After a few weeks off, I'm back again for another round of Title Card Tuesday. This week, it's Abel Ferrara's neon cesspool, Fear City. I don't think I'll ever grow tired of watching Tom Berenger beat the living piss out of the sadistic scumbag in that grungy alley.
All over the place and a little bit of everything this week, going from unnecessary sequels, gory remakes, creature features, to stone cold classics and more. Read or don't!
Films watched between Monday 09/01/2023 and Sunday 15/01/2023.
Monday 09/01/2023
Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge (2022)
Director: Alexandra Barreto, Anthony Cousins, Aaron B. Koontz, Jed Shepherd, Rachele Wiggins
It's rare that I come across a movie that I actively start to hate during its runtime and rare still that I become hateful towards movies anyway, but fuck me this was a right mess. I'm sorry, I got a lot of love for anthology movies; horror or otherwise, but this gets worse with each segment and the wraparound was teetering on complete nonsense. Add it to the "wholly unnecessary sequels" list and swiftly move on. The first Scare Package (2019) was watchable, not outstanding; it had one or two interesting segments and wasn't entirely unlikeable. It was middling, bordering on tedious, but watchable. Maybe I really missed what they were aiming for with Rad Chad's Revenge, I thought it was straight up unintelligible garbage, like getting a temporary lobotomy that lasts for an 1hr and 38mins. Avoid.
Tuesday 10/01/2023
Suspiria (1977)
Director: Dario Argento
Revisited this one with Emm; I love watching this kinda flick with someone who's new to it all, I never know whether they'll fall in love with it or sit there wondering "what the fuck is going on?" and "just why is it all so colourful?" Unfortunately Emm's opinion, as valid as any, fell in the latter camp; too slowly paced for her liking. Admittedly, it doesn't have a strong narrative, it's an interesting story, but you only get glimpses of a greater picture. It makes up for it by completely oozing with atmosphere, style, and a hair-raising Goblin soundtrack. Essential viewing for any self-proclaimed horror fan.
Wednesday 11/01/2023
Eye of the Tiger (1986)
Director: Richard C. Sarafian
Checked this one out on Amazon Prime and it had such a dreadful transfer that I almost gave up on it, needless to say I persevered through and what I saw, I quite liked. I'm guessing it was taken from a shitty DVD source. It's a fairly good little '80s action film, starring everyone's favourite unhinged hero Gary Busey; supported by Yaphet Kotto and William Smith as the film's antagonist, Blade. Worth checking out while it's available on a streaming service, I wouldn't be too surprised to see this crop up at some point via Vinegar Syndrome as one of their a VSA titles.
Thursday 12/01/2023
The Warriors (1979)
Director: Walter Hill
At last! I got around to checking out the Imprint blu-ray which contains the highly coveted Theatrical Cut, be gone those blasted comic book inserts! I must admit I was a little worried about revisiting this as I'd not seen it for many years, I was concerned that I would find faults which I may have overlooked as a teenager. Mercifully that didn't happen and I can safely proclaim that love it as an adult just as much as I did as a teen. From the opening sequence to the beach showdown, The Warriors never lets up. Full of memorable characters, gangs, and action sequences there's rarely a dull moment. Watched with Emm who also dug it, "he's from Sex and the City!"
"Can you count suckas?" Five stars and zero bullshit.
Friday 13/01/2023
Smithereens (1982)
Director: Susan Seidelman
New York City? Richard Hell? Punk rock? Yes please! I truly wanted to adore this, unfortunately it is a little uneven and rough around the edges, which sounds punk as fuck, but when it comes to narrative and editing it's a little disappointing. An extremely low-budget drama about a self-centred chick who moves from New Jersey to the Big Apple to ingratiate herself into the NY punk scene with hopes to move-on to Los Angeles. It offers an interesting exposé on relationships and how people can parasitically use others for their own self-gain. Worth it if you're a punk and adore '80s NYC.
Friday 13/01/2023
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Director: Paul Bartel
Another film I've seen a few times over the years, only I feel like I don't talk about it as much as I should. It's a movie which I thoroughly take for granted and watching it this time around really reaffirmed and cemented my love for it. It's kind of like a demented and dystopian take on Wacky Races; laced with social commentary and featuring a fleet of insane-looking vehicles, each fitted with distinctive weaponry. Produced by Roger Corman for New World Pictures, Death Race 2000 stars David Carradine as the enigmatic and fan favourite racer, Frankenstein, and a very early role for one Sylvester Stallone. Essential '70s exploitation.
Friday 13/01/2023
Deep Freeze (2002)
Director: John Carl Buechler
Not to be confused with the pain relief gel of the same name, also known as Ice Crawlers, this is a super low-budget movie with its creative tendrils firmly rooted in John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). The plot is about a group of folk on an Antarctic base being terrorised by a recently unearthed and thawed giant trilobite.
Personal anecdote about this flick; I rented this as a teen with my dad from Blockbuster and we decided at the time that it was the worst film we had ever seen. It set the bar and become a unit for measure with our own ratings, from then on whenever discussing a film one of us hadn't seen we will say "it's not Deep Freeze bad". Watching it all these years later it's safe to say the movie is still hot garbage, but an enjoyable garbage and pairs wonderfully with pizza and beer, and hell, I've since seen Scare Package II: Rad Chad's Revenge.
Friday 13/01/2023
Shakma (1990)
Director: Hugh Parks
I'd wanted to check this out for a very many years after seeing it mentioned over at Jayson Kennedy's Basement of Ghoulish Decadence. Think I watched this via YouTube of all places and it looked like total shit. The movie on the whole is a good effort, a baboon is given experimental drugs and runs amok in after-hours in a laboratory, while the young scientists and their professor play a live-action role-playing game. There's virtually no suspense, the performances aren't the best, but once that baboon starts going ape-shit (pun intended), I don't know, I just really got a kick out of watching him chase and menace a bunch of teenage science-nerds. Will be searching a disc copy for sure.
Saturday 14/01/2023
Monster Island (2004)
Director: Jack Perez
I watched this via Amazon Prime in the early afternoon before going out for a bottomless bunch with the work lot. We got absolutely stinking drunk, drinking through til the wee early hours of Sunday. Monster Island was surprisingly good, a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Going into this thing I was prepared to roll my eyes and cringe aloud. Starring Carmen Electra, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (!!) and Adam West, the movie apes every '50s b-movie trope, but what I enjoyed so much about this was how it reminded me of Food of the Gods (1976) and Empire of the Ants (1977), schlocky giant insect movies of the '70s more so than those of the '50s. Good time to be had with this one, so check it out while it's still available on there.
Sunday 15/01/2023
Shock Waves (1977)
Director: Ken Wiederhorn
I woke up on Sunday morning rattling from a raging hangover, I remember going for a shower and desperately fighting the urge to puke, a battle I somehow managed to conquer. I decided the best thing for me was to put on Ken Wiederhorn's Shock Waves to balm my brain. A movie I've seen a handful of times prior, but couldn't remember all that much about. What I found is that Shock Waves might be the perfect hangover movie, it's so languid and oneiric that when viewed through an alcohol induced migraine-delirium, through squinted eyes and moments of narcolepsy that it becomes extremely difficult to discern between dream and reality, leading to a most unusual experience. Aquatic nazi zombies, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine, need I say more?
Sunday 08/01/2023
Evil Dead (2013)
Director: Fede Álvarez
Caught this at the cinema during its theatrical run and can distinctly remember laughing out loud when Mia (Jane Levy) bisects the Abomination's head with a chainsaw during the finale, much to my then-girlfriend's chagrin, and I'm still not tired of seeing it. I really enjoy this movie and I struggle to agree with any hate I see for it. It's an update of a stone cold horror classic, it doesn't have to better than it, it doesn't even have to rival it, and it certainly doesn't detract from the original; it's moody, it's bloody, it's Evil Dead, what more do you really want out of it? I prefer this to Army of Darkness (1992) any day of the week, sorry nerds.
Today it is time to drift away from the trappings of conventional slashers and sloshy gorefests and instead explore what East Asia has to offer in the exploitation department. For this venture I have decided to take a look at Kenji Misumi's Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice, the first in a bizarre trilogy starring Shintaro Katsu.
Katsu who also produced the Lone Wolf and Cub series (1972 - 1974) including the something of a compilation and grindhouse favourite Shogun Assassin (1980), along with his portrayal as Zatoichi in the series of the same name.
Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice also known by its native title: Goyōkiba, blends Jidaigeki, Crime and Martial Arts into something truly stylish and spectacular.
The story revolves around the central character Hanzo Itami an incorruptible officer of the law in edo era Japan. Renowned for his unorthodox methods of interrogation, especially when it comes to a female suspect, who he will first penetrate with his 'sword' of justice and then later drink sake with in his bath to which, through what must be his sexual prowess they become infatuated with him. Hanzo also follows what appears to be a strict self-discipline régime where he will flagellate his large penis before practicing intercourse with a bale of rice. We also learn that Hanzo practices self-sadomasochism as he is covered in scars and becomes sexually aroused when in pain.
Through one of his hired vagrants Hanzo begins to suspect that his superior officer's mistress (identifiable by her lack of pubic hair) has ties to an infamous killer. Upon making such a discovery it becomes clear that the killer is no longer on his prison island, or that he was never banished there in the first place, after some more 'poking' around his investigation leads him to believe that the elitist group of Edo is entirely corrupt putting both his job and his life in peril.
While at it's core being pure sleazy exploitation the Sword of Justice serves as a perfect introduction to Hanzo Itami's character and the values that he stands for as well as providing a rather one-sided commentary about corrupt authorities and magisterial rules. The way in which Hanzo tortures himself both physically and mentally to appreciate what pain his victims go through is completely sadistic but at the same time his character wouldn't be so intriguing if he didn't have this trait, along with a subtext of cynicism and contradiction as he's seen to be the honest officer, yet his daring methods which involve rape and torture are not only acts which are clearly morally questionable but also against the law he is trying to enforce.
Beautifully shot using a style of close ups that reminded me of Italian westerns and an unusual, funky and sometimes awkward sounding score from Kunihiko Murai prove this is nothing more than unadulterated entertainment for those with the more unusual tastes.
Walter R. Cichy's vastly entertaining exploitation picture Cop Killers (1973)
Opening with 2 lowlifes; the outright psychotic Ray (Jason Williams) and the more reserved Alex (Bill Osco) on their way to a drug deal, get stopped at a Police roadblock. A shootout ensues resulting in all the cops being killed and the two crooks on the run. Upon arriving at a small town they hijack an ice cream van along with the whiney driver. A scene which is more comical than it is shocking, purely down to the poor dialogue and overacting.
Setting off on a journey of violence, kidnappings and a delivery of drugs that takes them all over Arizona. Resulting in one hell of a joyride.
Cop Killers has all the right ingredients to make it a greatly enjoyable exploitation treat with Cichy's efficiently directed shootouts and makeup effects by Rick Baker who would later provide the award winning effects for Landis' An American Werewolf in London (1981).
Good acting from the two leads, I found that the tension between the two characters was well represented on-screen. This concocted with the corny folk theme song, protracted climactic car chase that must almost consume the entire last reel, cheesy softcore sex, gratuitous nudity and further female degradation make this a nasty nugget of trash cinema that has long been neglected.
Roberta Findlay's underrated 'urban warfare' exploitation flick Tenement a.k.a. Game of Survival a.k.a. Slaughter in the South Bronx.
Tenement uses a simple plot which allows itself to be exploited to yield such a factor of violence. Exploring familiar themes such as home invasion, pillaging & rape. Early one morning a South Bronx gang is removed from an apartment block, arrested and vow to get their revenge. An hour later they are released and begin acting out their revenge upon the buildings tenants. The tables turn and remaining survivors join together to fight back against the gang, dispatching them in varyingly gruesome ways.
Unfortunately Findlay's inability to be able to frame a shot better than David Blunkett means there are a fair few scenes where an actor's head is completely out of shot. Not to let that be a complete downside to the film, as it's easily overlooked with help from the awesome 80s soundtrack and over the top violence.
Borrowing themes and techniques from John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and Walter Hill's The Warriors (1979), it pays off extremely and is definitely Roberta's most technically proficient piece of work. Set in a grungy looking apartment block the survivors retreat to the top floor and are forced to defend themselves with whatever they can find, in true 'under siege' style.
On more than one occasion I found myself cheering out whenever one of the tenants would score a kill or a hit against a thug. One scene in particular was met with outright laughter, in which an old lady whacks a gang member in the bollocks with a baseball bat.
It's highly entertaining to any fan of unnecessarily brutal deaths and no doubt highly offensive to the more sensitive viewer making this better than average Z-grade trash.
Eurocrime time. Enzo G. Castellari's Il Grande Racket. An outrageously violent and unsympathetic tale of corruption and revenge. The plot involves Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi - Massimo Dallamano's What Have You Done To Solange? (1972)) who is the toughest cop on the force. He's on the trail of a gang of organized criminals running a protection racket. Tensions rise when events become more violent and desperate as the gang builds a bigger repertoire and strength. Nico begins to feel the pressure on the force and no-one in town is talking as they are too frightened. Desperate times call for desperate measures and Nico is forced to use all his resources.
Eventually after too many 'slip ups' Nico loses his position as a police man and is out for revenge. So he goes to town and starts to round up people who've been personally targeted by the gang. Together they form a band of misfits who're all ready to take down this 'Big Racket'.
The finale culminates in a cacophony of gunfire, ricochets, explosions, slow-mo squences and brilliantly bloody squib effects. In my opinion one of the films most memorable sequences involves Nico trapped in his car while it's smashed to shit by members of the gang, right before being rolled down a hill, with him still inside. It not only conveys a message of the gang's power, but also the seemingly uselessness and frailty of the Police when pitted against them. The film's upbeat and funky soundtrack perfectly accompanies the slick visuals.
The extras on this release are minimal however the commentary by Enzo reveals an intriguing insight into his film. View it.
DVD: Blue Underground
Run Time: 106 Mins
Extras: Audio Commentary with Director Enzo G. Castellari and Theatrical Trailer.