Poster Art for DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN (1987)

I think this one is ripe for rediscovery.

 

CALTIKI - THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

The Bloody Pit #231 - TRUCK TURNER (1974)

John Hudson and I take on a classic Blaxploitation film!

 

TRUCK TURNER (1974) stars the great Isaac Hayes as the titular character, a modern-day bounty hunter in Los Angeles. Along with his partner he tracks down people for bail bondsmen which is a far more dangerous job than you might expect. Sadly, this is the only lead role Hayes was ever afforded and it was offered to him so the producers could also get him to provide the film’s score. Luckily for fans, he handles both creative opportunities well. In fact, I find the music he supplies for this film to be superior to his Oscar winning SHAFT score. Check it out and let us know what you think.

There has been an ongoing conversation about the best Blaxploitation films for decades but nearly every fan will put this film in their top five. It plays like a western set in the 1970’s with bad guys getting their comeuppance in suitable, violent ways. The story is fast paced and exciting with plenty of colorful characters peppering the trail Truck follows while dealing with scumbags. The film was originally written for a very different cast in mind but, once the change was made, the collaborative spirit of the production made for a satisfying film. Besides Hayes as Mack ‘Truck’ Turner the cast is stacked with excellent character actors such as Scatman Crothers, Charles Cyphers, Dick Miller, Sam Lewis and a brilliant villain role for the great Yaphet Kotto. Plus, if you ever wondered what it would be like to see Lt. Uhura from Star Trek whip a stable of prostitutes into line, this is your chance. Whew!

If you have any comments about this movie or any other film we’ve covered on the show thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

What I Watched in April 2026

Last year I caught director Kristoffer Borgli’s excellent, uncomfortable DREAM SCENARIO (2023) and loved it. Darkly observant about human foibles the film was willing to allow the viewer to sit with painful emotional moments without turning away from their universality. The only cushioning it gave the audience was its base fantasy idea of a universally shared dream about a single unimportant man. With his new film Borgli has stripped even that slight bit of distancing from the story he tells and forces the audience to confront things baldly. This pays off in amazing ways as the tale told in THE DRAMA (2026) is more recognizable in kind if not in its particulars. It presents the question of how far a person’s basic human empathy and romantic commitment can be pushed. Can you love the actual, flawed person, or do you only love the sanitized image you’ve built of them in your own mind? This is a question I’ve wrestled with my entire adult life and being shown this film’s nightmare of conflicting emotions so well presented was both enlightening and distressing. It had me reexamining my own romantic relationships with a dark view of expectations and needs. The movie gives no easy answers because there are none in the reality presented. THE DRAMA is one of those rare, provocative satires that trusts its audience enough to sit with extreme discomfort and absorb the various points of view. It balances sharp dialogue, existential relationship dread, and laugh-out-loud awkwardness with flawless precision. It is easily one of the most audacious, thought-provoking, and unforgettable films I’ve seen in years and I haven’t been able to get it out of head for weeks. So, you have been warned, I guess. 

THE LIST

WARRIOR QUEEN (1987) – 3 (terrible tale of Pompei and Vesuvius) 

EYE WITNESS (1989) – 7 (Bava thriller about a blind crime witness)

THE LADY IN THE MORGUE (1938) – 7 (Crime Club entry is top notch)

GINA (1975) – 6 (slow-burn Canadian rape/revenge film)

THE WITNESS VANISHES (1939) – 6 (interesting Crime Club mystery)

MICHAEL SHAYNE, PRIVATE DETECTIVE (1940) – 7 (rewatch)

DRESSED TO KILL (1941) – 7 (rewatch) (one of the best of the series)

THE DREAMING (1988) – 7 (Australian horror tale of ghosts)

THE DRAMA (2026) – 9 (excellent look at fear and trust in a relationship)

JUST OFF BROADWAY (1942) – 6 (Michael Shayne mystery that stretches credulity)

TIME TO KILL (1942) – 7 (Shayne tale adapted from a Chandler novel)

DESTINY (1944) – 6 (rewatch)

TRUCK TURNER (1974) – 7 (rewatch)

Lee Cronin’s THE MUMMY (2026) - 7 (basically a remake of EVIL DEAD RISE)

SEX BEYOND THE GRAVE (1984) – 5 (Shaw Brothers combine Poltergeist, The Shining and the Exorcist and the Evil Dead to little effect)

DEATHSTALKER (2025) – 6 (the dialog is too modern but the creatures are well done)

DUST BUNNY (2025) – 9 (simply marvelous)

SPECTERS (1987) – 6 (Italian horror - feels like Fulci would have been the perfect director)

NORMAL (2026) – 7 (great little crime tale)

NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (1980) – 7 

ORGY OF THE DEAD (1973) – 7 (rewatch on Blu) (a.k.a. The Hanging Woman)

TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (1962) – 8 (rewatch) 

 

Poster Art and Lobby Cards for DESTINATION MOON (1950)

 

Video - TRUCK TURNER (1974) Trailer

Here is the amazing trailer for this classic Blaxploitation film. Podcast on the way!

TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (1962) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

It is difficult to name my favorite German western but this one might be it. It is overlong and packs so much story into the running time I am usually surprised when I go back for a rewatch. Such an entertaining large scale tale.