Tagarchief: FilmDungeon

Cult Radar: Part 2

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. 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

Smokey and the Bandit

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Hal Needham
Written by: James Lee Barrett, Charles Shyer, Alan Mandel
Cast: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason

Year / Country: 1977, USA
Running Time: 96 mins.

Trucking comedy Smokey and the Bandit was originally conceived as a B-movie, but became more of a mainstream project when Burt Reynolds got involved. Upon release it was a huge box office hit (second highest grossing movie after Star Wars in 1977). Nowadays, the comedy elements are pretty much outdated, but for nostalgic reasons it can still be a guilty pleasure.

The movie’s director, Hal Needham, was a professional stuntman at that time and not a filmmaker. He came up with the story and showed a script draft to Reynolds, for whom he had been a stunt double on various movies such as The Longest Yard and Gator. Reynolds agreed to do it and thereby replaced Jerry Reed who had originally been cast as the Bandit. Reed was cast instead as Bandit’s friend Snowman and would later play Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3.

The plot of this movie is anorexic. Bandit is a cowboy truck driver who accepts the job to haul a truckload of Coors beer to a car race in Georgia. This was considered bootlegging at the time and pretty soon, the Bandit is pursued by Sheriff Buford T. Justice aka Smokey (Jackie Gleeson). He also picks up hitchhiker Carrie (Sally Field), a runaway bride from Smokey’s son Junior. A cross-country pursuit begins that doesn’t end until the credits roll.

As a racing film, it is a little disappointing. There are decent stunts surely, but from a professional like Needham I had expected more innovation. Oh well, this is mostly just a pleasant reminder of the good ol’ days. Though it’s unlikely to attract many viewers from a younger generation I would still recommend it to anyone who likes to go through a time machine. The humour of this film has long been reinvented but is still infectious enough to put a smile on one’s face. The cartoonish characters also add to the fun factor.

Rating:

Biography: Hal Needham (1931, Memphis, Tennessee) served in the Korean war before becoming a stuntman. His break came in 1957 with TV western Have Gun – Will Travel as a stunt double for Richard Boone. In the sixties he became a top stuntman working on western hit movies such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How the West Was Won and Donovan’s Reef. In his long career, Needham also worked on many TV-shows including Gunsmoke, Rawhide and Black Saddle. He was also stunt double for Clint Walker, Burt Reynolds and others. In the seventies he became stunt coordinator on several Burt Reynolds films including White Lightning, The Longest Yard and Gator. He made his debut as a director in 1977 with Smokey and the Bandit. It became a massive hit. Throughout the next two decades he made many follow-ups and similar films usually starring Reynolds. In the nineties, his work consisted mostly of TV projects including four Bandit TV films.

Filmography: Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Hooper (1978), The Villain (1979), Death Car on the Freeway (1979, TV), Stunts Unlimited (1980, TV), Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), The Cannonball Run (1981), The Stockers (1981, TV), The Stockers (1981, TV), Megaforce (1982), Stroker Ace (1983), Cannonball Run II (1984), Rad (1986), Body Slam (1986), B.L. Stryker (1990, TV episode), Bandit: Bandit Goes Country (1994, TV), Bandit: Bandit Bandit (1994, TV), Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit (1994, TV), Bandit: Bandit’s Silver Angel (1994, TV), Street Luge (1996), Hard Time: Hostage Hotel (1999, TV)

God Forgives… I Don’t!

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


Director: Giuseppe Colizzi
Written by: Giuseppe Colizzi, Gumersindo Mollo
Cast: Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, Frank Wolff, Gina Rovere

Year / Country: 1967, Italy / Spain
Running Time: 109 mins.

Italian stars Terence Hill and Bud Spencer would star in 19 films together. God Forgives… I Don’t! is their first collaboration. Although they act as a duo, the main credit goes to Hill. His character’s quest for revenge is the story’s main driver. Hill got this part because he resembles western-star Franco Nero, who wasn’t available for this movie. Hill took the opportunity to become a major star himself.

The story: a payroll train is robbed and the bandits took off with 100.000 dollars in gold. They also murdered everybody on the train, but accidentally left one witness alive. This witness tells insurance agent Hutch (Spencer) that the supposedly dead Bill San Antonio was the lead robber. Together with gunslinger Cat (Hill), who has a bone to pick with Antonio, he goes on a quest with the intention to retrieve the stolen gold.

God Forgives… I Don’t! is typical spaghetti-western material; loner versus evil outlaw; betrayal; gold; revenge. Unfortunately the story unfolds way too slowly, so any tension is killed. This could have been a satisfying 80/90 minute film. Now, it is a boring one. Also lacking is the trademark Hill / Spencer humour. They moved to greener territory soon after, which is fortunate – because with more films like this, they would not have made it as far as they did.

Rating:

Biography: Giuseppe Colizzi (1925, Rome – 1978, Rome) only directed a handful of movies. The first three were spaghetti westerns with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer as Cat Stevens and Hutch Bessy. These films helped them launch their careers prior to the Trinity movies. He then made the non-western Spencer/Hill vehicle All the Way Boys. He returned to the western with Run, Run, Joe!, starring Keith Carradine.

Filmography: God Forgives… I Don’t! (1967), Ace High (1968), Boot Hill (1969), All The Way Boys (1972), Run, Run, Joe! (1974), Switch (1979)

Death Proof

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Kurt Russell, Vanessa Ferlito, Rosario Dawson, Sydney Poitier

Year / Country: 2007, USA
Running Time: 114 mins.

The tone of Death Proof is set right at the beginning. We hear loud engine sounds and follow a pair of feet bungling out the window of a driving car as the credits roll by. Tarantino’s half of Grindhouse is obviously some homage to cheap car chase and serial killer exploitation films. Originally part of a double bill with Robert Rodriquez’s Planet Terror, it was released outside the US as a separate movie to increase box office revenue. Not a great decision from an artistic viewpoint, but Death Proof does work as a stand-alone film.

Kurt Russell plays Stuntman Mike, a weird and burned-out stunt driver who happens to be a psycho as well. He ‘suffers’ from a chick habit: stalking and eventually killing groups of beautiful young girls by crashing his ‘death proof’ car into them. Out of this he gets his sexual kicks. The first time, his plan works fine, but the second time around he should have done a little more research on his targets. This group of girls consist of fellow stunt drivers who get quite homicidal when Mike tries to pull his crap.

Tarantino uses various techniques, such as a damaged print and deliberate continuity mistakes to make Death Proof appear as a typical film that would have been shown in grindhouse theaters in the seventies. He has also included his typical trademark movie references, this time to genre classics such as Vanishing Point. In order to make it match with Planet Terror, the film also shares some characters with that film, such as Dr. Block and of course Texas ranger Earl McGraw.

One problem I have with Death Proof is that the dialogues, that normally seem effortless in a Tarantino film, come across here as sort of synthetic. This is probably done deliberately to fit the film’s campy B-style, but it is still distracting and it takes up a large part of the movie. Luckily this is made up with an interesting structure, a groovy soundtrack and a great old-school car chase scene at the end. Kurt Russell is also awesome as the movie’s central character. Stuntman Mike is a serial killer who belongs in the gallery of great Tarantino characters.

This may not be a masterpiece but it works very well as the type of experience it attempts to simulate. It is also a better balanced movie than Planet Terror. Sometimes it is a little ‘too Tarantino’ if there is such a thing, most noticeable by the casting of ‘super cool’ chicks and the overly hip dialogues. But Death Proof is nevertheless a film that has plenty of excitement and genuine coolness to offer.

Rating:

Biography: Quentin Tarantino (1963, Knoxville, Tennessee) made a big impression on the international film world when his feature debut Reservoir Dogs premiered at Sundance in 1992. After his second film Pulp Fiction screened at Cannes in 1994 and won the Palme D’or, Tarantino quickly became a household name. Since then he has enjoyed his fame by making more homages to the films he loves and grew up with.

Filmography (a selection): My Best Friend’s Birthday (1987), Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Four Rooms (1995, segment ‘The Man From Hollywood’), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Sin City (2005, special guest director), CSI (2005, TV episodes), Grindhouse (2007, segment ‘Death Proof’), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015), Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)