movies

[Dr. Medulla]

I gave it a shit review a few years ago. I gave Bette Davis a great review for doing the same thing in Dead Ringer!

The Kim Carnes bonus strikes again! But, mostly, this seems like an exercise in technique, having the same actor sharing the screen at the same time.

The Patty Duke Show!

Cathy was the evil one.

but a hot dog made Patty lose control.

Theory: That's what Ian Curtis was actually singing about. "Relish on the wiener says it all / She's lost control again."

[Flex]

Watched Saint Maud and Malignant this weekend. The former was quite good, under 1.5 hours so it didn't drag and the end was awesome. I'm a sucker for a good hauntalogical religious guilt trip horror.

Malignant fuckin' RULED. I felt like I had a good handle on what it was gonna be for the first 50 minutes or whatever and then the last third goes totally bananas in the most delightful ways. Possibly the movie of the year (well, last year).

[tepista]

Watched Saint Maud and Malignant this weekend. The former was quite good, under 1.5 hours so it didn't drag and the end was awesome. I'm a sucker for a good hauntalogical religious guilt trip horror.

Malignant fuckin' RULED. I felt like I had a good handle on what it was gonna be for the first 50 minutes or whatever and then the last third goes totally bananas in the most delightful ways. Possibly the movie of the year (well, last year).

Yeah, I spent the first 1/2 hour thinking it would be slightly serious, but when i realized what it was trying to do I just let it go, and yes, delightful is the correct word. I had been hoping to catch it a 2nd time, and I see it just returned to HBO, so I will this week.

[Kory]

Because there's never a bad reason for a Norm clip, here's him shivving Spade like a damned ninja:

It's impossible to watch him without grinning the whole time.

I've always enjoyed his habitual quasi-apology after slamming someone, "Yeah, but he's a good guy." Even better when he'd do it after making an OJ joke, so obviously bullshit and he'd laugh.

Definitely reminds me of this guy.

[Kory]

I saw Pretty Woman, but that was a lifetime ago.

Alright, perhaps this will ring a bell.

[tepista]

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster (2021) Documentary about the horror legend includes his personal and professional life, as well as his key role on the formation of the Screen Actor's Guild. Lots of clips and interviews. Several of the interviewees are recently dead, themselves.

Edge of Sanity (1989) Anthony Perkins plays Dr. Jekyll, who invents crack and turns into Jack the Ripper, killing prostitutes in fetish clubs that look far more like the 1980s than the 1880s. Gerard Kikoine, a French porn director, must have been on crack himself when he made this. I'd seen this when it was new-ish, then again 10 or so years ago. It's interesting, but not good enough to revisit again. Some nudity, lots of bondage/fetish stuff.

Enigma Rosso aka Red Rings of Fear (1978) The third entry in the "Schoolgirls in Peril" trilogy of gialli, with the superior What Have You Done to Solange? and What have They Done to Our Daughters?, though director Massimo Dallamano died before production. Fabio Testi is a police inspector with his eye on a clique of popular boarding school girls, as one of their members has been raped and murdered. What secrets are they hiding? Some good nudity, and pretty sleazy, as most late 70s gialli are, again, not as good as the first 2 of the trilogy, but worth a look.

Giallo in Venice (1979) Husband and wife Fabio and Flavia are found dead in the opening scene. The detective (who eats a hard boiled egg in every single scene) interviews acquaintances, and we see the couple's depraved sexual escapades via flashback. Extended scenes of group sex, rough sex, explicit masturbation both male and female, this was practically a soft core porn. But it was also a violent giallo! I had seen director Mario Landi's Patrick Still Lives, and I thought THAT was raunchy! Lead actress Leonora Fani has a film on her resume called "Dog Lay Afternoon". I don't want to know.

Satanico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista (1975) Sister Maria is a horny nun with the hots for a 14 year year old sheep farmer. She flagellates herself as punishment, but when Satan comes to her in the form of another horny nun, her murderous and sexual desires take over. Lots of nudity. Mexican director Gilberto Martinez Soaris has 162 feature films under his belt, from 1939 through his death in 1997 at the age of 90! Salma Hayak's character name in From Dusk til Dawn was inspired by this film.

Kadaicha aka Stones of Death (1988) Australian teens are having death nightmares, then waking up to find crystal gemstones in their possession before dying in real life later that day. Their block is on a sacred Aborigine burial ground! Kinda like A Poltergeist on Elm Street. If you like a soundtrack loaded with didgeridoo then this might be the one for you, but I found it a bit forgettable.

Blind Woman's Curse (1970) Meiko Kaji (Female Prisoner Scorpion) is head of a mostly female yakuza clan in a turf war with a rival male gang. When a blind female assassin joins the boys, heads roll...and arms, and legs, etc. When Meiko's girls line up to fight in unison, their back tattoos come together as one long dragon, head to tail. Violent stuff from the director of Horrors of Malformed Men.

Beyond Darkness aka La Casa 5 (1990) In Italy this is marketed in the Evil Dead (La Casa) franchise, but is more like a Poltergeist meets Exorcist. A young priest and his family move into a cursed home, where some ghostly entities pull their son through a wall. When they retrieve him, he's possessed. Dull effort from the director of Troll 2, which if I'd known in advance I may have skipped it.

Also had a second go at both Nobody and Malignant, both delightfully violent.

[Flex]

Just watched Ghostbusters Afterlife. Man, some people are cranky, I guess. I liked it quite a bit!

[Flex]

The Medium (2021) A middle aged shaman and her twenty-something niece prepare for the transference of the kind spirit of a goddess from one to the other, as has been tradition in their family for generations, but when the younger women begins to display odd and sometimes violent behavior, they wonder if there’s an evil force at hand. The 2+ hour runtime starts pretty slow, but it’s a roller-coaster when it finally gets going. Very good movie, and even some surprise nudity. If you like possession moves, this is better than most. In Thai w/ subtitles.

I just watched this - I loved it. One of the most intense movies I think I've seen in a while. I came in cold other than it had a good reputation and, well, I was surprised with how much this movie ratcheted up the activity. Dark shit. Loved it.

[tepista]

The Medium (2021) A middle aged shaman and her twenty-something niece prepare for the transference of the kind spirit of a goddess from one to the other, as has been tradition in their family for generations, but when the younger women begins to display odd and sometimes violent behavior, they wonder if there’s an evil force at hand. The 2+ hour runtime starts pretty slow, but it’s a roller-coaster when it finally gets going. Very good movie, and even some surprise nudity. If you like possession moves, this is better than most. In Thai w/ subtitles.

I just watched this - I loved it. One of the most intense movies I think I've seen in a while. I came in cold other than it had a good reputation and, well, I was surprised with how much this movie ratcheted up the activity. Dark shit. Loved it.

Yeah, that was some seriously cool stuff. Asian countries that don't start with a K or a J are starting to ramp up their horror game. Specifically Thailand and Indonesia.

[tepista]

that reminds me, I don't think I posted my top 10 of 2021 yet

1. Candyman
2. Bloody Hell
3. The Advent Calendar
4. The Medium
5. Malignant
6. Fear Street Trilogy
7. Old
8. VHS ‘94
9. Werewolves Within
10. Superhost

I saw a few movies after I made the list that might contend, Soho, and The Night House, and Titaine, but I figured I'd leave the list as-is. The close-but-no cigars were Gaia and Jakob's Wife.

[tepista]

Nightmare Alley (2021) Gulliermo Del Toro's first directorial feature since he won the Oscar with Shape of Water in 2017 is a remake of a 1947 noir about the rise and fall of a carny act. Good cast, great sets and costumes, and entertaining all the way through, but lacking just a bit that makes the difference between good and great. Down the homestretch I remembered the ending of the original, which I must have seen 20 years ago.

The Reflecting Skin (1990) A young boy in rural USA suspects his widow neighbor is a vampire, and is worried when his just-home-from-the-army brother (Viggo Mortenson) is in danger when he starts spending time with her. Strange, quiet movie with not a ton of dialog. There were a few things I didn't like about it, the protagonist was a little shithead, and one other thing I don't care to mention for fear of spoiling, but overall I like this one quite a bit.

The Resonator: Miskatonik U (2021) Full Moon Pictures gives a sequel to Stuart Gordon's 1986 cult classic adaption of Lovecraft's, From Beyond. The son of Jeffrey Comb's character and his band of co-ed pals recreate the resonator from the first film, which allows creatures from other dimensions to be seen, and give unsatibale sexual desire to those in its proximity. Cheap production, and bad script, but it tried, and it was only 65 minutes. One girl got a spike through her torso but was defibrillated back to life, and she was as good as new later on the same day. An actress named Amanda Jones had a nice nude scene, I wonder if she knows she's named after a Rolling Stones song. They set it up for a sequel.

Rats: Night of Terror (1983) In a post-apocalyptic Earth, a group of survivors go underground in search of food, and find themselves pitted against thousands of flesh-eating rats. I've seen two others directed by Bruno Mattei (Shocking Dark, Cruel Jaws) and this is better than those, but not by much. There are some decent gore scenes and one very good nude scene, and the ending was clever. Early on Geretta Geretta of Demoni fame in the role of "Chocolate" gets doused with baking flour and dances around singing "I'm white, I'm white", which pretty much sets the tone.

Meridian (1990) Two beautiful American art students in Italy are drugged and raped by a set of evil magician twins from a traveling circus who turn into hairy creatures during sex. Full Moon's Charles Band directs, this dull, but loaded with nudity homage to Beauty & the Beast. Sherilyn Fenn as the leading lady was what made me stop on this one, however, it was Charlie Spradling, an actress/model who was going by simply "Charlie" at the time, who impressed me. But again, dull, I wouldn't recommend.

The Deep House (2021) Some vloggers who feature abandoned buildings find an underwater home in France that seems to be unharmed by the elements, and get trapped by supernatural elements inside while filming their show. Overall mediocre, but it had some moments. Credit for being original, though Argento of course, had the underwater room scene in Inferno. From the director of Leatherface and Kandisha. Leading man James Jagger is like the son of a Beatle or something. (that was a joke)

Eyeball (1975) A group of American tourists in Barcelona are being killed and having an eye gouged out by a red-gloved killer in a red plastic rain pancho. The same pancho given to all the members of the tour! This fun giallo from the great Umberto Lenzi features this dialog between two lesbians: "You said you'd take me dancing." "No, I said I'd take you to the discotheque and we would sit and listen to music." It also features three topless scenes, two crazy curly wigs, and a nutzo plot with plenty of eyeballs, as promised. The Italian title Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro translates to Red Cats in a Glass Maze. Watch it!

Evil Dead Trap (1988) Hoping to combat sagging ratings, a late night TV host and her crew travel to an abandoned factory to debunk a snuff video that was mailed to them. Let the killings begin. This gory Japanese cult fave seems to owe a lot to Italian style visually, and especially soundtrack. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel.

Girl Boss Revenge: Subekan (1973) One of the many pairings of Japanese exploitation stars Miki Sugimoto and Reiko Ike, they escape from a juvenile detention center and run a hustle in the big city until the male yakuza puts a stop to it. Not my favorite in the series, this one focused a lot on the male characters, but it still had the sex, stabbing, shootings, and sleaze that make the pinky films so much fun.

[JennyB]

Girl Boss Revenge sounds like a movie about women who sell multi-level marketing products getting their revenge on people who expose pyramid schemes and that sounds absolutely terrifying,

[tepista]

Girl Boss Revenge sounds like a movie about women who sell multi-level marketing products getting their revenge on people who expose pyramid schemes and that sounds absolutely terrifying,

or just getting revenge for 100s of years of male oppression

[Kory]

Girl Boss Revenge sounds like a movie about women who sell multi-level marketing products getting their revenge on people who expose pyramid schemes and that sounds absolutely terrifying,

or just getting revenge for 100s of years of male oppression

1000s

[tepista]

An Angel for Satan (1966) Barbara Steele is an heiress who returns home to her small Italian village, and becomes occasionally possessed by the ghost of her 200 year old ancestor, a witch, and seduces the menfolk causing mischief and violence. Babs looks as good in this this as she ever has in this cool black & white gothic treat.

Christiane F. (1981) Based on the memoirs of the woman who lived it, a 13 year old girl who frequents the Berlin club scene becomes addicted to heroin and eventually turns to prostitution to support her habit. Loaded with horrific depictions of junkie life, including one scene where a man kicks down a toilet stall door, steals her fix and injects it into his own jugular resulting in a blood squirt! The pleasant part of the film is that that it's an all-Bowie soundtrack, 76-79 era, and David even performs "Station to Station" live, as all the junkie kids attended the show. Outstanding movie.

The Ghost of the Hunchback aka Satan's Pit aka House of Terrors aka Kaidan semushi otoko (1965) A widow finds her husband owned a secret home, and along with a handful of relatives, they stay there and have a little inheritance battle. It's soon found that her husband did some awful things there resulting in a supernatural presence, and the creepy, hunchback caretaker seems to hold the answers. I found this Japaneses oddity on YouTube, and it certainly owes a nod to The Haunting. A treat, for sure.

Splinter (2008) Two fugitives and two campers find themselves trapped in rural gas station with a spiky parasitic entity who feeds on the blood of its living host trying to get in. Good FX, and easy to watch with an 80 minute runtime.

Kimi (2022) Zoe Kravitz suffers from severe OCD and agoraphobia, but is forced to venture out into the world and put herself at risk when she overhears a violent crime committed on the Alexa-type app that she monitors at her work-from-home job. Popcorn fun thriller from Steven Soderberg, the time flew by.

Delirium aka Psycho Puppet (1979) A secret society of vigilantes are cleaning up the streets of St.Louis, but a psychotic Vietnam vet's murder spree of pretty girls puts the council in danger of discovery. How far will they go to protect their secret? Lots of gun and knife action, and two counts of nudity landed this on the Video Nasty list, otherwise this indie cheapie might have been forgotten forever. I believe the flashbacks of the jungles in 'nam were filmed in a public park, with visible telephone poles.

Shivers (1975) A sex parasite is spreading across a Montreal luxury high-rise apartment complex, and the infected are violent and horny! The beautiful Lynn Lowry is the on site nurse, and Barbara Steele is one of the residents. David Cronenberg's first theatrical feature is my personal favorite of his, and I can remember the US VHS release under the alt title "They Came From Within." Ivan Reitman produced.

Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971) A reporter finds himself dead on a slab but capable of conscious thought, and recalls the events that got him here, including the disappearance of his beautiful fiance, played by Beatle wife, Barbara Bach. Confusing plot with not a lot of kills or nudity for the most part. I'd written that it was worth a one-time watch about ten years ago, I should have listened. First feature from Aldo Lado, who other gialli include Who Saw Her Die and The Night Train Murders.

If You Meet Sartana... Pray for Your Death (1968) A trunk of gold stolen from the bank is the target of rival gangs, with corrupt government officials pulling the strings. Gianni "John" Garko plays the titular anti-hero, and would return in four sequels of this violent spaghetti western. I wasn't counting, but there had to be close to a hundred killings in this, no woman or priest was safe. William Berger (a Jess Franco regular) was the lead villain, and Klaus Kinski was his sadistic, knife wielding henchman.

Tanya's Island (1980) Pre-pop star Vanity on a tropical island with her occasionally abusive boyfriend, Lobo, finds friendship with a gorilla. Lobo gets jealous of their relationship and the man vs monkey war is on. This movie puts the ape in rape. Vanity is unclothed for nearly half the runtime. Rick Baker and Rob Bottin created the monkeysuit. Alfred Sole (Alice, Sweet Alice) directs.

Watch Me When I Kill (1977) A private investigator looks into the death of a pharmacist and a couple follow-up murders that may be related, while trying to keep his girlfriend out of danger in this sexless giallo that really drags in the middle. This won't go down as one of my faves.