John Woo's THE KILLER (2024, PEACOCK) BALLERINA (2025, AMC DOLBY CINEMA) DANGEROUS ANIMALS FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES THE RITUAL ('25, THEATER)
Exploitation cinema is alive and well in the mainstream. So much so that Universal could afford to send its $30 million remake of 1989's "The Killer" direct to streaming. Like Amazon's remake of "Road House," there's plenty to like about old-man John Woo giving his classic story (assassin with a conscience protecting innocent civilian blinded during an assignment) a new coat of digital paint. New town (Paris), recognizable stars (Omar Sy, Sam Worthington), better production value (except for CG blood, boo!) and genre-reversed protagonist (Nathalie Emmanuel, decent but unexceptional)... same old corrupt cops, double/triple-crossing allies, exploding motorcycles, innocent bystanders gunned down and deconsecrated churches filled with doves. Great chemistry between the leads (I want a sequel), and while it's nowhere near as cool as the OG "Killer" when the action comes it's a fun ride. 3.85 PISTOL MAGAZINES AS BLUNT DEFENSIVE WEAPONS (out of five).
Still want to see an expressionless slender chick mowing down dozens of cannon fodder bad guys by increasingly over-the-top methods? Never fear, "From the World of [contractually obligated to appear] John Wick: Ballerina's" got you covered IF you separate this generic offshoot from the far-superior genuine articles. Ana de Armas was so charismatic in "No Time To Die" it's shocking to see her so checked out and phoning it here. Eve has the crap beat out of her repeatedly, yet has no marks or expression on her face for two whole hours. Ana matches Keanu Reeves' sleepwalking-through-the-motions routine, a sharp contrast with the other "JW" regulars (Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, Lance Reddick in his final performance :'(, etc.) crushing it as usual. Come for the CG-enhanced stabbings and strapped-to-people exploding grenades, stay to see a piece of Gabriel Byrne's soul die on-camera for your amusement. Poor Keaton. :-P 3 MURPHY MACMANUS' MCGUFFIN CHILDS (out of five).
Finally, a Jai Courtney performance I actually like and can strongly get behind. "Dangerous Animals" delivers the entertaining/bloody goods because it wears its Aussie Ozploitation roots with pride, including letting Courtney speak in his native accent. If you haven't seen the trailer for this, DON'T. Be like me, see it blind and marvel at how many Junesploitation! checkmarks (animal, revenge, Blogger-will-censor-this-word, etc.) it juggles with surprising ease. It even outdoes the "V/H/S" series by having a VHS camera/videotape collection be integral parts of the plot, not merely decorative details. Nothing against Hassie Harrison (TV's "Yellowstone") or Josh Heuston ("Heartbreak High"), but when Jai Courtney's this good you're just dead meat. ;-) 4 UNEATEN STACKS OF PANCAKES (out of five).
Like 2002's "Ghost Ship" (or any previous entry in the franchise), "Final Destination: Bloodlines" peaks early with a Space Needle-style restaurant orgy of mayhem that is only matched in latter set-pieces by great (comedic?) timing when wind vanes, hospital MRI machines, a loose glass chard and garbage trucks become instruments of bloody CG mayhem. I'd buy that for a d̶o̶l̶l̶a̶r̶ penny. 'It's fine.' 3.25 OG CANDYMAN FAREWELLS (out of five).
Last and certainly least, "The Ritual" features a grizzled, overweight and soft-spoken Al Pacino opposite a subdued Dan Stevens poorly re-enacting "The Exorcist's" veteran demon fighter and faith-challenged younger priest relationship in a cliché-riddled telling of the well-documented exorcism of a young woman (Abigail Cowen's Emma Schmidt) in Iowa circa 1928. It predictably gallops through the genre tropes (shaky room, demonic voice, vomit, foul language, etc.) but also shows restraint, which adds-up to a boring unrated horror flick. Nothing sadder than seeing Pacino chasing after Russell Crowe's sloppy horror seconds and coming up short. 2 PATRICIA HEATON-AS-MOTHER-SUPERIOR OUTBURSTS (out of five).
My unifying theme for Free Space days this year: Parker Posey, Queen of 90s Indie.
Party Girl feels to me like the B-side to Reality Bites, only swapping Texas for New York, alt rock for house music, and slacker grunge aesthetic for ironic hipster fashion. But it’s the similar 90’s coming-of-age type of story about confused twentysomethings, self-obsessed but well-meaning, kinda cynical but kinda idealistic at the same time, grappling with adulthood, trying to figure out who they are and what they want, and making messy mistakes in the process. In other words, one of my favorite types of story, especially when you have a lead as electric as Parker Posey.
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo a.k.a. The Adventures of Rat Pfink and Boo Boo (1966, dir. Ray Dennis Steckler)
A gang of hoodlums starts randomly tormenting a young woman (they literally pick her name out of a phone book!) and kidnap her, but what the thugs don't know is her boyfriend is Lonnie Lord, rockabilly star by day and vigilante superhero by... also day.
Feels very much like a movie where every day they arrived on set, the first thing they'd say was "So, what do you think should happen next?" It pivots without warning from a harrowing assault in a dark alley to a rockabilly performance with close-ups of bikini-clad dancers to a silly Batman pastiche where the Powerful Pair (legally distinct from the Dynamic Duo) fight a gorilla (I'd explain where the gorilla came from but trust me, the explanation wouldn't make it make any more sense) to a scene lifted straight from the Beach Party franchise.
There's some flair to the cinematography and editing (not that the bar is very high for a movie like this), the songs are catchy (prime example) and you can't (or at least I couldn't) but love the zaniness and tonal whiplashes it packs into its 67-minute runtime.
Superman III (1983, dir. Richard Lester) (rewatch)
An evil industrialist employs a bumbling but brilliant computer programmer in his evil scheme to mess up the world's weather patterns for some reason, but when Superman foils their plan, they plan to create synthetic Kryptonite, which first turns Superman into an asshole and then splits him in two for some reason. Also he has to fight a supercomputer for some reason.
It's the Roger Moore Bond to the first Superman's Connery. The comedy is way too over-the-top, Lex Luthor Lite's megalomaniacal plan is ridiculous, and there's way too little Clark Kent and way too much Richard Pryor.
Hey Derek Ford, thanks for making this movie, which is also called The Sexplorer. Man, it’s as scummy as I would expect from you.
Monika Ringwald AKA Marilyn Rickard was in Satan’s Slave and British men’s magazines like Witchcraft and Health and Efficiency. Here she’s a girl from Venus who has come to our planet to explore, which leads her to a gym with naked people, an adult movie theater, a wedding and a balloon room, all guided by the voiceover of her leader.
Mark Jones would one day be an Imperial Officer, but he plays Lecher here. Prudence Drage would be the handmaiden in the Bible fantasy in A Clockwork Orange, but she was also in two of the Adventures of… movies, Virgin Witch and Eskimo Nell. Tanya Ferova played a stripper in this and Terror. Juliet Groves was also in Naughty Girls and Keep It Up, Jack, which also had Veronica Peters, who posed for plenty of men’s magazines in addition to being in this.
When this came to America, pun not intended, it had inserts.
First-time watch in preparation for an upcoming Cravin' Craven. It didn't quite work for me, but I bet it will improve on rewatches now that I know what it is, and how messy it is. I really admired Mitch Pileggi (who I love as AD Skinner in the X-Files) taking his career moonshot, man does he go big in this. I was highly entertained throughout.
PARTY LINE (1988) Men who call an adults-only 1-900 number are lured to their deaths. To say any more would be a spoiler. Richard Roundtree and BSG’s Richard Hatch play the mismatched cops investigating all this. The Tubi description calls this “the ultimate 80s slasher,” but it’s more of a thriller/whodunit. The movie keeps getting close to being sleazy, but never crosses the line into full-on sleaze, giving the whole thing a sanitized “made-for-TV” feel.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 9: CINDERELLA (1899) Young Walt Disney definitely saw this movie at some point. Cindy has mouse sidekicks, the pumpkin carriage – the whole Disney deal. This one’s a little rougher around the edges, though, and the effects lack some of the polish of Melies’ later films. But there’s still some fun to be had. I especially like the sequence of Cinderella being menaced by ticking clocks.
Hi! My original thought was 30 days of French science fiction, with cult faves like Vidocq and The Dobermann, but those have become really hard to find. After seeing Melies mentioned a few times in my googling, I thought that'd be a fun alternative.
A killer in a cheap skeleton mask begins to a kill members of a wealthy family in their mansion (not Joe Sherlock's regular two-story house, a mansion...wink). But the family has a secret that reveals itself in the most head scratching way possible.
It's weird to see Sherlock discipline himself enough to only have one elongated shower scene (with shockingly no nudity). But most of his other trademarks (good and bad) are here and at least everyone seems like they are having fun. However, this movie feels like two ideas that don't gel together at all and the slasher element is completely thrown out by the last act reveal, so don't get too invested in finding out who the killer is. If you're new to Joe Sherlock, I'd "recommend" "Odd Noggins" or "Things 5" for the full Sherlock experience.
I never go all the way whenever Joe Sherlock movies turn up in a sale, but I realize I've looked them up too many times. Thanks for the starting points...
Review: Wow. This flick is HORRIBLE. The production budget was spent primarily on a laundry list of b-list 80s actors and a lamborghini (which, i just read, was a replica, HA!). That left no money remaining for a script, humor, direction, action, etc. 10m in, it made enough references to Cannonball Run that i had to google and was shocked to find it is somewhat officially Cannonball Run 3. I could write a fair amount about the films ineptitude but its not worth it. All i can say is that its almost inexplicably IMPRESSIVE that this movie manages to co-star more than three always-hilarious members of SCTV and not evoke a single genuine laugh during its runtime. I find this movie Guilty of Driving without a License to Entertain.
Dirty Work (1998): I've never seen this in my life, I didn't even know it existed, but tell the disc contain a never-before-seen version and I'll jump right on it. Plus, Norm MacDonald is funny. Another solid release from Vinegar Syndrome, great looking 4k, full of extras, 3 versions of the movie, ugly cover... Yeah, I could've done without that last one. The movie is very funny, glad I got to see it looking that good. Seriously, it's a very colorful movie, among other things Artie Lange always wears vibrant t-shirts, and the HDR just makes everything shine. Maybe to clean, these types of comedies are often better when the movie look like crap. I went with the Dirtier Cut, I'll try to watch the Theatrical Cut at some point. The guest stars list is impressive, Christopher McDonald is obviously playing a rich bad guy, and the rest is just as awesome, if not better. Chris Farley is as unhinged as ever. One detail I like is the movie being shot in Toronto, but the main character is a Montreal Canadien fan.
DANGEROUS ANIMALS (2025, Dir. Sean Byrne): Jai Courtney is far more compelling as a dirty-bulking sewer rat than he ever was as a heartthrob. This is very fun, well-crafted schlock!
Predator: Killer of Killers (2025, dir. Dan Trachtenberg)
An animated anthology movie about Predators visiting Earth in different points of human history: they battle a vicious female Viking warrior, two samurai brothers, and a Hispanic-American World War II pilot.
The animation looks great, the violence is pretty brutal and visceral, and the human characters are given just enough depth and backstory to make you care about what happens to them. A pleasant surprise!
Werewolf of London (1935, dir. Stuart Walker)
An English botanist travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, but when he enters a valley feared by locals, he's attacked and wounded by a strange creature. Back home in London, he begins to show signs of transformation.
Universal's first attempt at a werewolf movie, six years before Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man, is... fine I guess. It's a totally solid story and the monster effect is pretty good, but I have to admit I was pretty bored for most of the runtime. I've probably just been spoiled by better movies that came after.
As someone who grew up in Oakland during the ‘80s, I may have a few quibbles about the filmmakers recreation of the time (punk rockers dressing “grunge”, a bunch of white people at a Too $hort show). Ultimately none of that could keep me from thoroughly enjoying this crazy movie. The cast is great, especially the actors I’ve never seen before. Cathartic action/violence, kickass music, great storytelling and unexpected turns make this a Junesploitation gem!
Man, Pedro Pascal will work on anything. 🤔 And what about that video store manager cameo? 😳😲 The final act goes for broke tying all the loose ends together, which l appreciate. 😎👍
LADY YAKUZA: THE RED PEONY GAMBLER (1968, dir. Norifumi Suzuki)
The first film in a series starring an actress named Sumiko Fuji as a wandering gambler surviving in the criminal underworld of Meiji-era Japan. The success of these films led the way to Meiko Kaji becoming an exploitation icon for Lady Snowblood and Female Prisoner Scorpion. Lady Yakuza is not as extreme as the those, but there are showdowns with swords and knives that these kind of yakuza films are known for. Getting to that point does require some patience because most of the film focuses on setting up the story about avenging the murder of her father, a local yakuza clan leader. Understanding the protocols of yakuza decorum and the relationship between each character and clan does not make this a mindless film, and to some it may seem like overkill to go into such details. But that is how these period yakuza films tend to be. Director Norifumi Suzuki went on to make some of the wildest Japanese exploitation films of the 1970s.
POSTAL (2007, U. Boll) First-time watch (extended cut), Massacre Video Blu-ray, 6/10. Somewhere in the delta of Troma, South Park & Cracked Magazine is this video game adaptation. I never cared to check it out until Massacre Radio interviewed Boll & star Scut Farkas (Zack Ward) about it in conjunction with a reissue. Then I watch the trailer, etc etc. Not amazing, but crude, ridiculous, goofball fun. Featuring Seymour Cassel, David Huddleston, Michael Pare, Verne Troyer, J.K. Simmons & Dave Foley?
Sigourney Weaver plays an agoraphobic psychiatrist and Holly Hunter, a detective. Are they going to team up? You betcha’. Is there an insane kill in the opening scene? Most definitely. Do we get to see a young Durmot Mulroney? Okay, sure. We are here for the ‘90s sleaze in all its purple, Nike windbreaker glory.
It’s a teenagers, drag racing, sci-fi, revenge, crime movie with Platoon/Wall Street-era Charlie Sheen, a smoking hot Sherilyn Fenn, and a non-crazy Randy Quaid.
It’s got badass souped-up hot rods, a killer 80s metal soundtrack, outlandish costumes, and even crazier hairdos for big bad Nick Cassavetes and his sidekick Clint Howard.
It’s not high art and kinda doesn’t make any sense but it’s entertaining as a cheeseburger and fries at the local teen hangout on a Friday night.
I’m very grateful that Patrick included this in one of his Charlie Sheen marathons.
The Wraith was shown on HBO all the time around 1987-88. When I revisited the film around a decade ago, I still remembered most of it. "Never Surrender"
BOHACHI BUSHIDO: CODE OF THE FORGOTTEN EIGHT (1973, Teruo Ishii) First-time watch, Mondo Macabro 4K, 8/10. Deadly ronin Tetsuro Tanba is revived by the Bohachi, a sect of iconoclastic libert|nes, to defeat their enemies by eliminating competing br0thels. Bright red blood spurts, copious uncovered fl3sh is on display & a sense of the surreal perv@des in ways one might expect from Seijun Suzuki.
The Phoenician Scheme 2025 Directed by Wes Anderson
A fair amount of fun despite the complex plot which wasn't all that engaging. The characters and the wilder shenanigans they got into were the main draw for me—plus some welcome first-time-in-a-WA-film performances!
Fear of a Black Hat (1994, dir. Rusty Cundieff) Mockumentary about '90s rap. The music is actually pretty fun (mostly style parodies of familiar songs) but most of the jokes kind of fell flat for me. CB4 is my preferred rap comedy, but I'm glad I finally checked this off the list.
Off the hook Honk Kong horror! A more appropriate title woulda been “Possessed by a Tibetan Sex Demon,” but I am guessing the producers though DEVIL FETUS had a better ring to it. Director Lau also served as cinematographer, and this flick features inventive, mobile camera work, with wild angles, first person stalker POV, and Raimi-esque tracking shots. Add a bevy of bonkers fight scenes, a bounty of blood ‘n’ gore FX, slimy monster s#xual interc@urse, and a very poorly dubbed dog, and you have all the ingredients for an evening of exploitation enjoyment. My favorite film of the month so far!
TRANSFORMERS 8. I mean, TRANSFORMERS ONE (2024) First-time watch, Paramount 4K, 2/10. I'd love to easily state that this just "isn't for me", but the first 6 definitely WERE for me. I guess my grumpy, mid-40s, movie-rotted brain thinks that if a living robot in a distant galaxy with zero connection to 21st century human culture says "I got this", it's over. Also, why did it look like the computer generated robot characters were usually standing in front of computer-generated green-screen? Can't win 'em all!
I went with a 90s rom-com for this free space. Hadn't seen this in decades probably, and it really worked for me. Maybe seeing it now—as much of an adult as I am at this pont—added something. I also noticed that Bill Pullman is giving off vibes of someone I met in the last few years... and I'm glad to know him!
I've been a day behind :( so I'm going to skip this day and catch up later. On a positive note, I watched an awesome heist movie today. There was one day I just wasn't feeling movies and wanted to watch Deep Space Nine. No apologises.
I watched the first part just before the start of Junespoitation, so naturally I have to watch the second one. Rewatches for both because these movies just work for me.
Bondsploitation! Dr. No feels maybe a degree more serious and methodical than most Bonds. I've got plenty of love for the zaniness that later entries get into, but the slightly more elegant Dr. No makes for a nice change of pace. It stumbles a bit at the end, with a below average finale, but it's got charm and looks gorgeous (the whole movie, not just Connery and Andress).
A 20 min. horror short about spell-craft gone terribly wrong made by my friend Lucas who has just started submitting it to festivals. Hopefully it will be available to everyone in the not so distant future.
THE DEAD THING - dir. Elric Kane
A movie about the terrors of dating life in the 2020s. It’s one of the best LA as itself movies I’ve seen in a long time.
I used Free Space day to catch up with the latest Steven Soderbergh: Black Bag. Hearing lots of praise from FTM folks, I was excited to check it out.
Cats Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play a happily married couple who work in high levels of government intelligence. This might open the door for deception or distance in their relationship, but they make it work. When circumstances arise that could pit them against each other at work, a high stakes game unfolds.
I loved this and hope more people seek it out. If you enjoy spy movies or relationship movies, you will like this one!
Great things were born in 1962: the James Bond series and me. The new 4K disc of this looks exquisite, and this is a film I am very familiar with. Surprising how many elements of the series are here in the very first entry: really the only thing missing is Q giving Bond all his nifty gadgets at the start of the new mission. "Unfortunately, I misjudged you. You are just a stupid policeman."
John Woo's THE KILLER (2024, PEACOCK)
ReplyDeleteBALLERINA (2025, AMC DOLBY CINEMA)
DANGEROUS ANIMALS
FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES
THE RITUAL ('25, THEATER)
Exploitation cinema is alive and well in the mainstream. So much so that Universal could afford to send its $30 million remake of 1989's "The Killer" direct to streaming. Like Amazon's remake of "Road House," there's plenty to like about old-man John Woo giving his classic story (assassin with a conscience protecting innocent civilian blinded during an assignment) a new coat of digital paint. New town (Paris), recognizable stars (Omar Sy, Sam Worthington), better production value (except for CG blood, boo!) and genre-reversed protagonist (Nathalie Emmanuel, decent but unexceptional)... same old corrupt cops, double/triple-crossing allies, exploding motorcycles, innocent bystanders gunned down and deconsecrated churches filled with doves. Great chemistry between the leads (I want a sequel), and while it's nowhere near as cool as the OG "Killer" when the action comes it's a fun ride. 3.85 PISTOL MAGAZINES AS BLUNT DEFENSIVE WEAPONS (out of five).
Still want to see an expressionless slender chick mowing down dozens of cannon fodder bad guys by increasingly over-the-top methods? Never fear, "From the World of [contractually obligated to appear] John Wick: Ballerina's" got you covered IF you separate this generic offshoot from the far-superior genuine articles. Ana de Armas was so charismatic in "No Time To Die" it's shocking to see her so checked out and phoning it here. Eve has the crap beat out of her repeatedly, yet has no marks or expression on her face for two whole hours. Ana matches Keanu Reeves' sleepwalking-through-the-motions routine, a sharp contrast with the other "JW" regulars (Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, Lance Reddick in his final performance :'(, etc.) crushing it as usual. Come for the CG-enhanced stabbings and strapped-to-people exploding grenades, stay to see a piece of Gabriel Byrne's soul die on-camera for your amusement. Poor Keaton. :-P 3 MURPHY MACMANUS' MCGUFFIN CHILDS (out of five).
Finally, a Jai Courtney performance I actually like and can strongly get behind. "Dangerous Animals" delivers the entertaining/bloody goods because it wears its Aussie Ozploitation roots with pride, including letting Courtney speak in his native accent. If you haven't seen the trailer for this, DON'T. Be like me, see it blind and marvel at how many Junesploitation! checkmarks (animal, revenge, Blogger-will-censor-this-word, etc.) it juggles with surprising ease. It even outdoes the "V/H/S" series by having a VHS camera/videotape collection be integral parts of the plot, not merely decorative details. Nothing against Hassie Harrison (TV's "Yellowstone") or Josh Heuston ("Heartbreak High"), but when Jai Courtney's this good you're just dead meat. ;-) 4 UNEATEN STACKS OF PANCAKES (out of five).
Like 2002's "Ghost Ship" (or any previous entry in the franchise), "Final Destination: Bloodlines" peaks early with a Space Needle-style restaurant orgy of mayhem that is only matched in latter set-pieces by great (comedic?) timing when wind vanes, hospital MRI machines, a loose glass chard and garbage trucks become instruments of bloody CG mayhem. I'd buy that for a d̶o̶l̶l̶a̶r̶ penny. 'It's fine.' 3.25 OG CANDYMAN FAREWELLS (out of five).
Last and certainly least, "The Ritual" features a grizzled, overweight and soft-spoken Al Pacino opposite a subdued Dan Stevens poorly re-enacting "The Exorcist's" veteran demon fighter and faith-challenged younger priest relationship in a cliché-riddled telling of the well-documented exorcism of a young woman (Abigail Cowen's Emma Schmidt) in Iowa circa 1928. It predictably gallops through the genre tropes (shaky room, demonic voice, vomit, foul language, etc.) but also shows restraint, which adds-up to a boring unrated horror flick. Nothing sadder than seeing Pacino chasing after Russell Crowe's sloppy horror seconds and coming up short. 2 PATRICIA HEATON-AS-MOTHER-SUPERIOR OUTBURSTS (out of five).
Party Girl (1995)
ReplyDeleteMy unifying theme for Free Space days this year: Parker Posey, Queen of 90s Indie.
Party Girl feels to me like the B-side to Reality Bites, only swapping Texas for New York, alt rock for house music, and slacker grunge aesthetic for ironic hipster fashion. But it’s the similar 90’s coming-of-age type of story about confused twentysomethings, self-obsessed but well-meaning, kinda cynical but kinda idealistic at the same time, grappling with adulthood, trying to figure out who they are and what they want, and making messy mistakes in the process. In other words, one of my favorite types of story, especially when you have a lead as electric as Parker Posey.
Rat Pfink a Boo Boo a.k.a. The Adventures of Rat Pfink and Boo Boo (1966, dir. Ray Dennis Steckler)
ReplyDeleteA gang of hoodlums starts randomly tormenting a young woman (they literally pick her name out of a phone book!) and kidnap her, but what the thugs don't know is her boyfriend is Lonnie Lord, rockabilly star by day and vigilante superhero by... also day.
Feels very much like a movie where every day they arrived on set, the first thing they'd say was "So, what do you think should happen next?" It pivots without warning from a harrowing assault in a dark alley to a rockabilly performance with close-ups of bikini-clad dancers to a silly Batman pastiche where the Powerful Pair (legally distinct from the Dynamic Duo) fight a gorilla (I'd explain where the gorilla came from but trust me, the explanation wouldn't make it make any more sense) to a scene lifted straight from the Beach Party franchise.
There's some flair to the cinematography and editing (not that the bar is very high for a movie like this), the songs are catchy (prime example) and you can't (or at least I couldn't) but love the zaniness and tonal whiplashes it packs into its 67-minute runtime.
Superman III (1983, dir. Richard Lester) (rewatch)
An evil industrialist employs a bumbling but brilliant computer programmer in his evil scheme to mess up the world's weather patterns for some reason, but when Superman foils their plan, they plan to create synthetic Kryptonite, which first turns Superman into an asshole and then splits him in two for some reason. Also he has to fight a supercomputer for some reason.
It's the Roger Moore Bond to the first Superman's Connery. The comedy is way too over-the-top, Lex Luthor Lite's megalomaniacal plan is ridiculous, and there's way too little Clark Kent and way too much Richard Pryor.
I just got the Superman 4k set, can't wait to revisit them all. Especially 4, it's not good, but I kinda love it
DeleteLove Rat Pfink! Steckler is my choice for "Auteurs"!
DeleteThe Girl from Starship Venus (1975)
ReplyDeleteHey Derek Ford, thanks for making this movie, which is also called The Sexplorer. Man, it’s as scummy as I would expect from you.
Monika Ringwald AKA Marilyn Rickard was in Satan’s Slave and British men’s magazines like Witchcraft and Health and Efficiency. Here she’s a girl from Venus who has come to our planet to explore, which leads her to a gym with naked people, an adult movie theater, a wedding and a balloon room, all guided by the voiceover of her leader.
Mark Jones would one day be an Imperial Officer, but he plays Lecher here. Prudence Drage would be the handmaiden in the Bible fantasy in A Clockwork Orange, but she was also in two of the Adventures of… movies, Virgin Witch and Eskimo Nell. Tanya Ferova played a stripper in this and Terror. Juliet Groves was also in Naughty Girls and Keep It Up, Jack, which also had Veronica Peters, who posed for plenty of men’s magazines in addition to being in this.
When this came to America, pun not intended, it had inserts.
Shocker (1989, dir. Wes Craven)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch in preparation for an upcoming Cravin' Craven. It didn't quite work for me, but I bet it will improve on rewatches now that I know what it is, and how messy it is. I really admired Mitch Pileggi (who I love as AD Skinner in the X-Files) taking his career moonshot, man does he go big in this. I was highly entertained throughout.
Can't wait to get "Shocker" in 4K... when the price drops a tad. 😔😥
DeletePARTY LINE (1988)
ReplyDeleteMen who call an adults-only 1-900 number are lured to their deaths. To say any more would be a spoiler. Richard Roundtree and BSG’s Richard Hatch play the mismatched cops investigating all this. The Tubi description calls this “the ultimate 80s slasher,” but it’s more of a thriller/whodunit. The movie keeps getting close to being sleazy, but never crosses the line into full-on sleaze, giving the whole thing a sanitized “made-for-TV” feel.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 9: CINDERELLA (1899)
Young Walt Disney definitely saw this movie at some point. Cindy has mouse sidekicks, the pumpkin carriage – the whole Disney deal. This one’s a little rougher around the edges, though, and the effects lack some of the polish of Melies’ later films. But there’s still some fun to be had. I especially like the sequence of Cinderella being menaced by ticking clocks.
What inspired the Melies theme this month, Mac?
DeleteYears ago I watched a bunch of his films. The man did not lack imagination.
Hi! My original thought was 30 days of French science fiction, with cult faves like Vidocq and The Dobermann, but those have become really hard to find. After seeing Melies mentioned a few times in my googling, I thought that'd be a fun alternative.
DeleteDobermann is awesome, i should get my DVD out and rewatch it. It's been so long, i don't even know if it still works
DeleteA Knife in the Dark (2024)
ReplyDeleteDir. Joe Sherlock
A killer in a cheap skeleton mask begins to a kill members of a wealthy family in their mansion (not Joe Sherlock's regular two-story house, a mansion...wink). But the family has a secret that reveals itself in the most head scratching way possible.
It's weird to see Sherlock discipline himself enough to only have one elongated shower scene (with shockingly no nudity). But most of his other trademarks (good and bad) are here and at least everyone seems like they are having fun. However, this movie feels like two ideas that don't gel together at all and the slasher element is completely thrown out by the last act reveal, so don't get too invested in finding out who the killer is. If you're new to Joe Sherlock, I'd "recommend" "Odd Noggins" or "Things 5" for the full Sherlock experience.
I never go all the way whenever Joe Sherlock movies turn up in a sale, but I realize I've looked them up too many times. Thanks for the starting points...
DeleteHe has several movies on Tubi if you want to check them out before buying any.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMovie: Speed Zone (1989)
ReplyDeleteSploitation(s): Carsploitation, 80s Comedies, Cannonball-Run-Copycat-Sploitation-that-turns-out-to-be-an-actual-sequel!?!, VHSsploitation, SCTVsploitation
Review: Wow. This flick is HORRIBLE. The production budget was spent primarily on a laundry list of b-list 80s actors and a lamborghini (which, i just read, was a replica, HA!). That left no money remaining for a script, humor, direction, action, etc. 10m in, it made enough references to Cannonball Run that i had to google and was shocked to find it is somewhat officially Cannonball Run 3. I could write a fair amount about the films ineptitude but its not worth it. All i can say is that its almost inexplicably IMPRESSIVE that this movie manages to co-star more than three always-hilarious members of SCTV and not evoke a single genuine laugh during its runtime. I find this movie Guilty of Driving without a License to Entertain.
Yeah, it’s hard to imagine there are worse car movies than The Cannonball Run 2 or Smokey and the Bandit 3 but this is it.
DeleteDirty Work (1998): I've never seen this in my life, I didn't even know it existed, but tell the disc contain a never-before-seen version and I'll jump right on it. Plus, Norm MacDonald is funny. Another solid release from Vinegar Syndrome, great looking 4k, full of extras, 3 versions of the movie, ugly cover... Yeah, I could've done without that last one. The movie is very funny, glad I got to see it looking that good. Seriously, it's a very colorful movie, among other things Artie Lange always wears vibrant t-shirts, and the HDR just makes everything shine. Maybe to clean, these types of comedies are often better when the movie look like crap. I went with the Dirtier Cut, I'll try to watch the Theatrical Cut at some point. The guest stars list is impressive, Christopher McDonald is obviously playing a rich bad guy, and the rest is just as awesome, if not better. Chris Farley is as unhinged as ever. One detail I like is the movie being shot in Toronto, but the main character is a Montreal Canadien fan.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait until my copy arrives. I was never one of the many DIRTY WORK Die Hards, but Norm rules.
DeleteSo jealous of those who already got theirs!
DeleteYeah, I pre-ordered a long time ago, almost the day they announced it, i read so many good comments about the movie, i had to
DeleteDANGEROUS ANIMALS (2025, Dir. Sean Byrne):
ReplyDeleteJai Courtney is far more compelling as a dirty-bulking sewer rat than he ever was as a heartthrob. This is very fun, well-crafted schlock!
Predator: Killer of Killers (2025, dir. Dan Trachtenberg)
ReplyDeleteAn animated anthology movie about Predators visiting Earth in different points of human history: they battle a vicious female Viking warrior, two samurai brothers, and a Hispanic-American World War II pilot.
The animation looks great, the violence is pretty brutal and visceral, and the human characters are given just enough depth and backstory to make you care about what happens to them. A pleasant surprise!
Werewolf of London (1935, dir. Stuart Walker)
An English botanist travels to Tibet in search of a rare flower, but when he enters a valley feared by locals, he's attacked and wounded by a strange creature. Back home in London, he begins to show signs of transformation.
Universal's first attempt at a werewolf movie, six years before Lon Chaney Jr. in The Wolf Man, is... fine I guess. It's a totally solid story and the monster effect is pretty good, but I have to admit I was pretty bored for most of the runtime. I've probably just been spoiled by better movies that came after.
Freaky Tales (2025)
ReplyDeleteAs someone who grew up in Oakland during the ‘80s, I may have a few quibbles about the filmmakers recreation of the time (punk rockers dressing “grunge”, a bunch of white people at a Too $hort show). Ultimately none of that could keep me from thoroughly enjoying this crazy movie. The cast is great, especially the actors I’ve never seen before. Cathartic action/violence, kickass music, great storytelling and unexpected turns make this a Junesploitation gem!
Man, Pedro Pascal will work on anything. 🤔 And what about that video store manager cameo? 😳😲 The final act goes for broke tying all the loose ends together, which l appreciate. 😎👍
Delete👍🏻🤘🏻😎
DeleteLADY YAKUZA: THE RED PEONY GAMBLER (1968, dir. Norifumi Suzuki)
ReplyDeleteThe first film in a series starring an actress named Sumiko Fuji as a wandering gambler surviving in the criminal underworld of Meiji-era Japan. The success of these films led the way to Meiko Kaji becoming an exploitation icon for Lady Snowblood and Female Prisoner Scorpion. Lady Yakuza is not as extreme as the those, but there are showdowns with swords and knives that these kind of yakuza films are known for. Getting to that point does require some patience because most of the film focuses on setting up the story about avenging the murder of her father, a local yakuza clan leader. Understanding the protocols of yakuza decorum and the relationship between each character and clan does not make this a mindless film, and to some it may seem like overkill to go into such details. But that is how these period yakuza films tend to be. Director Norifumi Suzuki went on to make some of the wildest Japanese exploitation films of the 1970s.
Looking forward to these someday. All the ingredients are right!
DeleteI didn't watch the Yakuza movie for 2023's Junesploitation. Maybe the category will return next year and I'll revisit!
DeletePOSTAL (2007, U. Boll)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch (extended cut), Massacre Video Blu-ray, 6/10.
Somewhere in the delta of Troma, South Park & Cracked Magazine is this video game adaptation. I never cared to check it out until Massacre Radio interviewed Boll & star Scut Farkas (Zack Ward) about it in conjunction with a reissue. Then I watch the trailer, etc etc. Not amazing, but crude, ridiculous, goofball fun. Featuring Seymour Cassel, David Huddleston, Michael Pare, Verne Troyer, J.K. Simmons & Dave Foley?
I'm generally not a fan of Uwe Boll, but I didn't hate this movie. Watched it for the first time last year
DeleteI generally shy away, too. But he's a true character...
DeleteCopycat (1995)
ReplyDeleteSigourney Weaver plays an agoraphobic psychiatrist and Holly Hunter, a detective. Are they going to team up? You betcha’. Is there an insane kill in the opening scene? Most definitely. Do we get to see a young Durmot Mulroney? Okay, sure. We are here for the ‘90s sleaze in all its purple, Nike windbreaker glory.
"Your squirrel covers..."
DeleteTHE WRAITH - 1986 dir. Mike Marvin
ReplyDeleteIt’s a teenagers, drag racing, sci-fi, revenge, crime movie with Platoon/Wall Street-era Charlie Sheen, a smoking hot Sherilyn Fenn, and a non-crazy Randy Quaid.
It’s got badass souped-up hot rods, a killer 80s metal soundtrack, outlandish costumes, and even crazier hairdos for big bad Nick Cassavetes and his sidekick Clint Howard.
It’s not high art and kinda doesn’t make any sense but it’s entertaining as a cheeseburger and fries at the local teen hangout on a Friday night.
I’m very grateful that Patrick included this in one of his Charlie Sheen marathons.
The Wraith was shown on HBO all the time around 1987-88. When I revisited the film around a decade ago, I still remembered most of it. "Never Surrender"
DeleteBOHACHI BUSHIDO: CODE OF THE FORGOTTEN EIGHT (1973, Teruo Ishii)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch, Mondo Macabro 4K, 8/10.
Deadly ronin Tetsuro Tanba is revived by the Bohachi, a sect of iconoclastic libert|nes, to defeat their enemies by eliminating competing br0thels. Bright red blood spurts, copious uncovered fl3sh is on display & a sense of the surreal perv@des in ways one might expect from Seijun Suzuki.
Wes-sploitation
ReplyDeleteThe Phoenician Scheme
2025 Directed by Wes Anderson
A fair amount of fun despite the complex plot which wasn't all that engaging. The characters and the wilder shenanigans they got into were the main draw for me—plus some welcome first-time-in-a-WA-film performances!
Fear of a Black Hat (1994, dir. Rusty Cundieff)
ReplyDeleteMockumentary about '90s rap. The music is actually pretty fun (mostly style parodies of familiar songs) but most of the jokes kind of fell flat for me. CB4 is my preferred rap comedy, but I'm glad I finally checked this off the list.
It feels like an underrated film, but maybe it just wasn't super easy to see for awhile. Glad to find it on a bunch of "the sites".
DeleteDEVIL FETUS (1983, Hung-Chuen Lau)
ReplyDeleteOff the hook Honk Kong horror! A more appropriate title woulda been “Possessed by a Tibetan Sex Demon,” but I am guessing the producers though DEVIL FETUS had a better ring to it. Director Lau also served as cinematographer, and this flick features inventive, mobile camera work, with wild angles, first person stalker POV, and Raimi-esque tracking shots. Add a bevy of bonkers fight scenes, a bounty of blood ‘n’ gore FX, slimy monster s#xual interc@urse, and a very poorly dubbed dog, and you have all the ingredients for an evening of exploitation enjoyment. My favorite film of the month so far!
great one!
DeleteTRANSFORMERS 8.
ReplyDeleteI mean, TRANSFORMERS ONE (2024)
First-time watch, Paramount 4K, 2/10.
I'd love to easily state that this just "isn't for me", but the first 6 definitely WERE for me. I guess my grumpy, mid-40s, movie-rotted brain thinks that if a living robot in a distant galaxy with zero connection to 21st century human culture says "I got this", it's over.
Also, why did it look like the computer generated robot characters were usually standing in front of computer-generated green-screen?
Can't win 'em all!
"Also, why did it look like the computer generated robot characters were usually standing in front of computer-generated green-screen?"
DeleteHa, i laughed at that one. I have fun with the other movies, this one was the same, though i obviously didn't love it.
Sleepless in Seattle
ReplyDelete1993 Directed by Nora Ephron
I went with a 90s rom-com for this free space. Hadn't seen this in decades probably, and it really worked for me. Maybe seeing it now—as much of an adult as I am at this pont—added something. I also noticed that Bill Pullman is giving off vibes of someone I met in the last few years... and I'm glad to know him!
Romantic comedy is definitely a genre in its own right. Maybe a rom-com day for Juneploitation.
DeleteI wouldn't mind that at all.
DeleteJohn Wick (2014)
ReplyDeleteJust a juicy, delicious gourmet cheeseburger of a movie.
⭐️ Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
ReplyDelete1970 | Russ Meyer
⭐️ Dolls
1986 | Stuart Gordon
Monday workday is over & already yearning for the weekend. Time to pop a mommy’s little helper and tune out with the dolls!
I've been a day behind :( so I'm going to skip this day and catch up later. On a positive note, I watched an awesome heist movie today. There was one day I just wasn't feeling movies and wanted to watch Deep Space Nine. No apologises.
ReplyDeleteDune: Part Two (2024)
ReplyDeleteI watched the first part just before the start of Junespoitation, so naturally I have to watch the second one. Rewatches for both because these movies just work for me.
Dr. No (1962)
ReplyDeleteBondsploitation! Dr. No feels maybe a degree more serious and methodical than most Bonds. I've got plenty of love for the zaniness that later entries get into, but the slightly more elegant Dr. No makes for a nice change of pace. It stumbles a bit at the end, with a below average finale, but it's got charm and looks gorgeous (the whole movie, not just Connery and Andress).
Two 2025 LA horror movies to end Free Space! day.
ReplyDeleteTHE MINOR KEY dir. Lucas K Allmon
A 20 min. horror short about spell-craft gone terribly wrong made by my friend Lucas who has just started submitting it to festivals. Hopefully it will be available to everyone in the not so distant future.
THE DEAD THING - dir. Elric Kane
A movie about the terrors of dating life in the 2020s. It’s one of the best LA as itself movies I’ve seen in a long time.
I used Free Space day to catch up with the latest Steven Soderbergh: Black Bag. Hearing lots of praise from FTM folks, I was excited to check it out.
ReplyDeleteCats Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play a happily married couple who work in high levels of government intelligence. This might open the door for deception or distance in their relationship, but they make it work. When circumstances arise that could pit them against each other at work, a high stakes game unfolds.
I loved this and hope more people seek it out. If you enjoy spy movies or relationship movies, you will like this one!
Dr. No (1962)
ReplyDeleteGreat things were born in 1962: the James Bond series and me. The new 4K disc of this looks exquisite, and this is a film I am very familiar with.
Surprising how many elements of the series are here in the very first entry: really the only thing missing is Q giving Bond all his nifty gadgets at the start of the new mission. "Unfortunately, I misjudged you. You are just a stupid policeman."