Written by James M. Tate / 2/06/2023 / No comments / action , al pacino , biopic , cop , cornelia sharpe , judd hirsch , mary-louise weller , nathan george , seventies , sidney lumet , thriller , tony roberts
SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

Title: SERPICO Starring: Al Pacino Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a livin...
Written by James M. Tate / 2/04/2023 / No comments / clint eastwood , don siegel , donna mills , exploitation , jazz-score , jessica walter , john larch , romance , seventies , thriller
CLINT EASTWOOD AND JESSICA WALTER IN 'PLAY MISTY FOR ME'

Clint Eastwood in PLAY MISTY FOR ME Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2 Clint Eastwood, in moving from actor to director and combining both... directi...
Written by James M. Tate / 2/03/2023 / No comments / action , bill mckinney , catherine bach , chase , clint eastwood , geoffrey lewis , george kennedy , heist , jack dodson , jeff bridges , june fairchild , michael cimino
CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: **** There's a quote in the 1974 cu...
Written by James M. Tate / 2/01/2023 / No comments / adrienne barbeau , david birney , horror , john carpenter , lauren becall , mystery , suspense , thriller , tv movie
JOHN CARPENTER'S TV-MOVIE THRILLER 'SOMEONE'S WATCHING ME!'

Title Sequence for Someone's Watching Me YEAR: 1978 Rating: *** After John Carpenter hit surprise bombshell with the horror/slasher HALL...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/28/2023 / No comments / action , alice krige , body count , brian krause , horror , mädchen amick , mark hamill , mick garris , nineties , stephen king , thriller , vampire
ALICE KRIGE & BRIAN KRAUSE IN STEPHEN KING'S 'SLEEPWALKERS'

Title: SLEEPWALKERS Year: 1992 Rating: *** Stephen King found himself a worthy future director in Mick Garris for the TV mini-series THE S...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/27/2023 / No comments / candy clark , drew barrymore , horror , horror anthology , james woods , kenneth mcmillan , lewis teague , robert hays , stephen king , suspense
STEPHEN KING'S OTHER HORROR ANTHOLOGY FILM 'CAT'S EYE'

Robert Hays stuck again in a very high place for CAT'S EYES Year: 1985 Rating: ***1/2 Iconic horror author Stephen King, backing his sec...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/25/2023 / No comments / corey haim , eighties , everette mcgill , gary busey , horror , lawrence tierney , megan follows , stephen king , terry o'quinn , werewolf
BITING INTO STEPHEN KING'S WEREWOLF HORROR 'SILVER BULLET'

Title: SILVER BULLET Year: 1985 Rating: **** Stephen King famously hates Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING because it's not Kubrick'...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/24/2023 / No comments / action , arnold schwarzenegger , eighties , jim brown , maria conchita alonso body count , paul michael glaser , richard dawson , science-fiction , stephen king , yaphet kotto
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER 'THE RUNNING MAN' RICHARD DAWSON

Richard Dawson & Arnold Schwarzenegger in THE RUNNING MAN 1987 Score: **** There was a stretch between the first two TERMINATOR films w...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/22/2023 / No comments / alexandra paul , body count , bully , christine belford , harry dean stanton , horror , john carpenter , john stockwell , keith gordon , kelly preston , killer car , stephen king , teen
JOHN CARPENTER DIRECTS STEPHEN KING'S KILLER CAR 'CHRISTINE'

Title: Christine YEAR: 1983 Rates: **** John Carpenter's most sparse and subtle horror film, and based on Stephen King's multi-pers...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/21/2023 / No comments / adaptation , article , barry nelson , danny lloyd , eighties , essay , horror , jack nicholson , joe turkel , philip stone , scatman crothers , shelley duvall , stanley kubrick , stephen king , thriller
MOTIVATION OF JACK NICHOLSON: CRAZY FOR 'THE SHINING'

Article on the madness of King Jack Nicholson and Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's THE SHINING from 1980 Thanks to the famous image o...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/19/2023 / No comments / body count , david soul , fred willard , geoffrey lewis , horror , james mason , julie cobb , kenneth mcmillan , lance kerwin , lew ayres , miniseries , seventies , stephen king , tobe hooper , tv movie , vampire
TOBE HOOPER DIRECTS THE TV VAMPIRE MOVIE OF 'SALEM'S LOT'

David Soul in SALEM'S LOT Year: 1979 Rating: ****1/2 Although groundbreaking horror/exploitation director Tobe Hooper is best known for...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/16/2023 / No comments / action , catherine mary stewart , cop , eighties , exploitation , hillarie thompson , joe spinell , keith emerson , lindsay wagner , nigel davenport , rolling stones , rutger hauer , sylvester stallone , thriller
SYLVESTER STALLONE AND RUTGER HAUER IN 'NIGHTHAWKS'

TITLE: NIGHT HAWKS YEAR: 1981 RATING: ***1/2 In any crime flick, the villain moves into the hero's territory, like, say, in the case of ...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/13/2023 / No comments / boxing , burgess meredith , burt young , carl weathers , franchise , joe spinell , sequel , sport , sylvester stallone , talia shire , tony burton
SYLVESTER STALLONE STARRING AND DIRECTING 'ROCKY II'

Title: ROCKY II year: 1979 Starring/Director: Sylvester Stallone RATING: ***1/2 It seems like the last person who gets credit for the origin...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/12/2023 / No comments / 3D , bess armstrong , creature , dennis quaid , disaster , eighties , franchise , joe alves , lea thompson , louis gossett jr. , sequel , shark , simon maccorkindale
DUTIFULLY DEFENDING THE DEADLY DISASTER OF 'JAWS 3D'

Title: JAWS 3D Year: 1983 Rating: *** Just when you thought it was safe to go back... to Sea World!? A Deadly New Attraction, indeed, and w...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/11/2023 / No comments / action , ann dusenberry , body count , donna wilkes , franchise , horror , jaws , lorraine gary , monster , murray hamilton , roy scheider , sequel , seventies , shark , suspense , thriller
ROY SCHEIDER FOR MORE A MORE THRILLER THAN CHILLER 'JAWS 2'

Title: JAWS 2 Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2 Grading on the dorsal curve of the Steven Spielberg classic, this sequel feels like a would-be pilo...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/10/2023 / No comments / action , crime , enzo g. castellari , exploitation , franco nero , italian import , seventies , shark , treasure
FRANCO NERO IN ENZO G. CASTELLARI'S 'THE SHARK HUNTER'

Title: THE SHARK HUNTER Year: 1979 Rating: *** Actually more similar to Cornel Wilde's SHARKS' TREASURE from 1975, the same year...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/09/2023 / No comments / action , claude akins , fifties , jerry hopper , karen steele , philip coolidge , rafael campos , shark , suspense , victor mature , war
VICTOR MATURE DIVES INTO JERRY HOPPER'S 'THE SHARKFIGHTERS'

Title: THE SHARKFIGHTERS Year: 1955 Rating: **** THE SHARKFIGHTERS is but an ingredient of what would make a bonafide World War II movie...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/08/2023 / No comments / jaws , lance guest , lorraine gary , mario van peebles , michael caine , sequel , shark , suspense , thriller
BITING INTO THE DESERVED BLASPHEMY OF 'JAWS THE REVENGE'

Title: JAWS THE REVENGE Year: 1987 Rating: * If you don't count CADDYSHACK II, the fourth JAWS... tag-titled JAWS: THE REVENGE... takes...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/07/2023 / No comments / 3D , adventure , byron haskin , import , joanne dru , mark stevens , neo noir , robert strauss , shark , sixties , treasure
MARK STEVENS & JOANNE DRU IN THE NEO NOIR 'SEPTEMBER STORM'

Pulpy poster featuring a lovely painted lovely actress Joanne Dru for SEPTEMBER STORM Year: 1960 Rating: *** Directed by underrated WAR ...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/06/2023 / No comments / action , adventure , cliff osmond , cornel wilde , david canary , david gilliam , exploitation , homosexual , hostage , john neilson , nature , neo noir , seventies , shark , thriller , treasure , yaphet kotto
CORNEL WILDE IN 'SHARKS' TREASURE' WITH YAPHET KOTTO

Title: SHARK'S TREASURE Year: 1975 Rating: **** Cornel Wilde's SHARKS' TREASURE, a Neo Noir in the Ernest Hemingway tradition ...
DOUBLE TRIAD FROM STEVEN SPIELBERG'S MASTERPIECE 'JAWS'

Defining the three leads of JAWS Year: 1975 Rating: ***** Never has a motion picture made such perfect use of three acts, and three main ch...
Written by James M. Tate / 1/01/2023 / No comments / action , exploitation , fiona george , jaws-clone , mexico , priscilla barnes , romance , seventies , shark , susan george
SUSAN GEORGE IN 'TINTORERA: KILLER SHARK' W/ JENNIFER ASHLEY
Title: TINTORERA: KILLER SHARK Year: 1977 Rating: **1/2 If the sexually-driven/dream-vacationing ménage à trois of SUMMER LOVERS were a 1970...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/31/2022 / No comments / body count , cult , exploitation , jaws-clone , jennifer bishop , john davis chandler , revenge , richard jaekal , seventies , shark , thriller , william grefé
WILLIAN GREFÉ TURNS 'STANLEY' INTO 'MAKO: JAWS OF DEATH'

Year: 1976 Someone already pointed out that MAKO: THE JAWS OF DEATH is a hybrid of JAWS and a cult classic about a young man with a twisted...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/30/2022 / No comments / action , caesar danova , connie stevens , cop , crime , drugs , exploitation , john davis chandler , seventies , smuggling , william smith
WILLIAM SMITH DRIVES 'SCORCHY' STARRING CONNIE STEVENS

William Smith in SCORCHY Year: 1976 Rating: **** The cult exploitation SCORCHY is actually a b-movie revamp of THE FRENCH CONNECTION about u...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/25/2022 / No comments / andrea martin , art hindle , bob clark , body count , exploitation , holiday , horror , john saxon , keir dullea , lynne griffin , margot kidder , olivia hussey , seventies , slasher , thriller
OLIVIA HUSSEY IN BOB CLARK'S CULT SLASHER 'BLACK CHRISTMAS'

Olivia Hussey in BLACK CHRISTMAS Year: 1974 Rating: **1/2 In the case of Bob Clark's 1974 cult-horror BLACK CHRISTMAS, Christmas comes b...
Written by James M. Tate / 12/23/2022 / No comments / brian kerwin , comedy , cooper huckabee , counter-culture , eighties , ken michelman , military academy , stephen furst
BRIAN KERWIN AND STEPHEN FURST ARE 'GETTING WASTED'

Title: GETTING WASTED aka SOFT EXPLOSTION Year: 1980 Rating: *** Plenty of wild-party-flicks came out in the wake of ANIMAL HOUSE, and GETTI...