cult film freak: November 2020

Written by James M. Tate / 11/23/2020 / No comments / cult , donald sutherland , exploitation , hilary mason , horror , julie christie , massimo serato , mystery , nicolas roeg , renato scarpa , seventies

DONALD SUTHERLAND & JULIE CHRISTIE IN 'DON'T LOOK NOW'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XdOhZvdP0uw/X7spaC73fEI/AAAAAAABaBQ/YveBbmTlgBwe1uUl4LRurmON3pckIn4bACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/6.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1235" data-original-width="1280" height="386" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XdOhZvdP0uw/X7spaC73fEI/AAAAAAABaBQ/YveBbmTlgBwe1uUl4LRurmON3pckIn4bACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h386/6.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julie Christie in Don't Look Now 1973 Rates: ***12 </td></tr></tbody></table>Never let your young daughter play outside, around water, and if she plays with dolls, why a windup military man with a gas mask? That aside, caution is the pulse to Nicolas Roeg's strange thriller DON'T LOOK NOW taking place in Venice where marrieds Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie deal with their daughter's prologue-drowning a few years prior... And while Christie is always great, the mainline is Sutherland's John Baxter, restoring the antique ruins of a Catholic church and, while most likely an Atheist, he cares more about the significance of Catholic art than priest Massimo Serato...The best scenes involve Sutherland's dark, brooding journey into the ancient city of channels surrounding by gorgeous, dilapidated buildings; and inside, the famous overlong sex scene seems like director Roeg finishing an unrealized student film, far less important than what we're really after... Julie Christie's haunted Laura is more in touch with her deceased child because of a creepy yet gentle, blue-eyed Hilary Mason, a blind seer led around by a talky sister. But Sutherland's as aloof to that concept as the priest is to the restoration. Meanwhile, the second half gets into a Neo Noir investigation with baby-faced detective Renato Scarpa. And the scariest sequence happens at the end, and you'll know where THE BROOD children came from after witnessing the most nightmarish of nightmarish female demon dwarfs in an eclectic, arthouse horror that, while all over the place textually, does have a destination... just as long as you know who to follow. And what's following them.

cult, donald sutherland, exploitation, hilary mason, horror, julie christie, massimo serato, mystery, nicolas roeg, renato scarpa, seventies

DONALD SUTHERLAND & JULIE CHRISTIE IN 'DON'T LOOK NOW'

Julie Christie in Don't Look Now 1973 Rates: ***12 Never let your young daughter play outside, around water, and if she plays with dolls...

JOANNA GOING AND REBECCA STAAB IN A NEWER 'DARK SHADOWS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-533nR3L_ReY/X7YNymhbeHI/AAAAAAABZ54/MDRCdBoMKNwbf6N9PAQT7W4KTpww8WKuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1719/00.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1719" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-533nR3L_ReY/X7YNymhbeHI/AAAAAAABZ54/MDRCdBoMKNwbf6N9PAQT7W4KTpww8WKuwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h358/00.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that holds up pretty well with a younger Barnabas Collins in Ben Cross, seeming more like a lovelorn college professor than vampire, but he does bare his fangs enough times into the likes of Rebecca Staab for a Body Count element that ups (and progresses) the terror and suspense, mostly taking place in an old seaside manor where Collins rises/returns to an eccentric family that only knew him through a looming portrait from many, many years ago...And it's no wonder the poor fella falls so quickly in love with the newly arrived (yet very familiar) babysitter of troubled boy Joseph Gordon-Levitt — and Joanna Going is the most beautiful actress to ever hit the small screen, ever, and is what makes this DARK SHADOWS intriguing and worthwhile. Also like the original, we go back in time to Collins' own turf, the 1700's where snaky/flaky uncle Roy Thinnes can act sinister with the other family members, all somewhat benign before the Salem Inspired/Religious Zealot transition. But the show hits a big wall with the otherwise talented Lysette Anthony as an all-knowing/all-seeing phantom/wraith so powerful, vicious and vile, Collins loses his bite, and purpose (a young girl ghost is also a cop-out). Although by the end of the one and only season, Going and Cross's romance keeps the viewer intrigued... as we shall be, for eternity.

ben cross, dan curtis, franchise, horror, joanna going, joseph gordon-levitt, nineties, roy thinnes, TV, vampire

JOANNA GOING AND REBECCA STAAB IN A NEWER 'DARK SHADOWS'

Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2 Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that...

ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5L8fOmRhzY/X7CKo65YoeI/AAAAAAABZrA/n-u2RyiHD7Ic6SD7fT8DLY4Y0eG61OXRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s922/zzz.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="922" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5L8fOmRhzY/X7CKo65YoeI/AAAAAAABZrA/n-u2RyiHD7Ic6SD7fT8DLY4Y0eG61OXRgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/zzz.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is really into madly reconstructing once-beautiful women's injured/deformed faces, and winds up running a circus after he and two followers happen upon German drunk Donald Pleasence, who trades his small rural circus for his war-scarred daughter to be Patient X of the big tent spectacle a decade later...When the now successful circus owner/secret doctor Schuler meets his match in Erika Remberg as a lethal, facially-deformed whore... later yearning to be the show's rope-dangling main attraction instead of voluptuous blonde <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">Vanda Hudson</a>, stunt-riding on horseback before spinning against flying knives... Ironically, CIRCUS OF HORRORS is more a body count thriller than horror: the deaths "mysteriously" occur to the doctor's post-surgery beauties who are just about to move on from the "Jinxed Circus", so there's plenty of suspense hindered only by the grownup little girl, now in her beautiful twenties and romanced by an intrusive cop, sniffing around the mad yet never hammy or overboard lead antagonist's schemes far too soon, making even gorgeous British starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/yvonne%20romain">Yvonne Romain's</a> vulnerable and dangerous third act feel both rushed and overlong.

anton diffring, body count, british, circus, donald pleasence, erika remberg, exploitation, horror, sixties, thriller, yvonne romain

ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: **** Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is really ...

SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-CR0zDM-E4/X7nmsh155uI/AAAAAAABZ9k/AUbebLyqPuQat9PmyeWfipypGytQ_a_fgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1145/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1145" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-CR0zDM-E4/X7nmsh155uI/AAAAAAABZ9k/AUbebLyqPuQat9PmyeWfipypGytQ_a_fgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h288/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sian Barbara Allen & Ted Bessell Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only derive from the 1970's: A round-faced Jessica Harper type that a guy would hopelessly crush on after being her friend a little while, and is so down-to-earth she doesn't quite realize how PRETTY she is, even when that aspect pivots the title SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY... yet all she really does is whine the name, "Jeffrey..."Who's a sculptor living in a dark Los Angeles mansion with mom Bette Davis, a mellower BABY JANE here... but since horror leans on youth, Sian Barbara Allen is both the ingenue and antagonist...Extremely antagonistic and pushy to her new boss (for which she was hired to do some light housekeeping) played by benign THAT GIRL actor Ted Bessell, who, it turns out, harbors a crazy sister in the guest house and... the end of PRETTY PEGGY is both predictable and blasphemous to another movie about a man-child with mommy-issues. And yet the dark and contained setting serves up a nicely balanced combination of old school haunted house and modern exploitation body count, which only includes two victims but it's genuinely terrifying how "the sister" looks, knife-poised in semi-darkness, and it's no surprise this kinda show scared television audiences when we all had relatively small screens. A wider view uncovers all the dated flaws, but there's still a nice little short-story vibe extended to the usual 90-minutes, and is only on YouTube where these last-known-photo photos come from. But what the hell... it adds to the creepiness of the story, and the monkey-cuteness of the ingenue.

bette davis, exploitation, haunted house, horror, seventies, sian barbara allen, ted bessell, tovah feldshuh, tv movie

SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

Sian Barbara Allen & Ted Bessell Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only der...

JOHN CARPENTER'S UNDERRATED GHOST STORY OF 'THE FOG'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gRQuKdQhprM/X9U04KmAl6I/AAAAAAABaoA/ilWHrSiiGQMw9zh1AIbxRVUeIeXoRQBIACLcBGAsYHQ/s540/44877151_592334171195763_9043340000082526208_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="463" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gRQuKdQhprM/X9U04KmAl6I/AAAAAAABaoA/ilWHrSiiGQMw9zh1AIbxRVUeIeXoRQBIACLcBGAsYHQ/w343-h400/44877151_592334171195763_9043340000082526208_n.jpeg" width="343"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fog autographed DVD Year: 1980 </td></tr></tbody></table>Depending how you look at it, John Carpenter's THE FOG is a zombie flick since the titular weather-pattern wraiths move in a slow, nightmarish pace. And within that mobile-moving, misty shroud are what you'd get from a good old fashion ghost story, which this is John Carpenter's homage version of...Literally starting with old timer John Houseman spinning a campfire legend to kids while setting the plot in motion about their small seaport town, founded on a deception that a ship of lepers was accidentally destroyed by nature — with enough gold to get the town's proverbial ball rolling...And now in the 100-year Centennial Celebration, the wraiths, brandishing giant hooks, blades and resembling demonic fisherman with obscured hoods and lighted eyes, are after exactly six people — their own unlucky number now unlucky for the surprisingly low body-count in what's also Carpenter's mellow "drinking movie" of sorts...Starring Adrianne Barbeau, the director's then-wife, as a sultry-voiced deejay of mellow jazz, and otherwise providing a sort of strategic Roman Chorus for the fog's momentum, alerting both the characters where it's headed and the audience where the characters should go because of it... while Carpenter's HALLOWEEN ingenue Jamie Lee Curtis falls (way too quickly and unrealistically) head-over-heels for an older-man, and one of the director's regulars, tough guy actor Tom Atkins; both he and Curtis investigate his best friend's disappearance on a fishing boat leading to a cool "ghost ship" scenario... the duo provides an added bonus to alleviate Barbeau from having to work too hard...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7hzZgHJHFg/X9U4kJ-6Q-I/AAAAAAABaoo/Y2WdU5dvZxUSHAQozLv9v_VioCbauR6_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s934/44544442_590180974744416_988086316258295808_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="934" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7hzZgHJHFg/X9U4kJ-6Q-I/AAAAAAABaoo/Y2WdU5dvZxUSHAQozLv9v_VioCbauR6_wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h301/44544442_590180974744416_988086316258295808_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie Lee Curtis in THE FOG Rating: ****1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Different than HALLOWEEN and similar to THE THING and PRINCE OF DARKNESS, this is more of an ensemble, and, just as he would later on, Carpenter juggles his characters nicely... And unlike most main female characters of this genre, the voluptuous brunette Barbeau is definitely no cliché uptight novice: well into her thirties, she has a curious young son who, while they are separated, gives Atkins and Curtis someone to protect along with an actual urgency and purpose leading to a narrowed-down third act. But it's the town's basement-dwelling priest, played with sublime ambiguity by Hal Holbrook, who steals the show while telling half of it...Meanwhile, added to the mix is Jamie Lee's mom, legendary PSYCHO starlet Janet Leigh who, alongside another HALLOWEEN ingenue and Carpenter regular Nancy Loomis, provide a second duo to follow towards a particular location — where everyone winds up except the lighthouse-trapped Barbeau... And the split-second surprise-ending is one of the greatest ever in this solid, vastly underrated, personal favorite Carpenter vehicle that, compared to his more celebrated films surrounding, seemed to roll under the pop culture horror movie radar: A cult film's cult film, if you will.

adrienne barbeau, eighties, george buck flower, ghost ship, horror, james canning, jamie lee curtis, janet leigh, john carpenter, john houseman, nancy loomis, thriller, tom atkins

JOHN CARPENTER'S UNDERRATED GHOST STORY OF 'THE FOG'

The Fog autographed DVD Year: 1980 Depending how you look at it, John Carpenter's THE FOG is a zombie flick since the titular weather-pa...

JOHN AGAR AND JUNE KENNEY IN 'ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--WFFbDxQluk/X6jMQhRcnkI/AAAAAAABZmM/dztU79a75v4HgSZS9QswpVQVf65sAP_mwCLcBGAsYHQ/s750/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-18%2Bat%2B12.48.20%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="750" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--WFFbDxQluk/X6jMQhRcnkI/AAAAAAABZmM/dztU79a75v4HgSZS9QswpVQVf65sAP_mwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h246/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-18%2Bat%2B12.48.20%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attack of the Puppet People Year: 1958 Rates: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>A better-suited title for ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE would be A CASE OF DOLLS, and literally as dollmaker John Hoyt places real people, from strangers to former employees to, as tiny hero John Agar goes, an employee's fiance, into sealed packages, and all with one thing in common...Their last mistake was entering the dollmaker's backroom where a sci-fi genre laser-cannon awaits... And although director Bert I. Gordon — aptly nicknamed Mr. Big since his forte was either extra large/small protagonists in a normal sized world — is known as being campy and silly, he can tell a pretty decent story, and this is one of his best, save for that vapid title since they're NOT Puppets (although there's one creepy Dr. Jekyll puppet) and never attack anyone, being totally harmless as the best sequence has the passive ensemble realizing they're all stuck together in a world that consists of a huge dial-up telephone and a phonograph... They have a nightly recess so their mostly polite captor isn't all that bad, just really lonely, and his rudimentary kinship with secretary June Kenney is pathetically endearing... It's just too bad we couldn't hang out with these dolls... ranging from a vain beauty to a young girl singer to a soldier to a cool teenager (TOUCH OF EVIL hophead/beatnik Ken Miller)... for longer: Their interaction is so relaxing, it's a shame they decide to escape so soon, which is understandable, and also quite suspenseful but... Mr. Big knew how to make the most of his character's downtime, no matter what size.

bert i. gordon, cult, exploitation, fifties, horror, john agar, john hoyt, june kenney, ken miller, science-fiction

JOHN AGAR AND JUNE KENNEY IN 'ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE'

Attack of the Puppet People Year: 1958 Rates: **** A better-suited title for ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE would be A CASE OF DOLLS, and liter...

MAURY DEXTER WESTERN 'THE PURPLE HILLS' WITH KENT TAYLOR

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0MlBgnNweR8/X8n7LaNpPHI/AAAAAAABaa0/cLl2qiVngOMAynQN5s_ghYZptQidXElAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s863/23%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="863" height="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0MlBgnNweR8/X8n7LaNpPHI/AAAAAAABaa0/cLl2qiVngOMAynQN5s_ghYZptQidXElAwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h353/23%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries conniving and convincing a beautiful woman to go against the good guy, who doesn't seem all that good: in this case bounty hunter Gene Nelson, collecting on a bounty he has to fight for... The twist is that classy lowlife Taylor also wants credit for the hefty sum but without being blamed by the bounty's younger, vengeful brother played by stuntman Jerry Summers, supposedly raised by beautiful Joanna Barnes, much too young as he's far too old for the role...But Russ Bender as the aged sheriff is perfectly cast by Dexter, per usual, as most of the picture has four people after a dead body whilst fearing the inevitable collision of angry Apaches...Winding up the finale on a dilapidated bridge where the "good guys" hole up against approaching Indians (fighting each other as well), and it's as good a shoot-em-up as anything John Ford could do. Plus these b-Western programmers (especially Maury Dexter's) get right to the point, yet there's still tons of pulpy dialogue, especially by Taylor, a genuine scoundrel while Gene Nelson stands around looking strong, blond, determined and, as they say... The Devil gets all the great lines.

action, gene nelson, jerry summers, joanna barnes, kent taylor, maury dexter, russ bender, western

MAURY DEXTER WESTERN 'THE PURPLE HILLS' WITH KENT TAYLOR

The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2 Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries c...

MACKENZIE PHILLIPS DRIVES 'RAFFERTY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ULlz9ZoP6g/X6U2Vq3JrSI/AAAAAAABZfE/cnLhPVCSVlsd3MdXP4Y7o1ww5H4ifYIqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1609/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-05%2Bat%2B11.57.30%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1609" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ULlz9ZoP6g/X6U2Vq3JrSI/AAAAAAABZfE/cnLhPVCSVlsd3MdXP4Y7o1ww5H4ifYIqQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h259/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-05%2Bat%2B11.57.30%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Martin Smith & Mack Phillips Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Combine the personalities of Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips... one a mellow dreamer, the other a gun-toting schemer... and you have Kellerman's entire character from the previous years' road movie, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/james-caan-and-peter-boyle-in-noir.html">SLITHER</a>, making this affable performance seem like she's merely along for the ride, leaving all the scene-stealing edginess to her better half Phillips... And basically making Alan Arkin's Rafferty, a boozing ex-Marine/DMV instructor kidnapped by the pair, along for the ride's ride as RAFFTERY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS goes from scene to scene/town to town gathering mossy strangers along the way...From victimized gas station attendants to Las Vegas con man Alex Rocco to Arizona barfly Harry Dean Stanton to young soldier Charles Martin Smith (sharing a terrific motel scene with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/07/american-graffiti-theatrical-experience.html">AMERICAN GRAFFITI</a> alumni Phillips), they all merely serve witness to the eclectic trio who find predictable camaraderie along the breezy trip; although Arkin lacks initial reluctance: Seconds after Phillips sticks a gun to his head (and even fires it off over his head), elevator music lazily orchestrates a freeway wide-shot like a TV-production, which this often resembles a grungy, freewheeling version of... actually a good thing since RAFFERTY has nothing to lose or gain to either educate or annoy an audience, which refers to both the character and the movie — one worth watching over and over for that reason alone: Lethargy on wheels can be infectious.

alan arkin, alex rocco, comedy, drama, exploitation, harry dean stanton, mackenzie phillips, road movie, sally kellerman, seventies

MACKENZIE PHILLIPS DRIVES 'RAFFERTY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS'

Charles Martin Smith & Mack Phillips Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 Combine the personalities of Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips... one...

STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t818RZyHi8Y/X6OdFJaoeqI/AAAAAAABZZY/OlELjM34nx4N3z8nyZRvOaTbSkM5u_0GwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1797/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-04%2Bat%2B9.46.36%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1797" height="279" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t818RZyHi8Y/X6OdFJaoeqI/AAAAAAABZZY/OlELjM34nx4N3z8nyZRvOaTbSkM5u_0GwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h279/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-04%2Bat%2B9.46.36%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Debbie Miller & Steve McQueen Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on television's WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and ended as one on the big screen, twice: TOM HORN was also a rebounder tale, and actually resembled a theatrical motion picture while THE HUNTER looks and plays-out like a made-for-TV movie... But a pretty good one as McQueen's real life Ralph 'Papa' Thorson seeks various bond-skippers, each more difficult and troublesome than the next: In one case the violent powerhouse nephew of McQueen's GETAWAY foe Ben Johnson; and later a literally explosive tractor vs Trans Am cornfield chase... Leaving the best for last... That finally suits the big screen involving a desperate, hostage-taking young "shooter" on a subway train, obviously influenced by THE FRENCH CONNECTION as opposed to McQueen's classic BULLITT that THE HUNTER deliberately contradicts, particularly since real life car-fanatic McQueen plays a terrible driver, which is effectively humorous compared to more contrived setups: like Papa's crowded house of poker buddies, a crooked cop friend, and a much too perfect pregnant girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold), sporadically stalked by a vengeful speed-freak adding furious camp value and yet, overall, THE HUNTER delivered for McQueen's fans what they (and even he) didn't realize was a swan song. Plus it's the first and last time he'd utter the cliché line, "I'm too old for this" in a vehicle that's both the end of phase one and the beginning of a comfortably aging phase two — that sadly never came to pass.

action, ben johnson, cop, crime, eighties, eli wallach, kathryn harrold, steve mcqueen, tribute

STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

Debbie Miller & Steve McQueen Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on television's WANTED: DEA...

STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mN7s9qgnrFI/X7Mksy079aI/AAAAAAABZuE/ejha6VZX4oc4Pj-zznYt5JMpNzmE_RF9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-16%2Bat%2B5.16.27%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1405" data-original-width="2048" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mN7s9qgnrFI/X7Mksy079aI/AAAAAAABZuE/ejha6VZX4oc4Pj-zznYt5JMpNzmE_RF9QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h275/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-16%2Bat%2B5.16.27%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ali McGraw & Steve McQueen Year: 1972 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies caged hopelessness of prison life better than most entirely-set-in-prison prison flicks... plus it's the only sequence centered solely on Steve McQueen as career criminal Doc McCoy sans the uninspired acting of ingenue/partner Ali MacGraw...During a pivotal meeting — what seems like her being tempted by Texas millionaire Ben Johnson after having sex to get Doc paroled and then tortured with envy — she has a vacant expression as opposed to McQueen's sharpened countenance... Meanwhile, GODFATHER <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/06/dirtier-rats1.html">villain Al Letteri </a>(initially partnered with a doomed and vain Bo Hopkins) would have perfectly contrasted against McQueen, only Al too gets burdened by an annoying actress role as a screeching Sally Struthers plays Letteri's traveling gun moll — all the characters on a post bank-heist GETAWAY (including the posse of crooked Texas businessman) in a road movie that, despite the flaws, is loaded with classic Peckinpah slow-motion gunfights, fistfights, slap-fights, car chases, cars exploding and a gritty aesthetic best described as classic 1950's Film Noir B&W soaked into 1970's brick-red, cash-green, burnt-brown, pallid-blue, dusk-yellow, faded-gray exploitation... Yeah, that'll do.

action, al bright, al lettieri, ali macgraw, ben johnson, bo hopkins, crime, exploitation, heist, modern western, road movie, sally struthers, sam peckinpah, steve mcqueen

STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

Ali McGraw & Steve McQueen Year: 1972 Rating: **** The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies cag...

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PAkpqQbztHM/X6CBvNDC70I/AAAAAAABZUw/JybVD25_ehgurf82GbiEFprZh8jX0wzsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2048" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PAkpqQbztHM/X6CBvNDC70I/AAAAAAABZUw/JybVD25_ehgurf82GbiEFprZh8jX0wzsQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h260/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve McQueen as BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for the media since director Peter Yates's prior chase in his British heist thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/AR.html">ROBBERY</a> was so admired by Steve McQueen, Yates got this gig... But there's more than just action in ROBBERY, and the cop/crime classic BULLITT is more about words than wheels... In particular, McQueen's Frank Bullitt taking a blind chance to prove climbing politician Robert Vaughn wrong, and without even realizing what's not exactly right in the first place... Hiding a dead witness that Frank and partner Don Gordon were hired to protect, the best scene has McQueen and Vaughn facing off in a quasi-polite conversation ("who else knew where he was?") leading to several less sterile confrontations (with police chief Simon Oakland as a wishbone). And what occurs before and after that hilly San Francisco road romp epitomizes the Police Procedural sub-genre: putting the viewer into the slow-paced, ultra-realistic, concentrated and methodical shoes of Lt. Frank Bullitt and, after proving what needed proving there's only one big action scene left, giving BULLITT two climaxes for the price of one edgy, daring and timeless (though sporadically dated) motion picture that should be celebrated beyond a speedy green Mustang. Although that's pretty damn cool too. Icing on a cake... with layers.

action, classic, cop, crime, cult, don gordon, peter yates, robert vaughn, simon oakland, sixties, steve mcqueen, thriller

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

Steve McQueen as BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2 The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for...

PETER YATES DIRECTS A SLOWBURN 'THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddyLa33l_1Q/X2g58hD2hzI/AAAAAAABYaQ/WBM_FbUUNbw-eyGB16kD5yBt4XWb7mT4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1427/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1427" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddyLa33l_1Q/X2g58hD2hzI/AAAAAAABYaQ/WBM_FbUUNbw-eyGB16kD5yBt4XWb7mT4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h310/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steven Keats in EDDIE COYLE Year: 1973 Rates: ****1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>The miracle of Peter Yates's Crime Thriller THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is how interesting an entire movie full of long conversations can be, especially when the title character's played by an aged and experienced Robert Mitchum... Turning in a natural, low-key yet still tightly-wound performance as a Boston career-criminal, who knows more last names than it's usual to get lost in within any Noir-style flick where a bunch of them are spouted left and right, and it takes several viewings to know exactly who's who... And while Eddie tries getting manipulative cop Richard Jordan to squash an approaching sentence, there's a trio of dispersed bank robberies led by a masked, business-like Alex Rocco (kidnapping vault-key-holding bank managers while their families wait home at gunpoint) while hot rod driving Steven Keats as "Jackie Brown" cautiously runs guns throughout the surrounding rural landscape... and his story seems like a movie all its own, with a beginning, middle and end. Meanwhile, the weak spot is Peter Boyle as a bartender ex-con who gets around too easily, making Mitchum's plight as useless as he himself had made all of Keats's busy-work via double-cross... then again this is the purpose of a group of eclectic crooks pushing each other out of a losing game (hence the titular irony of FRIENDS), making this Peter Yates's return to the more cerebral/existential heist template of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/AR.html">ROBBERY</a> but with a superior, groovy soundtrack (by Dave Grusin) that also blows away the hippie-jazz of BULLITT.

alex rocco, crime, heist, neo noir, peter boyle, peter yates, richard jordan, robert mitchum, seventies, steven keats

PETER YATES DIRECTS A SLOWBURN 'THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE'

Steven Keats in EDDIE COYLE Year: 1973 Rates: ****1/2 The miracle of Peter Yates's Crime Thriller THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is how inte...

PETER YATES STAGED THIS 'ROBBERY' BEFORE TAKING A BULLITT

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vguw7-G2N5E/X2iq7veqsbI/AAAAAAABYbE/pMOCwLBzjPIvZW_i24OcvYC1Xw_vvQ8yACLcBGAsYHQ/s501/00387645.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="466" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vguw7-G2N5E/X2iq7veqsbI/AAAAAAABYbE/pMOCwLBzjPIvZW_i24OcvYC1Xw_vvQ8yACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/00387645.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ROBBERY Year: 1967 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>Best known as the little obscure crime film that gave English director Peter Yates his big game-changing opportunity to make BULLITT stateside, after Steve McQueen had witnessed the rudimentary car chase sequence from ROBBERY, an extremely sparse, deliberately uncaring British Neo Noir Heist-Thriller... And it's not just the chase that Yates carried over to the McQueen classic but the meticulous and metronomic moments leading up to it...Starring the always tough/ultra square-jawed Stanley Baker but only because he's in charge, ROBBERY makes pretty much equal use of the male leads including James Booth as the trailing cop, William Marlowe as Baker's strong-silent second, Barry Forster as his strong-silent third while Frank Finlay, as a meek/geek though crooked banker too-easily broken out of prison, is the most vulnerable and sympathetic...Yet there's very little sympathy for these particular devils, whose only flaw is how long and tediously methodical it takes for the actual train heist (inspired by The Great Train Robbery) to go down... the director not always considering an audience but, like real life crimes — and even the McQueen ultra-realistic police-procedure about the other side of the law — Yates showcases the slowburn reality like being right there, for better or worse since it's not always extremely exciting, and that's the point. Just don't let the casting of beautiful poster-perfect Joanne Pettit fool you. ROBBERY cares neither about romance or the human condition.