Women Who Kill Me - Helga Liné (again!)

The many faces of the amazing Helga! 

What I Watched in July

July was a busy month with much travel and fun to be had but I still felt the pull of the theater. THE LEGEND OF TARZAN is a fine attempt at getting a film closer to the original character Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined. I think the film is well cast and the historical story they chose for the plot is fascinating. My only real complaints are that Tarzan needed more to do in the story and that some of the humor felt a bit out of place. Some of this I ascribe to the choice of Sam Jackson in a pivotal role. It seems that as the years go on filmmakers want to have Jackson in their movie instead of having the man play a character. The moments when it feels like Jackson the actor is onscreen instead of the character he is playing took me out of the film. The rest was lovely and I would love to see this Tarzan and Jan return for more adventures. It won't happen, but I can dream.

It's the summer and therefore the perfect time for a shark movie! Luckily we have a winner this year and not another useless Sharknado waste of time. THE SHALLOWS is a tight, effective shark vs. human tale that plays out very well from start to finish. The setup is clear, clever and easily makes us sympathetic to the main character. Actress Blake Lively is excellent in the role and the film never has her act in an idiotic way to create tension. She is placed in a terrible situation in a manner that could not have been foreseen and she handles each new problem with intelligence and skills. I was surprised by the smart way the film is written and directed and recommend this to anyone in the mood for a tense, exciting 'animal attacks' movie.

I'd love it if the new GHOSTBUSTERS was good - I might even have some fun with it if it were bad.-  But it turns out to just be pretty damned 'meh'. I cannot figure out what the hell happened here. I think all four of the lead actresses are very funny ladies but only two of them are really given anything funny to do. Those two - Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones  - are often damned funny but they are the only legitimate laughs the film can manage. For some reason it was decided to give the incredibly talented Kristen Wiig the role of straight man which effectively sidelines the brilliant comedienne from the beginning. Why in the name of funny would you do that? Ugh! There are moments of interest and McKinnon certainly gets to shine as the slightly crazed brain of the team but the only things I really remember weeks later are the cameos. Those were fun even if they just occasionally goosed a flat script that needed a lot more laughs. Maybe it's not a good idea to rope your talented cast too tightly to a so-so script.

Defying all cinematic logic THE PURGE films just get more entertaining with each new entry. The latest is a slam-bang action/horror ride that brings back Frank Grillo's character from the previous movie as he now works to protect the only American politician brave enough to stand for ending the annual Purge Night. Of course, the powers that be can't allow this Senator's movement to gain steam so they arrange to have her and her fellow travelers taken out in this year's event. The movie turns into a chase film that ends in by linking the Senator to an underground group with a plan to take out some one percenters themselves. This is exactly the way a good exploitation film should be made - tense, fast, nasty and layered with a harsh social message you'd have to be blind to miss. Roger Corman would be proud!


THE LIST
THE LEGEND OF TARZAN (2016) - 7

HIGH SCOOL HELLCATS (1958) - 6 (female high school delinquents)

THE 300 SPARTANS (1962) - 7 (a little stiff but good telling of the Greek story)

THUNDERBALL (1965) - 7 (rewatch)

THE SHALLOWS (2016) - 8

IT WAS A COLOSSAL TEENAGE MOVIE MACHINE: THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES STORY (2015) - 9 (excellent documentary)

HOWLING III: THE MARSUPIALS (1987) - 2 (you only thought 2 was bad!)

EL LATIGO (a.k.a. THE WHIP) (1978)- 6 (Mexican pseudo-Zorro adventure)

EL LATIGO CONTRA SATANS (1979)- 6 (basically  Zorro vs. Satan)

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968) - 8 (woo hoo!)

BLACK MAGIC (1949) - 8 (Orson Wells as Cagliostro)

BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952) - 7 (tense, one location suspense tale)

THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977) - 3 (just embarrassing)

JUST DESSERTS (2007) - 9 (rewatch) (brilliant CREEPSHOW doc)

GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)- 5 (not terrible but not good either)

R.O.T.O.R. (1987) - 2 (so bad it hurts and padded out to 90 endless minutes!)

DIABOLICAL SHUDDER (1972)- 6 (creepy cult goings-on in a modern day castle)

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR (2016) - 8 (best one yet)

THE BABYSITTER (1980) - 6 (well done TV movie thriller)

JAWS (1975) - 10 (rewatch)

JAWS 2 (1977) - 7

SUBMISSION OF A WOMAN (1992) - 5 (too long and fairly flat tale of a stalker tormenting a lady)

MANIAC COP (1988) - 7 (rewatch)

THE MONSTER AND THE APE (1945) Poster and Lobby Card Art

Every now and then you just need to watch a chapter from a classic serial. A robot and a killer gorilla - what more do you need? 

THE CANDIDATE (1964)

DVD production company Vinegar Syndrome seems to be trying to pick up the market that Something Weird Video cultivated over the past fifteen years or so. And that is a good thing! Their desire to restore and release as many independently produced exploitation films as possible is both laudable and impressive. I count myself as a cult film fan but a look at their list of titles leaves me scratching my head in wonderment as I have never heard of most of the movies they are dealing to the public. My few dips into the VS catalog have been interesting sleazy fun but I was caught off guard by this disc. 

The Candidate (1964) (also known as Party Girls For The Candidate) was pitched to me as a sexploitation film staring Ted Knight and my mind rejected that description sight unseen. There can be no such film, said logic and reason. Surely the planet would rip asunder if movie existed, said sanity. Ted Knight of The Mary Tyler Moore show engaged in sexual shenanigans? This cannot be true. And in the end this thought process was proven right enough for me to retain my intellect after screening the film.

Now, there are sexploitation elements in the film as you might expect with any film that top lines sex kitten Mamie Van Doren, but those are the least interesting parts. Of the film, I mean! She plays Samantha, a hard working modern woman who, because of a chance encounter with Senatorial candidate Frank Carlton (Ted Knight), is offered a job by conniving campaign runner Eric (Buddy Parker) aiming to work for the prospective senator. She agrees and we are then shown the complicated way various relationships shape the campaign and how it all falls apart. In a strange choice the story is related as a series of flashbacks as the main characters are grilled in front of a Congressional hearing which causes the film to feel like a mild and overly solemn courtroom drama.

 It can be pretty entertaining to watch Eric procure ladies for the Washington elite but the film bogs down once the shape of the downfall of Knight's character comes into focus. Parker plays the ruthless Eric as a cynical bastard and he isn't bad in the role but its Knight that is actually impressive. As his character meets and falls in love with Angela (June Wilkinson) we see this shy man come alive and have to face that the woman he cares for will destroy his hoped for career. Knight is exceptional in the role investing great care in showing very nuanced emotions as he struggles with his options. In the scenes with his character the film is solid and the courtroom sequences are very well scripted but the rest of the movie- the sexploitation parts- are dry as dust. This is the movie's problem- it has half of a good movie but it has been shackled to a silly lingerie show with Miss Van Doren. In the end The Candidate isn't a bad movie but it isn't very good either which is a shame. 

VIDEODROME (1983) Poster Art

Feeling the urge to rewatch this one again. 

British Star Trek Commercial

Until today I had never seen this British commercial featuring Shatner and Doohan. Although the idea being sold in the ad is pretty dubious the funny is undeniable. 

Man, do I miss the original crew. 

Daughters of Darkness Podcast

I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting podcasts focused on cult films but often I find that I can't get into a new show. Such is not the case with Daughters of Darkness. Today I listened to the first episode and was draw immediately into the discussion of lesbian vampire films. Of course, as an avowed lustful cult movie nut my interest in this topic might be obvious but this podcast brings a new viewpoint to the table - the female opinion! Rarely do I get to talk about genre film with women because I simply don't know that many female genre fans. At least not ones willing to get into long conversations about the subject. But this show presents two very knowledgeable ladies taking a deep look at the history of lesbian vampire movies, the sources from which they spring and the often complicated ways they use women in the stories. Hosts Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan are smart, insightful and very well informed about the background of the movies they discuss as well as being very entertaining in their delivery. I love it when I finish an episode of a film podcast and realize that I've learned something brand new. For that reason alone I'm very happy to have discovered this show and I encourage the curious to check out their efforts. I'm looking forward to future episodes that focus on the films of Andrzej Zuławski, a look at a couple of the Corman Poe films and an examination of witches onscreen. Exciting!

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