Movies and sometimes books, games, TV and comics
08-01-2013
, 06:37 PM
It's not often a movie suprises me, but "The Sadist" from 1963 did. It stars Arch Hall Jr, most famous from stuff like Golden Turkey Awards and Mystery Science Theater, for being involved with his dad (Arch Hall Senior) in some terrible movies - Eegah! anyone?
He was "The Sadist" of the title, playing a young punk who terrorises 3 stranded teachers with his imbecilic girlfriend.
Think Badlands but made as an exploitation movie in the early 60s.
And you know what, it was a genuinely good movie, and he put in a good performance!
Even the opening titles were terrific. Not many movies can sustain tension and interest when it's set in 1 location for 90 minutes. I think it may be the first time someone gets shot in the face on camera in the movies...
I definitely recommend it. It's like the grandaddy of both Texas Chainsa Massacre and Natural Born Killers.
77/100
What let me know it even existed was Joe Dante talking about it on Trailers From Hell - choose the 'commentary' tab in the link to hear 3 minutes from Joe about it http://trailersfromhell.com/the-sadist/
He was "The Sadist" of the title, playing a young punk who terrorises 3 stranded teachers with his imbecilic girlfriend.
Think Badlands but made as an exploitation movie in the early 60s.
And you know what, it was a genuinely good movie, and he put in a good performance!
Even the opening titles were terrific. Not many movies can sustain tension and interest when it's set in 1 location for 90 minutes. I think it may be the first time someone gets shot in the face on camera in the movies...
I definitely recommend it. It's like the grandaddy of both Texas Chainsa Massacre and Natural Born Killers.
77/100
What let me know it even existed was Joe Dante talking about it on Trailers From Hell - choose the 'commentary' tab in the link to hear 3 minutes from Joe about it http://trailersfromhell.com/the-sadist/
08-02-2013
, 04:51 AM
08-02-2013
, 07:36 AM
08-02-2013
, 03:25 PM
Fear is the Key (1973)
A twisty, jagged little thriller based on a book by Alistair Maclean - and throughout, things are not what they seem. Barry Newman is excellent in this as the protagonist that is initially quite rotten as a character, but whose better qualities eventually shine through, especially once you understand his driven nature.
It begins with a spectacular 10-minute car chase through the bayou-swamps of somewhere – it reminded me of a similar case in speedboats in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. And then it gets progressively more engaging and intriguing.
John Vernon (Dean Wormer of Animal House) is the main bad guy, with Ben Kingsley as his main henchman (doing a good squeaky-voiced psycho, some years before his turn as Gandhi, and many years before his full-blown psycho Donnie Logan in Sexy Beast) – sporting a full head of hair. They make excellent bad guys who don’t realise who they’re actually getting mixed up with.
In addition to this, the score is pretty good. The direction is also solid, with some memorable shots – a dead man in a shallow, muddy grave is shown during a rain storm, and the shot of his still face being spattered with muddy rain is particularly memorable.
Finally the ending is both very tense and quite distinct – I can’t remember anything similar at all.
Recommended
75/100
A twisty, jagged little thriller based on a book by Alistair Maclean - and throughout, things are not what they seem. Barry Newman is excellent in this as the protagonist that is initially quite rotten as a character, but whose better qualities eventually shine through, especially once you understand his driven nature.
It begins with a spectacular 10-minute car chase through the bayou-swamps of somewhere – it reminded me of a similar case in speedboats in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die. And then it gets progressively more engaging and intriguing.
John Vernon (Dean Wormer of Animal House) is the main bad guy, with Ben Kingsley as his main henchman (doing a good squeaky-voiced psycho, some years before his turn as Gandhi, and many years before his full-blown psycho Donnie Logan in Sexy Beast) – sporting a full head of hair. They make excellent bad guys who don’t realise who they’re actually getting mixed up with.
In addition to this, the score is pretty good. The direction is also solid, with some memorable shots – a dead man in a shallow, muddy grave is shown during a rain storm, and the shot of his still face being spattered with muddy rain is particularly memorable.
Finally the ending is both very tense and quite distinct – I can’t remember anything similar at all.
Recommended
75/100
08-02-2013
, 04:48 PM
08-02-2013
, 05:00 PM
08-02-2013
, 05:11 PM
08-02-2013
, 05:47 PM
nope. just needed to know. 
08-02-2013
, 05:49 PM
08-03-2013
, 08:10 AM
The Perfect Host
David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier) is a guy who is about to give a dinner party, who gets duped by an armed robber/thief on the run to let him in, get fooled by him whilst he cases the joint, then he takes over before the guests arrive.
However all is not what it seems. It turns out the host is a complete lunatic, and the apparent alpha-male in this setup become the underdog.
This is a terrific little movie. DHP is fantastic as essentially a psychotic Niles, tending to guests that aren’t there but who he can see plainly, whilst the thief (Clayne Crawford, who definitely has a young Ray Liotta vibe) is confused, then scared, then angry.
It’s a black comedy. I laughed out loud several times; when the thief reveals his bleeding foot and DHP says ‘I can clean that up’ and gets a cloth, and when the foot is lifted to him, DHP starts cleaning the floor; when the thief gets shown the host’s insane home movies; when the thief is left heavily drugged, but floating in the pool buoyed up by floats. It’s all so bizarre and nutty.
I also liked how, several times it looked like it was about to go down a very dark road (think ‘Misery’) but in fact it doesn’t do that, and is better for it.
The third act doesn’t quite work for me as you find out the whole movie is based on a somewhat ridiculous circumstance, but overall I enjoyed it a lot. I particularly liked the final scene, which was something of a homage to the end of Silence of the Lambs, I think.
Spiritually, the film it most reminded me of was the 1972 version of Sleuth, with a touch of Misery, Norman Bates, Sunset Boulevard and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane thrown in.
69/100
David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier) is a guy who is about to give a dinner party, who gets duped by an armed robber/thief on the run to let him in, get fooled by him whilst he cases the joint, then he takes over before the guests arrive.
However all is not what it seems. It turns out the host is a complete lunatic, and the apparent alpha-male in this setup become the underdog.
This is a terrific little movie. DHP is fantastic as essentially a psychotic Niles, tending to guests that aren’t there but who he can see plainly, whilst the thief (Clayne Crawford, who definitely has a young Ray Liotta vibe) is confused, then scared, then angry.
It’s a black comedy. I laughed out loud several times; when the thief reveals his bleeding foot and DHP says ‘I can clean that up’ and gets a cloth, and when the foot is lifted to him, DHP starts cleaning the floor; when the thief gets shown the host’s insane home movies; when the thief is left heavily drugged, but floating in the pool buoyed up by floats. It’s all so bizarre and nutty.
I also liked how, several times it looked like it was about to go down a very dark road (think ‘Misery’) but in fact it doesn’t do that, and is better for it.
The third act doesn’t quite work for me as you find out the whole movie is based on a somewhat ridiculous circumstance, but overall I enjoyed it a lot. I particularly liked the final scene, which was something of a homage to the end of Silence of the Lambs, I think.
Spiritually, the film it most reminded me of was the 1972 version of Sleuth, with a touch of Misery, Norman Bates, Sunset Boulevard and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane thrown in.
69/100
08-03-2013
, 11:23 AM
08-03-2013
, 11:58 AM
Bubba Ho-Tep
Elvis is alive and well and living in a nursing home! Or at least he is in this film.
So here, Elvis swapped places with an Elvis impersonator when he got bored with the fame and restrictive lifestyle, and while the impersonator died, Elvis lived on to old age, and eventually wound up in a nursing home. In with him is an old black guy who claims to be John F Kennedy - he sleeps under a picture of the mug shots of Lee Harvey Oswald. The pair of them are feeling their age, and how everything is slowly draining any sort of joy in life out of them, until, somehow, an ancient mummy ends up creeping the hallways, sucking the life out of the residents so that it can live through their asses...
This is a class film, despite how it sounds. Elvis is played by Bruce Campbell as a down-beat, bitter, running-on-fumes old guy that suddenly finds meaning in battling the ancient mummy. Ossie Davis plays JFK. They bring a dignified air to their parts, and in the lead up to the battle and while they try to battle the mummy, they bring a solemn serious business to the proceedings while they TCB ('Take Care of Business'). Here, buried in the pulp story, is a study in the effect of ageing on the spirit, and how the elderly are treated in modern society, done to a touching and meaningful depth that 'serious' films rarely reach.
All this is wrapped up in a fun and interesting 92 minutes, and I say you miss this, you're missing something very good.
73/100
Elvis is alive and well and living in a nursing home! Or at least he is in this film.
So here, Elvis swapped places with an Elvis impersonator when he got bored with the fame and restrictive lifestyle, and while the impersonator died, Elvis lived on to old age, and eventually wound up in a nursing home. In with him is an old black guy who claims to be John F Kennedy - he sleeps under a picture of the mug shots of Lee Harvey Oswald. The pair of them are feeling their age, and how everything is slowly draining any sort of joy in life out of them, until, somehow, an ancient mummy ends up creeping the hallways, sucking the life out of the residents so that it can live through their asses...
This is a class film, despite how it sounds. Elvis is played by Bruce Campbell as a down-beat, bitter, running-on-fumes old guy that suddenly finds meaning in battling the ancient mummy. Ossie Davis plays JFK. They bring a dignified air to their parts, and in the lead up to the battle and while they try to battle the mummy, they bring a solemn serious business to the proceedings while they TCB ('Take Care of Business'). Here, buried in the pulp story, is a study in the effect of ageing on the spirit, and how the elderly are treated in modern society, done to a touching and meaningful depth that 'serious' films rarely reach.
All this is wrapped up in a fun and interesting 92 minutes, and I say you miss this, you're missing something very good.
73/100
