( these guys were paid with beer for their contribution to the flick ! ) , lead actor Ken Shorter was an ex-cop who designed his own clothes , 400 bikers showed up to participate as extras in the famous highway funeral procession sequence , actor Vincent Gil did double duty as a grip , the movie received largely poor reviews from critics , but still proved to be a massive box office smash , a biker club called the Stone Social Club was formed in tribute to the film , and Harbutt and several other " Stone " folks stormed the Cannes Film Festival in 1980 in order to secure international distribution for the picture . Of course , such " Stone " cast and crew members as Hugh Keays-Byrne , Rebecca Gilling , editor Ian Barry , Roger Ward , Helen Morse , cinematographer Graham Lind , and Bindi Williams are all interviewed as well . Essential viewing for all you hardcore " Stone " aficionados out there . |
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