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Jail Bait

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
Written by: Alex Gordon, Edward D. Wood Jr.
Cast: Lyle Talbot, Dolores Fuller, Herbert Rawlinson, Steve Reeves

Year / Country: 1954, USA
Running Time: 71 mins.

Marilyn Gregor bails out her brother Don who was caught carrying a gun. It appears that Don is under the influence of the hardened gangster Vic Brady. After Don’s release, he and Vic commit another robbery that ends with the death of an ex-cop. Don is now a murderer. His father, who is a plastic surgeon, wants to help him, but Vic has plans of his own.

Jail Bait is one of the least Ed Woodish films Ed Wood made. It is a crime movie for one thing, rather than a sci-fi / monster flick. There is also no Lugosi, less wooden acting and a whole lot less mistakes, although there are still plenty. One typical Wood element is still there: the message. This time it is ‘Never carry a gun or you will use it.’

The story gets kind of ridiculous as it unfolds, but hardly fails to amuse. The cast holds up well too. Fuller, who appears in many of Wood’s movies, is an enjoyable presence and the ending is really hilarious. Those elements together make this second feature film directed by Wood, one of his finer achievements.

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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)

The Driver

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Walter Hill
Written by: Walter Hill
Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, Isabelle Adjani, Ronee Blakley

Year / Country: 1978, USA / UK
Running Time: 88 mins.

Ryan O’Neal stars as the Driver, a character defined by his cool, controlled demeanor. In the film’s opening, he steals a car to use as a getaway vehicle for a casino heist, instantly establishing his profession. We quickly understand that he takes his job very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it’s not about the money for him, but about maintaining his professional integrity.

The Driver is smooth, fearless, and intensely focused. His obsessive commitment to professionalism drives the narrative of the film, reminiscent of Le Samouraï, where a similar code of conduct defines the protagonist. The film has an existential quality, with each character simply doing what they do best, without personal attachments or backstories. They aren’t even given names, only titles like ‘The Driver’, ‘The Detective’, and The Connection’.

Bruce Dern delivers an outstanding performance as the relentless cop determined to catch the Driver. His character devises a trap, using minor criminals in a staged bank robbery as bait. What follows is a tense game of cat and mouse. In the first half of the film, director Walter Hill expertly builds momentum through tight pacing and memorable sequences, most notably a standout scene in an underground parking garage where the Driver showcases his remarkable driving skills.

Unfortunately, much of the tension dissipates in the second half, as the film loses some of the momentum it carefully built. However, the final moments provide a satisfying conclusion. The Driver is a solid film and a cult classic in its own right, with Hill already demonstrating his potential as a filmmaker. The casting is spot-on, and while it doesn’t quite reach greatness, it remains a must-see if only for the three impeccably realistic chase sequences.

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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)

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Six Chicks in search of a Cluck! …and so hilariously funny!

Director: Russ Meyer
Written by: Russ Meyer, Roger Ebert
Cast: Kitten Natividad, Ken Kerr, Uschi Digard, Ann Marie

Year / Country: 1979, USA
Running Time: 93 mins.

Although Russ Meyer’s final feature film is not a masterpiece, it is one hell of a funny movie. The paper thin story involves simple mind Lamar Shedd and his steamy Vixen wife Lola Langusta (Lavonia – hotter than a Mexican’s lunch).

Stuart Lancaster gives us the lowdown on Small Town USA, a redneck township where simple guys and girls have simple needs. In the daytime they work as mechanics and door-to-door salesmen and at night… well, guess you know what they do at night. Of course this is a Meyer movie in which the girls have all the power.

Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens takes on sexual conventions and the sexy main chick kicks the anal loving redneck in the groin. But this is part of the central love story between Lamar and Lavonia. He can only get satisfaction through the backdoor and she is just a little too enthusiastic. Typical content for Meyer who wrote the script with no one less than film critic Roger Ebert!

If you want to have a really great time, watch Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens. It got more bush than Texas politics and roundings greater than the Himalayas. And as a story of women’s liberation is supposed to be like, the women are always on top of things.

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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)

Cult Radar: Part 6

Posted on 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

Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (USA, 1993 TV)

Directed by: Christopher Guest
Written by: Mark Hanna, Joseph Dougherty
Cast: Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin, William Windom

‘She is a female colossus, her mountainous torso, skyscraper limbs, giant desires.’ Daryl Hannah plays Nancy in this remake of the original Attack of the 50 Foot Woman from 1953. Nancy is the girl who always eats shit from everybody. During a lonely drive in the desert, she is laser beamed by an alien spaceship. Initially there are no effects, but after her cheating husband (Daniel Baldwin) and her bastard father piss her off for the millionth time, she grows 50 feet tall and goes apeshit. This is a movie with obviously a lot of cult potential, but the story takes too long to take off. The revenge mayhem does not start until the final 20 minutes! When it does take off it is pretty cool. Not in the least bit because of the amusing special effects.

The Big Bird Cage (Philippines / USA, 1972)

Directed by: Jack Hill
Written by: Jack Hill
Cast: Pam Grier, Anitra Ford, Candice Roman, Teda Bracci

Terry Rich (Anitra Ford) is sent to a women’s prison camp, because she slept around with too many men (?). The camp is a nightmare. Hundreds of woman are forced to work a sugar cane mill under supervision of gay guards. Off course there are loads of catfights, scenes of torture and some sexual content. It ends in a cliché: a massive escape. This exploitation film is an addition to the ‘woman in prison’ subgenre. Writer/director Jack Hill has certainly done better, for example on this film’s predecessor The Big Doll House. This is boring and the atmosphere is just plain unpleasant. Pam Grier brings two great features into the mix though, so let’s not write it off as complete failure.

Awakening of the Beast (Brazil, 1970)
OT: O Despertar da Besta

Directed by: José Mojica Marins
Written by: Rubens F. Lucchetti. José Mojica Marins
Cast: José Mojica Marins, ngelo Assunção, Ronaldo Beibe

Weird and incomprehensible exploitation film by the Brazilian Argento Coffin Joe. It’s an attempt at social commentary, but completely fails to deliver a message of any significance. All we see is a bunch of people degrading themselves, resulting in a very unpleasant viewing. What makes it worse is that it attempts to be artsy, while it’s plain trash of the worst kind. It will be a while before I watch another Coffin Joe flick, because this one sucks monkey balls.

Gonin 2 (Japan, 1996)

Directed by: Takashi Ishii
Written by: Takashi Ishii
Cast: Ken Ogata, Shinobu Ootake, Kimiko Yo, Maj Kitajima

Also known as Five Woman, this is the sequel to Takashi’s Ishii’s extremely violent Gonin. The plot is kind of similar. The wife of an old man is raped by the Yakuza because he is late paying of his debt. After she has committed harakiri because of the shame, he forges a sword and starts slaying the responsible Yakuza men. At the same time five women, who have never met before, take off with the proceeds of a Yakuza heist. These developments lead to gore, lot’s of gore in this stylish and surrealistic gangster film.

Alien Nation (USA, 1988)

Directed by: Graham Baker
Written by: Rockne S. O’Bannon
Cast: James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp

A police movie with a sci-fi twist. It’s about an alien race, similar to humans, who have landed on earth. Like immigrants, they have to fit in with the rest of the population. This creates racial tension, as some humans are prejudiced against the newcomers. James Caan plays one of these prejudiced people. He is a cop, who teams up with one of the aliens after his partner is killed. Initially they are trying to solve this case, but they soon stumble upon a bigger threat to society. This is about as entertaining as it sounds. The aliens look like they have come right out of Star Trek, the deeper layer of the film is very subtle (not) and the jokes are pretty lame. Altogether, it is still a reasonably entertaining cop movie. But unfortunately nothing more.