The Bloody Pit #210 - STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (1991)

At long last Mark Maddox returns as we wrap up our look at the first six Star Trek feature films with STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY. Since this is the last movie to showcase the entire original cast, we take the opportunity to mention how happy we are that VI was the film they went out on and that everyone gets chances to shine. I’m just thrilled we finally get Captain Sulu!

We discuss the production push to get this into theaters to coincide with the 25^th anniversary of the premiere of the TV show. We praise the return of Nicholas Meyer to the director’s chair and point out the many touches that seem to stem from his involvement. This includes the joy of having the Wold Newton family tree brought into onscreen Star Trek, which is probably peak geekiness. The intricate nature of the film’s plot comes under scrutiny with us listing the various elements that are woven together perfectly to move the story forward. We discuss the dialog with a few clips to give a taste of the intelligence of the script. Our admiration for the performances gets plenty of time and we single out Christopher Plummer’s fantastic turn as Klingon General Chang. Just how much Shakespeare can be wedged into a Trek film, anyway? And is Chang the series’ best villain? Others may disagree with us but we make our case.

If you have anything to add to the show thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to write. We love hearing from you and if you want to work ahead it looks like we will be talking about the Star Trek animated series in the future. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

Poster Art for STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (1991)

 

The Bloody Pit #156 - BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997)

This is a very special episode. 

John Hudson joins me to discuss BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997) but that is only half the fun. We also got the chance to talk to actress Jane Hamilton who appears in the film as a judge. Under her stage name Veronica Hart, Miss Hamilton was a major star of adult movies in the period depicted in BOOGIE NIGHTS and is therefore the perfect person to answer questions about the industry and its onscreen Hollywood portrayal. She has many stories to tell and not just about the pornography business either. We had so much fun talking with her that the conversation went on for nearly an hour and a half with more than a few digressions! Hopefully you’ll enjoy her tales as much as we did.

We end the show with some classic adult film recommendations from Mr. Hudson which just might send you off to your favorite DVD/Blu-Ray retailer to satisfy your curiosity. If you have any comments or suggestions thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to write. Or you could join us over on the FaceBook page but keep it clean or the Zuck will get us for sure. I’ve added a song from The Exotic Ones to cap things off and thank you for listening!

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The Bloody Pit #105 - Sam Irvin Visits!

Every now and then you meet a true raconteur. Someone who not only has the ability to tell tales in an amusing way but who has enough life experiences accumulated to have stories that seem to be inexhaustible. Sam Irvin is such a person!

Sam is a filmmaker who got his start in the industry working with Brian De Palma in the 1970’s on THE FURY (1978), HOME MOVIES (1979) and DRESSED TO KILL (1980) but his journey began as a movie obsessed Monster Kid in North Carolina. While just a grade school kid, he started his own movie fanzine in which he reviewed horror, science fiction and fantasy films as well as conducting interviews with his horror film idols. Over his high school years he interviewed Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Freddie Francis, Terence Fisher and even managed to travel to England to speak with them in person. The story of his visit to the set of THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974) is incredible and one of the funniest celebrity tales I've ever heard.

In the 1980’s he shifted to being a producer, directed his first short film and worked as the Vice President of Marketing for several film distribution companies before finally getting to fulfill his dream of becoming a feature director. And then there’s the little story of making the amazing ELVIRA’S HAUNTED HILLS (2001) with the great Cassandra Peterson. But I should just let Sam tell you his story since he does a much better job than I ever could.

Among all his other projects Sam is also an author and our current pandemic Hell has fueled his creativity in an odd way. Along with artist Dan Gallagher he has produced the book Sam’s Toilet Paper Caper! Styled as a parody of the classic children’s series of Little Golden Books it relates the mostly true adventures of Sam as he attempts to replenish his supply of white gold – rolls of TP. It’s available in both ebook and print editions with links done below. All profits from the sales of this book go to the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. To learn more and to donate, you can visit this website: LINK

So, sit back and enjoy this couple of hours with Sam Irvin as he lets us in on some of the more incredible parts of his wild life. If you have any questions or comments the email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com or you can join us over on the show’s FaceBook page. Thanks for listening and we’ll be back soon.

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DUNE WARRIORS (1991)

I have a strong affinity for post-apocalyptic cinema. I blame this on the 1980’s R-rated movies of my youth such as THE ROAD WARRIOR (1982), ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK (1981) and various other types of after-the-bomb fantastic cinema of that benighted decade. I enjoy these kinds of movies so much that even the weakest and most poorly written variations on this theme is something that I can get a kick out of. Case in point, there is a Blu-ray of the film DUNE WARRIORS  (1991). Why is an eternal mystery that I need never have answered. I'm just going to assume that all the other better films of this subgenre have already been put out on Blu-ray and we're just working our way through the bottom of the barrel examples now. That's not to say that this is a completely bad movie. I mean - it's not very good, but it has enough points of interest and it’s energetic enough to keep you entertained for its meager 90-minute running time.

It is little more than an unattributed remake of Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI (1954). It follows the plotline of that classic film slavish with the only real change being shortening it down considerably. This trimming of story results in fewer fighters to the point that we only have five Warriors instead of the classic seven. Budgets being what they generally are for these kinds of shot-in-the-Philippines mini-epics I’m surprised there weren’t just four. One of the warriors is an older man who's clearly looking for revenge on the head bad guy terrorizing the town looking for mercenary help. Played by David Carradine he gives the film's best performance even it's obvious he finds the entire affair pretty silly. But, Carradine could have made three of these films in a month and still be the freshest thing onscreen. The rest of the cast ranges from amateur level to competent-but-inexperienced meaning that the few times this reliable tale nearly works it usually gets undermined by a bad line reading. But still, the film isn’t awful and rarely dull so it serves as a mid-range entry. Not sure why it’s on Blu-Ray but I’m glad that is how I got to see it.

Trailer - SPIRIT OF '76 (1990)

In from the great outdoors to avoid the pouring rain and it's time to watch one of my favorite Holiday comedies! This should have become a traditions decades ago. 

The Lost Giger Bat-Mobile

I consider Joel Schumacher to be one of the worst directors Hollywood has every handed a $100 million film budget. Even the one film he had a hand in that I enjoyed (PHONE BOOTH) felt as if he was trying to find a way to screw it up from the opening minutes. Thankfully the Larry Cohen script was tight enough to keep him from sabotaging the story and it remains a taut little thriller.  But I am happy to find that not every idea he ever had was crap, although they might not have made it to the screen.

When Schumacher was tapped to take over the Batman series in the mid-90's he commissioned the mad genius H. R. Giger to redesign the Batmoble. Yes! The man responsible for countless nightmares because of the monster he built for ALIEN (1979) was given a shot at creating in the world of Batman! What an idea! Of course, it didn't fly with the filmmakers and was dropped at concept stage allowing Schumacher to go ahead and create a truly crappy film that made enough money for him to helm an even worse Bat-film afterward. Giger's designs certainly would not have guarantied a better film than BATMAN FOREVER (1995) - we're talking about a director with incredibly poor cinema sensibilities - but it would have added some spice to Schumacher's neon-splashed mess. A shame and a missed opportunity.

Non-Traditional Christmas Film - BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

At this time of year film fans inevitably turn to discussions of favorite Christmas or holiday themed movies. For a long while now it has become the determination of a large subset of 'fans' to smugly reduce all talk down to the non-traditional choice of DIE HARD (1988). This was cute a decade ago but it has since become tiresome and a sure indicator of the lack of thought put into making this choice. Just because a film takes place during December does not make it a Christmas movie. One day soon any hipster loudly proclaiming DIE HARD as their favorite Christmas film will be dragged into the nearest yard and beaten with tree limbs. Their bleeding corpse will be decorated with festive ornaments as a warning to all that the cleverness of this stance is long dead.

But what of other, less well known, Christmas cinema? Perhaps a film that will not result in everyone listening to you pontificate at the Holiday party wishing to strangle you.

Well, one of my favorites non-traditional Christmas movies is Tim Burton's BATMAN RETURNS (1992). Not as well remembered or as well-regarded as the 1989 BATMAN film I've always preferred the second bite at the apple for a number of reasons. One of those is it's December setting with the time of year woven into the story intricately. There is snow in the air, snow on the ground and Burton went out of his way to be able to see the actor's breath in the chilly weather to add detail. You really feel that the events take place in winter adding a certain quality of realism to the mad proceedings. So many of the non-traditional Christmas movies that people talk about merely take place at the festive time of year instead of actually folding the events surrounding the holiday into their storyline. Batman Returns is constantly referencing the time of year and, although December 25th only happens at the very end, everything in the movie feels as if we are slowly advancing toward that date with terrible events and momentous occasions cascading toward the eventual climax.

The movie is layered, nearly dripping with Christmas imagery in almost every scene. Christmas parties, Christmas trees, mistletoe, gifts and decorations are scattered throughout the story giving reason for some of the crazier things that happen. The reoccurring scene of the nightly lighting of Gotham's huge Christmas tree becomes a central element of the plot giving the villains a time and place to attack for maximum attention. You'd think after the second deadly night of violence at the lighting ceremony the mayor would have shut that thing down! But the season always seems to cloud our judgment, making even the denizens of the crime-riddled Gotham hold out hope for an optimistic future. Of course, this is a Burton Batman film so bleakness is baked into this bat-shaped Christmas cookie. But by setting the story in December the film finds a way to offer a possible light to walk toward with hope still a risky choice but better than Bruce Wayne's despair. He can wish the world a Merry Christmas in the final scene even after failing to save Selina Kyle from her worst desires. How's that for an upbeat Christmas message?

Re-viewing - THE SHADOW (1994)

The other night I revisited THE SHADOW for the first time since the late 1990s. The reason for this is because the film is now available on Blu-ray and I can hardly resist such a temptation. I was one of the millions of people who was disappointed by the film when it debuted in theaters in 1994. As a fan of heroic pulp fiction and The Shadow in particular I was let down by the fact that the film seemed to be a series of excellent sequences held together by a very thin story that often flew apart. At the time I felt that the script didn't allow the overall structure of the story to take shape well enough before another big set-piece came along to get the audience heart rate up again. Although across the 90s I watched the film several times I always came away frustrated that although the movie has a number of great scenes, a wonderful cast, some good action sequences, fine period detail and an excellent score it just didn't gel for me. And I have always felt that I could pinpoint the problem - the film's director.

Russell Mulcahy is an Australian director that got his start in music videos and far too often it shows. Mulcahy is in love with the constantly floating camera. If you've ever seen his 1986 film HIGHLANDER you'll recognize the style of camerawork I'm referencing. He shoots everything with the camera in motion and, while that can sometimes be interesting, it frequently draws attention to itself in a distracting way. In THE SHADOW he can't seem to stop himself from nonsensically circling the actors so much that I am surprised the cameraman didn't run into the actors. It's ridiculous! And it also draws attention to the points in the movie where bits of dialog has been edited out leaving a few holes that have to be ignored or papered over.

But, imagine my surprise when - 24 years after my initial viewing of this film - I revisit it and find myself really enjoying it. A lot! That's not to say that the irritating, flawed bits were less irritating but they took me out of the film less than in past viewings. I found myself really having fun - even some parts that I had previously been truly irritated by were interesting. The feel of the film is about 85% right and it looks fantastic. Maybe it is just that I was happy to see this story again after so long but I was truly glad to be watching this movie. And I'd love to see some deleted scenes if this ever gets another fancy release!

The Fantastic Films of Vincent Price #87 - EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)

In the final episode of this great series Dr. Gangrene takes a look at the last three film Mr. Price made - with emphasis on the big Tim Burton movie, of course! 

Trailers From Hell - THE SHADOW (1994)

THE SHADOW is one of those films that I still think is a mess of good and sloppy elements that combine into a memorable but frustrating whole. It could have been a classic but the director (in my opinion) is too careless of tone and is convinced that camera movement connotates excitement. But others disagree including Agnes Morehead. Or is it Michael Schlesinger? Hard to tell! 

Trailers From Hell - DEEP COVER (1992)

Until this popped up on TFH I had nearly forgotten about it. And I know I haven't watched it since catching it in the theater in 1992 so it's long past time for a return visit. Sadly, there is no Blu-Ray of this excellent crime film so I'll have to seek out a DVD. DEEP COVER is ready for it's hi-def debut, Kino-Lorber. 

Early 1990's Spanish Cult Films Coming to Blu-Ray!

Exciting news for fans of interesting European cinema was announced today! Two of my favorite Spanish films from the 1990's are being brought to domestic Blu-Ray by Olive Films. This means I can finally show friends good prints of these amazing movies instead of lamenting their status in my collection as lesser quality bootlegs. Both of these are exceptional cinema and come at their subjects in ways that seemed rough and fresh when I caught them in the mid-90's so I can hardly wait to see if they feel as impressive on a return visit. 

Here's Olive Films' descriptions of the two movies due out at the end of the month- 

THE RED SQUIRREL (La Ardilla Roja), written and directed by Julio Medem (Tierra) and starring Emma Suárez (Julieta) and Nancho Novo (Lovers of the Arctic Circle), is a stylish thriller à la Hitchcock — with echoes of Vertigo — set in a Spanish campground.

Jota (Novo), a musician with a career in decline and a romantic life in shambles, is on the verge of ending his life by jumping from a bridge when a mysterious figure on a motorcycle comes roaring — quite literally — into his life. Rushing to aid the injured cyclist, Jota discovers the driver is a beautiful young woman (Suárez) who's lost her memory in the crash. Seeing an opportunity to start a new life, Jota creates a fictional backstory for Sofia, the amnesia victim whom he now calls Lisa, claiming that they're a couple. Fearing her growing suspicion of his ruse, Jota cuts Lisa's hospital stay short by whisking her off to The Red Squirrel, a remote campground far away from prying eyes. But they soon attract the attention of the other campers, leading to an escalation in Lisa's erratic behavior. What secrets are hiding in Lisa's past? And who is Félix (Carmelo Gómez, Tierra), the mysterious stranger who appears at the camp site in search of Sofia? Twists and turns abound in The Red Squirrel.

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles."

Set in Spain's Basque Country, VACAS (Cows) tells of a bitter rivalry and a decades-old feud between three generations of the Mendiluze and Iriguibel families, stretching from the Third Carlist War through the Spanish Civil War. These families, not unlike the tale of the Hatfields and McCoys, have carried a simmering, deep-seated hatred dating back to a war-time act that left brave Carmelo Mendiluze dead on the battlefield and the cowardly deserter Manuel Iriguibel crippled but alive. Years have not cooled the animosity between these houses as the film traces the lives, loves, and deaths that propel the atmospheric story forward to its inevitable outcome. Directed by Julio Medem (Tierra, The Red Squirrel) from a screenplay by Medem and Michel Gaztambide, Vacas stars Carmelo Gómez (Tierra, The Red Squirrel), Emma Suárez (Julieta, The Red Squirrel), Ana Torrent (The Other Boleyn Girl) and Karra Elejalde (Tierra).

Director Medem is immeasurably aided by cinematographer Carles Gusi (El Niño), whose camera captures the lush foliage of the Basque countryside and cocoon-like farmhouse interiors, successfully recreating a bygone era. The film also features a dramatic score courtesy of composer Alberto Iglesias (The Constant Gardener).

In Spanish, with optional English subtitles.

Of course, Olive Films never includes any extras but just the chance to see these movies in a good HD presentation is enough for me. If they sound intriguing, you might enjoy them as well.  

DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURANT (1995) and DARKMAN III: DIE, DARKMAN, DIE (1996)

Because the great podcast Cinema Psyops recently covered all three DARKMAN films I decided to revisit the direct to video sequels. I certainly hadn't seen them in over twenty years and was looking forward to peeking back to this little superhero cul-de-sac to see if the films held up as anything more than wastes of time. Knowing that that have been no attempts to do more with the franchise in over two decades I expected to find both films to be disappointing. And, of course, knowing that they were cheaply made and only released to video dialed down my expectations as well. Luckily, I found the films to be very entertaining. Neither of them are classics of the genre and they certainly don't measure up to the nasty but fun original but, for what the are, they are solid little films.

The first of these sequels is the better of the two even if it requires the viewer to believe the impossibility that somehow Robert Durant survived the helicopter explosion of the first film. I'm willing to go along with this bit of silliness because it allows the excellent Larry Drake to return in the role and chew scenery like a mad dog. If the movie had been nothing but Drake disciplining his henchmen and making evil plans for 90 minutes I would have had just as much fun. It really is a joy to watch him sling his large vocabulary and perfect diction around as if words were weapons capable of severing fingers and crushing obstacles. Happily the film also offers up a lot of well done action and enough explosions to make Michael Bay smile. Even the switching of lead performer from Liam Neeson to Arnold Vosloo is handled well and Vosloo does a good job of owning the role of crime fighting mad scientist. 

The third film is less fun but still well done. The villain is played well by Jeff Fahey and, although he is good, the character has much less panache than Durant and therefore is less interesting. With this film it was clear that they were setting up a structure for the series if it were to continue. Darkman would continue to hunt for a way to permanently repair his damaged face and hands, be thwarted by criminal scum and then be forced to destroy said scum by either his incredible rage or in order to save innocent people. Much more has been made from much less. Our hero now has a cool underground lair accessible by converted rail-car in which he conducts his experiments to create artificial skin. To fund his work he ventures out at night, slaps criminals around and steals their money which strikes me as the perfect modus operandi for a vigilante superhero.

Although the first film remains easily the best of this trilogy I was glad to see that the entire series is pretty good stuff. I suppose the rentals on these two DTV films weren't good enough to make Universal finance more and that's a shame. I could have happily watched another six of these movies over the next five years but it seems that Darkman is fated to be one of those forgotten franchises. 

Maybe I should look into the comic books that were produced with the character? 

The Bloody Pit #50 - GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH (1991)

Until now we have danced around the 1990's Godzilla films in our series of shows focused on Kaiju films but we have only briefly discussed them. That is over!

Closing out our Ghidorah Files series we come to 1991's GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH and it is a joyous time. The Heisei films are special to both Troy and myself for several reasons. I explain my discovery of this movie through the VHS gray market and the awakening of Big G love it inspired. Luckily this film and the entire seven film Heisei Godzilla series is now available on Blu-Ray so you no longer have to take the dark path of underground dupes and sleazy bootleggers. Unless you want to, that is.

As you might expect, this film sports some amazing monster battle action with locations in both the countryside and among the modern skyscrapers of Tokyo getting the worst of these two creature's destructive power. But the movie also has some great human characters that lead us through the often complicated time travel storyline and add some texture to the villainy. Of course, the 1990's Godzilla films had much worse luck with casting Caucasian actors than they did in the 1960's so we also have some pretty terrible acting in a few scenes. Nick Adams, oh, how we miss you!

So join us as we talk about this incredibly fun science fiction monster adventure. We touch on the controversy about the film's supposedly anti-American sequences as well as obvious TERMINATOR steals and the towering brilliance of Akira Ifukube's score. We also discuss the just below the surface metaphors and often hidden societal commentary with which the movie is laced. And then, courtesy of writer Keith Aiken's excellent article entitled GODZILLA VS KING GHIDORAH: Time Travel and the Origins of Godzilla we dig into the timeline of the Heisei films and talk about just how many Big G's there were!

Thank you for downloading and listening to us tackle this film. If you want to let us know what you think about the podcast, this movie or any other film you can contact us at thebloodypit@gmail.com or over on The Bloody Pit's FaceBook page. As we say near the end of this show we are casting about for ideas on what movies to cover in the near future and would love to hear your opinion. 

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The Bloody Pit #46 - MARS ATTACKS! (1996)

Twenty years ago Hollywood gave us two similar but very different alien invasion movies. One was serious and the other comedic; one was a huge hit and the other barely made back it's budget; one was basely manipulative and the other cruelly sarcastic. And, in fact, one was completely terrible and the other brilliantly funny. It doesn't take much thought to know in which direction this podcast will go but with a little luck we can make it entertaining. We're going to try!

I am joined once again by artist extraordinaire Mark Maddox to discuss the two dystopian alien invasion stories MARS ATTACKS and INDEPENDENCE DAY. Both of us saw these films on initial release and, in a shocking turn of events, we had identical reactions. This means that we spend the majority of this show in agreement instead of at each other's throats! I hope this doesn't disappoint fans of our previous James Bond episode but I promise that Mark and I will be back to insulting and harassing each other soon enough. (All it will take is picking another topic and we'll be screaming abuse back and forth like children denied their favorite toy.)

Of course, the discussion does meander a fair amount as each co-host follows several connecting threads to bizarre and unexpected places. With such large and eclectic casts packed with so many amazing actors there is almost no way we could have stopped ourselves from talking about some of the more interesting performances. So, expect to hear a few dozen movies get mentioned that have nothing to do with the subjects at hand. Sorry.

If you have any comments or questions please write us at thebloodypit@gmail.com and we'll be glad to hear from you. Mark Maddox's work can be seen at his website and I recommend going over there to check it out. Thanks for downloading and listening! 

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Brief Thoughts- SUBSPECIES (1991)

I decided to rewatch SUBSPECIES the other night out of curiosity. I first saw it over 15 years ago and my memories were that it was nothing special which would account for me having never watched any of the sequels. 

My return visit ended up reaffirming my initial impression of the film being OK - nothing too terrible and nothing too great. It's a middle of the road relic of the great direct-to-video period of the late 1980's and early 1990's. The film has some good location shooting, a pretty good idea, a C grade script and some C- level acting from most of the cast. The worst element of the movie is easily the D grade stop-motion animated little demons that the villain Radu creates in a nonsensical fashion at the beginning of the film. The animation is terrible, the creatures are poorly added to the live action shots and the fact that no one ever speaks about them EVER makes me think the filmmakers were hedging their bets and leaving open the possibility that they would be dropped from the movie entirely. If they had been eliminated I might like the film a bit more than I do but I doubt it would rate higher than a 5 out of 10 no matter what. 

I've been informed that the sequel is considered slightly better so I might have to see that sooner rather than later. 

THE RIFT (1990) - Wait- What!

How did I not know about this film? Holy Crap! This is the film the amazing (if you know what I mean) director Juan Piquer Simón made after the incredible (if you know what I mean) SLUGS (1988) and I didn't even know it exited! How I managed to look over his IMDb page and not gravitate to this tale of a damaged submarine and its rescue from the bottom of the sea I will never know.  J.P. Simón created the brilliant (if you know what I mean) PIECES (1982) which left an indelible mark on the young me and I can only expect the same thing from this film. Right? It stars R. Lee Ermey,  Ray Wise and even has Spanish actor Tony Isbert who popped up in several Paul Naschy films.  Plus, its streaming on Amazon Prime for free so I cannot avoid it and its awesomeness. I'll report back!

It was also known as ENDLESS DESCNET! Look at the poster art! There are tentacles! I cannot wait!