Brief Thoughts - JAWS 2 (1978)

After having avoided it for decades this past week I finally sat down and watched Jaws 2. The sad truth is that I have seen Jaws 3 several times because in my teenage years it was an HBO staple and therefore unavoidable. I still chuckle at the inanities in that third film but I feel no desire to revisit it. With Jaws 2 I stayed away completely because I just assumed that it was terrible. After all, Jaws was such an amazingly well done popcorn film - so entertaining, so energetic, so well-crafted, so well acted and just so good on every level that there was no way any sequel could possibly measure up. And now that I've seen the film I was right. Jaws 2 is nowhere near as good as the first film. But it's also not a terrible film. In fact, it's a pretty good film and that was a surprise. The director smartly chooses to ape Spielberg's style to match the look and feel of the previous film but I do think that the first hour could have been trimmed down a little to move things along. I enjoyed the last hour or so of the film and was impressed with the structuring of the suspense as well as the pacing. Jaws 2 isn't a great film but it's a solid thriller and I'm glad I finally caught it.

Oh! And as a bonus thrill I noticed from the advertising art that this is the film that put one of the great movie catchphrases into the vernacular - 'Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water'. That and a zillion half-assed humorous variations got worn out by people for years after the film was a dim memory.  

THUNDERBALL (1965) Dual Theme Song Duel

Tom Jones' Thunderball is one of my favorite Bond theme songs and I never tire of it but I am increasingly fascinated by the many rejected and alternate title songs for various films in the series. Let's compare and contrast the Jones classic and the rejected song sung by the great Shirley Bassey. Here's the first -



And here's Miss Bassey's version entitled Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang -




I like them both!

R.I.P. Jack Davis - Cartoonist Extraordinaire

Today the great cartoonist Jack Davis passed away. I was a fan of his work before I could understand how brilliant his art was at highlighting the things that made a person recognizable. He uses exaggeration and incredible detail to draw images that often seemed better than the reality they were caricaturizing. Mad Magazine was my introduction and although he was surrounded on those pages by a host of other amazing talents it was Jack Davis' distinctive style I saw pop up everywhere I looked. He did movie posters, magazine ads, record album covers and when I finally discovered the classic EC horror comics he was there too! There seemed to be no limit to the places his artwork would turn up and each time it appeared I was thrilled. He was one of a kind and his presence will be sorely missed. 

The Bloody Pit #40 - DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968)

We return to the land of the giant monsters for a surprising and impressive entry in Toho's Godzilla series. This was the ninth outing for the Big G and his crowd of monster cohorts. It was also the last time that the core group of creators responsible for bringing the original 1954 classic GOJIRA to the screen were to work together on a kaiju film. The studio increased the budget for this outing (for reasons we'll discuss in the show) and the extra money shows in ways both big and small. The use of pretty much every giant monster character that Toho had created up to this point meant that the special effects technicians were working overtime to build and shoot the numerous battles and scenes of city destruction. Oh, man- the monster fights in this film are so great!

Adding to the general excellence of this movie are the wonderful directorial touches of the great Ishirô Honda. Always a man with a keen eye for framing he also gets a chance in this film to give us several unexpected visually gorgeous images that verge on the surreal. Rarely has wet sand, high heeled shoes, a low sun and the sound of crashing surf been combined to such charged effect in a G rated film.

Since Troy just returned from his annual visit to Chicago's G-Fest I question him about the highlights of the convention. He has a little info on the new Japanese Godzilla film but we still await news of North American distribution. He relates tales of meeting numerous celebrities over the weekend and even has photographic evidence to back up his claims of glory. I really have to attend G-Fest one of the days! As the episode swings into gear we talk about the film's colorful set design, it's familiar and talented cast, the two different English dubs available and a host of other details we can't stop ourselves from gabbing about. I even spend a while complaining about the tease of seeing certain creatures who are given only seconds of screen time. I love you, Varan!

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Werewolf By Night covers!

These are a few of my favorite covers from the classic Marvel comic of the 1970's. I know that in comparison Tomb of Dracula was the better book but the tortured tale of Jack Russell (yeah, that is his name) dealing with his inherited lycanthropy is closer to my heart. Of course, I often see Paul Naschy in these images but that's just me overlaying one fascination on top of another. 

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968) Trailer

Concentrating pretty hard on this film for the past few days in preparation of the next Bloody Pit episode. If you have any comments on the film leave them in the comments below and we'll respond in the podcast!

EL LATIGO (1978) and its Sequels!

I love that in 2016, after decades of hunting for interesting, obscure films from all over the world I can still find things that blow my mind. My latest discovery is the three film series from Mexico that follows El Latigo a.k.a. The Whip! I had never heard of this character until spotting the DVD artwork for the third of the series El latigo contra las momias asesinas (1980)  - that translates to The Whip Against the Killer Mummies!! It's as if this movie were made specifically for me! A fake Zorro fighting killer mummies? Take my money now!

Luckily for me - and anyone else like me - that fine gentleman Juan over at Fifth Dimension Films has done the world a service by making these obscure movies available with English subtitles. Sadly, I am unilingual with only the vaguest understanding of a few words and phrases in French, Spanish and German so without an English option these kinds of films would be completely lost to me. Indeed, I would probably never bother with them at all because the frustration of not knowing what was going on would enrage me. Yeah sure, I might be able to dope out the basics but that is just not enough. But through the hard work of Juan I can not see EL LATIGO (1978) and it's sequels and for that I am incredibly grateful.

So, how are the movies? Well, I have watched the first two so far and I've loved them! Much as the Zorro legend the stories are set in Mexico in the late 1800's where we meet The Whip in his civilian disguise. Strangely, this disguise changes from one film to the next with him pretending to be an archeologist in the first film and a traveling magic elixir salesman in the second. Regardless of the secret identity each film has The Whip show up, discover villainy is afoot which he then sets out to put right. Just like any good superhero he goes after the bad guys and helps the victims of their nefarious schemes.

In the first film the villains are pretty straightforward in their goals and methods. They are standard western genre gunslingers and corrupt lawmen hiding behind a thin veneer of respectability until the Whip starts ....... whipping things into shape. But the second film takes a hard left turn as you might conclude from the title - THE WHIP AGAINST SATAN (1979)! Whoa, says I! From thieves and kidnappers to Beelzebub is a mighty big leap. Since The Whip seems loath to use guns (an oddity I find amusing) I felt that surely he was not well armed enough to take on a hoard of demons much less Satan himself. But heroes are made of sterner stuff than mere mortals such as I so into battle he goes. I won't give away the ending but needless to say he does manage to whip things into shape. (Sorry!)

I haven't watched the third film yet. I'm a little busy right now with show prep and I want to be able to give it my full attention but I fully expect it to be just as much fun as the first two. As you might have guessed from the fact that The Whip doesn't use guns the movies are a little juvenile in their approach but I find that part of their charm. Our hero doesn't kill people (kinda iffy on demons) and his actions are always honorable even in rough situations. In a way these play like lost western adventures from the 1950's shot through a Mexican lens. They conform to the rules of the genre while stretching certain details into unfamiliar shapes. For a jaded movie nut like me they are like a cool breeze on a hot day - refreshing!

If you're interested in checking these out for yourself go on over to Fifth Dimension Films and look them over. The trove of subtitled Mexican genre cinema doesn't stop at weird westerns - Juan also has a vast collection of uncut Santo movies as well! Oh yeah!