Ms. 45 (1981)

Abel Ferrara's work is always gritty and dark and I find his movies are either very entertaining or very convoluted and boring.  In my opinion, "Ms. 45" is Ferrara's best and is also probably the best film in the rape/revenge sub-genre.  Zoe Tamerlis stars as Thana, a young mute woman who is raped by two separate attackers over the course of an afternoon.  The murder (in self-defense) of rapist number two and his subsequent dismemberment leads to a string of killings at the hands of Thana and her gun.  Tamerlis is brilliant as she conveys to the viewer so many emotions with just her face and actions from fear to hate to numbness.  I found myself rooting for Thana throughout the whole film even when she made some questionable kills (what does that say about me).  There is also a fair share of brutality with Thana's new dog food creation and the death of a depressed divorcee standing out as moments I will remember from the film.  Although the film is very anti-men in general and provides no sympathetic male characters, I found this bias worked in the movie's favour as it provides an insight into the disillusionment that Thana felt and leaves the viewer feeling very much like they too have been violated.  Ferrara came a long way from "Driller Killer" and ended up with one of the better films of the 1980's.  Tamerlis died in 1999 of heart failure at the age of 37.  

Fire (1977)

I thought this was a good disaster flick starring the usual suspects that are trying to keep their careers alive.  One thing that struck me as odd was that although there were the stock characters of a disaster film, we were missing the all important ignorant mayor/real estate developer who will not listen to reason and puts the town in harm's way.  I missed that guy although we still had the dysfunctional couple who put aside their differences (Patty Duke and Alex Cord), the widow (Vera Miles from "Psycho") and the older fellow who loves her (Ernest Borgnine), the prisoner with morals (Erik Estrada), the bad-ass cause of the problems (Neville Brand), and the old doctor (Lloyd Nolan).  All the elements of a good disaster adventure are also present including the daring rescues, the above-average special effects, and all the melodrama that you can stand.  TV veteran director Earl Bellamy also did "Flood" but I thought "Fire" was the better of the two.  I sure have a soft spot for this sub-genre.

Vampire's Kiss (1989)  

For those of you that miss the pre-Oscar Nicolas Cage, this movie serves as a reminder as to just how amazing the guy was.  If you thought Cage was over the top in movies like "Wild At Heart" and "Deadfall" then you must see "Vampire's Kiss" to truly understand what an over the top performance is.  Cage stars as Peter Loew, an executive with an oddly entertaining male British valley girl accent, who is slowly going mad and thinks that he is becoming a vampire.  The first two-thirds of the film mainly concentrates on Loew's relationship with his secretary Alva (Maria Concita Alonso) and shows us the ultimate worker abuse as Loew obsesses about a contact that was misfiled and makes Alva find it.  The manner in which this obsession is portrayed as Cage walks the fine line between comedy and craziness as a boss from hell makes the viewer both sympathetic towards Alva's character and laughing out loud at the insanity that Cage puts into the character.  The final third of the film focuses on Loew truly believing that he has become a vampire and wandering the streets of New York in a psychotic state with fake fangs and yelling "I'm a vampire" to many a passerby.  The movie plays simultaneously as a comedy and a tragedy and works and although all questions may not be answered in the spoon-fed way that mainstreamers are used to, it is well worth a look.  There are so many great scenes from Loew trying to understand the concept of misfiling to the jumping on the desk in a state of anger to the wide-eyed walk through the night club to the infamous eating of a live cockroach that will stay with you.  This performance and that of Sailor Ripley are the ultimate showcases of Nicolas Cage's uniqueness as an actor that has unfortunately been lost .  I don't think that Cage (or many other actors) will ever top the out of control performance that he gives in this movie.

A Blade In The Dark (1983)  

Here is a Lamberto Bava thriller that boasts one of the most brutal murders that I have seen in a movie.  This particular scene also seemed like a homage to the shower scene in "Psycho" as there were a few distinct similarities.  Other than this set piece, the rest of the movie was a good murder mystery revolving around a film composer (Andrea Occhipinti) who is scoring a horror movie in an isolated villa.  We soon learn that the villa is not too isolated as beautiful women pop out of closets and appear in the yard wanting to go swimming.  Things get messy when said beautiful women start to die (in typical Italian fashion) and Bruno the film composer tries to unravel the secret of the villa and the mysterious woman who used to occupy it.  We have a number of odd things that happen including Bruno calling a spider a cockroach, a whimpering killer (which was pretty cheesy), tennis balls, and a strangulation by film.  Although the body count is quite low with a mere six deaths, the first three are quite well done and will go down as some memorable Italian death scenes.  One thing that bothered me near the end of the movie was Bruno's belt.  Surely wardrobe could have found a shorter one for the poor actor as the one he is wearing in the movie sticks out like a penis in a Surrender Cinema love scene.  Italian horror fans will recognize Lara Naszinski (Fulci's "Aenigma"), Andrea Occhipinti (Fulci's "New York Ripper"), Fabiola Toledo (Bava's "Demons"), Giovanni Frezza (the kid from "House By The Cemetery"), and Michele Soavi (who went on to direct the brilliant "Dellamorte Dellamore").

Island Of The Dead (2000)  

Hart Island is located off New York and serves as a mass graveyard for the unclaimed dead.  Mainstreamers may remember this location being featured at the end of the Michael Douglas movie "Don't Say A Word".  I found the location to be fantastically creepy in that film so I figured a whole low-budget horror picture set there would be a home run.  Boy, was I wrong.  Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange") stars as Rupert King, a rich developer who plans to transform the dumping ground for the homeless dead into a new city for the homeless to make a new start.  What he is really trying to go is get the homeless people off the streets of New York and onto a prison-like island where they can be used for medical experiments or something.  As with most other things in the movie, Rupert's intentions are never really explained.  Eventually, Rupert finds himself trapped on the island with a hardened cop (Talisa Soto), a few convicts (including Bruce Ramsay from "Curdled"), and a caretaker.  Now, just when you think the zombies are going to show up and things are going to pick up, you realize that this is not a zombie picture at all but is actually a killer fly movie and a lame one at that.  That said, there were some decisions that were made by the producers of this film that should serve as a study for all low-budget filmmakers.  First, if you are going to set a picture in a great location, use the actual location or spend some money and make it look scary.  What these filmmakers did was shoot the movie in Canada and use vacant lots and abandoned buildings and try to pass them off as a scary mass graveyard.  Second, don't put music in for the sake of putting music in.  The two rap songs in this film have to be two of the weirdest musical interludes I have ever seen.  It was like the movie switched to 'boring rock video' mode for absolutely no reason.  Third, lose the whole dead children angle if it's not going anywhere.  I was so sick of the "Nightmare On Elm Street"-inprired nursery rhyme and slow motion rope-skipping that I was ready to jump through the screen and strangle them myself.  Finally, try to get to know your characters a bit.  There is a pierced and tattooed death metal dude that was an insulting caricature that I do not think was intentional.  Also, when casting for a cop, think about what you are doing.  Talisa Soto is great as a scantily clad superhero or as a "Mortal Kombat" fighter; she simply did not suit the role as a hardened detective from the streets of New York.  The only thing I liked about this movie was McDowell ordering his assistant to "de-lint me".  Now that was a classic line...

The Wild Angels (1966)  

Good old Roger Corman directed this 60's classic that created a new genre: the biker flick.  Although one can argue that a movie like Brando's "The Wild One" or the 50's delinquent movies launched the genre, "The Wild Angels" was different in that it featured actual Hell's Angels from the Venice, California chapter and the bikers in this film are more of what we think of when we look back at the genre.  Ultimate biker Peter Fonda stars as Heavenly Blues, the leader of a biker gang that just wants to do what they want and not be hassled by 'the man'.  He has his girl Mike (Nancy Sinatra), his dope, and his Harley and that's all he needs.  When his friend Loser (Bruce Dern) is captured by the cops, Blues and his gang look to bust him out of the hospital.  This leads to tragedy and this tragedy combined with alcohol, drugs, rape, and playing with corpses leads to a classic scene in exploitation cinema with the Angels going wild, trashing a church, and having Blues' world sort of fall apart.  Those of you who are going to sit there and say how unrealistic this depiction of bikers is should stay away but those of you who want an introduction to this sub-genre that is one of the most popular in the realm of exploitation movies should check it out.  Some other notable co-stars include Diane Ladd and Michael J. Pollard.  Corman's assistant on this movie was Peter Bogdanovich who went on to make the Oscar nominated "The Last Picture Show" in 1971.  Editor Monte Hellman also had an impressive career as a director with his films including "Two Lane Blacktop" and "Ride In The Whirlwind".  

The First Time (1982)  

With a cover promising the usual t&a and silly jokes of the teen sex comedy, this movie came off as kind of a surprise.  Charlie (Tim Choate) is a nerdy guy on the college campus who has trouble meeting girls and takes the advice of a number of people including his stereotypical black stud roommate (Raymond Patterson), his 80's slob guidance counselor (Marshall Efron), and his parents.  What follows is the usual pursuit of the hot yet bitchy girl (Krista Errickson) while the perfect yet kind of nerdy best friend (Wendy Fulton) is by his side the whole time.  Will Charlie see the light??  If you have seen enough of these types of movies, you should already know the answer.  One main difference in this film, however, is that the usual end triumph does not involve a race or a weird contest as they usually do but involves Charlie and his entry in the campus film festival.  This angle provides us with a funny and knowing look at the attitudes in a pretentious film class as well as several examples of 'art' films from the other students.  I enjoyed this part because it nailed that elitist film student mentality and made fun of it beautifully.  Another thing that I noticed was that there was no breasts and although I would usually be complaining about such an obvious omission from a comedy of this sort, I still enjoyed the movie due mostly to the fact that Tim Choate was great as the Sam Rockwell mixed with Don McKellar lead character.  Executive producer Robert Shaye went on to produce the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.  An interesting credit that I cannot figure out is Brian De Palma as a creative consultant but I have no idea what this means or what his involvement was.

Siege (1983)  

The age of the urban thriller and vigilante justice has long since passed in this era of political correctness but there were plenty of these types of movies made in the 70's and early 80's to keep us going for quite some time.  Although "Siege" can be compared to "Assault On Precinct 13" with the good guys trapped in a building while the gang attacks from outside, there are plenty of differences that set this apart from the Carpenter classic.  The film opens with shots of a deserted downtown Halifax and we are informed that there is a police strike going on in the city and criminals are running rampant.  Soon we are introduced to a small gang who call themselves 'The New Order' and who take it upon themselves to invade a gay club called the Crypt.  When one of the Crypt employees is accidentally killed, the gang calls in their leader who proceeds to execute the remaining bar patrons thus eliminating any witnesses.  One of the potential victims, Daniel,  manages to escape and finds refuge in an apartment building.  The gang is not far behind and begin to harass the people who are harboring Daniel and become increasingly violent until it is obvious to the good guys (and the viewer) that the only way this will end is when either all the good guys are all the bad guys are dead.  As the people in the apartments were not prepared for such an unfortunate situation, they must resort to creating weapons from household items and try to live through the night.  The movie was quite effective at building some nice suspense and considering the year it was shot, anything can happen.  The leader of the gang reminded me a lot of Harvey Keitel's character of Wolf in "Pulp Fiction".  Fans of exploitation movies and crime thrillers will really enjoy this but it is not for the squeamish with the nightclub execution scene being particularly brutal in spirit.  

The Image (1975)  

When my friend Jessica recommended this I must admit that I was a little skeptical to say the least.  This film has the reputation of being 'the most erotic film about S&M ever made'.  Although I am not really into the whole S&M thing, I did find this to be quite a odd turn on.  Maybe I am discovering a new side of myself or maybe it is just Radley Metzger's way of brilliantly combining stunning cinematography and locations in Paris with the whipping, bondage, and screaming of a beautiful woman.  They story revolves around a man named Jean (Carl Parker) and the relationship that develops between him, his friend Claire (Marilyn Roberts), and Claire's toy Anne (Mary Mendum).  Claire and Anne have a total master/servant relationship in which Jean is simply an observer to start but it does not take long for him to become actively involved in the punishment of Anne.  The sex scenes were very hot in this movie and although I could have done without the close-up shots of Anne pissing, I found this to be quite fascinating both in the subject matter and how that made me feel.  This is one of those movies that you will still be thinking of for quite a while after watching it and in my opinion is probably the best movie concerning an S&M relationship that I will likely ever see.  Viewers should be advised that there are some hardcore oral sex scenes and some viewers may find the whipping and bondage to be quite offensive.

Meat Market 2 (2001)  

Canadian director Brian Clement strikes again with this sequel to his zombie epic.  I found "Meat Market 2" to be different from it's predecessor but I enjoyed it just as much.  Heroine Argenta (Claire Westby) and vampire Nemesis (Alison Therriault) return along with a new character named Ferriden (Stephen Eng).  The film opens with the three leaving behind their fallen comrades and trying to stay alive in a world overrun with zombies.  They soon come across a strange girl who leads them to a compound that is run by a crazy motivational speaker (Rob Nesbitt) who has his own plans of creating a master race of human flesh-eaters.  When Nemesis is taken away, Argenta must fend for herself as she is courted by the leadership of the cult to become one of them.  Those who know this character from the first film will know that she is not interested and Argenta must battle both the living dead and the crazy cultists and try to stay alive in the compound.  Think of it like the bunker in "Day Of The Dead" run by David Koresh and his Waco followers.  Storywise, this script was a big improvement from the first film as it is working on more levels.  This works well as a dramatic zombie movie but I felt it was missing some of the comedic elements from "Meat Market" (notably El Diablo Azul) that made it such an eye opener.  I am not writing that as a criticism but more as a fact.  At any rate, "Meat Market 2" is a worthy sequel to the cult classic and a great companion piece that shows a slightly different side of Clement's style.  There was also some more action in this with the last half hour being pretty much wall to wall gunfire, gore, and explosions.  A thoroughly entertaining genre picture that should be in any self-respecting zombie fans collection.  Fans of the first movie will enjoy small appearances from nearly all of the characters from that film.

Demented Death Farm Massacre: The Movie (1996)  

Ok, this one was truly weird.  What we have is a 1971 movie called "Honey Britches" that Fred Olen Ray got a hold of.  A group of four jewel thieves are on the run and when their jeep breaks down, they hole up in a small home occupied by a typical unintelligent backwoods girl and her redneck moonshine-making large husband.  Not a hell of a lot happens other than some very boring dialogue, a potential rape that turns into an unromantic love scene, and an extended car/foot chase that went on for way too long.  There was also a lot of crazy banjo music and a girl that looked like she should have been in a Russ Meyer movie.  All of that stuff was directed by Donn Davison and is from the early 70's.  Now we come to 1996 when I guess Fred Olen Ray got his hands on it.  For some reason he edited in a bunch of John Carradine dialogue and then put his name on it as a co-director.  I don't know why he did this but the result of this dialogue was very bizarre a la Bela Lugosi in "Glen or Glenda".  I suppose that Ray was following the Ed Wood line of thought that if he threw a 'name' actor into the movie then maybe it would sell.  All that I can compare this to is a Harry Novak 'country bumpkin' movie that has no sex.  I have no idea why this got rereleased or why Fred Olen Ray put his name on it but I guess that some things are better left unexplained.

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