cult film freak: January 2020

Written by James M. Tate / 1/28/2020 / No comments / adventure , comedy , family , kurt russell , martin short , mary kay place , meadow sisto , nineties , thom eberhardt

KURT RUSSELL AS 'CAPTAIN RON' FEATURING MEADOW SISTO

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kurt Russell, Martin Short and the beautiful Meadow Sisto in CAPTAIN RON Year: 1992</u></td></tr>
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Martin Short's greatest role was in THREE AMIGOS as a man who 
looked like a boy who acted like a teenager. But when he 
plays a husband/father, i.e. a typical guy in the VACATION style comedy CAPTAIN RON, it doesn't completely wash; and is one of many movies where a successful, hard-working yet uptight 
businessman learns how to become a flake in order to be liked by
 his family. Which happens all the time, on screen...<br>
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With the reluctant, almost accidental "help" of Kurt Russell, resembling ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK Snake Plissken's goofy identical brother had he had one, he's the title character who passive-aggressively pilots a dilapidated boat Short was left by his dead uncle: And of course, the scraggly yet endearingly hopeless Ron is their only 
hope as he basically tags along on a busman's holiday around Caribbean-like islands...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Meadow Sisto as Caroline Harvey hotly walks the deck in CAPTAIN RON which Rates: ***</u></td></tr>
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During this uneven adventure/comedy our heroes encounter smugglers, guerillas, bad weather and a bevy of semi-chuckle situations that keep this boat floating, but 
only in shallow waters. What helps is both Mary Kay Place, as the 
wife/mom, and Meadow Sisto, as the daughter/sister, both wearing 
skimpy summer clothes and looking quite lovely. Like mother/daughter Karen Austin and Kerri Green in SUMMER RENTAL, Mary Kay and Meadow compliment each other perfectly. Both are the kind of personal pretty you eventually fall head-over-heels for.  <br>
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Chartered by the 1980's zombie-yarn NIGHT OF THE COMET director Thom Ebersol, 
the rhythm and timing is a tad off, which doesn't matter when it
 comes to a semi-enjoyable, semi-comfortable, glossy-neon 1990's time-filler. Yet the cast seems in on the joke — if this came out six years earlier, it'd make much more sense. And is Russell parodying himself, the genre, or the previous decade in which he finally grew up after all those years at Disney? <br>

adventure, comedy, family, kurt russell, martin short, mary kay place, meadow sisto, nineties, thom eberhardt

KURT RUSSELL AS 'CAPTAIN RON' FEATURING MEADOW SISTO

Kurt Russell, Martin Short and the beautiful Meadow Sisto in CAPTAIN RON Year: 1992 Martin Short's greatest role was in THREE AMIGOS...

CATHY PODEWELL IN THE UNDERRATED 'NIGHT OF THE DEMONS'

body count, cathy podwell, eighties, haunted house, horror, teen

CATHY PODEWELL IN THE UNDERRATED 'NIGHT OF THE DEMONS'

Night of the Demons spooky-cool opening credit sequence in the year 1988 “Not tonight,” explains Cathy Podewell’s innocent girl Judy, dr...

REVIEW OF 'NIGHT TIDE' WITH DENNIS HOPPER & LINDA LAWSON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Curtis Harrington's NIGHT TIDE Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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Many early-1960's films had a million dissolves, and didn't always know where they were going. But this low-budget arthouse knows exactly 
what it is, even if the audience is never quite sure: Taking place in the early, sparse days of Venice Beach, California, a sailor 
meets an exotic woman who works at a carnival as a mermaid... and a few men she's dated have turned/washed up dead...<br>
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A young cherubic-faced Dennis Hopper is fun to watch as the gullible love-sick sailor. He won't
 listen to all the warning about her track record. Let's 
face it, the guy is <i>hooked</i>... And it's nice seeing Hopper as a normal person, 
not a burn-out, weirdo or psychopath, in a movie with gorgeous B&W cinematography and a jazz score, and club...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Hopper reclines though NIGHT TIDE Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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The other performances are also good, including and especially the lovely Linda Lawson as our seductive vixen who might
 be a water nymph, or murderess, or both, captured in director Curtis Harrington's bizarre labor of love curio, which is sometimes too talky...<br>
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Especially conversations with Mora's founder, an old sailor, made up for by far more intriguing dialogue with young carousel-worker Luana Anders, who'd work again with Hopper as Peter Fonda's hippie commune girl in EASY RIDER. And there's a foreboding old lady seer... all reminiscent of the spooky and offbeat Val Lewton/Jacques Tourneur RKO noir-horrors, NIGHT TIDE is to mermaids what CAT PEOPLE is to felines. Yet the strangest aspect has Dennis Hopper as the most normal, sane and grounded character throughout. Now <i>that's </i>something completely different.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Hopper in Curtis Harrington's NIGHT TIDE w/ Linda Lawson</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Linda Lawson as Mora in NIGHT TIDE</u></td></tr>
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arthouse, curtis harrington, dennis hopper, indie, jazz score, linda lawson, mystery, romance, sixties, thriller

REVIEW OF 'NIGHT TIDE' WITH DENNIS HOPPER & LINDA LAWSON

Curtis Harrington's NIGHT TIDE Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2 Many early-1960's films had a million dissolves, and didn't always ...

MICHAEL GOUGH CONTROLS 'KONGA' FEATURING CLAIRE GORDON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Claire Gordon and Michael Gough in KORGA Year: 1961</u></td></tr>
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A movie that finally proves dumb things can sound smart when spoken in an English accent as Michael Gough explains his growth serum, starting out on neat looking Venus Flytraps and then pet chimp KONGA, who eventually grows to the size of KING KONG. By that point, when the superimposed giant ape reaches half as tall as the Big Ben Clock Tower, no one's speaking in any accent so everything falls apart slowly, and stupidly...<br>
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But most of the film has a tall man in a tall gorilla suit, taking out particular strategic enemies of Gough's mad scientist/professor named Dr. Charles Decker in a body count fashion both intriguing and fun. From the snippy dean of the college he works for, after having returned from Africa with a wealth of expository knowledge taking up the first five minutes via media interview, to a handsome male student rightfully smitten with young voluptuous Claire Gordon (as cute Kim Tracy waits in the wings), this movie's bombshell blonde Fay Wray, bitterly jealous of the time and attention teacher spends on his teacher's pet, especially on an outdoor field trip...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Gough and Claire Gordon in KONGA Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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As an audience member you'll root for each and every murder, before, during and after they occur, since each victim threatens to end our mad doctor's climb... that <i>almost reaches</i> somewhere... <br>
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It's a shame they had to inevitably shadow KING KONG at all. As the human-sized ape, KONGA made a perfect killer backed by a menacing yet polite, sophisticated doctor, who, along with his clingy, intellectual female assistant (Margo Johns), blackmailing him into a future engagement, seem part of a semi-decent Hammer 
Film, which is Gough's usual forte and why he's absolutely perfect in an
 infamously bad movie that's shockingly worthwhile... for a while, anyway.  <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Gough and Paul Stockman as KONGA </u></td></tr>
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body count, british, claire gordon, creature feature, horror, jess conrad, kim tracy, margo johns, michael gough, monster, rupert osborne, waveney lee

MICHAEL GOUGH CONTROLS 'KONGA' FEATURING CLAIRE GORDON

Claire Gordon and Michael Gough in KORGA Year: 1961 A movie that finally proves dumb things can sound smart when spoken in an English ac...

ARCHIVE REVIEW OF LARRY COHEN'S 'GOD TOLD ME TO'

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title: GOD TOLD ME TO<br />
year: 1976<br />
cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Sandy Dennis, Andy Kaufman, Dan Resin, Richard Lynch, Sylvia Sidney<br />
writer/director: Larry Cohen<br />
rating: **<br />
<br />
The first half... as a dedicated Catholic cop played by Tony Lo Bianco (the smooth "kissy devil" patsy in THE FRENCH CONNECTION) investigates random public killings... including Andy Kaufman as a police officer going berserk at the St. Patrick's Day Parade... and each assassin mutters, "God told me to" as their last words... is mysterious and interesting. The last half, as the murders cease and the "God" in question is revealed, is absolutely banal. Larry Cohen's camerawork has its usual artistic grace, with a collection of creative zooms and all that other seventies' stuff, but after the good parts even the cool shots are all dressed up with nothing to show.<br />
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andy kaufman, horror, larry cohen, seventies, suspense, tony lo bianco

ARCHIVE REVIEW OF LARRY COHEN'S 'GOD TOLD ME TO'

title: GOD TOLD ME TO year: 1976 cast: Tony Lo Bianco, Sandy Dennis, Andy Kaufman, Dan Resin, Richard Lynch, Sylvia Sidney writer/direc...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/13/2020 / No comments / eighties , indie , jeff daniels , jonathan demme , kristin olsen , margaret colin , melanie griffith , quirky , ray liotta , road movie , romantic comedy , thriller

JONATHAN DEMME'S QUIRKY ROAD PICTURE 'SOMETHING WILD'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Liotta's groupie Kristin Olsen as Tracy running the motel in SOMETHING WILD Year: 1986</u></td></tr>
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Director Jonathan Demme's sexy road-flick SOMETHING WILD plays around with its title threefold, beginning with stiff-suited yuppie Jeff Daniels skipping out on a humble New York cafe's lunch check...<br>
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And after being spotted and then picked-up by an extremely loose and experienced Melanie Griffith, taken down the departing highway to a rural motel for some ultra-R-rated sex, the audience (and Daniels) only <i>think</i> they know who's truly WILD here...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ray Liotta flicks his slow-motion Marlboro pack during a robbery in SOMETHING WILD </u></td></tr>
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Until the 45-minute "Kong-mark" when, after the romance hits a peak at Griffith's ten-year high school reunion, purposefully bordering on endearing small town cinema saccharine, Ray Liotta as Ray — Griffith's freshly sprung ex-con/ex-husband — shows up, and the breezy vehicle veers from fun-wild to wildly-dangerous: A quirky romantic comedy now sharing a Neo Noir/thriller template... <br>
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During the best scene in another, more dark and shabby motel, Daniels is stuck between Liotta and Griffith in what's been natural to them all along... having nothing to do with sex, only facts. Daniels's initially polite cat-and-mouse wordplay with Liotta makes one forget his prior risque physicality and odd couple banter with Griffith the film once seemed entirely built around: <i>the boys</i> wield the truly daring anti-chemistry, and at this point even <i>she</i> knows it. <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jeff Daniels and Ray Liotta in SOMETHING WILD with Melanie Griffith</u></td></tr>
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eighties, indie, jeff daniels, jonathan demme, kristin olsen, margaret colin, melanie griffith, quirky, ray liotta, road movie, romantic comedy, thriller

JONATHAN DEMME'S QUIRKY ROAD PICTURE 'SOMETHING WILD'

Ray Liotta's groupie Kristin Olsen as Tracy running the motel in SOMETHING WILD Year: 1986 Director Jonathan Demme's sexy road-f...

JIM BROWN & FRED WILLIAMSON 'TAKE A HARD RIDE' W/ JIM KELLY

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Take A Hard Ride Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Expectations for a Blaxploitation-Western, being that Jim Brown and Fred
 Williamson play the heroes and/or anti-heroes, or a Spaghetti Western, since Lee Van Cleef 
is the bad guy, will be disappointed. While it does have some of the 
(very intentional) Spaghetti elements in style and music, and slick action sequences for 
Blaxploitation fans...<br>
<br>
TAKE A HARD RIDE is actually an old-fashioned cowboy flick 
involving honest man Jim Brown and dishonest gambler Fred Williamson, 
on a quest to deliver money (that Brown made with late boss Dana Andrews) to a small town with cunning and deadly bounty hunter Van 
Cleef on their trail...<br>
<br>
For eye candy there's Catherine Spaak with her very own sidekick Jim Kelly is a mute Indian scout (Williamson said to yours truly that it was because of his pal Kelly's limited vocal-acting abilities), sporadically 
wielding his signature karate moves. And Williamson's ambiguous nature 
adds suspenseful distrust for Brown, also adding to their chemistry in what's more a fun ride than a hard one,
 but a cool flick nonethless. With all the money involved, and an ensemble of non-trusting cowboys, you can say it's a mobile TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pxRIoYy9-Zc/XhhKdQrvvLI/AAAAAAABNFU/OJtCBsoYiBku8cc4NgIp9KbOH7U_CBcWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-01-09%2Bat%2B2.45.28%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="759" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pxRIoYy9-Zc/XhhKdQrvvLI/AAAAAAABNFU/OJtCBsoYiBku8cc4NgIp9KbOH7U_CBcWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-01-09%2Bat%2B2.45.28%2BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Groovy Poster art for TAKE A HARD ROAD</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TzJ5Tsm7rPs/XhfxXytvGvI/AAAAAAABNEA/EViscdLFUzUdXr4lzEiYa1oLvOe7uORWACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/11%2B2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="906" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TzJ5Tsm7rPs/XhfxXytvGvI/AAAAAAABNEA/EViscdLFUzUdXr4lzEiYa1oLvOe7uORWACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/11%2B2.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Kelly in TAKE A HARD RIDE </u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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action, catherine spaak, dana andrews, fred williamson, jim brown, jim kelly, karate, lee van cleef, road movie, seventies, western

JIM BROWN & FRED WILLIAMSON 'TAKE A HARD RIDE' W/ JIM KELLY

Title: Take A Hard Ride Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 Expectations for a Blaxploitation-Western, being that Jim Brown and Fred Williamson p...

CONVICT STAGE HAS LEFT THE STATION

<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/01/hateful.html">CONVICT STAGE HAS MOVED HERE</a><br>
<br>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eBPPxQWwQAc/W7m40znbRQI/AAAAAAAA6T8/IFsSkEqt0_sc-HvYU798kZcz173P7LWHQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-07%2Bat%2B12.40.17%2BAM.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="502" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eBPPxQWwQAc/W7m40znbRQI/AAAAAAAA6T8/IFsSkEqt0_sc-HvYU798kZcz173P7LWHQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-07%2Bat%2B12.40.17%2BAM.jpg" width="225"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hanna Herfelendy/Hanna Landy</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br>
<br>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-swTxZZe9J78/XKiWS8bGPtI/AAAAAAABCXw/2zPxhVDOSFo0WexZG4cy2nF6WcL6MAezgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-04-06%2Bat%2B4.58.05%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1062" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-swTxZZe9J78/XKiWS8bGPtI/AAAAAAABCXw/2zPxhVDOSFo0WexZG4cy2nF6WcL6MAezgCLcBGAs/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-04-06%2Bat%2B4.58.05%2BAM.jpeg" width="175"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Convict Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br><br>

action, don red barry, hanna landy, harry lauter, heist, joe patridge, sixties, thriller, western

CONVICT STAGE HAS LEFT THE STATION

CONVICT STAGE HAS MOVED HERE Hanna Herfelendy/Hanna Landy Convict Score: ***1/2

KUNG FU ESCAPISM OF 'MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE'

action, cult, exploitation, fantasy, jimmy yang wu, karate, kung fu, seventies

KUNG FU ESCAPISM OF 'MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE'

Master of the Flying Guillotine Year: 1976 Rating: **** About the only downside is there's not enough of that radical red beanie tak...

DAVID CARRADINE DIRECTS 'AMERICANA' AKA 'AROUND'

barbara hershey, counter-culture, cult, david carradine, drama, eighties, indie, seventies

DAVID CARRADINE DIRECTS 'AMERICANA' AKA 'AROUND'

David Carradine's AMERICANA Filmed: 1973 Released: 1983 Started in 1973 and released a decade later, AMERICANA is a nice-looking low...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/04/2020 / No comments / actopm. don stroud , george kennedy , neo noir , perry king , seventies , vigilante

PERRY KING FIGHTS IN 'SEARCH AND DESTORY' WITH DON STROUD

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VlR232FF7h4/XhGDe6-uw7I/AAAAAAABM6A/osR1Wj30erEs9CQHYAgnGFIYMGtqNnzMwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/search-and-destroy-original-movie-poster-15x21-in-1979-william-fruet-perry-king.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1020" height="340" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VlR232FF7h4/XhGDe6-uw7I/AAAAAAABM6A/osR1Wj30erEs9CQHYAgnGFIYMGtqNnzMwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/search-and-destroy-original-movie-poster-15x21-in-1979-william-fruet-perry-king.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1979 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In Vietnam a company of American soldiers try saving a South Vietnamese 
man from "Charlie" and fail. He is captured by the enemy and now we cut 
five years later and the Vietnamese man is back in the States for 
revenge...<br>
<br>
He kills one of the vets and this peaks the attention of Perry 
King, an auto shop worker, as he is next in line...<br>
<br>
Along with fellow vet 
Don Stroud, a happy-go-unlucky drunkard boat captain in Niagara Falls inspired by Hemingway Noir tales, 
they try first finding who the killer is, and then stopping him. But 
he's trained in killing and is almost unstoppable. Great action scenes 
all set in the gorgeous Niagara Falls area, and lots of violence makes 
this a real treat: a fun ride that never derails. George Kennedy adds a 
little something as a small town cop who winds up allowing Perry King to
 take care of matters his own way.<br>

actopm. don stroud, george kennedy, neo noir, perry king, seventies, vigilante

PERRY KING FIGHTS IN 'SEARCH AND DESTORY' WITH DON STROUD

Year: 1979 Rates: ***1/2 In Vietnam a company of American soldiers try saving a South Vietnamese man from "Charlie" and fail....

ROBERT BLAKE 'RIPPED-OFF' AS 'THE BOXER' IN 'COUNTER PUNCH'

action, boxing, catherine spaak, crime, ernest borgnine, import, italian import, neo noir, robert blake, seventies, sport, tomas milian

ROBERT BLAKE 'RIPPED-OFF' AS 'THE BOXER' IN 'COUNTER PUNCH'

Robert Blake in Ripped-Off YEAR: 1972 Released: 1975 In RIPPED-OFF, originally titled THE BOXER and also going by COUNTER PUNCH, MURDE...

JMT

Written by James M. Tate / 1/28/2020 / No comments / adventure , comedy , family , kurt russell , martin short , mary kay place , meadow sisto , nineties , thom eberhardt

Written by James M. Tate / 1/26/2020 / No comments / body count , cathy podwell , eighties , haunted house , horror , teen

Written by James M. Tate / 1/23/2020 / No comments / arthouse , curtis harrington , dennis hopper , indie , jazz score , linda lawson , mystery , romance , sixties , thriller

Written by James M. Tate / 1/18/2020 / No comments / body count , british , claire gordon , creature feature , horror , jess conrad , kim tracy , margo johns , michael gough , monster , rupert osborne , waveney lee

Written by James M. Tate / 1/17/2020 / No comments / andy kaufman , horror , larry cohen , seventies , suspense , tony lo bianco

Written by James M. Tate / 1/13/2020 / No comments / eighties , indie , jeff daniels , jonathan demme , kristin olsen , margaret colin , melanie griffith , quirky , ray liotta , road movie , romantic comedy , thriller

Written by James M. Tate / 1/09/2020 / No comments / action , catherine spaak , dana andrews , fred williamson , jim brown , jim kelly , karate , lee van cleef , road movie , seventies , western

Written by James M. Tate / 1/08/2020 / No comments / action , don red barry , hanna landy , harry lauter , heist , joe patridge , sixties , thriller , western

Written by James M. Tate / 1/07/2020 / No comments / action , cult , exploitation , fantasy , jimmy yang wu , karate , kung fu , seventies

Written by James M. Tate / 1/06/2020 / No comments / barbara hershey , counter-culture , cult , david carradine , drama , eighties , indie , seventies

Written by James M. Tate / 1/04/2020 / No comments / actopm. don stroud , george kennedy , neo noir , perry king , seventies , vigilante

Written by James M. Tate / 1/01/2020 / No comments / action , boxing , catherine spaak , crime , ernest borgnine , import , italian import , neo noir , robert blake , seventies , sport , tomas milian

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