REVENGE OF THE BOOGEY MAN (1983, 76 min.) on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLMQvmQaG6M) for the first time.
Damn! E.S.A.D.D. warned me that this would be rough, but I had no idea the fall from grace from the original "Boogey Man" to this fascinatingly-shitty sequel would be so steep. Lacey (Suzanna Love) comes to Hollywood to visit a jaded movie director named Mickey (director Ulli Lomell, who was married to Love at the time) to share her supernatural story, with a shard of glass in her purse as proof. Cue almost half of the original "Boogey Man" film as explanation flashbacks, including Patrick's favorite scene of Junesploitation '15 (20:47 of link above), taking 40 of this movie's 76 minutes. And this is THE LEAST of "ROTB's" problems! Shot entirely in Lomell's and Love's mansion around the Hollywood Hills, the movie seems more concerned with skewering early 80's Hollywood culture than setting up a new round of kills. At one point a character takes a dump on Brian De Palma for making "Blow Out" (44:55), which takes balls considering Lomell's filmography doesn't have a movie half as good as De Palma's weakest films.
"ROTB" makes "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2" look like "Vertigo." Unlike the latter's hired filmmakers being forced to recycle footage out of necessity, though, Lomell (whose direction in this sequel is uncredited) turned down studio money because he wanted to do this sequel on the cheap. It shows in everything, from the hand-drawn opening credits and bad acting (except for Love, who remains sympathetic throughout) to the laughable practical special effects. Even the footage from the original "Boogey Man" (including John Carradine and the upper-right hand boom mike that always travels with him) alternates between 4:3 and 16:9 from scene to scene! At least "ROTB" has two deaths that made me clap and cheer loudly despite being clear ripoffs of scenes from better horror movies (cough... "Carrie"... ahem!). For fans of fictitious movies in which Hollywood couples play made-up versions of themselves ("LolliLove," "The Anniversary Party," etc.) "ROTB" is a fascinating peek into the psyche of a Hollywood not-quite-power couple masquerading as a meta-before-meta-was-a-thing early 80's supernatural slasher.
Two video nasties now crossed from my Video Nasties bucket list. Thank you, Junesploitation, but the month and 80's Horror day ain't over yet. Be right back...
Nope, was waiting to see "Revenge" first so the bus could hit me at full speed and I'd feel every bit of pain. Even Wiki is surprisingly lacking on info about this franchise, but now I want to know as much about it and these people as possible. :-)
Joe Dante´s werewolf movie is an exciting satirical thriller that even today works pretty well. It´s suspenseful, darkly funny, visually interesting and has a fine score by his “Piranha” composer Pino Donaggio.
And it has fantastic transformation effects by the great Rob Bottin, which I like more than Rick Baker`s Oscar winning transformation from “An American werewolf in London”. I´m sure there is no way any CGI-transformation can hold a candle to both transformation sequences.
The cast is also great, filled with classic actors like Patrick Macnee, Kevin McCarthy, Slim Pickens and John Carradine, as well as Dante regulars like Robert Picardo, Belinda Balaski, Forrest Ackerman, Roger Corman, John Sayles and of course, the grumpy Dick Miller.
Front and center is the always sweet and very likeable Dee Wallace, here partnered with her husband Christopher Stone. By the way, why didn´t she ever became a bigger star, at least after E.T.?
The movie is filled with in-jokes and nods to movie fans, starting with the characters names like George Waggner or Fred Francis. Also it has nudity, sex, even werewolf sex(!), blood and gore, so there is something for everyone to be found in this highly entertaining werewolf classic.
Watching this film today, I wish I could relive the wide-eyed amazement I experienced in the theater in 1981.
Sidney J. Furie's THE ENTITY (1982, 125 min.) in 35mm at NYC Anthology Film Archives' 'This is Celluloid: 35mm' Retrospective for the first time.
It doesn't spell it outright, but the supernatural horror that "The Entity" is peddling seems built almost entirely on the appeal of watching someone getting raped. And I don't mean "raped" like in art house movies where the whole story builds toward one dramatic act of aggression ("Once Upon A Time in America," "Two Women," etc.), but as 'pay your ticket price and watch Barbara Hershey get fondled, beaten and sexually attacked not once, not twice, not thrice... many times!' movie rape. Camouflaged by claims of being based on actual events and the absence of an actual human face on which to pin the rapes (which is probably why it got away with being as graphic as it is), "The Entity" is otherwise a competent and well-made supernatural thriller. Hershey commits to the part of a single mother that's almost given up on having a normal life, and Sidney J. Furie's direction (including now-dated attempts of a psychological explanation) is so good it makes you wish he hadn't slummed for most of his post-"Iron Eagle" career.
And talk about Ron Silver's rotten luck. He finally gets a chance to play a sympathetic doctor that's mostly in the right and a good guy within "The Entity's" internal logic. But not only is his character (a) a control freak that's basically no different from the asshole villains Silver was typecast playing his entire career, (b) he's also called Dr. Sneiderman (D'oh!). Silver just couldn't catch a break! "The Entity" has the same flaws that turned me off from the original "Amityville Horror" (ridiculously low body count, no explanation for the phenomenon it depicts, clearly made-up stuff because the alleged real-life events weren't dramatic enough, etc.), but this time they didn't bother me as much. It also has the same musical sting from "Maximum Overdrive" (i.e. the "Psycho" shower scene music), so, yep, F This Movie. :-)
I think I got one more left in me for later today. BRB...
Great choice. Very effective movie with an awesome performance by Barbara Hershey. To me it was always a kind of nasty, less polished and more graphic and brutal companion piece to Hoopers "Poltergeist".
I hope James Wan doesn´t lay his fingers on this film. I know I´m a little on the outside here, but except for "Saw" not one of his movies clicked with me. I actively dislike "Death sentence" and "Dead silence" and, for whatever reason, neither "Insidious" nor "Conjuring" impressed me the least bit, except maybe for the perfect 70s production design of the latter.
We're definitely on opposite sides of this. I haven't seen Furious 7 but with the exception of Saw, I like to love those films. The Conjuring was the classiest most effective studio horror film in a decade, in my opinion. That being said I totally agree that Wan nor anyone should try and remake The Entity.
Halloween Four: The Return of Michael Meyers (1988)
I am glade I ended this month with a bang. I had a lot of fun with this movie. I loved the tone and the scope the town going up against Meyers. It was a good solid horror movie, it seemed to hit all the right beats (still learning about horror) and Meyer pushes his thumb through someone's forehead. It was a good night, and a great month!
The Stepfather (1987, dir. Joseph Ruben) (First Time Viewing): Here are the Best Actor nominees for the 1987/88 Oscars:
-Michael Douglas: Wall Street -William Hurt: Broadcast News -Marcello Mastroianni: Dark Eyes -Jack Nicholson: Ironweed -Robin Williams: Good Morning Vietnam
None of them are better than Terry O’Quinn in The Stepfather*. I just got such a kick out of his devilishly wicked performance. Is it right that I read this as a pitch-black comedy? Excellent movie. Highly Recommended.
*It’s day 30 of Junesploitation and my thoughts may not be rational at this point.
Started a little slow, but I really enjoyed the fair and the scenes in the funhouse. The bad guy was creepy as hell. Good deaths. Fairly standard 80's horror flick, but there's nothing wrong with that. Slight recommend.
Well, I've now watched 30 new to me movies this month (on top of the stuff I watched outside of Junesploitation). Some really bad, some good, some great, some Streets of Fire. Good or bad, this has been a great excuse to see stuff that I've put off, and see stuff that I'd never normally gravitate towards. This was my first year participating, and I just wanted to say thanks for hosting, F! This Movie! Now I'm gonna go sleep until Scary Movie Month.
Here's the thing about Michael Ironside: he's fucking terrifying. Even when he's playing the hero you wouldn't want to get within a hundred yards of his bad side, so having him play a deranged misogynist serial killer in a slasher movie is pretty much a no-brainer. Here he's stalking a woman who is an outspoken feminist due to a vendetta against strong women he's had ever since witnessing his mother throw a pot of boiling oil onto his father to protect herself from being beaten.
It's a rough movie, particularly in light of those MRA dickholes who are popping up all over the Internet these days (I can just see them championing this guy like rappers who love Scarface despite having no understanding of the actual story), but it's actually got a strong feminist bent that is often missing from slashers. There are some pretty effective scares as well (one moment involving a woman trapped in a dumbwaiter had me actually biting my nails) and while it drags a bit in the middle there's more to chew on here than I expected. A good end to a really fun month.
Thanks again to Patrick for putting this together and always making it so much fun, and to everyone who has been watching, writing, talking, tweeting, and all the rest. It's been terrific talking Junesploitation with all of you, and I can't wait to see what you all have in store for Scary Movie Month!
Okay, so this movie is great. I love the Chris Sarandon performance, I love the slow burn scenes of the first hour (especially the club scene), and I love the bat shit crazy finale which is a brilliant homage to vampire films of the past. My only complaint would be that the final fight drags on a bit too long. But its a small complaint, and I highly recommend this movie (although everyone probably has seen it already).
I really enjoyed Junesploitation, and Im looking forward to Scary Movie Month.
A girl is suspicious when her mysterious aunt comes for a visit, and sure enough the aunt has supernatural powers. It’s a lot like THE STEPFATHER, but with evil magic. Once every so often during the ‘80s, you got a horror movie that had the monster targeting an entire family instead of just the teen characters, and this is one of those. The movie is slow going for long stretches, but then makes up it for in bursts of over-the-top gore or a demonic cat. (Spoiler: There’s a demonic cat.) Then, it goes into full-on EVIL DEAD mode in the last ten minutes. Still, Meredith Salenger (Natty Gann!) does the “final girl” thing with the best of ‘em.
Accompanying short film: ARE YOU READY FOR FREDDY music video by the Fat Boys. Look at Freddy get his rap on.
Junesploitation might be over, but that just means it’s time for… Jul-AvantGarde! Day one: Mimes. Day two: Ironic use of religious symbols. Day three: Sexual hang-ups. Day four: Anti-government rants. Day five: More mimes. And so on.
This one's kind of a cheat because it's a documentary about 80's horror and not an actual horror film.
Let me say, this is a great retrospective documentary. It covers the entire franchise warts and all. There are great interviews with cast, crew, even bands from the soundtrack (although some of the big stars who started in Elm Street films are absent, but that's to be expected.) There's a copious amount of set photos, and b-roll footage to really give you the history of these movies. The interviews are very candid and honest about behind the scenes drama and about choices made in certain chapters.
Overall this might be the best documentary of its type for a horror series. It's streaming on Netflix so check it out if you can.
I don't want #Junesploitation to end, so I devised myself my very own #SlasherJuly (starting today). I'm gonna watch every Halloween, Friday the 13th and Elm Street film in release order (except for the remakes). I'd only ever seen two of the movies (the first Halloween and the first Elm Street) before but now decided to take the plunge big time. Looking forward to a month of mindless violence. Wish me luck!
Started with a bang:
Halloween (1978) Friday the 13th (1980) - First viewing Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - First viewing Halloween II (1981) - First viewing
I know Halloween isn't technically an 80's film, but I'd say it's definitely in the "80's horror" genre, so I'm gonna go ahead and list it here.
Why not save all that horror energy and first-time viewings for "Scary Movie" month in October? It's only three months from now, and then you can channel all that creativity into seven-word reviews for all of them? Think about it, won't you? :-)
That sounds like a fine and impressive undertaking, sir! The party doesn't have to end if you don't want it to, and watching all those classic slashers sounds like one hell of a fun way to enjoy July!
JM, I don't think me doing this is gonna take anything away from my horror energy come October. I already have films lined up and waiting for SMM and the couple of months in between watching slashers and the start of October will be enough to get me riled up again. Don't you worry.
On another note, I'd like to join my fellow F-heads in saying thank you to Patrick, all the FTM team and all the F'ers for making this one of the best months ever! The weather here in Finland sucked all June but I didn't care because I was basking in the glow of great movies and the vitalizing rays of movie love from the site. Thank you!
A maniac in a clown mask is knocking off phone sex operators. He calls himself Bobo and collects his victims' nipples. Paul Bartel produced, and attracted an unusual combo of character actors: Karen Black is the phone sex service's owner, Bud Cort is a dorky S&M-freak accountant, Geoffrey Lewis is a drunk pornographer, Lainie Kazan is a hooker, Divine is out of drag as a Harvey Bullock-style detective, and Bartel himself is a gay motel manager in a toupee. They all seem to be in on some joke I don't get. This movie feels like a parody, but it's played so deadpan, so straight, that maybe it's just bad. Did Bartel hire a bad director so that his parody of Manhunter-esque erotic thrillers would be even more authentic? For me, Junesploitation ends on a perplexing note. Trailer.
I decided to stack the deck and end the month with a movie I love. I still love it. From its opening score to its closing crane shot, pretty much every minute of The Funhouse makes me happy. I know most horror fans see this as at best generic and at worst very terrible, but it has become one of my all-time favorites.
This has been a long, exhausting, wonderful month, and I love all of you who have gotten into the spirit and taken part whether it was for one day or 30 days. I am in awe of so many of you and appreciate all the recommendations and enthusiasm with which you approached Junesploitation. I have a lot of fun this month, but it would be nothing without you guys and girls. You're the best.
Seconded... what a blast. Thanks so much to Patrick for putting this together and everyone else for playing along. Reading everyone's reviews was a highlight of the day for me. Loved every day of it.
Its been my first June though I feel I have been here longer, some days it was really hard to find the time and I had to put in some late nights but I managed to join in and watch a film everyday, its been a blast, the last day today i just watched something I love, 80 horror is a perfect end for me, This is the best film community on the Net ;)
Funhouse was the discovery of the month for me. And thank you for all your hard work, I watch many movies which have broaden my horizons. I have had a blast, and I second Dennis this is the best film community!
This year's Junesploitation gets a 10 on my finger scale. It means I'd cut off all my fingers to fuck it. I never thought anything could rival scary movie month but this comes pretty close. If anyone's counting, that's two references to the Last Boy Scout in this thread. You guys are awesome...head or gut...3
I finished off the month with this movie as well. I didn't love it near as much, but I thought it was at least higher end generic?? It's something I'd definitely give another shot. I may have been just too tired to truly appreciate it. The tired was worth it though. I second everyone else....thanks for a great #Junesploitation.
Miami Golem a.k.a Miami Horror 1985 (Dir. Alberto De Martino)
I can't make this shit up - this was the finale I had been waiting for this month. I had to buy this on VHS and I did so months and months ago, saving it for this very day where I would finish the month by having to hook up the old VCR and watch it. My buddy and I joked about it earlier; what if my old VCR eats the tape? I told him I would take a picture and a video of me throwing the VCR out of the window.
Well - I just hooked it up, hit play, it went to stop. Hit play again, stop. Play again, stop - eject - mother fuckin' tape eaten! I am not kidding. I immediately started laughing like a lunatic and took a pic (I don't think I know how to post a pic on here or even if you can but if anyone knows I'll post this shit!) and took a video of me dropping my VCR on the concrete.
It's really kind of fitting for the end of Junesploitation. I have been through thick and thin with my VCR and it finally said "I'm done, and since I'm done, you're not watching Miami Horror without me!" Fuck it, it's kind of perfect.
Nice story, making lemonade from some sour lemons. Not all VCR's are created equal, though. I paid $250 for my semi-pro flying erase head model a few years back and it's been flawless. Most VCR's still in use or for sale (usually as part of a DVD combo) are either too old or too cheap, usually time bombs waiting to happen. Thanks for playing Junesploitation!
THE THING (1982) I had considered watching this on my birthday, but I've had so much fun this Junesploitation (I did like, 2 movies last year and that was all) that I decided it would be fitting to save the best for last.
Thanks to Patrick and all of you here in the F This Movie! community for such an amazing month. Whether it's the F This Movie! Fest or Scary Movie Month, every time something like this happens here I not only enjoy myself thoroughly chatting flicks with friends I made previously here all while meeting new and awesome people.
There's nowhere else quite like this. I feel lucky to know all of you, and look forward to getting to know many, many more of you.
Simply put, there's not a better way to celebrate and be as thankful as I am than by watching my favorite horror movie ever made, helmed by my all-time favorite director.
Evilspeak has my favourite 15 mins from all the 80s films, But this is the overall winner, I genuinely love this movie, it is my personal favourite underated unseen movie, its like British Dream logic, it doesn't all totally make sense and it dosent need to, it has a beautiful young Maryam d'Abo, its got Aliens, Midget clowns with Yoyo's with knifes on them, a 6ft tall killer action man figure, A Black panther, its only 82 minutes long and the story starts straight away, and it has the best birth scene ever, I've never seen anything like it in the 80s, I want everybody to see this movie,
I really enjoyed this movie. I don't see it as one of his best, but it's a fun and ominous mood-piece. I think the set ups work way better than the actual action, and I mean that as a complement to what they were able to do for so cheap. By the way, it has a great commentary with Carpenter and Debra Hill basically explaining how and where every scene was shot. Carpenter mentioned it on the commentary so I guess I'm not alone here, but the only problem I had with the movie was that it didn't really establish any rules. This is kinda cool in a way, like when the plank of wood starts going apeshit and it's never explained. He basically said that he didn't think a ghost story needed any logic. At times I think he's right, but it also makes the motivations of the ghosts sort of baffling. I guess this goes back to his worship of Lovecraft.
Anyway, it's been a great month. I've been in and out due to various levels of being really busy, but I really enjoyed getting to hear everyone's thoughts on movies I'd seen and recommendations for ones I might never have heard of. Thanks everybody! Now I don't know what to watch. It feels like chaos.
Lucky for you (and us) "Terminator Genosys" opens tonight, a perfect mainstream transition back to "normal" movies that feels kind of genre and exploitation.
Just watched Genisys last night. Judging by your yikes-es, I'm going to have the unpopular stance of.....it was fine. The acting left something to be desired and like all reboots they were a little heavy handed with the nods to the original, but I still managed to have fun with the movie.
I'm with you, Kyle. "Genisys" can be stupid one moment and awe-inspiring the next (for realz), but when it goes for the action beats it's another "Terminator" flick that entertains while it plays. Of course it falls apart afterwards when picked apart, but for two hours it amused and entertained me. What more can I ask for considering the handicaps the writers/producers had to work with? I just wish they'd hire an actor to play Kyle Reese who didn't look like Jon Favreau after a killer workout. :-P
Altered States: So I might try squeeze in a classic before I go to sleep but this was bizarre yet very hypnotic. This June has been one hell of a time. I watched all new to me movies! Fucking awesome people on here. You people thank you for restoring my faith in humanity all June!
Great work everyone at FThisMovue. Really. We all owe them a drink.
For the last day of Junesploitation I decided to do a personal pick and go with this one. Quick personal story- a few years back I worked at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights event and played one of Pinhead's underlings the cenobites. I remember at the time thinking the makeup job they had given me was a bit much. Now after seeing the movie today for the first time I realize they were toning it down, a lot. As to the movie, on a story level its pretty simple plot, open box and all hell breaks loose. Its definitely got some images you wont be able to unsee but at the end of the day I felt a little disconnected from the material. I kinda remember feeling the same way after watching Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions. Its not a bad movie but how it got an almost Land Before Time amount of sequels is kind of beyond my understanding.
I wasn't sure what to watch for the last day of Junesploitation, but I did have a weird dream starring Paul Sorvino last night...so here we are.
The plot is pretty formulaic: 1. Weird goo is found coming from the ground. 2. The Ground Goo is sweet and addictive, so it is the best food ever. 3.People (mainly a child) discover that Ground Goo is actually a parasitic organism that turns people in to zombies. 4. FUCKED UP CORPORATION IS BEHIND GROUND GOO! 5. People try to take down the corporation and break people away from the Ground Goo, but the fact is that the movie ends with Ground Goo still being sold underground.
The film is pretty self-aware and has nice comic bite to it. Certainly not an amazing film but a fun way to spend some time.
It has been a wild ride, my Junesploitationers. Thanks for the laughs and expanding my "Need To Watch" list exponentially.
I rocked both House and House two: the second story from 86 and 87 respectively.
Two hilarious 80's hours to round out my month and with this being the first junesploitation I have participated in, thanks a bunch, and I am excited for next year, Junesploitation: the Reckoning!
This one has been on my list since scary movie month...I figured it was time to finally give it a watch!
I found myself easily distracted during the beginning, but once they got into the mine, I loved it. It did make me laugh a little, thinking about what seems like a good idea when drunk. "Hey! Let's go into a mine!" Sober answer: let's not. Drunk answer: hell yeah! Woooooo!
Watched this and the remake a month or so. I vaguely remembered the original and hadn't seen the remake for some reason. I am glad I went back to revisit the original -- perhaps it would make my list of Top 5 Holiday-Themed Slasher Movies.
The Fly (1986) Tomorrow's Canada Day, so what better way to celebrate than to watch this master work from my favourite Canadian director? I can not stress how much I fucking love this film. The effects, the pitch black humor, the performances--I get so invested in these characters in a way that I rarely do with horror. When I was watching it this time, I actually started to think about the word 'horror' and while it covers this broad genre, it's not something I feel watching those films. Disconcerted, yeah; pee my pants terrified, more often than not. But this film makes me horrified, can't look away horrified, and that's what I came away with most on this viewing. Junesploitation has been amazing, folks. This is my first after a few years of lurking, and everyone here has been all kinds of awesome. Thank you for being so level headed, particularly when I've been way too blunt in giving my opinion. Incidentally, I'll be rewatching Wolfcop on Canada Day itself, because the only way to celebrate Confederation is with Liquor Donuts.
As if watching Jeff Goldblum isn´t enough of a reason to watch a film ;-)
This was my first Junesploitation since I just recently became a little addicted to movie podcasts which inevitably brought me to fthismovie, stumbling head on into this event. Well, it was really great fun, even if I didn´t had the time to watch that much movies, let alone real exploitation films. My watchlist grew a lot during this month with many movies on it, I never really heard of before. I already look forward to SMM. My english is serviceable but if I´m up to a 7 or 8 word review....well, we`ll see. Thanks for the very interesting and funny Junesploitation.
I don't think I would like this as much if it wasn't part of the Halloween series. It's such a crazily far from anything else in the series that I find it fascinating. Tom Atkins plays an alcoholic womanizing doctor who winds up trying to foil a plot by an occult run Halloween mask company that plans to use their new line of mask to sacrifice children. It doesn't get much better than that. The filmmakers wanted to go a different direction than the Michael Myers story, and boy did they ever. I can't judge this movie fairly. I love it, but I'm pretty sure it's objectively terrible.
Tired with all the rules in place by the new camp director, the campers decide to start a revolution by locking all the adults away and running the camp themselves. Of course murder and rape ensues except the movie still has this weird comedy feel the whole time these things are happening. I remember seeing this as a young child and thinking it was very serious and kind of scary movie. It was neither. More like an after school special.
Anyway, it was great reading everyone's reviews. I had a few hits and misses during the month, but it was fun nevertheless. I now have a bunch of new movies to check out which is always a huge plus of Junesploitation.
There isn't a better tribute to 80's Horror than this - a smart, funny look at how and why the great supernatural killers - Jason, Freddy, Michael and now Leslie Vernon? - do what they do, The lead actor absolutely nails it, portraying a character unlike anything you've ever seen - a crazy mix of playful charm and lethal intensity that really works somehow. Certainly one of the best self-referential horror movies since Scream and maybe even better!
SCARECROWS (1988, 83 min.) on Blu-ray for the first time.
A blind buy for Scream! Factory day that got put to the side (went with "The Battery" instead), "Scarecrows" is the type of low-budget movie starring a no-name cast that Junesploitation tempts one to take a crack at when normally you'd balk at paying retail for an unknown quantity. A cross between a hick version of "Pumpkinhead" (minus the light show) and a testosterone-deficient "Predator," this is actually a pretty boring and dull 'lost in the woods'-type movie punctuated by infrequent but acceptable-for-'88 money shots of gore and violence. You'll be no better or worse off than before you started watching "Scarecrows" after you've seen it, and you'll learn no new lessons except for the same ones most of these flicks recycle: greed is bad, money is the root of all evil, dogs like to eat barbecued-by-grenade-fire corpses, etc. To paraphrase what a wise podcaster once told all of us a long time ago, "Scarecrows" is fine.
And I'm spent! It was nice to have a crowd participating in Junesploitation this year as opposed to previous years, when it seemed it was just the same 10-12 people posting reviews over and over. Gonna crawl beneath a rock, fall asleep and not wake up until Scary Movie Month comes around. Is it winter yet? :-)
I tried to watch this on YouTube but it was horribly misframed and missing about ten minutes. Oh well, I saw enough to warrant a buy, because what I saw looked wacky enough, and because Scream Factory.
Otherwise, my first #Junesploitation was a great experience! Thank all of you for making it so much fun (and for putting so many recommendations out there), and especially a major thank you to Patrick for making this such a welcome, friendly, all inclusive refuge for movie fans.
Finishing this Junesploitation thing off with a bang. This is by far the best movie I saw for the challenge. John Seale's cinematography combine with a fantastic synth score to create a kind of '80s horror western.
The hopeless vastness of the indifferent southwest landscape. Tiny dots of abandoned civilization. What little is there feels lost and disconnected. No one has families. Even the people who know each other don't know each other. And then along comes the titular hitcher. Like the truck in Duel, he exists only for violence. But where Spielberg pits the two in transparently class-related terms -- the evil unknowable working class trucker against the well-meaning, relatable white collar businessman -- Harmon implies an uncomfortable duality between driver and rider. Hauer can't exist without Howell. Hauer is the dark, self-destructive impulse running through contemporary urbanity. We want to escape our lives, ourselves.
This takes the unsettling hallucinatory qualities of Italian horror maestros like Argento and Fulci and severs all the ludicrous, expository dialogue in favor of a lean, cruel, energetic movie that hits the ground running and never lets up. It manages to be both breathlessly fast-paced and seemingly endless, creating a sense of claustrophobic inevitable doom.
My only complaint is Hauer's performance. I find him campy and theatrical in almost everything, and his mugging bad guy routine here is the same Too Much For My Taste as usual. Somewhat thankfully he really doesn't have much screen time. But with a more plausibly terrifying Hitcher I think his specter would loom even larger in all the scenes he's not in. If that had been the case I could see this becoming one of my favorite horror movies ever.
The Howling was pretty good and I'm glad I watched it. It started out a little slow but had a pretty decent last third. As far as werewolf movies go, it's probably pretty high up there. It doesn't have a ton of competition but I could see myself watching it again.
Thanks to F This Movie for everything this month. I've never been someone to comment on anything but I feel right at home on this site. I'm glad I found it and only wish I had found it sooner. I started listening to the podcasts a little over a year ago but now I feel like I'm really getting into it. Please don't change the name. It's the best fucking name for a site, period. Before I started listening to the podcasts I had pretty much given up on most movies. Now, I stopped watching all TV shows and I try to watch a movie a day. It has become my favorite addiction. Thanks Patrick and everybody at F This Movie!
Here is the end of a fantastic month.....What will I do now without a specific itinerary of what to watch? Who will tell me how to live? Can Julysploitation be a thing? IT CAN BE.
Oh yes, I thought I'd close out the month with a lesser known 80s slasher. Apparently the director was heavily influenced by Mario Bava but that is nowhere to be seen until the last 15 minutes or so which are actually quite good. Boobs, babes, and blood. An appropriate end to a great month.
Well done everyone. Its been a pleasure reading all the crazy kooky stuff you have managed to watch. Is it too early to start talking scary movie month?
REVENGE OF THE BOOGEY MAN (1983, 76 min.) on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLMQvmQaG6M) for the first time.
ReplyDeleteDamn! E.S.A.D.D. warned me that this would be rough, but I had no idea the fall from grace from the original "Boogey Man" to this fascinatingly-shitty sequel would be so steep. Lacey (Suzanna Love) comes to Hollywood to visit a jaded movie director named Mickey (director Ulli Lomell, who was married to Love at the time) to share her supernatural story, with a shard of glass in her purse as proof. Cue almost half of the original "Boogey Man" film as explanation flashbacks, including Patrick's favorite scene of Junesploitation '15 (20:47 of link above), taking 40 of this movie's 76 minutes. And this is THE LEAST of "ROTB's" problems! Shot entirely in Lomell's and Love's mansion around the Hollywood Hills, the movie seems more concerned with skewering early 80's Hollywood culture than setting up a new round of kills. At one point a character takes a dump on Brian De Palma for making "Blow Out" (44:55), which takes balls considering Lomell's filmography doesn't have a movie half as good as De Palma's weakest films.
"ROTB" makes "Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2" look like "Vertigo." Unlike the latter's hired filmmakers being forced to recycle footage out of necessity, though, Lomell (whose direction in this sequel is uncredited) turned down studio money because he wanted to do this sequel on the cheap. It shows in everything, from the hand-drawn opening credits and bad acting (except for Love, who remains sympathetic throughout) to the laughable practical special effects. Even the footage from the original "Boogey Man" (including John Carradine and the upper-right hand boom mike that always travels with him) alternates between 4:3 and 16:9 from scene to scene! At least "ROTB" has two deaths that made me clap and cheer loudly despite being clear ripoffs of scenes from better horror movies (cough... "Carrie"... ahem!). For fans of fictitious movies in which Hollywood couples play made-up versions of themselves ("LolliLove," "The Anniversary Party," etc.) "ROTB" is a fascinating peek into the psyche of a Hollywood not-quite-power couple masquerading as a meta-before-meta-was-a-thing early 80's supernatural slasher.
Two video nasties now crossed from my Video Nasties bucket list. Thank you, Junesploitation, but the month and 80's Horror day ain't over yet. Be right back...
Did you see that story I sent you about Ulli Lommel wanting to remake The Boogey Man?
DeleteNope, was waiting to see "Revenge" first so the bus could hit me at full speed and I'd feel every bit of pain. Even Wiki is surprisingly lacking on info about this franchise, but now I want to know as much about it and these people as possible. :-)
DeleteThe howling (1981)
ReplyDeleteJoe Dante´s werewolf movie is an exciting satirical thriller that even today works pretty well. It´s suspenseful, darkly funny, visually interesting and has a fine score by his “Piranha” composer Pino Donaggio.
And it has fantastic transformation effects by the great Rob Bottin, which I like more than Rick Baker`s Oscar winning transformation from “An American werewolf in London”. I´m sure there is no way any CGI-transformation can hold a candle to both transformation sequences.
The cast is also great, filled with classic actors like Patrick Macnee, Kevin McCarthy, Slim Pickens and John Carradine, as well as Dante regulars like Robert Picardo, Belinda Balaski, Forrest Ackerman, Roger Corman, John Sayles and of course, the grumpy Dick Miller.
Front and center is the always sweet and very likeable Dee Wallace, here partnered with her husband Christopher Stone. By the way, why didn´t she ever became a bigger star, at least after E.T.?
The movie is filled with in-jokes and nods to movie fans, starting with the characters names like George Waggner or Fred Francis. Also it has nudity, sex, even werewolf sex(!), blood and gore, so there is something for everyone to be found in this highly entertaining werewolf classic.
Watching this film today, I wish I could relive the wide-eyed amazement I experienced in the theater in 1981.
For more werewolf sex check out Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Wolfcop (2014).
DeleteSidney J. Furie's THE ENTITY (1982, 125 min.) in 35mm at NYC Anthology Film Archives' 'This is Celluloid: 35mm' Retrospective for the first time.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't spell it outright, but the supernatural horror that "The Entity" is peddling seems built almost entirely on the appeal of watching someone getting raped. And I don't mean "raped" like in art house movies where the whole story builds toward one dramatic act of aggression ("Once Upon A Time in America," "Two Women," etc.), but as 'pay your ticket price and watch Barbara Hershey get fondled, beaten and sexually attacked not once, not twice, not thrice... many times!' movie rape. Camouflaged by claims of being based on actual events and the absence of an actual human face on which to pin the rapes (which is probably why it got away with being as graphic as it is), "The Entity" is otherwise a competent and well-made supernatural thriller. Hershey commits to the part of a single mother that's almost given up on having a normal life, and Sidney J. Furie's direction (including now-dated attempts of a psychological explanation) is so good it makes you wish he hadn't slummed for most of his post-"Iron Eagle" career.
And talk about Ron Silver's rotten luck. He finally gets a chance to play a sympathetic doctor that's mostly in the right and a good guy within "The Entity's" internal logic. But not only is his character (a) a control freak that's basically no different from the asshole villains Silver was typecast playing his entire career, (b) he's also called Dr. Sneiderman (D'oh!). Silver just couldn't catch a break! "The Entity" has the same flaws that turned me off from the original "Amityville Horror" (ridiculously low body count, no explanation for the phenomenon it depicts, clearly made-up stuff because the alleged real-life events weren't dramatic enough, etc.), but this time they didn't bother me as much. It also has the same musical sting from "Maximum Overdrive" (i.e. the "Psycho" shower scene music), so, yep, F This Movie. :-)
I think I got one more left in me for later today. BRB...
I read that Wan's producing and the writers of the Conjuring are working on the remake. To me, in this climate, it's an impossible task.
DeleteGreat choice. Very effective movie with an awesome performance by Barbara Hershey.
DeleteTo me it was always a kind of nasty, less polished and more graphic and brutal companion piece to Hoopers "Poltergeist".
I hope James Wan doesn´t lay his fingers on this film.
I know I´m a little on the outside here, but except for "Saw" not one of his movies clicked with me. I actively dislike "Death sentence" and "Dead silence" and, for whatever reason, neither "Insidious" nor "Conjuring" impressed me the least bit, except maybe for the perfect 70s production design of the latter.
We're definitely on opposite sides of this. I haven't seen Furious 7 but with the exception of Saw, I like to love those films. The Conjuring was the classiest most effective studio horror film in a decade, in my opinion. That being said I totally agree that Wan nor anyone should try and remake The Entity.
DeleteSo we agree to disagree ;-))
DeleteMaybe sometime in the future I will give it another try.
Halloween Four: The Return of Michael Meyers (1988)
ReplyDeleteI am glade I ended this month with a bang. I had a lot of fun with this movie. I loved the tone and the scope the town going up against Meyers. It was a good solid horror movie, it seemed to hit all the right beats (still learning about horror) and Meyer pushes his thumb through someone's forehead. It was a good night, and a great month!
The Stepfather (1987, dir. Joseph Ruben) (First Time Viewing): Here are the Best Actor nominees for the 1987/88 Oscars:
ReplyDelete-Michael Douglas: Wall Street
-William Hurt: Broadcast News
-Marcello Mastroianni: Dark Eyes
-Jack Nicholson: Ironweed
-Robin Williams: Good Morning Vietnam
None of them are better than Terry O’Quinn in The Stepfather*. I just got such a kick out of his devilishly wicked performance. Is it right that I read this as a pitch-black comedy? Excellent movie. Highly Recommended.
*It’s day 30 of Junesploitation and my thoughts may not be rational at this point.
To this day, my friend and I will quote his chilling signature line:
Delete"Wait. Who am I here?"
The Funhouse (1981) (first time viewing)
ReplyDeleteStarted a little slow, but I really enjoyed the fair and the scenes in the funhouse. The bad guy was creepy as hell. Good deaths. Fairly standard 80's horror flick, but there's nothing wrong with that. Slight recommend.
Well, I've now watched 30 new to me movies this month (on top of the stuff I watched outside of Junesploitation). Some really bad, some good, some great, some Streets of Fire. Good or bad, this has been a great excuse to see stuff that I've put off, and see stuff that I'd never normally gravitate towards. This was my first year participating, and I just wanted to say thanks for hosting, F! This Movie! Now I'm gonna go sleep until Scary Movie Month.
Visiting Hours (1982)
ReplyDeleteHere's the thing about Michael Ironside: he's fucking terrifying. Even when he's playing the hero you wouldn't want to get within a hundred yards of his bad side, so having him play a deranged misogynist serial killer in a slasher movie is pretty much a no-brainer. Here he's stalking a woman who is an outspoken feminist due to a vendetta against strong women he's had ever since witnessing his mother throw a pot of boiling oil onto his father to protect herself from being beaten.
It's a rough movie, particularly in light of those MRA dickholes who are popping up all over the Internet these days (I can just see them championing this guy like rappers who love Scarface despite having no understanding of the actual story), but it's actually got a strong feminist bent that is often missing from slashers. There are some pretty effective scares as well (one moment involving a woman trapped in a dumbwaiter had me actually biting my nails) and while it drags a bit in the middle there's more to chew on here than I expected. A good end to a really fun month.
Thanks again to Patrick for putting this together and always making it so much fun, and to everyone who has been watching, writing, talking, tweeting, and all the rest. It's been terrific talking Junesploitation with all of you, and I can't wait to see what you all have in store for Scary Movie Month!
You remain, as ever, The Man, sir --
DeleteFright Night (1985)
ReplyDeleteOkay, so this movie is great. I love the Chris Sarandon performance, I love the slow burn scenes of the first hour (especially the club scene), and I love the bat shit crazy finale which is a brilliant homage to vampire films of the past. My only complaint would be that the final fight drags on a bit too long. But its a small complaint, and I highly recommend this movie (although everyone probably has seen it already).
I really enjoyed Junesploitation, and Im looking forward to Scary Movie Month.
THE KISS (1988)
ReplyDeleteA girl is suspicious when her mysterious aunt comes for a visit, and sure enough the aunt has supernatural powers. It’s a lot like THE STEPFATHER, but with evil magic. Once every so often during the ‘80s, you got a horror movie that had the monster targeting an entire family instead of just the teen characters, and this is one of those. The movie is slow going for long stretches, but then makes up it for in bursts of over-the-top gore or a demonic cat. (Spoiler: There’s a demonic cat.) Then, it goes into full-on EVIL DEAD mode in the last ten minutes. Still, Meredith Salenger (Natty Gann!) does the “final girl” thing with the best of ‘em.
Accompanying short film: ARE YOU READY FOR FREDDY music video by the Fat Boys. Look at Freddy get his rap on.
Junesploitation might be over, but that just means it’s time for… Jul-AvantGarde! Day one: Mimes. Day two: Ironic use of religious symbols. Day three: Sexual hang-ups. Day four: Anti-government rants. Day five: More mimes. And so on.
Jul-AvantGarde is going to have me laughing all day.
DeleteNever Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)
ReplyDeleteThis one's kind of a cheat because it's a documentary about 80's horror and not an actual horror film.
Let me say, this is a great retrospective documentary.
It covers the entire franchise warts and all.
There are great interviews with cast, crew, even bands from the soundtrack (although some of the big stars who started in Elm Street films are absent, but that's to be expected.)
There's a copious amount of set photos, and b-roll footage to really give you the history of these movies.
The interviews are very candid and honest about behind the scenes drama and about choices made in certain chapters.
Overall this might be the best documentary of its type for a horror series.
It's streaming on Netflix so check it out if you can.
I don't want #Junesploitation to end, so I devised myself my very own #SlasherJuly (starting today). I'm gonna watch every Halloween, Friday the 13th and Elm Street film in release order (except for the remakes). I'd only ever seen two of the movies (the first Halloween and the first Elm Street) before but now decided to take the plunge big time. Looking forward to a month of mindless violence. Wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteStarted with a bang:
Halloween (1978)
Friday the 13th (1980) - First viewing
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) - First viewing
Halloween II (1981) - First viewing
I know Halloween isn't technically an 80's film, but I'd say it's definitely in the "80's horror" genre, so I'm gonna go ahead and list it here.
Why not save all that horror energy and first-time viewings for "Scary Movie" month in October? It's only three months from now, and then you can channel all that creativity into seven-word reviews for all of them? Think about it, won't you? :-)
DeleteThat sounds like a fine and impressive undertaking, sir! The party doesn't have to end if you don't want it to, and watching all those classic slashers sounds like one hell of a fun way to enjoy July!
DeleteJM, I don't think me doing this is gonna take anything away from my horror energy come October. I already have films lined up and waiting for SMM and the couple of months in between watching slashers and the start of October will be enough to get me riled up again. Don't you worry.
DeleteOn another note, I'd like to join my fellow F-heads in saying thank you to Patrick, all the FTM team and all the F'ers for making this one of the best months ever! The weather here in Finland sucked all June but I didn't care because I was basking in the glow of great movies and the vitalizing rays of movie love from the site. Thank you!
Out of the Dark (1988, dir. Michael Schroeder)
ReplyDeleteA maniac in a clown mask is knocking off phone sex operators. He calls himself Bobo and collects his victims' nipples. Paul Bartel produced, and attracted an unusual combo of character actors: Karen Black is the phone sex service's owner, Bud Cort is a dorky S&M-freak accountant, Geoffrey Lewis is a drunk pornographer, Lainie Kazan is a hooker, Divine is out of drag as a Harvey Bullock-style detective, and Bartel himself is a gay motel manager in a toupee. They all seem to be in on some joke I don't get. This movie feels like a parody, but it's played so deadpan, so straight, that maybe it's just bad. Did Bartel hire a bad director so that his parody of Manhunter-esque erotic thrillers would be even more authentic? For me, Junesploitation ends on a perplexing note. Trailer.
The Funhouse (1981, dir. Tobe Hooper)
ReplyDeleteI decided to stack the deck and end the month with a movie I love. I still love it. From its opening score to its closing crane shot, pretty much every minute of The Funhouse makes me happy. I know most horror fans see this as at best generic and at worst very terrible, but it has become one of my all-time favorites.
This has been a long, exhausting, wonderful month, and I love all of you who have gotten into the spirit and taken part whether it was for one day or 30 days. I am in awe of so many of you and appreciate all the recommendations and enthusiasm with which you approached Junesploitation. I have a lot of fun this month, but it would be nothing without you guys and girls. You're the best.
Right back atcha, sir!
DeleteSeconded... what a blast. Thanks so much to Patrick for putting this together and everyone else for playing along. Reading everyone's reviews was a highlight of the day for me. Loved every day of it.
DeleteIts been my first June though I feel I have been here longer, some days it was really hard to find the time and I had to put in some late nights but I managed to join in and watch a film everyday, its been a blast, the last day today i just watched something I love, 80 horror is a perfect end for me, This is the best film community on the Net ;)
DeleteAgreed, this has been totally fucking great. Everyone rocks the socks right off June!
Delete"And then some."
Delete- Joe Hallenbeck
Funhouse was the discovery of the month for me. And thank you for all your hard work, I watch many movies which have broaden my horizons. I have had a blast, and I second Dennis this is the best film community!
DeleteThis year's Junesploitation gets a 10 on my finger scale. It means I'd cut off all my fingers to fuck it. I never thought anything could rival scary movie month but this comes pretty close. If anyone's counting, that's two references to the Last Boy Scout in this thread. You guys are awesome...head or gut...3
DeleteI finished off the month with this movie as well. I didn't love it near as much, but I thought it was at least higher end generic?? It's something I'd definitely give another shot. I may have been just too tired to truly appreciate it. The tired was worth it though. I second everyone else....thanks for a great #Junesploitation.
DeleteOoops, I just spilled my cup of warm pee! 4
DeleteWe need a podcast on The last Boyscout, that movie is all kinds of Awesome
DeleteI agree Dennis! I will also put in my vote for a Last Boyscout podcast. It'll be the kind of podcast that shreds all others.
DeleteMiami Golem a.k.a Miami Horror 1985 (Dir. Alberto De Martino)
ReplyDeleteI can't make this shit up - this was the finale I had been waiting for this month. I had to buy this on VHS and I did so months and months ago, saving it for this very day where I would finish the month by having to hook up the old VCR and watch it. My buddy and I joked about it earlier; what if my old VCR eats the tape? I told him I would take a picture and a video of me throwing the VCR out of the window.
Well - I just hooked it up, hit play, it went to stop. Hit play again, stop. Play again, stop - eject - mother fuckin' tape eaten! I am not kidding. I immediately started laughing like a lunatic and took a pic (I don't think I know how to post a pic on here or even if you can but if anyone knows I'll post this shit!) and took a video of me dropping my VCR on the concrete.
It's really kind of fitting for the end of Junesploitation. I have been through thick and thin with my VCR and it finally said "I'm done, and since I'm done, you're not watching Miami Horror without me!" Fuck it, it's kind of perfect.
Nice story, making lemonade from some sour lemons. Not all VCR's are created equal, though. I paid $250 for my semi-pro flying erase head model a few years back and it's been flawless. Most VCR's still in use or for sale (usually as part of a DVD combo) are either too old or too cheap, usually time bombs waiting to happen. Thanks for playing Junesploitation!
DeleteThis baby was 20 something years old so it was only a matter of time.
DeleteThanks to my buddy Matt who got me a copy of Miami Horror so I could finally have closure to Junesploitation' 15.
DeleteI got to it tonight, it wasn't that great although better than the death of my VCR.
THE THING (1982)
ReplyDeleteI had considered watching this on my birthday, but I've had so much fun this Junesploitation (I did like, 2 movies last year and that was all) that I decided it would be fitting to save the best for last.
Thanks to Patrick and all of you here in the F This Movie! community for such an amazing month. Whether it's the F This Movie! Fest or Scary Movie Month, every time something like this happens here I not only enjoy myself thoroughly chatting flicks with friends I made previously here all while meeting new and awesome people.
There's nowhere else quite like this. I feel lucky to know all of you, and look forward to getting to know many, many more of you.
Simply put, there's not a better way to celebrate and be as thankful as I am than by watching my favorite horror movie ever made, helmed by my all-time favorite director.
You guys rock.
You too, Albert! Well said. It's been great!
DeleteThanks man, it really has!
Delete(and sorry about your VCR)
Haha, no worries, thanks!
DeleteGlad to have met you through the power of movies! This has been an awesome month!
DeleteXTRO 1983
ReplyDeleteEvilspeak has my favourite 15 mins from all the 80s films, But this is the overall winner, I genuinely love this movie, it is my personal favourite underated unseen movie, its like British Dream logic, it doesn't all totally make sense and it dosent need to, it has a beautiful young Maryam d'Abo, its got Aliens, Midget clowns with Yoyo's with knifes on them, a 6ft tall killer action man figure, A Black panther, its only 82 minutes long and the story starts straight away, and it has the best birth scene ever, I've never seen anything like it in the 80s, I want everybody to see this movie,
This sounds amazing. I will definitely seek this out.
DeleteThe Fog (1980) (first viewing)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this movie. I don't see it as one of his best, but it's a fun and ominous mood-piece. I think the set ups work way better than the actual action, and I mean that as a complement to what they were able to do for so cheap. By the way, it has a great commentary with Carpenter and Debra Hill basically explaining how and where every scene was shot. Carpenter mentioned it on the commentary so I guess I'm not alone here, but the only problem I had with the movie was that it didn't really establish any rules. This is kinda cool in a way, like when the plank of wood starts going apeshit and it's never explained. He basically said that he didn't think a ghost story needed any logic. At times I think he's right, but it also makes the motivations of the ghosts sort of baffling. I guess this goes back to his worship of Lovecraft.
Anyway, it's been a great month. I've been in and out due to various levels of being really busy, but I really enjoyed getting to hear everyone's thoughts on movies I'd seen and recommendations for ones I might never have heard of. Thanks everybody! Now I don't know what to watch. It feels like chaos.
Lucky for you (and us) "Terminator Genosys" opens tonight, a perfect mainstream transition back to "normal" movies that feels kind of genre and exploitation.
DeleteI think I'm gonna hit a 945 screening.
DeleteWell... that went the way I dreaded.
DeleteMy review will post probably on Thursday, but yes. I agree. Yikes.
DeleteYikes is right, sir.
DeleteJust watched Genisys last night. Judging by your yikes-es, I'm going to have the unpopular stance of.....it was fine. The acting left something to be desired and like all reboots they were a little heavy handed with the nods to the original, but I still managed to have fun with the movie.
DeleteI'm with you, Kyle. "Genisys" can be stupid one moment and awe-inspiring the next (for realz), but when it goes for the action beats it's another "Terminator" flick that entertains while it plays. Of course it falls apart afterwards when picked apart, but for two hours it amused and entertained me. What more can I ask for considering the handicaps the writers/producers had to work with? I just wish they'd hire an actor to play Kyle Reese who didn't look like Jon Favreau after a killer workout. :-P
DeleteAltered States: So I might try squeeze in a classic before I go to sleep but this was bizarre yet very hypnotic. This June has been one hell of a time. I watched all new to me movies! Fucking awesome people on here. You people thank you for restoring my faith in humanity all June!
ReplyDeleteGreat work everyone at FThisMovue. Really. We all owe them a drink.
We love you, Gabby!
DeleteI've loved reading your reviews, Gabby!!
DeleteThirded... Gabby for Prime Minister of F This Movie! ;-)
DeleteHellraiser (1987)
ReplyDeleteFor the last day of Junesploitation I decided to do a personal pick and go with this one. Quick personal story- a few years back I worked at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights event and played one of Pinhead's underlings the cenobites. I remember at the time thinking the makeup job they had given me was a bit much. Now after seeing the movie today for the first time I realize they were toning it down, a lot.
As to the movie, on a story level its pretty simple plot, open box and all hell breaks loose. Its definitely got some images you wont be able to unsee but at the end of the day I felt a little disconnected from the material. I kinda remember feeling the same way after watching Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions. Its not a bad movie but how it got an almost Land Before Time amount of sequels is kind of beyond my understanding.
8 Word Review (In Preparation for SMM)
"Hero girl's boyfriend sure takes escaping demons well"
The Stuff (1985)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure what to watch for the last day of Junesploitation, but I did have a weird dream starring Paul Sorvino last night...so here we are.
The plot is pretty formulaic:
1. Weird goo is found coming from the ground.
2. The Ground Goo is sweet and addictive, so it is the best food ever.
3.People (mainly a child) discover that Ground Goo is actually a parasitic organism that turns people in to zombies.
4. FUCKED UP CORPORATION IS BEHIND GROUND GOO!
5. People try to take down the corporation and break people away from the Ground Goo, but the fact is that the movie ends with Ground Goo still being sold underground.
The film is pretty self-aware and has nice comic bite to it. Certainly not an amazing film but a fun way to spend some time.
It has been a wild ride, my Junesploitationers. Thanks for the laughs and expanding my "Need To Watch" list exponentially.
I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one around here who dreams about Paul Sorvino.
DeleteI rocked both House and House two: the second story from 86 and 87 respectively.
ReplyDeleteTwo hilarious 80's hours to round out my month and with this being the first junesploitation I have participated in, thanks a bunch, and I am excited for next year, Junesploitation: the Reckoning!
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
ReplyDeleteThis one has been on my list since scary movie month...I figured it was time to finally give it a watch!
I found myself easily distracted during the beginning, but once they got into the mine, I loved it. It did make me laugh a little, thinking about what seems like a good idea when drunk. "Hey! Let's go into a mine!" Sober answer: let's not. Drunk answer: hell yeah! Woooooo!
All in all, solid slasher flick.
I can't believe June is over!
Watched this and the remake a month or so. I vaguely remembered the original and hadn't seen the remake for some reason. I am glad I went back to revisit the original -- perhaps it would make my list of Top 5 Holiday-Themed Slasher Movies.
DeleteThe Fly (1986)
ReplyDeleteTomorrow's Canada Day, so what better way to celebrate than to watch this master work from my favourite Canadian director? I can not stress how much I fucking love this film. The effects, the pitch black humor, the performances--I get so invested in these characters in a way that I rarely do with horror. When I was watching it this time, I actually started to think about the word 'horror' and while it covers this broad genre, it's not something I feel watching those films. Disconcerted, yeah; pee my pants terrified, more often than not. But this film makes me horrified, can't look away horrified, and that's what I came away with most on this viewing.
Junesploitation has been amazing, folks. This is my first after a few years of lurking, and everyone here has been all kinds of awesome. Thank you for being so level headed, particularly when I've been way too blunt in giving my opinion.
Incidentally, I'll be rewatching Wolfcop on Canada Day itself, because the only way to celebrate Confederation is with Liquor Donuts.
As if watching Jeff Goldblum isn´t enough of a reason to watch a film ;-)
DeleteThis was my first Junesploitation since I just recently became a little addicted to movie podcasts which inevitably brought me to fthismovie, stumbling head on into this event.
Well, it was really great fun, even if I didn´t had the time to watch that much movies, let alone real exploitation films. My watchlist grew a lot during this month with many movies on it, I never really heard of before.
I already look forward to SMM. My english is serviceable but if I´m up to a 7 or 8 word review....well, we`ll see.
Thanks for the very interesting and funny Junesploitation.
You're welcome, sir. :-)
DeleteHalloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would like this as much if it wasn't part of the Halloween series. It's such a crazily far from anything else in the series that I find it fascinating. Tom Atkins plays an alcoholic womanizing doctor who winds up trying to foil a plot by an occult run Halloween mask company that plans to use their new line of mask to sacrifice children. It doesn't get much better than that. The filmmakers wanted to go a different direction than the Michael Myers story, and boy did they ever. I can't judge this movie fairly. I love it, but I'm pretty sure it's objectively terrible.
Summer Camp Nightmare (1987)
ReplyDeleteTired with all the rules in place by the new camp director, the campers decide to start a revolution by locking all the adults away and running the camp themselves. Of course murder and rape ensues except the movie still has this weird comedy feel the whole time these things are happening. I remember seeing this as a young child and thinking it was very serious and kind of scary movie. It was neither. More like an after school special.
Anyway, it was great reading everyone's reviews. I had a few hits and misses during the month, but it was fun nevertheless. I now have a bunch of new movies to check out which is always a huge plus of Junesploitation.
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
ReplyDeleteThere isn't a better tribute to 80's Horror than this - a smart, funny look at how and why the great supernatural killers - Jason, Freddy, Michael and now Leslie Vernon? - do what they do, The lead actor absolutely nails it, portraying a character unlike anything you've ever seen - a crazy mix of playful charm and lethal intensity that really works somehow. Certainly one of the best self-referential horror movies since Scream and maybe even better!
I LOVE THIS MOVIE. No idea why more horror fans don't talk about it all the goddamn time.
DeleteSCARECROWS (1988, 83 min.) on Blu-ray for the first time.
ReplyDeleteA blind buy for Scream! Factory day that got put to the side (went with "The Battery" instead), "Scarecrows" is the type of low-budget movie starring a no-name cast that Junesploitation tempts one to take a crack at when normally you'd balk at paying retail for an unknown quantity. A cross between a hick version of "Pumpkinhead" (minus the light show) and a testosterone-deficient "Predator," this is actually a pretty boring and dull 'lost in the woods'-type movie punctuated by infrequent but acceptable-for-'88 money shots of gore and violence. You'll be no better or worse off than before you started watching "Scarecrows" after you've seen it, and you'll learn no new lessons except for the same ones most of these flicks recycle: greed is bad, money is the root of all evil, dogs like to eat barbecued-by-grenade-fire corpses, etc. To paraphrase what a wise podcaster once told all of us a long time ago, "Scarecrows" is fine.
And I'm spent! It was nice to have a crowd participating in Junesploitation this year as opposed to previous years, when it seemed it was just the same 10-12 people posting reviews over and over. Gonna crawl beneath a rock, fall asleep and not wake up until Scary Movie Month comes around. Is it winter yet? :-)
I tried to watch this on YouTube but it was horribly misframed and missing about ten minutes. Oh well, I saw enough to warrant a buy, because what I saw looked wacky enough, and because Scream Factory.
DeleteOtherwise, my first #Junesploitation was a great experience! Thank all of you for making it so much fun (and for putting so many recommendations out there), and especially a major thank you to Patrick for making this such a welcome, friendly, all inclusive refuge for movie fans.
The Hitcher (1986, Robert Harmon)
ReplyDeleteFinishing this Junesploitation thing off with a bang. This is by far the best movie I saw for the challenge. John Seale's cinematography combine with a fantastic synth score to create a kind of '80s horror western.
The hopeless vastness of the indifferent southwest landscape. Tiny dots of abandoned civilization. What little is there feels lost and disconnected. No one has families. Even the people who know each other don't know each other. And then along comes the titular hitcher. Like the truck in Duel, he exists only for violence. But where Spielberg pits the two in transparently class-related terms -- the evil unknowable working class trucker against the well-meaning, relatable white collar businessman -- Harmon implies an uncomfortable duality between driver and rider. Hauer can't exist without Howell. Hauer is the dark, self-destructive impulse running through contemporary urbanity. We want to escape our lives, ourselves.
This takes the unsettling hallucinatory qualities of Italian horror maestros like Argento and Fulci and severs all the ludicrous, expository dialogue in favor of a lean, cruel, energetic movie that hits the ground running and never lets up. It manages to be both breathlessly fast-paced and seemingly endless, creating a sense of claustrophobic inevitable doom.
My only complaint is Hauer's performance. I find him campy and theatrical in almost everything, and his mugging bad guy routine here is the same Too Much For My Taste as usual. Somewhat thankfully he really doesn't have much screen time. But with a more plausibly terrifying Hitcher I think his specter would loom even larger in all the scenes he's not in. If that had been the case I could see this becoming one of my favorite horror movies ever.
The Howling (1981)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great month.
The Howling was pretty good and I'm glad I watched it. It started out a little slow but had a pretty decent last third. As far as werewolf movies go, it's probably pretty high up there. It doesn't have a ton of competition but I could see myself watching it again.
Thanks to F This Movie for everything this month. I've never been someone to comment on anything but I feel right at home on this site. I'm glad I found it and only wish I had found it sooner. I started listening to the podcasts a little over a year ago but now I feel like I'm really getting into it. Please don't change the name. It's the best fucking name for a site, period. Before I started listening to the podcasts I had pretty much given up on most movies. Now, I stopped watching all TV shows and I try to watch a movie a day. It has become my favorite addiction. Thanks Patrick and everybody at F This Movie!
The House on Sorority Row (1983)
ReplyDeleteHere is the end of a fantastic month.....What will I do now without a specific itinerary of what to watch? Who will tell me how to live? Can Julysploitation be a thing? IT CAN BE.
Oh yes, I thought I'd close out the month with a lesser known 80s slasher. Apparently the director was heavily influenced by Mario Bava but that is nowhere to be seen until the last 15 minutes or so which are actually quite good. Boobs, babes, and blood. An appropriate end to a great month.
Well done everyone. Its been a pleasure reading all the crazy kooky stuff you have managed to watch. Is it too early to start talking scary movie month?
It's never too early...
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