Jul 31, 2018
Jul 27, 2018
In the Sign of the Lion (1976)
In the seventies, Denmark released a series of comedy films, each relating to an astrological sign. We've reviewed a couple so far: In the Sign of the Gemini (1975) and In the Sign of Scorpio (1977). What's unique about these films is that they are well directed, well acted, and fairly big budget (all things considered)... and yet they could be downright hardcore at times. This is what film-making looks like when any remnant of sexual taboo and puritanism is removed from society. Just picture a Mel Brooks spy spoof - but with graphic nudity throughout. We'd be outraged and need our smelling salts to revive us from the indecency of seeing this on the big screen today - but, evidently, in 1970s Denmark, it was all good.
Jul 23, 2018
Busted (1997)
There's so much sad backstory here, I had to take a look. Cory Haim was apparently doing so much drugs at the time, it affected his work to the point where Cory Feldman had to fire him. Feldman has since said it was one of the most painful things he's ever had to do. Plus, it stars Elliot Gould...
For those that don't remember the seventies, you don't understand how bad of a fall from grace this is. Gould was THE man for several years in the seventies; an A-List dude that ended up declaring bankruptcy and starring in a Cory Feldman shitshow to pay the bills! This demands our attention..
Jul 21, 2018
Jul 20, 2018
Jul 18, 2018
Jul 17, 2018
Play Motel (1979)
I thought the giallo genre was more-or-less finished by the end of the seventies - I guess my timeline was a bit off. Play Motel has all the tropes we've come to know from these Italian mystery/thrillers: groovy music, hot ladies, mysterious gloved killers, all done with a unmistakably Italian flair. By 1979 the tropes had been done to death (pardon the pun), but as this film demonstrates, there was still room for more. Of course, the level of sex and violence had been kicked up about a hundred notches since the days of Bava - but a giallo all the same. Let's have a look at this decadent late seventies example of the genre...
Jul 14, 2018
Escape from Hell (1980)
Femmine infernali (original title) - A Women In Prison (WIP) flick set deep in the rainforest. It contains all the usual tropes - wicked wardens, shower scenes, escapes, and, of course the shy girl always gets killed. But there's more here than a cookie-cutter WIP - upon the oh-so-familiar template, the director has built something substantial. Let's have a look.
Jul 7, 2018
Dance with Death (1992)
There were so many films like this in the nineties (and latter half of the eighties). There's a string of strippers murdered, so a cop or reporter must go undercover as a stripper to catch the killer. It was a genre unto itself. Along the way, there's tons of red herrings and overlong striptease performances which pad the film from beginning to end.
I suppose it was a cheap way to make an erotic thriller: half the film is just shooting stripteases and the script is a ready-made cookie-cutter template. Perhaps the biggest success was Stripped to Kill (which spawned sequels), but the legion of lesser known flicks within this odd genre are endless. Let's have a look at one I'd never heard of - Dance With Death.
Jul 6, 2018
Jul 5, 2018
Jul 4, 2018
Jul 2, 2018
The Pigkeeper's Daughter (1972)
Hicksploitation was big in the seventies. You had the action variety like White Lightning (1973) which featured lots of car chases and sweaty hairy chests. You also had the sexy variety featuring naked farmer's daughters and such [see Tobacco Roody (1970), Sweet Georgia (1972), Sassy Sue (1973)]. This definitely falls into category number two.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)