The Warriors

Posted on 10 mei 2025 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘Warriors! Come out to play!’

Director: Walter Hill
Written by: David Shaber, Walter Hill
Cast: Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, David Patrick Kelly

Year / Country: 1979, USA
Running Time: 89 mins.

Under the glow of neon lights, a bloody war takes place within New York’s underworld. The armies of the night are 100.000 heads strong, five times bigger than the entire police force. But instead of taking over the city, they are fighting each other. Cyrus, leader of major gang ‘The Riffs’, wants to unite the gangs and calls for a meeting. Nine representatives of each gang come to listen to Cyrus’ takeover plans.

But it is not meant to be. The insane leader of a small gang called the Rogues blows Cyrus away. ‘For no reason. He just likes doing things like that.’ Another small group called the Warriors get wrongfully accused of the attack and have to run for their lives. It is going to be a dark, long night riddled in fear. Not only do they get the police on their case, 100.000 bloodthirsty gang members are looking for them as well. Will all the Warriors make it back to their home base in Coney Island?

Based on the novel by Sol Yurick, Walter Hill has delivered an action film that shows a subculture involved in a gang war around Coney Island. The Warriors have to fight for life or death within an immense asphalt jungle. Only loyalty in the group can lead them to survival. But this is easier said than done. After all in any group, like in a bunch of chimps, leadership conflicts arise. So besides having to deal with gangs and police, they also have to overcome internal problems.

Can we dig it? Yes, we can. The Warriors is a cult classic. The minimalist plot works to the film’s advantage, because the focus lies on art-direction and creating tension, two elements that are executed extremely well. All the gangs look amazing. So does their environment. The tension comes mainly from the fight- and chase scenes, in which the Warriors make one narrow escape after another.

For fact fans, here are the names of all the major gangs; The Baseball Furies, The Blackjacks, The Boppers, The Electric Eliminators, The Fire Tasters, The High Hats, The Jones Street Boys, The Lizzies, The Moon Runners, The Orphans, The Punks, The Riffs, The Roques, The Saracens, The Satan’s Mothers, The Savage Huns, The Turnball AC’s, The Van Courtland Rangers, The Warriors, The Zodiacs.

Rating:

Biography: Walter Hill (1942, California) has been an active member of the Hollywood community since 1967 when he became a 2nd assistant director. Ever since, he has produced, written and directed a significant number of movies. He once said in an interview that he considers all the films that he directed as westerns. If you look closely, you can see western touches, such as revolvers, Winchester rifles and cowboy hats in all of his work. Hill frequently works with character actors James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, Brion James and Ed O’Ross.

Filmography (a selection): Hard Times (1975), The Driver (1978), The Warriors (1979), The Long Riders (1980), Southern Comfort (1981), 48 Hrs. (1982), Streets of Fire (1984), Brewster’s Millions (1985), Crossroads (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987), Red Heat (1988), Johnny Handsome (1989), Another 48 Hrs. (1990), Tales from the Crypt (1989-91, TV-episodes), Trespass (1992), Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Wild Bill (1995), Last Man Standing (1995), Deadwood (2004, TV-episode), Broken Trail (2006, TV), Dead for a Dollar (2022)

Cult Radar: Part 10

Posted on 11 augustus 2020 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

The final one?

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

Westworld (USA, 1973)

Directed by: Michael Crichton
Written by: Michael Crichton
Cast: Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin, James Brolin

Before the big budget HBO-series, there was the cult movie Westworld. And it’s a blast also! Delos Vacation is the vacation of the future today. Go to Roman World, Medieval World or Westworld to fuck and kill. But, as usually happens in movies about AI, robots get tired of being humanity’s servants and go rogue. The decadent will pay for their behaviour! Much like the vacation advertised by Delos, Westworld is Big Fun.

Enemy Territory (USA, 1987)

Directed by: Peter Manoogian
Written by: Stuart Kaminsky, Bobby Liddell
Cast: Gary Frank, Ray Parker Jr., Jan-Michael Vincent

An insurance agent and phone repairman get trapped at night in a massive tower building. This is the territory of the Vampires, a deadly gang. What follows is the typical ‘stalk and kill’ scenario. Unfortunately, the movie did not age well and is thus not very tense by today’s standards. The acting is also poor, so unfortunately there is not much to recommend this for.

Starship Troopers: Invasion (Japan / USA, 2012)

Directed by: Shinji Aramaki
Written by: Flint Dille (screenplay), Robert A. Heinlein (novel)
Cast (voices): Leraldo Anzaldua, Shelley Calene-Black, Luci Christian

Third sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s original sci-fi classic Starship Troopers from 1997 and this time it is animated. Want to know more? The first sequel was horrible and the second was not all that great. This one is a pretty decent made-for-DVD flick, much like Clone Wars is for the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The first part is mostly marine macho bullshit, but the animated girls make it all worthwhile (all the animation is pretty well done). In the second part, the makers actually manage to add a story worth adding to this bug-infested universe. Could have done with a little more suspense and over the top gore, but it is certainly worth a look.

Zombie Flesh Eaters 2 (Italy, 1988)

Directed by: Lucio Fulci
Written by: Claudio Fragasso (story), Claudio Fragasso (screenplay)
Cast: Deran Sarafian, Beatrice Ring, Ottaviano Dell’Acqua

This masterpiece (originally called Zombi 3 in Italy) is a cash-in on Zombie Flesh Eaters/Zombi 2 which was made to profit from the zombie-rage caused by Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, which was released as Zombi in Italy. Still with me? This one is about an infection on a small island caused by the military working on bacterial weapons (again). The virus causes people to eat each other. The zombies in this film are the first fast & furious zombies(*1) I’ve seen, that would later appear in films such as 28 Days Later that resurrected the genre. And some of them even talk. Not that surprising though, this was three years after Bub(*2) after all. They are killed pretty easily though. No brain impalement required. Though not as atmospheric as the original Zombie Flesh Eaters, Fulci still delivers in terms of shocks and bad taste. To be concluded by Zombie Flesh Eaters 3/Zombi 4.

*1 At least some of them are. Others are as slow and dumb as ever.
*2 Of Day of the Dead fame

Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 (Italy, 1989)

Directed by: Claudio Fragasso
Written by: Rossella Drudi, Rossella Drudi
Cast: Jeff Stryker, Candice Daly, Massimo Vanni

Whoever green-lit this dog? Exploiting the extremely capable zombie master Romero is one thing, but at least come up with a rip-off that delivers some of the goodies. The acting in this Italian piece of trash is HORRIBLE and so are the dialogues. The direction is a complete joke now that Fulci left. This distracts so much that watching it is a complete waste of time. Only for the braindead, others avoid at all costs.

Westworld

Enemy Territory

Starship Troopers: Invasion

House on the Edge of the Park (Italy, 1980)

Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Written by: Gianfranco Clerici, Vincenzo Mannino
Cast: David Hess, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo

From the director of Cannibal Holocaust comes an early home invasion flick, very much like Funny Games. A psycho and his simpleton buddy crash a party of young folks and as the night progresses, they use (sexual) violence on them. Often quite unpleasant to watch, but the acting is pretty decent. With a nice little twist at the end.

The Cars That Ate Paris (Australia, 1974)

Directed by: Peter Weir
Written by: Peter Weir, Keith Gow, Piers Davies
Cast: John Meillon, Terry Camilleri, Kevin Miles

Ozploitation flick about the small town of Paris, where the inhabitants cause fatal car crashes to plunder the vehicles. Strange early creation of Australian director Peter Weir, who went on to make great films like The Truman Show, Fearless and Dead Poet Society. This one provides in mood and production design (low budget, but cool), but misses the finer touches that Weir displayed in his later work. A must see? No. But interesting and entertaining enough.

Space Shift (USA / UK, 1992)

Directed by: Anthony Hickox
Written by: Anthony Hickox
Cast: Zach Galligan, Monika Schnarre, Martin Kemp

This masterpiece, also known as Waxwork II: Lost in Time, is a sequel to the 1988 film, Waxwork. After dealing with evil waxwork, this time the heroes travel through time in what appears to be a horror reenactment game. They become part of stories like Frankenstein, Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The writing of this homage is not very well done. But is does feature legend Bruce Campbell in an amusing role.

Mega Force (Hong Kong / USA, 1982)

Directed by: Hal Needham
Written by: Bob Kachler, James Whittaker, Albert S. Ruddy, Hal Needham, Andre Morgan
Cast: Barry Bostwick, Michael Beck, Persis Khambatta

From the director of Smokey and the Bandit comes another hilarious eighties classic. About a phantom force, armed with the latest technology, that is called into action whenever geopolitical problems arise. The leader of the team: Ace Hunter! And the action, stunts and gadgets can compare with James Bond… almost. Worth watching if only for the soundtrack and images of the ‘MegaForce’ on their special motorcycles.

Assault on Precinct 13 (USA, 1976)

Directed by: John Carpenter
Written by: John Carpenter
Cast: Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Laurie Zimmer

Suspenseful early flick from great horror maestro John Carpenter. About L.A. gangs who team up to assault a nearly abandoned police station kamikaze-style. Very tense atmosphere and excellent character building. Remade in 2005 with Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne and Gabriel Byrne, but the original is better.

House on the Edge of the Park

Space Shift

Mega Force

Heavy Metal

Posted on 14 september 2012 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Gerald Potterton
Written by: Daniel Goldberg, Len Blum, Dan O’Bannon, ao.
Cast (Voices): Rodger Bumpass, Richard Romanus, John Candy, Harold Ramis

Year / Country: 1981, Canada
Running Time: 87 mins.

Heavy Metal opens with a sports car floating through space before landing on Earth. The astronaut driver returns home to his daughter, bringing with him a mysterious green orb he discovered. But the gift turns deadly when the orb reveals its true nature: it comes to life, kills the man, and traps his daughter, declaring itself the embodiment of all evil in the universe. Before attempting to destroy her, it recounts several stories illustrating its corrupting power across time and space.

Based on the groundbreaking magazine Métal Hurlant (launched in France in 1974 and later adapted into the American Heavy Metal in 1977), this Canadian production stitches together multiple short stories, all connected by the malevolent orb known as the Loc-Nar. With a budget close to 10 million dollars, the film captures the spirit of the magazine – a blend of science fiction, fantasy, dark humor, graphic violence, and unapologetic eroticism – elements that have cemented its status as a cult classic. Naturally it also has a Heavy Metal soundtrack with songs by Black Sabbath, Nazareth and Blue Oyster Cult among others.

The voice cast of Heavy Metal features a number of excellent Canadian comedians, including Harold Ramis, John Candy and Eugene Levy. Producer Ivan Reitman also attached a lot of animation and writing talent to the project, so the result has an impressive look and feel, as well as the dialogues and characters that are crisp and entertaining to watch. Another Heavy Metal feature film has been announced quite a few times (after a second movie adaptation in 2000), but this version offers plenty of bizarre aliens, beautiful dames, cynical heroes and power hungry warlords to keep you occupied until it arrives.

Rating:

Biography: Gerald Potterton (1931, London) is a British director, producer and animator. In 1955 he emigrated from the UK to Canada where he started his career in film and animator. In 1968 he worked on the Beatles’ movie Yellow Submarine. In 1981 he made his best-known directorial effort, the animated cult classic Heavy Metal.

Filmography: Hors-d’oeuvre (1960, short), Christmas Cracker (1962, short), My Financial Career (1962, short), The Ride (1963, short), The Railrodder (1965, short), The Quiet Racket (1966, short doc), Cool McCool (1966, TV episodes), Tiki Tiki (1971), The Rainbow Boys (1973), The Remarkable Rocket (1975, short), Canada Vignettes: Winter – Dressing Up (1979, short), Canada Vignettes: Winter – Starting the Car (1979, short), Heavy Metal (1981), The Awful Fate of Melpomenus Jones (1983, short), George and the Christmas Star (1985, TV movie), The Smoggies (1989, TV episodes), The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You (1992, short)

Cult Radar: Part 9

Posted on 26 februari 2012 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon is glad to explore the video trenches to find that oddball treasure between the piles of crap out there. Of 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

Tormented (UK, 2009)

Directed by: Jon Wright
Written by: Stephen Prentice
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, April Pearson, Dimitri Leonidas

Fat schoolboy Darren got bullied to the point where he committed suicide. Tormented opens at his funeral. Not only do Darren’s tormentors don’t have any regrets whatsoever, they even throw a party to celebrate his demise. That’s just too much… Soon after, each member of the group of bullies starts receiving text messages from the dead Darren. They first think that someone is playing a prank on them, but as soon as the first body drops, they know they’re totally screwed. Tormented is a very effective horror flick that is both funny and inventively satisfying. Whether you thought high school was fun or not, this will keep you entertained for an hour and a half easily. Reviewer Kim Newman, who runs a Dungeon over at Empire Magazine gave it four stars also. It’s a recommendation.

Nude Nuns with Big Guns (USA, 2010)

Directed by: Joseph Guzman
Written by: Joseph Guzman, Robert James Hayes II
Cast: Asun Ortega, David Castro, Perry D’Marco

Violence, drugs, guns, boobs and off course lesbian sex. Nude Nuns With Big Guns is an immoral cocktail delivered by Freak Show Entertainment, the team behind the similar Run Bitch Run!. An abused nun has a vision from God. She is told to slay all sinners that are somehow connected to an elaborate heroin network, led by a money hungry padre who uses naked nuns as personnel. Sister Sarah is not supposed to show any mercy and she doesn’t! Is this entertaining? It kind of is in the sense that it is well shot and cut. Your eventual appreciation of Nude Nuns With Big Guns will depend mostly on your tolerance for graphic sex and violence featuring nuns. If this is low, you can easily deduct a star from this rating.

Hobo with a Shotgun (Canada, 2011)

Directed by: Jason Eisener
Written by: John Davies, Jason Eisener, Rob Cotterill
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth, Gregory Smith, Brian Downey

The awesome film poster promises an exploitation film pur sang and delivers. Hobo With a Shotgun was originally a fake trailer that won a Grindhouse competition organized by Robert Rodriguez. The story is about a homeless guy (Rutger Hauer) that takes on psychopathic scum in a city riddled with crime and depravity. Since it was made on a modest budget and has no Hollywood stars in its cast, it is more convincing than Tarantino’s and Rodriquez’ own Grindhouse pictures Death Proof and Planet Terror. The cheap violence gives you the real sense of watching a cult flick from the seventies. However, the sadistic violence is so excessive and beastly that it is hard to care about the characters at all, even the protagonists. The build-up is also not entirely effective; Hauer changes into a bloodthirsty vigilante in minutes, taking away some of the pleasure when he settles the score. Still, the underlying message about the human condition is well delivered and the exploitation feel is sublime; you can almost hear the exciting screams in the grindhouse theater. This hobo is certainly worth spending some loose change on.

Orcs! (USA, 2011)

Directed by: Andrew Black, James MacPherson
Written by: Anne K. Black, Jason Faller, Kynan Griffin and Justin Partridge
Cast: Adam Johnson, Renny Grames, Maclain Nelson

‘It’s an orc! No, it’s not. There is no such thing.’ A movie in which orcs show up in modern times sounds pretty horrendous. While certainly no masterpiece, Orcs! manages to entertain during its first half, which is basically a comedy about two idiot park rangers. Some jokes and The Lord of the Rings references are pretty funny. The second half is one long and tiresome battle against the orcs. This is the boring part. The costumes and special effects are laughable. All in all, don’t watch Orcs!. Just don’t!

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (USA, 1988)

Directed by: Stephen Chiodo
Written by: Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo
Cast: Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson

From the special effects team behind Critters and Team America: World Police comes an original eighties classic. On a Friday night in Cove Crescent, a couple of youngsters witness a shooting star land nearby. At the place of impact, a circus tent appears, but what’s inside aint no funhouse… The acting in Killer Klowns From Outer Space may not be world class, but the production design is very well done and reason enough to check this out. It certainly beats cotton candy.