Tagarchief: FilmDungeon

Convoy

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Written by: B.W.L. Norton
Cast: Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Burt Young, Ernest Borgnine

Year / Country: 1978, USA
Running Time: 104 mins.

Convoy is not really a fast carsploitation film, but more like a road adventure. It is a bit of an odd movie in director Sam Peckinpah’s oeuvre, although it does contain a slow motion shot or two and it stars Ali MacGraw and Ernest Borgnine.

The story revolves around a trucker nicknamed Rubber Duck. His Mack truck has a wild duck statue on the hood; later parodied by Tarantino in Death Proof in which Kurt Russell’s character Stuntman Mike has the same. Rubber Duck has that something that makes people leaders. You can not really put your fingers on what it is, a sort of X-factor, but Rubber Duck, charismatically portrayed by Kris Kristofferson, definitely has it.

After a bar fight with a bunch of dishonest cops, led by the crooked sheriff Cottonmouth (Borgnine), Duck and his buddies head to New Mexico where they will be safe from prosecution. Through a radio channel, other truckers pick up on what is going on and join the convoy. It grows and grows until it reaches a powerful mass. Although triggered by corruptness, the convoy is not really a political event. It just happens.

The greatest strength of Convoy lies in its screenplay. There may not be much of a story; it does sketch strong characterizations and delivers very sharp dialogues. Also impressive is the beautiful landscape cinematography. Certainly not near Peckinpah’s best, but good compared to many other standards.

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Biography: Sam Peckinpah (1925, Fresno – 1984, Inglewood) got famous for reinventing the western with movies such as The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. His nickname would become ‘Bloody Sam’ because these movies often contained extreme violence and bloody action sequences. His career started when he got to do jobs for director Don Siegel. Then he got to direct (western) TV series. In 1961 he directed his first feature film, a western titled The Deadly Companions. However, it was with his second feature, Ride the High Country (1962), that Peckinpah really began to establish his reputation. He died of a stroke in 1984, 59 years of age.

Filmography (a selection): Broken Arrow (1958, TV episode), The Rifleman (1958-59, TV episodes), Klondike (1960, TV series), The Deadly Companions (1961), Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), Moon Wine (1966, TV), The Wild Bunch (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Straw Dogs (1971), Junior Bonner (1972), The Getaway (1972), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), The Killer Elite (1975), Cross of Iron (1977), Convoy (1978), The Osterman Weekend (1983)

The Hills Have Eyes

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Wes Craven
Written by: Wes Craven
Cast: Dee Wallace Stone, Michael Berryman, Robert Houston

Year / Country: 1977, USA
Running Time: 86 mins.

A lesser known movie by horror master Wes Craven is The Hills Have Eyes, the shocking account of a family (the Carters) trapped in the desert and attacked by a family of cannibals. It reminds very much of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both in story as in creepy execution.

Craven builds the tension up steadily. The cannibals are not seen for a long time (only heard) and then, during the nighttime, they appear and deliver a tremendous blow to the Carter family. Afterwards, the surviving Carters strike back and eventually become as brutal as their attackers when they seek revenge.

The movie is based on the legend of Sawney Beane and his family, a feral clan who inhabited and roamed the highlands of Scotland’s East Lothian County, near Edinburgh, in the early 1400s. They captured, tormented and ate several transients. They were eventually captured on the order of Scotland’s King James and brutally executed without a trial, inspiring the aspect of the film that the Carters become bloodthirsty themselves.

This is only Craven’s third movie after the horror movie The Last House On the Left (1972) and The Fireworks Woman (1975), an adult movie he directed under the alias Abe Snake. The Hills Have Eyes is very raw and contains violence that is still shocking by today’s standard. Some of Craven’s fans even say it is his best movie. It might just be true.

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Biography: Wes Craven (1940, Cleveland – 2015, Los Angeles) is the maker of a number of classic, genre bending horror films. The debut was the gruesome The Last House On the Left in 1972. In 1984 he reinvented the youth horror genre with A Nightmare on Elm Street, which became a genre classic and a popular horror franchise. Twelve years later, he again created a commercial and critical success with Scream. This film also spawned many sequels, three of them directed by Craven and all successful. Craven also occasionally worked within other genres, such as drama/music with Music of the Heart in 1999.

Filmography (a selection): The Last House on the Left (1972) / The Hills Have Eyes (1977) / Deadly Blessing (1981) / Swamp Thing (1982) / A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) / The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985) / The Twilight Zone (1985-86, TV-episodes) / The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988) / Shocker (1989) / The People Under the Stairs (1991) / New Nightmare (1994) / Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) / Scream (1996) / Scream 2 (1997) / Music of the Heart (1999) / Scream 3 (2000) / Cursed (2005) / Red Eye (2005) / Paris, je t’aime (2006, segment: ‘Pere-Lachaise’) / My Soul to Take (2010) / Scream 4 (2011)

Face to Face

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Sergio Sollima
Written by: Sergio Donati, Sergio Sollima
Cast: Tomas Milian, Gian Maria Volonté, William Berger

Year / Country: 1967, Italy / Spain
Running Time: 107 mins.

In Face to Face, director Sergio Sollima delivers a more intellectual take on the spaghetti western while still packing in thrilling action. The film stars Gian Maria Volonté – best known for his villainous roles in A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More – as Boston professor Brad Fletcher. Suffering from a severe lung ailment, Fletcher moves to Texas for the warmer climate, only to be taken hostage by the ruthless bandit Solomon Bennet (Tomas Milian) during a daring escape from custody.

Bennet aims to reunite his old gang, including his former ally Siringo (William Berger). However, he’s being hunted by the Pinkertons – a private detective agency – of which Siringo is secretly a member. As Fletcher spends more time with Bennet, his passive nature erodes, and he gradually embraces a life of crime. Once the beast within him is unleashed, he proves to be even more ruthless than his captor.

Sollima weaves a deeper thematic layer into the film, using the western setting to explore the rise of fascism. When Bennet seizes control of a village, he governs it as though it were a single organism, using manipulation and torture to force everyone into submission. His authoritarian rule mirrors historical regimes, adding an unsettling resonance to the story.

However, Fletcher’s transformation isn’t entirely convincing, likely due to the film’s extensive edits – the original cut ran 2.5 hours. His shift from an educated, seemingly moral man to a cruel bandit happens too abruptly, making it feel somewhat unearned. That said, Sollima’s direction shines, especially in his handling of the actors. Volonté delivers a controlled and nuanced performance, while Milian exudes charisma in every scene.

Ennio Morricone’s score, while solid, doesn’t quite reach the brilliance of his work with Sergio Leone. However, the film’s opening credit sequence does capture the grandeur of Leone’s westerns, setting the stage for an absorbing experience. Despite some flaws, Face to Face remains an excellent film – thought-provoking, visually compelling, and anchored by strong performances.

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Biography: Sergio Sollima (1921, Rome) is an Italian filmmaker. Due to his trio of westerns starring Tomas Milian in the mid 60’s (The Big Gundown, Face to Face and Big Gundown 2: Run, Man, Run) he became known as ‘the other Sergio’ – the third most important director of spaghetti westerns, after Sergio Leone and Sergio Corbucci. Sollima began in cinema as a scriptwriter on Italian sword and sandal epics such as Ursus (1961) and The Ten Gladiators (1963). He directed two spy movies to capitalize on the popularity of the James Bond films. Then he started making spaghetti westerns and action / crime films such as The Family starring Charles Bronson and Telly Savalas. Later in his career he moved more towards television work.

Filmography (a selection): L’amore difficile (1962, segment ‘L’avventura di un soldato’), Agente 3S3, passaporto per l’inferno (1965), Agente 3S3, massacre al sole (1966), Requiem per un agente segreto (1966), The Big Gundown (1966), Face to Face (1967), Big Gundown 2: Run, Man, Run, The Family (1970), Devil in the Brain (1972), Revolver (1973), Sandokan (1976, TV-episodes), The Black Corsair (1976), Steps of Love (1989), Berlin ’39 (1993)

Compañeros

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Sergio Corbucci
Written by: Sergio Corbucci, Massimo De Rita, Fritz Ebert, José Frade, Dino Maiuri
Cast: Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance, Fernando Rey

Year / Country: 1970, Italy / West Germany / Spain
Running Time: 120 mins.

In a country torn apart by revolution, an unlikely duo teams up. The not too bright Mexican bandit Vasco (Tomas Milian) and the very polite arms dealer ‘The Swede’ (Franco Nero) go on a mission for the money hungry General Mongo. Their goal is to free Mongo’s pacifistic opponent Professor Xantos from a Texan jail because he knows the combination of a loaded safe. The two hate each other, so there is plenty of double-crossing along the way.

This spaghetti western, directed by the other Sergio, is an early buddy movie featuring two of the most established spaghetti western actors. The music is – of course – composed by Ennio Morricone and Jack Palance plays a very interesting supporting role as marijuana addicted gunslinger.

The movie misses the sharp humour and emotional depth that made genre films such as Django and the Dollar-trilogy so enjoyable, but it is certainly not the worst spaghetti western. The two strong leads fight, joke and shoot their way through a series of engaging adventures. The many last minute rescue scenes become kind of repetitive, so Corbucci could have been doing some heavier cutting. But, like the Mexican revolution, the movie ends in a massive shoot-out which is certainly worth the wait. Viva la Revolution!

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Biography: Sergio Corbucci (1926, Rome – 1990, Rome) is, alongside Sergio Leone, one of the most renowned directors of Spaghetti Westerns. He played a pivotal role in popularizing the genre, particularly through landmark films such as Django (1966) and Il grande silenzio (1968). Corbucci often collaborated with actor Franco Nero, creating some of the most iconic works of the genre. His films, often categorized as B-movies, are distinguished by their unflinching brutality, surreal and apocalyptic production design, dark humor, and politically left-leaning themes. A committed Marxist, Corbucci infused many of his works with a sense of revolutionary despair, reflecting the futility of social upheaval. Despite his significant contributions to cinema, Corbucci remained rooted in Italy throughout his career, with most of his films receiving limited international distribution. He passed away in Rome in 1990.

Filmography (a selection): Foreign Earth (1954), Water’s Love (1954), Supreme Confession (1957), Angel’s Sky (1957), Duel of the Titans (1961), Toto, Peppino and La Dolce Vita (1961), The Son of Spartacus (1963), Grand Canyon Massacre (1963), Django (1966), Navajo Joe (1966), The Mercenary (1968), The Great Silence (1968), Compañeros (1970), Bandera Bandits (1972), The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975), The Payoff (1978), Super Fuzz (1980), My Darling, My Dearest (1982), Days of Inspector Ambrosio (1988)