cult film freak

Written by James M. Tate / 6/25/2019 / No comments / gangster , joe don baker , karen black , neo noir , road movie , robert duvall , robert ryan , seventies , small town , timothy carey

ROBERT DUVALL & JOE DON BAKER STEAL FROM 'THE OUTFIT'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1973</u></td></tr>
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After serving two years in prison, a paroled bank robber learns his brother was killed (shown in the prologue) by 
the same mob that set him up. So he gets all kinds of revenge with the help of his former partner/sidekick while cranky, annoying gun moll Karen Black basically goes against the grain and groove of the boys crashing various hot spots where the money's at...<br>
<br>
The two main characters played by Robert 
Duvall and Joe Don Baker seem so protected by the gods, there's little urgency or suspense since nothing and no one can stop 
them... <br>
<br>
Meanwhile, the targeted mobsters include Film Noir icons Timothy Carey and Robert Ryan, and THE OUTFIT has a Neo Noir template combined with a modern day Western's guns, guts and bravado. And about the only challenge is assassin Felice Orlandi, moving through night shadows after the small town boys do all their stealing and shooting in the daylight. Making this a kind of CLYDE AND CLYDE meets THE GETAWAY. <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>VHS for THE OUTFIT</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>

gangster, joe don baker, karen black, neo noir, road movie, robert duvall, robert ryan, seventies, small town, timothy carey

ROBERT DUVALL & JOE DON BAKER STEAL FROM 'THE OUTFIT'

Year of Release: 1973 After serving two years in prison, a paroled bank robber learns his brother was killed (shown in the prologue) by ...

RONALD REAGAN IN 'KINGS ROW' ALSO STARRING ROBERT CUMMINGS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1942 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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There's something thoroughly hypnotic and intoxicating about this 
melodrama centering on a handful of unlucky individuals growing up in a 
strange dusty town the film's named after.<br>
<br>
Ronald Reagan, never celebrated
for his acting ability, has enough charm to make you forget his
 limited range, and Robert Cummings is his perfect corny counterpart, 
always seeming ready to break into proverbial song, and a sad one at that. <br>
<br>
The best 
performances are from the ever-competitive envy-ridden women, either 
going insane or just about to as the camera sweeps to all the right 
angles and the music flows heavenward, but, by the end, since most of the 
story-line jumps to and fro at a rather quick pace, KINGS ROW seems like a 
condensed epic, raising the enviable question: Where's the rest of it?
<br>

ann sheridan, drama, forties, melodrama, robert cummings, romance, ronald reagan

RONALD REAGAN IN 'KINGS ROW' ALSO STARRING ROBERT CUMMINGS

Year of Release: 1942 Rating: ***1/2 There's something thoroughly hypnotic and intoxicating about this melodrama centering on a han...

JOHN CANDY GETS HIS OWN FLETCH IN 'WHO'S HARRY CRUMB?'

annie potts, comedy, eighties, jeffrey jones, john candy, neo noir, shawnee smith

JOHN CANDY GETS HIS OWN FLETCH IN 'WHO'S HARRY CRUMB?'

VHS/DVD Slip-Cover YEAR: 1989 Score: ***1/2 This underrated comedy, with the title-character going from place to place to figure out who...

WHERE 'CRASH DIVE' FITS WITHIN EARLY DANA ANDREWS CINEMA

action, dana andrews, forties, harry morgan, love triangle, tyrone power, war, world war II

WHERE 'CRASH DIVE' FITS WITHIN EARLY DANA ANDREWS CINEMA

Dana Andrews w/ Anne Baxter in CRASH DIVE Year: 1943 Rates: *** In CRASH DIVE, Tyrone Power is credited with his actual war rank, adding...

JEFF MORROW 'THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US' W/ REX REASON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Morrow can't Reason with The Creature in the YEAR: 1956</u></td></tr>
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The easiest way to turn the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON into FRANKENSTEIN is to lose the gills: Which conveniently yet somewhat creatively happens after the third film's third group of scientists, led by sneaky Jeff Morrow and stalwart Rex Reason, captures the aquatic beast, who not only WALKS AMONG US but stomps around the boat's interior in a perplexed yet murderous rage, and even more sympathetically than the intentionally empathetic sequel...<br>
<br>
And like each predecessor, both directed by Jack Arnold as John Sherwood takes the helm under William Alland's omnipresent production, there are nice moments underwater as good and bad/mad scientist compete for gorgeous ingenue Leigh Snowden, suffering Nitrogen Narcosis (Raptures of the Deep) after the initial Creature's attack between diving sequences that lack the suspenseful vulnerability of the first and the formidable menace of the second... <br>

creature, fifties, franchise, jeff morrow, leigh snowden, rex reason, sequel, universal monster, william alland

JEFF MORROW 'THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US' W/ REX REASON

Morrow can't Reason with The Creature in the YEAR: 1956 The easiest way to turn the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON into FRANKENSTEIN...

WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON'

creature, fifties, franchise, horror, jack arnold, julie adams, thriller, universal monster, william alland

WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON'

Part of a great foreign poster from the YEAR: 1954 Several films were inspired by CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON; two in particular, and...

HOT CARS JOHN BROMFIELD DRIVES 'REVENGE OF THE CREATURE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lobby Card with an artful John Bromfield YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr>
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A maligned yet terrific sequel, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE has a title that somehow <i>slowly rushes</i> its climax during the second half following a comparably sparse and nifty setup...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Creature Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Where cocky Marineland diver John Bromfield moves the captured The Gill Man to an underwater tank where<i> he</i> falls for ingenue Lori Nelson, Fay Wray style, compatible with male scientist John Agar while the flirtatious Bromfield moves in: one of several intriguing premises that could've played out longer, until the Creature predictably escapes through the usual screaming crowd; but it's in captivity where the best scenes occur...<br>
<br>
Especially the underwater shots where, tethered within a limited space, it's the original film in reverse: People (especially classic ingenue Julie Adams) had been vulnerable to the phantom lurking somewhere beneath, evoking the kind of nervy suspense later delivered by Steven Spielberg in JAWS, but now humans are in control... they think.... making REVENGE more of a RETURN, and instead of horror it's an exploitation for the fictional and actual audience both, making The Creature far more sympathetic this time around. All flowing well till the last act around a woodsy lakeside locale, playing cat-and-mouse with our ingenue: At which point returning-director Jack Arnold (again under producer William Alland) doesn't quite know how to end the thing, which should have stayed longer back at the water park.  <br>

creature, cult, fifties, horror, john agar, john bromfield, lori nelson, thriller, universal monster, william alland

HOT CARS JOHN BROMFIELD DRIVES 'REVENGE OF THE CREATURE'

Lobby Card with an artful John Bromfield YEAR: 1955 A maligned yet terrific sequel, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE has a title that somehow slo...

KATHLEEN TURNER IN 'CRIMES OF PASSION' W/ ANTHONY PERKINS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kathleen turner and Anthony Perkins YEAR: 1984 Score: ***</u></td></tr>
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If Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader had a kid, it'd hang around Ken 
Russell's CRIMES OF PASSION starring 
Kathleen Turner as a fashion designer by day, anything-goes hooker by 
night, crossing paths with sexually-frustrated family man John 
Laughlin who, in a Neon Neo-Noir fashion, is hired by Turner's daytime boss to trail her nightlife... <br>
<br>
Laughlin, more comfortable as a fourth or fifth banana (like the faithful muscle-head in the same years' FOOTLOOSE), tries hard to wield the intensity to learn the taboo 
trade and, fitfully curious, becomes one of her most loyal, and beloved, 
customers in sexy/steamy scenes perhaps too intense for casual viewers and not enough for the hardcore crowd. Meanwhile, on the main peripheral is Anthony Perkins, resembling a 
dilapidated Muppet and doing an over-the-top impersonation of what 
people expect of his post-PSYCHO purgatory career: a wacky 
street preacher out to "save" the whore — only he wants some on the side, 
and steals what borders on an intentionally bad movie like a criminal cracking his own safe. <br>

anthony perkins, drama, eighties, john laughlin, kathleen turner, ken russell, neo noir, romance, thriller

KATHLEEN TURNER IN 'CRIMES OF PASSION' W/ ANTHONY PERKINS

Kathleen turner and Anthony Perkins YEAR: 1984 Score: *** If Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader had a kid, it'd hang around Ken Russe...

DOLORES FAITH & COLEEN GRAY ARE HOT IN 'THE PHANTOM PLANET'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for The Phantom Planet introducing Dolores Faith YEAR: 1961</u></td></tr>
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Another "bad space movie" that's not so bad, held back by a meager budget that also provides its charm: centering on an astronaut shot not from the Earth to the Moon but, in this particular future, 1980 viewed from 1961, the moon's space station into deeper space where another rocket had already vanished. When Captain Chapman lands from a magnetic pull, he finds a world hybrid of a Biblical Epic and B-Western...<br>
<br>
The inhabitants are miniaturized, which means nothing since we mostly see Dean Fredericks the same size among them: a square-jawed, high cheek-boned, dyed-blond-haired actor best known as television's really white STEVE CANYON, he also played a score of Native Americans, which, ironically, the leaders of this planet share the same cinematic wisdom of: with technology far beyond our own, they still choose to live in a primal setting, leading to a man-to-man fight between our hero and the only other virile young man around (this scene and their overall anti-chemistry's reminiscent of Sam Jones and Timothy Dalton in FLASH GORDON years later)... <br>

adventure, coleen gray, cult, dean fredericks, dolores faith, science-fiction, sixties

DOLORES FAITH & COLEEN GRAY ARE HOT IN 'THE PHANTOM PLANET'

Poster for The Phantom Planet introducing Dolores Faith YEAR: 1961 Another "bad space movie" that's not so bad, held back ...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'NIGHT SONG' BACKED BY HOAGY CARMICHAEL

dana andrews, ethel barrymore, forties, hoagy carmichael, melodrama, merle oberon, music, romance

DANA ANDREWS IN 'NIGHT SONG' BACKED BY HOAGY CARMICHAEL

Dana Andrews in NIGHT SONG Year: 1947 The third of three films featuring Dana Andrews and musician Hoagy Carmichael, and this time, Andr...

KNOCKOUT BARBARA PAYTON IN THE BOXING NOIR 'BAD BLONDE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1953</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the Hammer British Film Noir BAD BLONDE originally titled THE FLANAGAN BOY, a bulky and not altogether brilliant English boxer gets a shot when his 
trainer connects with a rich Italian promoter who can make it all 
happen: But there are a few catches... First, everyone has to
 live at a rural lakeside estate where the fighter, Charlie Sullivan (Tony Wright), 
will prepare for future moneymaking matches...<br>
<br>
Second and most important, Charlie needs to 
get along with the rich man’s baby-faced, perpetually pursed-lipped wife Lorna, played by  goading, manipulating, voluptuous and built-for-action with sparks-flying starlet Barbara Payton. Basically, the
 first moment Charlie sets his smitten eyes on the sullen temptress, his edge is gone… As is his sanity, to his trainer's chagrin. Liken to, years later, when Burgess Meredith barks at Sylvester Stallone's dame-distracted Rocky Balboa: "Women weaken legs!" Nothing changes in the boxing game, it seems...  <br>

barbara payton, boxing, british film noir/melodrama, hammer noir, love triangle, sport, thriller

KNOCKOUT BARBARA PAYTON IN THE BOXING NOIR 'BAD BLONDE'

Year of Release: 1953 In the Hammer British Film Noir BAD BLONDE originally titled THE FLANAGAN BOY, a bulky and not altogether brillian...

GEORGE SEGAL SLUMS IN 'BORN TO WIN' WITH ROBERT DENIRO

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George Segal and Marcia Jean Kurtz YEAR: 1971</u></td></tr>
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With a title full of irony about a current junkie/former hairdresser doing all he can to score smack on the streets of New York City, there's far too much downtime...<br>
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And it happens right when things are at a nice rudimentary pace, beginning with a groovy soundtrack during an attempted small-time heist by George Segal and his cool black sidekick...<br>
<br>
Who soon separate... and while it's clever that Segal's "J" meets his lady while attempting to steal her car, a contrived bedroom scene with Karen Black happens far too soon. Ironically, given her super-cool track record at that point, she doesn't seem like the renaissance era starlet from the likes of FIVE EASY PIECES or the gem that started it all, EASY RIDER. Her part here is a mainstream role in a would-be full-blown avant garde exploitation flick....<br>

counter-culture, drug culture, exploitation, george segal, hector elizondo, karen black, marcia jean kurtz, paula prentiss, robert deniro, seventies

GEORGE SEGAL SLUMS IN 'BORN TO WIN' WITH ROBERT DENIRO

George Segal and Marcia Jean Kurtz YEAR: 1971 With a title full of irony about a current junkie/former hairdresser doing all he can to s...

INFAMOUS JOHN CARPENTER 'VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED' REMAKE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Front and back left Lindsay Haun with </u><u><u>Jessye Quarry</u>  YEAR: 1996</u></td></tr>
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What happened to John Carpenter's filmmaking skills in the 1990's is a mystery. Even more mysterious is why it took four years after THEY LIVE to enter that decade, and then direct an unnecessary remake,  MEMOIRS OF THE INVISIBLE MAN, which is THE THING compared to what's possibly his worst film, also a remake, titled VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED — although it's still pretty fun to watch i.e. make fun of... <br>
<br>
Starring a handful of actors and actresses who all starred in franchise films, there's main man Christopher Reeve in his last role before the tragic horse-jumping accident. But, alas, the four-time SUPERMAN is pretty wooden here as the politically-correct husband of one of several townswomen who — after the entire town of Midwich falls unconscious at the same time — wind up impregnated by what the characters later learn are alien children: Who are the best thing going, especially the leader played by an icy-cold  Lindsey Haun, with a penetrating expression of experience and cunning, and she's more worthy to fear than the one good kid is to sympathize with...<br>

camp, christopher reeve, horror, john carpenter, kirsty alley, linda kozlowski, mark hamill, michael pare, nineties, remake, thriller

INFAMOUS JOHN CARPENTER 'VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED' REMAKE

Front and back left Lindsay Haun with Jessye Quarry YEAR: 1996 What happened to John Carpenter's filmmaking skills in the 1990'...

TIM CONWAY & GARY GRIMES STAR IN DISNEY'S ASS KICKING 'GUS'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Bosley with Tim Conway in GUS Year: 1976</u></td></tr>
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Despite
 the fact it's about a Donkey kicking field goals... a literally ass kicking movie... GUS is one of the 
most entertaining Disney live action ventures made during the 1970's. 
The plot involves an underdog teen from some foreign land who is the 
younger brother of a perfect, square-jawed soccer star sibling, 
worshiped by his father. But Gary's Andy Petrovic has something that 
will make him famous without making him famous, but rather, his pet mule
 has all the talent: able to kick a football far into the surrounding 
forest. Although Gary's Andy is not altogether worthless.<br />
<br />
Gus only kicks
 after hearing the important word, spoken by Andy and, for the most 
part, Andy only: "Oyage!" Thus, mule and boy is witnessed by a football 
scout for a losing team called THE ATOMS played by Ronnie Schell, 
voice-star of the second best Disney venture, THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE, who was sent to the Petrovic farm to witness the older
 brother for his magic foot for the team's punter. But compared to the 
ball kicking jackass, Soccer boy means nothing.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Signed by Tim Conway and Ed Asner</u></td></tr>
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The best scenes occur when Andy and Gus get slowly, 
awkwardly warmed up with the team and his fans, and like the first half 
of most Disney films, our title hero just can't loose. Eventually, Andy 
gets lost in the mix despite falling in love (and vice versa, which 
rarely occurs so quickly) with one of the cutest Disney ingenues 
ever, Louise Williams as Debbie, who, along with Don Knotts, is on the 
DVD cover (shown above) autographed by Ed Asner, as the team's grumpy 
coach who really has to put faith into this risky decision, while Tim 
Conway plays...<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>GUS Score: ****</u></td></tr>
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So let's center on the bad guys who 
rule one particular scene that intentionally steals the entire movie; 
Gus causing two hired thugs, Tom Bosley as Alpha Male ex-con Spinner 
with his dopey sidekick, Tim Conway's Crankcase, to chase the 
escaped-kidnapped donkey around in a supermarket. Wide-eyed when 
experienced on the big screen as a child, this fifteen minute scene, 
occurring while Gus is trying to return to a big climactic game.<br />
<br />
And 
hell, if this store scene doesn't bring a smile to your face, something 
is wrong. But poor actor Gary Grimes despises GUS for ruining an 
already fledgling, at that time, career... And yet, GUS doesn't 
hurt <i>our </i>career one bit, but provides an eclectic two-hours of 
one of the most bizarre, wonderfully campy and genuinely creative comedy
 films ever. And you CAN'T quote the film's star on that, but Cult Film 
Freak stands behind it fully: "OYAGE, Muthas!"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pAwqGuUsVq4/XNuWKFMdA6I/AAAAAAABD24/GLi_QgqivSwq-QZk5y3l7hBUaM36hsAMACLcBGAs/s1600/60348712_704054330023746_8234371601232035840_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="960" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pAwqGuUsVq4/XNuWKFMdA6I/AAAAAAABD24/GLi_QgqivSwq-QZk5y3l7hBUaM36hsAMACLcBGAs/s1600/60348712_704054330023746_8234371601232035840_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Bosley's skeleton fighting Gary Grimes' with a cat in GUS</u></td></tr>
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comedy, disney, don knotts, gary grimes, seventies, sports, tim conway

TIM CONWAY & GARY GRIMES STAR IN DISNEY'S ASS KICKING 'GUS'

Tom Bosley with Tim Conway in GUS Year: 1976 Despite the fact it's about a Donkey kicking field goals... a literally ass kicking mo...

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rock Hudson you like a Hurricane IV Speedboat YEAR: 1954</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Interview with Urban Cowboy's Jessie La Rive Mapes</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Hold my beer, Jessie," Debra Winger's character, Sissy, tells real life cowgirl Jessie La Rive Mapes, then billed as Jessie La Rive, in the  popular 1980 John Travolta feature <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/04/urban-cowboy.html">URBAN COWBOY</a>, in which the former disco king, trading polyester for chaps, rides a mechanical bull in the gigantic Gilley's Bar in Houston, Texas, where, on film and real life, Jessie was right at home...</i></span><br>
<u><br></u>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>How did you first get involved with URBAN COWBOY?</u> The original story 
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