Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Posted on 16 oktober 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Written by: Joss Whedon
Cast: Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry

Year / Country: 1992, USA
Running Time: 82 mins.

Vampires have always been around us: hunting, killing, sucking blood. The chosen one is The Slayer, who alone can stand against the powers of darkness. When a slayer dies, a new one arises. But what happens in modern times? A blonde cheerleader receives the powers! Meet Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Before she moved to Sunnydale, Buffy lived in L.A., the City of Angels…and monsters. A mysterious stranger named Merrick approaches Buffy and convinces her she is the chosen one to fight evil demon Lothos, an old vampire who has been in the crusades. She gets help from romantic agitator Luke Perry. Screenplay writer Joss Whedon establishes the basis here of what would later become the renowned cult series of the same name.

The main story revolves around Buffy, who wants a normal teenager life but has to deal with dark powers and slaying vampires. Naturally this 80 minute film is more compact than the 145-episode series that followed it. Therefore some elements that made the series great – Angel, Spike, Brendan, Willow, a variety of monsters – are missing. On the other hand, Rutger Hauer as Lothos is a worthy villain and Paul Reuben is an interesting casting choice for his henchman.

Donald Sutherland is also excellent as the tutor, and Kristy Swanson portrays Buffy well, although personally I like Sarah Michelle Gellar better in the role. The kung-fu and vampire staking fights don’t look so great in this film, which is a miss, since this is an important part of the concept.

Still, if you’re into Buffy, this is a decent cult movie that can now be seen as a prequel to the television series.

Rating:

Biography: Fran Rubel Kuzui is mostly known as (executive) producer of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel. She also produced Trey Parker’s Orgazmo. Her filmography lists two directing credits: the already mentioned Buffy, and US/Japan production Tokyo Pop, in which a young female rock singer is not appreciated by her band and moves to Tokyo.

Filmography: Tokyo Pop (1988), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

Cult Radar: Part 4

Posted on 30 augustus 2008 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.

Eating Raoul

Posted on 24 augustus 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Paul Bartel
Written by: Paul Bartel, Richard Blackburn
Cast: Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran

Year / Country: 1982, USA
Running Time: 83 mins.

After directing racing flicks Death Race 2000 and Cannonball!, Paul Bartel decided to make a more personal movie. Roger Corman, who had kick-started Bartel’s career with Death Race 2000, would not finance it, so Bartel raised the 500.000 dollar himself by putting up his parents house for sale. The result was Eating Raoul, a demented comedy of sorts about Hollywood, cannibalism and weird sex. It became a sleeper hit and got good critical reviews, especially in Europe.

The story revolves around Paul and Mary Bland, a square couple living in Hollywood. The couple is played by Bartel himself and Mary Woronov, another Corman veteran. The Blands want to open up a countryside restaurant, but lack financial means. A solution presents itself in the form of a swinger (their apartment building is full of them), a lifestyle the Blands – with their refined taste – disapprove of. When this swinger accidentally dies in their apartment, they come up with a very distinctive business model: lure swingers into their apartment and murder them for their money. It becomes a great financial success.

Then Raoul from the title gets involved (played by Robert Beltran, later Star Trek Voyager actor). He is a blacksmith, who discovers their secret and wants a partnership. After not too long, Raoul becomes a big problem the Blands have to deal with. Witty lines such as: ‘We’re having a friend for dinner’ (sounds familiar?) and a couple of hilarious gags make this an enjoyable little film. If you have a taste for the bizarre (it even got dwarves and stuff), Eating Raoul is an oddity that won’t disappoint.

Rating:

Biography: Paul Bartel (1938, New York – 2000, New York) majored in theater arts at UCLA and studied film directing in Rome. After getting his first work experience with Roger Corman he directed a number of low budget cult films. He also worked as a writer and an actor. He died in 2000 from a heart attack.

Filmography: The Secret Cinema (1968, short), Naughty Nurse (1969, short), Private Parts (1972), Death Race 2000 (1975), Cannonball! (1976), Eating Raoul (1982), Not for Publication (1984), Lust in the Dust (1985), The Longshot (1986), Amazing Stories (1986/87, TV episodes), Shelf Life (1993), The Comic Strip Presents…(1993, TV episode), Clueless (1996, TV episode)

Cult Radar: Part 3

Posted on 12 juli 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon.com 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

Dracula A.D. 1972 (UK, 1972)

Directed by: Alan Gibson
Written by: Don Houghton
Cast: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Beacham

This is the sixth Hammer production that stars Christopher Lee as the uncanny Count Dracula. This time he appears in London during the seventies, as one of his descendants. Johnny Alucard (spell his surname backwards), performs a ritual which brings his old master back to life. Dracula rapidly starts to suck the blood out of young girls. Luckily for the London hippie community, a descendant of the legendary Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), discovers what’s going on and he bows to destroy the evil count forever. Lee and Cushing are a joy to watch as always. They are very charismatic speakers, both equipped with a great voice that enables them to make almost everything they say sound interesting. It’s only a shame that Lee gets too little screen time. Also, the actors playing the hippie characters are extremely unconvincing. Just because someone’s on acid doesn’t mean he will barely react to strange and shocking occurrences. One of the weaker and duller Hammer Dracula flicks.

The Galaxy Invader (USA, 1985)

Directed by: Don Dohler
Written by: Don Dohler, David Donoho, Anne Frith
Cast: Richard Ruxton, Faye Tilles, George Stover

It starts with a Predator-like intro-shot of a fireball flying towards earth, followed by a pulpy credit sequence, including the typical cheesy synthesizer score. The fireball (spaceship) lands in Maryland and the aggressive alien creature onboard starts to roam the outside. A group of rednecks start to hunt it down for the money and a deadly confrontation ensues, while a UFO hobbyist and his former pupil get involved when they attempt to rescue the alien. The first time the Galaxy Invader appears (within five minutes), you’ll see a guy in a suit so ridiculous, it makes you wonder why they even bothered continuing this production at all. Despite these crappy effects, the movie is often quite hilarious because of the stupid (inter)actions of the yokels and the ludicrous action scenes. The alien shoots firework rockets from his gun for Christ sakes! It looks as though the budget was just a few thousand dollars. Great movie though, if you got a thing for the ultra-cheap stuff.

Kong Island (Italy, 1968)

Directed by: Robert Morris
Written by: Chang Cheh
Cast: Brad Harris, Marc Lawrence, Esmeralda Barros

Released on a Grindhouse double feature DVD together with The Galaxy Invader. The picture quality of this film is so bad that you can barely see what’s going on at times. Not that the story is very complicated. In the Nairobi jungle, a mad scientist creates a number of brain-controlled killer gorillas. They kidnap the young girl Diana who belongs to a local expedition group. Mercenary Burt leads a rescue party into the labyrinth jungle, financed by Diana’s father, a bastard who also secretly sponsors the scientist’s experiments. The rescue party gets ambushed and all except for Burt die. Soon after, he meets the ‘sacred monkey’, a girl raised by apes, who helps him find the scientist’s underground lab for a final showdown. Dull movie with virtually nothing to make it worth your while. Also known as Eve, The Wild Woman and King of Kong Island. Best to avoid.

Lucker (Belgium, 1986)

Directed by: Johan Vandewoestijne
Written by: Johan Vandewoestijne, John Kupferschmidt
Cast: Nick Van Suyt, Helga Vandevelde, Let Jotts

The heavily insane John Lucker (Nick Van Suyt) escapes from a mental institution. We learn that he has killed eight woman and performed sexual acts with their already decomposing corpses. That already says it all right? Lucker doesn’t talk much, which makes him all the more scary when he brutally murders someone. Not that it is so much better when he does talk. A prostitute, one of his victims, tells him “this is not my idea of a good time”. Same goes for the viewer: it’s all very unpleasant and nasty. But despite its dark and gloomy ugliness, there is something fascinating about Vandewoestijne’s approach. He created a visually impressive work that features good acting. Hats off for those poor victim girls, who make their torment seem very real. Also kudos for Van Suyt’s disturbing portrayal of John Lucker. A deeply messed-up maniac filled with misogyny. If you decide to watch this, prepare for the worst though.

Nightmare Concert (Italy, 1990)
OT: Un gatto nel cervello

Directed by: Lucio Fulci
Written by: John Fitzimmons, Lucio Fulci, Giovanni Simonelli, Antonio Tentori
Cast: Lucio Fulci, Brett Halsey, Ria De Simone

The DVD-cover of Nightmare Concert aka A Cat in the Brain describes this as Fulci’s bloodiest film. Hard to believe, but it is actually kind of true. I can’t remember many films with this much red in it. It is a special film as well: Fulci stars as himself, a film director with a taste for gore, who begins having violent fantasies. He visits a shrink who hypnotizes him. As a result, Fulci can no longer see the difference between his films and reality which results in loads of brutal slayings. The idea is crystal clear: screen violence leads to real violence. Many recognizable Fulci elements are present in Nightmare Concert: inventive kills (driving over a corpse ten times), less inventive kills (body part dismemberment by chainsaw), some sex and quite a lot of black humour. It is also completely over the top and contains a few lovely moments of self-parody. Just as trashy as most of Fulci’s films, but when the man is on a roll, who’s complaining?