cult film freak: May 2017

Written by James M. Tate / 5/17/2017 / No comments / c. thomas howell , charlie sheen , eighties , jennifer grey , john milius , kevin reynolds , lea thompson , patrick swayze , powers boothe , war , william smith

AN INTREPID JOHN MILIUS DUTIFULLY DIRECTS RED DAWN

c. thomas howell, charlie sheen, eighties, jennifer grey, john milius, kevin reynolds, lea thompson, patrick swayze, powers boothe, war, william smith

AN INTREPID JOHN MILIUS DUTIFULLY DIRECTS RED DAWN

On an Optimistic Note, He was Failing History YEAR: 1984 Two toughest kids on the block... I guess, sooner or later, they're gonna ...

MIDNIGHT SPOOK OF THE ORIGINAL 'THE BLOB' W/ STEVE MCQUEEN

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DNoy_n8vjHw/X1b_e6cEifI/AAAAAAABX8w/w_h7K9upNAQc599USulCgUBVFjEeA_f2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2017-05-10%252Bat%252B6.40.33%252BPM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="400" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DNoy_n8vjHw/X1b_e6cEifI/AAAAAAABX8w/w_h7K9upNAQc599USulCgUBVFjEeA_f2gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2017-05-10%252Bat%252B6.40.33%252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR of The Blob: 1958 </u></td></tr>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Make them listen to me. There <i>is</i> a monster! We saw it again at dad's store, and it's BIGGER now!</span></blockquote>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">During the prelude of an eclectic and highly successful career, Steve McQueen, billed as Steven McQueen as a dude named Steve, has never played a character so untrusted, underrated or downright frustratingly unappreciated: He knows what everyone, including his best girl, has strong, stubborn doubts about. And we're not only supposed to believe that the rugged-looking, world-weary McQueen is a teenager but that he'd actually get taunted, goaded and bullied by the small town by a bunch of car-jerks who look as if they'd follow him, and not the other way around...</span><br>
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action, cult, dinosaur, exploitation, fifties, horror, irvin s. yeaworth jr., jack harris, james congdon, jazz score, lee meriwether, robert fields, robert lansing, sixties, steve mcqueen, suspense, thriller

MIDNIGHT SPOOK OF THE ORIGINAL 'THE BLOB' W/ STEVE MCQUEEN

YEAR of The Blob: 1958 Make them listen to me. There is a monster! We saw it again at dad's store, and it's BIGGER now! Durin...

DENNIS CHRISTOPHER'S TOUR-DE-FORCE OF 'FADE TO BLACK'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ofU19cZahpY/XeSTX2RvmBI/AAAAAAABMBU/JzyJ3tUrZCQiKbDM9JIkbZhyMDwKmdYugCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2018-07-29%252Bat%252B7.39.37%252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="917" data-original-width="1290" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ofU19cZahpY/XeSTX2RvmBI/AAAAAAABMBU/JzyJ3tUrZCQiKbDM9JIkbZhyMDwKmdYugCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2018-07-29%252Bat%252B7.39.37%252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Christopher in FADE TO BLACK Year: 1980</u></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"That was a lot of fun and I got burnt by squibs, they’re called," is <i>not</i> a quote from Dennis Christopher, who does the shooting, but future BLADE RUNNER character-actor Morgan Paull in our interview six months before his untimely death...</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Centering on his own particular curtain call in a movie that lives up to its name: If PSYCHO Norman Bates was heavily into cinema, you'd have FADE TO BLACK; but not really since it took until the 1980's (and/or late 70's) where the immense wave of pop culture began to recede, and film buffs and even intellectuals were human movie quiz books, and Dennis Christopher's Eric Binford epitomizes what's called a Cinefile to the point that he makes sure he lives on 99 RIVER STREET...</span></span><br>

body count, dark comedy, dennis christopher, eighties, exploitation, horror, linda kerridge, marcie barkin, mickey rourke, morgan paull, neo noir, tim thomerson

DENNIS CHRISTOPHER'S TOUR-DE-FORCE OF 'FADE TO BLACK'

Dennis Christopher in FADE TO BLACK Year: 1980 "That was a lot of fun and I got burnt by squibs, they’re called," is not a qu...

PAUL SCHRADER DIRECTS WILLEM DAFOE IN LIGHT SLEEPER

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SPGfyHAw9tY/WRD02jwxo4I/AAAAAAAAxqQ/EvQq5DsXD1UnxeTisuAbzEAjU6AAT-qIgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-05-08%2Bat%2B3.39.13%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SPGfyHAw9tY/WRD02jwxo4I/AAAAAAAAxqQ/EvQq5DsXD1UnxeTisuAbzEAjU6AAT-qIgCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-05-08%2Bat%2B3.39.13%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Susan Sarrandon and William Defore YEAR: 1992</u></td></tr>
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I feel my life turning... All it needed was a direction</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well Paul Schrader gave Willem Dafoe plenty of direction, having worked with him a handful of times, and he preferred the otherwise intense actor, who other directors would use as an angry, vicious or intense type of fella, to be desperate, laidback, vulnerable and sympathetic: In AUTO FOCUS, the true crime story of HOGAN'S HERO actor Bob Crane's sexual journey into out-of-control oblivion with the help of his go-to guy, was played by Dafoe, who might as well have been a controlled, even-keeled drug dealer like he is, literally, in LIGHT SLEEPER, since Crane, played by Greg Kinnear, got high on videotaping his sexcapades using, at that time, high-end recording equipment, thus depending on real life best friend and future number one murder suspect John Carpenter (not the HALLOWEEN director): both films couldn't be more different, sharing only Schrader and Defoe in common: two kings of edgy cinema made for each other...</span><br>

biopic, greg kinnear, nineties, paul schrader, willem defoe, zeroes

PAUL SCHRADER DIRECTS WILLEM DAFOE IN <b>LIGHT SLEEPER</b>

PAUL SCHRADER DIRECTS WILLEM DAFOE IN LIGHT SLEEPER

Susan Sarrandon and William Defore YEAR: 1992 I feel my life turning... All it needed was a direction Well Paul Schrader gave Willem D...

RUMMAGING THROUGH THE LOST CULT HORROR FLICK 'PIN'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NIJUtEOpaTo/WQ89pvczpEI/AAAAAAAAxps/kfSQmbrEVmMV6Yv8Z4Bn2QPC3i_atGbqACLcB/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NIJUtEOpaTo/WQ89pvczpEI/AAAAAAAAxps/kfSQmbrEVmMV6Yv8Z4Bn2QPC3i_atGbqACLcB/s400/11.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hereby one of our favorite horror starlets Cynthia Preston YEAR: 1988</u></td></tr>
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Adding a layer to the otherwise cliché twisted persona so he's not just another young tortured soul...</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Canadian horror flick PIN came out a year after THE STEPFATHER; that movie starring and this one featuring Terry O'Quinn — here he's a strict father who, a doctor by trade, uses a medical dummy... wherein all veins and innards are visible... to speak to his children. Although very different, and only having Canada in common, both THE STEPFATHER and PIN share the same visual aesthetic and budget, but PIN is more of a PSYCHO clone, albeit a unique and extremely original one, borrowing from the iconic Hitchcock thriller right down to the image of a static and spooky human figure/silhouette staring out the upstairs window (or a SENTINEL, perhaps). There's one scary house in every neighborhood and this is it... Peaking the curiosity of the same neighborhood kids that double as hardcore bullies at school, targeting the doc's passive son, Leon, played by David Hewlett once he's of age, in high school, after what seems like a backstory but is really Act One of the standard Three...</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wTphgpRUanQ/WQ7cLlg9O2I/AAAAAAAAxoc/7mQFCNvAwts2hT5NpWZy10vnH3ooJgKFgCEw/s1600/18268529_311989192563597_6477607676544455706_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wTphgpRUanQ/WQ7cLlg9O2I/AAAAAAAAxoc/7mQFCNvAwts2hT5NpWZy10vnH3ooJgKFgCEw/s320/18268529_311989192563597_6477607676544455706_n.jpg" width="160"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PINScore: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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As for the plot, PIN is the only solace in the poor kid's life, and the title, on the poster, DVD, VHS and even the opening credit itself ends with a three-period ellipsis as the rest of the word is covered up — that being the medical dummy's full name, based on the legendary children's story puppet who turns into a jackass when he parties and can't tell a lie without it showing. So Pin's first master, controlled by father doing his best Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy imitation, throws his voice while teaching both shy son and curious, confident daughter about everything ranging from the the birds and the bees to your basic household chores...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3PNPJNiwRO8/WQ88RkbH0bI/AAAAAAAAxpg/T-w7ZM5NDSczocYjEuXHSyGyjI6FdxpeACLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-05-07%2Bat%2B8.23.00%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3PNPJNiwRO8/WQ88RkbH0bI/AAAAAAAAxpg/T-w7ZM5NDSczocYjEuXHSyGyjI6FdxpeACLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-05-07%2Bat%2B8.23.00%2BAM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PIN the dummy before & after: Going from Peter Weller-esque to Preppy</u></td></tr>
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What seems like a short story in itself when as the kids are young has a beginning, middle and.. Skip to high school, and Leon needs the doll to continue his education — terrified and annoyed by the opposite sex, he begs that PIN be allowed to be moved from dad's office to their home. The most important death of this body count horror allows for Leon to be free. So PIN, his sister, and for a little while, a bickering aunt live at the house...<br>

cynthia preston, david hewlett, eighties, horror, jonathan banks, suspense, terry o'quinn

RUMMAGING THROUGH THE LOST CULT HORROR FLICK 'PIN'

Hereby one of our favorite horror starlets Cynthia Preston YEAR: 1988 Adding a layer to the otherwise cliché twisted persona so he'...

WEEKEND REVIEW OF GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2

2017, chris pratt, franchise, marvel, michael rooker, new, sequel

WEEKEND REVIEW OF GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2

Return of The Guardians of the Galaxy Year: 2017 ...Instead playing out like an intricate, talky episode of the original Star Trek... ...

RITA HAYWORTH & ALDO RAY IN 'MISS SADIE THOMPSON'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-73Bf1UYAjS4/WQsI-pYN3OI/AAAAAAAAxkE/aBf07cJxG5kHxb5NXjqIYACF1aujMdiWgCLcB/s1600/14639637_215651372197380_277614793308736147_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-73Bf1UYAjS4/WQsI-pYN3OI/AAAAAAAAxkE/aBf07cJxG5kHxb5NXjqIYACF1aujMdiWgCLcB/s400/14639637_215651372197380_277614793308736147_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson looks over Rita Hayworth YEAR: 1954</u></td></tr>
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While almost too old for this kind of sexually-driven role, she's actually the perfect age given the world-weary experience </blockquote>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Whether he hypnotizes Gene Tierney right up front or rapes Peter O'Toole off-screen, from WHIRLPOOL to LAWRENCE ARABIA to playing the scholarly buzzkill in Woody Allen's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S SEX COMEDY while frowning-around in pretty much everything in-between, Jose Ferrer is known for his creepy characters driven by lust, greed, and in this case, what Hollywood considers worse than both, hypocritical Christianity...</span><br>

aldo ray, charles bronson, fifties, jose ferrer, musical, rita hayworth, romance

RITA HAYWORTH & ALDO RAY IN 'MISS SADIE THOMPSON'

Charles Bronson looks over Rita Hayworth YEAR: 1954 While almost too old for this kind of sexually-driven role, she's actually the ...

HENRY WINKLER & MICHAEL KEATON IN NIGHT SHIFT

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbcnyVMrgr4/WQmBjiQeu6I/AAAAAAAAxiw/HloPJ16YKlUcQC-b4Yws0vBelDq9-NO1ACLcB/s1600/night-shift-original1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbcnyVMrgr4/WQmBjiQeu6I/AAAAAAAAxiw/HloPJ16YKlUcQC-b4Yws0vBelDq9-NO1ACLcB/s400/night-shift-original1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Night Shift YEAR RELEASED: 1982</u></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a director, Ron Howard got his groove before realizing he really had it. Then he became more confident behind the lens for big budget catchall mainstream flicks like BACKDRAFT, and therein the Emperor was naked to the bone...</span><br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2JHTVbRf4w/WQlh2MnilzI/AAAAAAAAxiA/6q9hcH_pzK8KVX0VZVYbEpklnoGEftzZACLcB/s1600/night-shift-henry-winkler-michael-keaton-1982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2JHTVbRf4w/WQlh2MnilzI/AAAAAAAAxiA/6q9hcH_pzK8KVX0VZVYbEpklnoGEftzZACLcB/s1600/night-shift-henry-winkler-michael-keaton-1982.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Henry Winkler's Anti Fonz</u></td></tr>
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Wedged between Howard's Roger Corman car crash production, GRAND THEFT AUTO, and his ultra entertaining hit phenom SPLASH upon becoming a legit filmmaker, NIGHT SHIFT is one of the most original and unique buddy comedies of all time starring Henry Winkler under his former HAPPY DAYS co-star's easygoing yet equally edgy direction, the popular icon revealing a side much different than Fonzie and more like himself (or who he appears to be in interviews, etc): A whining beta male b-side to Woody Allen rather than television's leather clad James Dean. Thus the character-driven plot centers on Winkler as a morgue attendant, formerly a Wall Street whiz, contentedly working by himself on the NIGHT SHIFT until getting stuck with a crazy idea man in Michael Keaton. If viewed after knowing Keaton from the likes of BEETLEJUICE or THE DREAM TEAM, it may seem like just another hyperactive man-child performance — but this was his first real role, and still remains one of his funniest: he's a bonafide comic relief in a comedy film...<br>

eighties, henry winkler, michael keaton, ron howard, shelley long