One thing I love about some horror movies is when they get your from the start and keep you feeling uneasy until the end. That is what "The Howling" did to me. In the first five minutes we are thrown into a confusing and stressful situation involving an newswoman luring a serial killer into a peepshow booth in a really seedy part of town and things get really weird really fast. After her traumatic experience in the porn store, the newswoman named Karen (Dee Wallace from "Cujo" and "E.T") decides to go to a retreat that her psychiatrist (Patrick Macnee from "The Avengers" TV series) suggests. Upon arrival, it doesn't take long for Karen to realize that there is a whole lot of howlin' going on. Meanwhile, a couple of her coworkers are investigating the serial killer from back in the city and they soon discover that the howling is coming from those crazy human beasts that we horror connoisseurs refer to as werewolves. This is not quite as good as "An American Werewolf In London" but much much better than many of the other werewolf movies that I have seen. There are some great confrontations between man and beast which include some gory scenes and a werewolf sex scene. I must say the effects were fantastic but I already knew that they would be seeing that the werewolves were designed by Rob Bottin who has created the cooler than thou effects featured in John Carpenter's "The Thing" among others. The transformation sequences are great as is the standoff between a werewolf and one of the reporters investigating them. This flick comes highly recommended to all horror fans that are anti-CGI and want to see a good old fashioned scary movie. This was directed by Joe Dante who went on to make "Gremlins", "Explorers", and "Small Soldiers" among others and it was written by John Sayles. There are also cameos from Dick Miller as the book store owner, Forrest J. Ackerman as a book store patron, Kevin McCarthy ("Invasion Of The Body Snatchers") as the TV producer, John Carradine, and Slim Pickens.
There's something about 60's youth movies that I really dig for some reason. I guess it's the feel of them and the funky set design and the cool clothes and the groovy tunes that always make for a good movie experience in my world. This one was no exception and in addition to all the aforementioned benefits, we also have Peter Boyle ("Young Frankenstein") as the title character who is always bitching about how the youth are destroying the culture of America. Joe is a racist and sexist prick but for some reason you kind of feel sorry for him because he just can't grip the changes that have taken place in the world during his lifetime. We first see Joe in the film when a rich businessman (Dennis Patrick from "Dark Shadows") enters the bar that Joe is in after he just murdered the drug pushing boyfriend of his daughter. A few days later, Joe pieces together that Bill the businessman has an anger problem and they become friends who talk about how shitty the world is and what they can do about it. The film really picks up when Bill's daughter discovers his nasty secret and takes off into the hippie part of town and the odd couple of Joe and Bill go to try and find her amidst the hippie shops and world beat vegan restaurants. There are some great scenes in this flick and one of those great endings that you would never see in today's PC world that really makes you think and stare in disbelief. Boyle and Patrick are both fantastic as the unlikely friends from opposite sides of the tracks who share a common goal and awkwardly attempt to combine their very different lifestyles. There is also an excellent drug/orgy scene that shows an amusing and sad side of our two leads and thankfully does not dwell on that annoying 60's camera trickery/droning music tone that is typical of these types of scenes. This was directed by John Avildsen who went on to make "Rocky", "The Karate Kid", and "Cry Uncle" for Troma in 1971. In fact, Avildsen was an integral part in helping to make Troma chief Lloyd Kaufman into the man he is today (at least according to Kaufman's book). This movie also has the first big screen appearance of Susan Sarandon as Bill's daughter.
This was a lot of fun due to the great performances by the two leads Ryan Philippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar. These two play a brother and sister who are complete assholes who get off on other people's misery and they are played to the hilt. The basic premise (which follows the same path as "Dangerous Liasons") involves Gellar and Philippe plotting to find his ultimate conquest, the deflowering of an innocent virgin played by Reese Witherspoon. They make a bet that if he can manage to sleep with her, he can sleep with his sister and "put in anywhere" but if he fails, she gets his cool car. This flick was filled with some great lines and I can't go on enough how much I enjoyed Gellar's performance. The way she sips a glass of wine and utters the line "tastes good" at one point in the film is priceless. There is also a subplot of the two of them destroying a young girl's (Selma Blair) reputation simply because she happens to be with a guy that dumped Gellar. Joshua Jackson from "Dawson's Creek" makes a brief appearance as Philippe's gay friend and Louise Fletcher ("One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") makes an appearance as Witherspoon's mother. I would also like to mention the soundtrack featuring Placebo and The Verve is excellent as is the amazing set design. Check this one out for a entertaining rental even though it is a love story.
Here we have Armand Assante playing the legendary detective Mike Hammer in a remake of the 1953 film of the same title. Hammer has appeared in a whole series of books by Mickey Spillane and this is the only other depiction of him that I have seen other than the TV version played by Stacy Keach. Assante nails it in my opinion although at times he seemed like a grown up Mike Damone from Ridgemont High. The odd plot involves Hammer discovering that a friend of his has been murdered and investigating what happened. It turns out that there is a serial rapist (who is under government mind control) involved as well as a sex therapy clinic headed up by Barbara Carrera ("Never Say Never Again"). This movie has all the cheesiness of a great 70's exploitation movie as a lot of the grittiness of a good cop thriller. I really enjoyed this film and although the plot was a little confusing at times, I didn't care because it was entertaining enough just watching Assante's version of the character be as cool as he was. The serial killer character was played by Judson Scott and he had that really crazy take on it that gave you that dirty feeling just because you knew this guy was really nuts. It was that Joe Spinell in "Maniac" type that left you feeling really dirty. I should also mention the twins at the sex clinic just because they were the stars of Jack Hill's "Sorceress" and the fact that the ending did not leave me let down as is the case in many of these types of movies. If you can find this, check it out. Also starring Laurene Landon from the first two "Maniac Cop" movies as Hammer's secretary and Paul Sorvino as a police captain. The script was written by Larry Cohen.
This is one of those ones that I don't really have much to say about. It sort of defies a description as I didn't really care if I was watching it or not. In other words, it wasn't pissing me off that I was wasting my time watching it while at the same time, I wouldn't really care whether I saw it or not. Supposedly based on a true story, our tale concerns the plight of a young female jogger when she is abducted by a crazy Helix-singer lookalike (Lawrence King-Phillips from "Abducted 2: The Reunion") who takes her to his mountain cabin, treats her like crap and acts loopy. Soon, his dad (who he lives with) shows up and tells his son that it is morally wrong to kidnap woman joggers and tells our damsel in distress that he will bring her back to civilization the next day. They soon begin the trip back and we are given lessons in the spirituality of mountain goats and the evil of poachers. Junior still wants the girl as his little hostage so he defies dad and begins to stalk her through the forest. I enjoyed the sequel much more than this film and I didn't like it very much either other than the fact that Debbie Rochon was in it. I wouldn't recommend spending time with this film but if you are really bored and it is on TV, it will probably keep you awake. Co-stars Dan Haggerty ("Grizzly Addams") as dad and directed by Boon Collins who went on to make the sequel.
This is the main "Star Wars" ripoff that always gets a bad rap but I have to say that it is very enjoyable and I watched it religiously as a kid. Although we are treated to many scenes that are reminiscent of Lucas' epic, "Battlestar" does not contain any of the lore that the "Star Wars" films contain and is simply a fun science fiction adventure. For those who don't know, our heroes are Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch) and Lieutenant Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), two warriors from the Battlestar (spaceship) Galactica. These are the main characters who are led by Apollo's father, Adama (Lorne Greene), and a army of other warriors who are protecting the humans from the evil (and really cool looking) Cylons. The main premise of the pilot and subsequent TV series is that the Cylons have wiped out most humans and it is up to Adama and the crew of the Galactica to lead the remaining survivors on a quest for a planet called earth which is the last known dwelling of the human race. I recently picked up this pilot movie on DVD and was pleasantly surprised as to how entertaining it was and was also pleasantly surprised by it's widescreen presentation. Evidently, this version was first shown as a stand alone TV-movie and was then released theatrically with the series coming afterwards. One thing that this film does share with "Star Wars" is that none of the cast really did much after the series ended except for Dirk Benedict who went on to be one of the "A-Team". Hatch went on to make low budget movies like "Ghetto Blaster" and "Delta Force Commander 2". You may also recognize 80's pop star Rick Springfield as Apollo's brother Zac, Ed Begley Jr. as Ensign Greenbean, Jane Seymour as Apollo's girlfriend, and Randi Oakes (from "CHiPs") as a young woman. Richard Hatch has had a new feature in development for some time entitled "Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming" and there is also another feature in the works by original creator Glen A. Larson. I guess we'll see what happens.
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985)
I didn't realize how messed up this movie was until I watched it again. Holy smokes, Paul Reubens is one twisted dude. This film involves our hero Pee-wee Herman and his search for his lost bike. He is told by a fortune teller that it is in the basement of the Alamo so he goes on a crazy road trip to try and find it. Along the way he hooks up with an escaped convict, a dreaming waitress, a freaky trucker, a singing hobo, and a biker gang. I believe that this was intended as a kid's movie (as was the TV show) but with it being directed by Tim Burton, we know that his vision of childhood fables can be highly disturbing and very visual. I don't know if we will ever understand what is up with Pee-Wee Herman but it will always keep me guessing and always make me laugh. Co-stars include Elizabeth Daily ("Valley Girl", the voice of Babe in "Pig In The City") as Pee-wee's girlfriend, James Brolin, Morgan Fairchild, and Twisted Sister. Look for co-writer Phil Hartman as a reporter near the end of the film, Hartman's "Saturday Night Live" co-star Jan Hooks as a tour guide, and Elvira as a biker chick who wants to have her way with poor Pee-wee. This was Burton's first feature and I also have to give credit to the frightening score by musical genius Danny Elfman. Check this out but do so at your own risk (be careful if you choose to drop acid beforehand).
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