Linda Blair Week: Chained Heat

Welcome back for Day 5 of Linda Blair Week and it has been pretty amazing watching those numbers tally up. A quick heads up about Linda Blair's Worldheart Foundation http://www.lindablairworldheart.org/ as this is a rescue for pitbulls in the greater Los Angeles area. With Medical services, proper nutrition and behavioral classes to help give rescue dogs a better shot at life.

Well, the good taste could only prevail for so long. More than a few fans insisted that I watch and review a more adult themed Linda Blair film and if I must, I must. With a perverted John Vernon, Sybil Danning and Tamara Dobson ruling the pens, where can Linda Blair turn? This is Chained Heat.

So how do you tease your hair that way Val?

Young Carol (Linda Blair of Savage Streets, The Exorcist II: The Heretic, Moving Target, Up Your Alley, Bad Blood, The Chilling, Dead Sleep, Sorceress, Prey of the Jaguar, Supernatural, Whoa! and All is Normal) had a drunk driving accident that cost a man his life. The judge threw the book at her giving her no less than 18 months to serve her sentence. Our warden Bacman (John Vernon of Brannigan, S.W.A.T., Cannon, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Angela, Dirty Harry, Animal House, Savage Streets and Batman: The Animated Series)has aspirations to be the next Fellini using his prison hoes for a smut racket homemade pornographic films and distribution of coke. Double Secret Probation for you, sir!   Streetwise Val (Sharon Hughes of The Last Horror Film, Grotesque, Chained Heat and Mission: Killfast) who rocks her Aquanet hair becomes Carol's mentor giving her the tips to survival and how to loosen up in this madcap world behind bars.

You muthas messin' with Cleopatra Jones!?!

With the promise of drugs, sex and other such contraband, the male prison guards listen to their Captain Taylor (Stella Stevens of The Nutty Professor, The Poseidon Adventure, Santa Barbara, General Hospital and Megaconda) who keeps it on the up and up by is a partner to statuesque Duchess (Sybil Danning of The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers: Milady's Revenge, Cat in the Cage, Battle Beyond the Stars, Hercules, Howling II: Striba Bitch, Reform School Girls and Warrior Queen) is clearly a lifer running whatever kind of skag she can on her cell block and is a big deal next to her competition that Amazonian bit of loveliness, Duchess (Tamara Dobson of Fuzz, Cleopatra Jones, Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold, Murder at the World Series, Jason of Star Command, Chained Heat and Amazons). Tensions are high between the white and black cell blocks. Imagine what the Latinas, Germans and the Irish feel. I do feel the boom mic deserves a decent billing as I saw it more than a few times but nowhere near the top billed boom mic of Dolemite.

Tee hee!  I'm easy.

Naive Carol is caught in the middle of this bubbling cauldron and it only a matter of time before a block war goes up. Will she survive the next few days?? Can no one stop the madness???

With the grim and gritty atmosphere of in-house fighting, shower scenes, lesbian scenes and sleazy dialogue this makes for unusual viewing. The lighting choices of shadows, back lit and eerie synthesizer music was an odd choice but fits the mood pretty well. With racist fights, shanks and the staff being corrupt gives little to no hope of a night's sleep. Shockingly enough, as this is a women in prison film there is tons of nudity. I know, I too was surprised at this. The story is dark, some of the acting is over the top but we do have some classic Henry Silvia with his patented creepy smile and pleasant voice ensuring you would die slowly. This exploitation, sexploitation, blaxploitation film does have its cult following so you make of that what you will.

Who said this isn't my natural hair color!?!

TV Episode: Daredevil- In the Blood

Welcome back readers of this fine, outstanding blog to Day 4 of TV Episode Daredevil. As you can imagine, the Russians are getting a severe ass chewing by Fisk to eliminate the man in the black mask. Scouring the streets to find him, anyone that knows him or have had contact with him, the Ranskahov brothers decide to visit their now broken leg breaker in the hospital, as he was the last man to see the man in black. This is Daredevil: In the Blood.

Judging from the screams, that is a long way down.

After sneaking in the hospital and waken Semyon (Alex Falberg of Katya, The Men Who Built America and Progression), the leg breaker spurts out the details he knows... and then they off him. No loose strings for these guys. Suffice to say, these fellas are as subtle is a grenade in a bowl of oatmeal. Vladimir and Anatoly seek the aid of an interogator Sergei (David Vadim of G.I. Jane, Air Force One, Exit Wounds, Punisher: War Zone, Blue Bloods and Allegiance) who captures Claire and hauls her to a secluded place to "ask" her questions.

Karen surprised Ben Ulrich was not interested in the story behind Union Allied attends a local auction as several of the office equipment is up for grabs and it is her hope she can track down the bigwigs behind the scenes. Ben startles her, tells her to bid on some items or she will look even more nervous than she already does. Fisk returns to the art gallery where he met Vanessa and the two seem to hit it off so well he asks her to dinner, which oddly enough she accepts.

Dude is just getting wounded so Rosario will touch him.

Sergei and the cronies are putting the screws to Claire when all the lights go out... coincidence? Our vigilante makes short work of the Russians and Vladimir and Anatoly are on their collective butts again and Claire is in the wind with Matt. Fisk made a prior arrangement offer to the brothers and Anatoly is willing to accept due to they clearly are not working out well enough.

Enjoying a bottle of wine with dinner, Vanessa is blissfully unaware of how much muscle is watching over Fisk. At least 15 men minimum as Anatoly interrupts dinner, putting Vanessa on edge of Fisk thinking that his motives and intentions are nowhere near as pure as he claimed. Anatoly is treated to a pummeling and a horrific beheading which Fisk has the word passed it was the man in black. Will the Russians come gunning for Matt even more so? Will the other mobs accept this direction to go to war with the Russians? Won't they wonder who may be next?

A few bits of amusement of the episode. Fisk's right hand man comments how the vigilante isn't sporting a powered armor or magic hammer so why are the brothers having such a time with him. The tattoos the brothers are sporting at the beginning of the episode are Vory z Zakone (Russian mafia) via made men. Again the depths these actors bring to keep this series grounded to as much reality as needed is commendable.  It is my hope that all the readers here get to enjoy this series as much as I have.

Yeah these boys look like honest church going lads.

TV Episode: Daredevil- Rabbit in a Snowstorm

Welcome back fans of the Devil to Day 3 of TV Episode Daredevil. A quick mention that Season 2 has been ordered up and I for one cannot wait to see them try to top Season 1. That being said, this time around we find Nelson & Murdock have a difficult case ahead of them as they have been asked to represent a John Healy who on the whole, looks like self defense against a local mob boss and his crew. Is it on the up and up? Will justice prevail? This is Daredevil: Rabbit in a Snowstorm.

A priest and a vigilante go into a bar...

After the severe butt whipping of last episode, Matt meditates, heals up and puts on his suit and tie to face the day as lawyer of Nelson & Murdock. Matt and Foggy are visited by James Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore of The Pacific, Underbelly, Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, John Wick and True Dead), Wilson Fisk's right hand man representing Fisk on the QT, offers them an obscene check to represent John Healy (Alex Morf of The Good Wife, Tin Man, Elementary, and In Dubious Battle) a man charged with premeditated murder of a mob boss. Foggy is a bit concerned about Healy but ultimately Matt wins him over with pointing out their young firm may have to represent some scum now and then. Matt gets the vibe from Healy that he is not on the up and up and in fact a mob enforcer but shows the court room the facts of the case which is pretty apparent he is going to walk.

There's a face you can trust... to do horrible things.

Later meeting back up with Healy in his back garb and throwing cowboy with him, Healy gives up his employer's name, Wilson Fisk. He then tells Matt that he is a dead man for talking and his whole family and friends will be wiped out before they get to him. To prevent that from happening, Healy offs himself. Matt has to deal with the balance of following the law and operating as a vigilante at the same time and it is clearly eating away at him.

With Union Allied safely dispersed and hidden under a new name, the conglomerate representing them contacts Karen, telling her they will not pursue legal charges given she broke her non-disclosure agreement (You know, in spite of the fact of attempts on her life twice) and is offered 6 months salary in the form of a big, stinky check for her... inconvenience.

Taken back by this, Karen seeks out harden and dogged newspaper man Ben Ulrich (Vondie Curtis-Hall of Die Hard 2, Chicago Hope, Romeo + Juliet, Broken Arrow, Life is Hot in Cracktown and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) as she spills that there has to be more going on with the former Union Allied, a paper trail leading to the people responsible for Daniel Fisher's murder and the embezzlement of millions. Sensing the story and how deep the rabbit hole will go, Ben tries to discourage Karen in pursuing this obviously dangerous line of inquiry but not sure if he got through to her.

Fisk making all the moves from the shadows is now finding some artwork for his penthouse tower that captivates and moves him. He finds not only a painting but the lovely gallery director Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer of Munich, Vantage Point, Ingenious, Angels & Demons, Man of Steel and Last Knights) who almost instantly captivates him. We see him exhibit humanity in a otherwise cold exterior. Tensions run high in the underworld. Is Murdock making that many waves? Will Fisk and company come at him hard? What about the growing closeness of Foggy and Karen?

A few facts on the show now. The character Ben Ulrich is a white guy in the original comic and no one should lose their mind over a talented actor handling the role. The model of pistol in the crates is a Heckler & Koch P30 which can be a 9mm Parabellum (German caliber created by Georg Luger) or a 40. caliber S& W. The bowling alley this episode was film at was Whitestone Bowling Lanes in Flushing, NY. I guess due to the lack of harsh lighting in the joint. I mean have you ever seen a bowling alley with that tame of lighting before?

Man that body really sunk deep in the river.

TV Episode: Daredevil: Cut Man

Hey true believers, welcome back to Day 2 of TV Episode Daredevil. A quick recap on Matt Murdock. As a child, Matt was blinded by a vat of volatile chemicals that were on a truck accident he saved an old man from dying. While unable to see in the conventional sense, he has a sort of radar sense and his other senses seem almost heightened. After the previous episode the Russians abducted a boy from his father and left a trail of bread crumbs for him to follow. This is Daredevil: Cut Man.

The lengths guys will go to impress Rosario Dawson.

While a young man Santino (Moises Acevedo of Don't Let Me Drown, Remember Me, Kings of Bushwick, Flat Out Amazing and Three from the Block) takes out the trash he notices a battered masked man in black laying in the dumpster. Running upstairs to fetch Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson of Josie and the Pussycats, Men in Black II, Sin City, This Girl's Life, Clerks II, Death Proof, Wonder Woman, Unstoppable and 10 Years), a nurse on night shift. The two haul the man in black (Matt) to her apartment where she discovers he has busted ribs, several cuts that he is bleeding out from and more than likely a concussion.

Matt wakes up on Claire's couch in absolute pain and is unmasked and tells Claire that the Russians laid a trap for him, hence he looks like the losing end of a soccer riot. Knowing the Russians won't be happy until he is a corpse he tries to deal with them, get the boy back and save the proverbial day. If he could stop passing out. We are treated to a flashback of Matt (Skylar Gaertner of Locke & Key, The Americans, Alex of Venice, Every Secret Thing and I Smile Back) listening to a boxing match with his father Battling Jack Murdock losing the fight. Jack gets back and gets stitched up by Matt as they talk about never staying down in a fight. Murdocks always get back up.

Dad, no more PTA fist fights.

With the Russians combing Hell's Kitchen looking for him, he plans to capture one of them and get him to talk... by typical vigilante terms of a butt whipping.

Meanwhile Karen and Foggy are bar hopping and bonding as Karen unloads on Foggy saying she can't bear to be in her apartment after her former colleague was killed there and she herself was almost killed. Foggy's lighter view starts to show Karen there is good in the Kitchen with the community giving a damn about one another which puts her in a better mood.

Matt/Man in Black awakes to deal with one of the Russians, get intel on the abducted boy and plans his assault in spite of all his injuries. Can he save the boy? Will he survive let alone put up much of a fight against the Russians? What will saving one life accomplish?

A few keynotes of the episode now. With director Phil Abraham (The Playboy Club, Hell on Wheels, The Walking Dead and Mad Men) at the helm, this episode is an excellent follow-up from the pilot, not pulling punches or forgetting to show that our hero is in fact, human and vulnerable. The issues Claire has with Matt's flexible morality on beating down the bad guys leaves her in a tight spot on whether or not he is one of the good guys. The atmosphere, lighting and scope of Hell's Kitchen all encompasses the story giving you tragic stories, areas of triumph and insight to the characters around.

Daredevil always looks hopelessly outnumbered, outmatched and out maneuvered in the comics and this is no exception. With fight choreography via stuntman Philip J Silvera (Never Surrender, Cop Out, Chuck, FlashForward, DC Universe Online, Bad Girls and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City) with ten years of experience helping TV, film and video game fighting design, the realism is there, the punches sound meaty and vicious and Murdock gets tagged. No Spidey sense or bottomless pit of stamina assists him as it is all his will and determination.

She is so out of your league, Foggy.

Blaxplotiation Week : Black Caesar

Welcome back to Blaxploitation Week gentle readers.  My apologies for the delay I had some sort of Vertigo from a video game or I had been on the computer too long.  Take your pick.   I am now writing on my new computer which runs awesome!!!   One of the fans is a bit loud but I am working on it.  Today's flick brings a boy of the streets to a man of power.  As a young man, Tommy Gibbs was beaten profusely by a racist cop that makes him crave power anyway he can get it and thus embarks into a career in crime.   Hey, it was the system for a change!   This is Black Caesar.

Tommy's smooth pimpin'.

Tommy Gibbs: I gave spoiler everything she wanted, Rufus, but she still wasn't ever happy.
Reverend Rufus: You know, I almost feel like I could pray for her.




Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson of Three the Hard Way, The Inglorious Bastards, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Warrior of the Wasteland and Vamped) was a tolerated errand boy for the Italian Syndicate when he chose to rise to power creating his own black crime family deep in Harlem.  He soon gets the reputation of a man in charge and goes to war with his old employers the mafia in New York City.   With his ledger book of all the dealings and goings on include his former boss McKinney (Art Lund of The Molly Maguires, The Last American Hero, Bucktown and The Oklahoma City Dolls) he wages bloody retribution and demands to be recognized as the man.

Boomstick, sucka!

No sooner has he commited his forces to this gang war Tommy meets a gorgeous singer Helen (Gloria Hendry of Live and Let Die, Hell Up in Harlem, Black Belt Jones and Man in the Mirror) and they fall in love and in no time are married enjoying the high life.   Gloria soon discovers Tommy is no gentleman, calls him out on it and he violates her.
Hell bent on revenge, Gloria contacts McKinney to do Tommy in which leads to a substantial gun fight. Enemies start outweighing friends as Tommy takes care of business.

I had just a few points of the film at this time.  Shot in Spherical 35 mm, this film brings us a coming of age story that leads a young boy down a dark path and when he feels he has everything ever wanted he finds himself worse off than he was.  Sammy Davis Jr. was offered the role initially but he declined saying he didn't feel the film had merit or offered a positive story.   It is dark, violent and action packed.   Almost a retelling of "Little Caesar" with Edward G Robinson and it works well.

Swear the guy on his left is Issac Hayes.
 

Horror Grab Bag Week: Bloody Wednesday

I formally greet and rejoice for the return of my readers and welcome you back to Horror Grab Bag Week for a tale that is both bizarre and twisted.  A deranged man who prior to the Nestle plunge into sanity was a superb mechanic but the little voices in his head told him he would be far happier if he simply went mad.  Traipsing through the swamps of this man’s mind will be a tricky thing so grab your rubber boots and hip waders and everyone stay together in a group.  This is Bloody Wednesday.

 

Better than the magic covers any day!

Teddy says you should be punished you piece of spoiler!!

Say hello to Harry (Raymond Elmendorf of Cuba Crossing, The A-Team and Project X), a mechanic of some renown and in general a decent guy until he gets bullied by virtually every big hair band…er…um I mean gang in town.  Victimized by these little Tony Danza/John Stamos clones, Harry retreats into a safe world of his own creation after a horrendous divorce and his boss thinking he was less stable than nitroglycerin is let go. 

Oh no, I fell into a Kim Wilde video!!!! AHHHH!!!!

Harry starts to lose his grip on reality and wanders into a church during evening mass stark naked.   He is then shockingly committed to a psychiatric hospital where his doctor Emily Johnson (Pamela Baker of I Want to Live and Through Naked Eyes) truly wants to help Harry but because she has a vagina all her Cro-Magnon colleagues view Harry as harmless and release him due to overcrowding at the wacko basket. Out on his butt Harry shacks up in an abandoned hotel where he starts hallucinating…or does he?  Is he really going crackers or are people taunting him, tormenting every night and day and making him crack under the strain like a delicate china cup?

Check...please...ugh.

Harry’s only friends are this bellhop he converses with and his oversized teddy bear.   The walls of reality and fantasy come crashing against one another; Harry is finally fed up with all this nonsense and somehow gets his hands on a submachine gun and brother is he locked and loaded.

What is fascinating about this film is seeing Harry through the eyes of the other characters.  This timid and mild-mannered man probably never stood up for himself at any given time, threatens and forces a gang of thugs on their knees with a .44 while he decides what to do with them.  He is literally arguing with his teddy bear on whether or not to ventilate them.  His responses, body twitches and shrieks of horror in the night may be…a little over the top but it does not detract this performance in my opinion.  Also the askew worlds bouncing back and forth give the kiddy ride equivalency of an acid trip or a bipolar disorder in full swings of his highs and lows to the severity I have never heard of.

 

No I don't want to visit Tigger and Owl!!!

Dr. Johnson tries desperately to locate Harry before he can do anything that may harm him or others but has no idea where to look and ultimately has no choice but to give up. 

35mm Spherical captures more than a fair share of zoom pans, a fish eye lens and decent hand held throughout this warped imagery.  A very surreal mood is cast over you from this flick it almost has the feel of homage to Polanski’s The Tenant just not as refined.  Not an amazing film but certainly not mundane either. 

Alternative Title Week: Escape from the Bronx

Welcome back to another heaping helping of Alternative Title Week.  Since starting this concept with the Bronx Warriors, I thought it only proper to subject you all to its sequel. HEY!  Stop running away.  You didn’t have to watch it.   Okay then… Director Enzo G. Castellari (Cold Eyes of Fear, Keoma, The Inglorious Bastards, The Last Shark, The Bronx Warriors and Warriors of the Wasteland) felt his anti-hero Trash needed a bit more hype and love so came the sequel of his opus The Bronx Warriors.  So stock up on some ammo, avoid going out in the daylight and beware of Italians claiming to be Americans.  This is Escape from the Bronx a.k.a. The Bronx Warriors 2, Escape 2000, Escape from the Bronx- 1990: The Bronx Warriors II and Son Adam: Escape from the Bronx.

 

Chou stay out of ma beans!!!

Floyd Wrangler: No spoiler you idiot! How many times do I have to tell you, no spoiler! It makes me CRAZY!!

When we last left our greasy anti-hero Trash, (Mark Gregory of Rainbow, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Adam and Eve, Thunder and Thunder II) he was the lone survivor of the Riders (the “toughest gang” of the Bronx).  Now he does runs for the remaining gangs in search of ammunition and sidearms for a profit.  While avoiding pot shots fired from the General Construction Corporation’s band of bully boys, Trash finds remaining the Bronx to be a bleak concept but has nowhere else to call home.  He tries to convince the leader of the combined gangs Tolberone (Antonio Sabato of Grand Prix, Hate for Hate, Barbarella, They Were Called Graveyard, Lovemaker and Beyond the Law) to start another uprising against GCC but to no avail.

Relax, they are just cutting down on the weeds.

The corporation promises those that leave the Bronx on their own accord will be sent to New Mexico with the promise of an affordable house and better living.  Yes take note nothing about setting them up in Manhattan or Brooklyn.   Meanwhile beyond their veiled promise is silver suit clad men armed with submachine guns and FLAMETHROWERS!!! They are doing building to building searches and smoking anything that shows an ounce of resistance to the forceful move.

Aren't you hot in that outfit?

The merciless corporate President Clark(Ennio Girolami of The Last Shark, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Tuareg: The Desert Warrior, Operation Name and Sinbad of the Seven Seas) plays off the rumors that his conglomerate is using fascist tactics to move the people from the slums of the Bronx, however a reporter name of Moon Grey (Valeria D’Obici of Passione d’amore, Sweet Pea, Midnight Killer and The Best Man) claims that the GCC President is full of what makes the grass grow green and is exterminating people with extreme prejudice.  Oh those zany reporters.  

Clark’s main man, Floyd Wrangler (Henry de Silva of The Manchurian Candidate, Day of the Assassin, Sharky’s Machine, Chained Heat,  Above the Law and Cannonball Run II) assures Clark that he will meet the deadline and take care of the reporter as well. 

Moon Grey hooks up with Trash and a resistance fighter from Nam named Strike and his demolitionist 8 year old son to kidnap the President and hold him hostage until his goon squads pull out of the Bronx.

 

Die in the name of Charlton Heston!!!

As previously with the first movie the gunfights have that nice slow motion effect to let you clearly see they have been gunned down.  The fore mentioned boy rigs the stairwells and walkways with explosive charges to the likes you don’t see from a veteran Navy SEAL or Army Ranger.  This boy is terrifying in my opinion.  He can skip every bath he wants.  I don’t need him rigging my electric razor or toilet to explode. 

Typical 80’s action flick with a lot of gunfire, some fist fights and not a whole lot of plot in site but it was kind of fun to watch.

Before They Were Stars: Darkman

Hey all! We travel further into Before They Were Stars week and let us focus on a fellow who started as he called it a bit actor in some impressive films such as Excalibur, Krull and The Bounty.  So I thought we would reflect on his first lead role.    So get your popcorn and soda, enjoy your comfy chair.  This is Darkman.

Spoilers operate from the shadows…

Director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, The Quick and the Dead, For Love of the Game, The Gift and Spider-Man) gathers a team of writers such as: Chuck Pfarrer (The Jackal, Red Planet and Virus), Ivan Raimi (Easy Wheels, Army of Darkness, Spy Game and Spiderman 3) Daniel Goldin (Out on a Limb and Stephen King’s Dead Zone) and Joshua Goldin (Out on a Limb, Wonderful World and Outlaw Country) collaborate to create a good, decent man and break him slowly.    With the haunting composure of Danny Elfman (Batman, Beetlejuice, The Flash, Batman Returns, Army of Darkness, Batman: The Animated Series, Tales from the Crypt and Mars Attacks) a gang war is spreading over the territories and land is being snatched up left and right no matter what the cost.   To what end you may ask?   We then shoot over to Doctor Peyton Westlake’s (Liam Neeson of Excalibur, Rob Roy, Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York, Love Actually, Batman Begins and Taken) laboratory as he and his assistant Yakitito (Nelson Mashita of Rising Sun, Independence Day, Drive and NYPD Blue) are attempting to create an artificial skin that would replace skin graphs and deep tissue burns, the catch is they cannot seem to get it to last beyond 100 minutes of exposure to light.   

So close to this discovery that would benefit humanity he discusses the experiment with lawyer girlfriend Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand of Raising Arizona, Mississippi Burning, Hidden Agenda, Fargo, Primal Fear, Wonder Boys and Almost Famous) whose pesky need for the truth may have uncovered some unsavory acts in zoning laws for the newest construction by Louis Strack (Colin Friels of Water Rats, Dark City,The Book of Revelation, BlackJack: Dead Memory, BlackJack: At the Gates and BlackJack:Ghosts) would appear to not only Strack Industries is accountable for bribes but in league with a nefarious criminal Robert G Durant (Larry Drake of L.A. Law, Dr. Giggles, Prey, Darkman II: The Return of Durant and The Beast) on this lucrative land grab scheme to net millions.  

Durant and his boys hit Westlake’s lab, pummeling and disfiguring him as well as killing Yakitito blowing up Westlake’s lab sending him in a fireball out to sea.   He awakes in the hospital but the explosion has altered him.  40% of his body is covered in burns and to cease him from having pain the doctor( Jenny Agutter of Logan’s Run, The Man in the Iron Mask, Equus, Dominique, An American Werewolf in London and MI-5) does a procedure to block the nerve endings are greatly damaged in the fact he can hardly feel anything.   With this in mind, he feels as though he is going through sensory deprivation and is easily angered causing a huge surge of adrenaline within him giving him uncharted amounts of strength.  Little point of observation, I swear one of the visiting doctors looks like John Landis (director of Animal House, An American Werewolf in London, The Blues Brothers and Coming to America).   

Afraid, ruined and broken, Westlake attempts to continue his research if not to be reunited with Julie but to take revenge on Durant and his cronies.   With all his equipment and synthetic skin at his abandoned factory (must be New York, the heroes and villains always find an abandoned factory) the ready he plots and schemes how to best destroy the men that took his life. 

You get the feel of a hybrid of a 1940’s radio show based on the villains’ dialogue but the seamy underbelly of a 1980’s graphic novel all jumbled together.  With influences like the Looney Tunes, Three Stooges and Marvel Comics is it any wonder this film is as insane as it is well constructed.  We get old favorite POV views as well as; Gunsight POV, Ram-o Cam and Shaky Cam as well.   Raimi of course keeps to his favorites to work with and we do get an appearance of Bruce Campbell, his brother Ted Raimi and Dan Hicks; you just gotta keep them eyes peeled. Over the top villains, a tormented hero and of course, the dame with the gams it’s a fun and bizarre ride.

Ridley Scott Week: Black Rain

So begins the Ridley Scott week.  Who is Ridley Scott you may ask?   From TV directing, movie director and production he has been in TV and Movie since 1967 from the ground up and into main feature length films.  So kick your shoes off and sit a spell.  This is Black Rain.

Spoilers are everywhere!!!

Diving into a thriller starring Michael Douglas (The Chyna Syndrome, Running, Romancing the Stone, Falling Down, Basic Instinct, The Game and Wonder Boys) as Nick Conklin, a hardnosed, rough and tumble cop that breaks the rules to get the job done.  He and his partner Charlie Vincent (Andy Garcia of The Untouchables, The Godfather: Part III, When a Man Loves a Woman, Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead, Desperate Measures and Ocean’s Eleven) are under investigation by Internal Affairs based on theft charges occurring in their department when they witness a high ranking Yakuza get blown away by Sato (Yusaku Matsuda of The Detective Story, Home Sweet Home, And Then and The Rage of Love) and Conklin busts him. 

This little feather under his cap allows Nick and Charlie to travel to Japan to extradite to their authorities only to be jumped by Sato’s men and freeing their leader.  Given the less than stellar standing on handling of prisoner transfer, the Japanese police department allows Conklin and Vincent to stay in Japan and assist finding Sato but they are not allowed to carry their sidearms and they get a chaperone with Masahiro (Ken Takakura of The Yellow Handkerchief, Never Give Up, Station, Antarctica and Yasha) a by the book, dots every I and crosses every T cop and the animosity ensues.  Charlie has to be a buffer between Conklin and Masahiro to calm the waters. 

Delving into the underground our heroes find out that Sato should end up taking over the main Yakuza families due to flooding the market with counterfeit his own money.  The main appeal to this film is the clash between cultures from anything of on the fallout of WWII to how Masahiro and Conklin view each others’ level perceived decadence.  Honor of course has a great precedence in the movie representing Japanese culture and the title itself is described survivors in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki .   The film is clearly Scott due to lots of smoke filled rooms, men roaming around in trenchcoats, scenes feeling very claustrophobic streetscapes, lots of steam rising from the streets for reason and of course neon lights.  

The karaoke scene with Mas and Charlie is actually amusing and apt and didn’t feel inappropriate.  This film got a lax standing on from the audience, there was not a lot of love for this movie and I felt it got past over.  Far too many sub-characters and incoherent subplots like the nightclub owner Joyce (Kate Capshaw of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, SpaceCamp and Just Cause) as the love interest of Douglas’s Conklin.  I personally do not view this as Scott’s best work but I truly believe this is worthy to but put up with the likes of 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, The Hidden with a dash of The Lost Boy Scout.   This is a worthwhile film, folks.  Give it the once over.

Assault on Precinct 13..No Hawkes allowed.

Back again kiddies and I can just tell you are all giddy at this.   Hey how about an action movie shot in locations like Watts, South Central L.A. and Venice Beach back in the early 70’s?   From a vicious gang against a finite amount of police in the area, this flick gets intense.   So grab a seat, a few snacks and relax.  This is Assault on Precinct 13^th.

Spoiler!  It’s a godd*mn spoiler!

Yes, I am referring to the original film of 1976 under Carpenter's reign vs the loosely based remake of 2005.  A less than typical film with its flaws and imperfection that show the beginning of Carpenter’s film process and from this show the sense of style he is most commonly known for.  John Carpenter has lucked out in locations more times than one can count.  Venice Police & Fire Station Division 14 was scheduled to be demolished, armed with only a budget of $150,000 and the film was shot in all of 20 days.  An ambitious re-creation of Rio Bravo, down to the camera angling to anamorphic shots felt like a project worthwhile.

Our story opens with a sting takes out a series of gang members in a bloody gunfire. Cannot even imagine how many shots fired forms they were filling out.  The surviving gang members swear in blood oath that vengeance will happen.  Lieutenant Ethan Bishop (Austin Stoker of Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Horror High, ‘Sheba, Baby ‘, Roots and Machete Joe) a recently promoted officer is scheduled to Precinct 13. A station being torn down, paperwork and supplies shipped to its future location.  While this is not the best gig, it is Bishop’s first assignment as a Lieutenant and he will see it through.

Meanwhile in Los Cruzes, a notorious criminal named Napoleon Wilson (Darwin Joston of Eraserhead, The Fog, Coast to Coast, Time Walker and Airwolf) is being transported in a bus on his way to death row by Starker (Charles Cyphers of Halloween, Halloween II, Escape from New York, The Fog and Grizzly II: The Concert)

Back at the precinct, Bishop meets the remaining staff, desk sergeant  Grumpy McStereotype, filing clerk Leigh (Laurie Zimmer of American Raspberry, A Dirty Story and Survival of Dana) and dispatch operator Julie (Nancy Kyes of Halloween, Halloween II, The Fog, Halloween III, Not in Front of the Children and Lady Boss)

One of the inmates on the bus is violently ill and the only station in route is Precinct 13, with that the bus pulls in assessing the situation and hope they can lay aid to the sick man.

Blocks away a father takes his daughter with him in order to scoop up and move her nanny (Oh Mr. Sheffield) in with them.  Driving a high end Cadillac in South Central L.A. under the influence of being a dumb white guy this could get a bit dicey.

A shoot out later the father makes his way to Precinct 13 to safety but the combined forces of the gang follow him with their ill-gotten gains from a heist of the National Guard Armory depot, they have enough firepower to level six maybe seven city blocks.  Equipped with silencers, the lack of neighbors in the rundown area and barely any public safety of any sorts the members of the precinct, two prisoners and the remaining transport troops have to hold off this mass army of lunatics until help arrives.  

The dialogue gives the feel of a B-movie and this is Carpenter’s second film after Dark Star in 1974. Fewer dolly tracked shots and more hand held you really had to feel for those poor cameramen breaking their backs.  Given its fairly violent nature and penchant for shock and awe, this movie does invoke fear and dread for the decent folk trying to live through the night and almost seething hatred for the gang members.  In my humble opinion a gem that gets overlooked.