cult film freak: January 2019

Written by James M. Tate / 1/31/2019 / No comments / anthony carbone , barboura morris , bert convy , body count , dark comedy , dick miller , ed nelson , judy bamber , lynn storey , maxwell h. block , roger corman , thriller

ROGER CORMAN'S 'A BUCKET OF BLOOD' STARS DICK MILLER

anthony carbone, barboura morris, bert convy, body count, dark comedy, dick miller, ed nelson, judy bamber, lynn storey, maxwell h. block, roger corman, thriller

ROGER CORMAN'S 'A BUCKET OF BLOOD' STARS DICK MILLER

Dick Miller and Judy Bamber in A Bucket of Blood YEAR: 1959 This is a classic and timeless Roger Corman film about a tortured yet conten...

JACK HILL'S 'PIT STOP' AKA 'THE WINNER' FEATURING SID HAIG

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1967</u></td></tr>
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PIT STOP is actually THE WINNER since not only is that the title on the screen during the opening credits, but there's only one pit stop — where villain turned strategic wild card Sid Haig stops for half a second during the last race. Which isn't your usual climax since the movie continuously peaks throughout. Backed by tough instrumental rock — the fat, crunchy guitar sounding more 1950's than 1967 — this low-budget curio's directed by b-movie icon Jack Hill, before his signature women-in-prison and/or urban blaxploitation flicks...<br>
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Filmed around Los Angeles in B&W from city streets to a steely-dusk junkyard  to the rowdy track, where the racing is mostly Figure 8: practically suicide even for the most intrepid hot dogs...<br>
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In each smash-up, always ending in a loud, boisterous, go-go barroom, Hill clearly lets you know what driver's behind the wheel, and when: Either Sid Haig's cocky Hawk Sidney or main character Dick Davalos as Rick Bowman, both working for Grant Willard, played by veteran actor Brian Donlevy, who's cooler and colder than the drivers he subtly <i>pits</i> against each other. And there's always a reason for the racing around, established within lean exposition that stretches PIT STOP beyond that era's hot rod exploitation fare — but it's <i>all that</i>, too... <br>

beverly washburn, brian donlevy, ellen burstyn, exploitation, jack hill, race car, richard davalos, sid haig, sixties

JACK HILL'S 'PIT STOP' AKA 'THE WINNER' FEATURING SID HAIG

Year of Release: 1967 PIT STOP is actually THE WINNER since not only is that the title on the screen during the opening credits, but the...

TV-MOVIE EXPLOITATION OF 'SINGLE BARS, SINGLE WOMEN'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christine Lahti takes a shot in Single Bars, Single Women YEAR: 1984</u></td></tr>
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SINGLE BARS, SINGLE WOMEN could've been titled THE LAST DAYS AFTER THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO, centering on the notorious 1980's Single Bar scene as the title, based on a Dolly Parton song, depicts the Waterloo of that particular pre-AIDS scenario, and is dated but almost intentionally since the subject, too, was going out of style, fast... <br>
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The setup is the most interesting, getting to know the characters ranging from a recently-dumped Shelley Hack, who, despite having gone round-for-round with Robert DeNiro in Martin Scorsese's THE KING OF COMEDY, never got her due as an actress. After a one-night-stand at the central bar, Bandini's, she's haunted by her ex, played by the (at that time) most famous cast member, Paul Michael Glaser (adding to the usual "former TV stars in a TV movie" template): Making Hack and Glaser the Ron Howard/Cindy Williams ala AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and too much time's centered on their working-things-out when more fun's had back at the club, where most of the picture takes place in a single "singles" night...<br>

brett cullen, christine lahti, dolly parton, eighties, ensemble, exploitation, jessica nelson, kathleen wilhoite, mare winningham, paul michael glaser, rick rossovitch, shelley hack, tony danza

TV-MOVIE EXPLOITATION OF 'SINGLE BARS, SINGLE WOMEN'

Christine Lahti takes a shot in Single Bars, Single Women YEAR: 1984 SINGLE BARS, SINGLE WOMEN could've been titled THE LAST DAYS AF...

ROD TAYLOR IN 'HOTEL' W/ CATHERINE SPAAK & KEVIN MCCARTHY

annazette chase, drama, ensemble, jack donner, jazz score, karl malden, melvin douglas, merle oberon, michael rennie, richard conte, rod taylor, sixties, vikki dougan

ROD TAYLOR IN 'HOTEL' W/ CATHERINE SPAAK & KEVIN MCCARTHY

Catherine Spaak loathes lover Kevin McCarthy in HOTEL Year: 1967 The 1967 film HOTEL occurs at a strange and contradictory crossroads fo...

CHARLES BRONSON IN MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE STONE KILLER'

action, charles bronson, cop, crime, exploitation, jack colvin, john ritter, michael winner, neo noir, norman fell, paul koslo, ralph waite, seventies, thriller

CHARLES BRONSON IN MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE STONE KILLER'

Third Bronson Winner collaboration YEAR: 1973 Michael Winner's 1970's crime trilogy starring Charles Bronson made the tough guy ...

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'MR. MAJESTYK' FEATURING PAUL KOSLO

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson goes balls out against Paul Koslo YEAR: 1974</u></td></tr>
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Charles Bronson's different in Richard Fleischer's MR. MAJESTYK than in the early-seventies' Michael Winner crime trilogy because, for one, unlike THE MECHANIC, THE STONE KILLER and DEATH WISH, Vince Majestyk, a hardworking watermelon farmer, is somewhat of a smart-ass, and, written by Elmore Leonard, there's a little more breathing-room for the character and his situation/predicament...<br>
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A lethal hit man, played by villain's villain Al Lettieri, wants Majestyk very dead as Paul Koslo's initially antagonistic Bobby Kopas is more of a talker than a doer. In fact, both Bronson and Lettieri point this out: The first before hitting the goading blond-haired punk in the balls with a shotgun (after having attempted to pawn off cheap labor to his farm), while the latter tries keeping him in line...<br>

action, al lettieri, charles bronson, crime, elmore leonard, lee purcell, paul koslo, richard fleischer, seventies, taylor lacher, thriller

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'MR. MAJESTYK' FEATURING PAUL KOSLO

Charles Bronson goes balls out against Paul Koslo YEAR: 1974 Charles Bronson's different in Richard Fleischer's MR. MAJESTYK tha...

JEFFREY LYNN STRANDED IN 'LOST LAGOON' WITH LEILA BARRY

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">LOST LAGOON</span></b></span> officially released in 1958</u></td></tr>
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Of the three World War I returning veterans in Raoul Walsh's prohibition-era gangster classic THE ROARING TWENTIES, two roared like lions while one purred like a kitten...<br>
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The latter being Jeffrey Lynn, who played the third banana that James Cagney liked (even after snaking his dame) and Humphrey Bogart despised: Of course these two became huge stars and eventually legends while Lynn remained a lanky, sophisticated character-actor who never reached genuine leading man status...<br>
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Though decades later he'd make an attempt in a very low-budget, Bahamas set, Calypso-exploitation romance melodrama centering on an unhappily married middle-aged father of two, Lynn's Charlie Walker, and for the record: Neither Bogart or Cagney had a calypso song named after and sung about any of their characters: one of a small handful of natives on a small Bahamas island provides a sporadic Roman Chorus, just in case we get lost within the extremely simple plot... <br>

calypso, exploitation, fifties, island, jeffrey lynn, leila barry, melodrama, peter donat, romance

JEFFREY LYNN STRANDED IN 'LOST LAGOON' WITH LEILA BARRY

LOST LAGOON officially released in 1958 Of the three World War I returning veterans in Raoul Walsh's prohibition-era gangster class...

SEARCHING FOR A MOVIE IN DENNIS HOPPER'S 'THE LAST MOVIE'

cult, dennis hopper, donna baccala, drama, drug culture, indie, julie adams, michelle phillips, peter fonda, poupée bocar, samuel fuller, seventies, severn darden, stella garcia, toni basil, western

SEARCHING FOR A MOVIE IN DENNIS HOPPER'S 'THE LAST MOVIE'

Dennis Hooper resembling his youngest Rumble Fish son YEAR: 1971 Within Dennis Hopper's infamous post-EASY RIDER flop, THE LAST MOVI...

MAURY DEXTER'S 'HARBOR LIGHTS' FEATURING MIRIAM COLON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><u>Director: Maury Dexter </u>Year of Release: 1963</u></td></tr>
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Director Maury Dexter's only lasting Hollywood fingerprint is having been a permanent assistant producer and sporadic director of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Miriam Colon</u></td></tr>
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But in the early 1960's he turned out a great number of little films with genres ranging from Westerns, Beach comedies, and, as in 
the case of the very obscure HARBOR LIGHTS, a "New Noir" crime flick starring Kent Taylor, the film begins with a younger man with a similar tiny-mustache that Kent usually dons in Dexter's villainous roles — for instance, the sparse cowboy picture, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/12/WalkTall.html">WALK TALL</a>...<br>
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And this is one of those waterfront thrillers in the style of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT. Or any type of balmy Noir; here taking place/filmed at San Jan, Puerto Rico while not making much use of the exterior location despite the deliciously pulpy title with a dime-novel approach, most of the scenes are handed off from interior locations where guns are drawn, fists fly, last names tossed around, and in this case a treasure that Kent's intrepid pawn, Dan Crown, acts like he knows the whereabouts of despite the fact his brother (the mustached guy in the intro) is as estranged from the family as can be... being dead and all, which got the plot rolling... <br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnrgXa9Neg4/XCrBcB_7LBI/AAAAAAAA-PA/s85RpG0d9HU-320U13H8bTkj0Z64JTUngCLcBGAs/s1600/3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="762" height="393" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DnrgXa9Neg4/XCrBcB_7LBI/AAAAAAAA-PA/s85RpG0d9HU-320U13H8bTkj0Z64JTUngCLcBGAs/s400/3.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Miriam Colon in Harbor Lights RATES: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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And this is really a gambling picture despite only one quick scene involving Jeff Morrow's lead villain in a hotel casino where most of the interior running-around takes place. But our hero does have to desperately venture into the dusty streets lined with old stucco buildings; and he eventually winds up in an oceanic boat chase... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Colon on Saul</u></td></tr>
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But what makes these HARBOR LIGHTS really shine is Twentieth Century Fox's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/makes-jack-a-dull-boy.html">THUNDER ISLAND</a> Spanish fox Miriam Colon as ingenue Gina Rosario...<br>
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Who'd later play Al Pacino's angry mother in SCARFACE and is more recently known within the BREAKING BAD universe as Tuco's soap opera addicted grandma on the first episode of BETTER CALL SAUL. And here, many decades earlier and quite a beauty, she starts out not trusting Taylor but winds up trying to keep him out of harm's way: in particular, from Jeff Morrow's character, simply referred to as Cardinal and who she had some kind of past with...<br>
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action, crime, jeff morrow, kent taylor, maury dexter, miriam colon, neo noir, pulp

MAURY DEXTER'S 'HARBOR LIGHTS' FEATURING MIRIAM COLON

Director: Maury Dexter Year of Release: 1963 Director Maury Dexter's only lasting Hollywood fingerprint is having been a permanent a...

DANNY DEVITO UNDELETED FROM 'CAR WASH' W/ BROOKE ADAMS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Danny DeVito in CAR WASH with Tim Thomerson</u></td></tr>
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Before he became famous as the angry little dispatcher for a hard working group of otherwise optimistic cab drivers on TAXI, Danny DeVito had a scene in CAR WASH with Brooke Adams that would wind up on the cutting room floor, although he can be scene at this moment behind lady's man Tim Thomerson about to land a date.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Danny DeVito in CAR WASH slapping a table with Tim Thomerson as Ken in the foreground</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Danny DeVito in CAR WASH with an angry Brooke Adams on his tail and Lauren Jones</u></td></tr>
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brooke adams, cameo, danny devito, ensemble, seventies, tim thomerson