Categorie archief: Films

Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot!

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Giulio Questi
Written by: Franco Arcallo, Benedetto Benedetti, María del Carmen Martínez Román, Giulio Questi
Cast: Tomas Milian, Ray Lovelock, Piero Lulli, Milo Quesada

Year / Country: 1967, Italy / Spain
Running Time: 117 mins.

This spaghetti western by director Giulio Questi has nothing to do with the popular Django series. The studio just called it that to cash in on the success of the Django household name. However, its quality is certainly equal or better than most of the Django cash-ins.

Tomas Milian plays half-breed gunslinger ‘The Stranger’, who is betrayed and left for dead by his fellow outlaws, after they stole a considerable amount of gold. With the help of two Indians, he is brought back to life and he heads to the town ‘The Unhappy Place’ to take revenge on the bandits who double-crossed him. This is the beginning of a bizarre, surrealist journey filled with torture, graphic violence and sexual depravity.

Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot! is perhaps best described as Django on peyote. It features homosexual cowboys, scenes of brutal horror and many weird images, such as ‘The Stranger’ rising from the ground. Somewhere I suppose, it includes some sort of message about how gold causes greed and death, a bit like The Treasure of Sierra Madre. This never becomes exactly clear though, due to the weird hallucinatory editing.

The film goes on a bit too long and its shock value is perhaps a bit overdue. However, this is worth a look for spaghetti western lovers with a taste for the bizarre. The cinematography by Franco Delli Colli (Rocco and his Brothers) is excellent and so is the unique atmosphere created by director Questi. The uncut version is now available!

Rating:

Biography: Giulio Questi (1924, Bergamo, Italy) is an Italian director, screenwriter and cinematographer. He started his movie career with an uncredited role in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. He is considered an original filmmaker, who performs a lot of tasks alone. He has worked in different genres such as thriller and horror, but is most famous for his spaghetti western escapade Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot!.

Filmography: Giocare (1957, short), Latin Lovers (1961, segment: ‘Viaggio di nozze’), Nudi per vivere (1964, doc), Amori pericolosi (1964, segment ‘Il passo’), Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot! (1967), Death Laid an Egg (1968), Arcana (1972), Vampirismus (1982), Quando arriva il giudice (1986, mini-series), Don’t Open the Door for the Man in Black (1990, TV), Il segno del commando (1992, TV)

The Cannonball Run

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Hal Needham
Written by: Brock Yates
Cast: Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett

Year / Country: 1981, USA
Running Time: 95 mins.

Stuntman / director Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds were box office gold back in the late seventies / early eighties. The first two Smokey and the Bandit films, made in 1977 and 1980, had been a gigantic success. Now the time had come to make their Citizen Kane.

The screenplay for The Cannonball Run was written by car magazine journalist Brock Yates, who organized the real Cannonball Run in 1971. The story of this cross country race was the subject of two earlier racing films: The Gumball Rally and Cannonball!, both released in 1976.

The has-been racer J.J. McClure (Reynolds) and his counterpart Captain Chaos (DeLuise) participate in the Cannonball Run, a race from Connecticut to California (the record is 36 hours). They drive a Dodge Tradesman Ambulance and to appear legitimate in order to fool law enforcement, they take along Doctor Van Helsing and the attractive fake patient Pamela Glover (Farrah Fawcett), for whom J.J. has a thing.

The usual silliness ensues involving Reynolds’ team and many colorful competitors. Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin are dressed up as priests and Roger Moore plays a guy who thinks he is… Roger Moore. He participates in the race with James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5, installed with the usual gadgets. Then there is also Jackie Chan, a couple of sheiks and a brief performance by Peter Fonda reprising his Easy Rider character. These supporting parts are often funny and the best thing about this film.

There is also action and stunt work to enjoy as you might expect from Needham. In a pretty hilarious scene in the beginning, Reynolds and DeLuise land an airplane in a shopping street to buy some beer. Another example is a massive brawl in which Jackie Chan demonstrates his martial arts abilities. So is this indeed Needham’s Citizen Kane? In some way: yes. Although the slapstick elements are flawed and Reynolds and especially DeLuise have some corny humor at times, the overall tone is right and there is plenty to enjoy. Don’t expect anything too subtle though.

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Biography: Hal Needham (1931 – 2013) served in the Korean war before becoming a stuntman. His break came in 1957 with TV western Have Gun – Will Travel as stunt double for Richard Boone. In the sixties he became a top stuntman working on western hit movies such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How the West Was Won and Donovan’s Reef. In his long career, Needham also worked on many TV-shows including Gunsmoke, Rawhide and Black Saddle. In the seventies he became stunt coordinator on several Burt Reynolds movies. He made his debut as a director in 1977 with Smokey and the Bandit. It became a massive hit. Throughout the next two decades he made many follow-ups and similar films usually starring Reynolds. In the nineties, his work consisted mostly of TV projects including four Bandit TV films.

Filmography: Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Villain (1979), Death Car on the Freeway (1979, TV), Stunts Unlimited (1980, TV), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), The Stockers (1981, TV), The Stockers (1981, TV), Megaforce (1982), Stroker Ace (1983), Cannonball Run II (1984), Rad (1986), Body Slam (1986), B.L. Stryker (1990, TV episode), Bandit: Bandit Goes Country (1994, TV), Bandit: Bandit Bandit (1994, TV), Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (1994, TV), Bandit: Bandit’s Silver Angel (1994, TV), Street Luge (1996), Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999, TV)

Cult Radar: Part 4

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon.com is glad to explore the video trenches to find that oddball treasure between the piles of crap out there. Off course a treasure in this context can also be a film that’s so shockingly bad it’s worth a look, or something so bizarre that cult fans just have to see it. Join us on our quest and learn what we learn. Hopefully we’ll uncover some well-hidden cult gems.

Researched by: Jeppe Kleijngeld

The Green Hornet (USA, 1974)

Directed by: William Beaudine, Norman Foster, E. Darrel Hallenbeck
Written by: Charles Hoffman, Ken Pettus, Jerry Thomas, Arthur Weingarten
Cast: Van Williams, Bruce Lee, Charles Bateman, Walter Brooke

This is the first of two movies, compiled of The Green Hornet TV-episodes. It follows the adventures of Britt Reid aka the Green Hornet (Van Williams). In the daytime he is the publisher of a newspaper called ‘The Daily Sentinel’ and a news broadcaster. At night he is a masked vigilante who investigates crime, together with his sidekick Kato (Bruce Lee). In this film they take on various racketeers and a brilliant scientist that wants to drop a H-Bomb. While Reid does most of the investigating like some sort of Phillip Marlowe, Kato uses his martial art skills to kick the bad guys asses. The TV-budget obviously didn’t leave a lot of space for production design, but this is nevertheless entertaining stuff. If only to see an early example of Lee’s great talents at work.

Fury of the Dragon (USA, 1976)

Directed by: William Beaudine, Norman Foster, Robert L. Friend, ao.
Written by: Ken Pettus, Arthur Weingarten
Cast: Van Williams, Bruce Lee, Walter Brooke

This is the second compilation film made out of The Green Hornet TV-episodes. This time around the Green Hornet and Kato have to rescue the abducted daughter of a Middle-Eastern prince. They also take on a corrupt cop, a ring of drug dealers and a gang of art-thieves. The transitions between the four different episodes are a bit odd, but the episodes chosen are pretty decent. Al Hirt’s great trumpet theme score is missing most of the time, but the other Green Hornet elements are there: detective work, Kato’s martial arts and the usual comic book gadgets. Like the first film, this is entertaining super hero stuff.

Goin’ Up (Netherlands, 1983)
OT: De Lift

Directed by: Dick Maas
Written by: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Josine van Dalsum

Expertly made Dutch thriller about an elevator that starts to live a life of its own. The visitors and inhabitants of an office building are terrorized and killed by the elevator, until maintenance man Felix Adelaar (Huub Stapel) starts to investigate the mysterious occurrences. The limited concept of this movie seems more like material for a short, but writer / director Dick Maas stretched it out over a feature that pretty much manages to entertain throughout its duration. The characters are a bit flat and the resolution a little silly, but this is made up by a few terrific shocks and excellent cinematography.

Body Snatchers (USA, 1993)

Directed by: Abel Ferrara
Written by: Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, Nicholas St. John
Cast: Gabrielle Anwar, Terry Kinney, Billy Wirth

New York filmmaker / artist Abel Ferrara directs a fabulously creepy remake of the fifties sci-fi classic about aliens attempting to take over the world. The alien pods’ tentacles infiltrate the bodies of sleeping people and make copies. The old bodies just disappear and one by one, all people are replaced by pod-people. Gabrielle Anwar is one of the few humans still able to resist. On a notable modest budget, Ferrera has perfectly captured the paranoid spirit of the original. The good cast and efficient shock effects complete this as a direct-to-video must-see.

Iron Monkey Strikes Back (Hong Kong / Taiwan, 1977)
OT: Jue dou Lao Hu Zhuang

Directed by: Hsueh Li Pao
Written by: Shu Mei Chin
Cast: Kuan Tai Chen, Sing Chen, Ling Chia, Lin Chiao

Despite what the title might suggest, this movie has nothing to do with the popular Hong Kong flick Iron Monkey. In fact it is unclear what ‘Iron Monkey’ from the title refers to in this movie. This is a much older martial arts film set in the Ching Dynasty. The emperor’s wife is murdered by a mysterious assassin. An investigation is started by inspector Coolhead, who tries to unravel the conspiracy. Although there is reasonable looking action every few minutes, the ridiculous dubbing and sound effects take a lot of fun away. Only for real kung-funatics.

Smokin’ Aces (2006)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘May the best hitman win’

Directed by:
Joe Carnahan

Written by:
Joe Carnahan

Cast:
Ryan Reynolds (Richard Messner), Ray Liotta (Donald Carruthers), Jeremy Piven (Buddy Israel), Andy Garcia (Stanley Locke), Ben Affleck (Jack Dupree), Alicia Keys (Georgia Sykes), Taraji P. Henson (Sharica Watters), Vladimir Kulich (The Swede), Peter Berg (‘Pistol’ Pete Deeks), Common (Sir Ivy)

The Guy Ritchie formula can be and has been used to successfully create crowd-pleasing crime comedies. Smokin’ Aces comes across as such an attempt, but misfires badly in many ways.

In its setting, the US Cosa Nostra is nearly completely dismantled by the government. Two remaining fractions are entangled in an all-out war, while the feds are closing in on both of them. One fraction belongs to Vegas showman Buddy ‘Ace’ Israel (Jeremy Piven), who is about to spill the beans on the entire organisation of his former protégé, the dying mob boss Primo Sparraza.

To prevent Israel from talking, Sparraza puts out a million dollar contract on his head, which attracts every loony hitman- and woman from the country and beyond. They all head towards the coke snorting Israel, who is holed up in a Lake Tahoe casino-hotel, while two FBI agents (Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta) want to get to him first and make him participate in the Witness Protection Programme.

This set-up ensures some fireworks, but a complete lack of character development takes away the impact that the many deaths could have had. Closest things to a main character is Reynolds’, whose agent has no background story whatsoever. When the ridiculous plot twist at the end establishes him as just a puppet on a string, he becomes another potentially interesting character that is hard to give a toss about.

Richie’s early films teach us that in order to make a film like this work, you’ll need more than just flashy camera tricks. For one thing, violence needs to serve the story or it becomes gratuitous like it does here. You also need humour and a light tone. It is unexplainable why director Carnahan uses such dramatic music all the time. It makes it seem as though there is a message. There is none.

Finally, all the different plot threads need to seamlessly fit in the greater whole. Smokin’ Aces leaves plots dangling or delivers unsatisfying outcomes. Not that you’ll care, since there are barely intriguing characters in this movie. It will just make you wonder who has green lit this thing and make such an impressive ensemble cast go to waste.

Rating:

Quote:
GEORGIA SYKES: “These two dudes are sitting in the elevator all shot up. Whatever it was, it got way past words.”

Trivia:
The song played during the final credits Play Your Cards Right is performed by Common, who stars in the movie as Sir Ivy.