Member venoms5 Posted April 17, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 17, 2008 ZOLTAN, HOUND OF DRACULA- 1977 Michael Pataki, Jose Ferrer, Reggie Nalder Amusing and entertaining little movie about some Russian soldiers who excavate Dracula’s tomb. One of the soldiers brilliantly removes a stake from one of the corpses unleashing Drac’s dog Zoltan who kills the guard then removes the stake with his teeth from his original owner played by Reggie Nalder. They must seek out a descendant of Dracula so as to have a new master to serve. Michael Pataki is that man. Jose Ferrer chases after Pataki, who is on vacation with his family, to clue him in on the impending danger. It's never revealed what would happen to Nalder and Zoltan should they not find a descendant of Dracula. There's one really unintentionally funny moment where Pataki finds a trunk with lots of old photos and paraphernalia. He finds a photo of his descendant Count Dracula...YES A PHOTO...of Dracula POSING with the vampirized dog Zoltan. It's never explained why there's a picture of a vampire considering the oft told notion that they cast no reflection in mirrors nor can they be seen in pictures. Even with the faults, everyone plays the flick deadly serious. The Doberman used in the film as the vampire dog is very well trained and performs numerous stunts. The sight of the dog with long blood dripping fangs with the white eyes is quite a disturbing shot. The scenes with the dogs are very well done and the sound effects used for their growls post vampirized are most effective. Nalder is suitably grotesque as the servant who needs no make-up to look creepy. He would go on to appear in what I think is the scariest damn vampire movie ever made SALEM'S LOT where he played the chief vampire Mr. Barlow. Some creepy imagery such as the many vampirized dogs with their glowing white eyes and an assault on a shed with a full moon in the background is a highlight. The scene of the undead puppy crawling from its grave is a hoot. The final shot, a dolly, revealing numerous animals decapitated or half eaten just before cutting to a white eyed, fanged snarling puppy will give you a chuckle. Future award winning effects man Stan Winston did the effects for this film. He also did effects for other exploitation faves PARASITE, a 3-D monster movie that was Demi Moore's first acting gig, and MANSION OF THE DOOMED, a gruesome re-telling of Le Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE starring Richard Baseheart, Lance Henricksen and Vic Tayback. Albert Band (whose son Charles, would torture audiences to no end with numerous movies featuring various pint sized monsters) directed. A drive-in favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 17, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 17, 2008 HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP- 1980 Doug McClure, Ann Turkel, Vic Morrow Something is killing the dogs in a sleepy fishing town. When bodies of badly mutilated men turn up, it is soon discovered that the chemicals used to increase the salmon population have increased their evolution turning them into humanoid monsters who must mate with women. Ann Turkel is the scientist who reveals what is going on when the body of a young girl is found having been violently raped. A sub plot involving Vic Morrow as the bigot Slattery who has a beef with a local Indian who wants to shut down a cannery that is being built on his land. McClure is the hero of the piece. One of the greatest drive-in movies of all time was obviously a very low budget affair. Several glaring continuity errors can be spotted but there's never a dull moment so these couple of missteps only add to the sleazy nature of the affair. Rob Bottin created the superb monster suits that are simply amazing on what little money there was to work with. Fits famous critic Joe Bob Briggs' 3 B's-Boobs, Beasts and Blood. Lots of cool explosions and a very graphic ALIENesque type ending where a young woman gives birth to one of the monsters. Directed by a woman, Barbara Peeters, who became disenchanted with Corman who, after the film was finished, went back and shot additional nudity and gore. The excellent score was from a young James Horner who also did the very bombastic and soaring score for Corman's BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS. Horner would go on to become one of the greatest film score composers adding KRULL(his most personal), STAR TREK 2: THE WRATH OF KHHAAAANNNNN!!! TITANIC, ETC..) Morrow would go on from here to appear in numerous Italian movies including the banned in America THE LAST SHARK and 1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS both from Enzo Castellari. Immediately thereafter Morrow would be decapitated during the shooting of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. McClure would continue doing exploitation movies and the occasional guest appearance even appearing as Jamie Farr's slave in CANNONBALL RUN 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted April 18, 2008 Member Share Posted April 18, 2008 salmon become humanoids? i got to check that out I've heard about the Savage Streets release as well, hopefully it will actually come out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 18, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 18, 2008 salmon become humanoids? i got to check that out I've heard about the Savage Streets release as well, hopefully it will actually come out Alex, you simply must find HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP. One of the best exploitation movies of all time. The Japanese DVD has some extra gore the US version doesn't have. A couple of bits here and there. The US release is still right gruesome. Let me know if you can't find it. It's OOP now I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 18, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 18, 2008 Here's a youtube clip from the Japanese DVD with the missing head ripping scene... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 18, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 18, 2008 Here's the opening to GALAXY OF TERROR. They had a seriously nasty clip of something that happens to Sid Haig that's below this link if you wanna check it out... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96_ietSkBg&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U96_ietSkBg&feature=related Now somebody needs to put Corman's FORBIDDEN WORLD (1982) on US DVD famous for the first ever barfing alien! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted April 21, 2008 Member Share Posted April 21, 2008 I'm definitely gonna look for that japanese version, thanks for the heads up Meanwhile, I filled a major gap in my cult body of knowledge this weekend: Coffin Joe - This is a legendary Brazilian shocker from the 60s which inspired several successful sequels and has become so popular that it consequently ingrained the character into Brazilian popular culture in a way analogous to Freddy or Jason in the US. I don't feel like writing a long review, so I'll just summarize the highlights. The plot has themes reminiscent of Macbeth and classic greek tragedy. The protagonist is basically an antmorphic personification of the most literal take on the Nietchzian ubermench idea possible, coupled with a mean case of the Napoleonic complex, perpetually dressed in all Victorian black with a top hat to match. There are touches of surrealism reminiscent of Bunuel and nods to very early German expressionistic horror. All this is filmed with an aesthetic (and budget) of a gory cheap 50's drive-in slasher. Definitely one of the most unusual horror movies I've ever seen. Very highly recommended, especially if you're not one for the more routine 'teenage boobs/stabs' examples of the genre and need something a little more to catch your attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 21, 2008 I'm definitely gonna look for that japanese version, thanks for the heads up Meanwhile, I filled a major gap in my cult body of knowledge this weekend: Coffin Joe - This is a legendary Brazilian shocker from the 60s which inspired several successful sequels and has become so popular that it consequently ingrained the character into Brazilian popular culture in a way analogous to Freddy or Jason in the US. I don't feel like writing a long review, so I'll just summarize the highlights. The plot has themes reminiscent of Macbeth and classic greek tragedy. The protagonist is basically an antmorphic personification of the most literal take on the Nietchzian ubermench idea possible, coupled with a mean case of the Napoleonic complex, perpetually dressed in all Victorian black with a top hat to match. There are touches of surrealism reminiscent of Bunuel and nods to very early German expressionistic horror. All this is filmed with an aesthetic (and budget) of a gory cheap 50's drive-in slasher. Definitely one of the most unusual horror movies I've ever seen. Very highly recommended, especially if you're not one for the more routine 'teenage boobs/stabs' examples of the genre and need something a little more to catch your attention Yeah, there is or was a coffin shaped box set of a few of his movies. I passed on it. I have some Brazilian movies. I had one Coffin Joe flick called FINNIS HOMINIS but I gave it away. Not my cup of tea. His THIS NIGHT I'LL POSSESS YOUR SOUL and ...TAKE YOUR CORPSE look interesting with their atmospheric trappings. I had one of his movies on my DVR but failed to look at it. The HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP uncut version only has that head ripping addition and nothing else if I remember right. Even without it it's still has a lot of gore and nudity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member I Am Caine Posted April 21, 2008 Member Share Posted April 21, 2008 Awesome, awesome thread. So much to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 21, 2008 Awesome, awesome thread. So much to read. there's hundreds of interesting and weird exploitation movies out there Caine. Here's a good starter sampler... http://search.deepdiscount.com/search?w=42nd%20street%20forever& At Best Buy you can get the first two volumes (not the 'X' one) together for $15.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vonhumboldtfleisher Posted April 22, 2008 Member Share Posted April 22, 2008 I'd avoid the Coffin Joe movies. They have all the elements of exploitation cinema, but it's all put together in a pretentious, artsy-fartsy way, like a Jodorowsky film. If you're going to watch something Brazilian, make it the mighty COD (a comedy remake of Jaws): or OS TRAPALHOES NA GUERRA DOS PLANETOS, otherwise known as BRAZILIAN STAR WARS: GRUKgAzoD64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 22, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 22, 2008 Yeah I've got COD. It's pretty out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venomsfreak Posted April 23, 2008 Member Share Posted April 23, 2008 I'm a fan of the Turkish remakes myself. Turkish ET Turkish Exorcist (my favorite) http://youtube.com/watch?v=CfzzNXk-_vM&feature=related Turkish Wizard of Oz http://youtube.com/watch?v=y7a5DCuxJP4 Turkish Spiderman http://youtube.com/watch?v=_LaXMFAKnBA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted April 23, 2008 Member Share Posted April 23, 2008 I'd avoid the Coffin Joe movies. They have all the elements of exploitation cinema, but it's all put together in a pretentious, artsy-fartsy way, like a Jodorowsky film. I would disagree with this to the fullest, they're more like cheap 50s drive in horror than anything else. The only thing that could maybe be described as pretentious is the anti-religious/philosophical motivation which is given to some of the violence. The connection to Jodorowsky is tenuous at best, Coffin Joe movies are much more linear and straight forward and much less abstract, the only real similarity in fact is that both come from the tradition of 'weird' latin american cinema. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vonhumboldtfleisher Posted April 23, 2008 Member Share Posted April 23, 2008 THE STRANGE WORLD OF COFFIN JOE (which I'm assuming is the film you were talking about) is probably the least pretentious of the lot. Maybe you'll change your mind a little once you've seen AT MIDNIGHT I'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL or the monstrously stupid THE END OF MAN. Then again, maybe you won't. I've never seen any of those Turkish remakes - I haven't even seen the infamous 'Dev Adam' films - although I have been almost painfully curious about the Turkish Rambo. AdhdDivg5SQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 THE MANITOU- 1978 Susan Strasberg, Tony Curtis, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens, Burgess Meredith A woman wakes up one day to find a small growth on the back of her neck. The notion that she has a tumor is discounted when it is discovered that in actuality, the growth is a fetus(!) that is growing into an evil Indian medicine man that is threatening to be reborn by ripping itself from her back. Curtis, who plays a sham fortune teller who is told of Indian magic by a nutty character played by Meredith. Ansara plays the novice medicine man that takes on the evil force. It is discovered that the medicine man spirit, or Manitou, is the evil spirit Misquamacus, who has already been reborn multiple times After attaining a certain number of reincarnations, the spirit becomes invincible. The finale features one of the wildest and most "everything but the kitchen sink" style endings you're likely to see. The last 5 minutes features a battle in outer space(!) that has obviously been inspired by STAR WARS. This, the final film of William Girdler, is his most expensive, star studded and ambitious effort. Although the film is very funny and cheesy, it's obvious that Girdler had lots of talent and with each film, he improved his skills. Had he lived longer, there'd be more fun little popcorn flicks like this one. All the actors amazingly, play everything deadly straight which only adds to the fun. The dialog is very silly at times but this, too, adds to the enjoyment. The final 30 minutes is worth the DVD alone when Misquamacus emerges from Strasberg's back as an evil long haired midget in some convincingly frightening make-up by a young Tom Burman. Ice storms, earthquakes and the laser beam-asteroid battle in outer space between the manitou and a half naked Strasberg is one of the great WTF? moments in cinema history. Girdler had a gift for getting name actors for his movies. Actors such as Christopher George, Richard Jaekal, Andrew Prine, Leslie Nielsen, Tony Curtis, Stella Stevens, Burgess Meredith, etc...only in the 70s. Girdler was killed in a helicopter crash shortly after the release of THE MANITOU scouting locations for a sequel to his biggest hit, the massively successful GRIZZLY. The sequel did eventually get made but it was never officially released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 TREASURE OF THE AMAZON- 1985 Stuart Whitman, Donald Pleasence, John Ireland, Bradford Dillman, Pedro Amendariz Jr., Hugo Stiglitz A bunch of explorers, danger seekers and a Nazi (Pleasence) are on separate expeditions to locate a hidden cache of gold and diamonds hidden away in the Amazon jungle. Lots of violence and gore and equal portions of nudity including the Nazi's companion who is topless through the entire movie. Even when she wears a top, at least one breast is exposed. All the jungle dangers are trotted out here--Crocodiles, snakes, crabs, quick sand, thousands of dragon flies and headhunters who enjoy decapitation and hanging captives by meathooks through their tongues. Directed by Mexican exploitation king Rene Cardona Jr., he perfectly apes and exceeds the Italian style jungle adventure that itself was a more visceral and violent offspring of the RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK series. Contains a very good attention getting score that sounds like it belongs in a bigger movie. Live sound was used for this one and everyone speaks English although at times, it is obvious that English is not some of the actors first language. Cardona also directed the movie SURVIVE! about the Andes plane crash survivors that resorted to cannibalism to survive. CYCLONE, a similar venture about the title disaster that strands a group of vacationers on a large boat in shark infested waters. GUYANA, CRIME OF THE CENTURY starring Whitman as Rev. Jim Jones who need no introduction. NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES, a gory, horror-female wrestling movie about an experiment gone wrong resulting in a hulking, murderous ape like creature killing and raping. A drive-in and late night TV regular. Whitman is quite funny here and with all his facial hair and frequent outbursts, resembles a manic depressive Grizzly Adams. Whitman, who was once predicted to be the next big Hollywood actor back in the 50s, ultimately ended up in lead or co-starring roles in exploitation actioners like MEAN JOHNNY BARROWS starring Fred Williamson, INVADERS OF THE LOST GOLD with Laura Gemser and Harold Sakata and BLAZING MAGNUM with John Saxon and Martin Landau. Whitman was also the original actor to play Bowen Tyler in LAND THAT TIME FORGOT but was removed at the last minute because the producer didn't like him and opted for Doug McClure instead. In recent years, Whitman has amassed a personal fortune of 100 million dollars from smart investing. With its "What the hell am I doing in this movie?!" cast of names, and several stand out gory set pieces like the man who is killed by an army of crabs that bite, tear and gouge out his eyes (very reminiscent of Fulci's THE BEYOND) this is another dumb but never dull exploitation flick. Watch for Pleasence's unpleasant demise during the final moments. The ending is a hoot as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 THE LADY TERMINATOR- 1986 One of the most successful Indonesian films ever. Another adaptation of the oft filmed legend of the Queen of the South Seas. An American college student is possessed by the Queen and goes on a killing spree with a machine gun that never runs out of bullets and occasionally takes time out to satisfy her sexual hunger by screwing men to death (what a way to go!). A sorcerer comes to the aid of a girl who has been targeted by the Terminator…I mean the Queen. Her boyfriend recruits some army buddies and they take on the Queen in an effects filled climax. The movie riffs wholesale from THE TERMINATOR but the film is so mind numbingly hilarious in its ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ mentality, you couldn’t possibly take it seriously. If you enjoy so-bad-it’s-good movies, you shouldn’t miss this. The best scene would have to be the one where the South Seas Terminator goes to a police station to get the girl and mows down everything in sight emptying what seems like thousands and thousands of bullets. One poor military guy gets about a hundred bullets in his body even after he's hit the ground followed a swift kick to the groin to make sure he's dead. One of the biggest hits ever in Indonesia. A huge grindhouse hit during its 87-88 run on 42nd street. One of many jaw droppingly loony Indonesian flicks. Some of the craziest feature one of their biggest action stars, Barry Prima who resembles Jorge Rivero a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 This review needs a more thorough analysis... TEN TO MIDNIGHT- 1983 Charles Bronson, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis, Geoffrey Lewis, Kelly Preston Bronson is at his tough-as-nails best as a cop who uses illegal and excessive means to nab a psychotic sexual killer who murders beautiful women while he's naked. Stevens is his by-the-book partner. The killer, always one step ahead of the police, cannot fool Bronson, who ultimately turns the tables on the murderer until he targets Bronson's daughter and several of her nurse friends. The films ending, besides being one of the best damn endings of any movie, speaks volumes about our legal system then which is pretty much the same now. Bronson gets some great lines and manages to seriously taunt the killer by the midway point. The bloody and violent final half was based on a real serial murder involving a room full of nurses who were summarily executed save for one woman who managed to survive by hiding under the corpses. One of the sleaziest American crime pictures, elements of horror are mixed in as is an uncommon amount of nudity from both male and female members of the cast. It's quite surprising this received an R rating in its current version particularly its disturbing mix of sex and death. An early effort from Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus before they would get all RAMBOfied on US movie screens bombarding cinemas with a new Bronson and Norris movie every few months. Around this time, Golan-Globus also dabbled in horror with the British OMEN knock-off, THE GODSEND (1980), the neatly plotted slasher NEW YEAR'S EVIL (1981) and the modern vampire movie DRACULA'S LAST RITES (1983). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 ZOLTAN, HOUND OF DRACULA- 1977 Michael Pataki, Jose Ferrer, Reggie Nalder Amusing and entertaining little movie about some Russian soldiers who excavate Dracula’s tomb. One of the soldiers brilliantly removes a stake from one of the corpses unleashing Drac’s dog Zoltan who kills the guard then removes the stake with his teeth from his original owner played by Reggie Nalder. They must seek out a descendant of Dracula so as to have a new master to serve. Michael Pataki is that man. Jose Ferrer chases after Pataki, who is on vacation with his family, to clue him in on the impending danger. It's never revealed what would happen to Nalder and Zoltan should they not find a descendant of Dracula. There's one really unintentionally funny moment where Pataki finds a trunk with lots of old photos and paraphernalia. He finds a photo of his descendant Count Dracula...YES A PHOTO...of Dracula POSING with the vampirized dog Zoltan. It's never explained why there's a picture of a vampire considering the oft told notion that they cast no reflection in mirrors nor can they be seen in pictures. Even with the faults, everyone plays the flick deadly serious. The Doberman used in the film as the vampire dog is very well trained and performs numerous stunts. The sight of the dog with long blood dripping fangs with the white eyes is quite a disturbing shot. The scenes with the dogs are very well done and the sound effects used for their growls post vampirized are most effective. Nalder is suitably grotesque as the servant who needs no make-up to look creepy. He would go on to appear in what I think is the scariest damn vampire movie ever made SALEM'S LOT where he played the chief vampire Mr. Barlow. Some creepy imagery such as the many vampirized dogs with their glowing white eyes and an assault on a shed with a full moon in the background is a highlight. The scene of the undead puppy crawling from its grave is a hoot. The final shot, a dolly, revealing numerous animals decapitated or half eaten just before cutting to a white eyed, fanged snarling puppy will give you a chuckle. Future award winning effects man Stan Winston did the effects for this film. He also did effects for other exploitation faves PARASITE, a 3-D monster movie that was Demi Moore's first acting gig, and MANSION OF THE DOOMED, a gruesome re-telling of Le Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE starring Richard Baseheart, Lance Henricksen and Vic Tayback. Albert Band (whose son Charles, would torture audiences to no end with numerous movies featuring various pint sized monsters) directed. A drive-in favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 HORROR EXPRESS 1972- aka PANIC ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Telly Savalas During a cold winter Professor Saxton (Lee) is transporting an ape man frozen in a block of ice back to England for study. Along the way, the creature thaws out and several corpses are discovered their eyes turned completely white. It is soon learned that the ape-man is not responsible but a body-hopping alien that was frozen inside of the creature uses various individuals as hosts taking knowledge and traits needed in an effort to build itself a ship to make it back to its home planet. A fascinating and ahead of its time sci-fi/horror amalgamation that is also one of the most fitfully entertaining 90 minutes of frightful fun you're likely to come across. Lee is perfectly cast as the cold, arrogant atheist professor Saxton. Cushing is also in fine form a bit against type as Lee's unwitting partner in the whole affair. Cushing plays a somewhat horny old fellow who tries on several occasions to get in the pants of a beautiful spy masquerading as one of the passengers. Cushing even gets to indulge in some brief Frankenstein style surgery as he performs a make-shift lobotomy on one of the victims where it is surmised that the memories of the victims have been wiped away after seeing the brain is completely smooth "like a baby's bottom", as one of the characters puts it. Speaking of the characters, they are all (for the most part) so good and well drawn that they accentuate the quirky story wonderfully. There are also several minor subplots going on that never take precedence over the main story at hand and you learn just enough about them to maintain interest in the characters. One of the best aspects of the story is that the alien only "steals" the minds of those it deems intelligent enough to learn any knowledge that will assist in it's ability to build a ship to get home. One of the characters is a demented priest whom, once the identity of the thing is revealed, naturally assumes it is the devil(!) and then proceeds to "switch sides" so to speak. The nutty priest beckons the creature to come into him but the alien retorts that the fool has nothing to take. One of the most startling scenes has Cushing and Lee remove an eye from one of the casualties. They extract some fluid from the eye and place it under a microscope. They see the last thing the person or thing saw before they died. The ape-man's eye reveals dinosaurs and a glimpse of the Earth from space! Telly Savalas has a minor but memorable role as a sadistic cossack who, after a wire gets out about the trouble on the train, has the locomotive stopped. He and a cadre of soldiers board the train and summarily harass the passengers until the alien finally enters the priests body thereby killing all the soldiers. In the very taut final moments, Lee and Cushing attempt to derail the train over a cliff stopping the alien creature. The thing brings the soldiers back from the dead and they pursue the remaining survivors. The score in the film is also very memorable (the name of the composer escapes me) and can be heard, at various times during the movie, being either whistled, played on the piano or in some other fashion by miscellaneous individuals throughout the movie. Obviously taking inspiration from past sci-fi pictures, the film must have been seen by John Carpenter as some elements are strikingly similar to his remake of THE THING. There are numerous funny scenes and dialog exchanges. One in particular has Lee trying to get a ticket to board the train and the comeuppance that the ticket master receives is quite funny. In fact, the first 15 minutes or so is a bit of a running gag as Lee has endless trouble trying to get on the train as well as constantly explaining himself. Another follows shortly thereafter as Lee invades Cushing's room after he has anticipated a nightly fling with the beautiful young woman that occupies the bunk. Another amusing scene has the actual creature (disguised inside a host) questioning Cushing and Lee proclaiming that either one of them could be the monster. Cushing replies..."Monster...? We're British you know." Another great scene has the alien in a train car alone with Lee. It begins asking many questions of the professor. You know that any moment the thing will attack and kill Lee and just as it appears the alien will make its move, one of the characters enters and unknowingly saves him. Directed with an assured hand and professionalism (on an obviously low budget) by Eugenio Martino who also helmed the Italian western BAD MAN'S RIVER (1972). That film utilized a nice miniature steamboat which was sometimes composited into the scenery. Here, a miniature train is used for the main location of the action. This same miniature was used in the spaghetti western PANCHO VILLA which also starred Savalas as the title character. During this time, Peter Cushing's wife had recently passed away and it was extremely difficult on Cushing to appear in a movie. After his wife died, there was a noticeable difference in Cushing's appearance. He lost weight and his face became very gaunt. At first Cushing did not want to travel to Spain to shoot this movie but it was Lee who talked him into it and it turned out to be a most therapeutic trip for the grieving Cushing. Cushing never lets his anguish show and gives his all to the movie. Like most foreign films, the sound was dubbed in later and the three main participants dubbed there own voices. One of my favorite movies from childhood, I first caught HORROR EXPRESS, like so many, on SHOCK THEATER. The now OOP DVD from Image is the best version out there. There are numerous dupes on various labels and I'm sure at least one of them utilizes the Image version. The disc also has a music only track and a fold-out cover replete with liner notes on the film. Thank you Mr. Lee. Without your assist, fans may not have seen one of the greatest collaborations between two of Britain's most famed actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 24, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 24, 2008 SOLDIER BLUE 1970 Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, Jorge Rivero, Donald Pleasence A very good American western directed by Ralph Nelson. Made in the wake of THE WILD BUNCH, it's an extremely graphic film based on a real event in Sand Creek, Colorado in 1864 when a cavalry of US troops unflinchingly massacred a Cheyenne village without mercy. Candice Bergen plays Cresta, who is was formerly the wife of a Cheyenne tribal leader. She is on her way to be married to a US cavalry officer when the paymaster's detachment she is traveling with is attacked by Cheyenne forces. Only two survive, Cresta and Honus Gant (Peter Strauss). The two brave the countryside to make it to the Cavalry fort alive. Once there, Cresta learns that the military plan to massacre an Indian settlement. She leaves to earn them of the impending danger. Spotted Wolf, her former husband played by Jorge Rivera, refuses to believe the army will attack as they had given him a necklace of peace. The army does indeed attack out of revenge for a previous attack some time prior. What follows during the final 20 minutes is one of the most vile, cruel and sadistic, not to mention gruesome and graphically violent finales I have ever seen in any film. This sequence reminded me of a similar one in CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. It is a very anti-American, anti-government movie that was heavily cut to attain an R rating then cut even further to get a PG. Lionsgate has released the film uncut but it's curious to see the R rating before the film begins. There's no way this movie could get away with an R in view of the astoundingly nasty finale. Apparently the film was not resubmitted to the MPAA upon Lionsgate obtaining the original negative. Donald Pleasence also has a brief role as a seedy salesman who's selling rifles from dead soldiers to the Indians. The film opens rather violently letting you know within the first five minutes what you're in for. Then during the middle section, with Bergen and Strauss, the film lets up quite a bit as you get to know these two characters. Bergen is much more interesting here than in the following years THE HUNTING PARTY. Here, she's a foul mouthed, cunning and learned young spitfire who keeps the naive and inexperienced Honus from danger (some of the time). The two ultimately gain feelings for one another and these scenes are quite good and funny. Bergen also spouts off her thoughts on the government particularly the assumption that the Indians originated scalping their victims when in actuality it was the white man among other things. All told, just with the finale alone, this film is more graphically violent than WILD BUNCH and HUNTING PARTY combined. This film is based on real events and has some powerful imagery with its nihilistic ending that, like it or not, you'll not forget. The only (minor) complaint I have with it, is that we don't get to know Spotted Wolf very well. The few scenes we see of his character are well done by Jorge Rivero (CONQUEST), but it would have added even more to the brutally nasty final 20 minutes. According to an interview, Nelson wanted to show one of the most appalling acts of violence in American history the way it truly was--ugly. No punches are pulled whatsoever. This is also supposedly the first film to show women being raped fully naked. The graphic violence towards small children was a major taboo breaker as well. I would be curious to see the R version as well as the PG version and compare them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted April 25, 2008 Member Share Posted April 25, 2008 Lady Terminator is great, I love that after the heroes figure out she's impervious to bullets their solution is to shoot more bullets until they actually start working for some reason. I always get confused between Cordoba Sr and Jr, but both make some fun trash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member venoms5 Posted April 25, 2008 Author Member Share Posted April 25, 2008 I always get confused between Cordoba Sr and Jr, but both make some fun trash You mean Cardona Sr. and Jr.? I get the two of them mixed up as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Alex Posted April 28, 2008 Member Share Posted April 28, 2008 Oh man i'm all mixed up, but i do like their stuff. Have you ever seen Guns and Guts, I think Jr is responsible for that one? Very decent mexi-western that I could've easily mistook for a spaghetti. A bit uneven in tone, light throughout with a downer ending, but worth checking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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