Tagarchief: Cult Movies

Barbarella

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Roger Vadim
Written by: Terry Southern, Roger Vadim, Claude Brulé
Cast: Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg

Year / Country: 1968, France / Italy
Running Time: 94 mins.

The sexy space adventurer Barbarella comes to life in this adaptation from the notorious comic series by Jean-Claude Forest. Jane Fonda is perfectly cast as the well-shaped and pretty naïve protagonist. Fonda was married to director Roger Vadim at the time, who had the habit of casting his beautiful wives (Brigitte Bardot / Catherine Deneuve) in sensual roles.

Barbarella is out to prevent a war that is threatening intergalactic peace. She uses every talent she possesses to get the job done. Yes, that does include sleeping with the men that help her in her quest. She is assigned to go to planet SoGo and retrieve doctor Durand Durand (pronounced as Duran Duran, the British pop band was named after this character). She meets many people on her way, including the Catchman, the blind angel Pygar and the Great Tyrant. She makes love to quite a few of them. Although the sex is never explicitly shown, the sensual atmosphere is certainly felt.

The title sequence of Barbarella, in which she undresses in zero gravity, became quite famous. The film was met with critique upon release though. It also didn’t perform well at the box-office. Later, the movie did establish a huge cult following and it influenced many products of popular culture. When viewed today it is outdated, but there is nevertheless plenty to enjoy: Fonda, the supporting cast including the excellent Law, the psychedelic images by talented director Vadim and the great comic book atmosphere.

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Biography: Roger Vadim (1928, Paris – 2000, Paris) was a French actor, director, writer and producer who also wrote several books. He started his career as a stage actor at the age of 16. His movie career began when he became an apprentice of director Marc Allégret. Then, he started a relationship with Brigitte Bardot and made his acting debut with her in 1952, although he remained uncredited. The same year they got married. Their groundbreaking film …And God Created Woman was Vadim’s directorial debut. It was a massive box-office hit and catapulted them both to stardom. In his later career Vadim also had relationships with Jane Fonda and Catherine Deneuve, but the films he made with them aroused less interest. He died of cancer in 2000.

Filmography (a selection): …And God Created Woman (1956), No Sun in Venice (1957), Dangerous Liaisons 1960 (1959), Blood and Roses (1960), Love on a Pillow (1962), Circle of Love (1964), The Game is Over (1966), Barbarella (1968), Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), Don Juan 73 (1973), Charlotte (1974), The Faithful Woman (1976), Night Games (1980), The Hot Touch (1981), Surprise Party (1983), And God Created Woman (1988), Amour fou (1993, TV)

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


SUPERWOMEN! Belted, buckled and BOOTED!

Director: Russ Meyer
Written by: Russ Meyer, Jack Moran
Cast: Tura Satana, Haji, Lori Williams, Sue Bernard

Year / Country: 1965, USA
Running Time: 83 mins.

Three thrill-seeking superwomen, working as dancers in a go-go bar, set out on a violent odyssey through the desert, killing men along their way. They have a car each that they use to race against – or drive over their victims.

The women drug and kidnap a young girl after they have wasted her boyfriend. After that, they hatch the plan to rob a crippled father and his sons. These patronizing men deserve a lesson, but it soon becomes clear that this is a journey from which there is no return. Varla, the leader, deliberately goes down the path of her own self-destruction, dragging her two buxotic cohorts along with her.

In a time when men were still considered superior, these three women level the score. It is therefore a feminist film, despite the fact that these women are portrayed as sex objects. This female empowerment is typical for its director, Russ Meyer, the undisputed master of large breasted women, campy humour and sly satire.

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! stands as Meyer’s masterpiece, a cult movie pur sang. Funny, sexy, exploitative and provocative: a FilmDungeon favourite! They don’t make them like this anymore. Well Tarantino surely tries. But the originality and cult appeal of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is rarely matched and never bettered. Watch these pussycats roar and love it!

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Biography: Russ Meyer (1922, California – 2004, California) is known primarily for making a large number of sexploitation flicks, such as Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Vixen! He did almost everything – directing, writing, editing – himself. He even did the distribution of his own movies. In the cult / exploitation circuit his films did very well and made him more than enough money to continue his film career. In the late seventies, Meyer retired as a wealthy man. Many of his films are nowadays considered as cult classics.

Filmography: The French Peep Show (1950, short doc), The Immortal Mr. Teas (1959), The Naked Cinema (1961, short), Eve and the Handyman (1961), Erotica (1961), Wild Gals of the Naked West (1962), Skyscrapers and Brassieres (1963, short), Europe in the Raw (1963, doc), Heavenly Bodies (1963), Lorna (1964), Fanny Hill (1964), Mudhoney (1965), Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965), Motor Psycho (1965), Mondo Topless (1966), Common Law Cabin (1967), Good Morning… and Goodbye! (1967), Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968), Vixen! (1968), Cherry, Harry & Raquel! (1970), Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), The Seven Minutes (1971), Black Snake (1973), Supervixens (1975), Up! (1976), Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979), Pandora Peaks (2001, short)

Glen or Glenda

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


“I Changed My Sex!”

Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Written by: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Lyle Talbot, Tomothy Farrell, Dolores Fuller, Edward D. Wood Jr.

Year / Country: 1953, USA
Running Time: 68 mins.

In the making of this film, which deals with a strange and curious subject, no punches have been pulled – no easy way out is taken. Many of the smaller parts are portrayed by persons who actually are, in real life, the character they portray on the screen. This is a picture of stark realism…taking no sides…but giving you the facts…All the facts…as they are today… You are society…JUDGE YE NOT…..

This is how it starts. Director Ed Wood sure meant business. As a cross dresser, he was driven to bring his ‘dilemma’ to the screen. Glen is what medical science calls ‘a transvestite’. The world doesn’t understand it. A very serious subject. But if you want the audience to take it seriously, throwing in Bela Lugosi in improvised talkie scenes, completely unrelated to the story, is probably not the best idea.

Director Edward D. Wood Jr.’s breakthrough movie suffers from way too much explanation. There are some very funny scenes though. Glenda in front of the store window, Bela Lugosi’s ‘pull the strings’ monologue intercut with buffalos, Bela being entertained by sexy girls. Hilarious then, hilarious now. Glen or Glenda belongs in any cult geeks collection.

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Biography: Edward D. Wood Jr. (1924, New York – 1978, Hollywood) is widely considered as the world’s worst filmmaker. His low-budget movies, usually mergers of science-fiction and horror, are mostly complete disasters in terms of production values and continuity. In 1994, Edward D. Wood Jr. became the subject of an amazing biopic directed by Tim Burton called Ed Wood.

Filmography: The Sun Was Setting (1951, TV short), Trick Shooting with Kenne Duncan (1953, short), Glen or Glenda (1953), Crossroad Avenger: The Adventures of the Tuscon Kid (1953, TV short), Boots (1953, short), Jail Bait (1954), Bride of the Monster (1955), The Night the Banshee Cried (1957, short), Final Curtain (1957, short), Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), Night of the Ghouls (1959), The Sinister Urge (1960), Take It Out in Trade (1970), The Young Marrieds (1971), Necromania: A Tale of Weird Love (1971)

Cult Radar: Part 5

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 Inglorious Bastards (Italy, 1978)
OT: Quel maledetto treno blindato

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari
Written by: Sandro Continenza, Sergio Grieco, Franco Marotta,
Romano Migliorini, Laura Toscano
Cast: Bo Svenson, Peter Hooten, Fred Williamson, Michael Pergolani

Before Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, there was this WWII exploitation flick. A group of Dirty Dozen-like US soldiers get transported through France in order to be court-martialed. After they get ambushed by Germans, they manage to escape. They take one German hostage, who is to lead them to safe Switzerland. Underway they have to battle their way through hoards of Nazi’s and the US military. This film is characterized by loads of shoot-outs, explosions and humor. And of course some naked girls; every exploitation film needs a couple of those! The ‘Bastards’ (five in total) are well cast. Williamson is excellent as a badass motherfucker. While the movie never becomes truly great, it does manage to involve the viewer in the characters’ mission, and every time the glorious WWII music plays, you can’t help but cheer for these bastards.

EXTRA’S: As entertaining as the movie, is the excellent 38 minute discussion between Tarantino and director Enzo Castellari about their influences (Peckinpah) and the art of filmmaking.

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle (Germany, 1963)
OT: Der würger von schloß Blackmoor

Directed by: Harald Fodor
Written by: Ladislas Fodor, Gustav Kampendonk, Bryan Edgar Wallace
Cast: Karin Dor, Harry Riebauer, Rudolt Fernau, Hans Nielsen

A hooded figure invades Blackmoor Castle, during a party held by the castle’s tenant Lucius Clark. The ‘Strangler’ threatens him and demands the diamonds back that Clark supposedly stole. He also leaves one man dead with a ‘M’ marked on his forehead. A Scotland Yard inspector comes over to the estate to investigate the murder. He discovers a plot around the diamonds and a confrontation with the killer ensues. This detective movie uses the build-up of a horror. This makes the beginning quite suspenseful, but it becomes a bit dull halfway through, when it turns out to be just another mediocre whodunit. Still, it is not totally without a sense of style and humor. The electronic soundtrack is made by Oskar ‘The Birds’ Sala.

Planet of Dinosaurs (USA, 1978)

Directed by: James K. Shea
Written by: Jim Aupperle, Ralph Lucas
Cast: James Whitworth, Pamela Bottaro, Louie Lawless, Harvey Shain

The DVD cover of Planet of Dinosaurs is a true masterpiece, but does the movie live up to it? That depends on your taste for campy stop-motion creature features. The story: a spaceship crash lands on a seemingly deserted planet. There are initially nine survivors that start to scout the area. Within two minutes, there are eight survivors left. They have landed on the planet of the apes with dinosaurs!! Some observations:
– Space effects in the beginning, ships and stuff, are very funny.
– The crew has ‘four lasers’. Hmmm…[cynical]cool.[/cynical]
– One of the last stop motion creature flicks. It’s not Harryhausen, but there is quite a lot of variety in prehistoric monsters. Only too bad they are somewhat static.
– The actors are as convincing as the dinosaurs.
– Lame dialogues and synthesizer score.

Worth watching? Yes, if you find this type of thing hilarious. Otherwise avoid.

Diabolik (Italy / France, 1968)

Directed by: Mario Bava
Written by: Mario Bava, Brian Degas, Tudor Gates, Arduino Maiuri
Cast: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi

Adaptation from the Italian comic book series, produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by horror author Mario Bava, doing a wonderful job outside of his usual territory. John Phillip Law plays anti hero Diabolik, a masked super thief who steals riches from both the government and the Mafia. His partner is the beautiful and voluptuous Eva (Marisa Mell). Together they fulfill the male fantasy: driving black and white jaguars, making love between 10 million dollars in a rotating bed and getting away with the most daring robberies. Their opponents are inspector Ginco and mob boss Valmont, who team up in an attempt to lure Diabolik and Eva into a trap. Bava directs this superhero movie with great style, while showing respect for the source material. He delivers one amazing set-piece after another, accompanied by a brilliant musical score from master Ennio Morricone. Camp was never before or after this spectacular. Diabolik = must see movie.

Mister Scarface (Italy / Germany, 1976)
OT: I padroni della città

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo
Written by: Peter Berling, Fernando Di Leo
Cast: Harry Baer, Al Cliver, Jack Palance, Gisela Hahn

Tony (Harry Baer) collects accounts receivable for gangster Luigi. His crime family gets involved in a power struggle with local bigshot ‘Scarface’ Manzari (Palance). Tony teams up with fellow collector Rick (Al Cliver). Together they plan to scheme Scarface out of a fortune and retire afterwards. This leads to an inevitable bloody confrontation with Scarface and his crew. The fuzzy plot and often inaudible dialogues (due to deteriorated picture quality) make this movie hard to follow at times. The good things are Palance’s demonic performance and the well crafted Napels underworld atmosphere. Lot’s of action and violence during the second half especially, make this worth a look for gangster film enthusiasts.


John Phillip Law and Marisa Mell in Diabolik.