Cult Radar: Part 2

Posted on 30 mei 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

Policewomen (USA, 1974)

Directed by: Lee Frost
Written by: Wes Bishop, Lee Frost
Cast: Sondra Currie, Tony Young, Phil Hoover

A foxy police woman called Lacy Bond takes on the dangerous task of infiltrating a criminal gang of females. Luckily she is good with weapons and martial arts, so ass-kicking the baddies forms little problem for Lacy. This film was released on a ‘Welcome to the Grindhouse’ double DVD with Las Vegas Lady. This is apparently the better half. Though no masterpiece it at least has a pleasant rhythm and some camp value. At moments the dialogues and karate scenes get a bit too silly, but most of the time these ‘problems’ are easily ignored. Sondra Currie is also a very charming presence.

Las Vegas Lady (USA, 1975)

Directed by: Noel Nosseck
Written by: Walter Dallenbach
Cast: Stella Stevens, Stuart Whitman, George DiCenzo

Las Vegas in the seventies must have been more fun than this boring TV-movie makes it look. The plot revolves around three ladies who want to steal half a million dollars from a criminal casino owner. Or something. The unfocused plot and stretched dialogues make it nearly impossible to get into this movie. Stella Stevens and the other dames are visual assets, but censorship robbed this film of any sex that might have been originally inserted. The action that could be expected during the climax is also missing. Jeppe says: not worth wasting your time on.

Cannibal ferox (Italy, 1981)

Directed by: Umberto Lenzi
Written by: Umberto Lenzi
Cast: Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Lorraine De Selle, Danilo Mattei

An anthropology student and two companions travel to Mañyoca, a small village located in the Amazon jungle of Paraguay. She is writing a thesis on the myth of cannibalism and is searching for evidence to support her cause. A maniacal New York drug dealer is also in the area committing cruelties to a local Indian tribe who in their turn want revenge on the intruders. Your ‘enjoyment’ of this film depends on your tolerance for graphic torture of both humans and animals. If you can stand it, this is a pretty well-paced and in a strange way ‘entertaining’ viewing. However many will justifiably wonder what the significance is of showing (and watching) such horrors and very few won’t feel slightly depressed afterwards. The most memorable gruesome act? Hard to say, but I’ll go for the hooks in Fiamma Maglione’s breasts.

The Magnificent Trio (Hong Kong, 1966)
OT: Bian cheng san xia

Directed by: Chang Cheh
Written by: Chang Cheh
Cast: Chin Ping, Margaret Tu Chuan, Fanny Fan

Farmers kidnap the daughter of a corrupt magistrate in order to make him lose his grip on them. They are protected by the mighty warrior Master Lu, who later teams up with the equally powerful Huang and Yan Ziquin, forming a magnificent trio against the army of the magistrate. In 1966, the martial art genre was still undeveloped at the Shaw Brother Studios. In it’s time The Magnificent Trio must have been an exciting feature. By today’s standards however, it barely contains enough action and spectacle to please the genre enthusiasts. On the other hand, those interested in the development of this movie niche will probably find some value here, as well as beautiful art-direction and a finale worthy of director Chang Cheh’s reputation.

Frogs (USA, 1972)

Directed by: George McCowan
Written by: Robert Hutchison, Robert Blees
Cast: Ray Milland, Sam Elliot, Joan Van Ark

A production by Samuel Z. Arkoff, who has produced over a hundred similar campy movies. Some are better than others. This dull film unfortunately belongs among his weaker productions. Millionaire Jason Crocket (Milland) hosts a family party at his Southern estate. Nature photographer Picket Smith (a young Sam Elliot) arrives and soon finds out that nature-hater Crocket has abused the area with pesticides and poisons. The many frogs and other creatures from the local ecosystem start taking revenge on Crocket and his family leading to a number of strange and painful deaths. The movie’s uneventful first hour could have been forgiven if the second half would have offered some satisfying pay-off. This never happens. The characters remain caricatures and their uncreative deaths therefore leave the viewer cold as ice. A shame, but what can you expect from a film that carries this title?

Policewomen

The Family That Eats Soil

Posted on 18 februari 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

OT: Ang pamilyang kumakain ng lupa

Director: Khavn De La Cruz
Written by: Khavn De La Kruz
Cast: Carlo Catap, Hamid Eton, Gil Mendoza, Elisabeth Marin

Year / Country: 2004, The Philippines
Running Time: 75 mins.

I caught this gem at the International Film Festival Rotterdam of 2005. This bizarre, underground film follows a Filipino family that – as the title suggests – engages in the eating of a meal of soil. Three times a day.

The film opens with a clay animation of a violent rape and shooting and sets the tone right away. Then we meet the family in question during their first meal, a ritual that will return frequently throughout the film. That aside, we follow the separate family members during their independent activities that include pushing drugs, prostituting and murder.

Surreal images and brutal violence mark this feature by Filipino director Khavn De la Cruz. It has a very underground feel to it, and the splatter and gore violence may be off-putting for some. There is also a lot of symbolism to be found, most notably the soil eating that stands for the strong Filipino family bonds (rooted as the earth), and their agrarian background culture.

Rating:

Biography: Khavn De La Cruz (1973, Manila) is a Pilipino underground director who shoots all of his productions on digital video. He is the founder and president of his own production company Filmless Films, where he produced around 60 shorts and 15 features. De La Cruz is also the director of the MOV International Digital Film Festival, which has so far been held in Manila and Cebu City. Olaf Möller wrote about De la Cruz; ‘he might look like a prankster punk, but in the end he’s also an ass-kicking rebel priest’.

Filmography (a selection): The Twelve (2000), Greaseman (2001, two versions; short & feature), Headless (2004, short), Greaseman (2004, short), Small Ali (2004, short), Barong Brothers (2004, short), The Family That Eats Soil (2004), Amen, a Brown Comedy (2005, short), Can & Slippers (2005, short), Don’t Fall in Love With a Super Hero (2006, short), Waiting for a Super Hero (2006, short), G-String Kings (2006), Our Daily Bread (2006, short), Pornoman (2006, short), Aquaboy (2006, short), Rugby Boys (2006, short), Two Super Heroes Taking a Crap: A Toilet Musical (2006, short), By the Suez Canal (2007, short), Squatterpunk (2007), An Open Letter to All Terrorists in the World (2007, short)

Cult Radar: Part 1

Posted on 26 december 2007 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Researched by: Jeppe Kleijngeld

Stink of Flesh (USA, 2005)

Directed by: Scott Phillips
Written by: Scott Phillips
Cast: Kurly Tlapoyawa, Ross Kelly, Diva, Billy Garberina

Matool roams a zombie-infested America armed only with his fists, some large nails and a hammer. After he escapes some tight situations he gets abducted by the mysterious couple Nathan and Dexy. It turns out that Nathan likes to watch other men bang his wife while he watches. Matool takes on the job enthusiastically while zombies and other lusty survivors head towards their hide-out. Ultra low-budget sexploitation splatter film has the occasional outrageous moment, witty line and stylish kill. But too many flaws are still transparent. The acting sucks and so does the sound (despite some good use of music). And the story, though original in a way, goes ultimately nowhere. It’s a shame this flick’s great tagline: ‘how do you lead an alternative lifestyle…When everybody’s dead?’ is better than the flick itself.

Zombie Holocaust (Italy, 1980)

Directed by: Marino Girolami
Written by: Fabrizio De Angelis, Romano Scandariato
Cast: Ian McCulloch, Alexandra Delli Colli, Sherry Buchanan

Body parts go missing in a New York hospital. It quickly turns out that Moluccan cannibals are terrorizing the country. An expedition leaves for the Muluccan island Kito to investigate the case. Over there, they stumble upon a cannibalistic tribe and a bloodthirsty doctor that experiments with reviving the dead. So begins a terrible struggle for survival. Although the story isn’t really carried in a convincing way, one can see why this is a favorite among fantastic film lovers. It certainly contains enough gory action, suspense and beautiful locations to forgive it its clumsy mise-en-scène and not too great acting. If this is your thing, you should certainly check it out.

Santo Vs. the She-Wolves (Mexico, 1976)
OT: Santo vs. las lobas

Directed by: Rubén Galindo, Jaime Jiménez Pons
Written by: Jaime Jiménez Pons, Ramón Obón
Cast: Santo, Rodolfo de Anda, Gloria Mayo, Jorge Russek

The legendary Mexican wrestler Santo stars in his 48th feature film (out of 54!). Our silver masked hero takes on an army of werewolves that want to take possession of the earth and destroy all humans. To do this he has to annihilate their entire army before the night of the red moon ends. Weird and often ridiculous plot takes some fun away from this campy mix of supernatural mystery and action. Santo gets far too little chance to display his fantastic wrestling moves. Only during some matches in the beginning and a few brief action scenes towards the end he gets to show who’s the boss. Therefore, the viewer starts to wonder how tough Santo really is, a fatal flaw in a superhero movie. The acting, costumes and effects are pretty terrible, and the extremely disappointing ending deserves special mention. Reasonable DVD transfer available from Yuke Pictures, but maybe it’s better to wait for some other Santo movies to come along.

Detroit 9000 (USA, 1973)

Directed by: Arthur Marks
Written by: Orville H. Hampton
Cast: Hari Rhodes, Alex Rocco, Vonetta McGee

Quentin Tarantino is never shy to lend his name to exploitation film presentations. This flick was recently released under the Rolling Thunder Pictures label, just like The Mighty Peking Man and Switchblade Sisters. Tarantino’s name is all over the cover, so it can profit from the buzz around Grindhouse. One can easily see why he likes this. It’s a pretty gripping cop-drama that contains sex, a blaxploitation message, plenty of shootings, and a funky soundtrack. The characters are not really compelling, except Alex Rocco’s cynical detective Danny Bassett. There’s a little too much yakking about black and white issues, but it is still a pretty entertaining viewing. The twisty ending is also a nice touch.

War of the Monsters (Japan, 1966)
OT: Daikaijû kettô: Gamera tai Barugon

Directed by: Shigeo Tanaka
Written by: Nisan Takahashi
Cast: Kojiro Howgo, Kyoto Enami, Yuzo Hayakawa

This second installment in the Gamera series sees three treasure hunters find an opal that turns out to be the egg of monster Baragon. I was hoping for some inventive special effects but ended up very bored and disappointed. First I had to sit through forty minutes of sleep-inducing build-up. Then the action arrived in the form of two men dressed in ludicrous monster-suits fight each other around terrible looking scale models. Gamera (a ‘huge’ turtle) gets defeated within five minutes, so we are forced to watch Baragon (a dinosaur of sorts) roam around, looking stupid for another forty-five minutes. I thought the movie was black and white, until I noticed a blue ray (no pun intended). That’s how great the DVD-release from Alpha Video is. No redeeming qualities at all which makes this a complete piece of garbage.