Robowoman

Hiya boys and girls! I'm back and ready to blog. That fricking #34 Rotten Ramblin' On took far too much time editing. Will explain at a later date. Today, a director who you all by now if you have been reading this blog, contacted me for a write-up. Rather a regular on this blog, director/writer/editor Dustin Ferguson (Doll Killer, Die Sister, Die!, Gloved Murderess, Cheerleader Camp: To the Death, Invitation to Die and Nemesis 5: The New Model) asked if I wouldn't mind giving his flick the once over. Naturally, the answer is yes.  Penned by writer Mike Reeb (Nemesis 5, House of Pain, Horndog's Beach Party) gives off  the styling feeling almost like a hybrid of Ms. 45 and Robocop, I am completely down for this. This is Robowoman.

Petite and pistol packing!

With an opening shot of L.A.via some damn fine drone footage and treated some radio exposition of violent crimes, we follow the story of Vivica Stevens ( Dawna Lee Heising of Blade Runner, Kung Fu: The Movie, Forbidden Warrior, Waiting for Dracula, Legend of the Red Reaper, Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance and Meathook Massacre II), hard at work for a temp agency and anyone that has worked temp can appreciate that grind, scowls from the regulars that you are a scab worker and so on.

Hounding her for a night on the town, a persistant co-worker Jonathan (Johnathan Nation of Flight World War II, Erotic Vampires of Beverly Hills, Circus Kane, Jurassic Galaxy and Runaway Nightmare) is pleading for a date; reluctantly Vivica lowers her shields and decides to give this goof a chance. I wasn't really feeling good vibrations of this cat, but hey I'm not female or gay, so what the hell do I know?

She's looking for Sarah Connor?

Still being sensible, Vivica calls her roommate Carlenee (Sue Price of Nemesis 2: Nebula, Nemesis 3: Time Lapse, Nemesis 4: Death Angel, Nemesis: The New Model and House of Pain) to give her the heads up that she will be out with Jonathan and a few of his buddies. Carlenee tells her to be careful and use good judgement. Sheesh, okay Mom. It's just Robby's (Gregory Blair of AbsurdTV Show, Horndogs Beach Party, Abaddon, Ugly Sweater Party, Lockdown, Garden Party Massacre and Wall of Flesh: A Vintage Comedy)birthday. What could go wrong?

The night goes for a turn for the worse as Jonathan and his "buddies" jump poor Vivica in a parking lot and proceed to...will "bad touch" do well enough for you folk? Yeah I know, I know rape revenge isn't my best subgenre to tackle but bear with me. Viciously attacked and left for dead, Vivica is barely hanging on, needing help badly. Carlenee tracks her to the park finding her in the mess that she is in, violated and hurt.

Isolated in a hospital, Vivica is touch and go, a Doctor Michaels (Mel Novak of Game of Death, Cat in the Cage, An Eye for an Eye, Future War, Vampire Assassin, Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance, Check Point and Holy Terror) and his assistant Hannah (Vida Ghaffari of Near Death, Circus of Dread, The Mindy Project, Eye on Entertainment, Facebook Live with Ford & Vida, Horndogs Beach Party, Holy Terror, Suspense and Hybristophilla) offering Vivica a new arm, a means of rewiring her optic nerves and giving her life back. Maybe not as before but better than bed ridden and injured. Helloooo Nurse Hannah! Sorry, sucker for a pretty face.

Moving right along, the procedure is a bit delicate and not completely legal but it is the building blocks of cybernetics. Carlenee must decide for Vivica and save her friend. Undergoing surgery, she is outfitted with a visor to compensate for her eye damage and now a killer right hook. The punch. They didn't give her a hook for an arm. Emotionally, Vivica is trying to keep things together but not able to cry is turning her stomach. Perhaps some martial arts and self defense to ease the soul, mind and body?

Confronting her demons, Vivica tries to move on from that night and Carlenee is really being the awesome, supportive friend she needs but she cannot shake it away from her thoughts. She seems to be off center with all the odd series of murders happening in her neighborhood. I'd think about moving but that's me.

L.A. after 2 p.m.

In a nutshell ,we have a Sci-Fi look at modern hate crimes, rape and murder and how society doesn't seem to register it being horrific as it really is. This blend of a rape revenge/science fiction shows Dawna can really perform. To see her range of cold decisive to conflicted and emotional was a real treat. I couldn't get over how warm Sue Price was in her performance as well. Keep in mind, I have only seen Sue Price as a muscle bound warrior crossing space and time, so a nurturing role was a bit startling but welcome. My only complaint is we needed a villain worthy of David Hess (Last House on the Left, Hitch-Hike, House on the Edge of the Park and Swamp Thing) or Henry Silvia (The Manchurian Candidate, Above the Law and Dick Tracy).  Jonathan Nation just looks like a really nice guy. 

With returns of regulars in the Ferguson alumni is legendary Scream Queen Brinke Stevens (Private School, Sole Survivor, Fatal Games, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama, Cheerleader Massacre) actor/producer Mark Popejoy (Mark Popejoy of Die Sister, Die!, The Eyes of Isabelle, Gloved Murderess and Shivers Down Your Spine) and Clint Beaver (The Dummy 2, Tales for the Campfire 2, Meathook Massacre II, Worng Side of the Tracks, Nemesis 5: The New Model and Amityville: Evil Never Dies), it is easily understood that Ferguson is easy going, know what to expect from his cast and crew and they deliver in record time.

A quick and special shoutout at SFX creator, Joe Castro(Xenophobia, Terror Toons 4, 9 Ways to Hell and Night of the Demons 3). Responsible for Dawna's visor and cyberarm, she embodies looking like a badass and stunt coordinator Shaun Vetick (Blood Rites, Flyover Country, Flat Water Terrors Volume 1, Say Goodbye, Grace: A Detective Story and Robowoman) giving our cyborg some martial arts training and pointers. Kudos for Wilheim screams (Stock sound effect of a man screaming used in over 389 films and dozens upon dozens of TV shows) being used.

Long term view? This definitely screams out of a sequel. Hell maybe two. We'll just have to wait and see.

Candid pose?  Perhaps.

Knock Off Week: Intikam kadini a.k.a. Turkish I Spit on Your Grave.

Welcome back any readers I may still have after Robo Vampire. Yeah that English dubbing really put the film into perspective for me. It says, not all foreign distribution should happen. Well knock offs and impostors are gonna happen in Hollywood. Hell Asylum Films lives on most of that alone. Of course there is always the comment of, "I liked that movie but I think I would go a different direction than they did." Which brings us to our latest discovery. I'm not sure why I keep doing this sort of thing to myself but apparently Turkey was not overcome with joy with the original Meir Zarchi 1978 shocker rape revenge flick, I Spit on Your Grave. Nope the idea for four men gang raping, degrading and trying to off a girl was just simply not enough for some folk. The idea that crossed director/writer Naki Yurter (Fehmi the Astronaut, Cehenneme postalarim, Sehmuz, Haydi bastir and Dert Duragi) if only we could make that a porno as well. Bravo movie, you have just lowered the bar on my blog yet again. This is Intikam kadini a.k.a. A Woman Like That a.k.a. Turkish I Spit on Your Grave.

Joe Spinell's vacation pics got overexposed.

No sooner did I actually find this film the stock alone is grainier than a grindhouse movie. Maybe David Hess' Krug mistook it for Sandra Peabody from The Last House on the Left and had his wicked way with it. Okay, so while the subtitles took forever to pop up I gathered this film is really trying to be its own film and in many ways it really is. Yeah yeah four guys jumped and girl and now she vows bloody revenge. Sadly I can find at least 30 more films like that and do not have to automatically call that a rip-off of I Spit on Your Grave. It could have been closely modeled after Ms .45. Also our rapists are not just punks working for minimum wage in this flick, turns out they are real estate agents who work and live in the city. Their car breaks down in the country and then wonder up to the household of Aysel and her father. After being offered food and shelter for the night they repay the kindness they have received with rape of the girl and brutally murdering her father. Sure you don't want to stop and boot stomp all the chickens or kick the goat in the balls too??

Cut! Turkish Bluto you are on the wrong set!

Asyel (Zerrin Dogan of Hizli giden yourulur, Sona Kalan Dona Kalir, Sev beni, Ooooh Oh and Rezil) is this close to commiting suicide when she decides she will get her revenge instead. Oh and for those of you who had issues with Camile Keaton seducing her attackers and then gacking them one by one well this one will just blow your mind as Asyel decides to seduce her attackers and even jump the bones of a couple of them, again in order for the sweet sweet revenge. I love how the guys didn't even recognize her because her hair is down and she is wearing makeup. Apparently this skin flick didn't get nearly enough flesh going so the other attackers are just in bed with a couple of other women so they must not be real choosy in this portion of Turkey.

Lastly in all of this, there are weird edits or cuts in the film where the music just stops or after a bit of dialogue is over, not even a wipe or dissolve just bloop! NEW SCENE! Music stingers are to be encouraged but alas this crew does not seem to get how that works.

Our infamous director Naki Yurter was arrested by the Turkish government in 1980 for creating and distribution of pornography or whatever film was deemed taboo or communist staple. Yurter never made another movie after Intikam kadini so not sure if that was due to mistreatment in prison or possibly prison guard beatings... I had no real further info on the guy aside from his passing in 2014.

Run time is an hour and well that seemed long enough. They had some ideas and some ways to make this a psychological thriller but no real technical direction, blocking shots was unheard of and the stock looked like it was the dailies before final print.

Well she's no Cleopatra Jones but yeah that's nice.

Savage Titles: Savage Vengeance

Savage Titles return for Day 3 and boy I am regretting this decision for the week but here it goes. An American slasher/rape revenge story brought to us by director Donald Farmer (Demon Queen, Cannibal Hookers, Vampire Cop. Red Lips, Chainsaw Cheerleaders and Hi-8 Horror Independent 8) so feel free to cringe, slink away and hide under the bed. This film is deemed the official unofficial sequel to the controversial 1978 rape revenge film I Spit on Your Grave and well it is...kinda. This is Savage Vengeance.

Night Ranger on the prowl!

Shocking enough is how many alternative titles are under this festering pile of reindeer droppings. Fifteen years after the original film our movie stars the original girl Camille Keaton under the pseudonym Vickie Kehl and because of legal rights issues none of the footage from I Spit on Your Grave could be used but that's okay... we still got the actress so let's just create new footage for the flashbacks. We return with Jennifer (Camille Keaton of Sex of the Witch, I Spit on Your Grave, No Justice, Holy Hollywood, and The Lords of Salem) for a lengthy driving sequence as she oddly enough goes into the woods with a book to relax and enjoy herself only to get gang raped. Now it is at this point you could argue, say lady don't remember this happening last time? But again we are dealing with an unofficial sequel based on the bad dubbing as Jennifer seems poorly inserted for dialogue. Almost like the director didn't count on getting Camille Keaton for the film.

Elvis has a splitting headache.

So four guys jump in the woods and leave her for dead. Hmm seems a bit similar. 5 years later she is not charged with all the murders of her rapists and so she gets into law school.   She goes to a very similar woodland setting with her friend Sam (Linda Lyer of Savage Vengeance) and I am sorry but if this very traumatic event happened to me, I would be nowhere near the woods. In fact I would probably vacation with hired ex-military recon fully armed.

The main scumbags are known as Tommy (played by director Donald Farmer) and Dwayne (Phil Newman of Desperate Teenage Lovedolls, Vampire Cop, Savage Vengeance and Growing Hair)and there are most definitely not to be trusted. Tommy and Dwayne kill Sam outright and yup you guessed it, jumps Jennifer and leave her for dead. Yeah this repetition can't make for a dull viewing pleasure, can it?  Jennifer pulls herself back from the near grave and it is at this point where I am nominating her for supernatural powers. The good ole boy sheriff drags his feet and might as well be playing beer pong with his deputies as he isn't any closer to making headway into this case. This clown couldn't finish a case of beer. The boys treat themselves for a night on the town as they go and get blotted after a job well done... if that could be ever considered a job.

Will Jennifer get her revenge...again? Will these slimeballs get their reward in Hell?

What did I learn from this movie?

Well shooting on VHS in the woods with day for night lighting looks crappy on any format. The re-format to 35 mm does not help this POS VHS abomination.   The movie doesn't look really finished and only clocks in at an hour and 5 minutes but brother does it drag on. So much padding was needed because Camille Keaton walked off the set of this unoriginal garbage so the ending is very abrupt.

Filmed in '88 but Farmer apparently could not get a release date to video until '93. Yeah your film is so bad that five years have to pass before we can think of subjecting this on the public. Well not surprised this was a turd but what can you expect on a film shot on VHS then translated to 35 mm? 

Find me a good one of those.

Elvis, I see a sad future for you.